DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 02/25/2026 has been entered.
Status of Rejections
The rejection(s) of claim(s) 6 and 14 is/are obviated by applicant’s cancellation.
The rejection of claim(s) 1 and 8 under 35 USC 112(b) is/are withdrawn in view of applicant’s amendment.
All other previous rejections are withdrawn in view of applicant’s amendments/arguments.
New grounds of rejection are necessitated by applicant’s amendments.
Claims 1-5, 7-13 and 15 are pending and under consideration for this Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5, 7-13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taguchi et al. (JP 2007031813 A, citations based on translation) in view of Muyeen et al. (“Electrolyzer switching strategy for hydrogen generation from variable speed wind generator”, Electr. Power Syst. Res., 2011).
Regarding claim 1, Taguchi teaches a controller for an electrolysis stack module powered by a renewable energy power generation device (see e.g. Fig. 1, control circuit 44 for electrolysis device 14 powered by power supply device 18 comprising solar cell 16; Paragraphs 0020 and 0028), the controller being configured to control power supply by receiving the power supply from the renewable energy power generation device and distributing the power supply to n=4 electrolysis stacks (see e.g. Fig. 1, power to four electrolysis stacks 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d distributed and adjusted by control circuit 44 via power adjustment units 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d; Paragraphs 0024-0025 and 0028),
wherein the controller is configured to determine whether or not to drive each electrolysis stack according to stack driving conditions, no less than two, determined on a basis of a minimum amount of operating power supply preset in advance for each of the electrolysis stacks (see e.g. Figs. 7 and 9, power controlled to be distributed to the four stacks on the basis of four different conditions of a value At/Ap based on a minimum Ap point at which a peak efficiency is reached; Paragraph 0037 and Paragraphs 0042-0045),
the stack driving conditions are ranges of an amount of the power supply in which on/off of the electrolysis stacks is predetermined, and the controller is configured to control driving of the electrolysis stacks according to the stack driving conditions corresponding to the amount of power supply supplied from the renewable energy power generation device (see e.g. Fig. 9, Paragraph 0037, lines 4-6, and Paragraphs 0041 and 0043-0045, power/current supplied to electrolysis stacks individually adjusted in response to output power of power source and the value At/Ap being in specific ranges),
wherein the controller determines one or more electrolysis stacks that need to be driven from the electrolysis stacks (see e.g. Figs. 1 and 9, control circuit 44 determines which of electrolysis 40a, 40b, 40c and 40d receives power as indicated by their respective designated distributed currents A1, A2, A3 and A4; Paragraphs 0024, 0028 and 0042),
wherein as the supplied power increases, the controller sequentially drives the determined one or more electrolysis stacks from a first electrolysis stack (see e.g. Fig. 9 and Paragraphs 0041-0044, with distribution examples 2 and 3, as the total supplied power/current At increases stacks 40a-40d are sequentially supplied with currents A1-A4, e.g. with only stack 40a supplied with current A1 when At/Ap≥1 followed by stacks 40a and 40 b with currents A1 and A2 when At/Ap≥2),
wherein as the supplied power decreases, the controller sequentially deactivates the driven electrolysis stacks (see e.g. Fig. 9 and Paragraphs 0041-0044, power to the respective stacks for distribution examples 2 and 3 being in order of stacks 40a-40d and respective currents A1-A4 in accordance with increase in total available current/power At from and therefore being stopped in the reverse order when At decreases, e.g. when At/Ap goes from ≥4 to ≥3, all cells 40a-40d being supplied with currents A1-A4 goes to only cells 40a-40c being supplied with currents A1-A3), and
wherein the minimum amount of operating power supply is determined by a minimum operation coefficient (α) and the stack capacity (A) (see e.g. Fig. 7 and Paragraphs 0037 and 0043, all the electrolysis stacks 40a to 40d with the same minimum efficiency peak current Ap, which is a proportion, i.e. a fraction coefficient, of the total potential power-receiving capacity at which electrolysis efficiency peaks).
Taguchi does not teach the driven electrolysis stacks being deactivated in the same order as they were activated, instead teaching them being deactivated in the reverse order (see e.g. Fig. 9 and Paragraphs 0041-0044, power to the respective stacks for distribution examples 2 and 3 being in order of stacks 40a-40d and respective currents A1-A4 in accordance with increase in total available current/power At from and therefore being stopped in the reverse order when At decreases, e.g. when At/Ap goes from ≥4 to ≥3, all cells 40a-40d being supplied with currents A1-A4 goes to only cells 40a-40c being supplied with currents A1-A3).
Muyeen teaches a switching strategy for a hydrogen generator comprising multiple controlled electrolyzer units (see e.g. Abstract), wherein operation of each electrolyzer unit is determined according to a FIFO (First-In-First-Out) algorithm with an electrolyzer unit started first also stopping first, i.e. with the units being deactivated in the same order that they were activated (see e.g. Page 1176, Col. 1, lines 3-7 and 18-20), this strategy allowing for the operation time of the different electrolyzer units to be balanced without inclination of operation time of an individual unit, increasing their service life (see e.g. Page 1176, Col. 1, lines 1-3 and 20-21, and Page 1179, Col. 1, lines 10-14).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the controller of Taguchi to operate the electrolysis stacks according to a FIFO algorithm, i.e. with the electrolysis stacks deactivated in the same order they were activated, as taught by Muyeen to allow the operation time for the different stacks to be balanced without inclination of an individual stack, increasing their service life.
Regarding claim 2, modified Taguchi teaches the stack driving conditions consisting of n=4 numbers of conditions according to n=4 numbers of ranges of the amount of the power supply, the controller determining whether or not each of the electrolysis stacks is to be driven according to the n=4 numbers of the stack driving conditions determined on the basis of the minimum amount of operating power supply preset in advance for each of the electrolysis stacks, and an electrolysis stack to be driven is allocated for each of the stack driving conditions (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9, Paragraph 0037, lines 4-6, and Paragraphs 0041 and 0043-0045, power/current supplied to electrolysis stacks individually adjusted in response to output power of power source and the value At/Ap being in four specific ranges of 1≤At/Ap<2, 2≤At/Ap<3, 3≤At/Ap<4, At/Ap≥4, equating to four ranges of the total applied power/current At).
Regarding claim 3, modified Taguchi teaches all of the n=4 electrolysis stacks having the same stack capacity (A) (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 7 and Paragraphs 0037 and 0043, all the electrolysis stacks 40a to 40d with the same minimum efficiency peak current Ap, which is a proportion of the total potential power-receiving capacity at which electrolysis efficiency peaks).
Regarding claim 4, modified Taguchi teaches a lower limit value of each of the stack driving conditions being set to a multiple of an integer, no greater than n, of the minimum amount of the operating power supply (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9, with distribution examples 2 and 3, the lower limit at which each stack is operated is the stack number N times the minimum efficiency peak current Ap, with for example only stack 40a receiving current A1 when the total available current At is greater than or equal to 1*Ap, shown as At/Ap≥1; Paragraphs 0042-0044), and the range of the amount of the power supply for each of the stack operating conditions is determined as a magnitude of the minimum amount of the operating power supply (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9, with distribution examples 2 and 3 the range to the next condition is based on (N+1)*Ap, with for example stack 40a being the only stack receiving current until the total available current is greater than 2*Ap, shown as At/Ap≥2; Paragraphs 0042-0044).
Regarding claim 5, modified Taguchi teaches, among the stack driving conditions, a first stack driving condition in which a first electrolysis stack is operable with a minimum amount of supplied power is set to αA ≤ amount of supplied power < 2αA, and the controller controls to drive only the first electrolysis stack under the first stack driving condition (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9, with distribution examples 2 and 3, only stack 40a receiving current A1 when 1≤At/Ap<2, equal to Ap≤At<2Ap; Paragraphs 0042-0044), and the electrolysis stacks allocated to the stack driving conditions, respectively, are controlled to be sequentially driven in a driving start order according to an increase of the amount of the supplied power (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9, with distribution examples 2 and 3, as the total supplied power/current At increases stacks 40a-40d are sequentially supplied with currents A1-A4).
Regarding claim 7, modified Taguchi teaches, after some of the electrolysis stacks are stopped due to the decrease in the amount of supplied power, when some of the electrolysis stacks need to be additionally driven as the amount of the supplied power increases again, the controller allows the electrolysis stacks allocated to each of the stack driving conditions to be driven (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9 and Paragraphs 0041-0044, power to the respective stacks is distributed and adjusted according to fluctuations, i.e. increase and decrease, of the power generated by the solar cell).
Regarding claim 8, Taguchi teaches an operation control method for an electrolysis stack module powered by a renewable energy power generation device (see e.g. Fig. 1, function of control circuit 44 for electrolysis device 14 powered by power supply device 18 comprising solar cell 16; Paragraphs 0020 and 0028), the operation control method comprising controlling driving, by a controller electrolysis stacks, the controlling driving including receiving, by the controller, power from the renewable energy power generation device, distributing, by the controller, power supply to n=4 electrolysis stacks (see e.g. Fig. 1, power to four electrolysis stacks 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d distributed and adjusted by control circuit 44 via power adjustment units 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d; Paragraphs 0024-0025 and 0028),
determining, by the controller, whether or not to drive each electrolysis stack according to stack driving conditions, no less than two, on a basis of a minimum amount of operating power supply preset in advance for each of the electrolysis stacks (see e.g. Figs. 7 and 9, power controlled to be distributed to the four stacks on the basis of four different conditions of a value At/Ap based on a minimum Ap point at which a peak efficiency is reached; Paragraph 0037 and Paragraphs 0042-0045), and
driving, by the controller, the electrolysis stacks according to the stack driving conditions to which an amount of power supplied from the renewable energy power generation device corresponds, wherein the stack driving conditions are ranges of an amount of the power supply in which on/off of the electrolysis stacks is predetermined (see e.g. Fig. 9, Paragraph 0037, lines 4-6, and Paragraphs 0041 and 0043-0045, power/current supplied to electrolysis stacks individually adjusted in response to output power of power source and the value At/Ap being in specific ranges),
wherein the controller determines one or more electrolysis stacks that need to be driven from the electrolysis stacks (see e.g. Figs. 1 and 9, control circuit 44 determines which of electrolysis 40a, 40b, 40c and 40d receives power as indicated by their respective designated distributed currents A1, A2, A3 and A4; Paragraphs 0024, 0028 and 0042),
wherein as the supplied power increases, the controller sequentially drives the determined one or more electrolysis stacks from a first electrolysis stack (see e.g. Fig. 9 and Paragraphs 0041-0044, with distribution examples 2 and 3, as the total supplied power/current At increases stacks 40a-40d are sequentially supplied with currents A1-A4, e.g. with only stack 40a supplied with current A1 when At/Ap≥1 followed by stacks 40a and 40 b with currents A1 and A2 when At/Ap≥2),
wherein as the supplied power decreases, the controller sequentially deactivates the driven electrolysis stacks (see e.g. Fig. 9 and Paragraphs 0041-0044, power to the respective stacks for distribution examples 2 and 3 being in order of stacks 40a-40d and respective currents A1-A4 in accordance with increase in total available current/power At from and therefore being stopped in the reverse order when At decreases, e.g. when At/Ap goes from ≥4 to ≥3, all cells 40a-40d being supplied with currents A1-A4 goes to only cells 40a-40c being supplied with currents A1-A3), and
wherein the minimum amount of operating power supply is determined by a minimum operation coefficient (α) and the stack capacity (A) (see e.g. Fig. 7 and Paragraphs 0037 and 0043, all the electrolysis stacks 40a to 40d with the same minimum efficiency peak current Ap, which is a proportion, i.e. a fraction coefficient, of the total potential power-receiving capacity at which electrolysis efficiency peaks).
Taguchi does not teach the driven electrolysis stacks being deactivated in the same order as they were activated, instead teaching them being deactivated in the reverse order (see e.g. Fig. 9 and Paragraphs 0041-0044, power to the respective stacks for distribution examples 2 and 3 being in order of stacks 40a-40d and respective currents A1-A4 in accordance with increase in total available current/power At from and therefore being stopped in the reverse order when At decreases, e.g. when At/Ap goes from ≥4 to ≥3, all cells 40a-40d being supplied with currents A1-A4 goes to only cells 40a-40c being supplied with currents A1-A3).
Muyeen teaches a switching strategy for a hydrogen generator comprising multiple controlled electrolyzer units (see e.g. Abstract), wherein operation of each electrolyzer unit is determined according to a FIFO (First-In-First-Out) algorithm with an electrolyzer unit started first also stopping first, i.e. with the units being deactivated in the same order that they were activated (see e.g. Page 1176, Col. 1, lines 3-7 and 18-20), this strategy allowing for the operation time of the different electrolyzer units to be balanced without inclination of operation time of an individual unit, increasing their service life (see e.g. Page 1176, Col. 1, lines 1-3 and 20-21, and Page 1179, Col. 1, lines 10-14).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of Taguchi to operate the electrolysis stacks controlled according to a FIFO algorithm, i.e. with the electrolysis stacks deactivated in the same order they were activated, as taught by Muyeen to allow the operation time for the different stacks to be balanced without inclination of an individual stack, increasing their service life.
Regarding claim 9, modified Taguchi teaches, in a driving state of the electrolysis stack module:
measuring the current power supply (see e.g. Taguchi Paragraph 0031, lines 1-2, control circuit estimates power generated by solar cell);
checking whether the amount of power supply is increased or decreased by comparing, by the controller, a previously measured amount of power supply and the currently measured amount of power supply; and performing, by the controller, power supply control according to a result of the checking whether the amount of the power supply is increased or decreased, wherein the performing of the power supply control includes controlling, by the controller, the amount of the power supply supplied to electrolysis stacks allocated to the stack driving conditions allocated to the stack driving conditions according to the increased or decreased amount of the power supply (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9 and Paragraphs 0041-0044, power to the respective stacks is distributed and adjusted according to fluctuations, i.e. increase and decrease in comparison to a previous amount, of the power generated by the solar cell).
Regarding claim 10, modified Taguchi teaches the stack driving conditions consisting of n=4 numbers of conditions according to n=4 numbers of ranges of the amount of the power supply, and the operation control method further comprising: determining, by the controller, whether or not each of the electrolysis stacks is to be driven according to the n=4 numbers of the stack driving conditions determined on the bases of the minimum amount of operating power supply preset in advance for each of the electrolysis stacks, and electrolysis stack to be driving being allocated for each of the stack driving conditions (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9, Paragraph 0037, lines 4-6, and Paragraphs 0041 and 0043-0045, power/current supplied to electrolysis stacks individually adjusted in response to output power of power source and the value At/Ap being in four specific ranges of 1≤At/Ap<2, 2≤At/Ap<3, 3≤At/Ap<4, At/Ap≥4, equating to four ranges of the total applied power/current At).
Regarding claim 11, modified Taguchi teaches all of the n=4 electrolysis stacks having the same stack capacity (A) (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 7 and Paragraphs 0037 and 0043, all the electrolysis stacks 40a to 40d with the same minimum efficiency peak current Ap, which is a proportion of the total potential power-receiving capacity at which electrolysis efficiency peaks).
Regarding claim 12, modified Taguchi teaches a lower limit value of each of the stack driving conditions being set to a multiple of an integer, no greater than n, of the minimum amount of the operating power supply (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9, with distribution examples 2 and 3, the lower limit at which each stack is operated is the stack number N times the minimum efficiency peak current Ap, with for example only stack 40a receiving current A1 when the total available current At is greater than or equal to 1*Ap, shown as At/Ap≥1; Paragraphs 0042-0044), and the range of the amount of the power supply for each of the stack operating conditions is determined as a magnitude of the minimum amount of the operating power supply (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9, with distribution examples 2 and 3 the range to the next condition is based on (N+1)*Ap, with for example stack 40a being the only stack receiving current until the total available current is greater than 2*Ap, shown as At/Ap≥2; Paragraphs 0042-0044).
Regarding claim 13, modified Taguchi teaches, among the stack driving conditions, a first stack driving condition in which a first electrolysis stack is operable with a minimum amount of supplied power is set to αA ≤ amount of supplied power < 2αA, and the controller controls to drive only the first electrolysis stack under the first stack driving condition (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9, with distribution examples 2 and 3, only stack 40a receiving current A1 when 1≤At/Ap<2, equal to Ap≤At<2Ap; Paragraphs 0042-0044), and the electrolysis stacks allocated to the stack driving conditions, respectively, are controlled to be sequentially driven in a driving start order according to an increase of the amount of the supplied power (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9, with distribution examples 2 and 3, as the total supplied power/current At increases stacks 40a-40d are sequentially supplied with currents A1-A4).
Regarding claim 15, modified Taguchi teaches, when it is confirmed that, after the power supply control is performed as the amount of power supply decreases, and after some of the electrolysis stacks are stopped to be driven due to the decrease in the amount of the supplied power, the amount of the supplied power increases again through the checking whether the amount of power is increased or decreased, the operation control method further comprises: checking, by the controller, whether some of the electrolysis stacks need to be driven or not additionally as the amount of supplied power increases again, and allowing, by the controller, the electrolysis stacks allocated to the respective stack driving conditions to be driven when it is confirmed that some of the electrolysis stacks need to be driven additionally (see e.g. Taguchi Fig. 9 and Paragraphs 0041-0044, power to the respective stacks is distributed and adjusted according to fluctuations, i.e. increase and decrease, of the power generated by the solar cell).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 9-10, filed 02/25/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 8 under 35 USC 102 over Taguchi, particularly regarding the stacks being deactivated in the same order as they were activated in a FIFO scheme, have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Taguchi and Muyeen.
Conclusion
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/M.S.J./Examiner, Art Unit 1795
/LUAN V VAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1795