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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/13/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1 and 11 recite “ a first capacitor that connected between” which should be amended to “ first capacitor that is connected between”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 9 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 9 recites the limitation “a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)" and “an emitter of the first IGBT is connected to the switch module." It is unclear whether this “first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)" is the same as the previously recited “first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)” in claim 1 and if the “emitter of the first IGBT” is the same as the previously recited “emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor.” For purposes of examination, the elements are taken to be the same, where the first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor of claim 1 is understood to be part of the inverter, as in claim 9.
Claim 18 recites the limitation “the first switch element is connected to the emitter of the first IGBT." Claim 11 previously recites “the first switch element is connected between the heating element and an emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor.” It is unclear if the connection described in claim 11 is the same as that of claim 18, however for purposes of examination it is understood to be the same connection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-,8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN203457342) in view of Yoo (KR100559955) and further in view of Garcia Jimenez (US9668305) with citations made to attached machine translations.
PNG
media_image1.png
606
934
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Annotated Fig. 1 of Sun
Regarding claim 1, Sun teaches a heating circuit, comprising
a rectifier circuit (70),
at least one sub-circuit (10, 20, 50),
a first power supply (AC input)
wherein the sub-circuit (10, 20, 50) comprises:
a switch module (20),
a heating element (10) and
a detection element (30,50),
wherein the switch module (20) is connected to the heating element (10) and the detection element (50),
and the switch module (20) comprises a second switch element (Annotated Fig. 1, second of 20) that is connected between the heating element (10) and a first capacitor (C0) that connected between the switch module (20) and the detection element (30, 50);
in response to the switch module (20) being placed in a first switch state ([0010, 0042] one of two switches turned on, to supply power to first resonance coil), the first power supply (AC), the rectifier circuit (70) and the heating element (10, one of the heating elements) are connected to form a first conduction loop, wherein the first power supply (AC) supplies power to the heating element (10) through the first conduction loop, and the heating element generates heat based on the power supplied by the first power supply (heating of selected resonance coil)
and in response to the switch module (20) being placed in a second switch state ([0010, 0042] second of two switches turned on, to supply power to a second resonance coil)
the detection element (50) and the heating element (10, one of the heating elements) are connected to form a second conduction loop, the power supply supplies power (AC) to the heating element (10) and the detection element (50) through the second conduction loop wherein the power supply (AC) supplies power to the heating element (10) and the detection element (50) through the second loop;
wherein the heating circuit comprises a second capacitor ([0030-0032] C ') connected between the heating element (10) and a ground point (grounded),
in response to the switch module (20) being placed in the first switch state, the second capacitor (C ') configured to control an alternating frequency of a heating current of the heating element (10), and
in response to the switch module (20) being placed in the second switch state, the second capacitor (C ') configured to control an alternating frequency of a detection current of the heating element (50).
Sun is silent on herein the switch module comprises a first switch element connected between the heating element and an emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor, wherein the first power supply supplies power to the heating element through the first conduction loop without supplying power to the detection element, a second power supply supplies power to the heating element and the detection element through the second conduction loop without supplying power to the inverter circuit, and an inverter.
PNG
media_image2.png
618
928
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Fig. 1 of Yoo
Yoo teaches a second power supply (15, connection to emergency power supply).
Sun and Yoo are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of heating circuits. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun to incorporate the teachings of Yoo to have a second power supply that can be connected to form a second conduction loop such that an alternate power source may be automatically switched to in situations where a first power supply may be functioning abnormally (Yoo [0016]).
Sun and Yoo are silent on wherein the switch module comprises a first switch element connected between the heating element and an emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor, and the switch module comprises a second switch element that is connected between the heating element and a first capacitor that connected between the switch module and the detection element; wherein the first power supply supplies power to the heating element through the first conduction loop without supplying power to the detection element, the second power supply supplies power to the heating element and the detection element through the second conduction loop without supplying power to the inverter circuit, and an inverter.
PNG
media_image3.png
450
724
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Fig. 2 of Garcia Jimenez
Garcia Jimenez teaches an inverter circuit (12),
wherein the switch module (20) comprises a first switch element (24) connected between the heating element (10) and an emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (12, Fig. 2 where in understanding of IGBT diagrams, at least one of the two IGBT elements shown in Fig. 2 as part of inverter 12, has the emitter connected to the first switch element, at terminal 24),
wherein the power supply supplies power to the heating element (10) through the first conduction loop(Col. 3 lines 15-25 first switch position of the Switching apparatus 14 the inverter 12 is connected to the inductor 10) without supplying power to the detection element (16),
the power supply supplies power to the heating element (10) and the detection element (16) through the second conduction loop (Col. 3 lines 55-65 the second switch position, in which the switch contacts of the relay 20 connect the second output terminal 26 of the relay 20 to the inductor 10, the inductor 10, with the detection circuit 16) without supplying power to the inverter circuit (12; Col. 2 lines 60-67 FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an inductor with a Switching apparatus which connects the inductor to an inverter when in a first Switch position, and connects the inductor to a detection circuit when in a second Switch position).
Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of heating circuits. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Yoo to incorporate the teachings of Jimenez modify the rectifier as taught by Sun and Yoo to also have the inverter as taught by Garcia Jimenez, where the first switch element is between the heating element and an emitter of a fist Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor of the inverter such that a driving current may be supplied to an induction coil such that heating may occur and heating adjustments may be made through the advantageous use of phase and frequency adjustments (Garcia Jimenez Col. 2 lines 1-15). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Yoo to incorporate the teachings of Garcia Jimenez to modify the first power supply and the first conduction loop as taught by Sun and Yoo to so that the power supply supplies power to the heating element through the first conduction loop without supplying power to the detection element as taught by Jimenez and to modify the second power supply and the second conduction loop as taught by Sun and Yoo to so that the power supply supplies power to the heating element and the detection element through the second conduction loop without supplying power to the inverter circuit in order to allow an energy-saving detection to be operated, which with regard to operating costs which marks as an improvements on known hobs equipped with separate sensors as they require a large amount of energy (Garcia Jimenez CoI. 1 lines 25-65).
Regarding claim 2, Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 1, and Sun teaches the second switch element (([0010, 0042] second switch of 20) is connected to the detection element (50),
in response to the first switch element ([0010, 0042] first switch of 20) being turned on and the second switch element being turned off ([0010, 0042] second of two switches 20 turned off), the switch module (20) is placed in the first switch state ([0010, 0042] first of two switches 20 turned on and second of two switches 20 turned off), and
in response to the first switch element being turned off ([0010, 0042] first switch of 20 off) and the second switch element being turned on (([0010, 0042] second switch of 20 on) the switch module is placed in the second switch state ([0010, 0042] first of two switches 20 turned off and second of two switches 20 turned on).
Regarding claim 3, Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 1, and Sun teaches wherein the switch module (20), comprises: a first terminal (Annotated Fig. 1) connected to the heating element (10
a second terminal (Annotated Fig. 1) connected to the rectifier circuit (70); and
a third terminal (Annotated Fig. 1) connected to the detection element (30, 50),
in response to the first terminal being connected to the second terminal ([0010, 0042] first switch of 20) the switch module is placed in the first switch state ([0010, 0042] first of two switches 20 turned on and second of two switches 20 turned off), and
in response to the first terminal being connected to the third terminal (([0010, 0042] second switch of 20 on) the switch module is placed in the second switch state ([0010, 0042] first of two switches 20 turned off and second of two switches 20 turned on).
Sun and Yoo are silent on the inverter circuit.
Garcia Jimenez teaches an inverter circuit (12).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Yoo to incorporate the teachings of Jimenez modify the rectifier as taught by Sun and Yoo to also have the inverter as taught by Garcia Jimenez, such that a driving current may be supplied to an induction coil such that heating may occur and heating adjustments may be made through the advantageous use of phase and frequency adjustments (Garcia Jimenez Col. 2 lines 1-15).
Regarding claim 4, Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 1, but Sun is silent on wherein the sub-circuit comprises N sub-circuits connected in parallel and N is an integer greater than 1.
Yoo teaches wherein the sub-circuit (30) comprises N sub-circuits connected in parallel (31 and 33, 32 and 37) and N is an integer greater than 1 (31 and 33, 32 and 37, being 2 sub circuits).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Garcia Jimenez to incorporate the teachings of Yoo to have more than one sub-subcircuit so that there would be a corresponding sub-circuit to operate in relation to the more than one power supplies so that switching power supplies due to a detected abnormality may occur at a faster speed (Yoo [0017]).
Regarding claim 6, Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 1, and Sun teaches wherein the sub-circuit further comprises: a first capacitor (C0) connected between the switch module (20) and the detection element (50) and configured to control an alternating frequency of a detection current of the heating element (10).
Regarding claim 7, Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 1, and Sun teaches wherein the detection element ([0034-0036] 50) comprises a first resistor (R1) and a second resistor (R2),
and the sub-circuit (20 and 50) comprises a third Metal Oxide Semiconductor (Q1) transistor and a fourth MOS transistor (Q2),
the first resistor (R1) is connected between a drain of the third MOS transistor (Q1) and the second power supply (60),
the second resistor (R2) is connected between a source of the fourth MOS transistor (Q2) and a ground point,
a source of the third MOS transistor (Q1) is connected to a drain of the fourth MOS transistor (Q2) and the switch module (20), respectively, and
the second resistor detects (R2), resistance of the heating element (10).
Sun is silent on detecting based on the power supplied by the second power supply.
Yoo teaches detecting based on the power supplied (V2) by the second power supply ([0050] emergency power).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Garcia Jimenez to incorporate the teachings of Yoo to detect based on a second power supply so that a second power supply may be incorporated for use in detection and switching operation when a first power supply is experiencing abnormalities (Yoo [0017]).
Regarding claim 8, Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 1, but Sun and Garcia Jimenez are silent on wherein the first power supply is a power supply providing a first voltage, the second power supply is a power supply providing a second voltage, and the first voltage is greater than the second voltage or, in response to supplying, by the first power supply, the power to the heating element through the first conduction loop, a current flowing through the heating element is a first current, in response to supplying, by the second power supply, the power to the heating element through the second conduction loop, a current flowing through the heating element is a second current, and the first current is greater than the second current.
Yoo teaches wherein the first power supply ([0016] commercial power), is a power supply providing a first voltage (V1), the second power supply is a power supply ([0016] emergency power using generation or emergency battery power), providing a second voltage (V2), and the first voltage is greater than the second voltage (V2, [0016] where V2 is generated by emergency battery power which is understood to be capable of providing less voltage than commercial power).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Garcia Jimenez to incorporate the teachings of Yoo to have a first and second power be supplied by a first and second power supply at different voltages, where the first voltage is greater than the second in order to be able to have a backup power supply that is able to provide secondary voltage in situations where a first power supply being a commercial power supply may be functioning abnormally (Yoo [0016]).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN203457342), Yoo (KR100559955), and Garcia Jimenez (US9668305) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yang (CN102158997).
Regarding claim 5, Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 1, but Sun and Garcia Jimenez are silent on wherein the sub-circuit comprises a first Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) transistor and a second MOS transistor, a drain of the first MOS transistor is connected to the second power supply, and a source of the first MOS transistor is connected to a drain of the second MOS transistor and the detection element, respectively, and a source of the second MOS transistor is connected to a ground point.
PNG
media_image4.png
466
352
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Fig. 3 of Yoo
Yoo teaches a first Metal Oxide Semiconductor (Q35) transistor and a second MOS transistor (Q30, [0094] MOS transistors), a drain of the first MOS (Q35) transistor is connected to the second power supply (VCC, V2), a source of the second MOS (Q30) transistor is connected to a ground point (Fig. 3 grounded).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun to incorporate the teachings of Yoo and Garcia Jimenez to have the first MOS be connected to a second power supply and a source of the second MOS to be grounded so that the operations of operations of allowing or blocking first or secondary power supply may be accurately controlled for the purpose of using the first and secondary power supplies in the appropriate situations in response to abnormalities in the power supplied (Yoo [0017, 0038]).
Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez are silent on a source of the first MOS transistor is connected to a drain of the second MOS transistor and the detection element respectively
Yang teaches a source of the first MOS transistor (Q1) is connected to a drain of the second MOS transistor (Q2) and the detection element (15) respectively.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez to incorporate the teachings of Yang to have a source of the first MOS transistor be connected to a drain of the second MOS transistor and the detection element so that induction power can be sent to the heating coil according to the trigger of the desired switch and enable detection by the detector (Yang [0039]).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN203457342), Yoo (KR100559955), and Garcia Jimenez (US9668305) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wang (US20110253706).
Regarding claim 9, Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 1, but are silent on wherein the inverter circuit comprises a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) and a second IGBT, a collector of the first IGBT is connected to the first power supply, and an emitter of the first IGBT is connected to the switch module and a collector of the second IGBT, respectively, and an emitter of the second IGBT is grounded.
Wang teaches wherein the inverter circuit (35 a) comprises a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (Qa1) and a second IGBT (Qa2),
a collector of the first IGBT (Qa1) is connected to the first power supply (5, Va+), and an emitter of the first IGBT (Qa1) is connected to the switch module (37) and a collector of the second IGBT (Qa2), respectively, and an emitter of the second IGBT (Qa2) is grounded (Va-).
Sun, Yoo, Garcia Jimenez, and Wang are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of heating circuits. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun, Yoo, and Garcia Jimenez to incorporate the teachings of Wang to have a first and second IGBT in the inverter so that the IGBT may be able to be operated in an interleaved manner which allows power to be alternately and successively supplied to the heating element (Wang [0029]).
Claims 11, 13, 14, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN203457342U) in view of Zhang (CN2101681U) and in further view of Garcia Jimenez (US9668305) with citations made to attached machine translations.
PNG
media_image5.png
606
934
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Annotated Fig. 1 of Sun
Regarding claim 11, Sun teaches a heating circuit, comprising
a rectifier circuit (70),
at least one sub-circuit (10, 20, 50),
a first power supply (AC input)
wherein the sub-circuit (10, 20, 50) comprises:
a first switch element (first switch of 20),
a second switch element (second switch of 20),
a heating element (10) and
a detection element (30,50),
the heating element (10) and the detection element (50) are connected in parallel between a first node connected to the first power supply and a second node connected to a ground point (Fig. 1),
the first switch element (20, one of two switches) is connected between the first node and the first power supply (70).
and the second switch element (20, one of two switches) is connected between the second node (second node) and the ground point (ground) and the switch module (20) comprises a second switch element (Annotated Fig. 1, second of 20) that is connected between the heating element (10) and a first capacitor (C0) that connected between the switch module (20) and the detection element (30, 50);
wherein the heating circuit comprises a second capacitor ([0030-0032] C ') connected between the heating element (10) and a ground point (grounded),
in response to the switch module (20) being placed in the first switch state, the second capacitor (C ') configured to control an alternating frequency of a heating current of the heating element (10), and
in response to the switch module (20) being placed in the second switch state, the second capacitor (C ') configured to control an alternating frequency of a detection current of the heating element (50).
Sun is silent on a second power supply, an inverter, the first switch element connected between the heating element and an emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor, and in response to both the first switch element and the second switch element being turned on, the first power supply, the inverter circuit and the heating element are connected to form a first conduction loop, the first power supply supplies power to the heating element through the first conduction loop without supplying power to the detection element, and the heating element generates heat based on the power supplied by the first power supply, and in response to both the first switch element and the second switch element being turned off, the second power supply, the detection element and the heating element are connected to form a second conduction loop, and the second power supply supplies power to the heating element and the detection element through the second conduction loop without supplying to the inverter circuit.
PNG
media_image6.png
356
524
media_image6.png
Greyscale
Annotated Fig. 2 of Zhang
Zhang teaches ([0011-0018]) a second power supply (6), in response to both the first switch element (4, noted as 4.1) and the second switch element (4, noted as 4.2) being turned on, the first power supply (1), the rectifier circuit (3) and the heating element are connected to form a first conduction loop (5),
the first power supply supplies (1) power to the heating element (5) through the first conduction loop, and the heating element (5) generates heat based on the power supplied by the first power supply (1), and
in response to both the first switch element (4, noted as 4.1) and the second switch element (4, noted as 4.2) being turned off, the second power supply (6), the detection element (11) and the heating element (5) are connected to form a second conduction loop,
and the second power supply (6) supplies power to the heating element (5) and the detection (11) element through the second conduction loop.
Sun and Zhang are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of heating circuits. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun to incorporate the teachings of Zhang to have a first and second power supply, where when both switches are on, a first conduction loop is formed and when both switches are off a second conduction loop is formed so that control accuracy is high, the overload capacity is large and not easy to break down, the power consumption is small, the operation is simple, and the ultra-high temperature accident is effectively prevented, which ensures that the products produced are fully qualified, comprehensively improves productivity of the device and electricity savings of the device (Zhang [0012]).
Sun and Zhang are silent on an inverter circuit, the first switch element connected between the heating element and an emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor, wherein the first power supply supplies power to the heating element through the first conduction loop without supplying power to the detection element, the second power supply supplies power to the heating element and the detection element through the second conduction loop without supplying power to the inverter circuit, and an inverter.
Garcia Jimenez teaches an inverter circuit (12),
the first switch element (24) connected between the heating element (10) and an emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (12, Fig. 2 where in understanding of IGBT diagrams, at least one of the two IGBT elements shown in Fig. 2 as part of inverter 12, has the emitter connected to the first switch element, at terminal 24),
wherein the power supply supplies power to the heating element (10) through the first conduction loop(Col. 3 lines 15-25 first switch position of the Switching apparatus 14 the inverter 12 is connected to the inductor 10) without supplying power to the detection element (16),
the power supply supplies power to the heating element (10) and the detection element (16) through the second conduction loop (Col. 3 lines 55-65 the second switch position, in which the switch contacts of the relay 20 connect the second output terminal 26 of the relay 20 to the inductor 10, the inductor 10, with the detection circuit 16) without supplying power to the inverter circuit (12; Col. 2 lines 60-67 FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an inductor with a Switching apparatus which connects the inductor to an inverter when in a first Switch position, and connects the inductor to a detection circuit when in a second Switch position).
Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of heating circuits. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Zhang to incorporate the teachings of Garcia Jimenez modify the rectifier as taught by Sun and Zhang to also have the inverter as taught by Garcia Jimenez, such that a driving current may be supplied to an induction coil such that heating may occur and heating adjustments may be made through the advantageous use of phase and frequency adjustments (Garcia Jimenez Col. 2 lines 1-15). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Zhang to incorporate the teachings of Garcia Jimenez to modify the first power supply and the first conduction loop as taught by Sun and Zhang to so that the power supply supplies power to the heating element through the first conduction loop without supplying power to the detection element as taught by Jimenez and to modify the second power supply and the second conduction loop as taught by Sun and Zhang to so that the power supply supplies power to the heating element and the detection element through the second conduction loop without supplying power to the inverter circuit in order to allow an energy-saving detection to be operated, which with regard to operating costs which marks as an improvements on known hobs equipped with separate sensors as they require a large amount of energy (Garcia Jimenez CoI. 1 lines 25-65).
Regarding claim 13, Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez the heating circuit of claim 11, and Sun teaches wherein the sub-circuit further (20, 50) comprises a third switch element (60) connected between the first node (first node) and the detection element (50), but is silent on in response to both the first switch element and the second switch element being turned on and the third switch element being turned off, the first power supply, the inverter circuit and the heating element are connected to form the first conduction loop, and in response to both the first switch element and the second switch element being turned off and the third switch element being turned on, the second power supply, the detection element and the heating element are connected to form the second conduction loop.
Zhang teaches in response to both the first switch element (4, noted as 4.1) and the second switch element (4, noted as 4.2) being turned on and the third switch element being turned off (4, noted as 4.3), the first power supply (1), the rectifier circuit (3) and the heating element (5) are connected to form the first conduction loop, and
in response to both the first switch element (4, noted as 4.1) and the second switch element (4, noted as 4.2) being turned off and the third switch element (4, noted as 4.3) being turned on, the second power supply (6), the detection element (11) and the heating element (5) are connected to form the second conduction loop.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun to incorporate the teachings of Zhang to have a first a second power supply, where when both switches are on and a third switch is off, a first conduction loop is formed and when both switches are off and a third switch is on, a second conduction loop is formed so that control accuracy is high, the overload capacity is large and not easy to break down, the power consumption is small, the operation is simple, and the ultra-high temperature accident is effectively prevented, which ensures that the products produced are fully qualified, comprehensively improves productivity of the device and electricity savings of the device (Zhang [0012]).
Sun and Zhang are silent on an inverter.
Garcia Jimenez teaches an inverter (12).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Zhang to incorporate the teachings of Garcia Jimenez modify the rectifier as taught by Sun and Zhang to also have the inverter as taught by Garcia Jimenez, such that a driving current may be supplied to an induction coil such that heating may occur and heating adjustments may be made through the advantageous use of phase and frequency adjustments (Garcia Jimenez Col. 2 lines 1-15).
Regarding claim 14, Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez the heating circuit of claim 11, and Sun teaches wherein the first switch element (first switch of 20) comprises: a first terminal connected to the heating element (10);
a second terminal connected to the rectifier circuit (70) and
a third terminal connected to the detection element (50),
in response to the first terminal being connected to the second terminal (first switch of 20 being on),
the first power supply (AC), the rectifier circuit (70) and the heating element (20) are connected to form the first conduction loop
in response to the first terminal being connected to the third terminal (first switch of 20 being on),) the switch module is placed in the second switch state
the power supply (AC), the detection element (50) and the heating element (40) are connected to form the second conduction loop.
Sun is silent on a second power supply and an inverter.
Zhang teaches a second power supply (6)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun to incorporate the teachings of Zhang to have a second power supply so that control accuracy is high, the overload capacity is large and not easy to break down, the power consumption is small, the operation is simple, and the ultra-high temperature accident is effectively prevented, which ensures that the products produced are fully qualified, comprehensively improves productivity of the device and electricity savings of the device (Zhang [0012]).
Sun and Zhang are silent on an inverter.
Garcia Jimenez teaches an inverter (12).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Zhang to incorporate the teachings of Garcia Jimenez modify the rectifier as taught by Sun and Zhang to also have the inverter as taught by Garcia Jimenez, such that a driving current may be supplied to an induction coil such that heating may occur and heating adjustments may be made through the advantageous use of phase and frequency adjustments (Garcia Jimenez Col. 2 lines 1-15).
Regarding claim 17, Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez the heating circuit of claim 11, and Sun teaches wherein the sub-circuit further comprises:
a first capacitor (C0) connected between the switch module (20) and the detection element (50) and configured to control an alternating frequency of a detection current of the heating element (10).
Regarding claim 20, Sun teaches a heating circuit, comprising
a rectifier circuit (70),
at least one sub-circuit (10, 20, 50),
a first power supply (AC input)
wherein the sub-circuit (10, 20, 50) comprises:
a first switch component (first switch of 20),
a second switch component (second switch of 20),
a heating element (10) and
a detection element (30,50),
wherein a first terminal of the first switch component (first switch of 20) is connected to a first terminal of the heating element (10)
a second terminal of the first switch component (first switch of 20) is connected to a first terminal of the rectifier circuit (70),
and a third terminal of the first switch component(first switch of 20) is connected to a first terminal of the detection circuit (50),
a first terminal of the second switch component (second switch of 20) component is connected to a second terminal of the heating element (10),
a second terminal of the second switch component (second switch of 20) is connected to a second terminal of the rectifier circuit (70),
and a third terminal of the second switch component (second switch of 20) is connected to a second terminal of the detection circuit (50),
wherein the heating circuit comprises a second capacitor ([0030-0032] C ') connected between the heating element (10) and a ground point (grounded),
in response to the switch module (20) being placed in the first switch state, the second capacitor (C ') configured to control an alternating frequency of a heating current of the heating element (10), and
in response to the switch module (20) being placed in the second switch state, the second capacitor (C ') configured to control an alternating frequency of a detection current of the heating element (50).
Sun is silent on a second power supply, an inverter, a second terminal of the first switch component is connected to an emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor, and in response to the first terminal of the first switch component being connected to the second terminal of the first switch component and the first terminal of the second switch component being connected to the second terminal of the second switch component, the first power supply, the heating element and the inverter circuit form a first loop, the first power supply supplies power to the heating element through the first loop, and the heating element generates heat based on the power supplied by the first power supply, and in response to the first terminal of the first switch component being connected to the third terminal of the first switch component and the first terminal of the second switch component being connected to the third terminal of the second switch component, the second power supply, the detection circuit and the heating element form a second loop, the second power supply supplies power to the heating element and the detection circuit through the second loop.
PNG
media_image6.png
356
524
media_image6.png
Greyscale
Annotated Fig. 2 of Zhang
Zhang teaches a second power supply (6), in response to the first terminal of the first switch (4, noted as 4.1) component being connected to the second terminal of the first switch component (4.1 on) and the first terminal of the second switch component (4, noted as 4.2) being connected to the second terminal of the second switch component (4.2 on),
the first power supply (1), the heating element (5) and the rectifier circuit (3) form a first loop, the first power supply (1) supplies power to the heating element (5) through the first loop,
and the heating element (5) generates heat based on the power supplied by the first power supply (1), and
in response to the first terminal of the first switch component (4, noted as 4.1) being connected to the third terminal of the first switch component (4.1 off) and the first terminal of the second switch component (4, noted as 4.2) being connected to the third terminal of the second switch component (4.2 off),
the second power supply (6), the detection circuit (11) and the heating element (5) form a second loop,
the second power supply (6) supplies power to the heating element (5) and the detection circuit (11) through the second loop.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun to incorporate the teachings of Zhang to have a first a second power supply, where when both switches are on, a first conduction loop is formed and when both switches are off a second conduction loop is formed so that control accuracy is high, the overload capacity is large and not easy to break down, the power consumption is small, the operation is simple, and the ultra-high temperature accident is effectively prevented, which ensures that the products produced are fully qualified, comprehensively improves productivity of the device and electricity savings of the device (Zhang [0012]).
Garcia Jimenez teaches an inverter circuit (12),
a second terminal of the first switch component (24) is connected to an emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (12, Fig. 2 where in understanding of IGBT diagrams, at least one of the two IGBT elements shown in Fig. 2 as part of inverter 12, has the emitter connected to the first switch element, at terminal 24),
wherein the power supply supplies power to the heating element (10) through the first conduction loop (Col. 3 lines 15-25 first switch position of the Switching apparatus 14 the inverter 12 is connected to the inductor 10) without supplying power to the detection element (16),
the power supply supplies power to the heating element (10) and the detection element (16) through the second conduction loop (Col. 3 lines 55-65 the second switch position, in which the switch contacts of the relay 20 connect the second output terminal 26 of the relay 20 to the inductor 10, the inductor 10, with the detection circuit 16) without supplying power to the inverter circuit (12; Col. 2 lines 60-67 FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an inductor with a Switching apparatus which connects the inductor to an inverter when in a first Switch position, and connects the inductor to a detection circuit when in a second Switch position).
Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of heating circuits. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Zhang to incorporate the teachings of Garcia Jimenez to modify the rectifier as taught by Sun and Zhang to also have the inverter as taught by Garcia Jimenez, where the first switch element is between the heating element and an emitter of a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor of the inverter such that a driving current may be supplied to an induction coil such that heating may occur and heating adjustments may be made through the advantageous use of phase and frequency adjustments (Garcia Jimenez Col. 2 lines 1-15). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun and Zhang to incorporate the teachings of Garcia Jimenez to modify the first power supply and the first conduction loop as taught by Sun and Zhang to so that the power supply supplies power to the heating element through the first conduction loop without supplying power to the detection element as taught by Jimenez and to modify the second power supply and the second conduction loop as taught by Sun and Zhang to so that the power supply supplies power to the heating element and the detection element through the second conduction loop without supplying power to the inverter circuit in order to allow an energy-saving detection to be operated, which with regard to operating costs which marks as an improvements on known hobs equipped with separate sensors as they require a large amount of energy (Garcia Jimenez Col. 1 lines 25-65).
Claims 12 and 15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN203457342U), Zhang (CN2101681U), and Garcia Jimenez (US9668305) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Yoo (KR100559955).
Regarding claim 12, Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez the heating circuit of claim 11, teach the heating circuit of claim 11, but are silent on the sub-circuit comprises N sub-circuits connected in parallel and N is an integer greater than 1.
Yoo teaches wherein the sub-circuit (30) comprises N sub-circuits connected in parallel (31 and 33, 32 and 37) and N is an integer greater than 1 (31 and 33, 32 and 37, being 2 sub circuits).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez to incorporate the teachings of Yoo to have more than one sub-subcircuit so that there would be a corresponding sub-circuit to operate in relation to the more than one power supplies so that switching power supplies due to a detected abnormality may occur at a faster speed (Yoo [0017]).
Regarding claim 15, Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez the heating circuit of claim 11, but are silent on wherein the first power supply is a power supply providing a first voltage, the second power supply is a power supply providing a second voltage, and the first voltage is greater than the second voltage or, in response to supplying, by the first power supply, the power to the heating element through the first conduction loop, a current flowing through the heating element is a first current, in response to supplying, by the second power supply, the power to the heating element through the second conduction loop, a current flowing through the heating element is a second current, and the first current is greater than the second current.
Yoo teaches wherein the first power supply ([0016] commercial power), is a power supply providing a first voltage (V1), the second power supply is a power supply ([0016] emergency power using generation or emergency battery power,) providing a second voltage (V2), and the first voltage is greater than the second voltage (V2, [0016] where V2 is generated by emergency battery power which is understood to be capable of providing less voltage than commercial power).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez to incorporate the teachings of Yoo to have a first and second power be supplied by a first and second power supply at different voltages, where the first voltage is greater than the second in order to be able to have a backup power supply that is able to provide secondary voltage in situations where a first power supply being a commercial power supply may be functioning abnormally (Yoo [0016]).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN203457342U), Zhang (CN2101681U), and Garcia Jimenez (US9668305) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Yoo (KR100559955) and Yang (CN102158997) with citations made to attached machine translations.
Regarding claim 16, Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 11, but are silent on wherein the sub-circuit further comprises a first Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) transistor and a second MOS transistor, a drain of the first MOS transistor is connected to the second power supply, and a source of the first MOS transistor is connected to a drain of the second MOS transistor and the first switch element, respectively, and a source of the second MOS transistor is connected to a ground point and the detection element, respectively.
Yoo teaches a first Metal Oxide Semiconductor (Q35) transistor and a second MOS transistor (Q30, [0094] MOS transistors), a drain of the first MOS (Q35) transistor is connected to the second power supply (VCC, V2), a source of the second MOS (Q30) transistor is connected to a ground point (Fig. 3 grounded).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez to incorporate the teachings of Yoo to have the first MOS be connected to a second power supply and a source of the second MOS to be grounded so that the operations of operations of allowing or blocking first or secondary power supply may be accurately controlled for the purpose of using the first and secondary power supplies in the appropriate situations in response to abnormalities in the power supplied (Yoo [0017, 0038]).
Sun, Zhang, Garcia Jimenez, and Yoo are silent on a source of the first MOS transistor is connected to a drain of the second MOS transistor and the detection element respectively
Yang teaches a source of the first MOS transistor (Q1) is connected to a drain of the second MOS transistor (Q2) and the detection element (15) respectively.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun, Zhang, Garcia Jimenez, and Yoo to incorporate the teachings of Yang to have a source of the first MOS transistor be connected to a drain of the second MOS transistor and the detection element so that induction power can be sent to the heating coil according to the trigger of the desired switch and enable detection by the detector (Yang [0039]).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN203457342U), Zhang (CN2101681U), and Garcia Jimenez (US9668305) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Wang (US20110253706).
Regarding claim 18, Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 11, but are silent on wherein the inverter circuit comprises a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) and a second IGBT, a collector of the first IGBT is connected to the first power supply, and an emitter of the first IGBT is connected to the switch module and a collector of the second IGBT, respectively, and an emitter of the second IGBT is grounded.
Wang teaches wherein the inverter circuit (35 a)comprises a first Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (Qa1) and a second IGBT (Qa2),
a collector of the first IGBT (Qa1) is connected to the first power supply (5, Va+), and an emitter of the first IGBT is connected to the switch module (37) and a collector of the second IGBT Qa2), respectively, and
an emitter of the second IGBT (Qa2) is grounded (Va-).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez to incorporate the teachings of Wang to have a first and second IGBT in the inverter so that the IGBT may be able to be operated in an interleaved manner which allows power to be alternately and successively supplied to the heating element (Wang [0029]).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN203457342U) and Zhang (CN2101681U), and Garcia Jimenez (US9668305) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Kitaizumi (JP2004288602A) with citations made to attached machine translations.
Regarding claim 19, Sun, Zhang, and Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez teach the heating circuit of claim 11, but are silent on wherein the second capacitor is connected between the first power supply and the second switch element; and the heating circuit further comprises a third capacitor connected between the second capacitor and a ground point, wherein the second capacitor and the third capacitor cooperate to control an alternating frequency of a heating current of the heating element.
Kitaizumi wherein the second capacitor second capacitor (17) is connected between the first power supply (16) and the second switch element (26); and the heating circuit further comprises
a third capacitor (3) connected between the second capacitor (17) and a ground point (ground),
wherein the second capacitor (17) and the third capacitor (3) cooperate to control an alternating frequency of a heating current of the heating element ([0049] control frequency of heating coil).
Sun, Zhang, Garcia Jimenez, and Kitaizumi are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of heating circuits. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified Sun, Zhang, and Sun, Zhang, and Garcia Jimenez to incorporate the teachings of Kitaizumi to have a second and third capacitor to control alternating frequency as having both makes it is possible to secure the input power without the drive frequency following the resonance frequency (Kitaizumi [0049]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding applicant’s arguments that the previously cited references do not teach the amended limitations of claims 1 and 11, in particular in view of the “a second switch element that is connected between the heating element and a first capacitor,” the amended limitation is found to be taught by Sun, where the first capacitor of Sun is now understood to be element C0, instead of C’. The capacitor C0, is connected, at least at the first node, between one of switch 20 and heating element 10. The capacitor C0 is also connected between one of switch 20 and the detection element 50, as now required by the claims, given the parallel configuration shown in Sun. Therefore Sun is taught to teach the amended limitation of “the first capacitor.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABIGAIL RHUE whose telephone number is (571)272-4615. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 10-6.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Crabb can be reached at (571) 270-5095. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ABIGAIL H RHUE/Examiner, Art Unit 3761 8/14/2026
Prosecution Insights