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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vrankovic (PGPUB 2014/0116810) in view of Rossign0l (PGPUB 2014/0008155).
With respect to claim 1, Vrankovic teaches a conveyance system, comprising:
an alternating current (AC) power source (fig. 1, 102);
a machine (fig. 1, 110) for moving a conveyance apparatus (fig. 2, 212);
a regenerative drive (fig. 1, 106), wherein the machine is connected to the AC power source by the regenerative drive, the regenerative drive comprising:
a direct current (DC) bus (); and
a machine control circuit (fig. 1, 104),
the conveyance system further comprising:
an energy harvesting device (fig. 1, 116); and
a switching arrangement (fig. 1, 112/114), arranged between the energy harvesting device and the machine control circuit, wherein the switching arrangement is switchable between a first condition (paragraph 0025; 1 std operating mode), in which the energy harvesting device (paragraph 0021; contacts disconnect when not regenerative mode) is disconnected from the machine control circuit, and a second condition (paragraph 0025; 2 renewable power mode) in which the energy harvesting device is operatively connected to at least one switching device of the second plurality of switching devices (paragraph 0021; connects) of the machine control circuit.
Vrankovic does not teach a converter, comprising a first plurality of switching devices in selective communication with each phase of the AC power source and with the DC bus; and
machine comprising a second plurality of switching devices in selective communication with each phase of the machine and with the DC bus.
Rossignol teaches a converter (fig. 6, 38), comprising a first plurality of switching devices (fig. 6, transistors of 38) in selective communication (paragraph 0066) with each phase of the AC power source and with the DC bus (fig. 6, 40a); and
comprising a second plurality of switching devices (fig. 6, transistors of 34a) in selective communication with each phase of the machine (fig. 6, 12) and with the DC bus.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have Vrankovic convert ac source to dc bus and back to ac motor, as in Rossignol, since it has been held that omission of an element and its function in a combination where the remaining elements perform the same functions as before involves only routine skill in the art. In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184.
With respect to claim 2, Vrankovic teaches further comprising a switching controller (fig. 1, 104), arranged to control the switching arrangement (paragraph 0022) to switch between the first condition and the second condition.
With respect to claim 3, Vrankovic does not teach wherein the switching controller is arranged to switch the switching arrangement to the second condition when the machine is stationary.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have to have system switch when machine is stationary, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 4, Vrankovic does not teach comprising a drive controller arranged to control switching of the first plurality of switching devices and the second plurality of switching devices so as to control the machine, wherein the drive controller comprises the switching controller.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have the control system of Vrankovic to include a drive controller, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 5, Vrankovic does not teach wherein the machine comprises a star point, at which all phases of the machine meet, wherein the star point is arranged to be accessible from an exterior of the machine, and wherein the switching arrangement is connected to the star point.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have control system of Vrankovic for motor to be star configured, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 10, Vrankovic does not teach further comprising a voltage measurement device, connected to the energy harvesting device and arranged to measure the voltage produced by the energy harvesting device.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have control system of Vrankovic to include voltage sensing device, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 11, Vrankovic teaches wherein the conveyance system is an elevator system (paragraph 0023).
With respect to claim 12, Vrankovic teaches wherein the building is a residential building, or an office building, or a commercial building (paragraph 0017).
With respect to claim 13, Vrankovic teaches a method of operating a regenerative drive of a conveyance system, the regenerative drive comprising a direct current (DC) bus, a converter comprising a first plurality of switching devices in selective communication with each phase of an AC power source and with the DC bus, and a machine control circuit fig. 1, 104) comprising a second plurality of switching devices in selective communication with each phase of a machine and with the DC bus, the method comprising:
driving movement of the machine (fig. 1, 110) with power from the AC power source (fig. 1, 102) using the regenerative drive (fig. 1, 106),
wherein the machine is arranged to move a conveyance apparatus (fig. 2, 212) of the conveyance system; when motion of the machine (paragraph 0020; regeneration created during braking) is being braked, harvesting power from the machine using the regenerative drive;
switching a switching arrangement from a first condition (paragraph 0025; 1 std operating mode), in which an energy harvesting device is disconnected (paragraph 0021; contacts disconnect when not regenerative mode) from the machine control circuit of the regenerative drive,
to a second condition in which the energy harvesting device is operatively connected (paragraph 0025; 2 renewable power mode) to at least one switching device of the second plurality of switching devices (paragraph 0021; connects) of the machine control circuit.
Vrankovic does not teach a converter comprising a first plurality of switching devices in selective communication with each phase of an AC power source and with the DC bus, and comprising a second plurality of switching devices in selective communication with each phase of a machine and with the DC bus.
Rossignol teaches a converter (fig. 6, 38) comprising a first plurality of switching devices (fig. 6, transistors of 38) in selective communication with each phase of an AC power source and (fig. 6, 6) with the DC bus, and comprising a second plurality of switching devices (fig. 6, transistors of 34) in selective communication with each phase of a machine (fig. 6, 12) and with the DC bus (fig. 6, 40a).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have Vrankovic convert ac source to dc bus and back, as in Rossignol since it has been held that omission of an element and its function in a combination where the remaining elements perform the same functions as before involves only routine skill in the art. In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184.
With respect to claim 14, Vrankovic teaches transferring power harvested from the energy harvesting device when the machine is stationary to the AC power source, through the converter; and/or transferring power harvested from the energy harvesting device when the machine is stationary to a battery connected (paragraph 0020) to the DC bus.
With respect to claim 15, Vrankovic teaches a software product (paragraph 0025; software routine) which, when implemented on a controller (fig. 1, 104) of a conveyance system, causes the controller to carry out the method as claimed in claim 13.
Claims 6-9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/ERICK D GLASS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846