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
In view of the appeal brief filed on 11/04/2025, PROSECUTION IS HEREBY REOPENED. New grounds of rejection are set forth below.
To avoid abandonment of the application, appellant must exercise one of the following two options:
(1) file a reply under 37 CFR 1.111 (if this Office action is non-final) or a reply under 37 CFR 1.113 (if this Office action is final); or,
(2) initiate a new appeal by filing a notice of appeal under 37 CFR 41.31 followed by an appeal brief under 37 CFR 41.37. The previously paid notice of appeal fee and appeal brief fee can be applied to the new appeal. If, however, the appeal fees set forth in 37 CFR 41.20 have been increased since they were previously paid, then appellant must pay the difference between the increased fees and the amount previously paid.
A Supervisory Patent Examiner (SPE) has approved of reopening prosecution by signing below:
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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) 12-27, 30-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2021/0152028 (Zhu) in view of US 2023/0084679 (Lee).
Claim 12, Zhu teaches a transmitting unit (Fig. 21 shows charging unit 510) for transferring energy to a device (to-be-charged device receives power from charging unit 510) for supplying the device (to-be-charged device being supplied with energy from charging unit 510) [0151] with energy needed to operate the device (to-be-charged device receives power from charging unit 510 with energy needed to operate the to-be-charged device) [0222], wherein the energy is transferred wirelessly (first charging unit 510 supply power to to-be-charged device wirelessly) [0154], the transmitting unit (Fig. 21 shows first charging unit 510) comprising:
an energy transfer area for wirelessly transferring energy to the device (Fig. 19 shows first charging unit 510 having an energy transfer area for wirelessly transferring energy to the to-be-charged device) [0160, 0169, 0175, 0237]; and
a communication interface (Fig. 21 shows first controller 400 connected to extension port 515 forming a communication interface) configured to communicate with a further, similar transmitting unit (Fig. 21 shows further transmitting unit 520 having second controller 525 connected to extension port 526 to communicate with extension port 515 of the transmitting unit 510) [0012, 0057, 0066, 0152-154, 0204, 213] wherein the communication interface (first controller 400 connected to extension port 515) is configured such that at least one piece of information relating to a target phase angle of the current flowing in a transmitting coil of the transmitting unit or relating to a relative target phase angle is transferable (first controller 400 connected to extension port 515 is configured such that second and third high-frequency signal i.e. information relating to a target phase angle of the current flowing in a transmitter coil of the transmitting unit 510 or relating to a relative target phase angle is transferable) [0078, 0081, 0085-86, 0098, 0228, 0235, 0239, 0247, 0250].
However, Zhu does not teach power receiving device to be a handheld power tool.
However, Lee teaches power receiving device to be a handheld power tool (Fig. 26 shows charging pads #1-3 each having transmitters PC1 for charging handheld power tool) [0065].
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have power receiving device to be a handheld power tool as taught by Lee in order to have wireless charging pads supply power to wireless receiver devices of various kinds including but not limited to handheld power tools.
Regarding claim 13, Zhu teaches further comprising at least one energy supply interface for interchanging the electrical energy needed to operate at least one of the transmitting units with the further transmitting unit in a unidirectional or bidirectional manner (energy supply interface for interchanging the energy needed to operate transmitting units 510 with the further transmitting unit 520 in a unidirectional or bidirectional manner) [0089-91].
Regarding claim 14, Zhu teaches wherein the at least one energy supply interface includes at least two energy supply interfaces (Fig. 21 shows transmitting unit 510 having plurality transmitter coils A-C as well as power terminals in extension port 515 as shown in Fig. 23a).
Regarding claim 15, Zhu teaches wherein the communication interface forms at least one of the energy supply interfaces (Fig. 23a shows extension port 515 having power terminals) [0246-247].
Regarding claim 16, Zhu does not teach the communication interface is configured as a wireless interface.
However, Lee teaches the communication interface is configured as a wireless interface (Fig. 26 shows communication interface between the charging pads #1, #2, #3 is via Bluetooth OOB via device 900) [0474].
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have communication interface is configured as a wireless interface as taught by Lee in order to
Regarding claim 17, Zhu teaches wherein the communication interface is configured such that the at least one piece of information relating to the relative target phase angle is transferable (first controller 400 connected to extension port 515 is configured such that second and third high-frequency signal i.e. information relating to a target phase angle of the current flowing in a transmitter coil of the transmitting unit 510 or relating to a relative target phase angle is transferable) [0078, 0081, 0085-86, 0098, 0228, 0235, 0239, 0247, 0250].
Regarding claim 18, Zhu teaches wherein the transmitting unit is connectable to the further transmitting unit in a force-fitting or form-fitting manner (Fig. 21 shows extension ports 515 of transmitting unit 510 connectable to further transmitting unit 520 via port 526) [0086, 0240-241].
Regarding claim 19, Zhu teaches an electrical energy source (Fig. 21 shows current from an external power supply i.e. electrical energy source) [0242-243].
Regarding claim 20, Zhu teaches further comprising the further transmitting unit (Fig. 21 shows further transmitting unit 520).
Regarding claim 21, Zhu does not teach the handheld power tool.
However, Lee teaches the handheld power tool as the receiving unit [0065, 0078-81].
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have power receiving device to be a handheld power tool as taught by Lee in order to have wireless charging pads supply power to wireless receiver devices of various kinds including but not limited to handheld power tools.
Regarding claim 22, Zhu teaches wherein the transmitting unit has at least two transmitting coils (Fig. 19 shows first charging unit 510 has at least two transmitting coils A-C) and the device has at least one receiving coil (Fig. 19 shows to-be-charged device having at least one receiving coil), wherein the receiving coil is larger than at least one of the transmitting coils (Fig. 19 shows receiving coil is larger than at least one of the transmitting coils A-C).
However, Zhu does not teach receiving unit being a handheld power tool.
However, Lee teaches the handheld power tool as the receiving unit [0065, 0078-81].
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have power receiving device to be a handheld power tool as taught by Lee in order to have wireless charging pads supply power to wireless receiver devices of various kinds including but not limited to handheld power tools.
Regarding claim 23, Zhu teaches wherein the communication interface is configured such that the at least one piece of information relating to the target phase angle of the current flowing in a transmitting coil of the transmitting unit is transferable (first controller 400 connected to extension port 515 is configured such that second and third high-frequency signal i.e. information relating to a target phase angle of the current flowing in a transmitter coil of the transmitting unit 510 or relating to a relative target phase angle is transferable) [0078, 0081, 0085-86, 0098, 0228, 0235, 0239, 0247, 0250].
Regarding claim 24, Zhu teaches wherein the communication interface has at least one electrical connector and an energy supply interface (Fig. 23a shows extension port 515 i.e. communication interface having at least one electrical connector in the data terminals and power terminals i.e. energy supply interface) [0246].
Regarding claim 25, Zhu teaches wherein the transmitting unit interchanges a feed current in a bidirectional manner via the communication interface (transmitting unit 510 interchanges feed current via port 515 i.e. communication interface in a bidirectional manner) [0089-0091].
Regarding claim 26, Zhu teaches wherein the piece of information relating to the target phase angle is transferred from an energy transfer module to the transmitting unit via the communication interface (first controller 400 connected to extension port 515 is configured such that second and third high-frequency signal i.e. information relating to a target phase angle of the current flowing in a transmitter coil of the transmitting unit 510 or relating to a relative target phase angle is transferable) [0078, 0081, 0085-86, 0098, 0228, 0235, 0239, 0247, 0250].
Regarding claim 27, Zhu teaches wherein the piece of information relating to the target phase angle is coded by a phase angle of the current in the transmitting coil and corresponds to the target phase angle (first controller 400 connected to extension port 515 is configured such that second and third high-frequency signal i.e. information relating to a target phase angle of the current flowing in a transmitter coil of the transmitting unit 510 or relating to a relative target phase angle is transferable) [0078, 0081, 0085-86, 0098, 0228, 0235, 0239, 0247, 0250].
Regarding claim 30, Zhu does not explicitly teach wherein the energy transfer area is configured to transfer energy with a power of at least 10 W.
However, Lee teaches wherein the energy transfer area is configured to transfer energy with a power of at least 10 W (PC1 standard relates to wireless power transmitters providing a guaranteed power ranging from 30W to 150W) [0056-57, 0065-66].
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to have the energy transfer area is configured to transfer energy with a power of at least 10 W as taught by Lee
since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 31, Zhu does not explicitly teach the energy transfer area is configured to transfer energy with a power of at least 100 W.
However, Lee teaches the energy transfer area is configured to transfer energy with a power of at least 100 W (PC1 standard relates to wireless power transmitters providing a guaranteed power ranging from 30W to 150W) [0056-57, 0065-66].
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to have the energy transfer area is configured to transfer energy with a power of at least 100 W as taught by Lee
since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 28-29 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SWARNA N CHOWDHURI whose telephone number is (571)431-0696. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8am-5pm.
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SWARNA N. CHOWDHURI
Examiner
Art Unit 2836
/S.N.C/Examiner, Art Unit 2836
/DANIEL CAVALLARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836