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 .
Claim Status
Claims 1-9 are pending:
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 03/16/2023 is/are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
Implied phrases
The office notes that the first abstract dated 03/16/2023 that is eight lines long was examined, as the second abstract dated 03/16/2023 is too short and is contained within the examined first abstract.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because
Fig2-4
Reproduction characteristics of the drawings are insufficiently dense, dark, thick, and well-defined and fail to be sufficiently distinguishable when scaled. See Rule 11.13 (a) and (c).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sato (JP 2009220753).
Claim 1
Sato discloses:
“A complex motor and heater driving circuit (best seen Fig19) comprising:
a first switching unit (Fig19, switches Tr11/Tr21/Tr31) connected to one end of each of a motor (AC motor 1 of Fig1/19) and a heating unit (Fig19, heat coils C1-3 of Fig2 heater HC, Abstract) and configured to transmit power to the motor and the heating unit (Fig19, see connecting wires of diagram);
a second switching unit connected to the other end of the motor to determine driving (Fig19, relay switches RS1-3/RS11-13); and
a third switching unit connected to the other end of the heating unit to determine driving (Fig19, Tr12/Tr22/Tr32).”
Claim 2
Sato discloses: “The complex motor and heater driving circuit of claim 1, wherein the motor is configured as a three-phase motor (best seen Fig19, AC motor 1 diagram), the first switching unit (Fig19, switches Tr11/Tr21/Tr31), the second switching unit (Fig19, relay switches RS1-3/RS11-13) and the third switching unit (Fig19, Tr12/Tr22/Tr32) each include three switches (Fig19, see sets of three), and the heating unit includes three heating elements (Fig19, heat coils C1-3).”
Claim 3
Sato discloses:
“A control system for a complex motor and heater driving circuit (best seen Fig1/2/19) comprising:
a complex motor and a heater driving circuit (best seen Fig19) including
a first switching unit (Fig19, switches Tr11/Tr21/Tr31) connected to one end of each of a motor (AC motor 1 of Fig1/19) and a heating unit (Fig19, heat coils C1-3 of Fig2 heater HC; Abstract) and configured to transmit power to the motor and the heating unit (Fig19, see connecting wires of diagram),
a second switching unit connected to the other end of the motor to determine driving (Fig19, relay switches RS1-3/RS11-13), and
a third switching unit connected to the other end of the heating unit to determine driving (Fig19, Tr12/Tr22/Tr32); and
a control unit (Fig2, controller CU) connected to the complex motor and heater driving circuit (Fig1/2/19, see connecting wires of diagram between AC motor 1, heater unit HC, and converter 11) and configured to control the complex motor and heater driving circuit (best seen by interface between Fig2/19; Fig20).”
Claim 9
Sato discloses: “The control system of claim 3, wherein the motor is applied to any one of a cooling fan, a compressor, and a blower (Fig2, air conditioning fan drive motor 29).”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4-8 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.
Claim 4
The prior art of record fails to anticipate or render obvious the limitations of the claim, and in particular “wherein when receiving a motor operation command, the control unit turns on all switches of the first switching unit and all switches of the second switching unit, and controls the first switching unit and the second switching unit using a SVPWM method.” in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
Claim 5
The prior art of record fails to anticipate or render obvious the limitations of the claim, and in particular “wherein when receiving a heater operation command, the control unit turns on all switches of the third switching unit after setting a power control output value, and turns on all switches of the first switching unit when a PWM duty of the third switching unit is equal to the power control output value” in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
Claim 6
The prior art of record fails to anticipate or render obvious the limitations of the claim, and in particular “wherein when receiving the motor operation command and the heater operation command, the control unit turns on all switches of the first switching unit and all switches of the second switching unit, and compares the PWM duty applied to each switch of the first switching unit, and turns on a switch of the third switching unit connected to a switch in which the largest PWM duty is applied.” in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
Claims 7-8 would be allowable based on dependency
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN HUNTER JR whose telephone number is (571)272-5093. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-18.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Courtney Heinle can be reached at (571) 270-3508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN S HUNTER, JR/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
Prosecution Insights