DETAILED ACTION
It is hereby acknowledged that the following papers have been received and placed of record in the file: Amendment date 01/27/2026.
Claims 1-5 are presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-5 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gekinozu (US 2016/0276844 A1) in view of Liu et al. (CN 106230063 A).
Note: CN106230063A cited on IDS 01/27/2026 (Foreign Patent Document 1 and Machine translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Gekinozu teaches a power supply system (battery charger 1 see Gekinozu: Fig.1) that includes two or more optionally connectable power supply units, the power supply units cooperating to supply DC power to a shared load (battery charger 1 that includes a first to an n-th power converters 10_1 to 10_2 connected in parallel and out to battery 100 corresponding load see Gekinozu: Fig.1; ¶[0037]),
wherein each of the power supply units (power converter 10_1 to 10_n see Gekinozu: Fig.1; Fig.2A) includes:
a power supply main circuit that converts AC power supplied from a power grid into DC power (power conversion circuit 12 “ the power conversion circuit includes an AC/DC converter configured to convert the AC power into the DC power, whereas when the power supply is a Direct Current power supply, the power conversion circuit includes a DC/DC converter configured to convert the DC power into the DC power” see Gekinozu: Fig.2A; ¶[0044]);
a current detection unit that detects an output current (The charging current detection circuit see Gekinozu: ¶[0041-0042]);
a voltage detection unit that detects an output voltage (The voltage detection circuit VcS see Gekinozu: ¶[0043]);
a parameter storage unit that rewritably holds, as a target value, operation mode information selectively indicating constant current operation mode or constant voltage operation mode, and one of a target current or a target voltage, whichever corresponds to the operation mode information (constant current charging operation and constant voltage charging operation based on current instruction value and voltage instruction value “the first to n-th power converters 10_1 to 10_n perform the constant current charging operation, the constant power charging operation, and the constant voltage charging operation based on a current instruction value Iref, a power instruction value Pref, a voltage instruction value Vref, and a drive instruction value fd from the charge controller 20, to charge the battery 100” see Gekinozu: ¶[0046]; ¶[0049]);
a control unit that controls the power supply main circuit such that one of the output current or the output voltage, whichever corresponds to the operation mode information, matches the target value (control device 11 control power control unit with different operation modes based on different values “The operation control device 11 is configured to generate a drive signal for causing the power conversion circuit 12 to perform the constant current charging operation, the constant power charging operation, or the constant voltage charge based on any one of the current instruction value Iref, the power instruction value Pref, or the voltage instruction value Vref, which has been input from the charge controller 20, and the drive instruction value fd” see Gekinozu: ¶[0056]); and
wherein the control unit performs balance adjustment with another power supply by controlling the power supply main circuit to operate in either the constant current operation mode or the constant voltage operation mode indicated by the balance information of an own unit and the another power supply unit from beginning to end of the balance adjustment (operation control device 11 adjust the power based on power instruction value pref “the micon 11a operates a control instruction value corresponding to each of the various charging operations based on the output current value Io and the output voltage value Vout, and the current instruction value Iref, the power instruction value Pref, the voltage instruction value Pref, and the drive instruction value fd, which are supplied from the charge controller 20” and “The operation control device 11 is configured to generate a drive signal for causing the power conversion circuit 12 to perform the constant current charging operation, the constant power charging operation, or the constant voltage charge based on any one of the current instruction value Iref, the power instruction value Pref, or the voltage instruction value Vref, which has been input from the charge controller 20, and the drive instruction value fd” see Gekinozu: ¶[0064]; ¶[0056]).
Gekinozu does not explicitly teaches a balance information transmission unit that transmits, as balance information, the output voltage when the operation mode information indicates the constant current operation mode in case of series connection of the power supply units and the output current when the operation mode information indicates the constant voltage operation mode in case of parallel connection of the power supply units; and
a balance information reception unit that receives, as balance information, the output voltage when the operation mode information indicates the constant current operation mode in case of series connection of the power supply units and the output current when the operation mode information indicates the constant voltage operation mode in case of parallel connection of the power supply units from another one of the power supply units.
However, Liu teaches the balance information transmission unit that transmits, as balance information (In the series-parallel networking mode, set the DC charging system to work in the constant voltage current limiting mode or constant current voltage limiting mode see Liu: Page 3 lines 15-18), the output voltage when the operation mode information indicates the constant current operation mode in case of series connection of the power supply units (In the constant current mode, the main host will share the total output current I_ref_total equally as the given output current I_ref is output to the series master of each group of DC charging components, and the series master adjusts the output voltage of the corresponding DC charging components to control the output current of each group of DC charging components see Liu: Page 3 lines 18-26) and the output current when the operation mode information indicates the constant voltage operation mode in case of parallel connection of the power supply units (in constant voltage mode, the main master controls the output voltage of each group of DC charging components V_ref_total, and then calculate the current given value I_ref of each group of DC charging components according to the total output current, and each series host adjusts the output current of this group of DC components in real time by adjusting the output voltage V_ref of each DC charging device in this group of DC charging components I_ref is given by tracking current see Liu: Page 3 lines 18-26); and
a balance information reception unit that receives, as balance information, the output voltage when the operation mode information indicates the constant current operation mode in case of series connection of the power supply units(In the constant current mode, the main host will share the total output current I_ref_total equally as the given output current I_ref is output to the series master of each group of DC charging components, and the series master adjusts the output voltage of the corresponding DC charging components to control the output current of each group of DC charging components see Liu: Page 3 lines 18-26) and the output current when the operation mode information indicates the constant voltage operation mode in case of parallel connection of the power supply units from another one of the power supply units (in constant voltage mode, the main master controls the output voltage of each group of DC charging components V_ref_total, and then calculate the current given value I_ref of each group of DC charging components according to the total output current, and each series host adjusts the output current of this group of DC components in real time by adjusting the output voltage V_ref of each DC charging device in this group of DC charging components I_ref is given by tracking current see Liu: Page 3 lines 18-26) in order to sufficient charging regulation accuracy and sufficient use of charging capacity when the charging device charges a small load (see Liu: Background).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to create the invention of Gekinozu to include (or to use, etc.) the balance information transmission unit that transmits, as balance information, the output voltage when the operation mode information indicates the constant current operation mode in case of series connection of the power supply units and the output current when the operation mode information indicates the constant voltage operation mode in case of parallel connection of the power supply units; and
a balance information reception unit that receives, as balance information, the output voltage when the operation mode information indicates the constant current operation mode in case of series connection of the power supply units and the output current when the operation mode information indicates the constant voltage operation mode in case of parallel connection of the power supply units from another one of the power supply units as taught by Liu in order to sufficient charging regulation accuracy and sufficient use of charging capacity when the charging device charges a small load (see Liu: Background).
Regarding claim 2, the modified Gekinozu taught the power supply system according to the claim 1 as described hereinabove. Gekinozu further teaches wherein the parameter storage unit rewritably holds balance adjustment target information for identifying the another power supply unit serving as a reference target for balance adjustment (operation control device 11 adjust the power based on power instruction value pref “the micon 11a operates a control instruction value corresponding to each of the various charging operations based on the output current value Io and the output voltage value Vout, and the current instruction value Iref, the power instruction value Pref, the voltage instruction value Pref, and the drive instruction value fd, which are supplied from the charge controller 20” see Gekinozu: ¶[0064]), wherein the balance information transmission unit transmits balance information on the own unit to an inter-unit communication line of a bus communication type, and wherein the balance information reception unit selectively receives the balance information from the inter-unit communication line based on the balance adjustment target information (in order to perform the constant voltage charging operation and to balance the output currents, power converters SMPS1 to SMPS3 respectively need current balance control units CBC1 to CBC3 each including a control circuit for comparing current detection results of the respective power converters, and control lines of supplying the output current detection results Io1 to Io3 to the respective power converters see Gekinozu: ¶0008]; ¶[0123]; ¶[0127]).
Regarding claim 3, the modified Gekinozu taught the power supply system according to the claim 2 as described hereinabove. Gekinozu further teaches wherein another power supply unit connected in series to the own unit is set as the reference target for the balance adjustment during the constant current operation mode, whereas, during the constant voltage operation mode, another power supply unit connected in parallel to the own unit is set as the reference target for the balance adjustment (control device 11 control power control unit with different operation modes based on different values and power converter in parallel see Fig.1 “The operation control device 11 is configured to generate a drive signal for causing the power conversion circuit 12 to perform the constant current charging operation, the constant power charging operation, or the constant voltage charge based on any one of the current instruction value Iref, the power instruction value Pref, or the voltage instruction value Vref, which has been input from the charge controller 20, and the drive instruction value fd” see Gekinozu: ¶[0056]).
Regarding claim 4, the modified Gekinozu taught the power supply system according to the claim 2 as described hereinabove. Gekinozu further teaches wherein the balance adjustment target information is generated by a control terminal based on a user operation and transmitted to the power supply units (the power supply is connected to input terminals Tin. In the first embodiment, the battery 100 may be a lithium ion battery see Gekinozu: ¶[0037]; ¶[0044]).
Regarding claim 5, claim 5 is rejected for the same reason as the power supply system of claim 1 as set forth hereinabove. Claim 5 recites a power supply unit that perform the same functionalities as the power supply system of claim 1 as described hereinabove.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GUANG W LI whose telephone number is (571)270-1897. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7AM-5PMET.
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, Joseph Avellino can be reached at (571) 272-3905. 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.
GUANG W. LI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2478
February 6, 2026
/GUANG W LI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478