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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 31 Aug 2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 18 Aug 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive:
In response to applicant's argument that Bianco fails to teach or suggest "a power converter configured to operate reliably across a range of selectable output voltages”, it is noted that Bianco [0080] says, “assuming a turn ratio 1:1 of the auxiliary winding 123 to the secondary winding. This assumption is merely for simplicity of explanation (no voltage resealing considered) and not imperative for the embodiments.” Additionally, [0051] of Bianco says, “In some systems like USB-PD (USB Power Delivery) the regulated output voltage Vout may change according to requests coming from the load LD through a dedicated communication protocol (this occurs in manner known to those of skill in the art, which makes it unnecessary to provide a more detailed description herein).”
In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). Bianco’s diode 20b or LDO are not relied upon for this limitation. Instead, the bias switch (350, [0050]) is used to show that a bias switch exists in the prior art.
In response to applicant's argument that Knoedgen fails to teach or suggest "a circuit that drives current from an auxiliary coil to a supply-voltage capacitor (mapped to the claimed bypass capacitor) during the flyback interval”, it is noted that Knoedgen teaches the flyback alternative in several places, not only [0014]. [0023, 0058, 0062] and Claim 12 all specifically name the flyback converter operation. A reference is prior art for everything that it teaches, and a non-preferred embodiment is not a teaching away, MPEP § 2123.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 10, line 2: recites the limitation “the duration”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 11, lines 8 and 16: recites the limitations “a duration during which the bias voltage is increased towards the second reference voltage” and “the duration the bias switch is in the conducting state exceeds the duration threshold.” It is unclear whether these durations are meant to be the same duration, and whether “the duration” refers back to claim 10’s first mention of a duration, or “a duration” of claim 11 line
Claim 22, line 2: recites the limitation “the same input return”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 26, line 1: the limitation “claim 25” should have a comma after it.
Claim 26, line 2: the limitation “reversed biased” should be changed to “reverse biased”.
Claim 34, line 2: the limitation “a zero current condition”. It is unclear which current or where it is detected.
Claim 35, line 3: recites the limitation “the transition”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 41, lines 3-4: the limitation “when the bias switch in the conducting state” should be changed to “when the bias switch is in the conducting state”.
Claim 42, line 3: the limitation “a conducting state” has already been introduced in claim 39.
Claim 42, line 4: the limitation “a reflected voltage” has already been introduced in line 3.
Claim 44, line 3: the equation is missing punctuation after it.
Claim 44, line 5: the limitation “a bias voltage” has already been introduced in claim 39.
Claim 44, line 5: recites the limitation “VAUX”. The specification [0051] says that Vaux 147 in equation 3 is the auxiliary winding voltage.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 39, 8-9, 22, 25-26, 31, 33, 40-42, and 44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knoedgen (US 20150244248 A1) in view of Bianco (US 20210351707 A1).
Regarding Claim 39, Knoedgen discloses a power converter configurable to supply power to an output ("driver circuit 300 comprises a two-stage power converter with the first stage being a Boost converter 304 and the second stage being a flyback converter.", Fig 2, [0045]), the power converter comprising: an energy transfer element comprising primary, secondary, and auxiliary windings (transformer 307 has primary 314, secondary 315, and auxiliary 313, Fig 2), the primary winding being coupled to receive an input voltage during a first portion of a switching cycle ("configured to store energy coming from an input of the flyback converter (with an input voltage 230) in an inductor during an on-state of the switch 202.", [0046]) and configured such that energy stored in the energy transfer element during the first portion is transferred during a second portion of the switching cycle ("the flyback converter is configured to transfer the stored energy from the primary coil 314 to the secondary coil 315 during an off-state of the switch 202", [0046]); a bias drive circuit (switch driver 351 and controller 306, Fig 3a/b); a bypass capacitor configured to provide a bias voltage to the bias drive circuit ("the controller may be coupled to a supply voltage capacitor 310 configured to provide the supply voltage Vcc to the controller 306", [0045]); and a bias switch between the auxiliary winding and the bypass capacitor (supply voltage switch 350 is between Vaux 331 and supply voltage capacitor 310, Fig 3b, [0009, 0051]); the bias drive circuit controls the bias switch during the second portion of the switching cycle to transition the bias switch into a conducting state when the bias voltage falls below a first reference voltage ("The controller may be configured to close the supply voltage transistor (and to thereby recharge the supply voltage capacitor) when the sensed voltage signal reaches a lower voltage threshold", "the auxiliary coil is operated in a flyback mode with respect to the primary coil. If the auxiliary coil is operated in a flyback mode and the secondary coil is also operated in a flyback mode, the IC current and the LEC currents are provided during the off-period of the power converter switch.", "recharging of the supply voltage Vcc and the recharging of the output capacitor 308 on different phases of the flyback converter, thereby ensuring that the IC current does not influence the LED current… this ensures that a sufficient amount of energy/current is provided to the light source 309. This can be ensured even if the auxiliary winding 313 and the secondary winding 315 are operated in a flyback mode.", " the rectification unit may comprise a plurality of rectification switches configured to switch an operational mode of the auxiliary coil with respect to the primary coil between a flyback mode and a forward mode. As such, the controller may be configured to control the operational mode of the auxiliary coil. The change of the operational mode can be performed on the fly." [0011, 0014, 0058, 0023]); and transition the bias switch back into a nonconducting state when the bias voltage rises above a second reference voltage ("the controller may be configured to open the supply voltage transistor (and to thereby interrupt the recharging of the supply voltage capacitor) when the sensed voltage signal reaches a higher voltage threshold.", "The supply voltage switch 350 of FIG. 3a may be opened and/or closed such that the supply voltage Vcc is maintained within a pre-determined voltage interval.", [0009, 0050]).
Knoedgen does not disclose a selected one of a plurality of output voltages; a turns ratio between the auxiliary winding and the secondary winding is such that, for any selected one of the plurality of output voltages.
Bianco teaches a conventional flyback power converter with selectable output voltage (see Fig 1) including a power converter configurable to supply power to an output at a selected one of a plurality of output voltages ("Modern AC/DC power supplies, such as those following the USB-PD (USB Power Delivery) specifications, can change an output voltage regulation according to requests coming from a load. A conventional AC/DC converter topology currently resorted to (in USB-PD chargers, for instance) is a flyback topology as illustrated in FIG. 1. Such a converter, designated 10 as a whole in FIG. 1, is intended to have an input voltage Vin and to produce an output voltage Vout to be applied to a load LD.", Fig 1, [0037-9]), the power converter comprising: an energy transfer element comprising primary, secondary, and auxiliary windings (12, 121, 122, 123, Fig 1), the primary winding being coupled to receive an input voltage during a first portion of a switching cycle ("A first phase in this type of operation, as exemplified by I in FIG. 7 (and per se conventional in flyback converters), involves taking and storing energy from the primary side", Fig 7, [0082]) and configured such that energy stored in the energy transfer element during the first portion is transferred during a second portion of the switching cycle ("a second phase as exemplified in FIG. 8 involves transferring energy to Vout and VCCpri", Fig 8, [0082]); a bias drive circuit (14, 141, 142, Fig 12, [0050]); a bypass capacitor configured to provide a bias voltage to the bias drive circuit ("the converter 10 comprises an auxiliary winding 123 (here shown on the primary side) which is used to provide a supply voltage VCCpri across a capacitor CAP.sub.VCC for the primary side controller 14.", Fig 8/12, [0083-4, 0109]); wherein a turns ratio between the auxiliary winding and the secondary winding is such that, for any selected one of the plurality of output voltages ("assuming a turn ratio 1:1 of the auxiliary winding 123 to the secondary winding. This assumption is merely for simplicity of explanation (no voltage resealing considered) and not imperative for the embodiments.", with 1:1 the same voltage appears at the auxiliary and secondary windings and energy is transferred to whichever capacitor is less charged [Csec or CAPvcc], [0080, 0083-5]), the bias drive circuit controls the bias switch during the second portion of the switching cycle to transition the bias switch into a conducting state when the bias voltage falls below a first reference voltage (after the primary switch turns off and when VCCpri<Vturnon, the auxiliary winding conducts to charge VCCpri, Fig 12, [0083-4, 0109])
and transition the bias switch back into a nonconducting state when the bias voltage rises above a second reference voltage (when VCCpri>Vturnon, forced burst operation stops, Fig 12, [0109]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optionally included the flyback power converter with selectable output voltage in Knoedgen, as taught by Bianco, as it provides the advantage of allowing the converter to meet load requests for different output voltages while keeping the primary-side controller supply above its minimum ([0063-7] of Bianco).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39, and further discloses a wherein the bias drive circuit is further configured to drive a bias drive signal to the bias switch to cause the bias switch to transition between a conducting state and a nonconducting state ("The supply voltage switch 350 may be controlled via a switch driver 351…The supply voltage switch 350 of FIG. 3a may be opened and/or closed such that the supply voltage Vcc is maintained within a pre-determined voltage interval…. When the supply voltage switch 350 is open, no energy is drawn by the auxiliary coil 313. On the other hand, when the supply voltage switch 350 is closed, the voltage supply capacitor 310 is recharged.", [0050-1] of Knoedgen).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 8, and further discloses a wherein the bias drive circuit is further configured to: drive the bias drive signal to a first value that causes the bias switch to transition into the conducting state when the bias voltage falls below the first reference voltage ("The controller may be configured to close the supply voltage transistor (and to thereby recharge the supply voltage capacitor) when the sensed voltage signal reaches a lower voltage threshold", [0011] of Knoedgen), the bias drive signal being driven to the first value for a duration during which the bias voltage is increased towards the second reference voltage (while supply voltage transistor is closed it is charges the supply voltage capacitor until it reaches a higher threshold, [0011] of Knoedgen), and drive the bias drive signal to a second value that causes the bias switch to transition into the nonconducting state when the bias voltage rises above the second reference voltage ("the controller may be configured to open the supply voltage transistor (and to thereby interrupt the recharging of the supply voltage capacitor) when the sensed voltage signal reaches a higher voltage threshold.", [0011] of Knoedgen).
Regarding Claim 22, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39, and further discloses wherein the auxiliary winding has the same input return as the primary winding (auxiliary winding 313/S2 and primary winding 314/P1 are both connected to ground, Fig 2/3a of Knoedgen).
Regarding Claim 25, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39, and further discloses further comprising an output capacitor and an output rectifier coupled between the secondary winding and the output capacitor (D1/204 is between secondary coil S1 and output capacitor C1/308, Fig 3a, [0046] of Knoedgen).
Regarding Claim 26, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 25, and further discloses wherein the output rectifier (350, Fig 4a of Knoedgen) is reversed biased when the bias switch is in the nonconducting state ("auxiliary winding 123 clamps the winding voltage to VCCpri so that the secondary side diode 18 is not turned on and the energy is transferred almost exclusively to VCCpri ", Fig 8, [0084] of Bianco) and is forward biased when the bias switch is in the conducting state ("When the supply voltage switch 350 is open, no energy is drawn by the auxiliary coil 313.", Fig 4b, [0053] of Knoedgen) ("As exemplified at III in FIG. 9 energy is transferred to secondary side (only) as a result of VCCpri reaching the value of Vout.", Fig 9, [0085] of Bianco).
Regarding Claim 31, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39, and further discloses wherein the bias drive circuit is configured to drive the bias switch into the nonconducting state during the first portion of the switching cycle ("the controller may be configured to control the supply voltage transistor to be in off-state (i.e. open) at least for every second on-period of the power converter switch.", [0015] of Knoedgen).
Regarding Claim 33, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39, and further discloses wherein the bias drive circuit is further configured to drive the bias switch into the nonconducting state during a part of the second portion of the switching cycle (in flyback operation switch 350 recharges during the off-period of switch 202 and is opened once the sensed voltage reaches a higher voltage threshold, which ends conduction part-way through the off-period, [0011, 0014, 0050, 0058] of Knoedgen).
Regarding Claim 40, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39, and further discloses wherein the second reference voltage is greater than the first reference voltage (since the supply transistor is on at a lower voltage threshold to charge and turns off to stop charging at a higher threshold, a higher threshold is greater than the lower threshold, Fig 3a, [0011, 0050] of Knoedgen).
Regarding Claim 41, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39, and further discloses wherein the turns ratio between the auxiliary winding and the secondary winding ("assuming a turn ratio 1:1 of the auxiliary winding 123 to the secondary winding. This assumption is merely for simplicity of explanation (no voltage resealing considered) and not imperative for the embodiments.", [0080] of Bianco) is such that, for any selected one of the plurality of output voltages ("the regulated output voltage Vout may change according to requests coming from the load LD", "assuming a turn ratio 1:1 of the auxiliary winding 123 to the secondary winding. This assumption is merely for simplicity of explanation (no voltage resealing considered) and not imperative for the embodiments.", [0051, 0081] of Bianco), substantially no secondary current flows through the secondary winding when the bias switch in the conducting state ("If VCCpri is lower than Vout, the diode 20b associated to the auxiliary winding 123 clamps the winding voltage to VCCpri so that the secondary side diode 18 is not turned on and the energy is transferred almost exclusively to VCCpri", "one or more embodiments may force low energy bursts during Vout transitions when VCCpri is higher than UVLO but lower than a minimum value Vout.", path II, Fig 8, [0084, 0089] of Bianco) (350 is off, Fig 3a, [0050] of Knoedgen) and substantially no bias current flows through the auxiliary winding when the bias switch is in the nonconducting state (path III, Fig 9, [0085] of Bianco) ("When the supply voltage switch 350 is open, no energy is drawn by the auxiliary coil 313.", Fig 3a, [0051] of Knoedgen).
Regarding Claim 42, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39, and further discloses wherein the turns ratio between the auxiliary winding and the secondary winding ("assuming a turn ratio 1:1 of the auxiliary winding 123 to the secondary winding. This assumption is merely for simplicity of explanation (no voltage resealing considered) and not imperative for the embodiments.", [0080] of Bianco) is such that, for any selected one of the plurality of output voltages ("the regulated output voltage Vout may change according to requests coming from the load LD", "assuming a turn ratio 1:1 of the auxiliary winding 123 to the secondary winding. This assumption is merely for simplicity of explanation (no voltage resealing considered) and not imperative for the embodiments.", [0051, 0081] of Bianco), a reflected voltage across the primary winding when the bias switch is in a conducting state during the second portion of the switching cycle (the auxilary winding is clamped to VCCpri so the refelected voltage is (Np/Naux)*Vbias per spec equation 2, [0083-4] of Bianco) (when 350 is on the auxiliary winding is coupled to capacitor 310 and the auxiliary winding can run in flyback mode, so the IC current flows during the off period of S2/202, [0014, 0050-1, 0058] of Knoedgen) is less than a reflected voltage across the primary winding when the bias switch is in the nonconducting state during the second portion of the switching cycle voltages ("energy is transferred to secondary side (only) as a result of VCCpri reaching the value of Vout.", so the reflected voltage is (Np/Ns)*Vout per spec equation 1, Fig 9, [0085] of Bianco) (when 350 is off no energy is drawn by the auxiliary winding, [0051] of Knoedgen).
Regarding Claim 44, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39, and further discloses wherein the turns ratio between the auxiliary winding and the secondary winding satisfies: VOUT / NS > VAUX / NAUX (the number of turns on the auxiliary winding is the same as secondary winding and Vout>VCCpri, Fig 8, [0080] of Bianco) wherein VOUT is the lowest one of the plurality of output voltages ("low energy bursts during Vout transitions when VCCpri is higher than UVLO but lower than a minimum value Vout.", "provide second bursts during the intervals after reaching a timeout limit in order to provide the supply voltage to the controller circuitry while the output voltage ramps down to a requested valley value.", [0089], abstract of Bianco), NS is a number of turns of the secondary winding, VAUX is a bias voltage across the bypass capacitor when the bias switch is in the conducting state during the second portion of the switching cycle ("the converter 10 comprises an auxiliary winding 123 (here shown on the primary side) which is used to provide a supply voltage VCCpri across a capacitor CAP.sub.VCC for the primary side controller 14. ", "auxiliary winding 123 clamps the winding voltage to VCCpri so that the secondary side diode 18 is not turned on and the energy is transferred almost exclusively to VCCpri", Fig 8, [0050, 0084] of Bianco) (the voltage across the auxiliary winding S2/313 is the capacitor voltage on capacitor 310 while switch 350 conducts, [0050] of Knoedgen), and NAUX is a number of turns of the auxiliary winding (the number of turns on the auxiliary winding is the same as secondary winding, [0080] of Bianco).
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knoedgen (US 20150244248 A1) in view of Bianco (US 20210351707 A1) and further in view of Chen (US 20220393603 A1).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 8.
The combination of Knoedgen and Bianco does not disclose wherein the bias drive circuit is further configured to limit the duration the bias switch is in the conducting state to a duration threshold.
Chen teaches a conventional duration-limited turn-on control for use in a power converter (see Fig 5) including wherein the bias drive circuit is further configured to limit the duration the bias switch is in the conducting state to a duration threshold ("the low voltage on signal Aon may be a pulse signal having a pulse width with a preset value, and the low voltage on signal Aon may be applied as the charge control signal Ga provided to the control terminal of the power supply switch S1 in order to control the turn-on or turn-off of the power supply switch S1…During the duration of the pulse of the low voltage on signal Aon, the power supply switch S1 is maintained on and the power supply diode Da is cut-off, and thus the charging capacitor Ca charges the auxiliary winding La, as illustrated in FIG. 3A. After the duration of the pulses of the low voltage on signal Aon ends, the power supply switch S1 is turned off", Fig 5, [0029]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optionally included the flyback power converter with selectable output voltage in Knoedgen, as taught by Bianco, as it provides the advantage of ensuring the power supplied to the controller is sufficient ([0005] of Chen).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Knoedgen, Bianco, and Chen teaches all of the limitations of claim 10, and further teaches further comprising a primary switch coupled to the primary winding (202 coupled to P1, Fig 3a of Knoedgen), wherein the bias drive circuit is further configured to: drive the bias drive signal to a first value that causes the bias switch to transition into the conducting state when the bias voltage falls below the first reference voltage ("The controller may be configured to close the supply voltage transistor (and to thereby recharge the supply voltage capacitor) when the sensed voltage signal reaches a lower voltage threshold", [0011] of Knoedgen), the bias drive signal being driven to the first value for a duration during which the bias voltage is increased towards the second reference voltage (while supply voltage transistor is closed it is charges the supply voltage capacitor until it reaches a higher threshold, [0011] of Knoedgen), and drive the bias drive signal to a second value that causes the bias switch to transition into the nonconducting state: when the bias voltage rises above the second reference voltage ("the controller may be configured to open the supply voltage transistor (and to thereby interrupt the recharging of the supply voltage capacitor) when the sensed voltage signal reaches a higher voltage threshold.", [0011] of Knoedgen), responsive to a signal indicating that the primary switch is in the conducting state ("the controller may be configured to control the supply voltage transistor to be in off-state (i.e. open) at least for every second on-period of the power converter switch. In other words, the controller may be configured to keep the supply voltage transistor open during at least some of the on-periods of the power converter switch." The controller 306 generates a gate signal 232 for switch 202 to turn it on. In flyback operation the switch conducts only in the off period, [0015] of Knoedgen), or when the duration the bias switch is in the conducting state exceeds the duration threshold (S1 is turned off when preset Aon pulse duration ends, Fig 5, [0028-9] of Chen).
Claim 34 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knoedgen (US 20150244248 A1) in view of Bianco (US 20210351707 A1) and further in view of Fan (US 20120133348 A1).
Regarding Claim 34, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39, and further discloses wherein the bias drive circuit is further configured to drive the bias switch (350 off, Fig 3a of Knoedgen).
The combination of Knoedgen and Bianco does not disclose [turning off the bias switch] in response to detection of a zero current condition.
Fan teaches a conventional zero current detector for use in a power converter (see Fig 3/4) including drive the bias switch into the nonconducting state in response to detection of a zero current condition (zero current detector 30 to turns off a switch when it detects zero current, Fig 4, [0021]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optionally included the zero current detector in Knoedgen, as taught by Fan, as it provides the advantage of triggering a switch when a zero current condition is detected to improve the efficiency of the converter ([0019] of Fan).
Claim 35 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knoedgen (US 20150244248 A1) in view of Bianco (US 20210351707 A1), and further in view of Li (US 20230188046 A1).
Regarding Claim 35, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 31, and further discloses wherein the bias drive circuit is further configured to drive the bias switch into the conducting state after a delay ("by an appropriate time management, it can be ensured that the LED current is measured at time instants when no IC current is provided,", [0058] of Knoedgen) following the transition from the first portion of the switching cycle to the second portion of the switching cycle.
The combination of Knoedgen and Bianco does not disclose a delay following the transition from the first portion of the switching cycle to the second portion of the switching cycle.
Li teaches a conventional control method for a power converter with an auxiliary winding (see Fig 3/6) including a drive circuit is further configured to drive the bias switch into the conducting state after a delay following the transition from the first portion of the switching cycle to the second portion of the switching cycle (MP turns off at t3, both switches MP and MA are off until t6 when MA turns on after a delay, Fig 6, [0027, 0065, 0068] of Li).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optionally included the control method in Knoedgen, as taught by Li, as it provides the advantage of minimizing switching losses and improving efficiency ([0031] of Li).
Claim 43 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knoedgen (US 20150244248 A1) in view of Bianco (US 20210351707 A1), and further in view of Zhu (CN 103023298 A).
Regarding Claim 43, the combination of Knoedgen and Bianco discloses all of the limitations of claim 39.
The combination of Knoedgen and Bianco does not disclose wherein a number of turns of the auxiliary winding is greater than a number of turns of the secondary winding.
Zhu teaches a conventional auxiliary winding for use in a power converter (see Fig 3) including wherein a number of turns of the auxiliary winding is greater than a number of turns of the secondary winding (the VBIAS auxiliary voltage from the auxiliary winding 112 and Vout of the secondary winding 113 are proportional to the number of turns in their respective windings. When the ratio is set so that Vout is 5V, VBIAS is made proportional at 6.2V. Naux/Ns = 6.2V/5V = 1.24, which is greater than 1, Fig 3, [0004, 0028]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optionally included the flyback power converter with selectable output voltage in Knoedgen, as taught by Bianco, as it provides the advantage of supplying adequate power to a control chip ([0028] of Zhu).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER C CAULK whose telephone number is (571)270-0623. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:30, every other Fri off.
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/J.C.C./Examiner, Art Unit 2838
/GARY L LAXTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838 10/01/2026
