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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Species C, Figure 4A with claims 1-6 and 8-13 in the reply filed on 1/8/2026 is acknowledged.
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 10-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li [US 2020/0219643 A1].
Regarding claims 1 and 10-12, Li discloses a transformer [figures 3-12] comprising:
- a magnetic core including: a top substrate and a bottom substrate arranged opposite to each other [212, 211, figure 3]; and a plurality of winding posts [214, 215, 216, 217] located between the top substrate and the bottom substrate, wherein a cross section of each winding post is circular, oval, or polygon with the same cross-sectional area and same magnetic reluctance [material]; and
- a winding including a primary side winding and a secondary side winding [figures 5-12], wherein the primary side winding wraps around the plurality of winding posts, the primary side winding includes at least one pair of sub-windings [221, 222], each pair of sub-windings includes two sub-windings connected in parallel [figure 10], and each sub-winding in each pair of sub-windings includes: a main turn [221] including respective at least one turn wrapping on at least two winding posts, respectively, wherein a current flowing through the main turn forms a main turn magnetic flux along a first magnetic flux direction on the at least two winding posts; and an additional turn [222] including at least one turn reversely wrapping on at least one additional winding post with respect to the main turn, wherein the at least one additional winding post is that on which the main turn of the other sub-winding of the pair of sub- windings wraps, and a current flowing through the additional turn forms an additional turn magnetic flux in a second magnetic flux direction opposite to the first magnetic flux direction on the at least one additional winding post, and in each pair of sub-windings. Li discloses the windings [221, 222] connected in parallel [figure 10].
Li discloses the instant claimed invention except for one of the winding turn is shunted.
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to shunted one of the winding [connected in parallel in figure 10] of Li for the purpose of facilitating different magnetic flux/field and providing voltage stability and/or reducing losses.
Regarding claim 2, Li discloses the plurality of winding posts include 4T winding posts, and T is a positive integer; and the primary side winding includes one pair of sub-windings, and respective main turns of the pair of sub-windings respectively wrap on 2T winding posts different from each other, or the primary side winding includes at least two pairs of sub-windings, respective main turns of sub-windings defining a same magnetic flux direction in the at least two pairs of sub-windings are connected in parallel with each other, and respective main turns of two sub-windings in each pair of sub-windings respectively wrap on two winding posts different from each other [figures 3-12].
Regarding claim 3, Li discloses the main turn of each sub-winding wraps by odd-numbered turns, and the additional turn of each sub-winding wraps by odd-numbered turns on at least one winding post different from the winding posts on which the main turn wraps.
Regarding claim 4, Li discloses the at least two winding posts [214, 215, 216, 217] include paired non-adjacent winding posts, each sub-winding in each pair of sub-windings includes at least one turn respectively wrapping on the paired non-adjacent winding posts, and required odd-numbered or even-numbered turns wrapping on a winding post adjacent to one of the paired non-adjacent winding posts, a magnetic flux direction on each pair of non- adjacent winding posts is the same, which is opposite to a magnetic flux direction on the winding post adjacent to the one of paired two non-adjacent winding posts [figures 3-12].
Regarding claim 5, Li discloses the plurality of winding posts are four winding posts, and connecting lines of center points of the four winding posts define a virtual quadrangle [figure 3], winding posts having a single magnetic flux direction are arranged at two vertices on one diagonal line of the virtual quadrangle, and winding posts having a magnetic flux direction opposite to the single magnetic flux direction are located at two vertices on the other diagonal line of the virtual quadrangle [figures 3-12].
Regarding claim 13, ferrite is a known magnetic material use in a magnetic device such as a transformer.
Claim(s) 6 and 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Nakahori [US 2010/0232181 A1].
Regarding claim 6, Li discloses the plurality of the winding posts arranged on at least one of the bottom substrate and the top substrate and extend toward the other of the bottom substrate and the top substrate [figure 3].
Li discloses the instant claimed invention except for each winding post includes an upper magnetic core and a lower magnetic core bonded together or integrally formed as a single magnetic post.
Nakahori discloses a transformer [4, figures 2-3] for a power supply unit, comprising:
- a ferrite magnetic core [40] having a top member, bottom member and four posts [figure 3];
- a primary side winding [41] arranged around the posts; and
- a secondary side winding [42] arranged around the posts, wherein the primary side winding and the secondary side winding arranged on multiple layers [figures 3, 10, 12, 16, 18-20, 24].
Nakahori further discloses the posts formed of upper and lower posts [figure 3] integrally formed as a single magnetic post.
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the posts design of Nakahori in Li for the purpose of facilitating manufacturing and/or assembling.
Regarding claim 8, Li discloses the instant claimed invention except for the specific of the primary and secondary side windings.
Nakahori discloses a transformer [4, figures 2-3] for a power supply unit, comprising:
- a ferrite magnetic core [40] having a top member, bottom member and four posts [figure 3];
- a primary side winding [41] arranged around the posts; and
- a secondary side winding [42] arranged around the posts, wherein the primary side winding and the secondary side winding arranged on multiple layers [figures 3, 10, 12, 16, 18-20, 24].
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use multiple layers arrangement for the primary/secondary side windings of Li, as suggested by Nakahori, for the purpose facilitating stacking arrangement and reducing spaces.
The specific use of vias for connections between the winding layers would have been an obvious design consideration for the purpose of improving internal connections.
Regarding claim 9, both Li and Nakahori disclose the secondary side winding wraps or arranges around the magnetic post. Li further discloses a portion of the secondary side windings located on the same post.
Conclusion
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/TUYEN T NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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