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 .
Status of the Claims
In the communication dated March 17, 2026, claims 6-9 are pending. Claim 6 is amended and claims 1-5 and 10-13 are presently cancelled.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 6-9 in the reply filed on March 17, 2026 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: In FIG. 7, element 41.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) 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. 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 Objections
Claims 6-9 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 6 recites “HV DC” in line 2. This should be written as high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) for clarity.
Claim 6, line 15, “up” should be amended to “upon”.
Claim 6, line 18 should be amended to “contained in an internal HVDC”.
Claims 7-9 are objected to due to their dependency from an objected to claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites “individual power converters” in line 6. It is uncertain whether this is the same as the galvanistically isolated power converters recited in line 4 or whether these are different converters.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the HVDC bus" in line 19. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 6 recites in line 23 recites “a charging station HVDC bus”. It is uncertain whether this is the same bus as in line 19 or a different bus.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the DC converters" in line 24. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 7-9 are rejected at least due to their dependency from a rejected claim.
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 6 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng et al. US20210237610A1 (as cited in the IDS dated 825/2023) in view of Hashim et al. US20150084404A1.
Regarding claim 6. A bidirectional switch matrix (FIG. 3 illustrates the switching matrix having a plurality of directions) for a modular scalable fast charging system (¶17 – fast charging) to route HV DC power from multiple galvanically isolated inputs to multiple individual dispensers (FIGS. 1-4) , each charging an individual EV (abstract), comprising:
an array of galvanically isolated power converters (FIG. 3 – 1#-9#) configured and arranged for meeting vehicle battery voltage requirements (¶13);
an array of internally connected DC busses connected to individual power converters (FIG. 3 – the array of busses coming off of the converter);
an array of externally connected DC busses connected to individual charging stations (P1-P5) (¶18 – each charging terminal corresponds to one vehicle – 6 charging terminals charge 6 different vehicles);
an array of high voltage contactors (FIG. 3 – switch array) (¶14 – switch matrix adopts a HVDC contactor) capable of flexibly making connections between the internally connected and externally connected DC busses (¶15 – power controller communicates with the switch matrix and allocates charging power as needed) wherein the multiple converters configured and arranged to be paralleled (see the combination of FIG. 2 and 3 where rectification modules may be arranged in parallel by using the switching matrix) and external power sources (¶10 – power grid) configured and arranged to be redirected to a charging station thereby allowing for higher charging power without the need for high power converters dedicated to individual charging stations (FIG. 1 – ¶10 - distribution substation power is routed to a particular charging terminal thus only requiring a single external power source);
wherein charging by an electrical grid need not be exclusively relied up with energy being sourced locally from either batteries or PV cells (the language of the claim does not restrict an electrical grid, thus, because an electrical grid may still be used, Zheng teaches the limitation of the claim);
wherein the charging stations that are individually connected to the charging cabinet are contained an internal HVDC bus (¶14 – the switch matrix adopts a high-voltage direct-current contactor);
wherein the charging stations HVDC bus includes a pre-charge circuit (¶46 – charger includes a precharging control module);
a charging stations HVDC bus being isolated from an electric vehicle being charged by an additional set of contactors (¶42 – emergency stop action - FIG. 4 illustrates additional contactors within the charging column);
wherein the DC converters synchronize the bus voltage with the vehicle battery voltage prior to establishing a connection (¶46 – “the precharging control module is configured to: after the charger detects the vehicle-end battery voltage and determines that the vehicle matches the charger in the stage where the vehicle is ready for starting charging”
Zheng does not explicitly teach a pre-charge circuit, which provides a high impedance connection between the charging station and vehicle to ensure that in the event of a voltage mismatch, an inrush current is limited and the life of contactors is extended by reducing the arcing of the contacts.
Hashim discloses a pre-charge circuit (44), which provides a high impedance connection between the charging station and vehicle to ensure that in the event of a voltage mismatch (¶23 - voltage difference across the main contactor 42), an inrush current is limited and the life of contactors is extended by reducing the arcing of the contacts (¶22 – a large inrush current causes an arc across the contactor during switching which causes damage; ¶24 – pre-charge circuit 44 limits the flow of current into the electrical impedance when the battery is connected to minimize the inrush current through the main contractor 42).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to reduce the inrush current in order to prevent arcing which will damage the contacts (Hashim; ¶22).
Regarding claim 8. Zheng the connection of internally connected DC busses to individual power converters and the connection of externally connected DC busses to individual charging stations are located adjacent to a power cabinet (FIG. 4 – charging column adjacent to power conversion unit thus, the individual power converts are adjacent to the power cabinets; ¶30 – charging column connected to the power conversion unit)
Regarding claim 9. Zheng does not explicitly disclose monitoring current detects voltage mismatch.
Hashim discloses monitoring current detects voltage mismatch (¶26 – measures current coming out of the high-voltage battery and into the main contactor 42; ¶29 – current sensing resistor 112 monitors the voltage across – voltage across is proportional to the current flowing through the resistor).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to reduce the inrush current in order to prevent arcing which will damage the contacts (Hashim; ¶22).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng et al. US20210237610A1 (as cited in the IDS dated 825/2023) in view of Hashim et al. US20150084404A1 in further view of Zhang et al. US20220118864A1.
Regarding claim 7. Zheng does not explicitly disclose that individual charging stations are also connected to heatsinks.
Zhang teaches that individual charging stations are also connected to external power sources and/or heatsinks (¶19 – charging station includes a shell and a heat sink arrange inside the shell).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the heat sink of Zhang to the charging cabinet of Zheng in order to dissipate heat from the circuit within the charging station, thus, preventing heat damage (Zhang; ¶19).
Related Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Harris et al. US20230202338A1 teaches a bidirectional switch in a charging system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAMELA JEPPSON whose telephone number is (571)272-4094. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Drew Dunn can be reached at 571-272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAMELA J JEPPSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/DREW A DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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