DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Elections/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Species 3 (Claims 1-4, 6, 9-11, 13, 18 and 25-26) without traverse in the reply filed on 5/13/2026 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, an external circuit, an inductor winding is connected in series to the transformer primary winding through the external circuit as claimed in claim 26 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. 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 Objections
Claim 4 and 6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
(a) Claim 4. line 5, typing error: “an inductor winding accommodating” should be “the inductor winding accommodating”.
(b) Claim 6. line 4, typing error: “an inductor winding accommodating” should be “the inductor winding accommodating”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 6, 9-11, 13 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu (WO 2019109572 A1).
Regarding Claim 1:
Liu teaches that a transformer with an integrated inductor, comprising a magnetic core,
a transformer winding (8a-8b, Fig. 10; para 0027-0031) and an inductor winding (5), wherein
the magnetic core (10, Fig. 10) comprises a magnetic yoke (upper part of core 10) and magnetic columns connected to the magnetic yoke;
the transformer winding is wound around at least one of the magnetic columns, and at least one transformer winding space (see Fig. 10; 8a and 8b are spaced away from each other) is formed in the transformer winding; and the inductor winding is at least partially accommodated in at least one magnetic yoke or {at least one magnetic column of the magnetic core}, so that the inductor winding penetrates through the transformer winding space formed by the transformer winding on a single magnetic column at most once, thereby decoupling the magnetic flux produced by the inductor winding (inherently necessary for industrial application) from the magnetic flux produced by the transformer winding.
Regarding Claim 3:
As applied to claim 1, Liu teaches that wherein the magnetic core is formed at least by splicing a first magnetic core (10, Fig. 10) and a second magnetic core (11, Fig. 10) along a direction (i.e. vertical direction in Fig. 10) perpendicular to the inductor winding in the magnetic core.
Regarding Claim 4:
As applied to claim 3, Liu teaches that wherein at least one magnetic column (not labeled; i.e. protruding parts from core 10 in Fig. 10) forms an integral magnetic column, and splicing surfaces of the first magnetic core and the second magnetic core are butted to form (construed from Fig. 10) at least an integral space (i.e. space between core 10 and core 11 in Fig. 10) penetrating through the integral magnetic column and/or the magnetic yoke; the integral space comprises an inductor winding accommodating space and an air gap (4, Fig. 10) of the inductor winding; and the inductor winding at least partially passes through the inductor winding accommodating space.
Regarding Claim 6:
As applied to claim 4, Liu teaches that at least one groove is formed in each the splicing surface of the first magnetic core and the second magnetic core, at least two grooves (2, 3; Fig. 10) of the first magnetic core and the second magnetic core are butted to form an inductor winding accommodating space penetrating through the integral magnetic column and/or the magnetic yoke; the inductor winding at least partially passes through the inductor winding accommodating space; and a gap (4) formed by the splicing surfaces of the first magnetic core and the second magnetic core serves as the air gap of the inductor winding.
Regarding Claim 9:
As applied to claim 4, Liu teaches that the magnetic core comprises a magnetic yoke and at least two magnetic columns connected to the magnetic yoke; the transformer winding comprises a transformer primary winding (8a) and a transformer secondary winding (8b), and the transformer primary winding and the transformer secondary winding surround at least one of the magnetic columns to form at least one transformer winding space (construed from Fig. 10); and the magnetic core is formed at least by splicing a first magnetic core (10) and a second magnetic core (11) along a direction (i.e. vertical direction in Fig. 10) perpendicular to an extending direction of the magnetic column, wherein, the first magnetic core at least comprises a first magnetic column not labeled; i.e. protruding parts from core 10 in Fig. 10), and the second magnetic core at least comprises a second magnetic column (not labeled; i.e. protruding parts from core 11 in Fig. 10).
Regarding Claim 10:
As applied to claim 10, Liu teaches that the first magnetic column and the second magnetic column respectively comprise a splicing surface (i.e. top surface of the columns in Fig. 10) , and the first magnetic column and the second magnetic column are spliced to form the integral magnetic column (construed from Fig. 10); the splicing surfaces of the first magnetic column and the second magnetic column are butted to form the inductor winding accommodating space penetrating through the integral magnetic column (see Fig. 10); the inductor winding at least partially passes through the inductor winding accommodating space, and passes through the at least one transformer winding space once.
Regarding Claim 11:
As applied to claim 10, Liu teaches that the first magnetic core and the second magnetic core are spliced along a direction (i.e. horizontal direction in Fig. 10) perpendicular to an extending direction of the magnetic columns; the first magnetic core comprises two first magnetic columns and two first magnetic yokes (see Fig. 10), and the second magnetic core comprises two second magnetic columns and two second magnetic yokes; the two first magnetic columns are respectively spliced with the two second magnetic columns to form two integral magnetic columns, and the two first magnetic yokes are respectively spliced with the two second magnetic yokes to form two integral magnetic yokes (construed from Fig. 10).
Regarding Claim 13:
As applied to claim 10, Liu teaches that the transformer primary winding and the transformer secondary winding respectively surround the two integral magnetic columns to form two transformer winding spaces, and each of the integral magnetic columns is formed by splicing one of the first magnetic columns and one of the second magnetic columns; and the two inductor windings respectively penetrate through the two transformer winding spaces once (construed from Fig. 10).
Regarding Claim 18:
As applied to claim 10, Liu teaches that the extending direction (i.e. vertical direction in Fig. 10) of the inductor winding is parallel to the extending direction of the magnetic column, {or the angle between the extending direction of the inductor winding and the extending direction of the magnetic column is less than 90°}
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 of this title, 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.
3. Claims 2 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Yang (US 20200373059 A1).
Regarding Claim 2:
As applied to claim 1, Liu teaches the inductor winding except inductor winding is one-turn winding.
However, Yang teaches that inductor winding (7, Fig. 5; para 0051-0052) is one-turn winding.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have inductor winding is one-turn winding to provide minimal copper loss, making it ideal for high-current environments.
Regarding Claim 25:
As applied to claim 1, Liu teaches wherein the transformer winding comprises a transformer primary winding, except the inductor winding is directly connected in series to the transformer primary winding.
However, Yang teaches that the inductor winding (7. Fig. 5) is directly connected in series to the transformer primary winding (8).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the inductor winding is directly connected in series to the transformer primary winding to provide equal to the current through the network.
Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Shimada (US 20090147541 A1).
Regarding Claim 26:
As applied to claim 1, Liu teaches the transformer winding comprises a transformer primary winding, and an inductor winding is connected in series to the transformer primary winding except an external circuit primary winding, and an inductor winding is connected in series to the transformer primary winding through the external circuit.
However, Shimada teaches that an external circuit (Q1, Q2, Fig. 5), primary winding, and an inductor(Lr, Fig. 5) winding is connected in series to the transformer primary winding (Ni) through the external circuit.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have an external circuit, an inductor winding is connected in series to the transformer primary winding through the external circuit to provide a compact, highly efficient, inexpensive power supply unit by using the complex inductor according to the present invention (para 0016).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. A list of pertinent prior art is attached in form 892.
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/KAZI HOSSAIN/
Examiner, Art Unit 2837
/SHAWKI S ISMAIL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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