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 Claims
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 05/19/2023. Claims 1-20 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/19/2023 and 4/19/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chang (US 20210336527).
As to claim 17, You discloses a method performed by a battery charger integrated circuit (Fig. 1-2), the method comprising: detecting an increase in a load current ([0014]-[0015] and [0091] … in response to detecting that the magnitude of the inductor current equals the peak current threshold); increasing a duty cycle of a duty voltage for switching an inductor current in response to detecting the increase in the load current ([0014]-[0015] and [0091] the frequency selector increases the switching frequency of controlling the switches in the voltage converter in response to detecting that the magnitude of the inductor current equals the peak current threshold value for multiple control cycles (such as a selected number of control cycles/periods) of controlling the switches);
detecting whether a level of the inductor current reaches a predetermined overcurrent limit level ([0014]-[0015] and [0091] … in response to detecting that the magnitude of the inductor current equals the peak current threshold); and increasing a switching frequency of the duty voltage based on a number of consecutively reaching the predetermined overcurrent limit level of the inductor current, which reaches a predetermined reference number of times ([0014]-[0015] and [0091] the frequency selector increases the switching frequency of controlling the switches in the voltage converter in response to detecting that the magnitude of the inductor current equals the peak current threshold value for multiple control cycles (such as a selected number of control cycles/periods) of controlling the switches. [0091] …increases a magnitude of the switching frequency FSW when inductor peak current 122 equals or exceeds the pulse to peak current threshold value 399 (such as pulse current limit threshold or P2CL) in response to detecting multiple cycles of reaching current limit for 4).
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.
Claims 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murakami (US 20120049829) in view of You (US 20220311336).
As to claim 9, Murakami discloses an electronic device (Fig. 2) comprising:
an inductor supplying a charging current supplied from a charging terminal to a load (Fig. 2 and [0070] The power supply apparatus A generates a desired output voltage Vout from an input voltage Vin, and feeds the output voltage Vout to the internal circuit B and/or the externally attached USB device C), switching transistors configured to switch the inductor current flowing through the inductor based on a duty voltage ([0080] Fig. 2, transistors 1a and 1b) and configured to transfer the inductor current as a battery current for charging the battery or a load current supplied to the load (Fig. 2 and [0070]; and an integrated circuit (Fig. 2 [0037] and [0177]) configured to monitor a change in the load current and varying a switching frequency of the inductor current ([0082] The drivers 2a and 2b generate a gate voltage (switching drive signal) of the transistors 1a, 1b, respectively, on the basis of the output signals of the level shifters 3a and 3b. Fig. 2 where the level shifters are based on the inductor current feedback loop and the overcurrent protection (OCP) module).
Murakami does not disclose/teach the integrated circuit is a battery charger integrated circuit which the load is a battery.
You teaches the integrated circuit is a battery charger integrated circuit in which the load is a battery ([0092] In such an instance, the increased switching frequency (FSW2) results in the inductor 144 delivering a higher overall magnitude of the output current 122 to charge the output capacitor 136 and power load 118)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the integrated circuit is a battery charger integrated circuit in which the load is a battery in order to use Murakami integrated circuit in portable wireless device to be charged.
Murakami does not disclose/teach wherein the battery charger integrated circuit is configured to increase the switching frequency by counting a number of times that a level of the inductor current reaches an overcurrent limit level.
You teaches wherein the battery charger integrated circuit is configured to increase the switching frequency by counting a number of times that a level of the inductor current reaches an overcurrent limit level ([0014]-[0015] and [0091] the frequency selector increases the switching frequency of controlling the switches in the voltage converter in response to detecting that the magnitude of the inductor current equals the peak current threshold value for multiple control cycles (such as a selected number of control cycles/periods) of controlling the switches).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the battery charger integrated circuit of Murakami to wherein the battery charger integrated circuit is configured to increase the switching frequency by counting a number of times that a level of the inductor current reaches an overcurrent limit level in order to power conversion efficiency ([0008] and [0095]).
As to claim 10, Murakami in view You teaches the electronic device of claim 9, wherein the battery charger integrated circuit is further configured to increase the level of the inductor current by varying a duty cycle of the duty voltage based on an increase in the load current ([0092] of You In such an instance, the increased switching frequency (FSW2) results in the inductor 144 delivering a higher overall magnitude of the output current 122 to charge the output capacitor 136 and power load 118).
Claims 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murakami (US 20120049829) in view of Chang (US 20210336527).
As to claim 18, You discloses the method of claim 17.
You does not disclose/teach generating a reset voltage by comparing a ramp voltage reflecting the level of the inductor current with an error voltage generated based on an operating condition that is out of a preset operating condition, under the increased switching frequency condition
Chang teaches generating a reset voltage (Fig. 2 PWMComp) by comparing a ramp voltage reflecting the level of the inductor current (Fig. 2 and [0033] CS ramp reflects ICS which is an inductor current sense signal ICS) with an error voltage generated based on an operating condition that is out of a preset operating condition under the increased switching frequency condition (Vcontrol from voltage feedback based on the switching frequency of the switches 212,214),
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of You to include generating a reset voltage by comparing a ramp voltage reflecting the level of the inductor current with an error voltage generated based on an operating condition that is out of a preset operating condition, under the increased switching frequency condition in order to indicate that the PWM signal should be de-asserted until the next cycle of the PWM clock ([0032]).
As to claim 19, You in view of Chang teaches the method of claim 18, further comprising fixing a switching frequency of the duty voltage based on the reset voltage that is generated (Fig. 2 of Chang switching frequency of the switches 212,214 is based on the PWMComp. [0035] The PWM logic circuit 220 generates the PWM signal PWM according to the PWM comparison signal PWMComp. [0026] The driver circuit 210 generates a high gate signal HG and a low gate signal LG according to a pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal PWM.).
As to claim 20, You in view of Chang teaches the method of claim 18, further comprising reducing the switching frequency based on the number of consecutive occurrences of the reset voltage, which reaches a predetermined number of times (Fig. 2,7 and [0082] of You where the PWMComp is controls the switching frequency and At S710 the process 700 decreases the value of the maximum duty cycle).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 are allowed. Claims 12-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form.
The following is a statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding independent claim 1, Although the prior art discloses a battery charger integrated circuit for charging a battery, comprising: an overcurrent limiting detector configured to detect whether a level of an inductor current reaches an overcurrent limiting level and to generate an overcurrent limiting detection voltage; a control loop circuit configured to generate a reset voltage by comparing a ramp voltage reflecting the level of the inductor current with an error voltage generated based on an operating condition that is out of a preset operating condition, the prior art of record does not disclose or teach the combination of:
“an adaptive overcurrent limiting controller configured to generate an overcurrent limiting control current by counting a number of pulses of the overcurrent limiting detection voltage and a number of pulses of the reset voltage; an oscillator configured to generate an oscillation voltage wherein a frequency of the oscillation voltage varies based on a magnitude of the overcurrent limit control current; and a switching transistor for switching the inductor current based on the oscillation voltage.”
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding dependent claim 11, Although the prior art discloses an electronic device comprising: an inductor supplying a charging current supplied from a charging terminal to a battery and a load; switching transistors configured to switch the inductor current flowing through the inductor based on a duty voltage and configured to transfer the inductor current as a battery current for charging the battery or a load current supplied to the load; and a battery charger integrated circuit configured to monitor a change in the load current and varying a switching frequency of the inductor current, wherein the battery charger integrated circuit is configured to increase the switching frequency by counting a number of times that a level of the inductor current reaches an overcurrent limit level, wherein the battery charger integrated circuit comprises: an overcurrent limiting detector configured to detect whether the level of the inductor current reaches the overcurrent limiting level and configured to generate an overcurrent limiting detection voltage; a control loop circuit configured to generate a reset voltage for varying a duty ratio of the duty voltage by comparing a ramp voltage reflecting the level of the inductor current with an error voltage generated based on an operating condition that is out of a preset operating condition, the prior art of record does not disclose or teach the combination of:
“an adaptive overcurrent limiting controller configured to generate an overcurrent limiting control current by counting a number of pulses of the overcurrent limiting detection voltage and a number of pulses of the reset voltage; and an oscillator configured to generate an oscillator voltage wherein a frequency of the oscillator voltage varies based on a magnitude of the overcurrent limit control current.”
Dependent claims 2-8 and 12-16 are allowable for the reasons set forth supra with respect to the independent claims from which they depend.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion and Related Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yu (US 20170126140) is cited for having if the level one overcurrent protection comparator determines that the primary winding current has reached the level one overcurrent current threshold, control the primary switch to turn off and remain turned off until at least a next switching cycle, and to increase a switching frequency by which the primary switch is controlled to turn on and off; if the level one overcurrent protection comparator determines that the primary winding current has reached the level one overcurrent current threshold a predetermined number of consecutive times, re-start the control of the output voltage regulation.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TYNESE V MCDANIEL whose telephone number is (313)446-6579. The examiner can normally be reached on M to F, 9am to 530pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Taelor Kim can be reached at 571-270-7166. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TYNESE V MCDANIEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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