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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Smolenaers (US20220402390).
Re 10, Smolenaers discloses a method of operating a portable charging system (par 75) for a non-road electric work machine (par 69), the method comprising: operating the charging system in a first power-flow state, wherein power flows from a line connection port (103) of the charging system to a charging connection port (101) of the charging system in the first power-flow state (par 259); operating the charging system in a second power-flow state, wherein power flows from the line connection port (103) of the charging system to an energy storage connection port (102) of the charging system in the second power-flow state (par 258); and operating the charging system in a third power-flow state, wherein power flows from the energy storage connection port (102) of the charging system to the line connection port (103) of the charging system in the third power-flow state (par 258).
RE 11, wherein the operating the charging system in the first power-flow state includes operating the charging system in a power state in which power flows from one or both of the line connection port and the energy storage connection port of the charging system to the charging connection port of the charging system (par 263-264, 288).
RE 12, wherein operating the charging system in the first power-flow state includes providing a first charging energy at the charging connection port of the charging system when there is less than the first charging energy at the line connection port (par 262).
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 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(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-9, 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Smolenaers in view of Pham et al (Pham, V.-L.; Wada, K. Applications of Triple Active Bridge Converter for Future Grid and Integrated Energy Systems. Energies 2020, 13, 1577. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13071577 (Year: 2020)).
RE 1 Smolenaers discloses a portable charging system (500) for a non-road electric vehicle (par 69, 75), the system comprising: a line connection port; a first Alternating Current to Direct Current (AC-to-DC) converter circuit connected to the line connection port, wherein the first AC-to-DC converter circuit is a bidirectional AC-to-DC converter circuit; and three-interface bidirectional power-conversion in a multimodal converter circuit (100) including a DC line port (103) coupled to the first AC-to-DC converter circuit, a DC charging port (101), and a DC energy storage port (102) (par 17, 77-79, 84, 135-139).
Smolenaers fails to disclose implementing the three-interface bidirectional power-conversion in the multimodal converter (100) as a three-port triple active bridge converter.
However, Pham teaches using a three-port TAB converter for integrated energy systems including electric vehicle/energy storage applications to achieve flexible power transmission between three elements (Fig 3b) over using multiple DAB converters (Fig 3a)(1. Introduction). The TAB converter includes a three-winding transformer connecting port-1, port-2, and port-3 (Fig 2)(2.1). The TAB operation modes can be categorized into three groups. The single input single output (SISO) modes when the power comes from one port to another while the third port does not get power. The dual input single output (DISO) modes, which supplies power to one port from the other two ports. The single input dual output (SIDO) modes when power from one port is supplied to the two other ports. This shows the flexible power transmission ability of the TAB converter (Fig 7)(2.3).
Given the teachings of Pham et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the three-interface bidirectional power-conversion of Smolenaers with a three-port TAB.
Doing so would provide flexible controlled power transfer among the three ports including SISO, DISO, and SIDO while also reducing the number of components and costs simplifying control of the system.
RE 19 Smolenaers discloses a portable charging system (500) for a non-road electric vehicle (par 69, 75), the system comprising: a line connection port (103), a charging connection port (101), and an energy storage connection port (102); a bidirectional Alternating Current to Direct Current (AC-to-DC) converter circuit connected to the line connection port; a three-interface multimodal converter (100) including a first port connected to the bidirectional AC-to-DC converter circuit; and wherein the converter circuit is configured to: receive DC energy from the AC-to-DC converter circuit at the first port and provide charging DC energy to the charging connection port of the portable charging system from a second port of the converter circuit (par 17, 77-79, 84, 135-139); provide peak shaving DC energy to the energy storage connection port from a third port of the converter circuit (par 255); and transfer stored DC energy from the third port of the converter circuit to the bidirectional AC-to-DC converter circuit connected to the first port of the converter circuit (par 255-262).
Smolenaers fails to disclose implementing the three-interface bidirectional power-conversion in the multimodal converter (100) as a three-port triple active bridge converter.
However, Pham teaches using a three-port TAB converter for integrated energy systems including electric vehicle/energy storage applications to achieve flexible power transmission between three elements (Fig 3b) over using multiple DAB converters (Fig 3a)(1. Introduction). The TAB converter includes a three-winding transformer connecting port-1, port-2, and port-3 (Fig 2)(2.1). The TAB operation modes can be categorized into three groups. The single input single output (SISO) modes when the power comes from one port to another while the third port does not get power. The dual input single output (DISO) modes, which supplies power to one port from the other two ports. The single input dual output (SIDO) modes when power from one port is supplied to the two other ports. This shows the flexible power transmission ability of the TAB converter (Fig 7)(2.3).
Given the teachings of Pham et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the three-interface bidirectional power-conversion of Smolenaers with a three-port TAB.
Doing so would provide flexible controlled power transfer among the three ports including SISO, DISO, and SIDO while also reducing the number of components and costs simplifying control of the system.
Re 2 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, wherein the TAB converter circuit includes: a high frequency (HF) transformer having three windings; a Direct Current to Alternating Current (DC-to-AC) converter arranged between the DC line port and the HF transformer, and coupled to a first winding of the HF transformer; a second AC-to-DC converter circuit arranged between the DC charging port and the HF transformer, and coupled to a second winding of the HF transformer; and a third AC-to-DC converter circuit arranged between the DC energy storage port and the HF transformer, and coupled to a third winding of the HF transformer (par 280, 319, 253).
Re 3 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, wherein the DC-to-AC converter circuit and the third AC-to-DC converter circuit are bidirectional power converter circuits (par 192, 255).
Re 4 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, including a bidirectional DC-to-DC converter circuit coupled to the third AC-to-DC converter circuit and the DC energy storage port (par 258, 302).
RE 5 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, including an energy storage subsystem connected to the bidirectional DC-to-DC converter circuit (par 254, 297).
Re 6 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, including a DC-to-DC converter circuit coupled to the second AC-to-DC converter circuit and the DC charging port (par 254, 297).
Re 7 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, including a megawatt charging station (MCS) coupled to the DC-to-DC converter circuit (par 191).
RE 8 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, wherein the DC-to-AC converter and the second and third AC-to-DC converters include wide bandgap active devices (par 344).
Re 9 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, wherein the DC-to-AC converter and the second and third AC-to-DC converters include field effect transistors (FETs) that include silicon carbide (par 344).
RE 13 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, wherein the operating the charging system in the first power-flow state includes: converting Alternating Current (AC) line power to Direct Current (DC) line power using an AC-to-DC converter and providing the DC line power to a first port of a Triple Action Bridge (TAB) converter circuit; converting the DC line power to an AC signal and converting the AC signal to a first DC signal using the TAB converter circuit; and providing the first DC signal to the charging connection port (par 295, 267).
RE 14 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, wherein the providing the first DC signal to the charging connection port includes providing the first DC signal to the charging connection port and a first DC-to-DC converter circuit connected to a second port of the TAB converter circuit (par 262, 276-278).
Re 15 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, wherein operating the charging system in the second power state includes: converting the DC line power to the AC signal and converting the AC signal to a second DC signal using the using the TAB converter circuit; and providing the second DC signal to the energy storage connection port.
RE 16 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, wherein the providing the second DC signal to the charging connection port includes providing the second DC signal to a second DC-to-DC converter circuit connected to a third port of the TAB converter circuit and the energy storage connection port (par 276-278).
RE 17 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, wherein the operating the charging system in the third power state includes: receiving DC energy from an energy storage subsystem at a third port of the TAB circuit; converting the received DC energy to a second AC signal and converting the second AC signal to a second DC signal using the AC-to-DC convert circuit connected to the first port of the TAB converter circuit; and providing the AC energy to the line connection port of the charging system (par 257, 212, 175).
RE 18 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, wherein the receiving DC energy from an energy storage subsystem includes: applying the DC energy from one or more batteries of the energy storage subsystem to a DC-to-DC converter circuit; and providing DC energy from the DC-to-DC converter circuit to the third port of the TAB converter circuit (par 257, 262, 282-288).
Re 20 Smolenaers as modified by Pham teaches, including a bidirectional DC-to-DC converter circuit connected between the third port of the TAB converter circuit and the energy storage subsystem (par 276-278).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christle I. Marshall whose telephone number is (571) 270-3086. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday 7:30AM - 4:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Paik can be reached on (571) 272-2404. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Christle I Marshall/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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