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 .
This non-final office action is responsive to Applicants' application filed on 01/20/24. Claims 1-14 are presented for examination and are pending for the reasons indicated herein below.
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.
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 1-4 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fukae (US 20190097277 A1)
Regarding claim 1. Fukae teaches a power supply apparatus [fig 4] that controls power in a power supply system including a power path that is a conduction path for supplying power from a power supply unit to a load [see 81 with 11 leading to 95], and a first switching element provided on the power path [30], the power supply apparatus comprising:
a bypass circuit [20] that is provided in parallel to the first switching element, and includes a resistor portion [24], and in which a current flows from the power supply unit to the load via the resistor portion;
a current conduction circuit [94] that is provided between a first conduction path [11], of the power path, between the bypass circuit and the load, and a second conduction path [path after 94 towards 95], which is grounded, and is configured such that, when in a current conduction state [i.e. operating 94], a current flows from the first conduction path to the second conduction path;
and an anomaly determination unit [40] configured to determine an anomaly based on a voltage drop [¶ 41] at the resistor portion [i.e. right terminal of 24] when the current conduction circuit is in the current conduction state.
Regarding claim 2. Fukae teaches the power supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one end of the resistor portion is short-circuited [this term is interpreted as connected between intervening elements leading to a voltage terminal] to the power supply unit, and the other end is short-circuited to the first conduction path.
Regarding claim 3. Fukae teaches the power supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first switching element performs a normal operation such that, when in an on state, a current is allowed to flow through the power path via the first switching element [¶41], and when in an off state [¶46, current bypasses 30 and flows to 92], a current flow through the power path via the first switching element is cut off, the power supply apparatus further comprises a control unit [50] that performs first switching control in which an instruction to enter an off state is given to the first switching element, and an instruction to enter the current conduction state is given to the current conduction circuit [function of 50], and the anomaly determination unit determines an anomaly based on a voltage of the first conduction path when the first switching control is performed [¶41].
Regarding claim 4. Fukae teaches the power supply apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the first switching element performs a normal operation such that, when in an on state, a current is allowed to flow through the power path via the first switching element [¶ 41], and when in an off state [¶46, current bypasses 30 and flows to 92], a current flow through the power path via the first switching element is cut off, the power supply apparatus further comprises a control unit [50] that performs second switching control in which an instruction to enter an on state is given to the first switching element, and an instruction to enter the current conduction state is given to the current conduction circuit [function of 50], and the anomaly determination unit determines an anomaly based on a voltage of the first conduction path when the second switching control is performed [¶41].
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.
Claim 9 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukae (US 20190097277 A1) in view of Hanada et al. (US 20010028571 A1)
Regarding claim 9. Fukae teaches the power supply apparatus according to claim 1. However, Fukae does not explicitly mention wherein the current conduction circuit includes a current conduction resistor portion and a current conduction switch, and the current conduction state is an on state of the current conduction switch.
Hanada teaches wherein the current conduction circuit [second current path of 20] includes a current conduction resistor portion [20, R2] and a current conduction switch [SW2], and the current conduction state is an on state of the current conduction switch [function of 20]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the features of Hanada in order to provide restriction to the current being applied to the load which can damage the load.
Claim 10 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukae (US 20190097277 A1) in view of Jiang (US 20190319539 A1)
Regarding claim 10. Fukae teaches the power supply apparatus according to claim 1,
However, Fukae does not explicitly mention wherein the load is a capacitive load, and a period of time in which the anomaly determination unit determines an anomaly is larger than a time constant τ represented by a following formula, where a resistance value of the current conduction circuit in the current conduction state is denoted as R and a capacitance of the load is denoted as τ=RxC formula. Jiang teaches wherein the load is a capacitive load, and a period of time in which the anomaly determination unit determines an anomaly is larger than a time constant τ represented by a following formula, where a resistance value of the current conduction circuit in the current conduction state is denoted as R and a capacitance of the load is denoted as τ=RxC formula [¶ 43-44]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the features of Jiang so as to improve an anti-interference capability of the DC-DC converter and further improve user experience [¶5].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 and 11-14 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, and if the claim objections stated above were overcome.
Examiner Note
The examiner cites particular columns and lines numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bryan Perez whose telephone number is (571)272-8837. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon.-Fri. (7:30 – 5:00).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Sean P. Kayes, can be reached on (571) 272-8931. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRYAN R PEREZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2838