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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 04/04/2023, 05/15/2024, 08/07/2024 and 01/08/2025 are acknowledged by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 9 recites “ a storage battery” in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this imitation in the claim. For examination purpose the limitation is considered as the same as in claim 1 line 3 "storage battery” and should be written as “the storage battery’ . Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 9 recites “ a power battery” in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this imitation in the claim. For examination purpose the limitation is considered as the same as in claim 1 line 2 "a power battery” and should be written as “the power battery’ . Appropriate correction is required.
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 1, 7 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taban (US 10,079,541) in view of Machine Translation of CN107276190 hereinafter 190’.
As to claims 1 and 10, Taban discloses in figures 1-8, a charging device, comprising:
a first DC convertor [converter (70) DC-DC converter see figures 6-8] , configured to convert a DC signal outputted by a power battery [battery HV1; see figure 8] to a DC signal required for a storage battery [LV. See figure 8], wherein the first DC convertor comprises a first half-bridge logical link control (LLC) circuit [Q5a, Q6a, Lra , Lma , Cr1a and Cr2; and a second half-bridge LLC circuit arranged in parallel [Q5b, Q6b, Cr2b, Cr1b and Lmb]; and
a controller [controller (90)], connected with the first half-bridge LLC circuit and the second half-bridge LLC circuit
Taban does not disclose explicitly, controller and configured to acquire a total output current of the first DC convertor, and control the first half-bridge LLC circuit and the second half-bridge LLC circuit to operate alternately when the total output current is less than a current threshold.
190’ discloses controller and configured to acquire a total output current of the first DC convertor, and control the first half-bridge LLC circuit and the second half-bridge LLC circuit to operate alternately when the total output current is less than a current threshold [the controller controls the bridge converters when the output current is less than the predetermined value, see page 3, paragraph 1].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to control the switching of the half bridge circuit of Taban based on the current output values as taught by 190’ in order to improve the output power of the half-bridge circuits.
As to claim 7, Taban discloses in figures 1-8, wherein the first DC convertor further comprises a first filter [first filter Cout] ; a first terminal of the first filter is connected with a first terminal of the storage battery [LV1]; and a second terminal of the first filter is connected with a second terminal of the storage battery [Cout and LVl are connected in parallel].
As to claim 9, Taban discloses in figures 1-8 , a storage battery {Lv1] and a power battery [HV], wherein the charging device is connected with the storage battery and the power battery.
Claims 2 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of 190’, hereinafter 190’, in view of Ionescu et al. (US 2018/0003522), hereinafter Ionescu.
As to claims 2 and 11, Taban in combination with 190’ discloses half-bridge circuits controls alternatively,
Neither Taban nor 190’ discoes explicitly, wherein the controller is configured to cyclically perform the following process when the first half- bridge LLC circuit and the second half-bridge LLC circuit operate alternately: controlling the first half-bridge LLC circuit to operate, recording a first operating time of the first half-bridge LLC circuit, switching the second half-bridge LLC circuit to operate when the first operating time reaches a time threshold, recording a second operating time of the second half-bridge LLC circuit, and switching the first half-bridge LLC circuit to operate when the second operating time reaches the time threshold.
Ionescu discloses in figure 4, wherein the controller is configured to cyclically perform the following process when the first half- bridge LLC circuit and the second half-bridge LLC circuit operate alternately: controlling the first half-bridge LLC circuit to operate, recording a first operating time of the first half-bridge LLC circuit, switching the second half-bridge LLC circuit to operate when the first operating time reaches a time threshold, recording a second operating time of the second half-bridge LLC circuit, and switching the first half-bridge LLC circuit to operate when the second operating time reaches the time threshold [as shown in figure 4, the half-badge circuits operate in different time units. From 0-.8 time units the first half bridge and from 0.8 to 1.4 units the second -half bridge; see ¶0051] .
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to operate the half -bridge circuits of Taban based on time windows as taught by Ionescu in order to effectively control the power supply device.
It is also noted that all the claimed elements of applicant’s inventions were known in the prior art (e.g. two half-bridge circuits , controller, alternately switching the switches of the two bridge circuits s etc.) and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, proper motivation/rationale to combine is as given in the office action. See KSR, 127 S. Ct. at 1740, 82 USPQ2d at 1396.
Claims 3 -4 and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taban in view of 190’, hereinafter 190’, in view of Wang (US 2018/0083617).
As to claims 3 and 12, Taban and 190’ discloses all of the claim limitations except , wherein the controller is further configured to control the first half-bridge LLC circuit and the second half-bridge LLC circuit to operate simultaneously when the total output current is greater than or equal to the current threshold.
Wang discloses in figures 1-13, wherein the controller is further configured to control the first half-bridge LLC circuit and the second half-bridge LLC circuit to operate simultaneously when the total output current is greater than or equal to the current threshold [Simultaneously operating two half bridges based on high current is disclosed; see ¶0053].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to operate half bridges of Taban simultaneously based on high current as taught by Wang in order to minimizes power loses.
It is also noted that all the claimed elements of applicant’s inventions were known in the prior art (e.g. two half-bridge circuits , controlling the ON and Off of the bridge-circuits based on current values, etc.) and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, proper motivation/rationale to combine is as given in the office action. See KSR, 127 S. Ct. at 1740, 82 USPQ2d at 1396.
As to claims 4 and 13, Wang discloses in figures 1-13, wherein the controlling the first half-bridge LLC circuit and the second half-bridge LLC circuit to operate simultaneously includes: alternatively controlling a switching transistor of the first half-bridge LLC circuit and a switching transistor of the second half-bridge LLC circuit at a preset phase angle difference [see ¶0051; during high current simultaneous operation and during low current alternate operation of the switching devices of the half -bridge circuits disclosed. It is implicit that the phase is difference in simultaneous an alternate operations].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to operate half bridges of Taban simultaneously based on high current as taught by Wang in order to minimizes power loses.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 and 8 are 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.
Claim 5 recites, inter alia, wherein the first half-bridge LLC circuit comprises: a first switching transistor and a second switching transistor, wherein a first terminal of the first switching transistor is connected with a first terminal of the power battery; a second terminal of the first switching transistor is connected with a first terminal of the second switching transistor; a control terminal of the first switching transistor is connected with the controller; a second terminal of the second switching transistor is connected with a second terminal of the power battery; a control terminal of the second switching transistor is connected with the controller; and a first node is arranged between the second terminal of the first switching transistor and the first terminal of the second switching transistor; a first capacitor and a first inductor, wherein a first terminal of the first capacitor is connected with the first node; and a second terminal of the first capacitor is connected with a first terminal of the first inductor; a first transformer, wherein the first transformer comprises a first primary coil, a first secondary coil, and a second secondary coil; a first terminal of the first primary coil is connected with a second terminal of the first inductor; a second terminal of the first primary coil is connected with a second terminal of the second switching transistor; a second terminal of the first secondary 19 coil and a first terminal of the second secondary coil are connected as a first common terminal; and the first common terminal is connected with a second terminal of the storage battery; and a third switching transistor and a fourth switching transistor, wherein a first terminal of the third switching transistor is connected with a first terminal of the first secondary coil; a second terminal of the third switching transistor is connected with a first terminal of the storage battery; a control terminal of the third switching transistor is connected with the controller; a first terminal of the fourth switching transistor is connected with a second terminal of the second secondary coil; a second terminal of the fourth switching transistor is connected with the second terminal of the third switching transistor and the first terminal of the storage battery; and a control terminal of the fourth switching transistor is connected with the controller. The above limitation is not disclosed, taught, or suggested in the art of record, nor would it have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the art of record to meet the above limitation.
Claim 6 recites, inter alia, wherein the second half-bridge LLC circuit comprises: a fifth switching transistor and a sixth switching transistor, wherein a first terminal of the fifth switching transistor is connected with the first terminal of the power battery; a second terminal of the fifth switching transistor is connected with a first terminal of the sixth switching transistor; a control terminal of the fifth switching transistor is connected with the controller; a second terminal of the sixth switching transistor is connected with the second terminal of the power battery; a control terminal of the sixth switching transistor is connected with the controller; and a second node is arranged between the second terminal of the fifth switching transistor and the first terminal of the sixth switching transistor; a second capacitor and a second inductor, wherein a first terminal of the second capacitor is connected with the second node; and a second terminal of the second capacitor is connected with 20 a first terminal of the second inductor; a second transformer, wherein the second transformer comprises a second primary coil, a third secondary coil, and a fourth secondary coil; a first terminal of the second primary coil is connected with a second terminal of the second inductor; a second terminal of the second primary coil is connected with a second terminal of the first transformer, the second terminal of the second switching transistor, and the second terminal of the sixth switching transistor; a second terminal of the third secondary coil and a first terminal of the fourth secondary coil are connected as a second common terminal; and the second common terminal is connected with the second terminal of the storage battery; and a seventh switching transistor and an eighth switching transistor, wherein a first terminal of the seventh switching transistor is connected with a first terminal of the third secondary coil; a second terminal of the seventh switching transistor is connected with the first terminal of the storage battery; a control terminal of the seventh switching transistor is connected with the controller; a first terminal of the eighth switching transistor is connected with a second terminal of the fourth secondary coil; a second terminal of the eighth switching transistor is connected with a second terminal of the seventh switching transistor and the first terminal of the storage battery; and a control terminal of the eighth switching transistor is connected with the controller. The above limitation is not disclosed, taught, or suggested in the art of record, nor would it have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the art of record to meet the above limitation.
Claim 8 recites, inter alia, a second filter, wherein a first terminal of the second filter is connected with an AC power supply; a power factor correction (PFC) circuit, configured to perform a PFC on an input AC and output a DC signal after the PFC, wherein the PFC circuit comprises at least three-phase bridge arms; and each phase bridge arm is connected with a second terminal of the second filter through a power inductor; and a second DC convertor, wherein an input terminal of the second DC convertor is connected with an output terminal of the PFC circuit; and an output terminal of the second DC convertor is connected with the power battery.
Conclusion
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/SAMUEL BERHANU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859