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 Group I and Species 1 (Claims 1-2, 11-12 and 15-16) in the reply filed on 06/03/2026 without traverse is acknowledged.
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 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fei (US 20190355506 A1).
Regarding Claim 1:
Fei teaches that a power converter, comprising:
a primary-side converter stage (14, Drawing: 1; para 0076-0077) and a plurality of secondary-side converter stages (16, 18; Drawing: 1); and
an integrated transformer (120, Drawing: 1) and resonant inductor (see claim 1) electrically coupled between the primary-side converter stage and the plurality of secondary-side converter stages, comprising:
a magnetic core (see Fig. 19; para 0077) comprising a first leg (A1, Fig. 19), an auxiliary leg (B1), and a second leg (C1);
a first transformer comprising a first primary winding (1330A, Fig. 19), a first secondary winding (1320A),and a first shield winding (1310A) on the first leg; and
a second transformer (not labeled; i.e. right side transformer in Fig. 19) comprising a second primary winding (not labeled; i.e. right side 1330A, Fig. 19), a second secondary winding (not labeled; i.e. right side 1320A, Fig. 19), and a second shield winding (not labeled; i.e. right side 1310A, Fig. 19) on the second leg, wherein:
the first shield winding is electrically coupled in the integrated transformer to
provide an extension of the first primary winding for the first transformer; and
an end of the first shield winding or the second shield winding is electrically
coupled to a primary-side ground of the power converter (see para 0076).
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Drawing: 1, an annotated version of Fig. 17
Regarding Claim 15:
Fei teaches that an integrated transformer and resonant inductor for a power converter,
comprising:
a magnetic core (see Fig. 19; para 0077) comprising a first leg (A1, Fig. 19), an auxiliary leg (B1), and a second leg (C1);
a first transformer comprising a first primary winding (1330A, Fig. 19), a first secondary winding (1320A),and a first shield winding (1310A) on the first leg; and
a second transformer (not labeled; i.e. right side transformer in Fig. 19) comprising a second primary winding (not labeled; i.e. right side 1330A, Fig. 19), a second secondary winding (not labeled; i.e. right side 1320A, Fig. 19), and a second shield winding (not labeled; i.e. right side 1310A, Fig. 19)on the second leg, wherein:
the first shield winding is electrically coupled in the integrated transformer to provide an extension of the first primary winding for the first transformer (construed from Fig. 20); and
an end of the first shield winding or the second shield winding is electrically
coupled to a primary-side ground of the power converter (see para 0076).
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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fei in view of Lin (US 20200083818 A1).
Regarding Claim 11:
Fei teaches that a power converter, comprising:
a primary-side converter stage (14, Drawing: 1; para 0076-0077) and a plurality of secondary-side converter stages (16, 18; Drawing: 1); and
an integrated transformer (120, Drawing: 1) and resonant inductor (see claim 1) electrically coupled between the primary-side converter stage and the plurality of secondary-side converter stages, comprising:
a magnetic core (see Fig. 19; para 0077) comprising a first leg (A1, Fig. 19), a second leg (C1) and plurality auxiliary legs (B1, see claim 1), and;
a first transformer comprising a first primary winding (1330A, Fig. 19), a first secondary winding (1320A),and a first shield winding (1310A) on the first leg; and
a second transformer (not labeled; i.e. right side transformer in Fig. 19) comprising a second primary winding (not labeled; i.e. right side 1330A, Fig. 19), a second secondary winding (not labeled; i.e. right side 1320A, Fig. 19), and a second shield winding (not labeled; i.e. right side 1310A, Fig. 19)on the second leg, wherein:
the first shield winding is electrically coupled in the integrated transformer to
provide an extension of the first primary winding for the first transformer; and
an end of the first shield winding or the second shield winding is electrically
coupled to a primary-side ground of the power converter (see para 0076).
Fei does not explicitly teach that a first turns ratio between the first primary winding to the first secondary winding is different than a second turns ratio between the second primary winding to the second secondary winding.
However, Lin taught in para 0070 that Where Np and Ns are the numbers of the primary side winding and the secondary side winding, and different winding turn ratios allow the resonant converters to have different gain values G and to operate in different region.
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 a first turns ratio between the first primary winding to the first secondary winding is different than a second turns ratio between the second primary winding to the second secondary winding to allow the resonant converters to have different gain values G and to operate in different region (see para 0070)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 12 and 16 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 2, 12 and 16 recites, the first shield winding and the second shield winding are electrically coupled in series at a center node between the first shield winding and the second shield winding; and the first shield winding and the second shield winding are electrically coupled to the primary-side ground of the power converter at the center node between the first shield winding and the second shield winding..
The references of record do not teach or suggest the aforementioned limitations, nor would it be obvious to modify those references to include such limitations.
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.”
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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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