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 .
Claims 1-12 are pending in this application.
Election/Restrictions
Claim 8 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species 2, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08/15/2025.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments, see Amendments/Remarks, filed 12/17/2025, with respect to the rejection of claim 1 under 102 (a) and 102 (a)(2) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Njiende et al. (US 20170054378 A1).
The amendments to claims 6-12 are sufficient to overcome the objection and 112 (b) rejection of the claims, therefore the previous objection and 112 (b) rejection is withdrawn.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 12/17/25. These drawings are acceptable. Previous drawing objection is withdrawn.
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 1-2 and 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shudarek (US20060250207A1) and further in view of Njiende et al. (US 20170054378 A1), hereinafter Njiende.
Regarding claim 1, Shudarek discloses an inductor (figs 2, three-phase inductor 18) comprising: a magnetic member (fig 2, common core 30) comprising a first core (fig 2, core leg 34), a second core (fig 2, core leg 36), a third core (fig 2, core leg 35), and a connecting portion (fig 2, first core bridge 31 and second core bridge 32) connecting the first core, the second core and the third core (fig 2, first and second core bridges connect the first second and third core legs in the same manor as connecting portions 14a and 14b of fig 1A in the instant application), the connecting portion allowing formation of a magnetic flux circulating between the first core and the third core, a magnetic flux circulating between the second core and the third core, and a magnetic flux circulating between the first core and the second core (par [0024] “the magnetic flux produced by each coil flows in the same direction through the first core bridge 31 and in the same direction in the second core bridge 32 as represented by the dashed lines with arrows”; see dashed lines with arrows in fig 2); a first winding (fig 2, 21) wound around the first core (fig 2, shown wound around 34); a second winding (fig 2, 23) wound around the second core (fig 2, shown wound around 36); and a third winding (fig 2, 22) wound around the third core (fig 2, shown wound around 35) and connected between the first winding and the second winding (fig 2, winding 22 shown connected between windings 21 and 23), a direction of a magnetic flux generated in the third core by a current flowing through the first winding and a direction of a magnetic flux generated in the third core by a current flowing through the second winding being opposite to each other (fig 2, see dashed line with arrows; directions flowing through core 35 are opposite; fig 2 inductor 18 is substantially identical to the instant application fig 1A).
Shudarek does not show connections of the winding in fig. 2 and therefore does not disclose one end of the third winding being connected to the first winding and another end of the third winding being connected to the second winding.
Njiende discloses an integrated magnetic component including series resonant inductors and parallel inductors and with multiple windings around multiple core legs with a configuration such that the magnetic flux is reduced by flux cancellation resulting in increase power density and reduce copper and core losses. Njiende discloses one end of the third winding (fig 4, See node leaving first winding 123 connecting third winding S1/P1) being connected to the first winding (fig 4, winding 123) and another end of the third winding being connected to the second winding (fig 4, See node leaving third winding S1/P1 connecting second winding 124)(fig. 4 produced below, see nodes boxed in Red).
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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 teachings of Shudarak and incorporate the connection of windings as taught by Njiende. The advantage of this design is so that the windings can be connected in such a way to be able to reduce magnetic flux by flux cancellation.
Regarding claim 2, Shudarek and Njiende disclose the inductor according to claim 1, wherein the first core and the second core are spaced apart from each other in a first direction (Shudarek fig 2, first core and second core are spaced identical to what is shown in fig 1A in the instant application), the third core is located between the first core and the second core in the first direction (Shudarek fig 2, third core 35 is shown between first core 34 and second core 36), and a distance between the first core and the third core is equal to a distance between the second core and the third core (Shudarek see fig 2, the distance between cores appears to be substantially equal, identical to instant application fig 1A).
Regarding claim 4, Shudarek and Njiende disclose the inductor according to claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional area of the first core is same as a cross-sectional area of the second core (Shudarek fig 2, cross-section area of first core 34 and second core 36 appear to be equal).
Regarding claim 5, Shudarek and Njiende disclose the inductor according to claim 1, wherein a number of turns of the first winding is equal to a number of turns of the second winding (Shudarek fig 2, the number of turns of the first 21 and second 23 windings appear to be equal).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shudarek (US20060250207A1) and Njiende et al. (US 20170054378 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Liu et al. (US 20170076850 A1) hereinafter Liu.
Regarding claim 3, Shudarek and Njiende disclose the inductor according to claim 1.
Shudarek and Njiende fail to disclose wherein the first core, the second core, and the third core are located at vertexes of a triangle in a plan view, and a distance between the first core and the third core is equal to a distance between the second core and the third core.
Liu discloses a coupled inductor and power converter with a common magnetic core and multiple windings. Liu discloses a first core (fig 7, 711), a second core (fig 7, 712), and a third core (fig 7, 713) are located at vertexes of a triangle in a plan view (fig 2, each core located at three vertex angles of the triangle; par [0071] “three first magnetic cylinders 711, 712, and 713 are respectively located at three vertex angles of the triangle”), and a distance between the first core and the third core is equal to a distance between the second core and the third core (fig 7, the distance between cores appears to be equal).
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 teachings of Shudarek and Njiende and incorporate the triangle arrangement of the inductor cores as taught by Liu. The advantage of this design a reduced space layout.
Claims 6-7, 9, and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shudarek (US20060250207A1) and Njiende et al. (US 20170054378 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lu et al (US 20210083590 A1), hereinafter Lu.
Regarding claim 6, Shudarek and Njiende disclose the inductor according to claim 1.
Shudarek and Njiende fail to disclose a power conversion circuit comprising: an inverter circuit; an output circuit; the inductor connected between the inverter circuit and the output circuit; and a capacitor connected between an output node of the inverter circuit and at least one of the first winding and the second winding.
Lu discloses an isolated resonant converter that includes a first side circuit, a second side circuit, and a resonant tank circuit. Lu discloses a power conversion circuit (fig 18 shows three-phase bidirectional isolated resonant converter) comprising: an inverter circuit (fig 18, inverter circuit to the left of the three integrated magnetic elements); an output circuit (fig 18, output circuit to the right of the three integrated magnetic elements); the inductor (fig 18, inductor components of three integrated magnetic elements) connected between the inverter circuit and the output circuit (fig 18, inverter circuit to the left of the inductor components and the output circuit to the right of the inductor components with inductor components appearing in the middle of the two circuits); and a capacitor (fig 18, C.sub.r11) connected between (fig 18, shown between) an output node of the inverter circuit (fig 18, see each branch between the first side circuit and inductor components) and at least one of the first winding and the second winding (fig 18, capacitor C.sub.r11 connected between first side circuit and inductor windings).
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 teachings of Shudarek and Njiende and incorporate power conversion circuit as taught by Lu. The advantage of this design is to include an integrated magnetic inductor with multiple windings and cores into a conventional resonant power converter.
Regarding claim 7, Shudarek, Njiende, and Lu disclose the power conversion circuit according to claim 6, wherein the capacitor arrangement (see Lu fig 18, capacitors C.sub.r11, C.sub.r21, and C.sub.r31) comprises a first capacitor (Lu fig 18, capacitor C.sub.r11) connected to the first winding (Lu fig 18, L.sub.r11) and a second capacitor (Lu fig 18, capacitor C.sub.r21) connected to the second winding (Lu fig 18, L.sub.r21).
Regarding claim 9, Shudarek, Njiende, and Lu disclose the power conversion circuit according to claim 6, wherein the first core and the second core are spaced apart from each other in a first direction (Shudarek fig 2, first core and second core are spaced identical to what is shown in fig 1A in the instant application), the third core is located between the first core and the second core in the first direction (Shudarek fig 2, third core 35 is shown between first core 34 and second core 36), and a distance between the first core and the third core is equal to a distance between the second core and the third core (see Shudarek fig 2, the distance between cores appears to be substantially equal, identical to instant application fig 1A).
Regarding claim 11, Shudarek, Njiende, and Lu disclose the power conversion circuit according to claim 6, wherein a cross-sectional area of the first core is same as a cross-sectional area of the second core (Shudarek fig 2, cross-section area of first core 34 and second core 36 appear to be equal).
Regarding claim 12, Shudarek, Njiende, and Lu disclose the power conversion circuit according to claim 6, wherein a number of turns of the first winding is equal to a number of turns of the second winding (Shudarek fig 2, the number of turns of the first 21 and second 23 windings appear to be equal).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shudarek (US20060250207A1), Njiende et al. (US 20170054378 A1), and Lu et al (US 20210083590 A1) as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Liu et al. (US 20170076850 A1) hereinafter Liu.
Regarding claim 10, Shudarek, Njiende, and Lu disclose the power conversion circuit according to claim 6.
Shudarek and Lu fail to disclose wherein the first core, the second core, and the third core are located at vertexes of a triangle in a plan view, and a distance between the first core and the third core is equal to a distance between the second core and the third core.
Liu discloses a coupled inductor and power converter with a common magnetic core and multiple windings. Liu discloses a first core (fig 7, 711), a second core (fig 7, 712), and a third core (fig 7, 713) are located at vertexes of a triangle in a plan view (fig 2, each core located at three vertex angles of the triangle; par [0071] “three first magnetic cylinders 711, 712, and 713 are respectively located at three vertex angles of the triangle”), and a distance between the first core and the third core is equal to a distance between the second core and the third core (fig 7, the distance between cores appears to be equal).
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 teachings of Shudarek, Njiende, and Lu and incorporate the triangle arrangement of the inductor cores as taught by Liu. The advantage of this design a reduced space layout.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lauren A Shaw whose telephone number is (571)272-3074. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7-5 EST.
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/LAUREN ASHLEY SHAW/Examiner, Art Unit 2838
/THIENVU V TRAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2838