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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 5-9, and 13-20 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 12/18/25.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the connectors configured to receive and conduct a voltage to collector terminals of the switching devices; and the gate drivers configured to conduct a gate voltage to gate terminals of the switching devices; must be shown and labeled or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-4, and 10, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Regarding Claim 1; “to control voltage out of the housing via the connectors as an alternating current” in line 10 is unclear; whereas line 7 previously asserts “the connectors configured to receive and conduct a voltage to collector terminals” whereby the connectors in each line is not asserted as the same or different connectors, and the actual connections to associated features including collector terminals, and gate terminals etc is not otherwise shown and labeled, and thus it appears the connectors which receives and conducts voltage shall respectively denote different connectors (i.e. supply connectors) relative to the connectors as an alternating current constitutes (i.e. output connectors). NOTE: as currently presented receiving, conducting, and/or to control conduction does not necessitate any particular manner of direct connectivity and thus does not exclude varying means of connectivity to, from, and/or between the connectors.
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, 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(s) 1-3, and 10, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (Miller 2008/0164831) in view of (CYR CN105765850A).
Regarding Claim 1; Miller discloses a panel system (as set forth by para. 0042—whereas module includes a housing mounted to a flat structure including a cabinet wall floor panel or ceiling panel) comprising: a core body having opposite sides and switching devices mounted to at least one of the opposite sides of the core body (as depicted by Fig.’s 1A and 5 --whereas switching devices as SCRs or solid state power switches are used to power an induction motor–as set forth by para. 0003, wherein the switches indicated by SCR1 and SCR2 on opposite sides of a core body HS2 defining a copper heat sink—as set forth by para. 0038); a housing in which the core body and the switching devices are disposed (as depicted by Fig’s 1A and 5—whereas a housing-10 includes the core body and the switching devices therein); gate drivers coupled to a first side of the housing and to the switching devices (whereas gate drivers GD1 and GD2 are presented as vertically disposed on a first side of the housing—as depicted by Fig.’s 1A, 2A, and 5); and connectors coupled to one or more other sides of the housing and to the switching devices (whereas connectors 12 and 14 atleast indirectly extends respectively from lower and upper and sides of the housing—as depicted by Fig.’s 1A, 2A, and 5, and para. 0038 discloses the housing provides external wiring access through openings to the connectors 12, and 14), the connectors suggested as configured to receive and conduct a voltage to collector terminals of the switching devices (as further depicted by Fig. 9—whereas the switching devices are coupled to the connectors 12 and 14—as set forth by para’s 0038 and 0049), the gate drivers configured to conduct a gate voltage to gate terminals of the switching devices (whereas para. 0049 discloses the gate driver boards GD1 and GD2 are coupled to the switching devices to control the switching operation and comprising a gate output coupled to a gate of the switching devices to the connectors), and the switching devices configured to control conduction of the voltage out of the housing via the connectors (as suggested by para. 0038 and depicted by Fig. 9—whereas the switching device denoted as SCR1 couples via an anode and/or external wiring to the load terminal 12 , a d the switching devices denoted as SCR2 couples via a cathode and/or external wiring to the load terminal-12) suggested as an alternating current (as depicted by Fig. 9--whereas the switching devices couples to the load via 12, wherein the load defines the induction motor—as already set forth which constitutes an AC motor). Except, Miller does not explicitly disclose the connectors actually receive and conduct the voltage to collector terminals of the switching devices, and the connectors include an alternating current. However, CYR discloses connectors receive and conduct the voltage to collector terminals of the switching devices, and the connectors include an alternating current (as depicted by Fig.’s 4 or 6—whereas respective gate drivers-40 atleast indirectly couples collectors 22—Fig.’s 1 and 4 of switching devices Q1 and Q2 defining IGBTs receiving DC voltage from a source-12 or capacitor-20 to the IGBTs, and supplying alternating current to an electric vehicle motor connected with load 14—as further set forth by page 9 at fourth para., atleast indirectly via the collectors when the respective IGBTs are switch on as further set forth by page 2 at second para. from bottom of page and by page 3 at second para.), and thus it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the gate drivers as coupled to switching devices as DC-AC power converters and conducting voltage to collector terminals thereof and outputting alternating current to the motor, since it was known in the art that the alternating current may be controlled and output at an inductance current relatively maintained as constant.
Regarding Claim 10; Miller discloses the already modified panel system of claim 1, wherein the switching devices are insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) (as already set forth).
Claim(s) 2-3, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (Miller 2008/0164831) in view of (CYR CN105765850A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of (Suzuki 2013/0070502).
Regarding Claims 2-3; Miller discloses the already modified panel system of claim 1, except explicitly wherein the core body includes fluid ports configured to be coupled with a fluid circuit and internal conduits configured to direct flow of a cooling or heating fluid from the fluid circuit through the core body for thermal management of the switching devices, and wherein the fluid ports of the core body extend through and protrude from a back side of the housing for connection with the fluid circuit. However, Suzuki discloses the core body includes fluid ports configured to be coupled with a fluid circuit and internal conduits configured to direct flow of a cooling or heating fluid from the fluid circuit through the core body for thermal management of the switching devices (whereas Fig.’s 2-4 depicts switching devices-2 stacked with cooling devices-3 comprising fluid conduits 30-31 for coolant 13 via 11-12), and wherein the fluid ports of the core body extend through and protrude from a back side of the housing for connection with the fluid circuit (whereas 11-12 protrudes from a back of housing 7 in the same direction as the stacking direction of the switching device and the core) and thus it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the heat sinks as comprising fluid conduits having portion protruding from the back of the housing since it was known in the art that coolant may efficiently absorb and remove heat in a desired direction away from the switching devices without recirculating heated coolant from one switching devices over other switching devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, is 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.
Regarding Claim 4; the panel system of claim 3, wherein the housing includes guiding pins protruding from the back side of the housing for aligning the fluid ports of the core body with the fluid circuit.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20120300521 A1
HIDA; Kenshiro et al.
Fig.’s 2-6
US 20190372473 A1
Young; Henry Todd et al.
Fig.’s 4 and 6
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/COURTNEY L SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2835