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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 1, Figures 1-12, claims 1, 3-7, 9, 15, 17-18, 21-22 and 25-26 in the reply filed on 7/29/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 4, 6, 18, 22 and 26 depend on non-elected claim 2 therefore claims 4, 6, 18, 22 and 26 are withdrawn. Claims 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 17, 21 and 25 will be examined herewith.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chen et al. [CN 101404454 A].
Regarding claim 1, Chen et al. discloses a power conversion device [figures 2-3] comprising:
a core forming a magnetic circuit, wherein the core has a first core [top part of E-core], a second core [bottom part of E-core] opposed to the first core and disposed to be spaced from the first core, a center leg [figure 2] which makes connection between a center portion of the first core and a center portion of the second core opposed to each other, and a plurality of side legs [figure 2] which are away from the center leg and each of which makes connection between an end portion of the first core and an end portion of the second core opposed to each other;
a primary-side coil [Np] wound on the core;
a secondary-side coil [Ns] magnetically coupled to the primary-side coil and wound on the core; and
a smoothing coil [NL] electrically connected to the secondary-side coil and wound on the core, wherein the primary-side coil and the secondary-side coil are wound on a first side leg among the side legs [figures 2-3], the smoothing coil is wound on a second side leg among the side legs [figures 2-3], and a magnetic path common to the primary-side coil, the secondary-side coil, and the smoothing coil is formed on the center leg [figures 2-3].
Regarding claims 7 and 9, Chen et al. further discloses the center leg has no gap portion across which portions of the center leg are spaced from each other [figures 2-3], wherein a cross-sectional area of the center leg is smaller than a sum of cross-sectional areas of the plurality of side legs [figures 2-3].
Claim(s) 1, 7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Dong et al. [US 2021/0083589 A1].
Regarding claim 1, Dong et al. discloses a power conversion device [figure 11] comprising:
a core forming a magnetic circuit [Cx1, Cx2], wherein the core has a first core [top part of E-core], a second core [bottom part of E-core] opposed to the first core and disposed to be spaced from the first core, a center leg [313, figure 11] which makes connection between a center portion of the first core and a center portion of the second core opposed to each other, and a plurality of side legs [figure 11] which are away from the center leg and each of which makes connection between an end portion of the first core and an end portion of the second core opposed to each other;
a primary-side coil [N2] wound on the core;
a secondary-side coil [N1] magnetically coupled to the primary-side coil and wound on the core; and
a smoothing coil [Lr1] electrically connected to the secondary-side coil and wound on the core, wherein the primary-side coil and the secondary-side coil are wound on a first side leg among the side legs [figure 11], the smoothing coil is wound on a second side leg among the side legs [figure 11], and a magnetic path common to the primary-side coil, the secondary-side coil, and the smoothing coil is formed on the center leg [D1, D2, figure 11].
Regarding claims 7 and 9, Dong et al. further discloses the center leg has no gap portion across which portions of the center leg are spaced from each other [figure 22], wherein a cross-sectional area of the center leg is smaller than a sum of cross-sectional areas of the plurality of side legs [figure 11].
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) 3, 15, 17 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. or Dong et al. in view of Nakahori [JP 2009-136137 A] or Lu et al. [US 2015/0155089 A1].
Regarding claim 3, Chen et al. or Dong et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for the specific of the primary, secondary and smoothing coils.
Nakahori discloses a coil structure [41A, 41B, 42A, 42B, 43, 44] for use in a switching power supply device, wherein the coil structure formed in a shape of a plate/conductive curved on a plane arranged around a magnetic core structure [UC1, DC1, figure 4].
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the coil plate/conductive curved shaped coil structure for the primary, secondary and soothing coils of Chen et al. or Dong et al., as suggested by Nakahori, for the purpose of improving circuit efficiency and reducing size of the transformer.
Lu et al. discloses an integrated magnetic module [100, figures 1-8] comprising:
- a core structure [110, 120]; and
- a plurality of coils wound around the core structure, wherein the coils including primary coil [130, 340], secondary coil [140, 350] and smoothing coil [150, 340] electrically connected to the secondary coil.
Lu et al. further discloses the coils formed of a curved plate shaped on a plane [figures 1-2, 6-9].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the coil design of Lu et al. in Chen et al. or Dong et al. for the purpose of reducing overall volume and weight of the device [abstract].
Regarding claim 15, Chen et al. or Dong et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for the use of ferrite material for the core.
Nakahori discloses the use of ferrite material for the core.
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use ferrite for the core of Chen et al. or Dong et al., as suggested by Nakahori , for the purpose of providing high permeability for the magnetic core.
Regarding claim 17, Nakahori further discloses the secondary coil [42A, 42B] connected to a plurality of rectifying diodes [51, 52] with one of terminal of the diode connected to ground [LG, figure 1].
Regarding claim 21, Nakahori et al. discloses the core structure including a plurality of coils [41A, 41B, 42A, 42B, 43, 44], wherein the plurality of coils have different number of turns [coils 43, 44 have less turns than coils 41A, 41B]. Lu et al. also discloses the primary coil [130] having more number of turns compare to the secondary coil [140].
The specific number of turns for the primary-side and secondary-side coils would have been an obvious design consideration based on the intended applications and/or environments uses.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawamura [JP 2021-002901 A] in view of Chen et al. or Dong et al.
Regarding claim 5, Chen et al. or Dong et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for the specific use of semiconductor switching elements.
Kawamura discloses a power conversion device [figures 1-3] comprising:
- a transformer [7] including a core structure, primary coil, secondary coil and smoothing coil [11]; and
- a plurality of semiconductor switching elements [3, 4, 5, 6] and which performs conversion between DC power and AC power, wherein the power conversion circuit is a circuit employing a hard-switching method in which ON/OFF duty ratios of the plurality of semiconductor switching elements are changed to adjust output power.
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the switching elements of Kawamura in the power conversion device of Chen et al. or Dong et al. for the purpose of facilitating switching and/or adjusting the input/output signals.
The specific connections and/or arrangement of the switching elements would have been an obvious design consideration based on the intended applications/environments and/or input/output.
Claim(s) 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. or Dong et al. in view of Fukui et al. [DE 112017000477 T5].
Chen et al. or Dong et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for a cooler.
Fukui et al. discloses a circuit device [30] for a conversion device [figures 1-3] comprising:
- a core structure [45, 46, 47];
- a coil structure [50, 55] arranged around a center leg of the core structure; and
- a cooler [60] having a recess portion [6e] provided to accommodate and thermally engage with the core structure of the circuit device [figure 3].
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include a cooler of Fukui et al. for the power conversion device od Chen et al. or Dong et al., for the purpose of improving cooling.
Conclusion
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/TUYEN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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