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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 6-8, and 10-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by TW I444806 B (Nien).
Regarding claim 1: Nien teaches a device including at least one heat generating component, wherein the device has a temperature sensor unit having an electrical circuit comprising: a first resistor having a negative temperature coefficient and a first operation characteristic corresponding to a relation between the ambient temperature of the first resistor and a first electrical resistance of the first resistor (NTC thermistor 16); and a compensation circuit comprising at least a second resistor, wherein the compensation circuit has a second operation characteristic corresponding to a relation between the ambient temperature of the compensation circuit and a second electrical resistance of the compensation circuit (compensation circuit 22); wherein the compensation circuit is configured to compensate a deviation, caused by self-heating effects of the device, of the measured first electrical resistance from the electrical resistance corresponding to a room temperature (compensation corrector 28).
Regarding claim 2: Nien teaches the device of claim 1 (see above), wherein the second electrical resistance of the compensation circuit at a predetermined temperature represents the deviation of the measured first electrical resistance at the predetermined temperature from the electrical resistance corresponding to the room temperature (“In the adaptive temperature compensation circuit 22, the temperature compensation corrector 28 predicts an internal temperature change of the element due to power loss based on the current sensing signal Ics, thereby providing a temperature correction value K”).
Regarding claim 6: Nien teaches the device of claim 1 (see above), wherein the compensation circuit is configured to compensate the deviation of the measured first electrical resistance at a first temperature from the electrical resistance corresponding to the room temperature, by adding an electrical resistance at the predetermined temperature to the temperature dependent resistance of the first resistor at the predetermined temperature (“the arithmetic circuit 30 generates an accurate adaptive temperature sensing value VT according to the external environmental temperature sensing value VT and the temperature correction value K”).
Regarding claim 7: Nien teaches the device of claim 1 (see above), wherein the compensation circuit consists essentially of a second resistor connected in series with the first resistor (resistors R1 and R2 in the temperature sensing unit 24 in at least Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 8: Nien teaches the device of claim 1 (see above), wherein the at least one heat generating component, the first resistor, and the compensation circuit are in close proximity to each other (Fig. 4: temperature sensing circuit 24 is a part of compensation circuit 22, with power converter 10 nearby. Fig. 6: resistors are part of the temperature sensing circuit).
Regarding claim 10: Nien teaches a method of determining a room temperature using an analog sensor unit in proximity to at least a component of a device generating heat, the method comprising: (a) determining a third electrical resistance defined as a combination of a first electrical resistance arranged in the device (NTC resistor 16), and a second electrical resistance of a compensation circuit (compensation circuit 22); (b) determining a temperature based on the third electrical resistance, wherein the determined temperature corresponds to the room temperature by compensating self-heating effects of the at least one component of the device (compensation corrector 28).
Regarding claim 11: Nien teaches the method of claim 10 (see above), wherein step (a) comprises adding the first electrical resistance and the second electrical resistance of the compensation circuit (“the arithmetic circuit 30 generates an accurate adaptive temperature sensing value VT according to the external environmental temperature sensing value VT and the temperature correction value K”).
Regarding claim 12: Nien teaches the method of claim 10 (see above), wherein a first resistor providing the first electrical resistance and/or a second resistor providing the second electrical resistance are negative temperature coefficient (NTC) resistors (NTC resistor 16).
Regarding claim 13: Nien teaches the method of claim 12 (see above), wherein step (b) includes using a first operation characteristic corresponding to a relation between the ambient temperature of the first NTC resistor and the first electrical resistance in order to determine a third temperature corresponding to added values of the first electrical resistance and the second electrical resistance (compensation circuit 22, compensation corrector 28).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TW I444806 B (Nien).
Regarding claim 3: Nien teaches the device of claim 1 (see above), but does not directly teach that the compensation circuit is arranged in series with the first resistor.
However, Nien does teach that the compensation circuit 22 includes a temperature sensing circuit 24.
Applicant has not disclosed that a series circuit arrangement provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem other than the well-known and unsurprising function of electrically connecting the two elements.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the circuit of Nien with a series circuit. This is because one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected connection in series to be one of several straightforward ways of arranging a circuit because it allows the two circuit elements to communicate electrically.
Regarding claim 4: Nien teaches the device of claim 1 (see above), but does not directly teach that the compensation circuit is arranged in parallel with the first resistor.
However, Nien does teach that the compensation circuit 22 includes a temperature sensing circuit 24.
Applicant has not disclosed that a parallel circuit arrangement provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem other than the well-known and unsurprising function of electrically connecting the two elements.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the circuit of Nien with a parallel circuit. This is because one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected connection in parallel to be one of several straightforward ways of arranging a circuit because it allows the two circuit elements to communicate electrically.
Regarding claim 5: Nien teaches the device of claim 1 (see above), but does not directly teach that the compensation circuit is arranged in a network with the first resistor.
However, Nien does teach that the compensation circuit 22 includes a temperature sensing circuit 24.
Applicant has not disclosed that a network circuit arrangement provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem other than the well-known and unsurprising function of electrically connecting the two elements.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the circuit of Nien with a network circuit. This is because one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected connection in network to be one of several straightforward ways of arranging a circuit because it allows the two circuit elements to communicate electrically.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TW I444806 B (Nien) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of EP 0980139 B1 (Luber).
Regarding claim 9: Nien teaches the device of claim 1 (see above), but does not directly teach that the at least one heat generating component, the first resistor, and/or the compensation circuit are arranged in a housing.
However, Luber teaches a self-heating component, NTC resistor 12, and an electric circuit 5 arranged in a housing 2.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the arrangement of Nien with the housing of Luber. This is because they are both methods to temperature compensate a device. This is important in order to have two temperature measurements (inside and outside the housing) in order to perform a proper temperature compensation calculation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20220268721 A1 teaches performing calculations to determine a temperature coefficient value of a resistor based on measured voltages.
US 20210349485 A1 teaches thermally compensating a measured ambient temperature by an electronic thermostat for internally generated heat dissipation.
US 20150130531 A1 teaches multiple temperature sensor units to measure different areas of a circuit while maintaining a particular ratio of resistances.
JP 2013239153 A teaches temperature compensating by compensating for the change in resistance due to temperature.
US 20110119018 A1 teaches estimation of ambient temperature of an electronic device that comprises a power consuming unit which is subject to self-heating when in use.
JP 2002116053 A teaches a device capable of compensating the temperature of a sensor even in the case that the sensor has any one of positive temperature characteristic and negative temperature characteristic.
EP 0856726 B1 teaches a system in which the individual parts or the entire system are measured for temperature compensation with regard to temperature sensitivity to the measured variable.
JP H11316167 A teaches a method to regulate an off-set voltage without disturbing a temperature characteristic of a sensor output.
KR 960004255 B1 teaches a temperature compensation circuit in an infrared sensor.
JP S60144632 A teaches a method to attain temperature compensation without reducing the sensitivity of an output voltage by specifying the feedback resistance of an operational amplifier to satisfy specific conditions.
US 4276536 A teaches a probe in a glass or ceramic thermally conductive housing which is molded around a positive temperature coefficient thermistor and a negative temperature coefficient thermistor.
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/JULIA FITZPATRICK/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/NATHANIEL T WOODWARD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855