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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to application 18/498,708 filed 10/31/23. Claims 1-2, 5-7, 9, 11-14, 17-18, 20, 23-25, 27, 29 and 32-33 are pending with claims 1, 32 and 33 in independent form.
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 1 be found allowable, claim 32 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 5-7, 9, 11-12, 14, 17-18, 20, 24-25, 27, 29, and 32-33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kristensen US 2019/0103750 A1.
Kristensen teaches:
Re: claim 1, An adaptive power system comprising: a plurality of power sources (fig. 5a-c; energy storage devices 520, 521, 522, 523; [0126]-[0127]); a state-of-charge (SOC) circuit comprising a plurality of switches and at least one inductor, wherein the plurality of switches comprises first and second switches ([0130], [0137]); and a controller operably coupled to the plurality of switches, the controller being configured to operate the plurality of switches in a first mode and a second mode to balance a respective SOC of each of the plurality of power sources ([0137]).
Re: claim 2, The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of power sources comprises four power sources or less (fig. 5a-c; energy storage devices 520, 521, 522, 523; [0126]-[0127]).
Re: claim 5, The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one open circuit terminal that corresponds to a disconnected power source ([0036]; [0059]; [0126]).
Re: claim 6, The system of claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to compensate for the disconnected power source to operate the plurality of switches to generate a regulated voltage between the at least one open circuit terminal while balancing the respective SOC of each of the plurality of power sources ([0036]; [0059]; [0126]).
Re: claim 7, The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of power sources includes first, second, third, and fourth power sources (fig. 5a-c; energy storage devices 520, 521, 522, 523; [0126]-[0127]), and wherein the first and second power sources are connected in series, the third and fourth power sources are connected in series, and the series-connected first and second power sources are connected in parallel with the series- connected third and fourth power sources (fig. 5a-c; [0126]).
Re: claim 9, The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of switches comprises only the first and second switches ([0082]; fig. 21).
Re: claim 11, The system of any one of claim 1, wherein the first mode is a switching mode, the controller being configured to turn the plurality of switches ON and OFF in the switching mode ([0104], [0127]).
Re: claim 12, The system of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to select a duty cycle for the switching mode, the duty cycle controlling an amount of charge transfer among the plurality of power sources ([0127]-[0128]).
Re: claim 14, The system of claim 1, wherein the second mode is a non-switching mode, the controller being configured to maintain the plurality of switches OFF in the non-switching mode ([0104], [0127]).
Re: claim 17, The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to alternate between the first and second modes responsive to a respective voltage and/or SOC of each of the plurality of power sources ([0127]).
Re: claim 18, The system of claim 17, wherein the controller is further configured to set a current value of the at least one inductor responsive to the respective voltage and/or SOC of each of the plurality of power sources to maximize efficiency and/or minimize power loss ([0190]).
Re: claim 20, The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one inductor is a center-tapped inductor or coupled inductors ([0137]).
Re: claim 24, The system of any one of claim 1, wherein the SOC circuit further comprises a first wiring for electrically connecting the plurality of switches to the plurality of power sources ([0190]; [0275]-[0276]).
Re: claim 25, The system of claim 24, further comprising a load circuit comprising a second wiring and a load, the second wiring for electrically connecting the load to the plurality of power sources ([0294]-[0295]).
Re: claim 27, The system of claim 24, wherein the first wiring is configured to carry a SOC balancing current, and wherein the second wiring is configured to carry a load current or a charging current ([0142]-[0143], [0190]).
Re: claim 29, The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of power sources comprise at least one of a battery cell, a battery pack, a super/ultra capacitor, a direct current (DC) micro grid, or a photovoltaic (PV) cell ([0040]).
Re: claim 32, An adaptive power system comprising: a plurality of power sources (fig. 5a-c; energy storage devices 520, 521, 522, 523; [0126]-[0127]); a state-of-charge (SOC) circuit comprising a plurality of switches and at least one inductor, wherein the plurality of switches comprises first and second switches ([0130], [0137]); and a controller operably coupled to the plurality of switches, the controller being configured to operate the plurality of switches in a first mode and a second mode to balance a respective SOC of each of the plurality of power sources ([0137]).
Re: claim 33, An adaptive power system comprising: a plurality of power sources (fig. 5a-c; energy storage devices 520, 521, 522, 523; [0126]-[0127]), wherein the plurality of power sources comprises four power sources or less (fig. 5a-c; energy storage devices 520, 521, 522, 523; [0126]-[0127]); a state-of-charge (SOC) circuit consisting essentially of: two switches corresponding to the plurality of power sources ([0082]; fig. 21), at least one inductor corresponding to the plurality of power sources, and a wiring for electrically connecting the two switches and the at least one inductor to the plurality of power sources ([0130], [0137]); and a controller operably coupled to the two switches, the controller being configured to operate the two switches in a first mode and a second mode to balance a respective SOC of each of the plurality of power sources ([0137]).
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.
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) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kristensen US 2019/0103750 A1 in view of Liang et al. US 2013/0214733 A1.
The teachings of Kristensen have been discussed above.
Kristensen teaches an inductor part of a buck converter ([0137}).
Kristensen fails to specifically teach wherein the at least one inductor comprises a plurality of inductors that share a magnetic core.
However, Liang teaches a buck converter 211 that includes a coupled inductor 2111 ([0040]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the coupled inductor of Liang into the buck converter of Kristensen as an obvious matter of design choice to improve transient response times and boost overall power converter efficiency while reducing current ripple across switches.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art, in conjunction with all the other limitations of the claims: With respect to claim 13 and all its dependencies, wherein the first mode is configured to balance the respective SOC of one or more vertically-connected power sources of the plurality of power sources, and wherein the second mode is configured to balance the respective SOC of one or more horizontally-connected power sources of the plurality of power sources, when included with all the limitations of claims 1 and 11 from which it depends.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRISTY A HAUPT whose telephone number is (571)272-8545 and email address is kristy.haupt@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Sun 5:30 AM- 10PM; Flex during day.
If all attempts to reach the examiner by telephone and email are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Pham, can be reached at telephone number (571) 272-3689. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KRISTY A HAUPT/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
KAH
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