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 . 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 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.
This office action is in response to the application filed on 11/14/2023.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawing
The drawings filed on 11/14/2023 are acceptable.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 11/14/2023 and 03/18/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 C.F.R. § 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS has/have been considered by the examiner.
Claims 1-16 are pending and have been examined.
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.
(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.
Claims 1 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or 102(a)(2) as being
anticipated by Giuliano et al. (US 2021/0013798 A1), hereinafter ‘Giuliano.
In re to claim 1, Giuliano disclose a bidirectional hybrid power conversion system comprising a symmetric hybrid unit (i.e. fig. 19 and fig. 22, see p. [0174]), selecting to maintain or change a conversion ratio of voltage (i.e. see ps. [0108-0109]), receiving an input voltage (i.e. VIN, fig. 19), converting the input voltage into an output voltage (i.e. VO) at the conversion ratio (i.e. see ps. [0108-0109]); a feedback unit (i.e. 301, fig. 13, see p. 0134]), connected with the symmetric hybrid unit to receive the output voltage (i.e. output of 302, fig. 13), comparing the output voltage (i.e. Vo) with a reference voltage (i.e. VREF) to generate a feedback signal (i.e. output of 32, fig. 13, fig. 13 and see ps. [0134-0138]); and a conversion control unit (i.e. 20A, see figs. 13 and 19), disposed between and connected with the symmetric hybrid unit (i.e. fig. 19 and fig. 22, see p. [0174]), and the feedback unit (i.e. 302, fig. 13, see ps. [0130-0132]), receiving the feedback signal (i.e. the input to comparator 32, fig. 13), the input voltage (i.e. VIN), and the output voltage (i.e. VO), and comparing the feedback signal, the input voltage, and the output voltage to generate a control signal (i.e. controller 20A receives inputs VIN, VO ,VX1 and VXN to generate the control signals Delt N, see fig. 19 and ps. [0165-0166]), wherein the conversion control unit controls the symmetric hybrid unit to select whether to maintain or change the conversion ratio according to the control signal (i.e. see ps. [0108-0109]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but
would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In re to claim 2, None of the cited prior art alone or in combination disclose or teach the claimed inventions in which “the intermediate circuit, and the second conversion regulation circuit, is expressed by an equation
VOUT/VIN = CR2-X boost = 2/1-D
a maximum buck conversion ratio, which may be achieved by the first conversion regulation circuit, the intermediate circuit, and the second conversion regulation circuit, is expressed by an equation:
VOUT/VIN = CR2-X buck = D/2
wherein VOUT is the output voltage; VIN is the input voltage; 2-X boost is the maximum boost conversion ratio; CR2-X buck is the maximum buck conversion ratio; D is a duty cycle of the first conversion regulation circuit and the second conversion regulation circuit; according to the control signal, the conversion control unit controls the conversion ratio of the symmetric hybrid unit to range between the maximum boost conversion ratio and the maximum buck conversion ratio”.
The art of record does not disclose the above limitations, nor would it be obvious to modify the art of record to include either of the above limitations.
In re to claims 3-16, claims 3-16 depend on claim 2 and thus are also objected for the same reasons provided above.
Remarks
The Examiner has cited columns, line numbers, paragraph numbers, references,
or figures in the references applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses to fully consider the reference in entirety, as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2141.02 and § 2123.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YEMANE MEHARI whose telephone number is (571)270-7603. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM TO 6 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thienvu V. Tran can be reached at 5712701276. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YEMANE MEHARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838