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 . The instant application with Application Number 18/521,934 filed on 11/28/2023 is presented for examination. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statment
The Information Disclosure Statement dated 09/15/2023 is acknowledged and the cited references have been considered in this examination.
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 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 present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hjort et al. (WO 2010/114454) (Hereinafter, Hjort) in view of Galin et al. (US 2018/0201142).
With respect to claims 1, 7, 13 and 16, Hjort discloses an electric vehicle (EV) charger system power platform/method (Fig. 1 electric vehicle(EV) Page. 1, line 1-5), the power platform comprising: a housing that encloses a volume (Fig. 1, 13 power distribution in parking surface-vehicle parked); a transformer disposed within the volume (Fig. 1, transformer 6/7), the transformer configured to be electrically coupled to a power source and to generate output power from input power received from the power source (transformer 7 receives power from grid 2-abstract); a power element disposed within the volume and electrically coupled to an output of the transformer (Fig. 1, 7); and an electrical safety switch disposed within the volume and electrically coupled to an input of the transformer and configured to be electrically coupled to the power source (Fig. 1, switch 8/9 and pages 1-4).
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Hjort, does not expressly disclose a distribution board electrically coupled to an output of the transformer.
Galin, on the other hand, discloses a distribution board electrically coupled to an output of the transformer (See Para. # 0074: a controller 114 may be configured to determine and/or estimate a preferred distribution to paths of power provided by one or more power sources).
HJORT and Galin are analogous art because they are from the same field of installation for battery charging and electric vehicle charging.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added a distribution board electrically coupled to a transformer power to the battery charging of Hjort in view of Galin for the benefit of safely and efficiently supply power to multiple electric vehicle parts.
With respect to claims 2, 3, 8 and 18, the combined references of Hjort and Galin disclose the electric vehicle charger system as described above, Galin discloses wherein the transformer is electrically coupled to the distribution board without any conduit between the transformer and the distribution board and wherein the transformer is electrically coupled to the electrical safety switch without any conduit between the transformer and the electrical safety switch (Para. # 0084: Safety device(s) 216 may include one or more relay(s) configured to connect and disconnect power converter 203, DC charging circuit 204 and/or AC charging circuit 205 from input 240 and/or output 250).
With respect to claims 4, 5 and 14, the combined references of Hjort and Galin disclose the electric vehicle charger system as described above, Galin wherein the volume comprises a common undivided volume within which the transformer, distribution board, and electrical safety switch are positioned (Para. # 0116-117: a transformer which may also provide galvanic isolation between the input of power converter 503 and the output of power converter 503. In general a path of power flow may start at a power source which may end at EV 107, and may include elements (e.g., paths and blocks) connected consecutively and/or in parallel).
With respect to claims 6 and 19, the combined references of Hjort and Galin disclose the electric vehicle charger system as described above, further Hjort discloses further comprising one or more lift bolts extending from a top of the housing and configured to collectively support a weight of the power platform (Fig. 1, electrical vehicle charger system power platform with transformer 7-parking surface).
With respect to claims 9 and 10, the combined references of Hjort and Galin disclose the electric vehicle charger system as described above, Galin wherein the electrical safety switch includes an electrical switch having an open configuration and a closed configuration, wherein in the open configuration, the transformer is electrically decoupled from the power source, and in the closed configuration, the transformer is electrically coupled to the power source (Para. # 0059: AC charging circuit 105 may include one or more sensors, control devices, communication devices, and/or safety devices, and may be configured to control and/or monitor the power provided to on-board charger 108).
With respect to claims 11 and 17, the combined references of Hjort and Galin disclose the electric vehicle charger system as described above, Galin further comprising a power meter electrically coupled between the transformer and the distribution board (Para. # 0083).
With respect to claim 12, the combined references of Hjort and Galin disclose the electric vehicle charger system as described above, Galin further comprising a communication interface configured to communicatively couple the power platform to a communication network (Fig. 2A, communication device 215).
With respect to claims 15 and 20, the combined references of Hjort and Galin disclose the electric vehicle charger system as described above, Galin further comprising a raceway that extends from the transition hood to define a raceway volume that extends from the transition volume, the one or more lead assemblies extending through the raceway volume (Para. #. 0070, 141: a power system may have multiple cables 901. IIEVC 102 may have multiple outputs configured to connect to the plurality of cables 901. In some embodiments, EV 107 or other loads may have multiple inputs configured to connect to the plurality of cables 901. In some embodiments, cable 1320 may have a split input configured to connect to multiple outputs of IIEVC 102 and/or a different power source).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YALKEW FANTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DREW A DUNN can be reached at 571-272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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