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 .
Response to Amendment
The Applicant’s Amendment filed on 02/02/2026 in which claims 1 and 9 have been amended, claims 4 and 11-12 have been canceled and entered of record.
Claims 1-3, 5-10 and 13-14 are pending for examination.
Response to Argument
Applicant argues regarding the rejections under 35 USC § 112(a) 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. Applicant argues that the Examiner improperly imported into the claims 1 and 9 from FIG. 1 (see Applicant’s Remarks on page 5-6).
In response, the arguments have been fully considered but are not persuasive. Examiner respectfully disagree because the enablement requirement requires that the subject matter which described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention. In this case, the specification as a whole would create a short between the two power sources when one of auxiliary switch 126 or 128 is activated to turn-on one of the RTOs, which defeat the purpose of the invention.
Applicant further argues that the disclosure need not to provide components are not part of the STS circuit but would rather be connected between the STS and the first and second voltage sources, and the standard for determining whether the specification meets the enablement requirement is whether the experimentation needed to practice the invention is undue or unreasonable.
In response, the arguments have been fully considered but are not persuasive. Examiner respectfully disagree because again, the enablement requirement requires that the subject matter which described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention. In this case, any critical component that required in order to enable the claimed invention must be present. In this case, no component was disclosed to prevent the two power sources shorted together when one of the auxiliary switches activated to turn-on one of the RTO.
With respect to the argument that an experimentation needed to practice the invention is undue or unreasonable. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Sometime, enablement can be directly determined from the disclosure. In this case, an ordinary skill person in the art would recognize that the two power sources would shorted together when one of the auxiliary switch is activated as shown in the marked up Fig. 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-3, 5-10 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the claim recites “a first switched path that connects the first RTO unit to the second switch; and
a second switched path different from the first switched path, wherein the second switched path connects the second RTO unit to the first switch,
wherein the first RTO unit is configured to force commutation of the second switch utilizing the first switched path, and
wherein the second RTO unit is configured to force commutation of the first switch utilizing the second switched path.”
The limitations related to the main inventive concept that provide redundancy rapid turn-off (RTO) system for a static transfer switch. Wherein each of a power source (102 or 104) is provided with an RTO (122 or 124) in parallel with a back-to-back thyristor switch (110 or 112) and a switch path (120 or 130) that connected between the input of one of the RTO to another power source through an auxiliary switch (126 or 128) as show in Fig. 1 below.
PNG
media_image1.png
589
856
media_image1.png
Greyscale
The purpose of the RTOs is to force communication one of the back-to-back thyristor switches to rapidly turn off one of the back-to-back thyristor switches before turning on the other one of the back-to-back thyristor switches for switching power sources to avoid connecting/shorting the two power sources together. However, in order to use one of the RTO as a redundancy in case one of the RTO failed, one of the auxiliary switches must be activate which resulted shorting the two power sources together through the respective switch path as show in Fig. 1 below. Shorting the two power sources when activate one of the auxiliary switches defeats the purpose of the RTO units. Therefore, the claimed invention does not have utility.
Regarding claim 9, the claim is rejected for the similar reason as in claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 2-3, 5-8, 10 and 13-14, the claims are rejected due to the similar reason as in claims 1 and 9 above.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-10 and 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bose et al., (US 11211816 B1); hereinafter Bose.
Regarding claim 1, Bose discloses a static transfer switch (Fig. 12) comprising:
a first switch (main circuit 42 of S1-PhA) between a first voltage source (12A) (Column 7, lines 49-51) and a load (14 and 16);
a second switch (main circuit 42 of S2-PhA) between a second voltage source (12B) (Column 7, lines 66-67) and the load (14 and 16), wherein the first switch and the second switch are configured to alternate power to the load between the first voltage source or the second voltage source (Column 1, line 55 to Column 2 line 3) (Column 7, lines 49-67); and
a rapid turn-off (RTO) system coupled (RTOs of S1-PhA and S2-PhA) across the first (main circuit 42 of S1-PhA) and second switches (main circuit 42 of S2-PhA), the RTO system comprising:
a first RTO unit (RTO of S1-PhA) coupled in parallel with the first switch (main circuit 42 of S1-PhA);
a second RTO unit (RTO of S2-PhA) coupled in parallel with the second switch (main circuit 42 of S2-PhA), the second RTO separate from the first RTO (RTO of S1-PhA is separated from RTO of S2-PhA; and Column 8, lines 14-15 “the number of resonant turn off circuits 44 can be reduced to four instead of six” indicates the first and the second RTO in phase A or phase B are separate units);
a first switched path that connects the first RTO unit to the second switch; and
a second switched path different from the first switched path, wherein the second switched path connects the second RTO unit to the first switch,
wherein the first RTO unit is configured to force commutation of the second switch utilizing the first switched path, and
wherein the second RTO unit is configured to force commutation of the first switch utilizing the second switched path.
In embodiment of Fig. 12 Bose does not discloses a first switched path that connects the first RTO unit to the second switch; and
a second switched path different from the first switched path, wherein the second switched path connects the second RTO unit to the first switch,
However, in embodiment of Fig. 13, Bose suggests that embodiment of Fig. 10 and Fig. 12 may be combined to share one RTO between two power source to force commutation of two back-to-back thyristor switches (Column 8 lines 19-29), having:
a first switched path (Fig. 13, 90A) that connects one RTO unit (Fig. 13, 44) to the second switch (Fig. 13, 42 of S2-PhA); and
a second switched path (Fig. 13, 90B) different from the first switched path (Fig. 13, 90A), wherein the second switched path connects the one RTO unit (Fig. 13, 44) to the first switch (Fig. 13, 42 of S1-PhA),
wherein the one RTO unit is configured to force commutation of the second switch utilizing the first switched path (Column 8 lines 19-29), and
wherein the one RTO unit is configured to force commutation of the first switch utilizing the second switched path (Column 8 lines 19-29).
Based on the suggestion of combine embodiments to share one RTO and the primary invention is for redundancy between two power sources, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to further combine the idea of redundancy and sharing RTO and have: a first switched path that connects the first RTO unit to the second switch; and
a second switched path different from the first switched path, wherein the second switched path connects the second RTO unit to the first switch,
wherein the first RTO unit is configured to force commutation of the second switch utilizing the first switched path, and
wherein the second RTO unit is configured to force commutation of the first switch utilizing the second switched path, as shown in the Fig. below.
PNG
media_image2.png
481
1196
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Doing so would provide redundancy in the RTO system while still provide isolation between the power sources.
Regarding claim 2, Bose discloses the static transfer switch of claim 1 above, Bose also discloses the first switched path includes a first auxiliary switch (Fig. 13, 90A), and wherein the first auxiliary switch is different from the first switch (main circuit 42 of S1-PhA) and the second switch (main circuit 42 of S2-PhA) based on the modification of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 3, Bose discloses the static transfer switch of claim 1 above, Bose also discloses the first auxiliary switch is closed when the second RTO unit fails such that the first RTO unit is configured to force the commutation of the second switch during a voltage source transfer from the second voltage source to the first voltage source (Column 6 line 53 to Column 7 line 38).
Regarding claim 5, Bose discloses the static transfer switch of claim 3 above, Bose also discloses the second switched path includes a second auxiliary switch (Column 6 line 53 to Column 7 line 38).
Regarding claim 6, Bose discloses the static transfer switch of claim 5 above, Bose also discloses the second auxiliary switch is closed when the first RTO unit fails such that the second RTO unit is configured to force the commutation of the first switch during a voltage source transfer from the first voltage source to the second voltage source (Column 6 line 53 to Column 7 line 38).
Regarding claim 7, Bose discloses the static transfer switch of claim 1 above, Bose also discloses the first and second RTO units share current from one of the first voltage source or the second voltage source to the load via the first and second switched paths (Column 6 line 53 to Column 7 line 38).
Regarding claim 8, Bose discloses the static transfer switch of claim 1 above, Bose also discloses the first switch is a first thyristor switch (Column 2, lines 53-57), and the second switch is a second thyristor switch (Column 2, lines 53-57).
Regarding claim 9, Bose discloses a method for redundant rapid turn-off (RTO) unit switching within a static transfer switch (STS) (Fig. 12), the method comprising:
coupling a first switch (main circuit 42 of S1-PhA) between a first voltage source (12A) (Column 7, lines 49-51) and a load (14 and 16);
coupling a second switch (main circuit 42 of S2-PhA) between a second voltage source (12B) (Column 7, lines 66-67) and the load (14 and 16), wherein the first switch and the second switch are configured to alternate power to the load between the first voltage source or the second voltage source (Column 1, line 55 to Column 2 line 3) (Column 7, lines 49-67);
coupling an RTO system (RTOs of S1-PhA and S2-PhA) across the first (main circuit 42 of S1-PhA) and second switches (main circuit 42 of S2-PhA), comprising:
coupling a first RTO unit (RTO of S1-PhA) in parallel with the first switch (main circuit 42 of S1-PhA);
coupling a second RTO unit (RTO of S2-PhA) in parallel with the second switch (main circuit 42 of S2-PhA), the second RTO separate from the first RTO (RTO of S1-PhA is separated from RTO of S2-PhA; and Column 8, lines 14-15 “the number of resonant turn off circuits 44 can be reduced to four instead of six” indicates the first and the second RTO in phase A or phase B are separate units);
providing a first switched path that connects the first RTO unit to the second switch; and
providing a second switched path different from the first switched path, wherein the second switched path connects the second RTO unit to the first switch;
activating the first RTO unit to force commutation of the second switch utilizing the first switched path during a voltage source transfer from the second voltage source to the first voltage source; and
activating the second RTO unit to force commutation of the first switch utilizing the second switched path during the voltage source transfer from the first voltage source to the second voltage source.
In embodiment of Fig. 12 Bose does not discloses providing a first switched path that connects the first RTO unit to the second switch; and
providing a second switched path different from the first switched path, wherein the second switched path connects the second RTO unit to the first switch.
However, in embodiment of Fig. 13, Bose suggests that embodiment of Fig. 10 and Fig. 12 may be combined to share one RTO between two power source to force commutation of two back-to-back thyristor switches (Column 8 lines 19-29), providing:
a first switched path (Fig. 13, 90A) that connects one RTO unit (Fig. 13, 44) to the second switch (Fig. 13, 42 of S2-PhA); and
a second switched path (Fig. 13, 90B) different from the first switched path (Fig. 13, 90A), wherein the second switched path connects the one RTO unit (Fig. 13, 44) to the first switch (Fig. 13, 42 of S1-PhA),
activating the first RTO unit to force commutation of the second switch utilizing the first switched path during a voltage source transfer from the second voltage source to the first voltage source (Column 8 lines 19-29); and
activating the second RTO unit to force commutation of the first switch utilizing the second switched path during the voltage source transfer from the first voltage source to the second voltage source (Column 8 lines 19-29).
Based on the suggestion of combine embodiments to share one RTO and the primary invention is for redundancy between two power sources, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to further combine the idea of redundancy and sharing RTO and providing a first switched path that connects the first RTO unit to the second switch; and
providing a second switched path different from the first switched path, wherein the second switched path connects the second RTO unit to the first switch;
activating the first RTO unit to force commutation of the second switch utilizing the first switched path during a voltage source transfer from the second voltage source to the first voltage source; and
activating the second RTO unit to force commutation of the first switch utilizing the second switched path during the voltage source transfer from the first voltage source to the second voltage source as shown in the Fig. above.
Regarding claim 10, Bose discloses the method of claim 9 above, Bose also discloses activating the first RTO unit comprises closing a first auxiliary switch (Fig. 11, 90A) along the first switched path, and wherein the first auxiliary switch is different from the first switch (main circuit 42 of S1-PhA) and the second switch (main circuit 42 of S2-PhA) based on the modification of claim 9 above.
Regarding claim 13, Bose discloses the method of claim 10 above, Bose also discloses activating the second RTO unit comprises closing a second auxiliary switch (90B) along the second switched path (90B) based on the modification of claim 9 above.
Regarding claim 14, Bose discloses the method of claim 10 above, Bose also discloses the first switched path (Fig. 13, 90A) includes a first auxiliary switch (Fig. 13, 90A), and the second switched path (Fig. 13, 90A) includes a second auxiliary switch (Fig. 13, 90B), the method further comprising:
closing the first and second auxiliary switches to enable current sharing between the first RTO unit and the second RTO unit while the first voltage source or the second voltage source is powering the load (Column 8 lines 19-29).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAI H TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0668. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8:30 - 5:00.
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, Rexford Barney can be reached at 571-272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THAI H TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2836
/REXFORD N BARNIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836