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
1. This non-final Office action is responsive to Applicants’ application filed on 12/20/2023. Claims 1-20 are presented for examination and claims 1-4, 8 and 16 are rejected for the reasons indicated herein below.
Specification
2. The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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 1-4, 8 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2011/0103097 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Wang et al. (e.g. see Figs. 1-9) discloses “A power conversion device (e.g. see Figs. 1-9) comprising: an LLC-type DC/DC converter (e.g. Figs. 5A-5C, see 500) including an isolation transformer (T), an inverter circuit (Q1-Q4) connected to a primary-side coil of the isolation transformer (T), a resonance reactor (Lr) and a resonance capacitor (Cr) provided between the inverter circuit (Q1-Q4) and the primary-side coil (primary winding of T) and connected in series to the primary-side coil, and an output circuit (Q5-Q6) which is connected to a secondary-side coil (secondary winding of T) of the isolation transformer and rectifies output voltage (e.g. Figs. 5A-5C, see inside 501. Implicit); and a controller (503) which performs drive control of the inverter circuit (Q1-Q4), to perform output control of the DC/DC converter (e.g. Figs. 5A-5C, see 503 and 501. Implicit), wherein the controller (503) performs control calculation for a value Za (Vea) of a manipulated variable Z so that the output voltage (VO) comes close to target voltage (Vref), and acquires a combination of a phase shift amount ϴ and a frequency f corresponding to the value Za of the manipulated variable Z, to perform drive control of the inverter circuit (e.g. see Figs. 5A-5C, see inside 501, and 503, 523, 525 and 527, also see the abstract and para. 0044-0048. Implicit)”.
Regarding claim 2, Wang et al. (e.g. see Figs. 1-9) discloses “wherein the controller (503) includes a function for uniquely associating each value of the manipulated variable Z with the combination of the phase shift amount ϴ and the frequency f, and acquires the combination of the phase shift amount ϴ and the frequency f corresponding to the calculated value Za of the manipulated variable Z, on the basis of the function (e.g. see Figs. 5A-5C, see inside 501, and 503, 523, 525 and 527, also see the abstract and para. 0044-0048. Implicit)”.
Regarding claim 3, Wang et al. (e.g. see Figs. 1-9) discloses “wherein an entire range of the manipulated variable Z is constituted of consecutive integers from 0 to a maximum value, and the entire range is divided into a low manipulated variable range and a high manipulated variable range subsequent thereto (e.g. see Figs. 5A-5C, see inside 501, and 503, 523, 525 and 527, also see the abstract and para. 0044-0048. Implicit), and the function is set such that, in the low manipulated variable range of the manipulated variable Z, the frequency f is kept at an upper limit value fmax and the phase shift amount ϴ decreases by a set change width Δϴ from an upper limit value ϴmax to a lower limit value ϴmin per increase of the manipulated variable Z by 1 (e.g. see Figs. 5A-5C, see inside 501, and 503, 523, 525 and 527, also see the abstract and para. 0044-0048. Implicit), and in the high manipulated variable range of the manipulated variable Z, the phase shift amount ϴ is kept at the lower limit value ϴmin and the frequency f decreases by a set change width Δf from the upper limit value fmax to a lower limit value fmin per increase of the manipulated variable Z by 1 (e.g. see Figs. 5A-5C, see inside 501, and 503, 523, 525 and 527, also see the abstract and para. 0044-0048. Implicit)”.
Regarding claim 4, Wang et al. (e.g. see Figs. 1-9) discloses “wherein the combination of the phase shift amount ϴ and the frequency f corresponding to a border point between two ranges that are the low manipulated variable range and the high manipulated variable range, is the lower limit value ϴmin of the phase shift amount ϴ and the upper limit value fmax of the frequency f (e.g. see Figs. 5A-5C, see inside 501, and 503, 523, 525 and 527, also see the abstract and para. 0044-0048. Implicit)”.
Regarding claim 8, Wang et al. (e.g. see Figs. 1-9) discloses “wherein the function is determined such that an output differential value of the DC/DC converter with respect to change of the manipulated variable Z exceeds a set value (e.g. see Figs. 5A-5C, see inside 501, and 503, 523, 525 and 527, also see the abstract and para. 0044-0048. Implicit)”.
Regarding claim 16, Wang et al. (e.g. see Figs. 1-9) discloses “wherein the function is determined such that an output differential value of the DC/DC converter with respect to change of the manipulated variable Z exceeds a set value (e.g. see Figs. 5A-5C, see inside 501, and 503, 523, 525 and 527, also see the abstract and para. 0044-0048. Implicit)”.
4. Independent claim 1 is also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2022/0416677 A1).
Regarding independent claim 1, Yang et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 1 (e.g. see Figs. 1-7, also see the abstract, background of the invention, and the summary of the invention. Examiner’s note: see Figs. 2-4 and 6-7 and corresponding paragraphs from the specification for the details of the power conversion device which includes an LLC-type DC/DC converter and a controller which performs drive control of the inverter circuit to perform output control of the DC/DC converter. Implicit).
5. Independent claim 1 is also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2022/0103080 A1).
Regarding independent claim 1, Yang et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 1 (e.g. see Figs. 1-6, also see the abstract, background of the invention, and the summary of the invention. Examiner’s note: see Figs. 2-4 and 6 and corresponding paragraphs from the specification for the details of the power conversion device which includes an LLC-type DC/DC converter and a controller which performs drive control of the inverter circuit to perform output control of the DC/DC converter. Implicit).
6. Independent claim 1 is also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2022/0103082 A1).
Regarding independent claim 1, Yang et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 1 (e.g. see Figs. 1-8, also see the abstract, background of the invention, and the summary of the invention. Examiner’s note: see Figs. 1-2, 5-6 and 8 and corresponding paragraphs from the specification for the details of the power conversion device which includes an LLC-type DC/DC converter and a controller which performs drive control of the inverter circuit to perform output control of the DC/DC converter. Implicit).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 5-7, 9-15 and 17-20 are 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.
Regarding claims 5 and 17, none of the prior art, listed in the attached PTO-892 form, alone or in combination discloses “wherein the function is set such that, in an entirety of the low manipulated variable range, the phase shift amount ϴ continuously decreases by the equal set change width Δϴ per increase of the manipulated variable Z by 1, and in an entirety of the high manipulated variable range, the frequency f continuously decreases by the equal set change width Δf per increase of the manipulated variable Z by 1”. As recited in claims 5 and 17.
Regarding claims 6, 14 and 18, none of the prior art, listed in the attached PTO-892 form, alone or in combination discloses “wherein as the set change width Δϴ for the phase shift amount ϴ, there are a unit change width Δϴ1 and a change width Δϴ2 that is plural times of the unit change width Δϴ1, and in the low manipulated variable range, a first specific region corresponding to a change amount 1 of the manipulated variable Z is provided, and the phase shift amount ϴ continuously decreases by the unit change width Δϴ1 per increase of the manipulated variable Z by 1 except in the first specific region, and decreases by the change width Δϴ2 in the first specific region”. As recited in claims 6, 14 and 18.
Regarding claims 7 and 19, none of the prior art, listed in the attached PTO-892 form, alone or in combination discloses “wherein as the set change width Δf for the frequency f, there are a unit change width Δfl and a change width Δf2 that is plural times of the unit change width Δfl, and in the high manipulated variable range, a second specific region corresponding to a change amount 1 of the manipulated variable Z is provided, and the frequency f continuously decreases by the unit change width Δfl per increase of the manipulated variable Z by 1 except in the second specific region, and decreases by the change width Δf2 in the second specific region”. As recited in claims 7 and 19.
Regarding claims 9-10, none of the prior art, listed in the attached PTO-892 form, alone or in combination discloses “wherein the controller detects a region where the output differential value of the DC/DC converter with respect to change of the manipulated variable Z is not greater than the set value, and changes and determines the function such that the maximum value of the manipulated variable Z is decreased by a number of the manipulated variables Z corresponding to the detected region and the combinations of the phase shift amount ϴ and the frequency f corresponding to the detected region are excluded”. As recited in claims 9-10.
Regarding claim 11, none of the prior art, listed in the attached PTO-892 form, alone or in combination discloses “wherein the function is set such that, in an entirety of the low manipulated variable range, the phase shift amount ϴ continuously decreases by the equal set change width Δϴ per increase of the manipulated variable Z by 1, and in an entirety of the high manipulated variable range, the frequency f continuously decreases by the equal set change width Δf per increase of the manipulated variable Z by 1”. As recited in claim 11.
Regarding claims 12 and 15, none of the prior art, listed in the attached PTO-892 form, alone or in combination discloses “wherein as the set change width Δϴ for the phase shift amount ϴ, there are a unit change width Δϴ1 and a change width Δϴ2 that is plural times of the unit change width Δϴ1, and in the low manipulated variable range, a first specific region corresponding to a change amount 1 of the manipulated variable Z is provided, and the phase shift amount ϴ continuously decreases by the unit change width Δϴ1 per increase of the manipulated variable Z by 1 except in the first specific region, and decreases by the change width Δϴ2 in the first specific region”. As recited in claims 12 and 15.
Regarding claim 13, none of the prior art, listed in the attached PTO-892 form, alone or in combination discloses “wherein as the set change width Δf for the frequency f, there are a unit change width Δfl and a change width Δf2 that is plural times of the unit change width Δfl, and in the high manipulated variable range, a second specific region corresponding to a change amount 1 of the manipulated variable Z is provided, and the frequency f continuously decreases by the unit change width Δfl per increase of the manipulated variable Z by 1 except in the second specific region, and decreases by the change width Δf2 in the second specific region”. As recited in claim 13.
Regarding claim 20, none of the prior art, listed in the attached PTO-892 form, alone or in combination discloses “wherein the controller detects a region where the output differential value of the DC/DC converter with respect to change of the manipulated variable Z is not greater than the set value, and changes and determines the function such that the maximum value of the manipulated variable Z is decreased by a number of the manipulated variables Z corresponding to the detected region and the combinations of the phase shift amount ϴ and the frequency f corresponding to the detected region are excluded”. As recited in claim 20.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. A list of pertinent prior art is attached in form PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YUSEF A AHMED whose telephone number is (571)272-6057. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 11AM-7PM.
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/YUSEF A AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838