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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “conducting track, claim 11, and the conducting track is I-shaped or S-shaped, claims 13-14” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
None of the figures in the invention that show the Objection of the Drawings as indicated as above. Please, clarify.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 11, 13-14, and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 11, the phrase of “the circuit carrier includes a conducting track” is unclear” because the Drawings do not show. Please, clarify.
Regarding claims 13-14, the phrase of “the conducting track is I-shaped or S-shaped” is unclear because the Drawings do not show. Please, clarify.
Regarding claim 20, the phrase of “…insulating layers surrounding it” is unclear. What does applicant mean of “it”, and what does “it” refer to.? Please, clarify or revise the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Teppan (U.S. 2006/0226826) in view of Castro Serrato (U.S. Patent 9,678,173), hereafter Castro.
As to claim 11, Teppan discloses a commutation cell (integrated power module, IPM-figure 7), comprising:
a ceramic circuit carrier (22, para-0047);
a semiconductor switch (para-0046) [[half-bridge]];
a current sensor (2 or 4) configured and arranged to detect a phase current (measure or measuring primary current) of the commutation cell (IPM); and
a flexible circuit board (14, para-0036) integrally bonded to the circuit carrier (22), see figures 7 and 12, and arranged parallel to the circuit carrier (22), para-0036+;
wherein the circuit carrier (22) includes a conducting track (15) which is configured to conduct output current of the half bridge, and the current sensor (2 or 4) is electrically connected to the flexible circuit board (14) and is arranged to detect a magnetic field (para-0029+) generated by the conducting track (15), through which current flows, and is configured to generate a current signal that represents the current flowing (para-0001+) in the conducting track.
Teppan does not specifically disclose the switch which is a semiconductor switch half-bridge.
Castro teaches a power module (column 2, line 54+) as shown in figures 6A-7 comprising a lower substrate (circuit carrier 600) having a semiconductor switch half-bridge (620, 622, column 5, lines 7-8).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to have a teaching of Castro employed in the cell/IPM of Teppan in order to provide pair high-side and low-side MOSFETs/IGBTs that alternate switching to convert power, control motors, or drive transformers. They rapidly toggle between on/off states to regulate DC voltage, minimize power losses, and manage current flow to a load.
Regarding claim 12, Teppan as modified by Castro discloses the flexible circuit board (14) and the circuit carrier (22) are integrally bonded to one another lying flat on top of one another, see figures 7 and 12.
Regarding claim 13, Teppan as modified by Castro discloses the conducting track is I-shaped in a region of the circuit carrier.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Teppan in view of Castro as applied to claims above, and further in view of Schaller et al. (U.S. 2021/0063445).
Regarding claim 14, Teppan as modified by Castro discloses all of the limitations except for the conducting track is S-shaped in a region of the circuit carrier.
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to have the conducting track is S-shaped in order to detect a magnetic field, current flows, and is designed to generate a current signal that represents the current flowing in the conducting track, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size or shape of a component. A change in size/shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1995).
Furthermore, Schaller teaches a sensor device (1800) as shown in figures 18 and 21 comprising the conducting track is S-shaped.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to have a teaching of Schaller employed in the cell/IPM of Teppan and Castro in order to detect a magnetic field, current flows, and is designed to generate a current signal that represents the current flowing in the conducting track.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-20 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.
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/TUAN T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2848
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