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 drawing is objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show detail illustrations of “controllable switching devices” and “a configuration device’ described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d).
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 Objection
Claim 16 is objected to because “them” is unclear and leaves doubts as to what is being referred to. 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.
Claims 15, 17, 19-22, 24 and 26-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang, US 7483254 in view of Lapiere, US 20180294120.
Regarding claim 15, Wang discloses (figs.1-2) an arrangement for automatically configuring a magnetic drive, the arrangement comprising:
a vacuum switching device [col.1, lines 36-40] having a movable contact and a fixed contact;
a magnetic drive having a magnetic armature (3) and two coils (L1, L2) being connectable in parallel or in series [col.4, lines 30-32], where said magnetic drive is configured, in a switched-on state, to exert an attractive force on said magnet armature (3) and to move said magnet armature (3), said magnetic drive further having controllable switching devices (D1, D2) for said coils (L1, L2) [col.4, lines 45-53];
a transfer mechanism (2) configured to translate a movement of said magnet armature (3) into a movement of said movable contact toward said fixed contact.
an actuator [see fig.1] for said magnetic drive, said actuator configured for an input voltage [col.3, lines 16-18].
Wang fails to disclose a configuration device configured to measure the input voltage and to configure said actuator for the input voltage measured, and to connect said coils in parallel or in series by means of said controllable switching devices depending on the input voltage measured.
Lapiere discloses (fig. 1) a configuration device (20) configured to measure an input voltage (6) [para. 0069] and to configure an actuator (24) for the input voltage measured (6), and to connect a coil (4) in series by means of a controllable switching devices (32, 40) depending on the input voltage measured (by 20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the configuration device of Wang with the teaching of the configuration device of Lapiere, thereby providing electrical power supply current to the coil during closure makes it possible to reduce the quantity of current consumed unnecessarily during the closure phase once the mobile part has reached a closed position.
Regarding claim 17, Wang and Lapiere further disclose where said configuration device (Lapiere, 20) is configured to configure said actuator (24) for the input voltage measured (6) by virtue of switch-on and holding currents being set [para.0072].
Regarding claim 19, Wang and Lapiere further disclose where said configuration device (Lapiere, 20) is configured to measure the input voltage (6) and to configure said actuator (24) and to interconnect said coil (4) before each switching process.
Regarding claim 20, Wang and Lapiere further comprising a data memory (Lapiere) [para.0075], where said configuration device (20) is configured to measure the input voltage (6) upon initial start-up and to save a configuration of said actuator (24) and an interconnection of said coil (4) as a data set in said data memory.
Regarding claim 21, Wang and Lapiere further disclose where said data memory (Lapiere) is configured to be able to reliably store the data set in a zero-voltage state (Lapiere) [para.0075].
Regarding method claims 22, 24 and 26-28, the recited method steps would necessarily be performed in the usage of the magnetic drive discussed above. Claims 22, 24 and 26-28 correspond to claims 15, 17 and 19-21 and are rejected under the same reasoning: see above rejections.
Claims 18 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang and Lapiere and further in view of Yu et al, US 20190207598 {Yu].
Regarding claim 18, Wang and Lapiere fail to explicitly disclose wherein said controllable switching devices are selected from the group consisting of: metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors, insulated-gate bipolar transistors and relays.
Yu discloses (figs.3-4) a protection circuit comprising controllable switch (200) selected from the group consisting of: metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and insulated-gate bipolar transistor [para.0020].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the magnetic drive of Wang with the inclusion of controllable switch of Yu, thereby providing fast switching speed, suitable for high-power and low-impedance circuits.
Regarding method claim 25, the recited method steps would necessarily be performed in the usage of the magnetic drive discussed above. Claim 25 corresponds to claim 18 and is rejected under the same reasoning: see above rejections.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16 and 23 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 16, the prior art fails to teach or show, alone or in combination, the claimed arrangement, where said configuration device is configured to connect said coils in parallel for the input voltage of 90 V to 150 V and to connect them in series for the input voltage of 180 V to 250 V.
Regarding claim 23, , the prior art fails to teach or show, alone or in combination, the claimed method where the coils are connected in parallel for the input voltage being 90 V to 150 V and are connected in series for the input voltage being 180 V to 250 V.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang et al, Zhou et al, Angquist et al, Takasuka et al, Kim et al, Chaly et al and Ishikawa et al are examples of electrical switching devices comprising magnetic drives configured similar to the present invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM A BOLTON whose telephone number is (571)270-5887. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 7:30AM - 5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Renee S Luebke can be reached at (571)-272-2009.
The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM A BOLTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833