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 information disclosure statements filed on 3/10/2025 and 1/9/2024 have been entered. The preliminary amendment filed on 1/9/2024 has been entered. Claim 13 has been cancelled. Claims 1-12 and 14-21 are presented for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 8-12 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (2) as being anticipated by Boehme (Boehme – 2025/0079826).
Regarding claim 1, . A charge and discharge control method, comprising:
obtaining a residual voltage at an output terminal after a charging ( Boehme; par. 0005, 0065-0066, “[0065] The protective circuit of the described solution can moreover provide an equivalent discharge path to the body current each time a high-voltage potential, i.e., the positive potential or the negative potential, is touched in quick succession. In contrast, the protective circuit with the parallel circuit consisting of the capacitor connected in series with the protective resistor and of the discharge resistor, which parallel circuit is electrically connected in series with the respective circuit breaker, either requires waiting until the protective capacitor has been discharged to a very low voltage value via the discharge resistor, or this protective circuit represents a decreasing protective effect in the event of physical contact with a high-voltage potential multiple times in quick succession, because the protective capacitor still has a residual voltage and can no longer store as much energy”);
controlling a discharge load connected in parallel with the output terminal to form a discharge circuit The protective circuit of the described solution can moreover provide an equivalent discharge path to the body current each time a high-voltage potential, i.e., the positive potential or the negative potential, is touched in quick succession. In contrast, the protective circuit with the parallel circuit consisting of the capacitor connected in series with the protective resistor and of the discharge resistor, which parallel circuit is electrically connected in series with the respective circuit breaker, either requires waiting until the protective capacitor has been discharged to a very low voltage value via the discharge resistor, or this protective circuit represents a decreasing protective effect in the event of physical contact with a high-voltage potential multiple times in quick succession, because the protective capacitor still has a residual voltage and can no longer store as much energy”);
performing frequency adjustment and/or width adjustment and/or dead zone adjustment on the residual voltage, so as to accelerate a discharge speed of the discharge circuit The protective circuit of the described solution can moreover provide an equivalent discharge path to the body current each time a high-voltage potential, i.e., the positive potential or the negative potential, is touched in quick succession. In contrast, the protective circuit with the parallel circuit consisting of the capacitor connected in series with the protective resistor and of the discharge resistor, which parallel circuit is electrically connected in series with the respective circuit breaker, either requires waiting until the protective capacitor has been discharged to a very low voltage value via the discharge resistor, or this protective circuit represents a decreasing protective effect in the event of physical contact with a high-voltage potential multiple times in quick succession, because the protective capacitor still has a residual voltage and can no longer store as much energy”).
Regarding claim 8, Boehme discloses the charge and discharge control method according to claim 1, wherein controlling a discharge load connected in parallel with the output terminal to form a discharge circuit, comprises: determining whether a residual voltage of the output terminal reaches a voltage threshold; controlling a discharge load connected in parallel with the output terminal to form a discharge circuit when the residual voltage of the output terminal reaches the voltage threshold (Boehme; “[0072] In a further embodiment, the protective circuit comprises an electric series circuit consisting of an electric protective capacitor, an electric protective resistor and the first circuit breaker between the positive potential line and the reference potential line and an electric series circuit consisting of the electric protective capacitor, the electric protective resistor and the second circuit breaker between the negative potential line and the reference potential line, wherein an electric discharge resistor is connected electrically in parallel with the protective capacitor and protective resistor and an electric series circuit consisting of an electric fast discharge resistor and a fast discharge switch is connected electrically in parallel with the protective capacitor or with the protective capacitor and protective resistor”).
Regarding claim 9, Boehme discloses the charge and discharge control method according to claim 1, wherein a resistance value of the discharge load is less than an equivalent resistance value of a main circuit of a charging device ( Boehme; par. 0005, 0065-0066, “[0065] The protective circuit of the described solution can moreover provide an equivalent discharge path to the body current each time a high-voltage potential, i.e., the positive potential or the negative potential, is touched in quick succession. In contrast, the protective circuit with the parallel circuit consisting of the capacitor connected in series with the protective resistor and of the discharge resistor, which parallel circuit is electrically connected in series with the respective circuit breaker, either requires waiting until the protective capacitor has been discharged to a very low voltage value via the discharge resistor, or this protective circuit represents a decreasing protective effect in the event of physical contact with a high-voltage potential multiple times in quick succession, because the protective capacitor still has a residual voltage and can no longer store as much energy”).
Regarding claim 10, Boehme discloses the charge and discharge control method according to claim 1, wherein further comprising: performing constant-current control and constant-voltage control on a charging signal during a charging process (Boehme; 0012 – DC charging stations that is known for constant current and constant voltage phases).
Regarding claim 11, Boehme discloses a charging device, comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory, wherein the computer program executes instructions of the method according to claim 1 when being run by the processor (Boehme; par. 0011-0013 – onboard electrical system, DC charging stations).
Regarding claim 12, Boehme discloses a non-transitory computer storage medium, storing a computer program thereon, wherein the computer program executes instructions of the method according to claim 1 when being run by the processor of the charging device (Boehme; par. 0011-0013 – onboard electrical system, DC charging stations).
Regarding claim 20, Boehme discloses the charging device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the computer program executes instructions to control a discharge load connected in parallel with the output terminal to form a discharge circuit by: determining whether a residual voltage of the output terminal reaches a voltage threshold; controlling a discharge load connected in parallel with the output terminal to form a discharge circuit when the residual voltage of the output terminal reaches the voltage threshold (Boehme; “[0072] In a further embodiment, the protective circuit comprises an electric series circuit consisting of an electric protective capacitor, an electric protective resistor and the first circuit breaker between the positive potential line and the reference potential line and an electric series circuit consisting of the electric protective capacitor, the electric protective resistor and the second circuit breaker between the negative potential line and the reference potential line, wherein an electric discharge resistor is connected electrically in parallel with the protective capacitor and protective resistor and an electric series circuit consisting of an electric fast discharge resistor and a fast discharge switch is connected electrically in parallel with the protective capacitor or with the protective capacitor and protective resistor”).
Regarding claim 21, Boehme discloses the charging device as claimed in claim 11, wherein a resistance value of the discharge load is less than an equivalent resistance value of a main circuit of a charging device ( Boehme; par. 0005, 0065-0066, “[0065] The protective circuit of the described solution can moreover provide an equivalent discharge path to the body current each time a high-voltage potential, i.e., the positive potential or the negative potential, is touched in quick succession. In contrast, the protective circuit with the parallel circuit consisting of the capacitor connected in series with the protective resistor and of the discharge resistor, which parallel circuit is electrically connected in series with the respective circuit breaker, either requires waiting until the protective capacitor has been discharged to a very low voltage value via the discharge resistor, or this protective circuit represents a decreasing protective effect in the event of physical contact with a high-voltage potential multiple times in quick succession, because the protective capacitor still has a residual voltage and can no longer store as much energy”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 and 14-19 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.
i. The prior art fails to disclose the charge and discharge control method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining a residual voltage at an output terminal, comprises: obtaining voltage sampling values at the output terminal for multiple consecutive cycles, to form a voltage sampling value sequence; calculating an average value of middle portions of the voltage sampling value sequence, and taking the average value as a residual voltage at the output terminal as recited in claim 2 (claim 14 recites similar limitations to claim 2).
ii. The prior art fails to disclose the charge and discharge control method according to claim 1, wherein performing frequency adjustment and/or width adjustment and/or dead zone adjustment on the residual voltage, comprises: adjusting a pulse frequency of the residual voltage upward; if the residual voltage still does not drop to a specified voltage value when the pulse frequency is adjusted to an upper frequency limit, adjusting a pulse width of the residual voltage downward; if the residual voltage still does not drop to the specified voltage value when the pulse width is adjusted to a lower width limit, adjusting a dead zone time of the residual voltage downward as recited in claim 3 (claims 4-7 depend on claim 3; claim 15 recites similar limitations to claim 3; claims 16-19 depend on claim 15 ).
Conclusion
`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THIEN MINH LE whose telephone number is (571)272-2396. The examiner can normally be reached 6:30-5:00 PM M-Th..
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/THIEN M LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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