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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/19/24 and 09/30/25 have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 01/19/24 are acceptable.
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.
(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.
Claims 16, 20-22, 25, 29, 34 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shiva S M et al. (2015 IEEE (2015-10-18), pages 1-6 XP032968696).
Shiva S M et al. disclose a new phase shedding and phase adding control scheme for interleaved DAB converter operating in IPOP configuration in Figures 1-9.
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In regard to claim 16. A method for power control of a plurality of power converters forming a common power converter (Figure 1, shown above (Module 1, Module 2, Module 3)), the method comprising: determining a number of power converters to be deactivated of the plurality of power converters based on load conditions of the common power converter, wherein the load conditions are a transferred power of the common power converter and a voltage ratio of the common power converter (see section IV, first paragraph) ; and deactivating the determined number of power converters of the plurality of power converters (see section IV, first paragraph).
In regard to claim 20. The method according to claim 16, wherein the plurality of power converters comprises solid state converters (Figure 1, shows plurality of solid state converters (Module 1, Module 2, Module 3)).
In regard to claim 21. The method according to claim 16, wherein the plurality of power converters (Figure 1, see above) comprises at least one of a half bridge converter, a full bridge converter (Module 1, Module 2, Module 3), a matrix converter, a neutral point clamped converter, a flying capacitor converter, a cascaded H-bridge converter, or a modular multilevel converter.
In regard to claim 22. The method according to claim 16, wherein the plurality of power converters (Module 1, Module 2, Module 3) is arranged so that the common converter has at least one of a series input and a parallel output, a series input and a series output, or a parallel input and a parallel output (Figure 6, see section V, first paragraph).
In regard to claim 25. A controller for power control of a plurality of power converters (Figure 1, shown above (Module 1, Module 2, Module 3) ), the controller comprising a processor configured to: determine a number of power converters to be deactivated of the plurality of power converters based on load conditions of a common power converter, wherein the load conditions are a transferred power of the common power converter and a voltage ratio of the common power converter (see section IV, first paragraph); and deactivate the determined number of power converters of the plurality of power converters (see section IV, first paragraph).
In regard to claim 29. A system (Figure 1, shown above (Module 1, Module 2, Module 3)) comprising a plurality of power converters and configured to: determine, based at least in part on load conditions of a common power converter, a number of power converters, of the plurality of power converters, to be deactivated, wherein the load conditions are a transferred power of the common power converter (see section IV, first paragraph) and a voltage ratio of the common power converter; and deactivate the number of power converters (see section IV, first paragraph) .
In regard to claim 34. The system of claim 29, wherein the plurality of power converters comprises solid state converters (Figure 1, shows plurality of solid state converters (Module 1, Module 2, Module 3)).
In regard to claim 35. The system of claim 29, wherein the plurality of power converters comprises at least one of a half bridge converter, a full bridge converter (Module 1, Module 2, Module 3), a matrix converter, a neutral point clamped converter, a flying capacitor converter, a cascaded H-bridge converter, or a modular multilevel converter.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-19, 23-24, 26-28 and 30-33 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.
Claim 17 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a method for power control of power converters including the limitation “comprising replacing at least one of the power converters which is deactivated by at least one other power converter of the plurality of power converters which is not deactivated after a set period of time“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Dependent claim 18 is allowable by virtue of their dependency.
Claim 19 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a method for power control of power converters including the limitation “further comprising monitoring the load conditions and determining the number of power converters to be deactivated of the plurality of power converters based on the monitored load conditions of the common power converter; and deactivating the determined number of power converters of the plurality of power converters “ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Claim 23 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a method for power control of power converters including the limitation “wherein the deactivating of the determined number of power converters is performed by generating zero AC voltage or DC voltage in a half period of a resonant cycle of the power converter to be deactivated“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Claim 24 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a method for power control of power converters including the limitation “wherein the deactivating of the determined number of power converters is performed by generating zero AC voltage in a half period of an AC cycle of the power converter to be deactivated“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Claim 26 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a controller for power control of power converters including the limitation “wherein the processor is further configured to replace at least one of the power converters which is deactivated by at least one other power converter of the plurality of power converters which is not deactivated after a set period of time“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Dependent claim 27 is allowable by virtue of their dependency.
Claim 28 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a controller for power control of power converters including the limitation “wherein the controller is further configured to monitor the load conditions and the processor is configured to determine the number of power converters to be deactivated of the plurality of power converters based on the monitored load conditions of the common power converter; and deactivate the determined number of power converters of the plurality of power converters“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Claim 30 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a system including the limitation “wherein the system is configured to replace at least one of the power converters which is deactivated by at least one other power converter of the plurality of power converters which is not deactivated after the set period of time“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Dependent claims 31-33 are allowable by virtue of their dependency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yuan et al. (US 2025/0132660 A1) disclose a power control of power converter based on mixed types of power converters.
Barnett et al. (US 8,502,470 B2) disclose a DC distribution system.
Examiner has cited particular columns, line numbers and/or paragraphs in thereferences applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Althoughthe specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied tospecific limitations within the individual claim(s), other passages and figures may applyas well.
Additionally, in the event that other prior art is provided and made of record by theExaminer, as being relevant or pertinent to applicant's disclosure but not relied upon.The references are provided for the convenience of the applicant. The Examinerrequest that the references be considered in any subsequent amendments, as they arealso representative of the art and may apply to the specific limitations ofany newly amended claim(s).
It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing amendments or responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of theclaimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art and/ordisclosed by the Examiner.
In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied upon inorder to ensure proper interpretation of the newly added limitations and toverify/ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADOLF D BERHANE whose telephone number is (571)272-2077. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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/ADOLF D BERHANE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838