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.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Paragraph [0020], line 1, “second aspect” should be “fourth aspect”. Paragraph [0058], equation (6), it is unclear what the actual power supplied to DC link 230 by power converter 220 is if Pc,a(t) = Pc,max because it is included in both parts of right side of the equation. Paragraph [0075], line 4, “represented each” should be “represented by each”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings were received on February 29, 2024. These drawings 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the US patent application publication of Zubieta (2020/0169083).
As to claim 1, Zubieta discloses a system for stabilizing a DC link that supplies
power to a load, the system comprising: a power converter (DC/DC) electrically coupled to the DC link; wherein the power converter is configured to: supply power to or draw power from the DC link (see paragraphs [0020] and [0022], sourcing or sinking power); monitor a voltage of the DC link (see paragraph [0007], controlling a voltage common to multiple converters); and control (see paragraph [0007], “droop” and equation (1)) the power supplied to or drawn from the DC link based on the monitored voltage of the DC link (in order to satisfy equation (1) or equation (2) for each converter, the DC bus voltage must be monitored, see Vout Meas in figure 3) and an operating voltage setpoint (Vsp).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zubieta in view of the US patent application publication of Schumacher et al. (2020/0086712).
As to claim 14, Zubieta discloses all of the claimed features, as set forth above,
except for a transport refrigeration system comprising a transport refrigeration unit. Schumacher discloses systems for power and load management in a transport refrigeration system comprising a transport refrigeration unit (212) (see paragraph [0052], lines 1-2 and 5-6, and Figure 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have used the stabilizing system of Zubieta in a transport refrigeration system as taught by Schumacher, in order to provide stable power to loads in the transport refrigeration system.
As to claim 15, the load (212) of Schumacher discloses a power converter (250)
electrically coupled to a motor (in compressor 255, a compressor inherently has a motor), and wherein the motor is configured to drive a compressor (255) of the transport refrigeration unit (see paragraph [0066], lines 1-3; paragraph [0067], lines 1-4; and Figure 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-13 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:
Claims 2-7 contain allowable subject matter because none of the prior art of
record discloses or suggests the power converter configured to: calculate an error value, wherein the error value is a result of subtracting the monitored voltage of the DC link from the operating voltage setpoint; calculate a target power to supply to or draw from the DC link based on the error value; and supply power to or draw power from the DC link in accordance with the calculated target power, in combination with the remaining claimed features.
Claims 8-13 contain allowable subject matter because none of the prior art of record discloses or suggests the load configured to: draw power from the DC link; monitor the voltage of the DC link; and reduce the power drawn from the DC link in response to a determination that the monitored voltage of the DC link is below a second operating voltage setpoint, in combination with the remaining claimed features.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The US patent of Senf, Jr. et al. (10,337,767) discloses a motor configured to drive a compressor of a transport refrigeration unit.
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/HAL KAPLAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836