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 because the text in FIG. 2 is blurry.
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 1-17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 4, “reactive power command” should be --a reactive power command-- to correct a grammatical error.
In claim 1, line 9, “angular frequency” should be --an angular frequency-- to correct a grammatical error.
In claim 1, line 12, “angular frequency” should be --the angular frequency-- for better clarity.
In claim 2, line 2, “reactive power command” should be --the reactive power command-- for better clarity.
In claim 2, line 6, “frequency of the AC voltage” should be --a frequency of the AC voltage-- to correct a grammatical error.
In claim 2, line 9, “capacitor value” should be --a capacitor value-- to correct a grammatical error.
In claim 3, line 2, “frequency of the AC voltage” should be --the frequency of the AC voltage-- for better clarity.
In claim 6, line 3, “change the m and the n” should be --change values of the m and the n-- for better clarity.
In claim 14, line 5, “reactive power command” should be --a reactive power command-- to correct a grammatical error.
In claim 14, line 11, “angular frequency” should be --an angular frequency-- to correct a grammatical error.
In claim 14, line 13, the conjunction “and” should be deleted to correct a grammatical error.
In claim 14, line 17, there should be the conjunction “and” in the end of the line.
In claim 15, line 3, “reactive power command” should be --the reactive power command-- for better clarity.
In claim 15, line 7, “frequency of the AC voltage” should be --a frequency of the AC voltage-- to correct a grammatical error.
In claim 15, line 10, “capacitor value” should be --a capacity value-- to correct a grammatical error.
In claim 16, line 5, “change the m and the n” should be --change values of the m and the n” for batter clarity.
The other claim(s) not discussed above, or depending on the above claim(s), are objected to for inheriting the issue(s) from their linking claim(s).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 6, 7 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 6, the claim is indefinite because m and n are not defined. For examination purpose, --where m and n are positive integers-- is assumed.
Claim 16 is rejected by analogy to claim 6.
The other claim(s) not discussed above, or depending on the above claim(s), are rejected for inheriting the issue(s) from their linking claim(s).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5, 8-15, and 17 would be allowed, provided any objections are resolved.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 1-5, 8-15, and 17, the closest prior art of record fails to teach the feature of claim 1 (as the representative): “a) calculating an amount of reactive power injection based on an active power command and reactive power command received from an upper controller of the distributed power, and setting a failure confirmation count to 0; b) injecting reactive power during a preset cycle among predetermined cycles of an AC voltage that is an output of the distributed power according to the failure confirmation count,” in combination with the rest of the claim limitations as claimed and defined by the Applicant.
LI et al. (CN 105223442 A) teaches a method of islanding detection, involving judging whether an angular frequency and a frequency of AC voltage are in normal ranges; incrementing a detection counter if not in normal ranges; and detecting the islanding when the counter reaches three within a set time. But LI does not teach or suggest the above indicated feature.
LUNG et al. (US 20170269168 A1) teaches a method of detecting islanding, involving calculating a reactive power injection in response to a frequency deviation which is a difference between a measured value of a commercial system frequency and a reference value of the commercial system frequency. LUNG does not teach or suggest the above indicated feature.
None of the prior art of record, singly or in combination, teaches or suggest the claimed feature at issue.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yamamoto (US 20200403410 A1) teaches a method of islanding detection, involving injecting reactive power to a grid power source side based on a measured voltage value and a measured current value; calculating a variation amount of frequency of grid voltage of the grid power source from a cycle of voltage waveform; and determining whether or not the power conversion device is in an islanding operation mode based on a variation amount of frequency of the grid voltage after injecting reactive power whose amount is associated with the calculated variation amount to the grid power source side.
Chen et al. ("An Islanding Detection Method for Inverter-Based Distributed Generators Based on the Reactive Power Disturbance" IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 31, NO. 5, MAY 2016) teaches a method of islanding detection based on perturbating reactive power output.
BEKHRADIAN et al. ("A Comprehensive Survey on Islanding Detection Methods of Synchronous Generator-Based Microgrids: Issues, Solutions and Future Works" IEEE Access, 2022) provides a survey of islanding detection methods.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN C KUAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7066. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00AM-5:30PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrew Schechter can be reached at (571) 272-2302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JOHN C KUAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
Prosecution Insights