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 6/26/24 has been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
A title such as the following is suggested: Power conversion device for use with either single phase or three phase power supplies.
Claim Interpretation
Claim 1 is directed to a power conversion device and recites limitations in the body of the claim to a power supply which is not part of the power conversion device and is intended to be connected externally to the claimed power conversion device. Since the power supply is external to the claimed invention (the power conversion device), the claim limitations of the external power supply (i.e. a single-phase AC power supply including a grounded neutral point) exclusive to the power conversion device are interpreted as intended use claim language, and will be considered to read upon a prior art reference that is capable of the intended use. Therefore, the claim language will be considered to be anticipated by a prior art reference which discloses the claimed power conversion device even if the limitations of the intended use are not explicit in the reference, as long as the reference is capable of the intended use.
Claim Rejected as Reciting Intended Use
In the claim rejection below under Sun, Sun remains silent as to whether the single phase power supply is single phase, two wire or single phase, three wire power supply, and Sun does not show the well known single phase, three wire power source with the grounded neutral point. Nevertheless, Sun is believed to anticipate the claims, since the disclosed power conversion device is capable of the intended use with a single phase, three wire power source with the grounded neutral point. Sun discloses that when a single phase source is connected to Figure 1A 11, switches S1 and S2 are connected to N1, which is one line of the single phase power supply, while NC1 acts as the return line for the single phase power supply. Sun is capable of the intended use of connection to a single phase, three wire power source with the grounded neutral point, as in Tomita (JP 2001268915) Figure 1, where one end of the single phase power source 11 is connected to the AC-DC rectifier (Fig. 1 1-4) while the return is connected to the capacitor divider (Fig. 1 5-6) in the well known voltage doubler configuration. In the Tomita reference, source 11 could be a single phase, three wire power source with a grounded neutral point, that is, with a connection as shown in Kurokami (US 2002/0118559) Figure 1, where the shown single phase, three wire power source (Fig. 1 3) with the grounded neutral point would have the top line connected to N1 (Sun Fig. 1A 11 N1) of Sun, the bottom line would be connected to NC1 of Sun (Sun Fig. 1A NC1) and the grounded neutral is unconnected to 11 of Sun.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Sun (US 2020/0083727).
With respect to claim 1, Sun discloses a power conversion device (Fig. 1A 11-13,S1-S3,La-Lc), comprising: an AC-DC converter (Fig. 1B 121) configured to convert input AC power into DC power and output the DC power; and a capacitor unit (Fig. 1A C1,C2) connected to the AC-DC converter, wherein the AC-DC converter includes: a first serially-connected body (Fig. 1B 1211) including a first upper arm switching element and a first lower arm switching element that are connected to each other in series; a second serially-connected body (Fig. 1B 1212) including a second upper arm switching element and a second lower arm switching element that are connected to each other in series; a third serially-connected body (Fig. 1B 1213) including a third upper arm switching element and a third lower arm switching element that are connected to each other in series; a first reactor (Fig. 1A La) including a first end electrically connected to a connecting point of the first upper arm switching element and the first lower arm switching element; a first wire (Fig. 1A wire between N1 and La) including a first end connected to a second end of the first reactor and a second end, the first wire being configured such that the second end of the first wire is electrically connected (Fig. 1A N1) to a first phase of a three-phase AC power supply (Fig. 1A three phase connects to N1-N3 of 11) when the three-phase AC power supply is electrically connected to the AC-DC converter (Fig. 2 Three-phase mode), and the second end of the first wire is electrically connected to a single-phase AC power supply (Fig. 1A connection via N1) including a grounded neutral point (Fig. 1A power conversion device capable of intended use of a single phase, three wire supply with grounded neutral point connected to 11) when the single-phase AC power supply (Fig. 2 Single-phase mode) is electrically connected to the AC-DC converter, so that the first wire is used as an ungrounded wire (Fig. 1A wire between N1 and La is ungrounded); a second reactor (Fig. 1A Lb) including a first end electrically connected to a connecting point of the second upper arm switching element and the second lower arm switching element; a second wire (Fig. 1A wire between Lb and N2) including a first end and a second end, the first end of the second wire being connected to a second end of the second reactor, and the second end of the second wire being electrically connected to a second phase (Fig. 1A phase at N2) of the three-phase AC power supply when the three-phase AC power supply is electrically connected to the AC-DC converter; a third reactor (Fig. 1A Lc) including a first end electrically connected to a connecting point of the third upper arm switching element and the third lower arm switching element; and a third wire (Fig. 1A wire between N3 and Lc) including a first end and a second end, the first end of the third wire being connected to a second end of the third reactor, and the second end of the third wire being electrically connected to a third phase (Fig. 1A phase at N3) of the three-phase AC power supply when the three-phase AC power supply is electrically connected to the AC-DC converter, the capacitor unit includes: a first capacitor (Fig. 1A C1) including a first end, the first end of the first capacitor being connected to a connecting point (Fig. 1B N7) of the first upper arm switching element, the second upper arm switching element, and the third upper arm switching element; a second capacitor (Fig. 1A C2) including a first end and a second end, the first end of the second capacitor being connected to a connecting point (Fig. 1B N8) of the first lower arm switching element, the second lower arm switching element, and the third lower arm switching element, and the second end of the second capacitor being connected (Fig. 1A NC2) to the second end of the first capacitor; and a fourth wire (Fig. 1A wire between NC1 and NC2) including a first end, the first end of the fourth wire being connected to a connecting point of the first capacitor and the second capacitor and a second end, and the power conversion device is configured such that, when the single-phase AC power supply is electrically connected to the AC-DC converter, the fourth wire is used as an ungrounded wire (Fig. 1B wire NC1-NC2 ungrounded) by electrically connecting the second end of the fourth wire to the single-phase AC power supply.
With respect to claim 2, Sun discloses the power conversion device according to claim 1, further comprising: a first switching unit (Fig. 1A S1) configured to selectively switch between a state in which the first wire and the second wire are electrically connected to each other (Fig. 1A S1 connects to N1) and a state in which the second wire and the second phase of the three-phase AC power supply are electrically connected (Fig. 1A S1 connects to N2) to each other; a second switching unit (Fig. 1A S2) configured to selectively switch between a state in which the first wire and the third wire are electrically connected (Fig. 1A S2 connected to N1) to each other and a state in which the third wire and the third phase of the three-phase AC power supply are electrically connected (Fig. 1A S2 connected to N3) to each other; and processing circuitry (Fig. 1A 13), wherein the processing circuitry is configured to, when the three-phase AC power supply is electrically connected to the AC-DC converter, control the first switching unit such that the second wire and the second phase of the three-phase AC power supply are electrically connected to each other, and control the second switching unit such that the third wire and the third phase of the three-phase AC power supply are electrically connected to each other (Fig. 2 S22), and the processing circuitry is configured to, when the single-phase AC power supply is electrically connected to the AC-DC converter, control the first switching unit such that the first wire and the second wire are electrically connected to each other, and control the second switching unit such that the first wire and the third wire are electrically connected to each other (Fig. 2 S23).
With respect to claim 3, Sun discloses the power conversion device according to claim 1, further comprising a DC-DC converter (Fig. 1B 122) connected to the AC-DC converter (Fig. 1B 121).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Li (US 2023/0035838) discloses operation from either a three phase or a single phase power source. Tomita (JP 2001268915) discloses a well know voltage doubler topology operated from a single phase source. Kurokami (US 2002/0118559) discloses a single phase, three wire power source with the grounded neutral point
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HARRY RAYMOND BEHM whose telephone number is (571)272-8929. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8-5 EST.
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/HARRY R BEHM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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