DETAILED ACTION
1. This action is in response to the amendment filed on 6/2/26.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-4, 6, 16-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wieser et al. (US 20230116269) in view of Zhang Fenggang (CN108336920, also see English translation).
Regarding claim 1: Wieser et al. disclose (i.e. figures 1-4 and 7) an inverter (i.e. 2) apparatus comprising:
a direct current bus (i.e. DC+/-), wherein the direct current bus (i.e. DC+/-) is connected to an inverter bridge arm (i.e. arm of 2) that includes three inputs ends (i.e. end for DC+, DC-, and MP) respectively connected to a positive direct current bus (i.e. DC+ bus), a negative direct current bus (i.e. DC- bus), and a bus midpoint (i.e. MP), and a bus capacitor (i.e. Czk1, Czk2) is connected between a positive the positive direct current bus (i.e. DC+) and the negative direct current bus (i.e. DC-),
a filter circuit (i.e. 3) connected between the inverter bridge arm (i.e. 2) and a user load (i.e. 7), wherein a filter capacitor group (i.e. inductors and capacitors filter group) of the filter circuit (i.e. 3) is configured to connect to an N wire (i.e. N) of the user load (i.e. 7) by using a switch (i.e. 4);
wherein the common ends (i.e. ends of filter circuit 3) of the filter capacitor group (i.e. inductors and capacitors filter group) of the filter circuit (i.e. 3) is further connected to the bust midpoint (i.e. MP), so that the bus midpoint (i.e. MP), the inverter bridge arm (i.e. arm of 2), and the filter circuit (i.e. 3) from a closed loop (i.e. see configuration of figures 4 and/or 7); and
a controller (i.e. controller for figure 7), configured to control, based on different working states (i.e. operation state) of the inverter (i.e. 2) apparatus, the switch unit (i.e. 4) to be turned on or off, so as to switch different modulation modes (i.e. modes according to switch 4 on and off) of the inverter bridge arm (i.e. arm of 2),
wherein the different working states comprise an on-grid working state (i.e. normal operation) (i.e. ¶ 60-68, 73-87, and 103),
but does not specifically disclose an off-grid working state with a balanced load, and an off-grid working state with an unbalanced load.
Fenggang discloses a power supply (i.e. figures 3-4) comprising an off-grid working state with a balanced load (i.e. ¶ 18), and an off-grid working state with an unbalanced load (i.e. ¶ 19) (i.e. ¶ 28).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to modify the circuit of Jared Hausman’s invention with the power system as disclose by Fenggang to improve conversion efficiency under normal operating conditions, and meet the requirements of unbalanced loads is a major technical problem that needs to be solved.
Regarding claim 2: Wieser et al. disclose the limitation of the claim(s) as discussed above, but does not specifically disclose the controller is configured to: when the inverter apparatus is in the off-grid working state with an unbalanced load, control the switch unit to be turned on, and control the inverter bridge arm to switch to a common SPWM modulation mode; and when the inverter apparatus is in the on-grid working state, control the switch unit to be turned off, and control the inverter bridge arm to switch to a common-mode injection modulation mode.
Fenggang disclose a power system (i.e. figures 3-4) comprising the controller is configured to: when the inverter apparatus is in the off-grid working state with an unbalanced load, control the switch unit (i.e. SW) to be turned on, and control the inverter bridge arm (i.e. inverter of figure 3) to switch to a common SPWM modulation mode (i.e. ¶ 19); and
when the inverter apparatus is in the on-grid working state, control the switch unit (i.e. SW) to be turned off, and control the inverter bridge arm (i.e. inverter of figure 3) to switch to a common-mode injection modulation mode (i.e. ¶ 16).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to modify the circuit of Wieser et al.’s invention with the power system as disclose by Fenggang to improve conversion efficiency under normal operating conditions, and meet the requirements of unbalanced loads is a major technical problem that needs to be solved.
Regarding claim 3: Wieser et al. disclose the limitation of the claim(s) as discussed above, but does not specifically disclose the controller is configured to: when the inverter apparatus is in the off-grid working state with an unbalanced load, control the switch unit to be turned on, and control the inverter bridge arm to switch to a common SPWM modulation mode; and when the inverter apparatus is in the off-grid working state with a balanced load, control the switch unit to be turned off, and control the inverter bridge arm to switch to a common-mode injection modulation mode.
Fenggang disclose a power system (i.e. figures 3-4) comprising the controller is configured to: when the inverter (i.e. inverter of figure 3) apparatus is in the off-grid working state with an unbalanced load, control the switch unit (i.e. SW) to be turned on, and control the inverter bridge arm (i.e. inverter arm of figure 3) to switch to a common SPWM modulation mode (i.e. ¶ 19);
and when the inverter (i.e. inverter of figure 3) apparatus is in the off-grid working state with a balanced load, control the switch unit (i.e. SW) to be turned off, and control the inverter bridge arm (i.e. inverter arm of figure 3) to switch to a common-mode injection modulation mode (i.e. ¶ 19).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to modify the circuit of Wieser et al.’s invention with the power system as disclose by Fenggang to improve conversion efficiency under normal operating conditions, and meet the requirements of unbalanced loads is a major technical problem that needs to be solved.
Regarding claim 4: Wieser et al. disclsoes (i.e. figure 7) wherein the common end of the filter capacitor group (i.e. capacitor group of 3) of the filter circuit is further connected to a midpoint (i.e. MP) of the bus capacitor (i.e. Czk1, Czk2).
Regarding claims 6 and 20: Wieser et al. disclsoes (i.e. figure 7) wherein the filter circuit (i.e. 3) comprises a first filter inductor unit (i.e. inductor unit of 3) and a filter capacitor unit (i.e. capacitor unit of 3); the first filter inductor unit (i.e. inductor unit of 3) comprises three filter inductors (i.e. LF1-3), and first ends of the three filter inductors of the first filter inductor unit are sequentially connected to three output ends of the inverter bridge arm (i.e. arm of 2);
the filter capacitor unit (i.e. capacitor unit of 3) comprises the filter capacitor group, the filter capacitor group comprises three filter capacitors (i.e. CF1-3), first ends of the three filter capacitors of the filter capacitor group are sequentially connected to second ends of the three filter inductors of the first filter inductor unit (i.e. inductor unit of 3) , and second ends of the three filter capacitors of the filter capacitor group (i.e. capacitor unit of 3) are connected to the common end (i.e. end connect to 4) of the filter capacitor group; and
a first end of the switch unit (i.e. 4) is connected to the midpoint (i.e. MP) of the bus capacitor (i.e. Czk1, Czk2) by using the common end of the filter capacitor group (i.e. capacitor unit of 3), and a second end of the switch unit (i.e. 4) is configured to connect to the N wire (i.e. N) of the user load.
Regarding claims 16: the method steps will be met during the normal operation of the apparatus described above. (Examiner notes: For method claims, note that under MPEP 2112.02, the principles of inherency, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method, it can be assumed the device will inherently perform the claimed process. In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 231 USPQ 136 (Fed. Cir. 1986). Therefore, the previous rejections based on the apparatus will not be repeated).
Regarding claim 17: Wieser et al. disclose (i.e. figure 7) the inverter further comprises a bus capacitor (i.e. Czk1, Czk2), the bus capacitor (i.e. Czk1, Czk2) is connected between a positive direct current bus (i.e. DC+) and a negative direct current bus (i.e. DC-), the filter circuit (i.e. inductors and capacitors filter) is connected between the inverter bridge arm (i.e. arm of 2) and a user load (i.e. 7), and a common end of a filter capacitor group (i.e. Capacitor filter) of the filter circuit is configured to connect to an N wire (i.e. N) of the user load (i.e. 7) by using the switch unit (i.e. 4).
Regarding claim 18: Wieser et al. disclose (i.e. figure 7) the common end of the filter capacitor group (i.e. capacitors filter group) of the filter circuit is further connected to a midpoint (i.e. MP) of the bus capacitor (i.e. Czk1, Czk2).
5. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wieser et al. (US 20230116269) in view of Zhang Fenggang (CN108336920, also see English translation) and further in view of Unru et al. (US 20160254783).
Regarding claim 8: Wieser et al. disclose the limitation of the claim(s) as discussed above, but does not specifically disclose the filter capacitor unit further comprises a safety capacitor group; and the safety capacitor group comprises three filter capacitors, first ends of the three filter capacitors of the safety capacitor group are sequentially configured to connect to three input ends of the user load, and second ends of the three filter capacitors of the safety capacitor group are connected to a common end of the safety capacitor group.
Unru et al. disclose a power system (i.e. figure 2a) comprising the filter capacitor unit further comprises a safety capacitor group (i.e. 62a-c); and the safety capacitor group (i.e. 62a-c) comprises three filter capacitors, first ends of the three filter capacitors of the safety capacitor group (i.e. 62a-c) are sequentially configured to connect to three input ends of the user load (i.e. load), and second ends of the three filter capacitors of the safety capacitor group (i.e. 62a-c) are connected to a common end (i.e. at 64) of the safety capacitor group (i.e. 62a-c).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to modify the circuit of Wieser et al.’s invention with the system as disclose by Unru et al. to increase the accuracy when determining the capacitance values.
6. Claims 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wieser et al. (US 20230116269) in view of Zhang Fenggang (CN108336920, also see English translation) and Unru et al. (US 20160254783) and further in view of Joachim Danmayr (EP3562016A1, cited in the IDS filed on 9/11/24).
Regarding claim 9: Wieser et al. disclose the limitation of the claim(s) as discussed above, but does not specifically disclose the common end of the safety capacitor group is connected to the second end of the switch unit.
Danmayr disclose a power system (i.e. figure 3) comprising the common end of the safety capacitor group (i.e. C41-43) is connected to the second end of the switch unit (i.e. SFN).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to modify the circuit of Wieser et al.’s invention with the power system as disclose by Danmayr to allow reliable charging of the DC link capacitors of an inverter.
Regarding claim 10: Wieser et al. disclsoes (i.e. figure 7) the common end of the safety capacitor group (i.e. CF4-6) is connected to the first end of the switch unit (i.e. 4).
Regarding claim 11: Wieser et al. disclose (i.e. figure 7) the common end of the safety capacitor group (i.e. CF4-6) is connected to the first end or the second end of the switch unit (i.e. 4) by using a capacitor (i.e. CF4).
Regarding claim 12: Wieser et al. disclose (i.e. figure 7) wherein the filter circuit further comprises a second filter inductor unit (i.e. Lemv1-3), the second filter inductor unit (i.e. Lemv1-3) comprises three filter inductors, and the three filter inductors of the second filter inductor unit (i.e. Lemv1-3) are respectively connected between the first ends of the three filter capacitors (i.e. CF1-3) of the filter capacitor group and the first ends of the three filter capacitors (i.e. CF4-6) of the safety capacitor group.
Response to Arguments
7. Applicant's arguments filed 6/2/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., “a method for using a filter capacitor group in a filter circuit to absorb high-frequency harmonics to reduce the noise impact of the high-frequency harmonics on the user load, regardless of whether the user load is a balanced load or an unbalanced load (referring to paragraph 0046 in the specification)”) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Conclusion
8. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NGUYEN TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1269. The examiner can normally be reached Flex: M-F 8-7.
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, Monica Lewis can be reached at 571-272-1838. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Nguyen Tran/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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