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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3, 6-10, 12-13 and 17-19 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 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.
Claims 1, 4-5,11,14-16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bunnell et al. (Pub No. US 2024/0359567) in view of Tomonari et al. (JP 2023007893)
Regrading Claim 1 Bunnell teaches: A power conversion apparatus [Abstract, Fig.1, System and method for power conversion in an electrical system] for converting input power input from a first power source [Fig.1, item 50 [0029] REC as power converters to convert an AC power source from a charge station 50] and providing the converted input power to a second power source, [[0038] multiple power converters AMP-1 to APM-N, output of the power converters corresponds to second power source. the output power request is for low-voltage DC power, more than one of the APMs 21-1, 21-2, or 21-N may be needed at a given time to satisfy the output power request for the low-voltage bus 20-L ] the power conversion apparatus comprising: a plurality of power converters [Fig.1, item 21-1-21N, [0038], power converts] connected in parallel with each other between the first power source and the second power source, [Fig.1, APM-1 to APM-N are connected in parallel between output of power source 50 and low-voltage bus 20L] each of the plurality of power converters configured to convert the input power input from the first power source;[[0029] [0037] APMs 21-1, 21-2, 21-N are operable to reduce a level of a DC voltage of the high-voltage bus 20-H, e.g., 300V or more as noted above, to a typical 12-50V auxiliary voltage level for the low-voltage bus 20-L] and a controller [Fig.1, item 28, Controller] configured to control the plurality of power converters, [[0038] the output power requests for the electrical system 12 on the motor vehicle 40 received by the controller 28. [0043] The controller 28 would select power converter PC-1 over power converter PC-2 because PC-1 had a lower cost at 800 W compared to PC-2. Because the controller 28 in this disclosure can individually regulate the conversion and load in the electrical system 12, the controller 28 can select the power converter(s) with the greatest efficiency to minimize power losses] wherein the controller is configured to selectively drive at least one of the plurality of power converters depending on a ratio of the input power input from the first power source to maximum available input power capable of being input from the first power source,[[0029] input in communication with the high-voltage bus 20-H and outputs in communication with the low-voltage bus 20-L, [0037] APMs 21-1, 21-2, 21-N are operable to reduce a level of a DC voltage of the high-voltage bus 20-H, e.g., 300V or more as noted above, to a typical 12-50V auxiliary voltage level for the low-voltage bus 20-L. (i.e. Maximum available voltage form power source 50 is 300V, [0038] output power request is for low-voltage DC power, more than one of the APMs 21-1, 21-2, or 21-N may be needed at a given time to satisfy the output power request for the low-voltage bus 20-L, Fig.2 [0043] when calculating a cost for the power converter at a specific output power. For example, FIG. 2 provides an efficiency value of approximately 0.90 or 90% at 800 W for PC-1 and approximately 0.85 or 85% at 800 W for PC-2. This generates a cost in terms of efficiency of 88.9 W to operate the power converter PC-1 at 800 W and a cost of 141.2 W to operate the power converter PC-2 at 800 W. Therefore, based on these costs of operation at 800 W of output power, the controller 28 would select power converter PC-1 over power converter PC-2 because PC-1 had a lower cost at 800 W compared to PC-2. select at least one power converter of the plurality of power converters to satisfy the output power request based on an efficiency of power conversion of each of the plurality of power converters ] and
Regrading Claim 1 Bunnell does not teach wherein the controller is configured to, if one or some, not all, of the plurality of power converters are required to be selectively driven, drive one or more power converters having a lowest accumulated driving time among the plurality of power converters.
However, Tomonari teaches if one or some, not all, of the plurality of power converters are required to be selectively driven, drive one or more power converters having a lowest accumulated driving time among the plurality of power converters [Abstract: an operating time storage unit 22 that stores the operating time and the load factor for each operating time of each power converter 2, and by using the value obtained by multiplying the operating time of the power converter 2 by the load factor as the degree of deterioration, the control unit CPU 23 sets the operating priority of the power converter 2 on the basis of the degree of deterioration, and the number of power converters 2. Page 2: degree of deterioration is monitored by adding the load factor to the operating time, or the operating time is monitored as the degree of deterioration, and power converters with the lowest degree of deterioration are preferentially operated, Page 3: (Fig.4) The priority is set by calculating the degree of deterioration and sorting the devices with the lowest degree of deterioration as the highest rank].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art to which this invention pertains before the effective filing date of the invention to use the power converters selection method of Tomonari to select the power converters in Bunnell’s system .
A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Bunnell and Tomonari to prevent frequent power converter failure and improve efficiency. [Page.2: As a result, frequent failures can be prevented. Since the number of power converters to be operated is varied according to the required power information of the DC power supply destination, the power converters to be operated can be operated with high efficiency]
Regrading Claim 4 Bunnell teaches: the controller is configured to compute the input power based on a command related to an output voltage and/or an output current of the first power source. [[0029] input in communication with the high-voltage bus 20-H and outputs in communication with the low-voltage bus 20-L, [0037] e APMs 21-1, 21-2, 21-N are operable to reduce a level of a DC voltage of the high-voltage bus 20-H, e.g., 300V or more as noted above, to a typical 12-50V auxiliary voltage level for the low-voltage bus 20-L.]
Regrading Claim 5 Bunnell teaches: each of the plurality of power converters is configured to be capable of converting 1/n of the maximum available input power capable of being input from the first power source, where n is a number of the plurality of power converters comprised in the power conversion apparatus (n is a natural number greater than or equal to two). [[0037] APMs 21-1, 21-2, 21-N are operable to reduce a level of a DC voltage of the high-voltage bus 20-H, e.g., 300V or more as noted above, to a typical 12-50V auxiliary voltage level for the low-voltage bus 20-L. (i.e. Maximum available voltage form power source 50 is 300V, [0038] output power request is for low-voltage DC power, more than one of the APMs 21-1, 21-2, or 21-N may be needed at a given time to satisfy the output power request for the low-voltage bus 20-L(n is 25 if output voltage is 12 and n is 50 if the output voltage is 50]
Claim 11 is having similar limitations to that of the apparatus of claim 1. Accordingly, claim 11 is rejected under a similar rational as that of claim 1 above.
Claim 14 is having similar limitations to that of the apparatus of claim 4. Accordingly, claim 14 is rejected under a similar rational as that of claim 4 above.
Claim 15 is having similar limitations to that of the apparatus of claim 5. Accordingly, claim 15 is rejected under a similar rational as that of claim 5 above.
Regrading Claim 16 Tomonari teaches: accumulating, by the controller, a driving time of each of the plurality of power converters. [Abstract: an operating time storage unit 22 that stores the operating time and the load factor for each operating time of each power converter 2, Page 2: the operating time is monitored as the degree of deterioration]
Regarding Claim 20 Bunnell teaches: anon-transitory computer readable storage medium in which a program including at least one instruction for performing the power conversion [[0031] The computer-readable memory may include non-transitory/tangible medium which participates in providing data or computer-readable instructions. [0032] controller 28 includes a tangible, non-transitory memory on which computer-executable instructions, including one or more algorithms, are recorded for regulating operation of the motor vehicle 40. The subject algorithm(s) may specifically include an algorithm configured to optimize energy usage of the motor vehicle 40. Fig.1, System and method for power conversion in an electrical system] method of claim 11 is stored. [similar rational as that of claim 1 above.]
Conclusion
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/ZAHID CHOUDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2175