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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/10/24 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “fourth phase voltage value” “a fifth phase voltage value” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 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 and 19 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 claims 6, and 19, the claims contain the phrase “a fourth phase voltage value” and “a fifth phase voltage value” which while disclosed in the specification merely discloses “a fourth phase voltage value” and “a fifth phase voltage value” but does not explain more and nor is it shown in the drawings. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8-13, and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lan et al. (US 2019/0207543).
Regarding claim 1,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
A motor controller (Fig. 1, 18), comprising: one or more processors (¶0072); one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions (¶0072) that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the motor controller to: determine that a motor (Fig. 7A, 16) is lacking commutation (¶0083); determine that the motor is to be commutated (¶0083); receive, from one or more voltage sensors (Va, Vb, Vc), a first phase voltage value associated with a first phase of the motor (Va, ¶0060); receive, from the one or more voltage sensors, a second phase voltage value associated with a second phase of the motor (Vb, ¶0060); determine, based at least in part on the first phase voltage value and the second phase voltage value, a motor position associated with the motor (θ, via 30, ¶0060); generate, based at least in part on the motor position, current control signals (32, ¶0061) for one or more switches (in inverter, 36, ¶0046), wherein the one or more switches generate commutation signals for the motor (¶0046); and provide the current control signals to the one or more switches (from 32, ¶0056).
Regarding claim 2,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the motor controller to: determine the motor position, in radians, as an arctangent of a ratio of the first phase voltage value to the second phase voltage value minus π/2 (¶0043).
Regarding claim 3,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the motor controller to: receive, from a flight controller, an enable signal indicating that the motor is to be commutated (¶0082-¶0083).
Regarding claim 4,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the motor controller to: determine, based at least in part on the first phase voltage value, that the motor is spinning at a speed greater than a threshold speed (¶0082-¶0083); and determine, based at least in part on the motor spinning at a speed greater than the threshold speed, the motor position (¶0043).
Regarding claim 8,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
A method, comprising: determining, by a motor controller (fig. 1, 18), that a motor (Fig. 7A, 16) is lacking commutation (¶0083); receiving, by the motor controller (18) and from one or more voltage sensors (Va, Vb, Vc), a first phase voltage value associated with a first phase of the motor (Va, ¶0060); determining, by the motor controller (18) and based at least in part on the first phase voltage value (Va), a motor speed of the motor (¶0043-¶0044); determining, by the motor controller, that the motor speed is less than a threshold speed (¶0043); determining, by the motor controller and based at least in part on the motor speed being less than the threshold speed, that the motor is to be operated in open loop operation (¶0064); generating, by the motor controller, current control signals for open loop operation of the motor (¶0061); and providing, by the motor controller and to one or more switches, the current control signals, wherein the one or more switches generate commutation signals to power the motor based at least in part on the current control signals (from 32, ¶0056).
Regarding claim 9,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
further comprising: receiving, by the motor controller and from the one or more voltage sensors, a second phase voltage value (Fig. 7A, Vb) associated with the first phase of the motor (all phase voltage values add up to zero, determining one motor phase with the other two can be accomplished); determining, by the motor controller and based at least in part on the second phase voltage value (Vb), a second motor speed of the motor (determines speed, ¶0064); determining, by the motor controller, that the second motor speed is greater than the threshold speed (¶0064); and initiating, by the motor controller and based at least in part on the motor speed being greater than the threshold speed, closed loop operation of the motor (¶0064).
Regarding claim 10,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
further comprising: receiving, by the motor controller and from the one or more voltage sensors, a third phase voltage value associated with a second phase of the motor (Fig. 7A, Vc); determining, by the motor controller and based at least in part on the second phase voltage value and the third phase voltage value, a motor position associated with the motor (θ, ¶0064); generating, by the motor controller and based at least in part on the motor position, second current control signals for closed loop operation of the motor; and providing, by the motor controller and to the one or more switches, the second current control signals (from 32, ¶0056).
Regarding claim 11,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
further comprising: determining, by the motor controller, the motor position, in radians, as an arctangent of a ratio of the second phase voltage value to the third phase voltage value minus π/2 (¶0043).
Regarding claim 12,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
further comprising: receiving, by the motor controller and from a flight controller, an enable signal indicating that the motor is to be commutated (¶0082-¶0083).
Regarding claim 13,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
A aircraft (Fig. 1, 12) comprising: a flight controller (19, ¶0040); a motor assembly (Fig. 1, 18, 16) including a motor (16), one or more switches configured to provide commutation signals to the motor in inverter, (36, ¶0046), and a motor controller (18) configured to control the motor assembly (18, 16); one or more voltage sensors communicatively coupled to the motor controller (fig. 7A, Va, Vb, Vc), wherein the motor controller is configured to: receive an enable signal from the flight controller indicating that the motor is to be commutated (¶0046); determine that the motor is lacking commutation (¶0083); receive, from the one or more voltage sensors, a first phase voltage value (Va) associated with a first phase of the motor (Va, ¶0060); receive, from the one or more voltage sensors (Va-Vc), a second phase voltage value associated with a second phase of the motor (Vb); generate, based at least in part on the first phase voltage value and the second phase voltage value, current control signals for the one or more switches (from 32, ¶0056), wherein the one or more switches generate commutation signals for the motor based at least in part on the current control signals; and provide the current control signals to the one or more switches (¶0056).
Regarding claim 15,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
wherein the motor controller is configured to: determine, based at least in part on the first phase voltage value and the second phase voltage value, a motor position (fig. 7A, ϴ) associated with the motor, wherein the current control signals are based at least in part on the motor position (¶0046).
Regarding claim 16,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
wherein the motor controller is configured to: determine the motor position, in radians, as an arctangent of a ratio of the first phase voltage value to the second phase voltage value minus π/2 (¶0043).
Regarding claim 17,
Lan discloses (fig. 1):
wherein the aircraft comprises an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft (¶0033-¶0034).
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.
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lan et al. (US 2019/0207543) in view of Lawrence et al. (US 2013/0342141).
Regarding claim 14,
Lan discloses the above elements from claim 13.
They do not disclose:
wherein the one or more switches comprise one or more metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs).
However, Lawrence teaches (Fig. 5):
wherein the one or more switches comprise one or more metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) (Fig. 5, ¶0033-¶0034).
Regarding claim 14, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the inverter from Lan that is used to drive a motor for a UAV (¶0063) and use the MOSFET switches from Lawrence to power the inverter to drive a motor as taught by Lawrence (¶0033-¶0034). This would enable the motor to be powered by Pulse width modulation and would improve efficiency.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7, and 18-20 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Buckley et al. (US 2018/0115263) – converged motor control device
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/C.S.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2846 /KAWING CHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846