DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 5/20/24.
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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Inventorship
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because there are box representations which are not labeled, see 37 CFR 1.83(a). 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.
Specification
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 3, 4, 8-14 and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In regards to claim 1, it appears that “N” should be “(N)”.
In regards to claim 1, it appears that “M” should be “(M)”.
In regards to claim 3, it appears that “L” should be “(L)”.
In regards to claim 8, it appears that “the amplitude level” should be “an amplitude level”.
In regards to claim 10, it appears that “the output signal” should be “the corresponding output signal”.
In regards to claim 11, it appears that “the amplitude level of a first reference signal” should be “an amplitude level of a first reference signal”.
In regards to claim 12, it appears that “the amplitude level of a first reference signal” should be “an amplitude level of a first reference signal”.
In regards to claim 14, it appears that “the output signal from each of the N power converter modules” should be “an output signal from each of the N power converter modules”.
In regards to claim 18, it appears that “a plurality of power converter modules” should be “the plurality of power converter modules”. (Examiner notes said limitations were positively claimed in claim 1.)
Claims 4, 9 and 13 are objected to, based on its dependency of an objected to claim.
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.
Claims 8-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the reference signal" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Examiner notes three previously claimed “reference signals, see claim 7, lines 1, 3 and claim 8 line 2.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the one power converter module assigned to the first group" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 9 and 10 depend directly or indirectly from a rejected claim and is/are, therefore, also rejected under 35 USC 112(b), for the reasons set above.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al. ("A Novel Hybrid Modulation Strategy for MMC Energy Storage System," International Conference on Power Energy Systems and Applications, 2022, hereinafter Chen)
Regarding Claim 1, Chen discloses a method for controlling a multilevel converter (fig. 1) comprising a plurality of energy sources (Vdc sources of fig. 1) and a plurality of power converter modules (modules of fig. 1), each power converter module comprising at least two switching elements (each module of fig. 1 has 4 switching elements), the method comprising: assigning, based on at least one variable parameter (section III, Usm, Vdc), a first number N of the plurality of power converter modules to a first group (section III, ¶1-3); assigning, based on the at least one variable parameter, a second number M of the plurality of power converter modules to a second group (section III, ¶1-3); controlling a switching state of each of the first number N of the plurality of power converter modules assigned to the first group by applying a first switching pattern to the first number N of the plurality of power converter modules for generating a first output signal (see section III, NLM modulation); and controlling a switching state of each of the second number M of the plurality of power converter modules assigned to the second group by applying a second switching pattern to the second number M of the plurality of power converter modules for generating a second output signal (see section III, CPS-SPWM modulation); wherein the first switching pattern is different than the second switching pattern (section III, ¶4).
Regarding Claim 2, Chen discloses the first switching pattern is different than the second switching pattern at least in a switching rate of the power converter modules assigned to each of the first group and the second group (sect III, ¶4, CPS-SPWM vs NLM).
Regarding Claim 5, Chen discloses generating an output signal of the multilevel converter by synthesizing at least the first output signal with the second output signal (see fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 18, Chen discloses (fig. 1) a multilevel converter, comprising: a plurality of energy sources; a plurality of power converter modules, each power converter module comprising at least two switching elements; wherein the multilevel converter is configured to perform the method of claim 1.
Regarding Claim 19, Chen discloses A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method of claim 1 (section IV, and table 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6, 7, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17 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 11 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 3, 4, 14 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the objection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 8-10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, the prior art fails to disclose: “...assigning, based on the at least one variable parameter, a third number L of the plurality of power converter modules to a third group; and controlling the third number L of the plurality of power converter modules assigned to the third group to be in an inactive state or paralleled power converter modules state for generating a third output signal” in combination with the additionally claimed features, as are claimed by the Applicant.
Regarding claim 6, the prior art fails to disclose: “...wherein M is 2 or larger than 2, wherein applying the second switching pattern comprises providing, for each of the M power converter modules a corresponding carrier waveform signal, wherein the provided carrier waveform signals for the M converter modules are phase shifted between each other.” in combination with the additionally claimed features, as are claimed by the Applicant.
Regarding claim 7, the prior art fails to disclose: “...providing a first reference signal for controlling the switching state of each of the first number N of the plurality of power converter modules assigned to the first group and a second reference signal for controlling the switching state of each of the second number M of the plurality of power converter modules assigned to the second group.” in combination with the additionally claimed features, as are claimed by the Applicant.
Regarding claim 11, the prior art fails to disclose: “...wherein N is 1, wherein applying a first type of switching pattern comprises providing, for the one power converter module assigned to the first group, a corresponding carrier waveform signal, wherein an amplitude level of the corresponding carrier waveform signal is set below the amplitude level of a first reference signal.” in combination with the additionally claimed features, as are claimed by the Applicant.
Regarding claim 12, the prior art fails to disclose: “...wherein N is 2 or larger than 2, wherein applying a first type of switching pattern comprises providing, for each of the N power converter modules assigned to the first group, a corresponding carrier waveform signal, wherein the N carrier waveform signals are set at different amplitude levels, wherein each of the different amplitude levels is set below the amplitude level of a first reference signal.” in combination with the additionally claimed features, as are claimed by the Applicant.
Regarding claim 15, the prior art fails to disclose: “...wherein N is 2 or larger than 2, wherein applying the first switching pattern comprises controlling timing of switching on of each of the N power converter modules assigned to the first group so that at least one power converter module is switched on at a same time when at least one another power converter modules is switched off.” in combination with the additionally claimed features, as are claimed by the Applicant.
Regarding claim 17, the prior art fails to disclose: “...the at least one variable parameter is determined based on at least one of a demanded load and current direction, wherein the at least one variable parameter is re-evaluated after expiration of a predetermined time period.” in combination with the additionally claimed features, as are claimed by the Applicant.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20080298104, MORASH R et al. discloses a step wave power converter for use in full bridge voltage source inverter, has digital signal processor that controls bridge circuit to generate combined inverter output voltage that corresponds with estimated average output voltage.
US 20250119067, Kacetl; Jan et al. discloses a multilevel modulation.
US 5933339, Duba; Greg A. et al. discloses a modular static power converter connected in a multi-level, multi-phase, multi-circuit configuration.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KYLE J MOODY whose telephone number is (571)272-5242. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 10 AM - 4 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Lewis can be reached on 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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/KYLE J MOODY/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838