DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 05/24/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending.
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
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) is acknowledged.
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawing
The drawing submitted on 3/23/2010 is acknowledged and accepted by the examiner.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 06/11/2024 have been considered by the examiner.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or (a)(2) as being anticipated by MALONE et al. (US Patent or PG Pub. No. 20210265907, hereinafter ‘907).
Claim 1, ‘907 teaches a system (e.g., see Fig. 1-15), comprising: a first node and a second node configured to couple to an alternating current (AC) power source (e.g., the two AC input nodes connecting 211, see Fig. 3); a third node and a fourth node configured to couple to a load (e.g., corresponding nodes connecting 290s to 280s, see Fig. 2-4); a plurality of control cells comprising a first control cell (e.g., the circuits comprising 308A, 308C) coupled to and between the first node and the third node, a second control cell (e.g., the circuits comprising 308B, 308D) coupled to and between the second node and the fourth node, a third control cell (e.g., the circuits comprising 309, 308E-308H) coupled to and between the first node and the second node, and a fourth control cell (e.g., the circuits comprising 240, 351A, 351B, 352/353, 280/415) coupled to and between the third node and the fourth node (e.g., see Fig. 4); and a system controller (e.g., 103), coupled to each control cell of the plurality of control cells, and configured to program the plurality of control cells to implement respective functions for controlling AC power from the AC power source to the load (e.g., see Fig. 2-4, 10-14).
Claim 2, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the system controller is configured to program the control cells of the system to implement respective functions for operating one of a plurality of different types of electrical devices (e.g., 290A, 290B, 290C, see Fig. 2-4).
Claim 3, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 2 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the different types of electrical devices comprise at least one or more of a circuit breaker device, a light switch device (e.g., 290A, see Fig. 2, 4), a motor speed control device, a surge protection device, and a heat element control device.
Claim 4, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the control cells comprise nominally identical circuit architectures (e.g., 380s, see Fig. 3).
Claim 5, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. It further teaches that where each control cell comprises: a solid-state AC switch (e.g., 308A-308D) coupled to and between a first input/output node and a second input/output node of the control cell (e.g., see Fig. 3); control circuitry configured to detect one or more of a voltage level and a current level (e.g., 214, see [0067]-[0069], Fig. 2-4) at one or more of the first input/output node and the second input/output node and to control operation of the solid-state AC switch based at least in part on one of the detected voltage level and the current level at one or more of the first input/output node and the second input/output node (e.g., ; and power converter circuitry configured to convert AC power from the AC power source to one or more DC voltages to provide DC power for operating the control circuitry (e.g., see Fig. 2, 10-12).
Claim 6, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the first control cell and the second control cell are programmable to implement functions for connecting and interrupting AC power source to the load (e.g., ON/OFF control, see [0036], Fig. 2, 10-13); the third control cell is programmable to implement functions (e.g., 309) to protect against power surges applied to the first and second nodes (e.g., see Fig. 3, 5A); and the fourth control cell is programmable to implement functions to isolate the load from leakage current that may flow from the AC power source to the load through at least one of the first control cell and the second control cell when the at least one of the first control cell and the second control cell is deactivated to interrupt AC power to the load (e.g., loads 290s are isolated from AC by 240, see Fig. 2-3, 7-8).
Claim 7, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 6 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the fourth control cell is further programmable to implement functions to protect against inductive voltage spikes generated by the load (e.g., 441/442 of 280 cable to attenuate/suppress voltage spike on load side including inductive voltage spikes generated by the load, see Fig. 3, 4, 9).
Claim 8, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the system controller is configured to determine an operating state of a given control cell and command at least one other control cell to change its operating state based on the determined operating state of the given control cell (e.g., the reading-based control of corresponding cells, see Fig. 2, 10-13).
Claim 9, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the system controller is coupled to each control cell by a respective data communications bus, wherein each control cell is configured to communicate its operating state to the system controller over the respective data communications bus (e.g., the data bus 1001 for communication, see [0035][0045], Fig. 10-13).
Claim 10, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the system comprises a modular component (e.g., 204) that is configured for implementation with a plurality of different types of electrical devices, and programmatically configurable to implement respective functions associated with any given one of the different types of electrical devices (e.g., 290A, 290B, 290C, see Fig. 1-2, 12-13).
Claim 11, ‘907 teaches an electrical device (e.g., see Fig. 1-15), comprising: a first node and a second node configured to couple the electrical device to an alternating current (AC) power source (e.g., the two AC input nodes connecting 211, see Fig. 2-3); a third node and a fourth node configured to couple the electrical device to a load (e.g., corresponding nodes connecting 290s to 280s, see Fig. 2-4); and an intelligent control system (e.g., the circuits comprising 103) configured to control operations of the electrical device (e.g., see Fig. 1-4, 10-14), wherein the intelligent control system comprises: a plurality of control cells comprising a first control cell (e.g., the circuits comprising 308A, 308C) coupled to and between the first node and the third node, a second control cell (e.g., the circuits comprising 308B, 308D) coupled to and between the second node and the fourth node, a third control cell (e.g., the circuits comprising 309, 308E-308H) coupled to and between the first node and the second node, and a fourth control cell (e.g., the circuits comprising 240, 351A, 351B, 352/353, 280/415) coupled to and between the third node and the fourth node; and a system controller (e.g., 103), coupled to each control cell of the plurality of control cells, and configured to: program the first control cell and the second control cell to implement functions for connecting and interrupting AC power to the load (e.g., ON of OFF of 308A, 308B, 308C, 308D, see Fig. 2-4, 10-14); program the third control cell to implement functions (e.g., 309) for protecting against power surges applied to the first and second nodes (e.g., see Fig. 3, 5A); and program the fourth control cell to implement functions for isolating the load from leakage current that flows through the first control cell or the second control cell when deactivated to interrupt the AC power to the load (e.g., loads 290s are isolated from AC by 240, see Fig. 2-3, 7-8).
Claim 12, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 11 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein: the electrical device comprises an electrical switch (e.g., the switches of 101, see Fig. 2); and the first control cell and the second control cell are programmed to modulate an amount of AC power that is delivered to the load (e.g., see Fig. 2).
Claim 13, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 12 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the electrical switch comprises a light dimmer switch (e.g., the dim the light intensity of the load, see [0036][0045][0048][0050], Fig. 1].
Claim 14, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 11 as discussed above. It further teaches that: the electrical device comprises a circuit breaker (e.g., 20A); and the first control cell and the second control cell are programmed to detect for an occurrence of a fault condition (e.g., the failure information) and interrupt AC power to the load in response to detecting the occurrence of the fault condition (e.g., in response to commands … turn the source ON/OFF …, see [0036][0043][0050], Fig. 1).
Claim 15, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 11 as discussed above. It further teaches that where each control cell comprises: a solid-state AC switch (e.g., the FETs) coupled to and between a first input/output node and a second input/output node of the control cell; control circuitry configured to detect one or more of a voltage level (e.g., 214A,B) and a current level (e.g., 214C) at one or more of the first input/output node and the second input/output node and to control operation of the solid-state AC switch based at least in part on one of the detected voltage level and the current level at one or more of the first input/output node and the second input/output node; and power converter circuitry which is configured to convert to convert AC power from the AC power source to one or more DC voltages (e.g., 311) to provide DC power for operating the control circuitry (e.g., see Fig. 2-3, 5, 10-12).
Claim 16, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 11 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the system controller is configured to determine an operating state of a given control cell and command at least one other control cell to change its operating state based on the determined operating state of the given control cell (e.g., the reading-based control of corresponding cells, see Fig. 2, 10-13).
Claim 17, ‘907 teaches the limitations of claim 11 as discussed above. It further teaches that wherein the system controller is coupled to each control cell by a respective data communications bus, wherein each control cell is configured to communicate its operating state to the system controller over the respective data communications bus (e.g., the data bus 1001 for communication, see [0035][0045], Fig. 10-13).
For method claims 18-20, 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.
Examiner's Note:
Examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
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/JUE ZHANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838