Detailed Action
Summary
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 .
1.This office action is in response to the application filed on April 29,2029.
2.Claims 1-10 are pending and has been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/182025 and 04/29/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
4. Drawings submitted on 04/29/2024 are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5.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 2-8 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.
Claims 2-3 recite “the time” of heating operation and “the time” of cooling operation. There are insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations.
Claims 2-3 recite “heating operation” and “cooling operation” should be “the heating operation “ and “the cooling operation”.
Claims 7-8 recite “the time” of the cooling operation and “the time” of the heating operation. There are insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations.
Claims 7-8 recite “a state where predetermined power is received” should be “the state where predetermined power is received”.
Claims 4-6 are dependent on claim 2, thus are also rejected because of their dependency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6.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 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) (a)(2) as being anticipated by Tsumura “20160380575”.
In re to claim 1, Tsumura discloses a power converter (Figs.1 and 8 shows a motor drive control device is converting power from power supply 3 to the refrigerant circuit 5 ) to be installed in a refrigeration cycle applied equipment (refrigerant circuit 5), the power converter comprising: a rectifier (three-phase rectifier 11) configured to rectify a first alternating-current power supplied from an alternating-current power supply (three-phase rectifier 11 is configured to rectify AC voltage from the power supply 3 is equivalent to the first AC power) ; a capacitor (capacitor 15) connected to output ends of the rectifier (capacitor is connected to rectifier 11 thru boosting circuit 13) ; an inverter (inverter circuit 17) connected across the capacitor (15), configured: to convert power output from the rectifier and the capacitor into a second alternating-current power (inverter circuit 17 is configured to convert output from the rectifier and capacitor into AC voltage is equivalent to second AC power); and to output the second alternating-current power to a load comprising a motor (motor 81); and
a controller (a combination of inverter control unit 53, a circuit protecting unit 55 and boosting control unit 51) configured: to control an operation of the inverter such that the second alternating-current power containing pulsation according to pulsation of power flowing into the capacitor from the rectifier is output from the inverter to the load (see prag.0046-0047) ; and to
suppress current flowing to the capacitor (the circuit protecting unit 55 is configured to suppress a ripple current flowing through the smoothing capacitor 15, see prag.0047, 0048,0049, 0076, 0087), wherein in a state where predetermined power is received from the alternating-current power supply (power from power supply 3),
a pulsation width of a pulsating current generated by the second alternating-current power is different depending on whether an operation of the refrigeration cycle applied equipment is a cooling operation or a heating operation (FIG. 6 shows a difference and correlation of the inverter output power of the inverter circuit 17, and the estimated ripple current that is an estimate of ripple current flowing through the smoothing capacitor 15 , see prag.0092-0103. Furthermore, FIG. 7 shows a difference and correlation of the inverter output power of the inverter circuit 17, and the estimated ripple current that is an estimate of ripple current flowing through the smoothing capacitor 15 , see step S11-S21)
In re to claim 9, Tsumura discloses motor driver (Figs.1 and 8 shows a motor driven controller 1 ) comprising: the power converter according (motor drive control device 1 comprises three-phase rectifier; a boosting circuit including a reactor, a switching element and inverter to convert power from power supply 3 to refrigerant circuit 5 )
In re to claim 10, Tsumura discloses a refrigeration cycle applied equipment comprising: the power converter (Figs. 1 and 8 comprises refrigerant circuit 5 )
Allowable Subject Matter
7.Claims 2-8 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection set forth in this office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 2 is allowable because the prior art fails to disclose or suggest the power converter comprising the limitation to include “wherein the controller is configured to control the operation of the inverter such that the pulsation width of the pulsating current generated by the second alternating-current power output from the inverter at the time of heating operation becomes smaller than that at the time of cooling operation.”
Claim 3 is allowable because the prior art fails to disclose or suggest the power converter comprising the limitation to include “wherein the controller is configured to control the operation of the inverter such that the pulsation width of the pulsating current generated by the second alternating-current power output from the inverter at the time of heating operation becomes larger than that at the time of cooling operation.”
Claim 7 is allowable because the prior art fails to disclose or suggest the power converter comprising the limitation to include “wherein at least one of the time of the cooling operation and the time of the heating operation in a state where predetermined power is received from the alternating-current power supply, the pulsation width of the pulsating current generated by the second alternating-current power is zero.”
Claim 8 is allowable because the prior art fails to disclose or suggest the power converter comprising the limitation to include “a state where predetermined power is received from the alternating-current power supply, the pulsation width of the pulsating current generated by the second alternating-current power at the time of both of the cooling operation and the heating operation is not zero.”
Claims 4-6 dependent on claim 1, thus are also allowed because of their dependency.
Conclusion
8.The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Normiatsu “2025021956” present disclosure relates to a motor drive device that includes a power converter for converting input AC power into desired power to a motor and drives the motor, and a refrigeration cycle apparatus.
Arefeen “6313602” the present disclosure a modified PWM space vector technique is described which includes a DC ripple voltage measurement scheme supplying feed-back to a DSP controller which then computes and generates the instantaneous PWM drives required for ripple voltage cancellation in a lightly filtered line voltage node, and executes the interface to the multi-phase power inverter circuitry.
Hayashi “20200220481” the present invention relates to a power converter.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SISAY G TIKU whose telephone number is (571)272-6898. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM-6:00PM. 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, Crystal L Hammond can be reached at (571) 270-1682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SISAY G TIKU/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838