DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the Application filed on 05/14/2024.
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.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d).
Specification
The lengthy 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.
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: --RESONANT ISOLATED DC-DC CONVERTER-- .
Drawings
Figure 1 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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 Objections
Claim(s) 3 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim(s) 3 recite(s) “off , ,” with two commas in line 24.
Claim(s) 4 recite(s) “a lagging leg” in line 3. It appears that it should be “the lagging leg”.
Claim(s) 5 recite(s) “a lagging leg” in lines 12 and 18. It appears that it should be “the lagging leg”.
Claim(s) 5 recite(s) “a leading leg” in line 14 and 20. It appears that it should be “the leading leg”.
Claim(s) 6 recite(s) “a common on-period” in line 3. It appears that it should be “the common on-period”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 7, 9 – 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pub. No. 2019/0341855; (hereinafter Kim) in view of US Pub. No. 2022/0173669; (hereinafter Chen).
Regarding claim 1, Kim [e.g. Figs. 1 – 3] discloses a direct-current to direct-current (DC-DC) converter, comprising a phase-shift full-bridge circuit, a transformer [e.g. T], a secondary side resonance circuit [e.g. Lr] and a rectification circuit [e.g. 12 excluding Lr] that are connected in sequence, and a processor [e.g. paragraph 020 recites “The switches S1 to S6 are turned on by gate voltages VG1 to VG6 supplied from a controller (not illustrated)”], wherein an input terminal [e.g. upper terminal of 11] of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit is connected to a direct-current power supply [e.g. Vin], and the phase-shift full-bridge circuit is configured to convert a direct-current power output from the direct-current power supply to an alternating-current power [e.g. at output of transformer]; an output terminal of the rectification circuit is connected to a load [e.g. Ro], and the rectification circuit is configured to rectify the alternating-current power output from the transformer, to output power to the load [e.g. Vo]; a signal output terminal of the processor is connected to a control terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit [e.g. at gate terminals of any one of the switches S1-S4; paragraph 020 above], the processor is configured to control the phase-shift full-bridge circuit to convert the direct-current power output from the direct-current power supply, and control an output power of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit [e.g. paragraph 021, 024 – 025 recites, inter alia, “The full-bridge converter unit 11 receives the input DC voltage Vin, and converts the received voltage into a DC voltage having the same level as or a lower level than the input DC voltage Vin…The gate signals of the switches S1 to S4 are square waves of which the duty cycle is fixed at 0.5 and which have only different phases with a slight dead time. A phase shift of the voltage outputted from the full-bridge converter unit 11 is controlled by the switches S1 and S2 and the switches S3 and S4 which are complementarily switched. When an input voltage lower than a reference voltage is received so that the switches S5 and S6 of the active voltage-doubler rectifier circuit 12 are operated to have a high boosting ratio, the full-bridge converter unit 11 is operated in a resonant boost mode. On the other hand, when an input voltage higher than the reference voltage is received so that the phase shift has a smaller value than the maximum value, the full-bridge converter unit 11 is operated in a phase-shift full-bridge series-resonant converter mode”]; and the secondary side resonance circuit is configured to resonate in a case that a direction of a current through the transformer changes, to store energy and discharge accordingly, to supply power to the load [e.g. Fig. 2e; paragraph 034 recites “In the fifth resonant boost mode M5 as illustrated in FIG. 2E, the switches S2 and S3 of the full-bridge converter unit 11 and the switch S5 of the active doubler rectifier circuit 12 are turned on, and the switches S1 and S4 of the full-bridge converter unit 11 and the switch S6 of the active doubler rectifier circuit 12 are turned off. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the magnetizing current iLm of the magnetizing inductor Lm linearly increases in the negative direction, and electrical energy iLm stored in the resonance inductor Lr rapidly increases. At this time, power of the primary coil of the transformer T is transferred to the secondary coil”].
Kim fails to disclose a primary side resonant circuit.
Chen [e.g. Fig. 9] teaches a primary side resonant circuit [e.g. L1, C2].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Kim by a primary side resonant circuit as taught by Chen in order of being able to reduce losses and noise by creating a resonant frequency.
Regarding claim 2, Kim [e.g. Figs. 1 – 3] discloses wherein the phase-shift full-bridge circuit comprises a first switching transistor [e.g. S1], a second switching transistor [e.g. S2], a third switching transistor [e.g. S3] and a fourth switching transistor [e.g. S4]; a first terminal of the first switching transistor [e.g. drain] and a first terminal of the third switching transistor [e.g. drain] are connected to form a first input terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, which is connected to a positive output terminal of the direct-current power supply; a second terminal of the second switching transistor [e.g. source] and a second terminal of the fourth switching transistor [e.g. source] are connected to form a second input terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, which is connected to a negative output terminal of the direct-current power supply; a second terminal of the first switching transistor [e.g. source] and a first terminal of the second switching transistor [e.g. drain] are connected to form a first output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit; a second terminal of the third switching transistor [e.g. source] and a first terminal of the fourth switching transistor [e.g. drain] are connected to form a second output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, which is connected to a second input terminal of the transformer [e.g. low terminal of primary winding]; and a signal output terminal of the processor is connected to a control terminal [e.g. gate] of the first switching transistor, a control terminal [e.g. gate] of the second switching transistor, a control terminal [e.g. gate] of the third switching transistor and a control terminal [e.g. gate] of the fourth switching transistor, the processor is configured to control the first switching transistor, the second switching transistor, the third switching transistor and the fourth switching transistor to be turned on or turned off, to control the phase-shift full-bridge circuit to convert the direct-current power output from the direct-current power supply to the alternating-current power, and control the output power of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit [e.g. paragraphs 020-021, 024 – 025 and 034 cited above in the rejection of claim 1].
Kim fails to disclose a second terminal of the first switching transistor and a first terminal of the second switching transistor are connected to form a first output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, which is connected to a first terminal of the primary side resonance circuit; a second terminal of the primary side resonance circuit is connected to a first input terminal of the transformer. Emphasis added to the lacking limitation.
Chen [e.g. Fig. 9] teaches a second terminal of the first switching transistor [e.g. source of Q1] and a first terminal of the second switching transistor [e.g. drain terminal of Q2] are connected to form a first output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, which is connected to a first terminal of the primary side resonance circuit [e.g. at left terminal of capacitor C2, L1]; a second terminal of the primary side resonance circuit [e.g. right terminal of C2, L1] is connected to a first input terminal of the transformer [e.g. upper terminal of primary winding of T1].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Kim by a second terminal of the first switching transistor and a first terminal of the second switching transistor are connected to form a first output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, which is connected to a first terminal of the primary side resonance circuit; a second terminal of the primary side resonance circuit is connected to a first input terminal of the transformer as taught by Chen in order of being able to reduce losses and noise by creating a resonant frequency.
Regarding claim 7, Kim fails to disclose wherein the primary side resonance circuit comprises: a primary side resonant capacitor, wherein a first terminal of the primary side resonant capacitor serves as a first terminal of the primary side resonance circuit and is connected to a first output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit; and a primary side resonant inductor, wherein a first terminal of the primary side resonant inductor is connected to a second terminal of the primary side resonant capacitor, a second terminal of the primary side resonant inductor serves as a second terminal of the primary side resonance circuit and is connected to a first input terminal of the transformer; the primary side resonant capacitor and the primary side resonant inductor are configured to resonate in a case that a direction of a current output from the phase-shift full-bridge circuit changes.
Chen [e.g. Fig. 9] teaches wherein the primary side resonance circuit comprises: a primary side resonant capacitor [e.g. C2], wherein a first terminal of the primary side resonant capacitor serves as a first terminal of the primary side resonance circuit and is connected to a first output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit [e.g. C1, Q1-Q4]; and a primary side resonant inductor [e.g. L1], wherein a first terminal of the primary side resonant inductor is connected to a second terminal of the primary side resonant capacitor, a second terminal of the primary side resonant inductor serves as a second terminal of the primary side resonance circuit and is connected to a first input terminal of the transformer [e.g. T1]; the primary side resonant capacitor and the primary side resonant inductor are configured to resonate in a case that a direction of a current output from the phase-shift full-bridge circuit changes [e.g. see bi-directional current].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Kim by wherein the primary side resonance circuit comprises: a primary side resonant capacitor, wherein a first terminal of the primary side resonant capacitor serves as a first terminal of the primary side resonance circuit and is connected to a first output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit; and a primary side resonant inductor, wherein a first terminal of the primary side resonant inductor is connected to a second terminal of the primary side resonant capacitor, a second terminal of the primary side resonant inductor serves as a second terminal of the primary side resonance circuit and is connected to a first input terminal of the transformer; the primary side resonant capacitor and the primary side resonant inductor are configured to resonate in a case that a direction of a current output from the phase-shift full-bridge circuit as taught by Chen in order of being able to reduce losses and noise by creating a resonant frequency.
Regarding claim 9, Kim [e.g. Figs. 1 – 3] discloses wherein the secondary side resonance circuit comprises: a secondary side resonant inductor [e.g. Lr], a first secondary side resonant capacitor [e.g. Cr1], and second secondary side resonant capacitor [e.g. Cr2], wherein a first terminal of the secondary side resonant inductor is connected to a first output terminal of the transformer, and a second terminal of the secondary side resonant inductor is connected to a first terminal of the rectification circuit [e.g. S5-S6], and the secondary side resonant inductor is configured to discharge in the case that the direction of the current of the transformer changes [e.g. Figs. 2f; paragraph 035 recites “In the sixth resonant boost mode M6 as illustrated in FIG. 2F… the electrical energy iLm stored in the resonance inductor Lr is transferred toward the load Ro through the body diode DS6 of the switch S6”], and store energy when fully discharged and in a case that a direction of a voltage output from the transformer remains unchanged [e.g. paragraph 036 recites “The seventh resonant boost mode M7 is started when the electrical energy iLm stored in the resonance inductor Lr is zero (iLr=0). At this time, as illustrated in FIG. 2G, the switches S2 and S3 of the full-bridge converter unit 11 are turned on, and the switches S1 and S4 of the full-bridge converter unit 11 and the switches S5 and S6 of the active doubler rectifier circuit 12 are turned off. At this time, power is not transferred through the transformer T, and the magnetizing current iLm of the magnetizing inductor Lm linearly increases in the negative direction as illustrated in FIG. 3”]; a first terminal of the first secondary side resonant capacitor [e.g. upper terminal of Cr1] is connected to a second terminal of the rectification circuit and a first input terminal of the load, a second terminal of the first secondary side resonant capacitor [e.g. lower terminal of Cr1] is connected to a first terminal of the second secondary side resonant capacitor and a second output terminal of the transformer [e.g. lower terminal of secondary winding], and the first secondary side resonant capacitor is configured to discharge in a case that the direction of the current of the transformer is a first direction [e.g. Fig. 2a], and store energy in a case that the direction of the current of the transformer is a second direction [e.g. Fig. 2e]; and a second terminal of the second secondary side resonant capacitor [e.g. lower terminal of Cr2] is connected to a third terminal of the rectification circuit and a second input terminal of the load, the second secondary side resonant capacitor is configured to store energy in the case that the direction of the current of the transformer is the first direction [e.g. Fig. 2a], and discharge in the case that the direction of the current of the transformer is the second direction [e.g. Fig. 2e].
Regarding claim 10, Kim [e.g. Figs. 1 – 3] discloses wherein the rectification circuit comprises a first diode [e.g. DS5] and a second diode [e.g. DS6], wherein a first terminal of the first diode [e.g. upper terminal] serves as the second terminal of the rectification circuit and is connected to the first input terminal of the load; a second terminal of the first diode [e.g. lower terminal] is connected to a first terminal of the second diode [e.g. upper terminal of DS6] at a connection point, which serves as the first terminal of the rectification circuit and is connected to the second terminal of the secondary side resonant inductor [e.g. Lr]; a second terminal of the second diode [e.g. lower terminal] serves as the third terminal of the rectification circuit and is connected to the second input terminal of the load; and the rectification circuit is configured to rectify the alternating-current power output from the transformer to the direct-current power in cooperation with the secondary side resonance circuit, to supply power to the load [e.g. operation shown in Figs. 2a-2h].
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Chen and further in view of US Pub. No. 2020/0144926; (hereinafter Murakami)
Regarding claim 8, Kim fails to disclose wherein the primary side resonance circuit comprises: a primary side resonant inductor, wherein a first terminal of the primary side resonant inductor serves as a first terminal of the primary side resonance circuit, and is connected to a first output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, a second terminal of the primary side resonant inductor serves as a second terminal of the primary side resonance circuit and is connected to a first input terminal of the transformer; and the primary side resonant inductor is configured to resonant with a body capacitance of the corresponding switching transistors in the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, in a case that a direction of a current output from the phase-shift full-bridge circuit changes.
Murakami [e.g. Fig. 1] teaches wherein the primary side resonance circuit comprises: a primary side resonant inductor [e.g. 6], wherein a first terminal of the primary side resonant inductor serves as a first terminal of the primary side resonance circuit, and is connected to a first output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit [e.g. 5a-5d], a second terminal of the primary side resonant inductor serves as a second terminal of the primary side resonance circuit and is connected to a first input terminal of the transformer [e.g. at L1]; and the primary side resonant inductor is configured to resonant with a body capacitance of the corresponding switching transistors in the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, in a case that a direction of a current output from the phase-shift full-bridge circuit changes [e.g. see change in direction between Figs. 3 – 4 and respective capacitances 4a-4d].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Kim by wherein the primary side resonance circuit comprises: a primary side resonant inductor, wherein a first terminal of the primary side resonant inductor serves as a first terminal of the primary side resonance circuit, and is connected to a first output terminal of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, a second terminal of the primary side resonant inductor serves as a second terminal of the primary side resonance circuit and is connected to a first input terminal of the transformer; and the primary side resonant inductor is configured to resonant with a body capacitance of the corresponding switching transistors in the phase-shift full-bridge circuit, in a case that a direction of a current output from the phase-shift full-bridge circuit changes as taught by Murakami in order of being able to reduce losses and noise by creating a resonant frequency.
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.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 – 6 is/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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The primary reason for the indication of the allowability of claim 3 is the inclusion therein, in combination as currently claimed as a whole, of the limitation of “wherein the processor is configured to determine an expected value for the current through the transformer in the DC-DC converter based on an expected output power of the DC-DC converter; control, after a switching transistor on a lagging leg of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit is turned on and in a case that the current through the transformer reaches the expected value, a corresponding switching transistor on a leading leg of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit to be turned off, to control the phase-shift full-bridge circuit to convert the direct-current power to the alternating-current power, and control the output power of the phase-shift full-bridge circuit”.
Conclusion
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/ALEX TORRES-RIVERA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838