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.
This office action is in response to the application filed on 05/17/2024.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawing
The drawings filed on 05/17/2024 are acceptable.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/17/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 C.F.R. § 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS has been considered by the examiner.
Claims 1-20 are pending and have been examined.
Specification Objection
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.
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.
Claims 1-3, 10-13, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Beg (EP 3,447,883 A1).
In re to claim 1, Beg discloses an auxiliary power supply device for generating auxiliary power of power conversion device (i.e. 100, fig. 1, see the Abstract and par. [0021]), comprising: a first auxiliary power supply unit configured to receive power applied from a photovoltaic module (i.e. Solar power source 138a, fig. 1, see par. [0023]) and generate auxiliary power therefrom (i.e. see pars. [0023-0025]); a second auxiliary power supply unit (i.e. 110) configured to receive power applied from a grid (i.e. from grid 124) and generate auxiliary power therefrom (i.e. the output power of 110); and a driving unit (i.e. part of the controller 170), configured to output a driving signal to the second auxiliary power supply unit according to a magnitude of voltage of the photovoltaic module (i.e. see pars.[0021, lines 16-20 and 0022, lines 39-43]).
In re to claim 2, Beg discloses the auxiliary power supply device (i.e. 100, fig. 1, see the Abstract and par. [0021]) of claim 1, wherein the driving unit operates the second auxiliary power supply unit (i.e. when the power supply converter 110 receives an AC power from the Grid Utility 124, fig. 1) when voltage of the photovoltaic module is below a first voltage, and stops operating the second auxiliary power supply unit when voltage of the photovoltaic module is above a second voltage (i.e. when the renewable sources 138 are capable of providing more power than demanded by the load 164, the UPS 100, at the control of the controller 170, may direct power from the renewable sources 138, via the converter 110, to provide enough power to the load 164 and provide excess power to the utility grid 124 directly from the converter 110 through the AC input bus 122, e.g., through an AC input breaker 180, see par. [0034]).
In re to claim 3, Beg discloses the auxiliary power supply device (i.e. 100, fig. 1, see the Abstract and par. [0021]) of claim 2, wherein the first voltage (i.e. voltage from the PV 138a) is lower than the second voltage (i.e. voltage from the Utility 124, if the renewable sources 138 cannot provide enough power for what is demanded by the load 164, it may be desirable to temporarily use energy stored in the external battery 136 to supplement the power provided by the renewable sources 138 to power the load 164, see par. [0035]).
In re to claim 10, Beg discloses the auxiliary power supply device (i.e. 100, fig. 1, see the Abstract and par. [0021]) of claim 1, wherein when input voltages (i.e. 130, fig. 2, see par. [0021]) of the photovoltaic module (i.e. 138a, fig. 2) and the grid (i.e. 124, fig. 2) are below a threshold, the first auxiliary power supply unit receives power from a battery to generate auxiliary power (i.e. if utility rates are high, e.g., above a threshold rate, and if the renewable sources 138 cannot provide enough power for what is demanded by the load 164, it may be desirable to temporarily use energy stored in the external battery 136 to supplement the power provided by the renewable sources 138 to power the load 164, see fig. 2 and para. [0035]).
In re to claim 11, Beg discloses a power conversion device (i.e. 300, fig. 3), comprising: a power conversion unit configured to convert power inputted from a photovoltaic module (i.e. 138a) and output it to a grid (i.e. the AC output bus 162 may also provide AC power back to the utility grid 124 through a bypass switch 184 and/or a feedback breaker 182, see par. [0034, lines 28-32]) or charge a battery (i.e. the UPS 300 includes a controller 302 capable of controlling power provided to an AC output 304 via a breaker 306 that may optionally provide or not provide AC power to the charger 126 and therefore the external battery 136, fig. 3, see par. [0037, lines 38-38]); and an auxiliary power supply unit (i.e. 110) configured to generate auxiliary power to operate the power conversion device (i.e. 300), wherein the auxiliary power supply unit comprises: a first auxiliary power supply unit configured to receive power applied from the photovoltaic module and generate auxiliary power therefrom (i.e. 110 configured to receive power from 138a); a second auxiliary power supply unit (i.e. integrated as part of 110, fig. 2) configured to receive power applied from the grid (i.e. 124) and generate auxiliary power therefrom (i.e. see pars. [0037]); and a driving unit configured to output a driving signal to the second auxiliary power supply unit according to a magnitude of voltage of the photovoltaic module (i.e. driving circuit is part of controller 202, fig. 3, see. par. [0037]).
In re to claim 12, Beg discloses the power conversion device (i.e. 300, fig. 3) of claim 11, wherein the driving unit operates the second auxiliary power supply unit when voltage of the photovoltaic module is below a first voltage and stops operating the second auxiliary power supply unit when voltage of the photovoltaic module is above a second voltage.
In re to claim 13, Beg discloses the power conversion device (i.e. 300, fig. 3) of claim 12, wherein the first voltage (i.e. voltage from the PV 138a) is lower than the second voltage (i.e. voltage from the Utility 124, if the renewable sources 138 cannot provide enough power for what is demanded by the load 164, it may be desirable to temporarily use energy stored in the external battery 136 to supplement the power provided by the renewable sources 138 to power the load 164, see par. [0035]).
In re to claim 20, Beg discloses the power conversion device (i.e. 300, fig. 3) of claim 11, wherein when input voltages (i.e. 130, fig. 2, see par. [0021]) of the photovoltaic module (i.e. 138a, fig. 2) and the grid (i.e. 124, fig. 2) are below a threshold, the first auxiliary power supply unit receives power from a battery to generate auxiliary power (i.e. if utility rates are high, e.g., above a threshold rate, and if the renewable sources 138 cannot provide enough power for what is demanded by the load 164, it may be desirable to temporarily use energy stored in the external battery 136 to supplement the power provided by the renewable sources 138 to power the load 164, see fig. 2 and para. [0035]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 and 14-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claims,
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:
In re to claim 4, None of the cited prior art alone or in combination disclose or teach the claimed inventions in which “driving unit comprises: a sensing unit configured to sense voltage of the photovoltaic module; a comparator configured to compare the sensed voltage of the photovoltaic module with a reference voltage; and a driving signal output unit configured to output a driving signal to the second auxiliary power supply unit according to an output of the comparator”.
In re to claim 14, None of the cited prior art alone or in combination disclose or teach the claimed inventions in which “driving unit comprises: a sensing unit configured to sense voltage of the photovoltaic module; a comparator configured to compare the sensed voltage of the photovoltaic module with a reference voltage; and a driving signal output unit configured to output a driving signal to the second auxiliary power supply unit according to an output of the comparator”.
The art of record does not disclose the above limitations, nor would it be obvious to modify the art of record to include either of the above limitations.
In re to claims 5-9, claims 5-9 depend on claim 4, thus are also objected for the same reasons provided above.
In re to claims 15-19, claims 15-19 depend on claim 14 and thus are also objected for the same reasons provided above.
Remarks
The examiner has cited columns, line numbers, paragraph numbers, references, or
figures in the references applied to the claims below 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 reference in entirety, as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2141.02 and § 2123.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YEMANE MEHARI whose telephone number is (571)270-7603. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM TO 6 PM.
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/YEMANE MEHARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838