DETAILED ACTION
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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 05/30/24 and 09/15/25 have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings received on 05/30/24 are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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, and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Haoran et al. (CN113595431 A).
Haoran et al. disclose a cascade H bridge buck type high frequency link single multi-input bidirectional DC/AC converter in Figures 1-8.
Regarding claim 1. A micro inverter (paragraphs 5-46 and figures 1-8), comprising: a control unit, a transformer (T), a secondary- side bridge arm and N conversion branches (H bridges inverters), where N is an integer greater than one; wherein an input terminal of each of the conversion branches serves as an input terminal of the micro inverter and is connected to a corresponding direct-current power supply or load (Ui1 .. Uin); output terminals of the conversion branches are cascaded, and two terminals of the cascaded conversion branches (A, B) are connected to an input terminal of the secondary-side bridge arm through the transformer (T); an output terminal of the secondary-side bridge arm serves as an output terminal of the micro inverter; and the secondary-side bridge arm and the conversion branches are controlled via the control unit.
Regarding claim 2. The micro inverter according to claim 1, wherein the transformer is a high- frequency dual-winding transformer (T).
Regarding claim 3. The micro inverter according to claim 2, wherein a primary-side winding of the transformer (N1) is connected to the two terminals of the cascaded conversion branches through a first inductor; and/or a secondary-side winding of the transformer (N1) is connected to the input terminal of the secondary-side bridge arm through a second inductor (L).
Regarding claim 12. The micro inverter according to claim 1, wherein each of input terminals of the micro inverter is connected to a photovoltaic module or an energy storage device (Ui1… Uin).
Regarding claim 13. The micro inverter according to claim 1, further comprising a grid-side filter , connected to the output terminal of the secondary- side bridge arm.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-11 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:
Claim 4 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a micro inverter including the limitation “ wherein the first inductor is independent of the primary-side winding, or the first inductor is a primary-side leakage inductor integrated in the transformer; and the second inductor is independent of the secondary-side winding, or the second inductor is a secondary-side leakage inductor integrated in the transformer“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Claim 5 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a micro inverter including the limitation “wherein the secondary-side bridge arm comprises two bidirectional switches and two output-side capacitors; the two bidirectional switches are connected in series to form a branch, the two output-side capacitors are connected in series to form another branch, and the two branches are connected in parallel to two ends of the output terminal of the secondary-side bridge arm; and a connection point between the two bidirectional switches, and a connection point between the two output-side capacitors respectively serve as two ends of the input terminal of the secondary- side bridge arm“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Dependent claim 6 is allowable by virtue of their dependency.
Claim 7 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a micro inverter including the limitation “wherein each of the conversion branches comprises an H-bridge circuit and an input-side capacitor; two terminals of the input-side capacitor and two ends of the H-bridge circuit at a direct- current side are connected to the two ends of the input terminal of the conversion branch; and the two terminals of the H-bridge circuit at an alternating-current side serve as two ends of the output terminal of the conversion branch“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Dependent claims 8-11 are allowable by virtue of their dependency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhang et al. (US 12,136,871 B2) disclose a power supply system.
Zhang et al. (US 12,395,096 B2) disclose a micro inverter having multiple independent inputs, and photovoltaic system.
Wang et al. (US 12,413,159 B2) disclose a micro inverter and modulation method thereof.
Examiner has cited particular columns, line numbers and/or paragraphs in thereferences applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Althoughthe specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied tospecific limitations within the individual claim(s), other passages and figures may applyas well. *Additionally, in the event that other prior art is provided and made of record by theExaminer, as being relevant or pertinent to applicant's disclosure but not relied upon.The references are provided for the convenience of the applicant. The Examinerrequest that the references be considered in any subsequent amendments, as they arealso representative of the art and may apply to the specific limitations ofany newly amended claim(s).* It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing amendments or responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of theclaimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art and/ordisclosed 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 upon inorder to ensure proper interpretation of the newly added limitations and toverify/ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADOLF D BERHANE whose telephone number is (571)272-2077. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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/ADOLF D BERHANE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838