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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to an application filed on 06/21/2024 in which claims 1-15 are pending and ready for examination.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Despesse et al (hereinafter Despesse) (US 2021/0249873 A1).
As to claim 1, 10 and 11, Despesse discloses a power supply system (see Fig 3) configured to supply a polyphase voltage (Fig 3, one phase is present at each output of module E1) and a direct voltage (Fig 4, voltage between A and B), the power supply system comprising at least three modules (Fig 3, E1, EN), each module, including:
a set of cells (Fig 4, C1-C4), each cell including at least one elementary source of energy, the set of cells including a first end cell (Fig 4, C1) and a second end cell (Fig 4, C4), each having a negative pole and a positive pole,
a polarity switchover circuit (Fig 4, S3-S6) of the module, the switchover circuit having an output for generating a phase of the power supply system (Fig 4, B+ and B-), the negative pole of the first end cell (Fig 4, C1) being connected to the polarity switchover circuit (Fig 4, S3-S4) and the positive pole of the second end cell (Fig 4, C4) being connected to the polarity switchover circuit (Fig 4, S5-S6),
a selection circuit (Fig 4, SW1,1-SW1,4 and SW2-1-SW2,4) configured to select cells (Fig 4, C1-C4) from the set of cells to obtain a set of cells selected to be connected to the polarity switchover circuit for generating the phase of the power supply system of the output (see parag [0055]).
Despesse does not disclose:
a first control circuit configured to connect the positive pole of the first end cell to a positive DC voltage output of the power supply system, and
a second control circuit configured to connect the negative pole of the second end cell to a negative DC voltage output of the power supply system.
However, Despesse discloses each module E1 comprises slave control circuit (Fig 4, 30), capable of exchanging and of receiving data transmitted by master control circuit BMS (see parag [0056]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the power system of Despesse to have a first control circuit configured to connect the positive pole of the first end cell to a positive DC voltage output of the power supply system, and a second control circuit configured to connect the negative pole of the second end cell to a negative DC voltage output of the power supply system in order to control the output of the module, since this just involves only routine skilled in the art.
As to claim 2, Despesse discloses the power supply system according to claim 1, wherein the polarity switchover circuit is an H-bridge having a switch in each vertical
portion of the H (see Figs 3 & 4).
As to claim 3, Despesse discloses the power supply system according to claim 2, wherein the H-bridge has two output points, a first output point being connected to the neutral point of the power supply system and a second output point being a phase of the power supply system (see Figs 3 & 4).
As to claim 4, Despesse discloses the power supply system according to claim 1, wherein the power supply system includes a control unit configured to simultaneously control at least one control circuit among the first control circuit and the second control circuit and a switch of the H-bridge (see Fig 3, BMS, Fig 4, 30).
As to claims 5 and 12, Despesse does not disclose the power supply system according to claim 1, wherein at least one control circuit of the first control circuit and the second control circuit is a switch. However, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system of Despesse to have a switch as a control circuit in order to use for protection purposes, since this is just a routine skill and does not require any inventive skill in the art.
As to claim 6, Despesse discloses the power supply system according to claim 1, wherein each switch is a transistor (see Fig 4, 32, switches of inverter).
As to claim 7, Despesse discloses the power supply system according to claim 1, wherein each elementary source of energy is a charge storage element (Fig 4, C1-C4) or a generator.
As to claim 8, Despesse discloses the power supply system according to claim 1, wherein the selection circuit is configured to put in parallel, to put in series and/or to bypass the cells to form the set of selected cells (see Fig 4, parags [0050], [0055]).
As to claim 9, Despesse discloses the power supply system according to claim 1, wherein the modules are identical (see Fig 3, E1-EN).
As to claim 13, Despesse discloses the supply method according to claim 11, wherein the polarity switchover circuit of each module is an H-bridge having a switch in each vertical part of the bridge, each switch having an open position and a closed position, the control of the polarity switchover circuit to connect the positive pole of the second end cell of a module to the neutral point of the supply system being achieved by controlling on said module: the switch connected to the positive pole of the second end cell and to the neutral point to switch to the closed position, and the switch connected to the neutral point and to the negative pole of the first end cell to switch to the open position (see Fig 4, parag [0055]).
As to claim 14, Despesse discloses the supply method according to claim 11, wherein the polarity switchover circuit of each module is an H-bridge having a switch in each vertical portion of the bridge, each switch having an open position and a closed position, the control of the polarity switchover circuit to connect the negative pole of the first end cell of a module to the neutral point of the supply system being achieved by controlling on said module: the switch connected to the positive pole of the second end cell and to the neutral point to switch to the open position, and the switch connected to the neutral point and to the negative pole of the first end cell to switch to the closed position (see Fig 4, parag [0055]).
As to claim 15, Despesse discloses the supply method according to claim 11, wherein the polarity switchover circuit of each module is an H-bridge including in each vertical portion of the bridge a switch, each switch having an open position and a closed position, the method providing a zero polyphase voltage by controlling the polarity switchover circuits so that at all times: for one of the modules, the switches of the polarity switchover circuit connected to the positive pole of the second end cell are in a closed position, the other switches of the polarity switchover circuit being in an open position, and for another of the modules, the switches of the polarity switchover circuit connected to the negative pole of the first end cell are in a closed position, the other switches of the polarity switchover circuit being in an open position (see Fig 4, parag [0055]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 6,023,109.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC M PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-5026. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
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/DUC M PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2836 September 8, 2025
/REXFORD N BARNIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836