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 .
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.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because in fig. 8, “M1” near 14g should be “M2”.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). 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.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 2, line 6, “an switchgear” should “a switchgear”;
Page 14, line 21 “13” should be “3”;
Page 14, line 28 “13” should be “3”; and
Page 15, line 14 “2” should be “3”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3, 5, 14, and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 8, “electric power (P)” should be “a first electric power (P)”;
Claim 1, line 9, “it” should be “the first electric power (P)”;
Claim 1, line 12, “it” should be “the electrically non-conductive form of power”;
Claim 1, lines 12-13, “electric power (P)” should be “a second electric power (P)”
Claim 1, lines 14 and 20; and Claim 3, line 9, “the electronic sensor” should be “the at least one electronic sensor”;
Claim 1, line 15, “electric power (P)” should be “the second electric power (P)”;
Claim 1, line 15, “same” should be “at least one electronic sensor”;
Claim 1, line 16, “load modulation means” should be “a load modulation means”;
Claim 1, line 17, “current sensing means” should be “a current sensing means”;
Claim 1, line 20, “its microcomputer input” should be “the microcomputer input”;
Claim 1, lines 22 and 24, “measurement data” should be “the measurement data” having antecedence in line 20;
Claim 1, line 23, “its microcomputer output” should be “the microcomputer output”;
Claim 1, line 24, “are” should be “is”;
Claim 14, line 2, “stainless steel” should be “a stainless steel”;
o. Claim 14, line 3, “mild steel” should be “a mild steel”;
p. Claim 15, line 2, “plastics” should be “plastic”; and
q. Claim 15, line 2, “the region” lacks antecedent basis and should be “a region”.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5, and 14 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (WO 2022/151389) and Partovi (US 2012/0235636).
With respect to Claim 1, Chen teaches a Switchgear, comprising a tank system (101) filled with an insulating gas (p. 6, l. 11) and comprising a switching device (p. 8, l. 8, the electrical switches circuit breaker, three position switches) and at least one sensor (104). Chen fails to disclose a contactless power transmission system. Partovi teaches at least one electronic sensor (¶[0093], l. 4), thermal sensor) within the tank system, a contactless power transmission system with an electromagnetic power transmitter (fig. 1, Coil in Charger; fig. 2, L1) outside of the tank system and with an electromagnetic power receiver (fig. 1, Coil in Receiver; fig. 2, L2) within the tank system, wherein the electromagnetic power transmitter is designed to receive electric power from a power source (fig. 1, “Input Power”; fig. 2, Vin) and to convert it into an electrically non-conductive form of power (¶[0063], ll. 4-8), the electromagnetic power receiver is coupled to the power electromagnetic transmitter and designed to receive the electrically non-conductive form of power from the power transmitter and designed to convert it into electric power (fig. 1; “Output Power to Device/Battery”; fig. 2, Vout), the power receiver is electrically connected to the electronic sensor (¶[0093], l. 4, temperature sensor) and designed to supply electric power to the same, load modulation means (¶[0091], ll. 7-8, “the resistor and FET for load modulation shown in FIGS. 2”) connected to the electromagnetic power receiver, current sensing means (¶[0076], ll. 3-4, “detection/demodulation circuit” and fig. 2, MCU 1) connected to the electromagnetic power transmitter, a microcontroller (¶[0093], l. 2, micro-controller including fig. 2, MCU2) with a microcontroller input (¶[0093], ll. 2-6, input for thermal sensor so micro-computer can monitor) and a microcontroller output (fig. 2, output to FET), wherein the microcontroller is connected to the electronic sensor and designed to receive measurement data (¶[0092], l. 4, temperature) from the electronic sensor via its microcontroller input, wherein the microcontroller output is connected to (see fig. 2) the load modulation means and wherein the microcontroller is designed to send (¶[0079], ll. 14-17 using MCU2) measurement data to the load modulation means via its microcontroller output, and wherein the current sensing means are designed to receive (¶[0076], ll. 3-4 and ¶[0082], ll. 1-2) measurement data from the electromagnetic power receiver. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the switchgear of Chen with a contactless power transmission system of Partovi for the purpose of providing communication from the power receiver to the power transmitter can be implemented without “a separate coil, a radio frequency link (am or fm or other communication method), an optical communication system” (¶[0084], ll. 4-6).
With respect to Claims 2 and 5, Chen teaches the disclosed invention except for the electrically non-conductive form of power is electromagnetic power and the electromagnetic power transmitter and the electromagnetic power receiver are electromagnetically coupled (claim 2) and the at least one electronic sensor is designed to measure pressure (p) and/or temperature (T) (claim 5). Partovi further teaches the electrically non-conductive form of power is electromagnetic power and the electromagnetic power transmitter and the electromagnetic power receiver are electromagnetically coupled (see title, “wireless”) (claim 2) and the at least one electronic sensor is designed to measure temperature (¶[0093], l. 4, thermal) (claim 5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the switchgear of Chen with a contactless power transmission system of Partovi for the purpose of providing communication from the power receiver to the power transmitter can be implemented without “a separate coil, a radio frequency link (am or fm or other communication method), an optical communication system” (¶[0084], ll. 4-6).
With respect to Claim 14, Chen further teaches the tank system is made of or comprises stainless steel (p. 6, l. 15).
Claim 3 is rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (WO 2022/151389), Partovi (US 2012/0235636) and Mishima (WO 2021/024362, using US 12,184,082 as English translation).
Partovi discloses the claimed invention including the electromagnetic power transmitter comprises a primary power coil (fig. 1, Coil in Charger), the electromagnetic power receiver comprises a secondary power coil (Coil in Receiver), and the electronic sensor is connected to (thermal sensor is connected L2 thru MCU2) the secondary power coil. Chen and Partovi fail to disclose the electromagnetic power transmitter comprises a power transmitter primary magnetic core and a primary power coil wound around the power transmitter primary core, the electromagnetic power receiver comprises a power transmitter secondary magnetic core and a secondary power coil wound around the power transmitter secondary magnetic core. Mishima teaches the electromagnetic power transmitter (fig. 1, F1,L1) comprises a power transmitter primary magnetic core (F1) and a primary power coil (L1) wound around the power transmitter primary core, the electromagnetic power receiver (F2,L2) comprises a power transmitter secondary magnetic core (F2) and a secondary power coil (L2) wound around the power transmitter secondary magnetic core. It would be obvious to modify the switchgear of Chen and Partovi with the magnetic cores of Mishima for the purpose “to increase the magnetic flux density of the transmitting coil L1, and reduce leakage of the magnetic flux” (col. 12, ll. 7-8) and “to increase the magnetic flux density of the receiving coil L2, and reduce leakage of the magnetic flux” (col. 13, 15-17).
Claim 15 is rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (WO 2022/151389), Partovi (US 2012/0235636) and Xu (US 10,116,144).
Chen and Partovi disclose the claimed invention except for the tank system is made of plastics in the region of the contactless power transmission system. Xu teaches the tank system (fig. 11B, 1110) is made of plastics (co. 7, l. 49) in the region (1120’) of the contactless power transmission system (1130). It would be obvious to modify the switchgear of Chen and Partovi with the plastic region of Xu to provide “improved performance in wireless power transfer systems may be achieved by using enclosures that are constructed from magnetically permeable materials that facilitate flux linkage between transfer components” (col. 4, ll. 51-54).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
a, US 9,479,013, 9,667,084, 10,103,553, 10,439,436 and 10,513,922 discloses using load modulation means on a power receiver and a current sensing means on a power transmitter in order to wirelessly communicate data from the power receiver to the power transmitter, while wirelessly providing power from the power transmitter to the power receiver.
b. US 12,184,082 is the US family member of WO 2021/024362.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT J HOFFBERG whose telephone number is (571) 272-2761. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon - Fri 9 AM - 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jayprakash Gandhi can be reached on (571) 272-3740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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RJH 6/26/2026
/ROBERT J HOFFBERG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
Prosecution Insights