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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the amended claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new grounds of rejection do not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. New grounds of rejection are presented below which rely upon the primary reference of Park (KR 2016-0126215) to disclose the newly claimed limitations.
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 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (KR 2016-0126215) in view of Yao (CN 115347794).
With respect to claim 1, Park discloses a switching power supply device comprising: a transformer (Fig. 2 T), wherein a bridge (Fig. 2 211), in which a plurality of switch elements are connected in series, and a primary winding (Fig. 2 Np) are provided on a primary side of the transformer, the switch elements include the switch elements controlled by a first on time (Fig. 5 Q1,Q2), and the switch elements controlled by a second on time (Fig. 5 Q1’,Q2’) different (Fig. 15 Q1’ increased,Q2’decreased) from the first on time, two secondary winding (Fig. 2 Ns1,Ns2) having a center tap configuration are provided on a secondary side of the transformer, and a dead time and a switching frequency are maintained (Fig. 5 period and dead time unchanged, duty change), and a current imbalance between the two secondary windings is corrected by simultaneously increasing or decreasing the first on time and the second on time (“the controller 220 may balance the current through the control of the duty ratio of the first and second switching devices M 1 and M 2 of the switching unit 211.”). Park does not detail the type of transformer. The use of planar transformers were well known before the filing date of the claimed invention.
Yao teaches a switching power supply device (Fig. 2) comprising a planar type transformer (Fig. 5a). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement a planar type transformer in order to reduce the electromagnetic interference by eliminating the parasitic capacitance or counteracting the noise.
With respect to claim 3, Park in view of Yao make obvious the switching power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the transformer has an air gap (Fig. 5a ∂) located at an asymmetrical position (Fig 5a Sec3 adjacent location is asymmetrical).
Claim(s) 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (KR 2016-0126215) in view of Yao (CN 115347794) and further in view of Hariya (US 2022/0103079).
With respect to claim 4, Park in view of Yao make obvious the switching power supply device according to claim 1 as set forth above. Park does not disclose wherein the first on time and the second on time are set in accordance with a predetermined index value on the basis of correspondence between the first on time and the second on time and the index value. It was known before the effective filing date of the invention to implement wherein the first on time and the second on time are set in accordance with a predetermined index value on the basis of correspondence between the first on time and the second on time and the index value.
Hariya discloses a switching power supply (Fig. 1 1) wherein the first on time and the second on time are set in accordance with a predetermined index value on the basis of correspondence between the first on time and the second on time and the index value (paragraph 330). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement wherein the first on time and the second on time are set in accordance with a predetermined index value on the basis of correspondence between the first on time and the second on time and the index value, in order to reduce the real time computational burden and delay by pre-computing the values and using an index to determine the on times.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Noro (US 5,459,650) discloses adjusting the dead time in order to balance the current
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/HARRY R BEHM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838