DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/17/24 and 10/27/25 were considered by the examiner. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
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 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.
4. 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
5. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gayles (Gayles), US publication no. 2021/0359521 A11.
As per claim 13, Gayles discloses a microgrid controller of a microgrid [figure 1], comprising: one or more memories configured to store a load stabilization algorithm [para 6, 28]; a communication interface configured to receive load information corresponding to a current load demand of a plurality of loads connected to the microgrid and output one or more control signals for controlling a plurality of energy resource systems associated with the microgrid, wherein the plurality of energy resource systems includes a non-stabilizing group of energy resource systems and a stabilizing group of energy resource systems [figure 1; para 16, 17]; and
one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, configured to execute the load stabilization algorithm to generate the one or more control signals based on the load information [para 6, 28], wherein executing the load stabilization algorithm comprises: generating, based on the load information, one or more first control signals to dynamically control an amount of total output power provided by the stabilizing group of energy resource systems to a power distribution network of the microgrid in order to stabilize one or more cyclic loads on the power distribution network and to maintain the non-stabilizing group of energy resource systems at a substantially constant load [para 26-29, 83-84].
Gayles teaches:
[0026] The energy storage data may include, for each of the at least one energy store, a current energy level (e.g., kilowatt-hours currently stored), total energy storage capacity (e.g., kilowatt-hours of capacity), and/or discharge/charge parameters. The current energy level may be measured by a battery meter of an energy storage. The battery meter may one or combinations of: a voltmeter, an amp-hour meter, and/or an impedance based meter. The discharge/charge parameters may indicate an amount of discharge power and an amount of charge power for the energy store(s) 105B. Alternatively, to reduce transmission bandwidth, the energy storage data may omit the discharge/charge parameters, and the at least one energy store 105B may transmit
the discharge/charge parameters when the at least one energy store 105B are first connected to the controller 105C. The at least one energy store 105B may receive requests for the energy storage data to provide the energy storage data and/or continuously provide the energy storage data to the controller 105C. The instructions may include an energy storage dispatch instructions (ESD). An ESD may comprise
an instruction to inject power to the system bus of the power system 105 or absorb power from the system bus of the power system 105. In techniques presented herein, at least one ESD may be utilized to rapidly stabilize the load, thereby stabilizing the bus frequency of the power system 105 in a time efficient manner rather than attempting to stabilize the load using the generator(s) 105A alone. The at least one energy store 105B may control the inverters and the electronic control mechanisms to control (1) quantity offload drawn by the at least one energy store 105B or (2) the
amount of AC power output produced by the at least one energy store 105B, in accordance with the ESD.
[0028] The controller 105C may include at least one memory device storing instructions; at least one processor executing the instructions from memory device to perform a set of desired operations; and a communication interface facilitating the communication between various system components. The instructions may be non-transitory computer-readable instructions for executing a control application. The communication interface of the controller 105C may enable the controller 105C to communicate with the at least one generator 105A and the at least one energy store
105B, as discussed above.
[0029] The controller 105C, while executing the control application, may receive the generator data and the energy storage data, process the generator data and the energy storage data to generate an ESD, and output the ESD to the at least one energy store 105B, so that the at least one generator 105A are protected from transient changes in load. To process the generator data and the energy storage data to
generate the ESD, the control application may include a load stabilization function and/or a state of charge (SOC) function. The control application may also include a generator set limit function and/or energy store discharge/charge limit function to generate the ESD. The load stabilization function, the SOC function, the generator set limit function, and/or the energy store discharge/charge limit function may be configured manually or may be automated. In manual configuration, the aforementioned system functions might be activated or deactivated via a user input. Alternatively, the controller 105C may automatically activate or deactivate the
aforementioned system functions based on presence or absence of systems parameters (such as no generator set minimum threshold value is available, etc.). Generally, the control application may have all of the functions activated by default. Generally, the load stabilization function may ensure system bus frequencies of the at least one generator 105A are maintained at a nominal value by causing an amount of power to be absorbed/injected by the at least one energy store 105B. The amount of power may be determined based on a difference from an instantaneous load and a
moving average of the load. Meanwhile, the SOC function may ensure the at least one energy store 105B are charged to a target SOC. The target SOC may enable the at least on energy store 105B to provide long term beneficial use to the system 100, such as having a range of operation usable by the power system 105 and/or avoid degradation ranges of the at least one energy store 105B.
As per claim 14, Gayles discloses wherein executing the load stabilization algorithm further comprises: generating, based on a total load of the plurality of loads,
the one or more first control signals to control a first total output power provided by the stabilizing group of energy resource systems to the power distribution network of the microgrid, and generating, based on the total load of the plurality of loads, one or more second control signals to control a second total output power provided by the non-stabilizing group of energy resource systems to the power distribution network of the microgrid [para 26-29].
As per claim 15, Gayles discloses wherein executing the load stabilization algorithm further comprises: monitoring a state-of-charge (SOC) of the stabilizing
group of energy resource systems, calculating a bias power to maintain the SOC of the
stabilizing group of energy resource systems within a target range, and calculating the first total output power and the second total output power based on the bias power [para 36-46].
As per claim 16, Gayles discloses wherein executing the load stabilization algorithm further comprises: calculating a total load of the plurality of loads based on
the load information, calculating a first target load for the non-stabilizing group of energy resource systems and a second target load for the stabilizing group of energy resource systems, wherein a sum of the first target load and the second target load is equal to the total load, measuring a state-of-charge (SOC) of the stabilizing group of energy resource systems [para 36], calculating a bias power to maintain the SOC of the stabilizing group of energy resource systems within a target range, calculating a first total output power for the non-stabilizing group of energy resource systems based on the first target load and the bias power [para 41], calculating a second total output power for the stabilizing group of energy resource systems based on the second target load and the bias power, controlling, based on the first total output power, the non-stabilizing group of energy resource systems to produce the first total output power, and controlling, based on the second total output power, the stabilizing group of energy resource systems to produce the second total output power [para 36-46].
As per claim 17, Gayles discloses wherein the microgrid is configured, while the microgrid controller is executing the load stabilization algorithm, in a stand-alone
state, during which the microgrid is disconnected from an external power distribution system [para 16-18, 26].
As per claim 18, Gayles discloses wherein the non-stabilizing group of energy resource systems includes one or more energy generator systems configured to generate power from respective power sources, and wherein the stabilizing group of energy resource systems includes one or more energy storage systems having
respective chargeable storage devices [figure 1; para 16, 17].
As to claims 19-20, claims 13 and 15 basically are the corresponding elements that are carried out the method of operating step in claims 19-20. Accordingly, claims 19-20 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claims 13 and 15.
As per claims 1-3 are contains the same limitations as set forth claims 13-16 in combination. Therefore, same rejection is applied.
As per claim 4, Gayles discloses wherein executing the load stabilization algorithm further comprises: based on the second total allocated load being less than a
charge power limit of the stabilizing group of energy resource systems [para 42]: setting the first total output power to a sum of the first total allocated load, the second total allocated load, and the charge power limit of the stabilizing group of energy resource systems, and setting the second total output power to the charge power limit of the stabilizing group of energy resource systems [para 42-43, 46].
As per claim 5, Gayles discloses where the first total allocated load is a subtraction of the bias power from the first target load, and wherein the second total allocated load is a sum of the second target load and the bias power [figure 2; para 35, 36, 39, 49].
As per claim 6, Gayles discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive a moving average window setpoint, calculate a moving average of the total load based on the total load and the moving average window setpoint, and calculate the first target load for the non-stabilizing group of energy resource systems based on the moving average of the total load [figure 2; para 60].
As per claim 7, Gayles discloses wherein the microgrid is configured, while the microgrid controller is executing the load stabilization algorithm, in a stand-alone
state, during which the microgrid is disconnected from an external power distribution system [para 16-18, 26].
As per claim 8, Gayles discloses the non-stabilizing group of energy resource systems includes one or more energy generator systems configured to generate
power from respective power sources, and wherein the stabilizing group of energy resource systems includes one or more energy storage systems having respective chargeable storage devices [figure 1; para 16, 17].
As per claim 9. Gayles discloses the plurality of loads includes at least one non-stable load [figure 1; para 16, 17, 19].
As per claim 10, Gayles discloses wherein the plurality of loads includes at least one cyclic load [figure 1; para 16, 17, 19].
As per claim 11, Gayles disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate, based on the SOC of the stabilizing group of energy resource systems being less than a minimum threshold, the one or more second control signals to control at least one energy resource system of the non-stabilizing group of energy resource systems to provide the bias power to the stabilizing group of energy resource systems in order to increase the SOC of the stabilizing group of energy resource systems [figures 1, 2; para 46, 59, 60, 84].
As per claim 12, Gayles discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate, based on the SOC of the stabilizing group of energy resource systems being greater than a maximum threshold, the one or more first control signals to control at least one energy resource system of the stabilizing group of energy resource systems to provide the bias power to a power distribution network of the micro grid in order to decrease the SOC of the stabilizing group of energy resource systems [figures 1, 2; para 46, 59, 60, 84].
6. Examiner's note: Examiner has cited particular paragraphs and columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to the 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 references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner. MPEP 2141.02 VI: “PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS."
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Trescases et al,, US publication no. 2015/0021998, discloses a stabilized power
generator includes a power generating component, an energy store, a bi-directional Direct Current (DC)/DC converter, and a bi-directional DC/Alternating Current (AC) converter; and the stabilized power generator could include a controller to control charging and discharging of the energy store to provide both power smoothing of output power from the power generating component and maintenance of a State of Charge (SoC) of the energy store at a target value, with the controller being configured to control the maintenance of the SoC with a slower response time than a response time of the power smoothing.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUN CAO whose telephone number is (571)272-3664. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7:30 am-4:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kamini Shah can be reached on 571-272-2279. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHUN CAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2115
1 Gayles is cited by applicant.
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