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 a paper filed on 12/04/2025 in which claims 1-6 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) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou et al. (hereinafter Zou) (US 10,116,249 B2) in view of Yang et al (hereinafter Yang) (US 2025/0145024 A1).
As to claim 1, Zou discloses an in-vehicle charging device that charges a direct- current (DC) power supply of a vehicle driving device (see Fig 4) with power supplied from an external alternating-current (AC) power supply (Fig 4, 410), the vehicle driving device including: a rotating electrical machine (Fig 4, 402) including coils of multiple phases (Fig 4, L1-L3) connected to each other at a neutral point (Fig 4, a connection point between L1-L3), the rotating electrical machine serving as a driving power source of a wheel (Fig 4, wheel of a vehicle, col 8, line 56 to col 9, line 17);
an inverter (Fig 4, 404) that converts power between a direct current and an alternating current of multiple phases (see col 8, lines 60-62); and the DC power supply connected to the inverter, the in-vehicle charging device comprising:
an AC-DC converter (Fig 4, 408) that converts power between AC power on an external AC power supply side (Fig 4, 410) and first DC power; and an active decoupling circuit that includes the inverter (Fig 4, 404), the coils of multiple phases (Fig 4, L1-L3), and an output capacitor (Fig 4, C1), and generates second DC power for charging the DC power supply from the first DC power, and the output capacitor (Fig 4, C1) is connected between the neutral point of the coils (Fig 4, a connection point between L1-L3) and a DC negative electrode (see abstract).
Zou does not disclose wherein a DC side terminal of the AC-DC converter and a DC side terminal of the inverter are connected to each other without another passive component.
Yang discloses a DC side terminal of the AC-DC converter (Fig 2, 203) and a DC side terminal of the inverter (Fig 2, 204) are connected to each other without another passive component (see Fig 2, 203 is connected directly with 204). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the vehicle of Zou to have the DC side terminal of the AC-DC converter and the DC side terminal of the inverter are connected to each other without another passive component as taught by Yang in order to lower cost and smaller size requirement.
As to claim 2, the combination of Zou and Yang discloses the in-vehicle charging device according to claim 1, further comprising:
a first contactor (Yang, Fig 2, 202) that disconnects electrical connection between the DC power supply and the DC side terminal of the inverter.
a second contactor (Fig 4, 414) that disconnects electrical connection between the neutral point and the output capacitor (Fig 4, C1), wherein power is converted between the DC power supply (Fig 4, 406) and the rotating electrical machine (Fig 4, 402) via the inverter (Fig 4, 404) in a state where the second contactor is opened, and power is converted between the external AC power supply (Fig 4, 410) and the DC power supply via the active decoupling circuit including the AC-DC converter and the inverter in a state where the second contactor are closed (see claims 7 & 8).
As to claim 3, the combination of Zou and Yang discloses the in-vehicle charging device according to claim 1, wherein the inverter (Fig 4, 404) includes a plurality of arms (Fig 4, A, B, C) in parallel according to a number of alternating currents of multiple phases (Fig 4, L1-L3), each arm including an upper-stage side switching element (Fig 4, 418A-418C) and a lower- stage side switching element (Fig 4, 420A-420C) connected in series between a DC positive electrode and the negative electrode, and when the inverter functions as the active decoupling circuit, a plurality of the upper-stage side switching elements (Fig 4, 418A-418C) are simultaneously subjected to switching control, and a plurality of the lower-stage side switching elements (Fig 4, 420A-420C) are simultaneously subjected to switching control.
As to claim 4, the combination of Zou and Yang discloses the in-vehicle charging device according to claim 2, wherein the inverter (Fig 4, 404) includes a plurality of arms (Fig 4, A, B, C) in parallel according to a number of alternating currents of multiple phases (Fig 4, L1-L3), each arm including an upper-stage side switching element (Fig 4, 418A-418C) and a lower-stage side switching element (Fig 4, 420A- 420C) connected in series between a DC positive electrode and the negative electrode, and when the inverter functions as the active decoupling circuit, a plurality of the upper- stage side switching elements (Fig 4, 418A-418C) are simultaneously subjected to switching control, and a plurality of the lower-stage side switching elements (Fig 4, 420A-420C) are simultaneously subjected to switching control.
As to claim 5, the combination of Zou and Yang discloses the in-vehicle charging device according to claim 3, wherein in the inverter, the plurality of upper-stage side switching elements (Fig 4, 418A-418C) and the plurality of lower-stage side switching elements (Fig 4, 420A-420C) are subjected to switching control such that a phase of a current flowing through the output capacitor (Fig 4, C1) coincides with a phase of an alternating current in the AC- DC converter (Fig 4, 408).
As to claim 6, the combination of Zou and Yang discloses the in-vehicle charging device according to claim 4, wherein in the inverter (Fig 4, 404), the plurality of upper-stage side switching elements (Fig 4, 418A-418C) and the plurality of lower-stage
side switching elements (Fig 4, 420A-420C) are subjected to switching control such that a phase of a current flowing through the output capacitor (Fig 4, C1) coincides with a phase of an alternating current in the AC-DC converter (Fig 4, 408).
Conclusion
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/DUC M PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2849 March 29, 2026
/Menatoallah Youssef/SPE, Art Unit 2849
