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 .
This non-final office action is responsive to Applicants' application filed on 07/12/24. Claims 1-20 are presented for examination and are pending for the reasons indicated herein below.
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 9, 17, 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jin et al. (US 20230198408 A1)
Regarding claim 1. Jin teaches an apparatus [fig 1] comprising: a power converter [130], the power converter comprising direct current (DC) output terminals [see P1-Pn]; and a controller [120], wherein the controller is configured to: receive a first measured voltage [P12, ¶27] at the DC output terminals, determine the first measured voltage is equal to zero [see ¶27] set the power converter to output a first output voltage [i.e. first detected voltage, 12v], based on the first measured voltage being determined to equal zero [during 1st pre-charging stage ¶27-¶34], after setting the power converter to output the first output voltage [see 2, 12v], receive a second measured voltage at the DC output terminals [i.e. P12], determine the second measured voltage is equal to the first output voltage [going to 48v controller detects output is equal to 12v (i.e. first output voltage) to begin ramping to 48v],
send query communications [Components determining if they are in agreement with corresponding voltage values. See fig 4, 402] to additional devices connected to the DC output terminals,
based on the second measured voltage being determined to equal the first output voltage [function in 401], and after the additional devices have responded to the query communications [i.e. 402], set the power converter to output a second output voltage [i.e. set the output to 48v].
Regarding claim 2. Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the query communications are power line communications on the DC output terminals [interpreted as setting second output voltage through conductive means].
Regarding claim 4. Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the second measured voltage is equal to the first output voltage for a predetermined time [detecting output is equal to 12v to commence second output to 48v], and based on the second measured voltage being determined to equal the first output voltage for the predetermined time, set the power converter to output the second output voltage [¶27].
Regarding claim 9. Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the power converter further comprises input terminals configured to connect to a power source [i.e. 3], and wherein the power converter comprises converter circuitry [see 30].
Regarding claim 17. Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DC output terminals are connected to a DC bus and the additional devices are connected to the DC bus [input bus capacitor to 130 acts as a DC bus].
Regarding method claim 20, note that under MPEP 2112.02, the principles of inherency, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method, it can be assumed the device "inherently performs the claimed process. In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 231 USPQ 136 (Fed Cir. 1986). Therefore the previous rejections based on the apparatus will not be repeated.
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.
Claim 3 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (US 20230198408 A1) in view of Denning et al. (US 20230101752 A1)
Regarding claim 3. Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 1, except for wherein the query communications are wireless communications.
Denning teaches except for wherein the query communications are wireless communications [¶111]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the features of Denning in order to provide a means that incorporates wireless communication to facilitate remote operation and real-time monitoring, such a configuration enhances operational convenience, safety, and flexibility enabling adjustments from a distance.
Claim 7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (US 20230198408 A1)
Regarding claim 7. Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first output voltage is below 50 volts DC [i.e. 12v], except for the second output voltage is between 50 volts DC and 1500 volts DC. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify a specific threshold value which would better align the circuit towards design requirements, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6,8,10-16 and 18-19 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, and if the claim objections stated above were overcome.
Examiner Note
The examiner cites particular columns and lines 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 in 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 that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bryan Perez whose telephone number is (571)272-8837. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon.-Fri. (7:30 – 5:00).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Crystal Hammond, can be reached on (571) 270-1682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/BRYAN R PEREZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2838
Prosecution Insights