DETAILED ACTION
This is the first Office action on the merits of Application No. 18/793,104. Claims 1-20 are pending.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/21/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claims 1-3, 7-12, 16-17, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Itoh (US Patent Publication 20070241719, cited on IDS).
Regarding claim 1, Itoh discloses a motor controller (Fig. 7) for an electric vehicle (paragraph [0133]), wherein the motor controller comprises an inverter circuit (10) and a control circuit; the inverter circuit comprises a plurality of switching transistor bridge arms (11), and each switching transistor bridge arm comprises an upper bridge arm switching transistor and a lower bridge arm switching transistor (Fig. 7); and bridge arm midpoints of the plurality of switching transistor bridge arms are configured to connect to a multiphase winding (103) of a drive motor (100), one end of each switching transistor bridge arm is configured to connect to one end of a bus capacitor (capacitor 21) and one end of a power battery (61), and the other end of each switching transistor bridge arm is configured to connect to the other end of the bus capacitor (Fig. 7); and the control circuit is configured to: in response to that an output voltage of the power battery is less than a preset voltage value and the drive motor rotates with a pair of wheels of the electric vehicle (paragraph [0117]), control a switch module (62, 63) to connect a center tap (102) of the multiphase winding to the other end of the power battery, and control the inverter circuit to increase a voltage at both ends of the bus capacitor (paragraphs [0117-0119]).
Regarding claim 10, Itoh discloses (see claim 1, above) an electric vehicle (e.g. paragraph [0082]), wherein the electric vehicle comprises a motor controller; wherein the motor controller comprises an inverter circuit and a control circuit; the inverter circuit comprises a plurality of switching transistor bridge arms, and each switching transistor bridge arm comprises an upper bridge arm switching transistor and a lower bridge arm switching transistor; and bridge arm midpoints of the plurality of switching transistor bridge arms are configured to connect to a multiphase winding of a drive motor, one end of each switching transistor bridge arm is configured to connect to one end of a bus capacitor and one end of a power battery, and the other end of each switching transistor bridge arm is configured to connect to the other end of the bus capacitor; and the control circuit is configured to: in response to that an output voltage of the power battery is less than a preset voltage value and the drive motor rotates with a pair of wheels of the electric vehicle, control a switch module to connect a center tap of the multiphase winding to the other end of the power battery, and control the inverter circuit to increase a voltage at both ends of the bus capacitor (see claim 1, above).
Regarding claim 2 and claim 11, Itoh discloses the motor controller according to claims 1 or 10, wherein in a process in which the drive motor rotates with the pair of wheels, the control circuit is configured to: in response to that the output voltage of the power battery is less than the preset voltage value, control a lower bridge arm switching transistor of at least one switching transistor bridge arm to be turned on at a preset duty cycle in each switching cycle, and control an upper bridge arm switching transistor of the at least one switching transistor bridge arm to remain turned off (Fig. 8A and paragraphs [0103-0104]).
Regarding claim 3 and claim 12, Itoh discloses the motor controller according to claims 1 or 10, wherein in a process in which the drive motor rotates with the pair of wheels, the control circuit is configured to: in response to that the output voltage of the power battery is less than the preset voltage value, control an upper bridge arm switching transistor and a lower bridge arm switching transistor of at least one switching transistor bridge arm to be alternately turned on (paragraphs [0136-0144]).
Regarding claim 7, Itoh discloses the motor controller according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to: in response to that a target rotation speed of the drive motor is greater than a preset rotation speed value, control the inverter circuit to increase the voltage at both ends of the bus capacitor (Fig. 10 and paragraph [0129-0130]. E.g. Figs. 8 and 10 are generic to claim 1).
Regarding claim 8, Itoh discloses the motor controller according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to: in response to a first torque signal, control the switch module to connect one end of the power battery to one end of each of a plurality of switching transistor bridge arms, and control the plurality of bridge arm midpoints of the inverter circuit to output an alternating current, to drive the drive motor to output torque, wherein a torque value indicated by the first torque signal is greater than a preset torque value (Fig. 12 and paragraphs [0136-0144], controlling torque by controlling the “potential at the neutral point”).
Regarding claim 9, Itoh discloses the motor controller according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to: in response to a second torque signal, control the switch module to connect one end of the power battery to one end of the plurality of switching transistor bridge arms, and control the upper bridge arm switching transistors and the lower bridge arm switching transistors of the plurality of switching transistor bridge arms to be turned off, wherein a torque value indicated by the second torque signal is less than the preset torque value (Fig. 12 and paragraphs [0136-0144], controlling torque by controlling the “potential at the neutral point”).
Regarding claim 16, Itoh discloses (see claim 1, above) a control method for an electric vehicle, wherein the electric vehicle comprises a motor controller, a drive motor, and a switch module; the drive motor comprises a multiphase winding, and the drive motor is in transmission connection with a pair of wheels of the electric vehicle; the motor controller comprises a plurality of switching transistor bridge arms, each switching transistor bridge arm comprises an upper bridge arm switching transistor and a lower bridge arm switching transistor, and a bridge arm midpoint of each switching transistor bridge arm is configured to connect to a single-phase winding in the multiphase winding; two ends of each switching transistor bridge arm are configured to connect to two ends of a bus capacitor; and the control method comprises: in response to that the drive motor rotates with the pair of wheels, controlling the switch module to connect one end of a power battery to a center tap of the multiphase winding of the drive motor (see claim 1, above).
Regarding claim 17, Itoh discloses the control method according to claim 16, wherein the control method comprises: in response to that an output voltage of the power battery is less than a preset voltage value in a process in which the drive motor rotates with the pair of wheels, controlling an upper bridge arm switching transistor of at least one switching transistor bridge arm to be turned on at a preset duty cycle in each switching cycle, and controlling a lower bridge arm switching transistor of the at least one switching transistor bridge arm to remain turned off (Fig. 8A and paragraphs [0103-0104]); or in response to that an output voltage of the power battery is less than a preset voltage value in a process in which the drive motor rotates with the pair of wheels, controlling an upper bridge arm switching transistor and a lower bridge arm switching transistor of at least one switching transistor bridge arm to be alternately turned on (paragraphs [0136-0144]).
Regarding claim 19, Itoh discloses the control method according to claim 16, wherein the method comprises: in response to a first torque signal, controlling the switch module to connect one end of the power battery to one end of the plurality of switching transistor bridge arms, and controlling the motor controller to drive the drive motor to output torque, wherein a torque value indicated by the first torque signal is greater than a preset torque value Fig. 12 and paragraphs [0136-0144], controlling torque by controlling the “potential at the neutral point”).
Regarding claim 20, Itoh discloses the control method according to claim 16, wherein the method comprises: in response to a second torque signal, controlling the switch module to connect one end of the power battery to one end of the plurality of switching transistor bridge arms, and controlling switching transistors of the plurality of switching transistor bridge arms to be turned off, wherein a torque value indicated by the second torque signal is less than the preset torque value (Fig. 12 and paragraphs [0136-0144], controlling torque by controlling the “potential at the neutral point”).
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.
Claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Itoh (US Patent Publication 20070241719, cited on IDS) in view of Xu (Chinese document CN115339329, cited on IDS).
Regarding claim 4 and claim 13, Itoh discloses the motor controller according to claim 1 or claim 10.
Itoh does not disclose another drive motor.
Xu discloses wherein the electric vehicle comprises another drive motor (motor M3 and another motor M8, and Fig. 1), the another drive motor is configured to be in transmission connection with another pair of wheels of the electric vehicle (“M8 can be independently set”), and in a process in which the another drive motor rotates with the another pair of wheels to generate an induced current, the control circuit is configured to: in response to that the voltage at both ends of the bus capacitor is greater than a preset voltage value (ratio of bus voltage to voltage of the battery is compared to preset target value V1), control the inverter circuit to decrease the voltage at both ends of the bus capacitor (claims 1, 4, 7, 8 of Xu).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Itoh to incorporate the second motor of Xu with a reasonable expectation of success for the recognized advantage of providing extra power to the wheels.
Regarding claim 5 and claim 14, Itoh, as modified by Xu, discloses the motor controller according to claim 4 or claim 13, wherein in the process in which the another drive motor rotates with the another pair of wheels to generate the induced current, the control circuit is configured to: in response to that the voltage at both ends of the bus capacitor is greater than the preset voltage value, control an upper bridge arm switching transistor of at least one switching transistor bridge arm to be turned on at a preset duty cycle in each switching cycle, and control a lower bridge arm switching transistor of the at least one switching transistor bridge arm to remain turned off (Xu, e.g. claims 5, 6, 13 and Figs 8-9).
Regarding claim 6 and claim 15, Itoh, as modified by Xu, discloses the motor controller according to claim 4 or claim 13, wherein in the process in which the another drive motor rotates with the another pair of wheels to generate the induced current, the control circuit is configured to: in response to that the voltage at both ends of the bus capacitor is greater than the preset voltage value, control an upper bridge arm switching transistor and a lower bridge arm switching transistor of at least one switching transistor bridge arm to be alternately turned on (Xu, e.g. claims 5, 6, 13 and Figs 8-9).
Regarding claim 18, Itoh, as modified by Xu, discloses the control method according to claim 16.
Itoh does not disclose another drive motor.
Xu discloses wherein the electric vehicle comprises another drive motor (motor M3 and another motor M8, and Fig. 1), the another drive motor is configured to be in transmission connection with another pair of wheels of the electric vehicle (“M8 can be independently set”), and in a process in which the another drive motor rotates with the another pair of wheels to generate an induced current, the control circuit is configured to: in response to that the voltage at both ends of the bus capacitor is greater than a preset voltage value (ratio of bus voltage to voltage of the battery is compared to preset target value V1), control the inverter circuit to decrease the voltage at both ends of the bus capacitor (claims 1, 4, 7, 8 of Xu).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Itoh to incorporate the second motor of Xu with a reasonable expectation of success for the recognized advantage of providing extra power to the wheels.
Xu discloses controlling an upper bridge arm switching transistor of at least one switching transistor bridge arm to be turned on at a preset duty cycle in each switching cycle, and controlling a lower bridge arm switching transistor of the at least one switching transistor bridge arm to remain turned off (Xu, e.g. claims 5, 6, 13 and Figs 8-9); or in response to that the another drive motor rotates with the another pair of wheels to generate an induced current and a voltage at both ends of the bus capacitor is greater than a preset voltage value, controlling the switch module to connect one end of the power battery to the center tap of the multiphase winding of the drive motor, and controlling an upper bridge arm switching transistor and a lower bridge arm switching transistor of at least one switching transistor bridge arm to be alternately turned on (Xu, e.g. claims 5, 6, 13 and Figs 8-9).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tsukada (US Patent Publication 20180236874) discloses an electric power system.
Sato (US Patent Publication 20160311426) discloses motor controller for vehicle.
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/LORI WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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