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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application. Claims 1, 4, 12 and 14 are currently amended. Claims 2-3, 5-11, 13 and 15-20 are original.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-11 and 14-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 08/24/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 12-13 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Swamy (US 20210218359 A1).
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, 5-10 and 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Swamy (US 20210218359 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Swamy teaches a system (abstract, A voltage source inverter) comprising:
a DC bus (i.e. DC bus 22 + and -, fig.6) electrically configured for connection to one or more of a rectifier ([0036], the AC/DC converter 20 comprises a full wave bridge rectifier circuit) and an inverter ([0037], The DC/AC converter 24 comprises an inverter section), the DC bus comprising a positive bus (i.e. DC bus 22 +, fig.6) and a negative bus (i.e. DC bus 22 -, fig.6); and
a DC link electrically connected to the DC bus ([0036], DC bus capacitor network), the DC link comprising:
an energy storage apparatus (e.g. DC bus capacitor C, fig.6) comprising at least two energy storage elements (e.g. two C connected in series in one leg out of the 3 parallel legs, fig.6); and
a fuse assembly (i.e. capacitor fuse F and snubber capacitor CSNB1, fig.6) comprising: a fuse element (i.e. capacitor fuse F, fig.6) and a capacitive element (i.e. snubber capacitor CSNB1, fig.6) electrically connected to the energy storage apparatus (e.g. CSNB1 is connected to both the C in each parallel leg, fig.6) and to one of the positive bus and the negative bus (e.g. CSNB1 is connected to 22+ via C and 22- via C and 26, fig.6), wherein the capacitive element is electrically connected to the energy storage apparatus and the one of the positive bus and the negative bus when the fuse element is open ([0068], voltage now appears across the newly formed series snubber capacitor C.sub.SNB1).
Regarding claim 2, Swamy teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the energy storage apparatus comprises at least two energy storage elements in series (e.g. two capacitors in series with fuse, fig.6).
Regarding claim 3, Swamy teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the energy storage apparatus comprises at least two energy storage elements in parallel (e.g. capacitors in any two of the three parallel legs of capacitor network, fig.6).
Regarding claim 5, Swamy teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the fuse assembly comprises a fuse element in parallel with a capacitive element (e.g. capacitor fuse F in parallel with snubber capacitor CSNB1, fig.6).
Regarding claim 6, Swamy teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the energy storage apparatus is electrically connected to the positive bus (e.g. C in left most leg of three parallel legs connected to 22+, fig.6), and the fuse assembly is electrically connected to the energy storage apparatus and the negative bus (e.g. C in left most leg of three parallel legs connected to 22- via 26, fig.6).
Regarding claim 7, Swamy teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the energy storage apparatus is electrically connected to the negative bus (e.g. C in left most leg of three parallel legs connected to 22- via 26, fig.6), and the fuse assembly is electrically connected to the energy storage apparatus and the positive bus (e.g. F and CSNB1 in left most leg of three parallel legs connected to 22+ via C, fig.6).
Regarding claim 8, Swamy teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the energy storage apparatus comprises two or more strings of capacitors in parallel with each other (e.g. three parallel legs of DC capacitor network, fig.6).
Regarding claim 9, Swamy teaches the system of claim 8, wherein each of the two or more strings of capacitors comprises at least two capacitors in series (e.g. the two C connected in series in each of the three parallel legs of DC capacitor network, fig.6).
Regarding claim 10, Swamy teaches the system of claim 1, further comprising a discharge circuit (e.g. soft charge circuit 26, fig.6).
Regarding claim 12, Swamy substantially teaches the claim limitations as stated above for claim 1. Swamy further teaches, the fuse element being configured to open in response to a short circuit in one of the capacitors in the group of capacitors ([0068], When one of the capacitors C is subject to a fault, see FIG. 7, the fuse F in the same branch opens) such that the capacitive element provides an impedance and a current path to another one of the capacitors in the group of capacitors that does not have a short circuit ([0068], snubber capacitor C.sub.SNB1 is connected in series with the healthy capacitor… The total capacitance value reduces and current flow into the short assumes a very low value).
Regarding claim 13, it is rejected for the same reasons as stated above for claim 10. Swamy further teaches electrically connected to the positive bus and the negative bus of the drive system (e.g. 26 is connected to 22 + via DC capacitor network and directly connected to 22 -, fig.6).
Regarding claim 14, Swamy substantially teaches the claim limitations as stated above for claim 1. Swamy further teaches a drive apparatus (i.e. VFD 14, fig.6), wherein the capacitive element is electrically connected to one of the at least two groups of capacitors and to one of the positive bus and the negative bus regardless of whether or not the fuse element is open (e.g. CSNB1 is connected to C and 22+, 22-, fig.6) ([0068], When one of the capacitors C is subject to a fault, see FIG. 7, the fuse F in the same branch opens and brings into the circuit the high voltage, low capacitance value snubber capacitor C.sub.SNB1).
Regarding claim 15, it is rejected for the same reasons as stated above for claim 3.
Regarding claim 16, it is rejected for the same reasons as stated above for claim 2.
Regarding claim 17, Swamy teaches the drive apparatus of claim 14, wherein each fuse assembly has the same fuse rating ([0072] table indicates all values are designed as same).
Regarding claim 18, it is rejected for the same reasons as stated above for claim 6.
Regarding claim 19, it is rejected for the same reasons as stated above for claim 7.
Regarding claim 20, Swamy teaches the drive apparatus of claim 14, wherein each group of capacitors comprises the same number of capacitors in the same configuration (e.g. as seen in fig.6), and each group of capacitors comprises the same nominal capacitance (e.g. as seen in table of [0072]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Swamy (US 20210218359 A1), and further in view of Wang (H. Wang and F. Blaabjerg, "Reliability of capacitors for DC-link applications — An overview," 2013 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, Denver, CO, USA, 2013, pp. 1866-1873).
Regarding claim 4, Swamy teaches the system of claim 3.
Swamy does not teach, wherein each of the at least two energy storage elements comprises a film capacitor.
Wang teaches in a similar field of endeavor of DC link, a film capacitor (page 1867, MPPF Caps provide a well-balanced performance for high voltage applications).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optionally included each of the at least two energy storage elements comprises a film capacitor in Swamy, as taught by Wang, as it provides the advantage of cost and ESR, capacitance, ripple current and reliability.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 11, Swamy (US 20210218359 A1) teaches the system of claim 10, wherein the discharge circuit comprises a discharge resistor and a controllable switch ([0036], The soft charge circuit 26 comprises a contactor MC1 and parallel resistor R.sub.sc).
Swamy does not teach, and wherein the controllable switch is configured to turn ON in response to a short in one of the at least two energy storage elements.
Prior art Zulaski (US 4104687 A), Rayner (US 20040223346 A1), Beckwith (US 20020089802 A1) and Baiatu (EP 642199 A1) have been considered to be the closest prior art.
However, none of the prior art, taken singly or in combination, teach “wherein the controllable switch is configured to turn ON in response to a short in one of the at least two energy storage elements.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SREEYA SREEVATSA whose telephone number is (571)272-8304. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm ET.
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/SREEYA SREEVATSA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838 09/11/2026
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