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 .
Response to Amendment
The previous made 112 rejections and objection to the Figures have been withdrawn in view of the amendments.
Claim Objections
Regarding Claims 6, 15
The claim term “/” is confusing and unclear. It is unclear “/” is intended to mean and whether “and” or “or” is intended and it is noted that the two terms (“and” and “or”) having different meanings making it imperative to know which term is intended in order to understand the metes and bounds of the claim. Applicant is advised to select EITHER “and” or “or”, but not both. The claim will be examined as best understood wherein “and/or” is taken to mean “or”.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 8-15, and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Berzoy et al. “Non-linear Droop Control of Parallel Split-phase Inverters for Residential Nanogrids”.
Berzoy teaches:
1. A microgrid system comprising:
an energy source to provide direct current (DC) electricity (Vb, FIG3);
a charge controller (Boost Conv., FIG3) to regulate the DC electricity to provide regulated DC electricity;
an inverter (3L-TNPC inverter, FIG3) to convert the regulated DC electricity from the charge controller to provide alternating current (AC) electricity at an AC output; and
a synchronization circuit unit (ie circuitry proceeding the “Reference Generator” and/or associated circuitry) to synchronize the inverter based on a reference interaction signal (ie Vvlk) and using a non-linear circuit (see Non-Linear Droop Characteristic circuitry with associated non-linear circuit output signals ie. Wrefk and/or Vrefk) to cause the inverter to deliver the AC electricity at the AC output as synchronized output (via resulting PWM control).
2. The microgrid system of claim 1, wherein the charge controller includes a DC input to receive the DC electricity from the energy source (see input to DC./DC boost, FIG3).
3. The microgrid system of claim 1, wherein the energy source comprises one or more of a distributed energy resource (DER) and an energy storage (ES) device (see ES battery, FIG3).
4. The microgrid system of claim 1, wherein the synchronization circuit unit includes a reference input to receive the reference interaction signal (see inputs associated with of Uk, Vvlk, euk, and Vrefk, FIG3).
5. The microgrid system of claim 1, further comprising an energy storage (ES) device (Vb, battery, FIG3) to provide at least a portion of the DC electricity to the charge controller (Boost Conv.).
6. The microgrid system of claim 5, wherein the charge controller is configured to control a charge or discharge of the ES device (See FIG3).
8. The microgrid system of claim 1, further comprising an AC input (see input of bus to load, FIG1) to receive AC electricity from a second microgrid system including a second inverter (ie right side) and a second synchronization circuit unit.
9. The microgrid system of claim 1, wherein the synchronized AC electricity is combined with a second synchronized AC electricity from a second AC output of a second microgrid system including a second inverter and a second synchronization unit, wherein the synchronized AC electricity and the second synchronized AC electricity are synchronized (See FIG1).
10. The microgrid system of claim 1, wherein the synchronization unit includes a reference input to receive (noting intended use language) the reference interaction signal from a second microgrid system including a second synchronization circuit unit to synchronize a second inverter (noting the physical limitation claimed is that of “a reference input”, read on by the other input Uk or Vvlk, FIG3).
11. A core module of a microgrid (see I. Introduction and grid of FIG1) comprising:
a charge controller (Boost Conv., FIG3) to regulate direct current (DC) electricity to provide regulated DC electricity;
an inverter (see inverter of FIG3) to convert the regulated DC electricity from the charge controller to provide, to the microgrid, alternating current (AC) electricity; and
a synchronization circuitry unit (output circuitry at “Reference Generator”) to synchronize the inverter, according to a reference interaction signal, to cause the inverter to provide the AC electricity as synchronized AC electricity, wherein the synchronization circuit unit includes non-linear circuitry (Non-Linear Droop circuitry) to operate with a non-linear characteristic.
12. The core module of claim 11, wherein the charge controller includes a DC input to receive the DC electricity from one or more of a distributed energy resource (DER) and an energy storage (ES) device (Vb, FIG3).
13. The core module of claim 11, wherein the synchronization circuitry unit includes a reference input to receive the reference interaction signal (see inputs associated with of Uk, Vvlk, euk, and Vrefk, FIG3).
14. The core module of claim 11, further comprising an energy storage (ES) device (Vb, FIG3) to provide at least a portion of the DC electricity to the charge controller.
15. The core module of claim 14, wherein the charge controller (Boost Conv.) is configured to control a charge or discharge of the ES device (See FIG3).
17. The core module of claim 11, further comprising an AC input (see common AC bus, FIG1) to receive AC electricity from a second core module including a second inverter and a second synchronization circuitry unit.
18. The core module of claim 11, wherein the synchronized AC electricity is combined with a second synchronized AC electricity from a second core module including a second inverter and a second synchronization circuitry unit, wherein the synchronized AC electricity and the second synchronized AC electricity are synchronized (See FIG1).
19. The core module of claim 11, wherein the synchronization circuitry unit includes a reference input to receive the reference interaction signal from a second core module including a second synchronization circuitry unit coupled to a second inverter (noting the physical limitation claimed is that of “a reference input”, read on by the other input Uk or Vvlk, FIG3).
20. A microgrid comprising (see I. Introduction):
an energy source (Vb, FIG3) to provide direct current (DC) electricity;
a charge controller (Boost Conv. FIG3) to regulate the DC electricity to provide regulated DC electricity;
an inverter (see inverter of FIG3) to convert the regulated DC electricity from the charge controller to provide alternating current (AC) electricity for the microgrid; and
a synchronization circuit unit to synchronize the inverter, based on a reference interaction signal (ie Uk), to deliver the AC electricity as synchronized AC electricity, wherein the synchronization circuit unit includes a non-linear circuit (Non-Liner Droop circuit, FIG3).
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) 7, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berzoy et al. “Non-linear Droop Control of Parallel Split-phase Inverters for Residential Nanogrids” in view of Yi et al. US 2019/0140453.
Berzoy teaches one or more of a battery and DER however fails to teach both of a battery and DER:
7,16. Wherein the charge controller controls how much of the DC electricity is drawn from the ES device and a distributed energy resource (DER).
Yi teaches electricity is drawn from the ES device and a distributed energy resource (DER) (see FIGURE 2).
It would have been obvious to include the plural sources as taught by Yi into the system of Berzoy with the motivation of diversifying sources for a more reliable and robust power system.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL CAVALLARI whose telephone number is (571)272-8541. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 0900-18:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rexford Barnie can be reached at (571)272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL CAVALLARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
