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 .
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.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites limitation “an calculation unit” in line 14 should be “a calculation unit”.
Claim 6 recites limitation “The” in line 2 should be “the”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-4, 6-7 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (CN 104779903 A; hereinafter Zhang; translation attached).
Regarding Claim 1, Zhang teaches a device for checking the insulation status of a photovoltaic module (See PV module across Bus in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0002], [0007]), the device comprising:
a photovoltaic module (module across Bus+ and Bus- in fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0007]-[0012]);
a bridge circuit connected to the photovoltaic module (See Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0007]-[0012]) and having two first resistors connected in series (R1, R2 are connected in series in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0017]-[0012]) and two second resistors connected in series (R3, R4 are connected in series in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0017]-[0012]) wherein the two first resistors and the two second resistors are connected in parallel (R1/R2 are in parallel with R3/R4 in Fig. 1);
a sensor unit detecting a PV voltage of the photovoltaic module (Vbus is voltage across PV module in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0007]-[0012]) and a bridge voltage between a first node as a contact of the two first resistors (U1 in voltage at first node in Fig. 1 and fig. below; See [0007]-[0012]) and a second node as a contact of the two second resistors (U1’ is voltage at second node in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0007]-[0012]);
a relay connected between the first node or the second node and the ground (relay K1 is connected between first node, second node and ground/PE in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0007]-[0015]);
a controller closing or opening the relay (controller close/open relay K1 in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0007]-[0015]); and
an calculation unit calculating an insulation resistance between the photovoltaic module and the ground based on the PV voltage and the bridge voltage (calculating insulation resistance of RL+ and RL- in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0015]-[0017]).
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Regarding Claim 2, Zhang teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the bridge circuit is configured such that a third node as one of the contacts of the two first resistors and two second resistors is connected to a positive terminal of the photovoltaic module, and a fourth node as the other contact is connected to a negative terminal of the photovoltaic module (See Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0015]-[0030]).
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Regarding Claim 3, Zhang teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit is configured to detect the PV voltage and the bridge voltage when the relay is closed (See [0008]).
Regarding Claim 4, Zhang teaches the device of claim 1, further comprising: a determination unit determining the insulation status of the photovoltaic module based on the insulation resistance (See [0019], [0040]).
Regarding Claim 6, Zhang teaches the device of claim 2, wherein The calculation unit is configured to calculate a first insulation resistance between the third node and the ground (RL+ is first insulation resistance between third node and ground; See [0012]) or a second insulation resistance between the fourth node and the ground depending on the polarity of the bridge voltage (RL- is second insulation resistance between fourth node and ground; See [0012]).
Regarding Claim 7, Zhang teaches the device of claim 6, wherein the calculation unit is configured to calculate the first insulation resistance when the bridge voltage is a negative voltage (by controlling K2, K3 negative bridge voltage is achieved in Fig. 1; See [0010]-[0011]), or the second insulation resistance when the bridge voltage is a positive voltage.
Regarding Claim 13, Zhang teaches the device of claim 1, further comprising: a level conversion unit converting the PV voltage and the bridge voltage into a level that the calculation unit is able to process and providing the same to the calculation unit (all voltages are provided with a level; See [0008]-[0010]).
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) 5, 8-9 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of SUN et al. (Patent NO. CN 212255492 U; hereinafter Sun; translation attached).
Regarding Claim 5, Zhang teaches the device of claim 4. Zhang is silent about wherein the determination unit is configured to determine that the photovoltaic module has an abnormal insulation status when the insulation resistance is less than a reference value.
Sun teaches wherein the determination unit is configured to determine that the photovoltaic module has an abnormal insulation status when the insulation resistance is less than a reference value (See [0059]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the claimed invention was made to modify the system of Zhang by using the determination unit is configured to determine that the photovoltaic module has an abnormal insulation status when the insulation resistance is less than a reference value, as taught by Sun in order to detect ground insulation error of photovoltaic inverter (Sun; [0059]).
Regarding Claim 8, Zhang teaches the device of claim 1. Zhang is silent about wherein the bridge circuit further comprises: a bridge resistor connected between the first node and second node, and the sensor unit detects a voltage across the bridge resistor as the bridge voltage.
Sun teaches wherein the bridge circuit further comprises: a bridge resistor (disturbance resistor is bridge resistor; See [0015]) connected between the first node and second node (See R is connected between two nodes in Fig. 2; See [0025]), and the sensor unit detects a voltage across the bridge resistor as the bridge voltage (See [0053]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the claimed invention was made to modify the system of Zhang by using t a bridge resistor connected between the first node and second node, and the sensor unit detects a voltage across the bridge resistor as the bridge voltage, as taught by Sun in order to ground insulation error of photovoltaic inverter (Sun; [0059]).
Regarding Claim 9, Zhang in view of Sun teaches the device of claim 8. Sun further teaches wherein the calculation unit is configured to calculate the insulation resistance based on the resistance values of the first resistors, the second resistors, and the bridge resistor, the PV voltage, and the bridge voltage (See [0046]-[0053]).
Regarding Claim 14, Zhang teaches a method of checking the insulation status of a photovoltaic module (See PV module across Bus in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0002], [0007]), performed by a device for checking the insulation status (See [0019], [0040]) of the photovoltaic module (See PV module across Bus in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0002], [0007]), the method comprising:
individually storing resistance values of two first resistors connected in series (R1, R2 are connected in series in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0017]-[0012]),
two second resistors connected in series (R3, R4 are connected in series in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0017]-[0012]),
while a relay, connected between a first node as a contact of the two first resistors or a second node as a contact of the two second resistors and a ground (relay K1 is connected between first node, second node and ground/PE in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0007]-[0015]), is closed (Ki is closed; See [0020]-[0030]),
detecting a PV voltage of the photovoltaic module and a bridge voltage between the first node and the second node (calculating insulation resistance of RL+ and RL- in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0015]-[0017]);
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Zhang is silent about a bridge resistor of a bridge circuit connected to the photovoltaic module; calculating an insulation resistance of the photovoltaic module based on the resistance values of the first resistors, the second resistors, and the bridge resistor, the PV voltage, and the bridge voltage; and determining being in a normal insulation status when the insulation resistance is a reference resistance value or more.
Sun teaches a bridge resistor of a bridge circuit connected to the photovoltaic module (See bridge resistor R is connected between two nodes in Fig. 2; See [0025]); calculating an insulation resistance of the photovoltaic module based on the resistance values of the first resistors, the second resistors, and the bridge resistor, the PV voltage, and the bridge voltage (See [0046]-[0053]); and determining being in a normal insulation status when the insulation resistance is a reference resistance value or more (See [0059]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the claimed invention was made to modify the system of Zhang by using a bridge resistor of a bridge circuit connected to the photovoltaic module; calculating an insulation resistance of the photovoltaic module based on the resistance values of the first resistors, the second resistors, and the bridge resistor, the PV voltage, and the bridge voltage; and determining being in a normal insulation status when the insulation resistance is a reference resistance value or more, as taught by Sun in order to ground insulation error of photovoltaic inverter (Sun; [0059]).
Claim(s) 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Sun further in view of Willenberg et al. (Pub NO. US 2017/0343593 A1; hereinafter Willenberg).
Regarding Claim 10, Zhang teaches the device of claim 1. Zhang further teaches the first node and second node and relay (See nodes of resistors and relay K1 in fig. 1).
However, Zhang is silent about wherein the sensor unit is configured to detect an offset voltage between the first node and second node when the relay is opened.
Willenberg teaches regarding determining insulation resistance of PV (See abstract) wherein the sensor unit is configured to detect an offset voltage (See [0020]-[0022], [0028]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill n the art before the claimed invention was made to modify the system of Zhang and Willenberg by using the sensor unit is configured to detect an offset voltage between the first node and second node when the relay is opened in order to precisely detect insulation resistance (Willenberg; [0029]).
Regarding Claim 11, Zhang in view of Willenberg teaches the device of claim 10. Willenberg further comprising: an offset correction unit correcting the bridge voltage by reflecting the offset voltage on the bridge voltage (See [0020]-[0022], [0028]).
Regarding Claim 12, Zhang in view of Willenberg teaches the device of claim 11. Willenberg wherein the calculation unit is configured to calculate the insulation resistance based on the bridge voltage corrected by the offset correction unit (See [0020]-[0022], [0028]).
Claim(s) 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Sun further in view of Willenberg.
Regarding Claim 15, Zhang in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 14. Zhang further teaches the first node and second node and relay (See nodes of resistors and relay K1 in fig. 1).
However, Zhang is silent about wherein the detecting step further comprises: detecting an offset voltage between the first node and the second node in a state of the relay being opened; and correcting the bridge voltage based on the offset voltage.
Willenberg teaches regarding determining insulation resistance of PV (See abstract) wherein the sensor unit is configured to detect an offset voltage (See [0020]-[0022], [0028]); and correcting the bridge voltage based on the offset voltage (See [0020]-[0022], [0028]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill n the art before the claimed invention was made to modify the system of Zhang and Willenberg by using the sensor unit is configured to detect an offset voltage between the first node and second node when the relay is opened; and correcting the bridge voltage based on the offset voltage in order to precisely detect insulation resistance (Willenberg; [0029]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bowden et al. (Pub NO. US 2021/0376788 A1) discloses Self-Powered Voltage Ramp for Photovoltaic.
Urabe et al. (Patent NO. US 10,483,763 B2) discloses Photovoltaic Device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZANNATUL FERDOUS whose telephone number is (571)270-0399. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm (PST).
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/ZANNATUL FERDOUS/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/LEE E RODAK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858