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.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed on 05/27/2026 have been fully considered and are made of record.
Claims 1, 6 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 05/27/2026, with respect to claims 1 and 14 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore the rejection sent on of Office Acton mailed on 03/10/2026 has been withdrawn and new ground(s) of rejection has been applied.
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) 1-9 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by WEI et al. (Patent NO. CN 110161314 (A); hereinafter Wei; translation attached).
Regarding Claim 1, Wei teaches a device for checking the insulation status of a photovoltaic module (device in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; Se [0026]-[0030]), the device comprising:
a photovoltaic module (PV in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0026]);
a bridge circuit connected to the photovoltaic module (See the bridge circuit connected to PV in Fig. 1 and fig. below; See [0026]-[0035]) and having two first resistors connected in series (R1 and R2 are connected in series in fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0026]) and two second resistors connected in series wherein the two first resistors (R3 and R4 are connected in series in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0026]) and the two second resistors are connected in parallel (R1/R2 are in parallel with R3/R$ in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0026]);
a sensor unit detecting a PV voltage of the photovoltaic module (PV voltage is U; See [0027]) and a bridge voltage between a first node as a contact of the two first resistors and a second node as a contact of the two second resistors (first node PVSO+ and second node PVSO- in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0026]-[0030]);
a relay connected between the first node or the second node and the ground (See the relay connects second node of r to ground in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0027]);
a controller closing or opening the relay (See [0037]-[0040]); and
a calculation unit calculating an insulation resistance (insulation resistance R_G; See [0030]-[0035]) between the photovoltaic module and the ground based on the PV voltage and the bridge voltage (PV voltage is U and bridge voltage is Ur; See [0030]-[0035]).
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Regarding Claim 2, Wei 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 (node of R3 is connected to PV+ on Fig. 1), and a fourth node as the other contact is connected to a negative terminal of the photovoltaic module (node of R4 is connected to BUS- in fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 3, Wei 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 [0016], [0030]-[0036]).
Regarding Claim 4, Wei 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 [0035]-[0036]).
Regarding Claim 5, Wei teaches the device of claim 4, 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 [0035]-[0036]).
Regarding Claim 6, Wei teaches the device of claim 2, wherein the calculation unit is configured to calculate a first insulation resistance between the third node (R_G is third node and ground in Fig. 1; See [0030]-[0035]) and the ground or a second insulation resistance between the fourth node and the ground depending on the polarity of the bridge voltage.
Regarding Claim 7, Wei 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 (See [0030]-[0036]), or the second insulation resistance when the bridge voltage is a positive voltage.
Regarding Claim 8, Wei teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the bridge circuit further comprises: a bridge resistor connected between the first node and second node (bridge resistor r is connected to first node PVSO+ and second node PVSO- in Fig. 1), and the sensor unit detects a voltage across the bridge resistor as the bridge voltage (See [0031]).
Regarding Claim 9, Wei teaches the device of claim 8, 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 [0030]-[0037]).
Regarding Claim 13, Wei 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 (voltage to current conversion and resistance to current conversion; See [0030]-[0037]).
Regarding Claim 14, Wei teaches a method of checking the insulation status of a photovoltaic module (method in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; Se [0026]-[0030]), performed by a device for checking the insulation status of the photovoltaic module (PV in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0026]), the method comprising:
individually storing resistance values of two first resistors connected in series (R1 and R2 are connected in series in fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0026]),
two second resistors connected in series (R3 and R4 are connected in series in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0026]),
a bridge resistor of a bridge circuit connected to the photovoltaic module (bridge resistor r is connected to bridge circuit and PV+ in Fig. 1; Se [0026]-[0037]);
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, is closed (See the relay connects second node of r to ground in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0027], [0030]-[0037]),
detecting a PV voltage of the photovoltaic module (PV voltage is U; See [0027]) and a bridge voltage between the first node and the second node (first node PVSO+ and second node PVSO- in Fig. 1 and Fig. below; See [0026]-[0030]);
calculating an insulation resistance (insulation resistance R_G; See [0030]-[0035]) 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 (PV voltage is U and bridge voltage is Ur; See [0030]-[0035]); and
determining being in a normal insulation status when the insulation resistance is a reference resistance value or more (See [0035]-[0036]).
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Claim(s) 10-12 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei in view of Willenberg et al. (Pub NO. US 2017/0343593 A1; hereinafter Willenberg).
Regarding Claim 10, Wei teaches the device of claim 1. Wei teaches further teaches the first node and second node and relay (See nodes of resistors and relay K1 in fig. 1).
However, Wei 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 Wei 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, Wei 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, Wei 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]).
Regarding Claim 15, Wei teaches the method of claim 14. Wei further teaches the first node and second node and relay (See nodes of resistor r and relay in fig. 1).
However,Wei 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 Wei 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
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