DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. The specification, the abstract and the drawings are all acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. Claims 13, 21, 23, 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by USPN 7,839,107 to Sauter.
As to claim 13, Sauter teaches a method for operating a circuit arrangement as part of a BEMF zero crossing identification operation serving as a basis for sensorless commutation of a brushless DC motor(col. 2: lines 63 – col. 4: lines 15), wherein the circuit arrangement has at least one comparator and a microcontroller, the comparator designed to compare a phase voltage or terminal voltage of the brushless DC motor with a star point voltage of the brushless DC motor and to output a corresponding comparator signal to a signal path of the microcontroller(col. 2: lines 7-38), the signal path being connected to the comparator and to a microcontroller pin, the method comprising: periodically switching over between an input mode and an output mode the signal path of the microcontroller connected to the comparator and the microcontroller pin(col. 5: lines 40 – col. 6: lines 40 wherein apparatus and method are taught for integrating the comparator/voltage comparison, switching for operating a circuit arrangement in a BEMF zero crossing identification operation a brushless DC motor).
As to claim 21, it is rejected as the same reason as claim 13.
As to claim 23, Sauter teaches the circuit arrangement as recited in claim 21 wherein the comparator is arranged within the microcontroller and an ohmic resistor is connected upstream of a comparator input of the comparator(col. 6: lines 57-67).
As to claim 25, Sauter teaches the electric power tool as recited in claim 24 wherein the brushless DC motor is a three-phase motor(col. 3: lines 4-6).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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 of this title, 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.
6. Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over USPN 7,839,107 to Sauter, and in view of USPN 9,762,153 to Forster.
As to claim 24, Sauter teaches a brushless DC motor(col. 3: lines 4-6).
Sauter does not teach an electric handheld power tool comprising a circuit breaker for a brushless DC motor.
Forster teaches an electric handheld power tool comprising a circuit breaker for a brushless DC motor(col. 9: lines 24-29, col. 10: lines 60-67).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Forster into Sauter since Sauter suggests a motor control system and Forster suggests the beneficial use of a circuit breaker for a motor control system in the analogous art of motor control technology.
The motivation for this comes from the fact that Forster teaches a circuit breaker for a motor control system which can be used to improve the motor control system disclosed by Sauter.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 14-20, 22 are objected to as being dependent upon the rejected base claims 13, 21, but could be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claims and any intervening claims for the following reasons: No prior art of record discloses the features as claimed in the noted claims.
8. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. The non-obvious features are:
In comparison with the closest prior art as cited in this Office action and any previous Office actions, no prior art of record discloses the following features as claimed in the following claim limitations:
As per claim 14: The microcontroller pin is configured as an input in the input mode in order to evaluate the comparator signal of the comparator for the BEMF zero crossing identification.
As per claim 17: The comparator is arranged outside the microcontroller and an ohmic resistor is provided between a comparator output of the comparator, the comparator output outputting the comparator signal, and the microcontroller pin.
As per claim 18: The switching over between the input and output mode takes place synchronously with a PWM carrier signal of the motor controller of the brushless DC motor or as a function of a duty cycle of the motor controller of the brushless DC motor.
As per claim 19: Deactivating an edge-related interrupt trigger of the microcontroller or deactivating an external interrupt of the microcontroller pin associated with the signal path of the microcontroller of the motor terminal currently not energized if a commutation operation to be carried out is identified; Setting a new power switch combination for the brushless DC motor in order to be able to establish energization for the current rotor position sector of the brushless DC motor; activating an associated interrupt; deactivating the interrupt activated in the third step S3 as soon as it is identified that an inactive motor phase is de-energized; and reconfiguring the interrupt trigger to either a rising or falling edge depending on the current rotor position sector to detect the BEMF zero crossing and activating the reconfigured interrupt.
As per claim 22: The comparator is arranged outside the microcontroller and an ohmic resistor is provided between a comparator output of the comparator, the comparator output outputting the comparator signal, and the microcontroller pin is connected to the signal path.
Conclusion
9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
USPN 9,035,588 to Hano discloses a motor control system.
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID S LUO whose telephone number is (571)270-5251. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-5PM.
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, Eduardo Colon-Santana can be reached at 571-272-2060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID LUO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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