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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/11/2024 and 08/18/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Fig. 4 discloses as a flowchart depicting the method steps as S1, S2 and S3. A more descriptive flowchart should be provided describing the method steps S1, S2 and S3 in Fig. 4. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arditi et al. (US Pat. 9,401,439) in views of YU et al. (US PGPUB 2022/0037890) and Aksoy et al. (US PGPUB 2023/0216290).
Regarding claim 14, Arditi et al. teaches a Module Level Shutdown Device (202a-202n) of a string of Photovoltaic Modules (201a-201n) (as shown in fig. 4A), comprising: a first interface (112 and 114), connectable in a chain with other Module Level Shutdown Devices (202a-202n) and to a string loop interface (205) of a detector device (204) to form a closed loop (as shown in fig. 4A); a second interface (ends on 202a-202n connected to 201a-201n), connected to an associated Photovoltaic Module (201a-201n) (as shown in fig. 3 and 4A), and a controller (109), adapted to generate a control signal applied to a main switch (Q2) of the Module Level Shutdown Device (101, for example) used to switch on or to switch off the associated Photovoltaic Module (201a, for example) in response to a Permission to Operate, PTO, signal (104a-104n) received by the Module Level Shutdown Device (101, for example) via its first interface (112 and 114) from the string loop interface (205) of the detector device (204).
Arditi et al. fails to specifically teach a first interface, connectable via DC-cables and wherein the controller is further adapted to spread a delay of the generated control signal with respect to a reception time of the PTO signal in a predefined maximum delay time period. However, YU et al. teaches a first interface, connectable via DC-cables (as shown in fig. 1) and Aksoy et al. teaches wherein the controller (38) is further adapted to spread a delay (using 34, as shown in fig. 4) of the generated control signal with respect to a reception time of the PTO signal in a predefined maximum delay time period (as disclosed in para. 0023 and 0025).
It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine and have the first interface, connectable via DC-cables and wherein the controller is further adapted to spread a delay of the generated control signal with respect to a reception time of the PTO signal in a predefined maximum delay time period as taught by YU et al. and Aksoy et al. with the invention of Arditi et al. in order to have durability, steady power flow and ensuring that all of Module Level Shutdown Devices are not activated simultaneously.
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Arditi et al., YU et al. and Aksoy et al. teaches the limitations of claim 14, in addition, Aksoy et al. teaches wherein the controller (38) comprises a Random Number Generator adapted to spread the control signal applied to the main switch (EC2) of the Module Level Shutdown Device (20D) to switch on or to switch off the associated Photovoltaic Module (12) randomly within the predefined maximum delay time period (as disclosed in para. 0023-0026).
It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine and have the controller comprise a Random Number Generator adapted to spread the control signal applied to the main switch of the Module Level Shutdown Device to switch on or to switch off the associated Photovoltaic Module randomly within the predefined maximum delay time period as taught by Aksoy et al. with the invention of the combination of Arditi et al., YU et al. and Aksoy et al. in order to ensure a desired number of Photovoltaic Modules activated/deactivated.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 1-13, the prior art fails to specifically teach a method for detection of faulty installations of Photovoltaic Modules within a string of Photovoltaic Modules, each Photovoltaic Module being equipped with an associated Module Level Shutdown Device, MLSD, connected serially to a string loop interface of a detector device , wherein the method comprises the steps of: capturing, by the detector device, a string voltage waveform applied by the chain of serially connected MLSDs of the string of Photovoltaic Modules to the string loop interface of the detector device as a result of switch-on transients generated by the chain of serially connected MLSDs in response to the PTO signal transmitted through the string loop interface of the detector device to the chain of serially connected, wherein switch-on delays of the generated switch-on transients are spread in a predefined maximum delay time period; and analyzing, by the detector device, the captured string voltage waveform applied by the chain of serially connected MLSDs of the string of Photovoltaic Modules to determine a number, N, of Photovoltaic Modules and associated MLSDs within said string of Photovoltaic Modules being installed correctly within said string of Photovoltaic Modules, and converting the captured string voltage waveform, Vstr(t), by an Analog-to-Digital Converter, ADC, of a signal capturing unit of the detector device with a certain sampling rate, SR, into a digital signal comprising string voltage data samples stored in a data memory of the signal capturing unit of said detector device, wherein the captured string voltage waveform, Vstr(t), comprises a stair step string voltage applied to the string loop interface of the detector device connected to the chain of serially connected MLSDs of the string of Photovoltaic Modules in a closed loop, in combination with all the limitations of the claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERTO VELEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-8597. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 5:30am-3:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached at (571)272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERTO VELEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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