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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show details of claimed limitations (Figures 1-2 shows claimed elements as blocks, no details of the elements) as described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). 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.
Figure 3 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated (RD2014 illustrated in Figure 3 is described as an example detector and appears to be known/prior art). See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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 Objections
Claims 2-7, 9-19 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 2, line 1 recites, “The system of Claim 1 wherein the detector circuit”, which should be corrected to “The system of Claim 1, wherein the detector circuit”. Claims 3-7 and 9-19 rare objected similarly and require similar correction. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the electromagnetic field pulses" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1, 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Birnbach (US 2010/0097734, IDS Document).
Regarding Claim 1, Birnbach discloses a high frequency alternating current (HFAC) power distribution system (10, Figures 1A-1C, 2A-2B) configured to provide an HFAC power supply (comprising 50, Figure 3, ) on an HFAC power supply bus (12, Figures 1A-1C, 2A-2B, 50a, 50b, Figure 3) to enable a plurality of electronic devices to be connected to the power supply bus for receiving HFAC electrical energy (loads/electronic devices being coupled to 52a, 52b, not shown, to receive power, Figure 3), the power distribution system comprising:
an HFAC power supply (50, Figure 3) configured to provide HFAC electrical energy to the HFAC power supply bus and having power supply output terminals for coupling to said bus (power supply bus 50a, 50b with output at 52a, 52b, Figure 3);
a protection circuit connected to the power supply and being arranged to provide a short circuit of the power supply (comprising 39a, Figures 2A, 2B, 56, Figure 3, Paragraph 63, “…while current-diverting path 56 protects the left-shown primary winding of transformer 52…”, Figure 9);
a power supply inhibitor operable to disable the power supply to prevent the provision of electrical energy (37a, Figures 2A, 2B, 54, Figure 3, Paragraph 63, “…In FIG. 3, current-diverting path 54 protects generator 50…”, Paragraph 53);
a detector circuit, configured to monitor gamma radiation to provide a detection signal (Figure 2A, 5, circuitry within 81, Paragraph 67. “circuitry for detecting EEMP's”, Paragraph 68); and
a controller (37b, Figure 2B, 167a, 167b, Figure 9) configured to operate the power supply inhibitor to prevent the provision of electrical energy in the event that the detection signal exceeds a threshold and then subsequently to operate the protection circuit to provide the short circuit (Paragraph 53, “….. various current-diverting paths 36, 38 and 40. Current-diverting paths 36 and 38 respectfully divert current away from transformers 16 and 18. Optional current-diverting path 40 diverts current from a portion of transmission line 12, receptive of an EEMP, to prevent such portion of line 12 from being rendered inoperative by the EEMP….”).
Regarding Claim 4, Birnbach discloses the system of Claim 1, wherein the protection circuit comprises an electronic crowbar (switch 56, Figure 3, Paragraphs 53-54).
Regarding Claim 5, Birnbach discloses the system of Claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to operate the protection circuit to remove the short circuit prior to operating the power supply inhibitor to reenable the provision of electrical energy by the power supply (Figure 9, Paragraphs 111-112).
Regarding Claim 6, Birnbach discloses the system of Claim 14 wherein the wherein the controller is configured to operate the protection circuit to remove the short circuit a predetermined time after operating the power supply inhibitor, for example within 3 seconds, for example within 1 second, for example within 500 ms (Figure 9, Paragraphs 111-112, “…The switches in the protective devices 194a and 196a also produce an output that is used to trigger the opening of normally-closed switches 198a and 198b after a predetermined time after detection of an EEMP of no more than two cycles of the line voltage. This is for the purpose of removing a short circuit from protected component 190…”).
Regarding Claim 7, Birnbach discloses the system of Claim 1, wherein the HFAC power supply comprises an active element (50, Figure 3) configured to drive an inductive circuit to oscillate to provide said HFAC electrical energy (comprising 52, Figure 3), and the power supply inhibitor is configured to disable said active element (54 operate to disable 50 upon an EMP incident, Figure 3).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birnbach (US 2010/0097734, IDS Document).
Regarding Claim 2, Birnbach does not specifically disclose the system of Claim 1 wherein the detector circuit is operable to detect a gamma dose of at least 1*103 Gy.s-1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide in the system of Birnbach, a detection threshold to meet the current standards for the safe and reliable operation of the system.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birnbach (US 2010/0097734, IDS Document) in view of Rosen (US 4,794,261).
Regarding Claim 3, Birnbach does not specifically disclose the system of Claim 2 wherein the detector circuit comprises a PIN diode, and the detector circuit is configured to detect the electromagnetic field pulses based on a conduction state of the PIN diode.
Rosen discloses a power supply (comprising 16, 12) configured to provide electrical energy to the power supply bus and having power supply output terminals for coupling to a power supply bus (power supply bus to which output of 12 coupled);
a protection circuit connected to the power supply and being arranged to provide a short circuit of the power supply (comprising 22); a power supply inhibitor operable to disable the power supply to prevent the provision of electrical energy (comprising 20); and
a detector circuit, configured to monitor gamma radiation to provide a detection signal (comprising 18), wherein the detector circuit comprises a PIN diode (PIN diode 18, Figure 1, and the detector circuit is configured to detect the electromagnetic field pulses based on a conduction state of the PIN diode (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide in the system of Birnbach, a PIN diode as taught by Rosen, due to its availability, sensitivity, small size, low cost, low noise.
Claims 8-11, 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birnbach (US 2010/0097734, IDS Document) in view of Aspnes et al. (US 2019/0044264).
Regarding Claim 8, Birnbach discloses a high frequency alternating current (HFAC) power distribution system (10, Figures 1A-1C, 2A-2B) comprising:
a high frequency alternating current (HFAC) power distribution bus comprising a pair of electrical conduction paths and for connection to an HFAC power supply (50a, 50b for connection to 50, Figure 3, power distribution system 10 with bus 12, Figures 1A-1C, 2A-2B), wherein the HFAC power distribution bus is arranged for supplying HFAC electrical energy from the HFAC power supply for powering electrical components coupled to the HFAC power distribution bus (50a, 50b coupled to power supply 50 and to switches 54, 56, 58, Figure 3);
a protection circuit connected between the pair of electrical conduction paths and being operable to provide a short circuit between the pair of electrical conduction paths (comprising 39a, Figures 2A, 2B, 56, Figure 3, Paragraph 63, “…while current-diverting path 56 protects the left-shown primary winding of transformer 52…”);
a power supply inhibitor operable to provide a signal to the HFAC power supply to disable the power supply and prevent the provision of electrical energy to the bus (37a, Figures 2A, 2B, 54, Figure 3, Paragraph 63, “…In FIG. 3, current-diverting path 54 protects generator 50…”, Paragraph 53);
a detector circuit, configured to monitor gamma radiation to provide a detection signal (Figure 2A, 5, circuitry within 81, Paragraph 67. “circuitry for detecting EEMP's”, Paragraph 68); and
and a controller (37b, Figure 2B) configured to operate the power supply inhibitor to prevent the provision of electrical energy in the event that the detection signal exceeds a threshold and then subsequently to operate the protection circuit to provide the short circuit (Paragraph 53, “….. various current-diverting paths 36, 38 and 40. Current-diverting paths 36 and 38 respectfully divert current away from transformers 16 and 18. Optional current-diverting path 40 diverts current from a portion of transmission line 12, receptive of an EEMP, to prevent such portion of line 12 from being rendered inoperative by the EEMP….”).
Birnbach does not specifically disclose an electronic device comprising a circuit board, the circuit board comprising the pair of conduction paths embedded in the circuit board.
Aspnes discloses a an electronic device (Figures 1-8) comprising a circuit board (102, Figure 1), the circuit board comprising: a high frequency alternating current (HFAC) power distribution bus comprising a pair of electrical conduction paths embedded in the circuit board and for connection to an HFAC power supply (comprising 122, 124 and 130, 132 connected to power supply 104, Figure 1), wherein the HFAC power distribution bus is arranged for supplying HFAC electrical energy from the HFAC power supply for powering electrical components carried by the circuit board (components/die 136, Figure 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the system of Birnbach to power the an electronic device as taught by Aspnes that requires safe, regulated power supply via conductive buses embedded in the circuit board.
Regarding Claim 9, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes discloses an electronic device the electronic device of Claim 8 further comprising the HFAC power supply (HFAC power supply 50, Figure 3).
Regarding Claim 10, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes discloses an electronic device the electronic device of Claim 9 wherein the power supply inhibitor is provided in the HFAC power supply (considering 50 and 54 as one block, Figure 3).
Regarding Claim 11, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes does not specifically disclose the system of Claim 1 wherein the detector circuit is operable to detect a gamma dose of at least 1*103 Gy.s-1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide in the combination, a detection threshold to meet the current standards for the safe and reliable operation of the system.
Regarding Claim 13, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes discloses the electronic device of Claim 8, wherein the protection circuit comprises an electronic crowbar (switch 56, Figure 3, Paragraphs 53-54).
Regarding Claim 14, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes discloses the electronic device of Claim 8 wherein the controller is configured to operate the protection circuit to remove the short circuit prior to operating the power supply inhibitor to reenable the provision of electrical energy by the power supply (Figure 9, Paragraphs 111-112).
Regarding Claim 15, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes discloses the electronic device of Claim 14 wherein the wherein the controller is configured to operate the protection circuit to remove the short circuit a predetermined time after operating the power supply inhibitor, for example within 3 seconds, for example within 1 second, for example within 500 ms (Figure 9, Paragraphs 111-112, “…The switches in the protective devices 194a and 196a also produce an output that is used to trigger the opening of normally-closed switches 198a and 198b after a predetermined time after detection of an EEMP of no more than two cycles of the line voltage. This is for the purpose of removing a short circuit from protected component 190…”).
Regarding Claim 16, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes discloses the electronic device of Claim 8 wherein the detection signal is further based on sensing low frequency current in an alternating current, AC, supply to the HFAC power supply (Paragraph 111, “….NEMP and NNEMP events are detected as voltages preferably by control circuit 167a and 167b….”).
Regarding Claim 17, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes discloses the electronic device of Claim 8, wherein the HFAC power supply comprises an active element (50, Figure 3) configured to drive an inductive circuit to oscillate to provide said HFAC electrical energy (comprising 52, Figure 3), and the power supply inhibitor is configured to disable said active element (54 operate to disable 50 upon an EMP incident, Figure 3).
Regarding Claim 18, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes discloses the electronic device of Claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to provide a control signal to protect at least one further electronic device connected to be powered by the HFAC bus (controller protects the further electronic device by operating the power supply inhibitor and the protection circuit as discussed in Claim 8).
Regarding Claim 19, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes discloses the electronic device of Claim 18 wherein the control signal is configured to disconnect said at least one further electronic device from the bus and/or to provide a short- circuit or otherwise to disable said at least one further electronic device (by operating the power supply inhibitor/not supplying power to the bus as discussed in Claim 8).
Claims 20 recites an apparatus with corresponding limitations of Claims 8, 18 and comprising the further electronic device and combination of Birnbach and Aspnes discloses limitations as discussed above and Aspnes in the combination discloses the apparatus comprising the further electronic device (Figures 6-8, Figure 1 shows the further electronic device package 134 including die 136 and associated elements).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Birnbach (US 2010/0097734, IDS Document) in view of Aspnes et al. (US 2019/0044264) and Rosen (US 4,794,261).
Regarding Claim 12, combination of Birnbach and Aspnes does not specifically disclose the system of Claim 2 wherein the detector circuit comprises a PIN diode, and the detector circuit is configured to detect the electromagnetic field pulses based on a conduction state of the PIN diode.
Rosen discloses a power supply (comprising 16, 12) configured to provide electrical energy to the power supply bus and having power supply output terminals for coupling to a power supply bus (power supply bus to which output of 12 coupled);
a protection circuit connected to the power supply and being arranged to provide a short circuit of the power supply (comprising 22); a power supply inhibitor operable to disable the power supply to prevent the provision of electrical energy (comprising 20); and
a detector circuit, configured to monitor gamma radiation to provide a detection signal (comprising 18), wherein the detector circuit comprises a PIN diode (PIN diode 18, Figure 1, and the detector circuit is configured to detect the electromagnetic field pulses based on a conduction state of the PIN diode (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide in the detector circuit in the combination, a PIN diode as taught by Rosen, due to its availability, sensitivity, small size, low cost, low noise.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kimbrough et al. (US 5,672,918) discloses a power supply (302, Figure 5) configured to provide electrical energy to the power supply bus and having power supply output terminals for coupling to said bus (power supply bus with 310); a protection circuit connected to the power supply and being arranged to provide a short circuit of the power supply (comprising 306, Figure 5); a power supply inhibitor operable to disable the power supply to prevent the provision of electrical energy (comprising 304, Figure 5); a detector circuit, configured to monitor gamma radiation to provide a detection signal (comprising 184 providing protection signal 186, Figure 3, 12 proving output signal 14, Figure 1); and a controller (308, Figure 5) configured to operate the power supply inhibitor to prevent the provision of electrical energy in the event that the detection signal exceeds a threshold and then subsequently to operate the protection circuit to provide the short circuit (“….A series output switch 304 is opened and a shunt switch 306 is closed by a current sensing circuit which senses excess current through a series sense resister 310…”).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUCY M THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-6002. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:30 am - 5:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Crystal L Hammond can be reached at (571)270-1682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LUCY M THOMAS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2838
/CRYSTAL L HAMMOND/ Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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