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 .
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu Congwen et al. “Laboratory Investigation on Phase Selection Closing Approach for Suppression of Inrush Current, 2009, IEEE.
Wu discloses an electrical system comprising:
PNG
media_image1.png
205
432
media_image1.png
Greyscale
(1) regarding Claim 12:
A controller comprising:
processing circuitry; and data storage storing instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said controller is operative to perform a method of reducing inrush current to a transformer when closing a circuit breaker arranged between an AC voltage source and the transformer in an electrical three-phase system (cited sections above and col 1, par 2 on page 2585),
PNG
media_image2.png
250
433
media_image2.png
Greyscale
the method including the steps of:
between the circuit breaker and the voltage source, monitoring a voltage in one of the phases by means of a voltage sensor, upstream of the circuit breaker, providing a reference for opening and closing angles of the circuit breaker; for each of a sequence of iterations: at a same opening angle relative to a reference angle of the monitored voltage, opening the circuit breaker simultaneously for all the phases (col 1, par 2 on page 2585);
at a closing angle relative to the reference angle, which is shifted in relation to the closing angle of all other iterations in the sequence, closing the circuit breaker simultaneously for all the phases (page 2584-2585); and
obtaining an indication of a peak value of an overall inrush current resulting from the closing of the circuit breaker (page 2584-2585); and
selecting for future use with said same opening angle, the closing angle of one of the iterations in which the overall inrush current is relatively low when compared with the other iterations of the sequence (page 2584-2585).
(2) regarding Claim 13:
A circuit breaker comprising:
a controller including: processing circuitry; and data storage storing instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said controller is operative to perform a start-up method for reducing inrush current to a transformer when closing a circuit breaker arranged between an AC voltage source and the transformer in an electrical three-phase system, the method including the steps of: between the circuit breaker and the voltage source, monitoring a voltage in one of the phases by means of a voltage sensor, upstream of the circuit breaker, providing a reference for opening and closing angles of the circuit breaker; for each of a sequence of iterations: at a same opening angle relative to a reference angle of the monitored voltage, opening the circuit breaker simultaneously for all the phases, at a closing angle relative to the reference angle, which is shifted in relation to the closing angle of all other iterations in the sequence, closing the circuit breaker simultaneously for all the phases, obtaining an indication of a peak value of an overall inrush current resulting from the closing of the circuit breaker, and selecting for future use with said same opening angle, the closing angle of one of the iterations in which the overall inrush current is relatively low when compared with the other iterations of the sequence; a voltage sensor for the monitoring of the voltage; and an inrush sensor for the obtaining of the indication of a peak value of the overall inrush current (page 2584-2585 and
PNG
media_image1.png
205
432
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
250
433
media_image2.png
Greyscale
).
(3) regarding Claim 14:
An electrical system comprising: a controller including:
processing circuitry; and data storage storing instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said controller is operative to perform a method for reducing inrush current to a transformer when closing a circuit breaker arranged between an AC voltage source and the transformer in an electrical three-phase system, the method including the steps of: between the circuit breaker and the voltage source, monitoring a voltage in one of the phases by means of a voltage sensor, upstream of the circuit breaker, providing a reference for opening and closing angles of the circuit breaker, for each of a sequence of iterations: at a same opening angle relative to a reference angle of the monitored voltage, opening the circuit breaker simultaneously for all the phases, at a closing angle relative to the reference angle, which is shifted in relation to the closing angle of all other iterations in the sequence, closing the circuit breaker simultaneously for all the phases, obtaining an indication of a peak value of an overall inrush current resulting from the closing of the circuit breaker, and selecting for future use with said same opening angle, the closing angle of one of the iterations in which the overall inrush current is relatively low when compared with the other iterations of the sequence; the circuit breaker; and the transformer ( page 2584-2585 and
PNG
media_image1.png
205
432
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
250
433
media_image2.png
Greyscale
).
(4) regarding Claim 15:
A computer program product comprising computer-executable components for causing a controller to perform a method of reducing inrush current to a transformer when closing a circuit breaker arranged between an AC voltage source and the transformer in an electrical three-phase system, the method including the steps of: between the circuit breaker and the voltage source, monitoring a voltage in one of the phases by means of a voltage sensor, upstream of the circuit breaker, providing a reference for opening and closing angles of the circuit breaker, for each of a sequence of iterations: at a same opening angle relative to a reference angle of the monitored voltage, opening the circuit breaker simultaneously for all the phases, at a closing angle relative to the reference angle, which is shifted in relation to the closing angle of all other iterations in the sequence, closing the circuit breaker simultaneously for all the phases, obtaining an indication of a peak value of an overall inrush current resulting from the closing of the circuit breaker, and selecting for future use with said same opening angle, the closing angle of one of the iterations in which the overall inrush current is relatively low when compared with the other iterations of the sequence when the computer-executable components are run on processing circuitry comprised in the controller (page 2584-2585 and
PNG
media_image1.png
205
432
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
250
433
media_image2.png
Greyscale
).
(5) For method claims 1-11 and 16-20, note that under MPEP 2112.02, the principles of inherency, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method, it can be assumed the device “1 inherently performs the claimed process. In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 231 UPSQ 136 (Fed Cir. 1986). Therefore the previous rejections based on the apparatus will not be repeated.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CRYSTAL L HAMMOND whose telephone number is (571)270-1682. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12pm-4pm Alt Fridays.
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, 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CRYSTAL L HAMMOND/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
Prosecution Insights