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 Objections
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: it lacks antecedent basis (“the current threshold”). The Examiner believes that this claim should depend upon claim 5. Appropriate correction is required.
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(s) 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Horinouchi et al. (2023/0030964).
Regarding independent claims 1 and 9, and dependent claims 2, 3, 8, and 12, Horinouchi teaches an electrical distribution system (Fig. 7) configured to supply at least a first electric motor (11a) and a second electric motor (11b) from at least one electrical source (1, 2), wherein the electric motors are aircraft propulsion motors ([0002]), the electrical distribution system comprising:
at least one switch (inside 4; [0043], [0124]; teaches 4 acting as a circuit interrupter aka switch) configured to be connected to the electrical source by an electrical source line (between 2 and 4) and to be connected to each electric motor via an electrical load line (between 4 and 11),
at least one circuit-breaking device (3), mounted on the electrical source line, configured to open the electrical source line after a predetermined time delay in the event of the presence of a short-circuit current ([0054]),
at least one current limiter (6), mounted on the electrical source line between the circuit-breaking device (3) and the switch (inside 4), configured so as, in the presence of a short-circuit current, to allow a limited current to flow through the switch for a limiting period greater than the predetermined time delay ([0054]; current is still limited when circuit-breaking device opens the electrical source line).
Horinouchi teaches the general conditions of the power, voltage, and current supplied in the system ([0046]) and reacting to a current limiting condition ([0043]), but fails to explicitly teach the claimed values of the limiting current and power dissipated and the timeline of the limiting period and time delay. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the current being limited and power being dissipated in the claimed manner and have the limiting period and time delay be within the claimed periods, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 4, Horinouchi teaches at least one load switch (8a and 8b) mounted on an electrical load line.
Regarding claims 5 and 10, Horinouchi teaches the load switch is configured to pass automatically to the open state when a load current greater than a predetermined current threshold flows in the electrical load line for a predetermined flow time ([0051], [0052]).
Regarding claims 6 and 10, Horinouchi teaches the predetermined flow time being less than the predetermined time delay ([0051], [0052]; when the short circuit occurs in the load line).
Regarding claim 7, Horinouchi teaches the current threshold being less than the limited current ([0052]).
Regarding claim 11, Horinouchi teaches inhibiting the current limitation switch following the disappearance of the short-circuit current ([0057]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DRU M PARRIES whose telephone number is (571)272-8542. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday -Thursday from 9:00am to 6:00pm. The examiner can also be reached on alternate Fridays.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Rexford Barnie, can be reached on 571-272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DMP
7/24/2026
/DANIEL KESSIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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