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 1-2, 4, 6, 9-11, 13-15, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mondal et al. (US 20160204654)
With respect to claims 1, 4, 9, 11, 13-14, 18 and 20 Mondal teaches a system, comprising: an input (see AC input supplied at 115) configured to receive power from a first power source (see AC input); a direct current (DC) bus (see for example Fig. 8) connected to the input and configured to receive power (via 810) from the input; an array of ultra-capacitors (712: paragraph 0051) connected to the DC bus; at least one additional energy storage device (714) connected to the DC bus; an output (see UPS output for example Fig. 8) connected to the DC bus, the output comprising an alternating current (AC) power supply (see inverter Fig. 8) configured to supply power to at least one facility (see loads shown in for example Fig. 7); and at least one controller (see 10005 and DSP controller not shown) configured to control charging and discharging of the array of ultra-capacitors and the additional energy storage device (via gate driving of inverters and converters) connected to the DC bus to supply power from the DC bus to the output.
With respect to claim Mondal 2 teaches the detect (for example paragraph 0013) an interruption of power from the first power source; control discharging (via control of the UPS inverter(s) of the array of ultra-capacitors connected to the DC bus to continuously supply power from the DC bus to the output during the interruption; and switch a transfer switch (116/114) from the first power source (Utility supply) to a second power source (UPS or generator), wherein the input is further configured to receive power from the second power source.
With respect to claim 5 Mondal teaches the additional energy storage device is configured to supply power to the DC bus simultaneously (see parallel connection with load shown in Fig. 7-8 for example) with the array of ultra-capacitors supplying power to the DC bus.
With respect to claim 6 and 15 Mondal teaches the additional energy storage device is configured to supply power to the DC bus when a voltage of the array of ultra-capacitors satisfies a threshold (during occurrence of fully charged capacitor and AC outage).
With respect to claim 10 and 19 Mondal teaches the at least one additional energy storage device comprises a plurality of batteries (paragraph 0040).
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.
Claims 1, 4, 11, 13-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuoka et al. (US 20120019070) in view of Fuglevand et al. (US 20060192433)
With respect to claims 1, 4, 11, 13-14 and 20 Matsuoka teaches a system, comprising: an input configured to receive power from a first power source (VAC source); a direct current (DC) bus (see between converters 1 and 3) connected to the input and configured to receive power from the input; an array of ultra-capacitors (10) connected to the DC bus; at least one additional energy storage device (2) connected to the DC bus; an output connected to the DC bus, the output comprising an alternating current (AC) power supply configured to supply power to at least one facility (1); and at least one controller (9) configured to control charging and discharging (via operation of SW6 and 7) of the array of ultra-capacitors and the at least one additional energy storage device (via control of SW1) connected to the DC bus to supply power from the DC bus to the output. Matsuoka teaches the ultra-capacitor as a known manner of storing power however does not teach the capacitor is a set forth as an array. Fuglevand teaches the known use of an array of capacitors (30) for storing energy sufficient for required load runtime (paragraph 0027). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Matsuoka to try an array for the predictable result of increasing the runtime of the facility during capacitor discharge.
With respect to claim 5 Matsuoka teaches the additional energy storage device is configured to supply power to the DC bus simultaneously (see parallel connection with load shown in Fig. 1 and 3 for example) with the array of ultra-capacitors supplying power to the DC bus.
Claims 3 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mondal et al. in view of Okamura et al. (US 6,075,378)
With respect to claim 3 and 12 Mondal teaches discharging energy from the capacitors however does not teaches discharging energy from the array of ultra-capacitors when at least one of powering down the array of ultra-capacitors, a container containing the array of ultra-capacitors is opened, or a failure of the array of ultra-capacitors is detected. Okamura teaches the known use of a discharge circuit (see 41-4i and associated transistor Q1-QN) connected to the array of capacitors (C1-CN), the discharge circuit configured to discharge energy from the array of when a failure is detected (col. 2 lines 49-53, col. 4 lines 40-50, col. 5 lines 43-55, see energy is shorted from failed capacitors col. 5 lines 40- 65). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in art at the time of the invention to modify Klepacki to include discharging of failed capacitors for the enhanced safety (col. 4 line 45).
Claims 1-2, 4-11, and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Panfil et al. (US 20210249896) in view of Apalenek et al. (US 8,994,214)
With respect to claims 1, 9, 11, and 18-20 Panfil teaches a system, comprising: an input (see AC input supplied at 14) configured to receive power from a first power source (see AC input); a direct current (DC) bus (between 26band 26d) connected to the input and configured to receive power from the input; an array of supplemental energy storage elements (30) connected to the DC bus; at least one additional energy storage device (18/12a or see Bus containing 30) connected to the DC bus; an output (see power supplied to loads 20 from inverter) connected to the DC bus, the output comprising an alternating current (AC) power supply (see inverter 26d) configured to supply power to at least one facility (see loads 20); and at least one controller (see 26/54) configured to control charging and discharging of the array of energy storage elements and the additional energy storage device connected to the DC bus to supply power from the DC bus to the output. Panfil does not teach the energy storage system is comprised of a array of ultra-capacitors. Ultra-capacitors are a known alternative to provide bridging power as seen in Apalenek (col. 2 lines 30-45). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Panfil to try the known alternative of a ultra-capacitor for the predictable result of improved rapid charging.
With respect to claim Panfil 2 teaches the detect (for example paragraph 0067) an interruption of power from the first power source; control discharging (via control of discharging of 30 as a bridging supply to soft load the second power source walk in) of the array of ultra-capacitors connected to the DC bus to continuously supply power from the DC bus to the output during the interruption; and switch a transfer switch (formed by opening 14a and closing 12c or 18b) from the first power source (Utility supply) to a second power source (fuel cell or extended battery), wherein the input is further configured to receive power from the second power source.
With respect to claims 4 and 13 Panfil teaches the additional energy storage and the storage are connected in parallel (see Fig .1)
With respect to claims 5 and 14 Panfil as modified above teaches one additional energy storage device is configured to supply power to the DC bus simultaneously (during soft loading) with the array of ultra-capacitors supplying power to the DC bus.
With respect to claim 6 and 15 Panfil teaches the additional energy storage device is configured to supply power to the DC bus when a voltage of the array of ultra-capacitors satisfies a threshold (see at least minimum runtime level).
With respect to claim 7 and 16 Panfil as modified above teaches additional energy storage device is configured to supply power to the DC bus when the voltage of the array of ultra-capacitors is below the threshold (see when able to absorb excess energy paragraph 0068) and to not supply power to the DC bus when the voltage of the array of ultra-capacitors is above the threshold (when unable to absorb).
With respect to claim 8 and 17 Panfil as modified above teaches the array of ultra-capacitors is configured to supply power for a first duration of time (during initial outage), wherein the at least one additional energy storage device is configured to supply power for a second duration of time (during extended outage), and wherein the second duration of time is longer than the first duration of time.
With respect to claim 10 Panfil as modified above teaches the at least one additional energy storage device comprises a plurality of batteries (paragraph 0034).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Fin whose telephone number is (571)272-5921. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5:30.
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, Rexford Barnie can be reached at 571-272-7429. 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.
MICHAEL FIN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2836
/MICHAEL R. FIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836