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 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: “disables light of the LED lamp while activates the light signal detector” is grammatically improper. 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.
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 1-2, 4, 7, and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2022/0248515, hereinafter “Wu”) in view of Yang et al. (US 11,013,081, hereinafter “Yang”).
Claim 1: Wu discloses a lighting apparatus (Fig.2), coupled to a main power (AC 220 V), comprising:
an LED driving circuit (40), wherein the LED driving circuit is coupled to an LED lamp (LEDs; see Fig.2, [0025]), wherein the LED driving circuit comprises a sampling terminal (input to A1 from 30), wherein the LED driving circuit is configured to output different driving currents to the LED lamp and perform constant current driving of the LED lamp (see [0029], where 40 provides different constant currents according to the dimming voltage to realize constant power dimming) based on different sampling resistances (Rh-Rn) connected to the sampling terminal (input of A1);
an impedance switching circuit (32), wherein the impedance switching circuit is coupled to the sampling terminal of the LED driving circuit (see Fig.2), wherein the impedance switching circuit is configured to output sampling resistances of different impedances to the sampling terminal of the LED driving circuit in response to different impedance switching signals (from 33; see [0030]).
Wu does not explicitly disclose that the lighting apparatus and LED driving circuits are connected to the main power via a wall switch or a detection circuit, wherein the detection circuit is coupled to the wall switch and the impedance switching circuit, wherein the detection circuit is configured to output different impedance switching signals in response to switching actions of the wall switch.
Yang discloses a light dimmer control apparatus for an LED lamp (col.6,52-63) including a detection circuit (31, 32, 33, Fig.3), where a pattern of switching of a corresponding wall switch is detected in order to output a signal to adjust the brightness of the LED lamp (see col.7,30-56). Yang discloses that by providing a detection circuit to detect a user flickering a wall switch in order to control lamp brightness, easy retrofitting due to allowing the LED dimming function to be accomplished without changing a wall switch is accomplished (see col.7,57-62). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to have provided the detection circuit of Yang to control the dimming function of Wu via the control of the switched impedances of Wu in order to have provided a dimming function via an existing wall switch with easy retrofitting.
Claim 2: the combination discloses wherein the LED driving circuit comprises a rectification circuit (full bridge rectifier of Fig.2 of Wu) and a constant current driving circuit (40), wherein the rectification circuit is coupled to the wall switch (20 of Yang), wherein the rectification circuit is configured to perform rectification conversion on the main power input (see Fig.2 of Wu, which discloses a full bridge rectifier coupled to 220 VAC, thus performs rectification) and output a DC power supply (see Fig.2), wherein the constant current driving circuit (40) is coupled to the rectification circuit (via the LED string; see Fig.2), the LED lamp (directly; see Fig.2), and the impedance switching circuit (output of 32), wherein the constant current driving circuit comprises a sampling terminal (output of 32), wherein the constant current driving circuit is configured to output different driving currents to the LED lamp and perform constant current driving of the LED lamp based on different sampling resistances connected to the sampling terminal (see [0029] of Wu).
Claim 4: the combination discloses wherein the rectification circuit comprises a rectification bridge (the full-bridge rectifier shown in Fig.2 of Wu).
Claim 7: the combination discloses wherein the detection circuit (shown in Fig.6) comprises a detection chip (U3) and a second resistor (R11), wherein a first terminal of the second resistor forms a signal input terminal of the detection circuit and is coupled to the wall switch (via C10), wherein a second terminal of the second resistor is coupled to a signal input terminal of the detection chip (terminal 1 of U3), wherein at least one signal output terminal of the detection chip is coupled to a control terminal of the impedance switching circuit (in the combination of Wu and Yang, the output of the detection circuit of Yang would control the impedance switching circuit of Wu to control brightness).
Claim 9: the combination discloses wherein the impedance switching circuit comprises a digital potentiometer (Rh-Rn and 32 functionally being a digital potentiometer).
Claim 10: the combination discloses wherein the LED lamp comprises a light strip, wherein the light strip comprises multiple LED modules with different parameters, wherein the driver circuit converts an operation of the wall switch to an instruction to generate driving signals to the LED modules to mix a required light parameter.
Claims 3 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu in view of Yang as applied to claims 1-2 above, and further in view of Lin et al. (CN 219499591 U, hereinafter “Lin”).
The combination of Wu and Yang disclose the limitations of claims 1-2, as discussed above. The combination does not disclose “wherein the constant current driving circuit comprises any one of a buck circuit, a boost circuit, a buck-boost circuit, and a flyback circuit, wherein the constant current driving circuit comprises a constant current driving chip, wherein the constant current driving chip comprises a sampling terminal” (claim 3) or “wherein the impedance switching circuit comprises a plurality of parallel impedance branches, wherein each impedance branch of the plurality of parallel impedance branches comprises a sampling resistor and a switching switch connected in series, wherein a control terminal of the switching switch is coupled to a signal output terminal of the detection circuit” (claim 8).
Regarding claim 3, Lin discloses that in a similar, conventional LED driver (Fig.1), a constant current driving circuit (130) may comprise any one of a buck circuit, a boost circuit, a buck-boost circuit, and a flyback circuit (pg.4, 7th paragraph), wherein a constant current driving circuit comprises a constant current driving chip (pg.9, 4th paragraph), wherein a constant current driving chip comprises a sampling terminal (parallel switched impedances Ri-R1). As the choice in constant current circuit is chosen for a list of alternatives in meeting a particular design requirement, the results of providing any of a buck circuit, a boost circuit, a buck-boost circuit, and a flyback circuit depending on a particular design requirement would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to have provided the constant current driving circuit of Wu instead as any of a buck circuit, a boost circuit, a buck-boost circuit, and a flyback circuit within the form of a chip as being obvious to try from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions for any particular system design, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim 8: Li discloses that a similar impedance switching circuit comprises a plurality of parallel impedance branches (branches including Ri-R2), where each impedance branch comprises a sampling resistor (Ri-R2) and a switching switch (switches connected to Ri-R2) connected in series (Fig.1), where a control terminal of the switching switch is coupled to a signal output terminal of the detection circuit (in the combination of Wu and Yang with Li). One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized parallel branched switched impedances as a design alternative to series switched impedances, with both options providing a desired equivalent impedance based on a digital signal. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to have provided a parallel switched impedance in place of the series switched impedance of Wu as the simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 and 11-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art does not clearly disclose “wherein the power supply circuit is configured to perform power conversion on the DC power supply output from the rectification circuit and output a working voltage to the detection circuit” or “a light signal detector, wherein the driver circuit disables light of the LED lamp while activates the light signal detector to receives a first light modulated signal” within the context of claims 5 and 11.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ryan Johnson whose telephone number is (571)270-1264. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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, Menna Youssef can be reached at 571-270-3684. 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.
/RYAN JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
Prosecution Insights