Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of the Application
2. Claim 1-4 have been examined in this application. This communication is the first action on the merits.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 10/30/24 are objected to because shading is used improperly in the drawing, reducing its reproducibility. 37 CFR 1.84(m) requires that shading should not reduce legibility, solid black shading is not used except for bar graphs and color, and that shading with spaced lines is preferred.
Claim Objections
4. Claims 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: "the multiport DC-DC converter" is ambiguous as to the metes and bounds of the limitation. In particular, is “the multiport DC-Dc converter” the same or different from “A multiport DC converter”? Applicant is advised that the terminology should be clarified to remove the ambiguity. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: a machine learning module for predicting energy generation; a battery state-of-charge monitoring module; a communication module, a prediction and optimization module configured to in claim 4;
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
6. 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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim limitation “a machine learning module for predicting energy generation; a battery state-of-charge monitoring module; a communication module, a prediction and optimization module configured to” invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. However, the written description fails to disclose the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. The claimed different module of claim 4 is an energy management system for use with the multiport DC converter, however the specification does not provide sufficient details such that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand which structure or structures perform(s) the claimed function.
Therefore, the claim is indefinite and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph;
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites what structure, material, or acts perform the entire claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(c) Amend the written description of the specification such that it clearly links the structure, material, or acts disclosed therein to the function recited in the claim, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)).
If applicant is of the opinion that the written description of the specification already implicitly or inherently discloses the corresponding structure, material, or acts and clearly links them to the function so that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function, applicant should clarify the record by either:
(a) Amending the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function and clearly links or associates the structure, material, or acts to the claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(b) Stating on the record what the corresponding structure, material, or acts, which are implicitly or inherently set forth in the written description of the specification, perform the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
7. Claim 1 recites the limitation "the amount of energy". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 2-4 are also rejected under 112(b) due to their direct/indirect dependency over the claim 1.
8. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. As described above, the disclosure does not provide adequate structure to perform the different claimed function of claim 4. The specification does not demonstrate that applicant has made an invention that achieves the claimed function because the invention is not described with sufficient detail such that one of ordinary skill in the art can reasonably conclude that the inventor had possession of the claimed invention.
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.
9. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Wang (US Pat: 10263456).
10. Regarding claim 1, Wang discloses:
A multiport DC converter, comprising: one or more energy sources, a battery, the multiport DC-DC converter being configured to (e.g., The three-port topology in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown with reference to FIG. 2. As illustrated in FIG. 2, one port of the low voltage side of the proposed three-port integrated bidirectional DC-DC converter 200 is designed as a current source port that the renewable energy source (RES) 205 is connected to in order to meet the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and voltage variation requirement. The battery backup system 210 is connected to the low voltage side (LVS) DC-link port, due to the small voltage variation of the battery back up system 210. ) (Col. 4, Ln. 25-35, Fig. 2, also refer to Fig. 1):
receive energy from one or more energy sources and/or from the battery (Refer to (Col. 4, Ln. 25-35, Fig. 1-2)), charge the battery using at least part of the energy from the one or more energy sources (e.g., The output current of the DC-DC converter is controlled by the phase shift angle and the duty cycle is used to realize the MPPT. For the stand-alone mode, the phase shift angle is controlled by the voltage controller and the battery current is determined by the renewable energy source system power and the load requirement. When the renewable energy source system power is low, the backup battery system discharges and provides part of the power to the load. When the RES is high, the excess power will charge the battery) (Col. 10, Ln. 7-16),
and energize a load by directing energy from the one or more energy sources and/or the battery (e.g., The DC distributed bus 215 is connected to the high voltage side (HVS) port of the three-port integrated bidirectional DC-DC converter 200 to realize galvanic isolation by a high frequency transformer) (Col. 4, Ln. 35-38, Refer to Fig. 2, 215 is DC Bus/load, also refer to Fig. 1 where DC load is 110) ;
the multiport DC-DC converter further comprising an energy management system for selectively controlling the charging or discharging of the battery and the amount of energy directed to the load (e.g., FIG. 6 illustrates the power flow controller 600 for the boost converter and the DAB converter of the grid-interactive system using a three port DC-DC converter. The output current of the DC-DC converter is controlled by the phase shift angle and the duty cycle is used to realize the MPPT. For the stand-alone mode, the phase shift angle is controlled by the voltage controller and the battery current is determined by the renewable energy source system power and the load requirement. When the renewable energy source system power is low, the backup battery system discharges and provides part of the power to the load. When the RES is high, the excess power will charge the battery. For the grid-connected system, the battery current is more flexible and is determined by the state of charge (SOC) management. If the battery is fully charged, the extra RES power will be send back to the grid.) (Col. 10, Ln. 5-20, Fig. 1-2, 6).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
11. 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.
12. Claim 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Jafari (NPL: A magnetically coupled multi-port, multi-operation-mode micro-grid with a predictive dynamic programming-based energy management for residential
Applications, 2018).
13. Regarding claim 2, Wang teaches the multiport DC converter of claim 1, wherein the one or more energy sources comprises a photovoltaic energy source and a wind energy source (e.g., In various embodiment of the present invention, the renewable energy source system may be a photovoltaic system, a rectified wind turbine system, a fuel cell system or an ultracapacitor system) (Col. 3, Ln. 1-4, Fig. 1),
Wang does not specifically teach and wherein the load comprises a green hydrogen (GH2) electrolyzer.
Jafari teaches and wherein the load comprises a green hydrogen (GH2) electrolyzer (e.g., An electrolyser is considered as an optional load to generate the required hydrogen for the fuel cell and increase the systems flexibility and energy storage capability) (Section I. Introduction, Page. 785, Col. 3, Ln. 47-49, Fig. 1).
Because Jafari is also directed to the micro-grid structure includes a triple active bridge (TAB) dc-dc converter, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Wang and Jafari before him/her, to modify the teachings of Wang to include the teaching of Jafari in order to generate the required hydrogen for the fuel cell and increase the systems flexibility and energy storage capability (Col. 3, Ln. 47-49).
14. Regarding claim 3, the combination of Wang and Jafari teaches the multiport DC converter of claim 2, wherein Jafari further teaches the energy management system performs selective control based on predictions of energy generation from the one or more energy sources and/or based on load demand predictions (e.g., -A novel energy management based on the real-time data and long term predictions of the PV generation and load demand using a 2D dynamic programming is proposed) (Col. 4, Ln. 29-31, Page. 785).
15. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Jafari, and further in view of Sanders (Pub: 2017/0005515).
16. Regarding claim 4, Wang teaches An energy management system for use with the multiport DC converter of claim 1, Wang further teaches a battery state-of-charge monitoring module (e.g., wherein the power flow controller further comprises a state of charge (SOC) controller coupled to the bidirectional DC-link port of the DAB converter and a maximum port point tracking (MPPT) controller coupled to the bidirectional current source port of the DAB converter.) (claim 1).
Jafari teaches a prediction and optimization module configured to, based on the prediction of energy generation of each of the one or more energy sources, the battery charge state and a load demand (e.g., -A novel energy management based on the real-time data and long term predictions of the PV generation and load demand using a 2D dynamic programming is proposed) (Col. 4, Ln. 29-31, Page. 785), determine a battery charge using at least part of the energy coming from the one or more energy sources, and/or battery discharge to supply energy to the load, and/or increase or decrease the energy directed to the load (e.g., On the other hand, a bi-directional buck-boost dc-dc converter is used in Port four to control the charge and discharge of the battery) (Section I, Introduction, Page. 785, Col. 3, Ln. 61-63).
The combination of Wang and Jafari does not specifically teach a machine learning module for predicting energy generation from each of the one or more energy sources; a communication module, consisting of an energy management system and cloud services, in communication with the load, to determine load demand.
Sanders teaches a machine learning module for predicting energy generation from each of the one or more energy sources; a communication module, consisting of an energy management system and cloud services, in communication with the load, to determine load demand (e.g., A software platform in communication with networked distributed energy resource energy storage apparatus, configured to deliver various specific applications related to offset demand monitoring, methods of virtual power plant and orchestration, load shaping services, methods of reducing demand at aggregated level, prioritizing computer programs related to virtual energy pool, energy cloud controllers methods, charge discharge orchestration plans of electric vehicles, distributed energy resources, machine learning predictive algorithms, value optimizing algorithms, autonomous sensing event awareness, mode selection methods, capacity reservation monitoring, virtual power plant methods, advanced DER-ES apparatus features, energy management system for governing resources and methods, aggregated energy cloud methods, load shaping methods, marginal cost cycle-life degradation, load shaping API, forward event schedule, on demand request, and load service state request methods. Various rules, constraints of predictive algorithms for signal inputs to determine incremental storage cycles, cycle life degradation marginal cost, iterative and forward event schedule development, and load control.) (Abstract).
Because Sanders is also directed Systems and methods for distributed energy services management, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Wang, Jafari and Sanders before him/her, to modify the combined teachings of Wang, and Jafari to include the teaching of Sanders in order to determine incremental storage cycles, cycle life degradation marginal cost, iterative and forward event schedule development, and load control (Abstract).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
disclosure.
Avestruz (Pub: 2021/0391726) disclose FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a system for solar and other power processing with a multiple port DC-DC converter in accordance with one example. In this case, the system includes multiple disparate DC power sources. In this example, the DC power sources include a photovoltaic module and a battery. Additional or alternative power sources may be included. For instance, the system may include a thermoelectric power source (Para. [0087], Fig. 12).
Gupta (Pub: 2016/0099572) disclose The multiport DC/DC converter also provides control functions for controlling (1) the input voltage, current or power of PV modules to which it is connected, (2) the output voltage, current or power on the higher voltage DC bus to which it is connected, (3) a local power storage and (4) tracker actuators (Para. [0029]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIGNESHKUMAR C PATEL whose telephone number is (571)270-0698. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth M. Lo can be reached at (571)272-9774. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIGNESHKUMAR C PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116
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