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 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: the extra white space in line 1 should be deleted. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 4-7, 9, 10 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Steinbach US 2018/0181099 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Steinbach discloses
A motor drive system (figs. 1 and 4) configured to output a first drive signal (output from item 440), a second drive signal (output from item 450), and a third drive signal (output from item 460) for driving an electric motor (item 129) [0020, 0048], the motor drive
system comprising:
- a first power converter (item 440) configured to generate the first drive signal, and
- a second power converter (item 450) configured to generate the second drive
Signal [0049-0050].
Regarding claim 2, Steinbach discloses
a third power converter configured to generate the third drive signal [0051].
Regarding claim 4, Steinbach discloses
, wherein each of the first power converter and the second power converter is a synchronous buck power converter [0037, 0038] (Fig. 2 represents a synchronous buck converter because of switch 207).
Regarding claim 5, Steinbach discloses
, wherein each of the synchronous buck power converters comprises - a high side switching element (item 203) coupled between a first input of a respective synchronous buck power converter and a switching node (point A),- a low side switching element (item 207) coupled between the switching node and a second input of the respective synchronous buck power converter, and - an inductor (item 212) coupled between the switching node and an output of the respective synchronous buck power converter [0037-0039].
Regarding claim 6, Steinbach discloses
, wherein the first drive signal, the second drive signal, and the third drive signal have continuous, periodic shape and are phase-shifted by 120 degrees with respect to each other [0050].
Regarding claim 7, Steinbach discloses
, wherein the motor drive system is configured to output the first drive signal at a first output node and is configured to output the second drive signal at a second output node, and wherein a voltage between the first output node and the second output node has sinusoidal shape [0029, 0053].
Regarding claim 9, Steinbach discloses
, wherein the motor drive system is configured to generate the first drive signal, the second drive signal, and third drive signal for controlling a desired speed or a desired torque of the electric motor [0031].
Regarding claim 10, Steinbach discloses
, wherein the first power converter is configured to generate the first drive signal based on a first voltage reference (a supply voltage) and a sensed output voltage at an output of the first power converter [0049].
Regarding claim 16, Steinbach discloses
A method of driving an electric motor, the method comprising - generating, by a first power converter, a first drive signal, and- generating, by a second power converter, a second drive signal (see claim 1 rejection for detail).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steinbach in a view of LI et al. US 2020/0328671 A1.
Regarding claim 3, Steinbach discloses
, wherein the first power converter and the second power converter are switched mode power supplies (SMPSs) [0038]. Steinbach does not disclose but LI et al. disclose wherein switches of the switch mode power supplies are implemented using gallium nitride GaN technology [0059].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use GaN as disclosed by LI in Steinbach’s SMPSs to improve structure and heat dissipation.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steinbach in a view of Horst et al. US 2017/0025970 A1.
Regarding claim 8, Steinbach does not disclose but Horst et al. disclose, wherein the first drive signal, the second drive signal, and the third drive signal are periodically oscillating signals whose instantaneous frequency corresponds to an instantaneous rotation frequency of the electric motor [0065, 0087] and claim 5 on page 8.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a plurality of drive signals disclosed by Horst in Steinbach’s teachings to determine the vehicle speed.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steinbach in a view of Wolfe et al. US 2020/0007054 A1.
Regarding claim 11, Steinbach does not disclose but Horst et al. disclose a voltage sensing unit (fig. 2, item 230) configured to determine the sensed output voltage based on a voltage at the output of the first power converter (item 120) [0038, 0070, 0071].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a voltage sensing unit as disclosed by Wolfe in Steinbach’s teachings to manage the harvested energy by maintaining the voltage within the threshold voltage.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-15 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. Claim 12 is about using the rotor position information to determine the first voltage reference.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Pullen et al. (US 2020/0177120 A1) disclose synchronously controlled down converters.
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/BICKEY DHAKAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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