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 .
Inventorship
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements submitted on 11/06/2024 and 12/16/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the other one" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 11-13, 15, 16, 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a as being anticipated by Li et al. (CN 114977872A using US12700812).
Claims 1, 2, 4, 9, 11-13, 15, 16 and 18; Li et al. disclose a DC/AC conversion circuit and method (fig. 1), comprising an inverter unit (S1-S4), at least one cycloconverter (S5-S8), and a controller (fig. 7), wherein the inverter unit is configured for converting a direct current (e.g. battery) into an alternating current (e.g. transformer); the at least one cycloconverter is connected to the inverter unit, the at least one cycloconverter comprises a plurality of sets of switching elements (S5/S6, S7/S8), the plurality of sets of switching elements are connected to an output port (e.g. secondary) of the inverter unit respectively and configured for performing AC-to-AC conversion, and an output port of the at least one cycloconverter is configured to connect to a power grid (e.g. Power grid) and provide an alternating current output, wherein each of the plurality of sets of switching elements comprises at least two switching elements which are connected in reverse; and the controller is connected to the inverter unit and the at least one cycloconverter and is configured for controlling, when a grid voltage is within a threshold range (note: no positive limitations to this range; thus, grid max and grid min is the range), corresponding two of the plurality of sets of switching elements to complementarily turn on, wherein the threshold range comprises a zero crossing (fig. 2(c), S5 & S7 complementarily ON).
Claims 6 and 20; S5, S6, S7, S8 are in series.
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.
Claim(s) 3, 7, 14 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. in view of Wang et al. (US 20220416679).
Li et al. disclose the claimed subject matter in regards to claims 1 and 12 supra, except for controlling switching elements in each of the corresponding two of the plurality of sets of switching elements to turn on or off simultaneously.
Wang et al. teach that it is known in the art to simultaneously turn ON switching elements in order to provide bidirectional switch tubes configured in a current source high frequency matrix converter that improves efficiency and power density.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify Li et al. to include controlling switching elements in each of the corresponding two of the plurality of sets of switching elements to turn on or off simultaneously in order to provide bidirectional switch tubes configured in a current source high frequency matrix converter that improves efficiency and power density.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. in view of Harrison (US 20230015609).
Li et al. disclose the claimed subject matter in regards to claim 1 supra, except for a resonant unit connected in series to the secondary side of the transformer, wherein an output terminal of the resonant unit is connected to a corresponding cycloconverter.
Harrison teaches it is known in the art to add an inductor and capacitor to a secondary side winding of a transformer in order to institute a high efficiency resonant DC to AC power supply system with a half bridge or full bridge cycloconverter on the AC side.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify Li et al. to include a resonant unit connected in series to the secondary side of the transformer as taught by Harrison, wherein the resonant unit is connected to a corresponding cycloconverter in order to improve efficiency.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 and 19 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 8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the objection(s) set forth in this Office action and to include 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:
Claim 5; prior art fails to disclose or fairly suggest, inter alia, a hysteresis comparison unit, the hysteresis comparison unit is configured to compare the grid voltage with a first threshold and a second threshold respectively and control an operating state of the at least one cycloconverter according to a comparison result, wherein the first threshold and the second threshold are determined based on the threshold range.
Claim 8; prior art fails to disclose or fairly suggest, inter alia, each of the plurality of sets of switching elements comprises a first switching element and a second switching element, when the grid voltage is in a positive half-cycle or a negative half-cycle and is not in the threshold range, one of the first switching element and the second switching element is controlled to be in an always-on state, and the other one of the first switching element and the second switching element is controlled to turn on or off at a high switching frequency.
Claim 19; prior art fails to disclose or fairly suggest, inter alia, comparing the grid voltage with a first threshold and a second threshold respectively and controlling an operating state of the at least one cycloconverter according to a comparison result, wherein the first threshold and the second threshold are determined based on the threshold range.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY L LAXTON whose telephone number is (571)272-2079. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8 am-4 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Crystal Hammond can be reached at 571-270-1682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GARY L LAXTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838 8/13/2026
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