DETAILED ACTION
1. This action is in response to the application filed on 11/25/24.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
3. The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore,
“internal supply voltages”; and “driver circuits” (in claim 1)
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
4. Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 6, recites “a buck-boost converter” should be replaced with “a buck-boost converter”; “a plurality of switching elements” should be replace with “the plurality of switching element”; “a step-up” should be replace with “the step-up”; “a first switching state” should be replace with “a first switching state”; “a step-down” should be replace with “the step-down”; “a third switching state” should be replace with “the third switching state”; “Claim 1” should be replaced with “claim 1”.
Claim 11, recites “Claim 6” should be replaced with “claim 6).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-2, and 4-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shao et al. (US 20170257031).
Regarding claim 1: Shao et al. disclose (i.e. figures 1-7) a method of operating a DC-DC converter (300) (i.e. converter of figure 1) which contains a buck-boost converter (10) (i.e. 100) with an inductor (L) (i.e. 101) and a plurality of switching elements (S 1-S4) (i.e. S1-S4), wherein a step-up operation is achieved by alternating switching of the switching elements (i.e. S1-S4) between a first switching state (BOOST ON) (i.e. second state Φ2) and a second switching state (BOOST OFF, BUCK ON) (i.e. fifth state Φ5) and a step-down operation is achieved by alternating switching between the second switching state (BOOST OFF, BUCK ON) (i.e. fifth state Φ5) and a third switching state (BUCK OFF) (i.e. fourth state Φ4), wherein the switching between the switching states (i.e. state Φ1- Φ5) takes place periodically in switching cycles with a predetermined period duration (Tc) (i.e. duration of the switching cycle of S1-S4, also see switching period of figures 4B), wherein the method comprises:
measuring (i.e. by 107) a current (I) (i.e. from 107, IL) flowing through the inductor (L) (i.e. 101), performing the following method steps:
a) comparing the current (I) (i.e. from 107, IL) with a first threshold current value (Ival),
b) setting the buck-boost converter (10) (i.e. 100) into the first switching state (BOOST ON) (i.e. figure 4B: see state Φ2 and Φ5, IL rising to and above Tpeak) at the beginning of a switching cycle if the current (I) (i.e. from 107, IL) is below the first threshold current value (Ival) (i.e. Tpeak), or setting the buck-boost converter (10) into the second switching state (BOOST OFF, BUCK ON) (i.e. figure 4: fifth state Φ5 above Tpeak) at the beginning of the switching cycle if the current (I) (i.e. from 107, IL) is not below the first threshold current value (Ival) (i.e. Tpeak),
c) if the buck-boost converter (10) (i.e. 100) is operated in the first switching state (BOOST ON) (i.e. second state Φ2), comparing the current (I) (i.e. from 107, IL) with the first threshold current value (Ival) (i.e. Tpeak) and setting the buck-boost converter (10) (i.e. 100) into the second switching state (BOOST OFF, BUCK ON) (i.e. fifth state Φ5) as soon as the current (I) (i.e. from 107, IL) reaches the first threshold current value (Ival) (i.e. figure 4: fifth state Φ5 above Tpeak),
d) if the buck-boost converter (10) (i.e. 100) is operated in the second switching state (BOOST OFF, BUCK ON) (i.e. fifth state Φ5), comparing the current (I) (i.e. from 107, IL) with a second threshold current value (Ipk) (i.e. Tmax) which is greater than the first threshold current value (Ival) (i.e. Tpeak) and setting the buck- boost converter into the third switching state (BUCK OFF) (i.e. figure 4: fifth state Φ4) as soon as the current (I) (i.e. from 107, IL) reaches the second threshold current value (Ipk) (i.e. Tmax), and
repeating steps a) (i.e. function of the converter 100) to d) after expiry of the predetermined period duration (Tc) (i.e. duration of the switching cycle of S1-S4, also see switching period of figures 4B) (i.e. ¶ 19-38).
Regarding claim 2: (i.e. figures 1-7) wherein the buck-boost converter (10) is set into the first switching state (BOOST ON) (i.e. figure 4: initial of state Φ2) before step a) (i.e. ¶ 19-38).
Regarding claim 4: (i.e. figures 1-7) wherein the first threshold current value (i.e. Tpeak) (Ival) and/or the second threshold current value (Ipk) (i.e. Tmax) and/or the predetermined period duration (Tc) are obtained from operating data of a device (100) (i.e. device generate Tpeak, Tmax) in which the DC-DC converter (300) (i.e. converter of figure 1) is used.
Regarding claim 5: (i.e. figures 1-7) wherein the operating data of the device (100) comprise maximum power point tracking data of a current generator (200) and/or the maximum current for charging a current storage (400) and/or the maximum voltage for charging the current storage (400) (i.e. battery, ¶ 3-4).
Regarding claim 6: (i.e. figures 1-7) comprising a buck-boost converter (10) (i.e. 100) with an inductor (L) (i.e. 101) and a plurality of switching elements (S1-S4) (i.e. S1-S4), wherein a step-up operation is achieved by alternating switching of the switching elements (i.e. S1-S4) between a first switching state (BOOST ON) (i.e. second state Φ2) and a second switching state (BOOST OFF, BUCK ON) (i.e. fifth state Φ5) and a step-down operation is achieved by alternating switching (i.e. S1-S4) between the second switching state (BOOST OFF, BUCK ON) (i.e. fifth state Φ5) and a third switching state (BUCK OFF) (i.e. fourth state Φ4), and a control device (20) (i.e. 106) for controlling the DC-DC converter (i.e. converter of figure 1), wherein the control device (20) (i.e. 116) is configured or programmed to operate the DC- DC converter (100) (i.e. converter of figure 1) by means of a method according to Claim 1 (i.e. ¶ 19-38).
Regarding claim 7: (i.e. figures 1-7) wherein the buck-boost converter (10) (i.e. 100) contains an input terminal (IN) for applying an input voltage (U1) (i.e. Vin), an output terminal (OUT) for outputting an output voltage (U2) (i.e. Vout) and a common ground (GND) (i.e. ground), a first end of the inductor (L) (i.e. 101) is connected via a first switching element (S1) (i.e. S1) to the input terminal (IN) and via a second switching element (S2) (i.e. S2) to the ground (GND), and a second end of the inductor (L) (i.e. 101) is connected via a third switching element (S3) (i.e. S4) to the output terminal OUT and via a fourth switching element (S4) (i.e. S5) to the ground GND.
Regarding claim 8: Shao et al. disclose (i.e. figures 1-7) wherein in the first switching state (BOOST ON) (i.e. second state Φ2), the second and the third switching element (S2, S3) (i.e. S2, S4) are opened and the first and the fourth switching element (S1, S4) (i.e. S1, S3) are closed and/or in the second switching state (BOOST OFF, BUCK ON) (i.e. fifth state Φ5), the second and the fourth switching element (S2, S4) (i.e. S2, S3) are opened and the first and the third switching element (S1, S3) (i.e. S1, S4) are closed and/or in the third switching state (BUCK OFF) (i.e. fifth state Φ5), the first and the fourth switching element (S1, S4) (i.e. S1, S3) are opened and the second and the third switching element (S2, S3) (i.e. S2, S4) are closed and/or in the fourth switching state (REFRESH), the first and the third switching element (Si, S3) are opened and the second and the fourth switching element (S2, S4) are closed.
Regarding claim 9: (i.e. figures 1-7) wherein the control device (20) (i.e. 116) contains a microcontroller.
Regarding claim 10: (i.e. figures 1-7) wherein the comparison of the current (I) (i.e. from 107, IL) with the first threshold current value (Ival) (i.e. Tpeak) and/or with the second threshold current value (Ipk) is carried out by means of comparators (i.e. 110) integrated in the hardware of the microcontroller (i.e. 116).
Regarding claim 11: (i.e. figures 1-7) comprising a current generator (200) for generating electrical energy at a first voltage (U1), a current storage (400) for storing the electrical energy generated by the current generator (200) (i.e. battery, ¶ 3-4) at a second voltage (U2) (i.e. Vout) and the DC-DC converter (300) according to Claim 6.
Regarding claim 12: (i.e. figures 1-7) computer program stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions which cause a control unit (20) to generate control signals (i.e. from controller) for carrying out a method according to Claim 1 when the computer program is executed in the control unit (20) (i.e. ¶ 91).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shao et al. (US 20170257031) in view of Pui et al. (US 20210126538).
Regarding claim 3: Shao et al. disclose the limitation of the claim(s) as discussed above, but does not specifically disclose the buck-boost converter (10) is set into a fourth switching state (REFRESH) at the end of the switching cycle before expiry of the predetermined period duration (Tc), which fourth switching state is configured for regenerating internal supply voltages of driver circuits for the switching elements (S1, S3) connected to an input terminal (IN) or an output terminal (OUT) of the buck-boost converter (10).
Pui et al. disclose a power converter (i.e. figures 2A and 3B) the buck-boost converter (10) (i.e. 200) is set into a fourth switching state (REFRESH) (i.e. state of 318) at the end of the switching cycle (i.e. cycle of TMAX_ElAPSED) before expiry of the predetermined period duration (Tc) (i.e. duration of TMAX_ElAPSED), which fourth switching state (i.e. state of 318) is configured for regenerating internal supply voltages of driver circuits (i.e. driver of 200) for the switching elements (i.e. 234, 254) connected to an input terminal (IN) (i.e. Vin) or an output terminal (OUT) of the buck-boost converter (10) (i.e. Vout) (i.e. ¶ 35-38).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to modify the circuit of Shao et al.’s invention with the converter as disclose by Pui et al. to have fourth switching state is configured for regenerating internal supply voltages of driver circuits for the switching elements (S1, S3) connected to an input terminal (IN) or an output terminal (OUT) of the buck-boost converter (10), because it provide a stable output voltage with minimal ripple is important for the proper operation of these display devices.
Conclusion
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NGUYEN TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1269. The examiner can normally be reached Flex: M-F 8-7.
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/Nguyen Tran/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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