26 November 2024Notice 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 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)(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.
Claims 1, 3, 6-13 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Mueller et al. US publication no.: US 2022/0305921 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Mueller et al. teach, A motor controller (pulse-controlled inverter 3, figure 3; paragraph 30 where it includes an electronic circuit) , wherein the motor controller is configured to output a drive current or a heating current to an asynchronous motor (motor 1, figure 1) , both the drive current and the heating current are three-phase currents, a waveform of each phase current of the drive current is a sine wave, the drive current is used to control the asynchronous motor to output torque (as explained in paragraphs 11 and 26 that the motor is a pulse controlled traction motor, which inherently performs current in sine wave), a waveform of each phase current of the heating current is a square wave or a step wave, the heating current is used to control the torque output by the asynchronous motor to be zero (see figure 4 for the heating current applied to be in square wave while paragraph 28 explains that the current is set to zero so no torque applied will propel the motor), and the heating current is used to heat a winding of the asynchronous motor (see paragraph 26, where the heating current is applied to the motor).
Regarding claims 3, 13 and 18, Mueller et al. teach, the motor controller according to claim 1, wherein each phase current of the heating current changes periodically, each change periodicity comprises a plurality of time periods, an amplitude of each phase current remains the same in each time period, and the amplitude of each phase current changes in different time periods (see unipolar square wave phase currents in the middle of figure 4).
Regarding claim 6, Mueller et al. teach, the motor controller according to claim 1, wherein a quadrature axis component of the heating current is zero, an amplitude of a direct axis component of the heating current alternates between a fixed value and zero in sequence, and the fixed value is greater than zero (see paragraphs 27-28, where it is explained that the d current is applied to d-axis and q-axis is set to zero and further also shows that the d-axis current can also be set to zero).
Regarding claim 7, Mueller et al. teach, the motor controller according to claim 1, wherein the amplitude of the direct axis component is a fixed value (see amplitude of square wave, figure 4).
Regarding claims 8, 11 and 16, Mueller et al. teach, the motor controller according to claim 1, wherein a frequency of each phase current of the drive current is greater than a frequency of each phase current of the heating current, and heating power of each phase current of the drive current on the winding of the asynchronous motor is less than heating power of each phase current of the heating current on the winding of the asynchronous motor (see figure 4, where the heating waveform period is shown as 5 milliseconds which corresponds to 200hz. This value is clearly less than the waveform a driving current or a motor like traction motor which would be way more than 200hz).
Regarding claim 9, Mueller et al. teach, the motor controller according to claim 1, further comprising: an inverter circuit that comprises a three-phase switching transistor bridge arm, wherein a bridge arm midpoint of each switching transistor bridge arm is configured to connect to a one-phase winding of the asynchronous motor, and output the drive current or the heating current to the winding of the asynchronous motor. (see figure 1 for the connection between inverter 3 which includes switching transistors and the motor 1).
Regarding claim 10, Mueller et al. teach, A powertrain (see figure 1), wherein the powertrain comprises an asynchronous motor and a motor controller (pulse-controlled inverter 3, figure 3; paragraph 30 where it includes an electronic circuit), the motor controller is configured to output a drive current or a heating current to the asynchronous motor, both the drive current and the heating current are three-phase currents, a waveform of each phase current of the drive current is a sine wave (as explained in paragraphs 11 and 26 that the motor is a pulse controlled traction motor, which inherently performs current in sine wave), the drive current is used to control the asynchronous motor to output torque , waveform of each phase current of the heating current is a square wave or a step wave, the heating current is used to control the torque output by the asynchronous motor to be zero (see figure 4 for the heating current applied to be in square wave while paragraph 28 explains that the current is set to zero so no torque applied will propel the motor), and the heating current is used to heat a winding of the asynchronous motor (see paragraph 26, where the heating current is applied to the motor).
Regarding claims 12 and 17, Mueller et al. teach, the powertrain according to claim 10, further comprising: a heat conduction apparatus, wherein the heating current is used to heat the winding of the asynchronous motor, and the heat conduction apparatus is configured to conduct heat generated by the winding of the asynchronous motor (see paragraph 26) to a power battery (battery 13, figure 1) .
Regarding claim 15, Mueller et al. teach, An electric vehicle, wherein the electric vehicle comprises a vehicle control unit, a power battery, wheels, and a powertrain, the powertrain comprises an asynchronous motor and a motor controller (see figure 1 and paragraphs 3 and 14) and the motor controller is configured to: output a drive current in response to a torque signal from the vehicle control unit, wherein the drive current is used to control an asynchronous motor to output torque indicated by the torque signal; and output a heating current in response to a heating signal from the vehicle control unit, wherein a waveform of each phase current of the heating current is a square wave or a step wave, the heating current is used to control the torque output by the asynchronous motor to be zero, and the heating current is used to heat a winding of the asynchronous motor (see rejection of claim 1 above).
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mueller et al. US publication no.: US 2022/0305921 A1 in view of Lee et al. US publication no.: US 2022/0069755 A1.
Regarding claim 2, Mueller et al. teach, the motor controller according to claim 1, wherein the motor controller is further configured to: output the drive current in response to a torque signal, wherein the torque signal indicates the motor controller to drive the asynchronous motor to output the torque (see paragraphs 23 and 28).
Mueller et al. is silent on specifically teaching: output the heating current in response to a heating signal, wherein a temperature of a power battery indicated by the heating signal is less than a preset value.
However, Lee et al. is in the same field of art and teach: and output the heating current in response to a heating signal, wherein a temperature of a power battery indicated by the heating signal is less than a preset value (see figure 4 and paragraph 55).
In view of Lee et al.’s teachings, it would’ve been obvious to one with the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, with the apparatus as taught by Mueller et al. to include; and output the heating current in response to a heating signal, wherein a temperature of a power battery indicated by the heating signal is less than a preset value, for the purpose of enhancing safety features.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5, 14 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.
Conclusion
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/ZOHEB S IMTIAZ/Primary Examiner , Art Unit 2837
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