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 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.
Claims 1-5 and 5-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sullivan et al. US Patent No.: US 11,418,398 B1 in view of Li et al. US publication no.: US 2020/0266743 A1
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Sullivan et al. teach, An apparatus comprising: at least one memory (memory 84, figure 3) configured to store instructions; and at least one processing circuitry (processor 82, figure 3) configured to access the at least one memory, and execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to at least: receive an identifier of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) (see claim 1-5, where it is explained that the processor is utilized to identify the type of motor being utilized);
Sullivan et al. is silent on specifically teaching: map the identifier to electrical parameters of the PMSM; determine one or more coefficients of a sliding mode observer (SMO) based on the electrical parameters; and provide the determined one or more coefficients to the SMO to estimate at least one of position and speed of a rotor of the PMSM.
However, Li et al. is in the same field of art and teach: map the identifier to electrical parameters of the PMSM (see paragraph 5) ; determine one or more coefficients of a sliding mode observer (SMO) (estimator NN 210, figure 2 and paragraph 63 where a sliding-mode observer is utilized to estimate motor speed/position) based on the electrical parameters (see equations 2-4, paragraph 53-63); and provide the determined one or more coefficients to the SMO to estimate at least one of position and speed of a rotor of the PMSM (see paragraphs 50-53, where it can be seen that the motor speed and position is estimated).
Examiner notes* - the motor identifier technique depicted in Sullivan et al. would be utilized in the observer model of estimating speed/position.
In view of Li 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 Sullivan et al. to include; map the identifier to electrical parameters of the PMSM; determine one or more coefficients of a sliding mode observer (SMO) based on the electrical parameters; and provide the determined one or more coefficients to the SMO to estimate at least one of position and speed of a rotor of the PMSM, for the purpose of improving the control of the motor drive system.
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Sullivan et al. teach, the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the identifier of the PMSM is a model number or a part number (see col.9, line 35-45).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Li et al. teach, the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electrical parameters of the PMSM include resistance, inductance, and a back electromotive force (BEMF) constant (see equation 2, paragraph 53).
Claims 6-7 and 16-17 ae rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sullivan et al. US Patent No.: US 11,418,398 B1 in view of Li et al. US publication no.: US 2020/0266743 A1 and further in view of Xu et al. US publication no.: US 2014/0225548 A1.
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Sullivan et al. as modified is silent on specifically teaching, the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more coefficients of the SMO include a sliding gain and a boundary layer width.
However, Xu et al. is in the same field of art and teach: wherein the one or more coefficients of the SMO include a sliding gain and a boundary layer width (see paragraph 118-130).
In view of Xu 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 Sullivan et al. as modified to include; wherein the one or more coefficients of the SMO include a sliding gain and a boundary layer width, for the purpose of improving control of the motor drive system.
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Xu et al. teach, the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the sliding gain is chosen through a Lyapunov approach, and the boundary layer width is subsequently chosen through a Harmonic Balance (HB) method (see paragraph 113).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4, 8-10, 13-14 and 18-20 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZOHEB S IMTIAZ whose telephone number is (571)272-4308. The examiner can normally be reached 11am-730pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eduardo Colon Santana can be reached at 571-272-2060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ZOHEB S IMTIAZ/Primary Examiner , Art Unit 2837
Prosecution Insights