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 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.
1. Claims 1-5, 7-8, 10-14, 16-20, 22, 23, 25-29, 31, 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Kadah et al (USPN 5,930,104).
Regarding claim 1, Kadah discloses a method, comprising:
identifying a default supply voltage of a relay (such as a rated voltage of a relay 20 is selected at 12V, see col. 3, lines 18-19);
identifying an actual supply voltage of the relay (an actual voltage for the relay 20 is sensed and selected at between 13V and 35V by a voltage sensor 33 and a controller 20, see col. 3, lines 36-40);
selecting an actual duty cycle (such as a duty cycle of the pulse width modulated signal outputted from the controller 30 delivers to a gate of the switch 32 at a time t2 based on the actual DC voltage sensed by the voltage sensor 33 and compared with the rated voltage of the relay 20, see col. 3, lines 41-45, col. 4, lines 3-13) based on the actual supply voltage and the default supply voltage
driving a coil of the relay (a coil 32 of the relay 20, see figure 1) by using a signal (a control signal outputted form the controller 30 shown in figure 2) that has the selected actual duty cycle (the actual duty cycle at the time t2, see figure 2).
Regarding claim 2, Kadah discloses wherein the default supply voltage of the relay (the rated voltage of the relay selected at 12V) is a supply voltage the relay is rated for, and the actual supply voltage of the relay is a voltage that is produced by a power source (such as an actual DC power source at terminals 16, 18, see figure 1, col. 3, lines 32-45) used to open and close the relay.
Regarding claim 3, Kadah discloses wherein the actual supply voltage (the actual DC voltage selected at terminals 16, 18) is greater than the default supply voltage (the rated voltage for the relay 20 is set at 12V, see step 104 of figure 3), and selecting the actual duty cycle includes scaling down a default duty cycle (the duty cycle of the PWM signal shown in figure 2 is lowed down based on the actual voltage sensed by the voltage sensor 30, see col. 4, lines 11-13) based on an amount by which the actual supply voltage exceeds the default supply voltage (see step 104 of figure 3, and claim 3).
Regarding claims 4, 28, Kadah discloses wherein the actual duty cycle is selected based on a ratio between the default supply voltage and the actual supply voltage (see col. 4, lines 3-16).
Regarding claims 5, 29, Kadah discloses wherein identifying the default supply voltage of the relay (the rated voltage for the relay 20) includes retrieving from a memory an indication of the default supply voltage of the relay (the controller 30 includes a memory that programs instructions the rated DC voltage for the relay 20 in in step 104 , see col. 3, lines 17-20 , col. 4. Lines 33-39, lines 44).
Regarding claim 7, Kadah discloses a method, comprising:
identifying a default supply voltage of a relay (a rated voltage supply for the relay 20 is selected at 12V, see col. 3, lines 18-19);
identifying an actual supply voltage of the relay (an actual supply voltage for the relay 20 is selected in a range from 13V and 35V that is based on a voltage sensor 33 and a controller 30, see col. 3, lines 36-40);
detecting whether the actual supply voltage matches the default supply voltage (the rated supply voltage) (the actual voltage detected by the voltage sensor 33) (see col. 3, lines 32-41, step 104 of figure 3);
when the actual supply voltage (the sensed supply voltage) matches the default supply voltage (steps 104 of figure 3), driving a coil of the relay (a coil 22 of the relay 20) with a signal (a signal at a time t1 of figure 2) that is provided by a power source (a DC power source at terminals 16, 18) without performing pulse-width modulation on the signal (see col. 3, 4, lines 65-2); and
when the actual supply voltage (the actual DC supply voltage at terminals 16, 18) does not match the default supply voltage (see step 104), performing pulse-width modulation (step 106) on the signal that is provided by the power source and driving the coil (the coil 22) of the relay with the pulse-width modulated signal (see col. 3, lines 32-45, col. 4, lines 3-13, lines 19-22, lines 52-59 and claim 8).
Regarding claim 8, Kadah discloses wherein the default supply voltage (the rated supply voltage such as 12V) matches the actual supply voltage when the actual supply voltage is the same as the default supply voltage (see step 104 of figure 3, see col. 3, lines 17-20) and the default supply voltage does not match the actual supply voltage (the sensed supply voltage) when the actual supply voltage is different from the default supply voltage (see step 104, see col. 4, lines 36-43, and claim 3).
Regarding claim 10, Kadah discloses wherein the default supply voltage of the relay (the rated supply voltage of the relay 20, see col. 3, lines 17-20) is a supply voltage the relay is rated for, and the actual supply voltage (the sensed, actual supply voltage for the relay 20) of the relay is a voltage that is produced by a power source (a DC supply source at terminal 16, 18) used to open and close the relay (see col. 4, lines 3-15).
Regarding claim 11, Kadah discloses selecting an actual duty cycle (the actual duty cycle of the PWM signal shown in figure 2, selected at a time t2-t3) based on the default supply voltage and the actual supply voltage (see steps 104, 106 of figure 3), wherein the pulse-width modulation is performed in accordance with the actual duty cycle.
Regarding claim 12, Kadah discloses wherein the actual supply voltage (the actual DC supply voltage for the relay 20) is greater than the default supply voltage (see step 104, col. 3, lines 32-45), and selecting the actual duty cycle includes scaling down a default duty cycle based on an amount by which the actual supply voltage exceeds the default supply voltage (see step 106, and col. 4, lines 3-15).
Regarding claim 13, Kadah discloses wherein the actual duty cycle is selected based on a ratio between the default supply voltage and the actual supply voltage (see col. 4, lines 3 -14).
Regarding claim 14, Kadah discloses wherein identifying the default supply voltage of the relay (the rated voltage for the relay 20) includes retrieving from a memory an indication of the default supply voltage of the relay (the controller 30 includes a memory that programmed the rated DC voltage for the relay 20 in in step 104 , see col. 3, lines 17-20 , col. 4. Lines 33-39, lines 44).
Regarding claim 16, Kadah discloses a relay (a relay circuit shown in figure 1), comprising:
a moving contact (contact 24);
a coil (a coil 22) that is arranged to actuate the moving contact; and
a controller (a controller 30) that is configured to:
identify a default supply voltage of the relay (a rated supply voltage of the relay 20 identified at step 104 by the controller 30, see col. 3, lines 16-19);
identify an actual supply voltage of the relay (an actual DC supply voltage at terminals 16-18, see col. 3, lines 32-45);
select an actual duty cycle based on the actual supply voltage and the default supply voltage (duty cycle of the PWM signal, shown in figure 2, selected at t2-t3); and drive the coil (22) by using a signal that has the selected actual duty cycle.
Regarding claim 17, Kadah discloses wherein the default supply voltage of the relay (the rated supply voltage of the relay 20) is a supply voltage the relay is rated for, and the actual supply voltage of the relay (the actual DC voltage for the relay 20) is a voltage that is produced by a power source (a DC supply power at terminals 16, 18) used to open and close the relay.
Regarding claim 18, Kadah discloses wherein the actual supply voltage (the actual DC voltage selected at terminals 16, 18) is greater than the default supply voltage (the rated voltage for the relay 20 is set at 12V, see step 104 of figure 3), and selecting the actual duty cycle includes scaling down a default duty cycle (the duty cycle of the PWM signal shown in figure 2 is lowed down based on the actual voltage sensed by the voltage sensor 30, see col. 4, lines 11-13) based on an amount by which the actual supply voltage exceeds the default supply voltage (see step 104 of figure 3, and claim 3).
Regarding claim 19, Kadah discloses wherein the actual duty cycle is selected based on a ratio between the default supply voltage and the actual supply voltage (see col. 4, lines 3-16).
Regarding claim 20, Kadah discloses wherein identifying the default supply voltage of the relay (the rated voltage for the relay 20) includes retrieving from a memory an indication of the default supply voltage of the relay (the controller 30 includes a memory that programs instructions the rated DC voltage for the relay 20 in in step 104 , see col. 3, lines 17-20 , col. 4. Lines 33-39, lines 44).
Regarding claim 22, Kadah discloses a system (a system shown in figure 1), comprising:
a moving contact (a moving contact 24);
a coil (a coil 22) that is arranged to actuate the moving contact; and
a controller (a controller 30) that is configured to:
identify a default supply voltage of the relay (such as a rated supply voltage of a relay 20 selected at step 104 of figure 3 by a controller 30, see col. 3, lines 16-19, col. 4, lines 39-42);
identify an actual supply voltage of the relay (based on a detected a DC actual supply voltage at terminals 16, 18);
detect (by a voltage detector 33) whether the actual supply voltage matches the default supply voltage (see col. 3, lines 32-45);
when the actual supply voltage matches the default supply voltage (by steps 104 of the controller 30, see figure 3), drive the coil (22) with a signal (a PWM signal at a time t1-t2 shown in figure 2) that is provided by a power source (a DC power source at the terminals 16, 18) without performing pulse-width modulation on the signal; and
when the actual supply voltage does not match the default supply voltage (the detected DC actual supply voltage is greater that the rated voltage of the relay 20, see step 104), perform pulse-width modulation on the signal (the PWM signal performed at t2 to t3, figure 2) that is provided by the power source and drive the coil with the pulse-width modulated signal (see col. 3, lines 32-45, col. 4, lines 3-13, lines 19-22, lines 52-59 and claim 3).
Regarding claim 23, Kadah discloses wherein the default supply voltage (the rated supply voltage such as 12V) matches the actual supply voltage when the actual supply voltage is the same as the default supply voltage (see step 104 of figure 3, see col. 3, lines 17-20) and the default supply voltage does not match the actual supply voltage (the sensed supply voltage) when the actual supply voltage is different from the default supply voltage (see step 104, see col. 4, lines 36-43, and claim 3).
Regarding claim 25, Kadah discloses wherein the default supply voltage of the relay (the rated voltage of the relay selected at 12V) is a supply voltage the relay is rated for, and the actual supply voltage of the relay is a voltage that is produced by a power source (such as an actual DC power source at terminals 16, 18, see figure 1, col. 3, lines 32-45) used to open and close the relay.
Regarding claim 26, Kadah discloses selecting an actual duty cycle (from t2-t3, see figure 2) based on the default supply voltage and the actual supply voltage (by comparing the actual voltage and the rated supply voltage, see step 104 of figure 3), wherein the pulse-width modulation is performed in accordance with the actual duty cycle (e.g. see col. 3, lines 32-45).
Regarding claim 27, Kadah discloses selecting the actual duty cycle includes scaling down a default duty cycle (the duty cycle of the PWM signal shown in figure 2 is lowed down based on the actual voltage sensed by the voltage sensor 30, see col. 4, lines 11-13) based on an amount by which the actual supply voltage exceeds the default supply voltage (see step 104 of figure 3, and claim 3).
Regarding claim 31, Kadah discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more processor-executable instructions (instructions shown in figure 3), which, when executed by a processing circuitry of a relay (by a controller 30), cause the processing circuitry to perform the operations of:
identifying a default supply voltage of the relay (a rated supply voltage of a relay 20 identified by the controller 30, see col. 3, lines 16-19 and step 104 of figure 3);
identifying an actual supply voltage of the relay (an actual DC voltage identified by the controller 30 based on the detected actual DC voltage by a voltage detector 33, see col. 3, lines 32-45);
selecting an actual duty cycle based on the actual supply voltage and the default supply voltage (see col. 4, lines 3-13); and
driving a coil (a coil 22) of the relay by using a signal that has the selected actual duty cycle (the selected actual duty cycle t2-t3 shown in figure 2).
Regarding claim 32, Kadah discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more processor-executable instructions (instructions shown in figure 3), which, when executed by a processing circuitry of a relay (a controller 30), cause the processing circuitry to perform the operations of:
identify a default supply voltage of the relay (such as a rated supply voltage of a relay 20 selected at step 104 of figure 3 by a controller 30, see col. 3, lines 16-19, col. 4, lines 39-42);
identify an actual supply voltage of the relay (based on a detected a DC actual supply voltage at terminals 16, 18);
detect (by a voltage detector 33) whether the actual supply voltage matches the default supply voltage (see col. 3, lines 32-45);
when the actual supply voltage matches the default supply voltage (by steps 104 of the controller 30, see figure 3), drive the coil (22) with a signal (a PWM signal at a time t1-t2 shown in figure 2) that is provided by a power source (a DC power source at the terminals 16, 18) without performing pulse-width modulation on the signal; and
when the actual supply voltage does not match the default supply voltage (the detected DC actual supply voltage is greater that the rated voltage of the relay 20, see step 104), perform pulse-width modulation on the signal (the PWM signal performed at t2 to t3, figure 2) that is provided by the power source and drive the coil with the pulse-width modulated signal (see col. 3, lines 32-45, col. 4, lines 3-13, lines 19-22, lines 52-59 and claim 3).
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.
2. Claim 6, 15, 21, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kadah et al (USPN 5,930,104) in view of Adachi et al (USPN 2013/0114178).
Regarding claims 6, 15, 21, 30, Kadah discloses wherein identifying the actual supply voltage of the relay includes executing a handshake with a controller of a battery (such as a handshake performance of controller 30 including agreement programming instructions stored in a controller 30 such as steps 104, 106 shown in figure 3 so that setting up electronic communications between the controller 30 and the relay 20) that is used to open and close the relay to discover a voltage that is produced by the DC power supply (the DC power supply provided at the terminals 16, 18, see figure 2).
Kadah does not explicitly disclose a voltage that is produced by a battery as claimed.
However, using a battery to producing a voltage is well known in the art, Typically Adachi discloses a relay driving circuit (see figure 1) comprises a battery (a battery 2) configured to produce a voltage.
It 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 to have modified the power supply circuit of Kadah to in corporate a battery as disclosed by Adachi in order to provide a simpler in design with a few components to fail and reduce energy loss and heating. Thus, making more efficiency and reliability.
3. Claims 9, 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kadah et al (USPN 5,930,104) in view of Wang et al (USPN 11,313,908).
Regarding claims 9, 24, Kadah discloses wherein the default supply voltage (the rated voltage of the relay 20) matches the actual supply voltage (the detected actual DC voltage) when the value of a difference between the default supply voltage and the actual supply voltage does not exceed a predetermined threshold (a low limit threshold) (see step 104) , and the actual supply voltage does not match the default supply voltage when the absolute value exceeds the predetermined threshold (see step 104, and claim 3).
Kadah does not explicitly disclose using an absolute value to detect a voltage difference as claimed.
Wang discloses a relay driving circuit (see figure 3) comprising a voltage detection circuit (12) configured to detect an absolute value of a voltage difference of a relay (see col. 5, lines 15-17).
It 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 to have modified the voltage detection circuit of Kadah to in corporate absolute detected voltage as disclosed by Wang in order to allow designer using a single threshold that applied in both directions without requiring more components, thus simplifying a circuit design.
Conclusion
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANNY NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2054. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM.
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/DANNY NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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