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
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 5, and 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being taught by Xu et al (US 11,767,147).
With respect to claim 1, Xu teaches a computer system comprising processing circuitry configured to:
obtain a maximum achievable flux linkage of an electrical machine (fig. 1, 114),
obtain a reference torque of the electrical machine based on the maximum achievable flux linkage,
obtain a first set of d and q current values resulting in the reference torque (fig. 7, 704),
obtain a second set of d and q current values resulting in the reference torque (fig. 7, 712/714), and
produce heat in the electrical machine by oscillating the d and q currents between the first and second set of current values (column 16, lines 35-59) while maintaining the reference torque.
With respect to claim 2, Xu teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: obtain the maximum achievable flux linkage based on the angular frequency of (column 7, lines 43-61) the electrical machine.
With respect to claim 4, Xu teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: obtain a maximum torque of the electrical machine based on the maximum achievable flux linkage, and crop the reference torque of (column 10, lines 4-35) the electrical machine based on the maximum torque.
With respect to claim 5, Xu teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: obtain the first set of d and q current values as a maximum d current value and a maximum q current value (fig. 7, 704).
With respect to claim 11, Xu teaches vehicle (abstract) comprising the computer system of claim 1.
With respect to claim 12, Xu teaches further comprising: an electrical machine (114), and a heat generation system (124) configured to transmit a request for increased heat generation to the computer system (125).
With respect to claim 13, Xu teaches computer-implemented method, comprising:
obtaining, by processing circuitry of a computer system, a maximum achievable flux linkage of an electrical machine, obtaining, by the processing circuitry, a reference torque of the electrical machine based on the maximum achievable flux linkage,
obtaining, by the processing circuitry, a first set of d and q current values resulting in the reference torque,
obtaining, by the processing circuitry, a second set of d and q current values resulting the reference torque, and
producing, by the processing circuitry, heat in the electrical machine by oscillating the d and q currents between the first and second set of current values while maintaining the reference torque.
With respect to claim 14, Xu teaches computer program product comprising program code for (column 2, lines 55-58) performing, when executed by the processing circuitry, the method of claim 13.
With respect to claim 15, Xu teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by (column 2, lines 55-58) the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform the method of claim 13.
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(s) 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al (US 11,767,147).
With respect to claim 6, Xu does not teach wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: obtain the second set of d and q current values as a minimum d current value and a minimum q current value.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to for circuit to use minimum d/q current, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 7, Xu does not teach wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: obtain a normalized current factor of the electrical machine based on the normalized reference torque. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to circuit to multiple by current factor, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 8, Xu does not teach wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: obtain a cropped normalized current factor based on the normalized reference torque. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to circuit to multiple by current factor, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 9, Xu does not teach wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: oscillate the d and q currents between the first and second set of current values by a frequency of 10-50 Hz. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to circuit to operate on frequency 10-50 Hz, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Claims 3, and 10 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 ERICK DAVID GLASS whose telephone number is (571)272-8395. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri_8-5pm.
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.
/ERICK D GLASS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
Prosecution Insights