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 § 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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over anticipated by NAKAKITA et al. (US 2022/0255320) (“NAKAKITA”) In view of IJICHI et al. (US 2016/0149415) (“IJICHI”).
With respect to claim 1, NAKAKITA discloses a control system of a power conversion device that converts direct current power output by a secondary battery into alternating current power and supplies the alternating current power to a bus and that converts alternating current power of the bus into direct current power and supplies the direct current power to the secondary battery, in a power supply system including a generator, which has unintended output variability, and the secondary battery (figure 1 discloses a generator and power conversion device 32 for charging/discharging the secondary battery 31, paragraph 0027), the control system comprising: a virtual power generation calculation unit that calculates an effective voltage value and a phase of a virtual synchronous generator based on a rotor model that simulates driving of the virtual synchronous generator and that calculates a rotational speed of the virtual synchronous generator (figure 2, abstract, paragraphs 0035 discloses virtual power generation calculation unit 3325 that calculates angular velocity, rotational speed and phase angle of the rotor of the virtual generator); a bus calculation unit that calculates a voltage, and a phase at a connection point between the power conversion device and the bus (bus calculation unit 3326 calculates voltage and phase at the connection point, paragraph 0036 and figure 2); a phase difference angle calculation unit that calculates a phase difference angle between the phase of the virtual synchronous generator and the phase of the connection point (phase difference angle calculation unit 3327); a target power determination unit that determines a target value of effective power of the power conversion device based on the effective voltage value of the virtual synchronous generator, the voltage at the connection point, and the phase difference angle (target power determination unit 3328, paragraph 0038); and a command generation unit that generates a control command for the power conversion device that includes the determined target value of the effective power and the charging/discharging command value (figures 1 and 2 disclose command generation unit 33 and 3329, respectively that generates command signals for the power conversion 32).
NAKAKITA; however, does not expressly disclose a charging/discharging command unit that generates a charging/discharging command value for the secondary battery that compensates for a difference between generated power of the generator and total generated power of the power supply system.
IJICHI discloses a microgrid system connected to a bus 10 and a load 11; the system comprises engine power generators 2, natural energy power generation device 3 and electric power storage device 6. Paragraph 0052 and figures 1-2 discloses controlling via an electric storage device control section 24 a charge/discharge of storge device 6 based on total electric power of the natural energy power generation device 3, the electric power of the engine generator and the power demand of the load.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention, to have modify NAKAKITA and include the charge/discharge command unit as disclosed by IJICHI, for the purpose of compensating for surplus or deficient electric power of the system, for example (abstract).
With respect to claim 2, NAKAKITA in view of IJICHI disclose the control system according to Claim 1, wherein, in a case where variation per unit time of the difference between the power generated by the generator and the total generated power of the power supply system exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the charging/discharging command unit generates the charging/discharging command value that compensates for excess. Abstract discloses compensating for surplus or deficient electric power of the system.
With respect to claim 3, NAKAKITA in view of IJICHI disclose the control system according to Claim 1, wherein the charging/discharging command unit generates the charging/discharging command value that compensates for a value obtained by subtracting the difference between the power generated by the generator and the total generated power of the power supply system from a moving average of the difference. Figure 3, paragraphs 0052-0053 disclose subtracting/calculating electric power difference between the power generated by the generator and the power demand of the system.
With respect to claim 4, NAKAKITA in view of IJICHI disclose a hybrid power system comprising: a generator having unintended output variability (solar power generator 20); a secondary battery (secondary battery 31); a power conversion device that converts direct current power output by the secondary battery into alternating current power and supplies the alternating current power to a bus (power conversion device 32), and converts alternating current power of the bus into direct current power and supplies the direct current power to the secondary battery (figure 1 discloses that the system is connected to an AC bus); and the control system according to Claim 1 (see figure 1).
With respect to claim 5, NAKAKITA and IJICHI discloses the apparatus necessary to complete the recited method steps, as discussed above in the rejection of claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hunt et al. (US 10,566,802) discloses a system to control power flow to and from an energy storage system via a bidirectional inverter and a controller for controlling the inverter to store power and transmit power from the energy storage device to a load driven by a generator set.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLOS AMAYA whose telephone number is (571)272-8941. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00AM-4:00PM.
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, Taelor Kim can be reached at (571) 270-7166. 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.
/CARLOS AMAYA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
Prosecution Insights