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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/26/2024, 7/14/2025, and 9/08/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1, and 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Implementation of High-Efficiency Battery Charger with a Zero-Voltage-Transition Pulse-Width-Modulated Boost Converter” by Ke et al. (hereinafter “Ke”) in view of Shimizu et. al. (U.S. Publication No 2018/0145672 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ke discloses a switch temperature compensated DC-DC converter (Fig. 3), comprising:
an input circuit (e.g. Lf/S)(Fig. 3) connected to an input terminal (e.g. terminal of power source Vin)(Fig. 3) and including a main switch (e.g. S)(Fig. 3);
a resonant circuit (e.g. LR/CR/S1/D1)(Fig. 3) connected to the input circuit and including an auxiliary switch (e.g. S1)(Fig. 3) for zero-voltage switching the main switch (see Abstract and paragraph directly above Fig. 3);
an output circuit (e.g. D/Cf)(Fig. 3) connected to the resonant circuit and configured to output a voltage (e.g. Vo)(Fig. 3) to an output terminal (e.g. Vo)(Fig. 3); and
a controller configured to control the main switch and the auxiliary switch (e.g. Triggering signal controller)(Fig. 3),
Ke does not disclose the controller being further configured to:
calculate switch temperature information based on temperature information of at least one measurement target switch among the main switch and the auxiliary switch, and
control on duty of the main switch and the auxiliary switch based on the switch temperature information.
However, Shimizu et. al. discloses the controller further configured to:
calculate switch temperature information based on temperature information of at least one measurement target switch among the main switch and the auxiliary switch, and
control on duty of the main switch and the auxiliary switch based on the switch temperature information. (Para [0006], “The driving apparatus includes a plurality of drivers configured to turn on or off the respective switches, and a temperature obtainer configured to obtain a value of a temperature parameter correlating with a temperature of at least one of the switches. The driving apparatus includes a selector configured to select at least one of the switches as at least one drive target switch. The driving apparatus includes a drive controller configured to cause at least one of the drivers to turn on the at least one drive target switch during a predetermined on duration and thereafter turn off the at least one drive target switch in each target switching cycle. The target switching cycle, such as, the target switching frequency, is defined as a product of a reference switching cycle and the number of the selected at least one drive target switch. The selector is configured to adjust the number of the selected at least one drive target switch in accordance with the value of the temperature parameter.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have configured the controller of Ke to calculate switch temperature information based on temperature information of at least one measurement target switch among the main switch and the auxiliary switch, and
control on duty of the main switch and the auxiliary switch based on the switch temperature information as taught by Shimizu et. al. for the purpose of reducing switching losses, increasing efficiency and suppressing component damages from high temperatures.
Regarding claim 5, Ke discloses wherein the input circuit includes a first inductor (e.g. Lf)(Fig. 3) comprising a first terminal connected to a positive electrode of the input terminal (e.g. left side terminal of Lf connected to positive electrode of Vin) and a second terminal connected to a first terminal of the main switch (e.g. right side terminal of Lf connected to upper terminal of S)(Fig. 3), and wherein a second terminal of the main switch is connected to a negative electrode of the input terminal (e.g. source of S connected to negative electrode of Vin)(Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 6, Ke discloses wherein the resonant circuit includes: a resonant capacitor (e.g. Cr)(Fig. 3) connected in parallel with the main switch (e.g. Cr is parallel with main switch S)(Fig. 3); a resonant inductor (e.g. Lr)(Fig. 3) comprising a first terminal connected to the resonant capacitor (e.g. Upper terminal of Lr is connected to Cr)(Fig. 3); and an auxiliary diode (e.g. D1)(Fig. 3) comprising an anode connected to a second terminal of the resonant inductor (e.g. anode of D1 is connected to lower terminal of Lr)(Fig. 3) and a cathode connected to the output circuit (e.g. cathode of D1 is connected to D and Cf of the output circuit)(Fig. 3), and wherein a first terminal of the auxiliary switch (e.g. S1)(Fig. 3) is connected to the second terminal of the resonant inductor (e.g. Drain of S1 is connected to lower terminal of Lr)(Fig. 3) and a second terminal of the auxiliary switch is connected to the second terminal of the resonant capacitor (e.g. Source of S1 is connected to lower terminal of Cr)(Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 7, Ke discloses wherein the output circuit includes: a main diode (e.g. D)(Fig. 3) comprising an anode connected to the second terminal of the resonant inductor (e.g. anode of D is connected to lower terminal of Lr through inductor Lr itself; it is noted that this is the apparent interpretation of the claim limitation based on Applicant’s disclosure, see Figs/ 1 and 3)(Fig. 3) and a cathode connected to the cathode of the auxiliary diode (e.g. Cathode of D is connected to cathode of D1)(Fig. 3); and a DC capacitor (e.g. Cf)(Fig. 3) comprising a first terminal connected to the cathode of the main diode (e.g. upper terminal of Cf is connected to cathode of D)(Fig. 3) and a second terminal connected to a negative electrode of the output terminal (e.g. lower terminal of Cf is connected to negative electrode of output terminal/load)(Fig. 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 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.
Regarding claim 2, None of the prior art, made of record, singularly or in combinations, teaches or fairly suggest “wherein, in response to the switch temperature information exceeding a predetermined reference value, the controller is configured to: control the auxiliary switch so that the on duty of the auxiliary switch increases, and control the main switch so that the on duty of the main switch is delayed”.
Claims 3 and 4 are indicated as allowable, as they depend on claim 2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN W SOILEAU whose telephone number is (571)272-6650. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6:30 - 4:00 CT.
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/JONATHAN WALTER SOILEAU/Examiner, Art Unit 2838
/CRYSTAL L HAMMOND/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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