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 .
This non-final office action is responsive to Applicants' application filed on 03/14/25. Claims 1-12 are presented for examination and are pending for the reasons indicated herein below.
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 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.
Claim Objections
Claim 6 objected to because of the following informalities: after introducing “an inverter: for the first time please replace “an inverter” with “the inverter”. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yukawa (US 20200262288 A1)
Regarding claim 1. Yukawa teaches a boost and buck apparatus [DCDC of fig 2], applied to a new energy vehicle [vehicle for fig 2], comprising a boost and buck circuit [60] and a transistor controller [50, controls mosfets of 10], wherein: the boost and buck circuit is configured to output a first output voltage [63/64] under first control of the transistor controller, the first output voltage is greater than or less than a first input voltage [¶91-¶92], the first input voltage is a voltage of an external power battery [12 v battery], and the first output voltage is configured to supply power to an inverter [10] of a vehicle motor [M1];
and the transistor controller is configured to output the first control to the boost and buck circuit in response to that the vehicle is in a drive mode [¶90-¶93, “exerting itself or regenerating”], and the first control is first on/off control of a controllable device [s61-s62] of the boost and buck circuit.
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 of this title, 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 2, 6-7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yukawa (US 20200262288 A1) in view of SMOLENAERS (US 20240030856 A1)
Regarding claim 2. Yukawa teaches the boost and buck apparatus according to claim 1.
However, Yukawa does not explicitly mention a circuit wherein: the boost and buck circuit is further configured to output a second output voltage under second control of the transistor controller, the second output voltage is greater than a second input voltage, the second input voltage is a voltage of an external charging station, and the second output voltage is configured to charge the external power battery; and the transistor controller is further configured to output the second control to the boost and buck circuit in response to that the vehicle is in a charging mode, and the second control is second on/off control of the controllable device of the boost and buck circuit.
SMOLENAERS teaches a circuit wherein: the boost and buck circuit is further configured to output a second output voltage [i.e. second voltage converted from 105] under second control of the transistor controller [controller of fig 21], the second output voltage is greater than a second input voltage [boosted, implied from ¶106], the second input voltage is a voltage of an external charging station [105], and the second output voltage is configured to charge the external power battery [¶281];
and the transistor controller is further configured to output the second control to the boost and buck circuit in response to that the vehicle is in a charging mode [¶281], and the second control is second on/off control of the controllable device [switches of fig 21] of the boost and buck circuit.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the features of SMOLENAERS in order to provide a power converter that can actively manage reactive power, reduce voltage fluctuation and improve charging efficiency and provide fast charging.
Regarding claim 6. Yukawa teaches a boost and buck system [dcdc of fig 2], applied to a new energy vehicle [vehicle for fig 2], comprising a boost and buck apparatus [60], a switch [s61], an inverter [10], a power battery [B1] and a switch controller [76], wherein: the boost and buck apparatus comprises a boost and buck circuit [60] and a transistor controller [50];
the boost and buck circuit is configured to output a first output voltage [63/64] under first control of the transistor controller, the first output voltage is greater than or less than a first input voltage [¶91-¶92], the first input voltage is a voltage of an external power battery [12v battery], and the first output voltage is configured to supply power to an inverter [10] of a vehicle motor [M1];
and the transistor controller is configured to output the first control to the boost and buck circuit in response to that the vehicle is in a drive mode [¶90-¶93, “exerting itself or regenerating”], and the first control is first on/off control of a controllable device [s61-s62] of the boost and buck circuit.
However, Yukawa does not explicitly mention a circuit comprising: a charging station the switch controller is configured to shift the switch to an inverter side in response to that the vehicle is in the drive mode, so that the boost and buck apparatus is connected to the inverter; and the switch controller is configured to shift the switch to a charging station side in response to that the vehicle is in the charging mode, so that the boost and buck apparatus is connected to the charging station.
SMOLENAERS teaches a circuit comprising: a charging station [see 105] the switch controller [controller for 131] is configured to shift the switch to an inverter side in response to that the vehicle is in the drive mode [i.e. not charging], so that the boost and buck apparatus is connected to the inverter [i.e. function of 131]; and the switch controller is configured to shift the switch to a charging station side in response to that the vehicle is in the charging mode [¶281], so that the boost and buck apparatus is connected to the charging station.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the features of SMOLENAERS in order to provide a power converter that can actively manage reactive power, reduce voltage fluctuation and improve charging efficiency and provide fast charging.
Regarding claim 7. Yukawa as modified teaches the boost and buck system according to claim 6, wherein: the boost and buck circuit is further configured to output a second output voltage [i.e. second voltage converted from 105, SMOLENAERS] under second control of the transistor controller [controller of fig 21, SMOLENAERS], the second output voltage is greater than a second input voltage [boosted, implied from ¶106, SMOLENAERS], the second input voltage is a voltage of an external charging station [i.e. 105, SMOLENAERS], and the second output voltage is configured to charge the external power battery [i.e. 12v bat, Yukawa];
and the transistor controller is further configured to output the second control to the boost and buck circuit in response to that the vehicle is in a charging mode [¶281, SMOLENAERS], and the second control is second on/off control of the controllable device [switches of 131, SMOLENAERS] of the boost and buck circuit.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 and 8-12 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, and if the claim objections stated above were overcome.
Examiner Note
The examiner cites particular columns and lines numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bryan Perez whose telephone number is (571)272-8837. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon.-Fri. (7:30 – 5:00).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Crystal Hammond, can be reached on (571) 270-1682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRYAN R PEREZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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