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 application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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 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) 1-4, 6, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DeJonge (US 20200077479 A1) in view of Liu (US 20110248648 A1).
With regards to claim 1. DeJonge disclose(s):
A multi-channel power supply system (figs 1-2) comprising:
a channel controller (152) configured to generate a first reference signal (Vtrgt1) based on a dimmer setting (180; [0030]);
and a first current control circuit (130,154) coupled to a first color channel (102) of a plurality of color channels (102, 104) and configured to adjust a first channel current of the first color channel based on a drive signal (Vbus) and the first reference signal (Vtrgt1), the first current control circuit comprising:
an amplifier (u226; fig 2) configured to generate a gate control signal (Vdr) based on a difference between the first reference signal (Vtrgt-pwm) and a first sense signal (Vfb) corresponding to the first channel current (202);
and a voltage-controlled resistor VCR (q212) configured to adjust the first channel current (Iload; fig 2) by dynamically adjusting a resistance of the VCR (q212) based on the gate control signal (Vdr; [0034]; see function of 210 in [0033]).
DeJonge does not disclose(s):
a power supply circuit configured to generate a drive signal for powering a plurality of color channels based on an input power signal;
wherein the power supply circuit is configured to generate the drive signal based on the gate control signal.
Liu teaches:
a power supply circuit (302; fig 4) configured to generate a drive signal (Vout) for powering a plurality of channels (308_1 to 308_3) based on an input power signal (Vin);
the first current control circuit (S1; 304_1; fig 4) comprising:
an amplifier (510; fig 5) configured to generate a gate control signal (VEA_i) based on a difference between the first reference signal (REF) and a first sense signal (ISENavg_i) corresponding to the first channel current (308_i; fig 5);
and a voltage-controlled resistor VCR (Si; fig 5) configured to adjust the first channel current (ISEN) by dynamically adjusting a resistance of the VCR (Si) based on the gate control signal (VEA_i).
wherein the power supply circuit (302) is configured to generate the drive signal (Vout) based on the gate control signal (see VEA signal being feedback to 312 in fig 7; [0041]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the device/method/system of DeJonge by implementing the power supply circuit configured to generate a drive signal for powering a plurality of color channels based on an input power signal; wherein the power supply circuit is configured to generate the drive signal based on the gate control signal as disclosed by Liu in order to improve efficiency while avoiding multiple dedicated power converters as taught/suggested by Liu ([0029]).
With regards to claim 2. DeJonge as modified disclose(s):
The multi-channel power supply system of claim 1,
Liu further disclose(s):
wherein the first current control circuit (304_1, S1, Rsen_1; fig 4) further comprises:
a current sensor (Rsen_1; [0035]) configured to sense the first channel current of the first channel (308_1) and to generate the first sense signal (ISENavg_i; fig 5).
With regards to claim 3. DeJonge as modified disclose(s):
The multi-channel power supply system of claim 2,
Liu further disclose(s):
wherein the current sensor comprises:
a sense resistor (Rsen_1; fig 5) electrically coupled in series with the VCR (Si) and the first channel (308_i; fig 5);
and a current sense circuit (508, 506; fig 5) configured to generate the first sense signal (ISENavg_i) based on a voltage drop across the sense resistor (Rsen_1).
With regards to claim 4. DeJonge as modified disclose(s):
The multi-channel power supply system of claim 1,
DeJonge further disclose(s):
wherein the first color channel comprises one or more light emitting diodes LEDs (202) having a red color [0017], a blue color, or a green color, the one or more LEDs being configured to output a light intensity corresponding to the first channel current [0017].
With regards to claim 6. DeJonge as modified disclose(s):
The multi-channel power supply system of claim 1,
Liu further disclose(s):
wherein the VCR comprises:
a field effect transistor FET (Si; fig 5) having a gate electrically coupled to an output of the amplifier (510), wherein the amplifier is further configured to maintain the FET in an ohmic region of operation ([0038-0039]).
With regards to claim 9. DeJonge as modified disclose(s):
The multi-channel power supply system of claim 1,
DeJonge further disclose(s):
wherein the channel controller comprises:
a pulse-width modulation PWM generator (portion of 180; fig 1; portion of 252; fig 2) configured to generate a PWM signal corresponding to the first reference signal (see Vtrgt-pwm; [0033]);
and a low-pass filter (R230, c232; fig 2) configured to filter the PWM signal (Vtrgt-pwm) to generate the first reference signal (Vtrgt-dc).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DeJonge (US 20200077479 A1) in view of Liu (US 20110248648 A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Vos (US 20160286612 A1).
With regards to claim 5. DeJonge as modified disclose(s):
The multi-channel power supply system of claim 1,
DeJonge as modified does not disclose(s):
wherein the resistance of the VCR varies from 5Ω to 10 kΩ depending on the gate control signal.
Vos teaches:
wherein the resistance of the VCR varies from 1Ω to high resistance depending on the gate control signal [0038].
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the device/method/system of modified DeJonge by implementing the wherein the resistance of the VCR varies from 1Ω to high resistance depending on the gate control signal as disclosed by Vos in order to control ON/OFF operational states of a load such an LED load as taught/suggested by Vos ([0038]).
Furthermore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to select ON-resistance and OFF-resistance values of a VCR, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the electrical size of a VCR component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DeJonge (US 20200077479 A1) in view of Liu (US 20110248648 A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Picard (US 20180160493 A1).
With regards to claim 7. DeJonge as modified disclose(s):
The multi-channel power supply system of claim 1,
DeJonge further disclose(s):
wherein the channel controller (152) is configured to generate the first reference signal (Vtrgt1) further based on a color temperature (see color temperature in [0017])
DeJonge does not disclose(s):
the channel controller is configured to generate the first reference signal further based on a color temperature according to a black body curve.
Picard teaches:
the channel controller is configured to generate the first reference signal further based on a color temperature according to a black body curve (see “the control module 112 may receive an intensity command and, in response to the intensity command, control the magnitude of the LED currents I.sub.LED1, I.sub.LED2 to not only achieve the requested intensity, but also to approximate the associated color temperature of a black body radiator illuminated at the requested intensity (e.g., according to Plank's law); [0030]”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the device/method/system of DeJonge by implementing the channel controller is configured to generate the first reference signal further based on a color temperature according to a black body curve as disclosed by Picard in order to distinguish variety of colors while illuminating as taught/suggested by Picard ([002]).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DeJonge (US 20200077479 A1) in view of Liu (US 20110248648 A1) and Picard (US 20180160493 A1), as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Sadwick (US 20190320515 A1).
With regards to claim 8. DeJonge as modified disclose(s):
The multi-channel power supply system of claim 7,
DeJonge as modified does not disclose(s):
wherein the color temperature is based on at least one of the dimmer setting and a time of day, and wherein the channel controller is configured to generate the first reference signal based on the color temperature by referencing a lookup table or a formula.
Sadwick teaches:
wherein the color temperature is based on at least one of the dimmer setting and a time of day (see time of day in [0148]), and wherein the channel controller is configured to generate the first reference signal based on the color temperature by referencing a lookup table or a formula (see [0148]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the device/method/system of modified DeJonge by implementing the color temperature is based on at least one of the dimmer setting and a time of day, and wherein the channel controller is configured to generate the first reference signal based on the color temperature by referencing a lookup table or a formula as disclosed by Sadwick in order to maximize circadian rhythm phase alignment which may also reduce and mitigate or even eliminate in some cases ‘daytime’ napping and onset of sleep states as taught/suggested by Sadwick ([0148]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Murakami (US 20190334437 A1) discloses:
A multi-channel power supply system comprising: a power supply circuit configured to generate a drive signal for powering a plurality of color channels based on an input power signal; wherein the power supply circuit is configured to generate the drive signal (output of Cont) based on the gate control signal (see output of Oa).
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Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Renan Luque whose telephone number is (571)270-1044. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30AM-5:30PM.
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, Alexander Taningco can be reached at (571) 272-8048. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RENAN LUQUE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
