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 § 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4-5, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Morita et al. (US 2023/0072786 A1).
In regards to claim 1, Morita discloses, in figure 1, a power supply network (100) that is mounted on a vehicle (Par 0026) and supplies power to a load (34, 36) from a plurality of power supply paths (LA1, LA2) (Par 0036-0037), the power supply network (100) comprising: a first power supply path (LA1) connected to a main-machine drive power supply (10, high voltage source) of the vehicle through a power conversion device (12) and connected to the load (34, 36) (Par 0030, 0036); and a second power supply path (LA2) connected to a power source (16) different from the main-machine drive power supply (10) (Par 0030, 0037), connected to the load (34, 36), and connected to the first power supply path (LA1) through a switch (SW1) (Par 0038), wherein the switch (SW1) is closed when the first power supply path (LA1) and the second power supply path (LA2) are normal (Par 0081; when it is determined that no ground fault has occurred in both the first and second power supply paths ES1/LA1 and ES2/LA2, i.e. the power supply paths are normal), and is opened when the first power supply path (LA1) or the second power supply path (LA2) is abnormal (Par 0047).
In regards to claim 2, Morita discloses, in figure 1, the power supply network according to claim 1, wherein each of the first power supply path (LA1) and the second power supply path (LA2) is connected to a brake device (51A) for at least one right wheel of the vehicle and a brake device (51B) for at least one left wheel of the vehicle (Par 0032-0033; the electric brake device 51 includes both a first brake device 51A and a second brake device 51B which applies a braking force to wheels of the vehicle, thus which implies all wheels of the vehicle).
In regards to claim 4, Morita discloses, in figure 1, the power supply network according to claim 1, wherein each of the first power supply path (LA1) and the second power supply path (LA2) is connected to a steering device (50A, 50B) of the vehicle (Par 0034).
In regards to claim 5, Morita discloses, in figure 1, the power supply network according to claim 1, wherein each of the first power supply path (LA1) and the second power supply path (LA2) is connected to an automated driving control device (52A, 52B) of the vehicle (Par 0032-0033, 0035; the travel control device 52 includes both a camera 52A and a laser radar 52B which are specific loads used for autonomous driving).
In regards to claim 9, Morita discloses, in figure 1, an electric vehicle mounted with the power supply network (100) according to claim 1 (Par 0026).
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 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Abe et al. (US 2020/0366168 A1).
In regards to claim 10, Abe discloses, in figure 3, a power conversion device (1) comprising: a first inverter (120) connected to a main-machine drive power supply (199) of a vehicle (Par 0023, 0037-0038); a second inverter (220) connected to an auxiliary-machine drive power supply (299) of the vehicle (Par 0037-0038); and a motor (80) having a first winding (180) connected to the first inverter (120) and a second winding (280) connected to the second inverter (220) (Par 0028, 0037).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita et al. (US 2023/0072786 A1) in view of Furukawa et al. (US 2020/0376949 A1).
In regards to claim 3, Morita disclose the power supply network according to claim 1, but does not disclose wherein each of the first power supply path and the second power supply path is connected to an in-wheel motor for at least one right wheel of the vehicle and an in-wheel motor for at least one left wheel of the vehicle.
However, Furukawa discloses, in figure 3, wherein each of the first power supply path (left power supply path of secondary drive motor 20) and the second power supply path (right power supply path of secondary drive motor 20) is connected to an in-wheel motor (20) (Par 0026; “The secondary drive motor 20 is an in-wheel motor and is accommodated in a wheel rim of each of the front wheels 2b”) for at least one right wheel (right wheel of front wheels 2b) of the vehicle and an in-wheel motor (20) for at least one left wheel (left wheel of front wheels 2b) of the vehicle (Par 0026).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Morita’s first and second power supply paths by including wherein each of the first power supply path and the second power supply path is connected to an in-wheel motor for at least one right wheel of the vehicle and an in-wheel motor for at least one left wheel of the vehicle as taught by Furukawa in order to generate large output when the vehicle is accelerated in a high rotational speed range (Par 0036; Furukawa).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita et al. (US 2023/0072786 A1) in view of Kobayashi et al. (US 2019/0252994 A1).
In regards to claim 6, Morita disclose the power supply network according to claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the power conversion device includes: a first inverter connected to the main-machine drive power supply; a second inverter connected to the first power supply path; and a motor having a first winding connected to the first inverter and a second winding connected to the second inverter.
However, Kobayashi discloses, in figure 2, wherein the power conversion device (52, 51, 30, 20) includes: a first inverter (52) connected to the main-machine drive power supply (60) (Par 0040-0041); a second inverter (51) connected to the first power supply path (LH2, LL2) (inverter 51 is connected to the first power supply path LH2 and LL2 which is connected to the main-machine drive power supply 60); and a motor (30, 20) having a first winding (30U, 30V, 30W) connected to the first inverter (52) (Par 0052) and a second winding (20U, 20V, 20W) connected to the second inverter (51) (Par 0048).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Morita’s power conversion device by including a first inverter connected to the main-machine drive power supply; a second inverter connected to the first power supply path; and a motor having a first winding connected to the first inverter and a second winding connected to the second inverter as taught by Kobayashi in order to prevent deterioration in the controllability of the torques and rotation speeds of the first and second motor generators (Par 0077; Kobayashi).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8, 11 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
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/ALEX W LAM/ Examiner, Art Unit 2842