DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the application and preliminary amendment filed on 07 February 2025.
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 § 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(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Walley et al. (US 2018/0041060).
The written opinion of the International Searching Authority issued in the parent application no. PCT/US2023/070224 and received as part of this National Stage application (available in the application file, dated 07 February 2025) has been fully considered and the Examiner hereby adopts the positions therein with respect to the disposition of claim 1 as lacking novelty over, or in other words being anticipated by, the cited reference. See MPEP § 1893.03(e), subsection II.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Han et al. (US 2021/0359606; hereinafter “Han”).
In re claim 1, Han discloses a power converter circuit (Figs. 9, 10) including:
(a) a first terminal for receiving a first voltage (INPUT2);
(b) a second terminal for providing a second voltage (OUT2);
(c) a third terminal configured to be coupled to a reference potential (ground);
(d) a battery interface circuit coupled to the second terminal and configured to be coupled to the reference potential (see Fig. 10: 460, 470, coupled to OUT2);
(e) an adiabatic charge pump circuit coupled between the first terminal and the reference potential, and coupled to the battery interface circuit through a first inductor (411-416, 421-428; coupled to battery interface through inductor 432); and
(f) an inductive buck converter circuit coupled between the first terminal and the reference potential, and coupled to the battery interface circuit through a second inductor (427, 428; coupled to battery interface through inductor 433);
wherein in a first mode of operation of the power converter circuit, the adiabatic charge pump circuit is deactivated, and the inductive buck converter circuit is activated ([0103]: all transistors are fixed ON or OFF except for 423, 424, which switch at controlled duty cycle to provide a regulated buck mode of operation; there is no charge pumping action so the adiabatic charge pump is considered deactivated);
wherein in a second mode of operation of the power converter circuit, the adiabatic charge pump circuit is activated, and the inductive buck converter circuit is deactivated ([0101]: all transistors operate at 50% duty cycle to produce a fixed conversion ratio outpout through only charge pumping action; there is no duty-cycle controlled bucking operation so the inductive buck converter is considered deactivated); and
wherein the adiabatic charge pump circuit and the inductive buck converter circuit share the battery interface circuit (see Fig. 10: both may provide output through the same battery interface 460, 470) and at least one of (1) a power switch coupled to the first terminal and a power switch coupled to the third terminal, (2) at least one fly capacitor, or (3) the first inductor (the circuits share several power switches at least including 423, 424).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 2021/0313891 discloses an INTERLEAVED MULTI-LEVEL CONVERTER including charge pump and buck converter stages.
US 2022/0376625 discloses a Hybrid Power Conversion System And Control Method including charge pump and buck converter stages with shared components.
US 2023/0084872 discloses an ULTRA HIGH GAIN BIDIRECTIONAL DC TO DC CONVERTER including shared switches and inductors and multiple operating modes.
US 2024/0275276 discloses a FLYING-CAPACITOR CONVERTER WITH ZERO-VOLTAGE SWITCHING including charge pump and buck converter stages sharing components.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRED E FINCH III whose telephone number is (571)270-7883. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Lewis can be reached at (571) 272-1838. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FRED E FINCH III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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