Detailed Action
summary
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 .
1.This office action is in response to the application filed on March 20, 2025.
2. Claims 1-15 are pending and have been examined.
Priority
3. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d), which the certified copy has been placed in the record of the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/20/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
5. Drawings submitted on 03/20/2025 are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
6. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-2, 4, 6-7,9 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 13 and 14 recite “the output” of the main stage in lines 13 and 15 respectively. There are insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations.
Claim 2 recites “the rectifying states” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation.
Claim 4 recites “each filter cell” in line 5 and “an output” of the main stage in line 5 should be “the each filter cell” and “the output” respectively.
Claim 4 recites each filter such that “the output” in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation.
Claim 6 recites “at least one of the filter cell” in line 3 should be “the at least one of the filter”.
Claim 7 recites “an output” of the electrical converter in line 4 should be “the output” of the electrical converter”.
Claim 7 recites “the respective output” in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation.
Claim 9 recites “each filter cell” in line 2 should be “the each filter cell”.
Claim 9 recites “the respective filter cell” in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation.
Claim 9 recites “rectified current” in line 6 should be “the rectified current”.
Claims 13 and 14 recite “the respective filter cell” in line 18. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation.
Claims 3,5,8,10 and 15 are dependent on claim 1, thus, are also rejected because of their dependency.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. The closest prior arts considered to be are D1 US 2014/169040 A1 (SCHROEDER STEFAN [DE] ET AL) 19 June 2014 (2014-06-19), D2 US 2022/149751 A1 (KOJIMA TETSUYA [JP]) 12 May 2022 (2022-05-12), D3 JP 2003 070255 A (TOSHIBA IT & CONTROL SYS CORP; TOSH IBA CORP) 7 March 2003 (2003-03-07), D4 US 2022/231599 A 1 (GESKE MARTIN [DE] ET AL) 21 July 2022 (2022-07-21) and D5 : Zuckerberger “20150249400.
D2: Kojima discloses a method for pre-charging filter cells (Figs: 1,10,15,19 and 24-25) during a start-up of an electrical converter (Figs: 1,10,15,19 and 24-25 power conversion ), the electrical converter comprising a main stage (three-level inverter 4) adapted fer-converting configured to convert a DC voltage (voltage at DC link capacitor coupled in series ) into a multi-phase intermediate voltage comprising at least two voltage levels (three-level inverter 4) , a filter cell stage (single-phase inverters 5, 6, and 7) with a filter cell (cell inside the single-phase inverters 5, 6, and 7) for each phase of the intermediate voltage, each filter cell) being adapted for adding configured to add or subtract a cell voltage of the filter cell to the intermediate voltage (see parag.0042) , and but fails to discloses “a pre-charge circuit configured to pre-charge the filter cells and a DC link of the main stage and comprising an auxiliary power source connected between one phase of an output of the electrical converter and the method comprises a pre-charging of the filter cells comprising:
switching the main stage such that all phases of the output of the main stage are directly connected to the neutral point of the DC link of the main stage; switching at least one of the filter cells into a rectifying state, in which a rectified current flows through a cell capacitor of this the at least one filter cell; and switching the pre-charge circuit on and charging the cell capacitor of said the at least one filter cell by the pre-charge circuit, until a nominal cell voltage is achieved at the cell capacitor of this the at least one filter cell.”
D5: Zuckerberger “20150249400 discloses pre-charging filter cells (Figs: 1,-3) during a start-up of an electrical converter (Figs: 1-3 power conversion ), the electrical converter comprising a main stage (inverter 22 ) adapted fer-converting configured to convert a DC voltage (voltage at DC link capacitor 14 ) into a multi-phase intermediate voltage comprising at least two voltage levels (inverter 22) , a filter cell stage (filter 64) with a filter cell (cell inside filter 64) for each phase of the intermediate voltage.
Zuckerberger discloses a pre-charging of the filter cells (the energy supply 60 and switch 62) is coupled between the DC link capacitor 14 and the inverter 22 (equivalent to the output of the main stage, thus fails to disclose the limitations recited below.
D1: Schroeder discloses a method for pre-charging filter cells for an electrical converter (Figs: 1,-11) during a start-up of an electrical converter (Figs: 1,-11 power conversion ), the electrical converter comprising a main stage (Fig. 4: three legs 302, 304, 306) adapted fer-converting configured to convert a DC voltage ( voltage at DC link capacitor coupled in series 307 ) into a multi-phase intermediate voltage comprising at least two voltage levels (three legs 302, 304, 306) but fails to discloses the filter cell and the limitations recited below.
However, none of the documents comprise a converter that can directly connect the output phases to a neutral point.
8. Claims 1 and 13-14 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In regard to claim 1, the prior art in the record fails to disclose or suggest a feedforward circuit including the limitation of “a pre-charge circuit configured to pre-charge the filter cells and a DC link of the main stage and comprising an auxiliary power source connected between one phase of an output of the electrical converter and the method comprises a pre-charging of the filter cells comprising:
switching the main stage such that all phases of the output of the main stage are directly connected to the neutral point of the DC link of the main stage; switching at least one of the filter cells into a rectifying state, in which a rectified current flows through a cell capacitor of this the at least one filter cell; and switching the pre-charge circuit on and charging the cell capacitor of said the at least one filter cell by the pre-charge circuit, until a nominal cell voltage is achieved at the cell capacitor of this the at least one filter cell.”
In regard to claim 13, the prior arts in the record fails to disclose or suggest a controller for controlling an electrical converter including the limitation of “a pre-charge circuit configured to pre- charge the filter cells and a DC link of the main stage and comprising an auxiliary power source connected between one phase of an output of the electrical converter and a neutral point of the DC link of the main stage; and wherein the controller is configured to: switch the main stage such that all phases of the output of the main stage are directly connected to the neutral point of the DC link of the main stage; switch at least one of the filter cells into a rectifying state, in which a rectified current flows through a cell capacitor of the respective filter cell; and switch the pre-charge circuit on and charge the cell capacitor of the at least one filter cell by the pre-charge circuit, until a nominal cell voltage is achieved at the cell capacitor of the at least filter cell.”
In regard to claim14, the prior arts in the record fails to disclose or suggest an electrical converter including the limitation of “a pre-charge circuit configured to pre-charge the filter cells and a DC link of the main stage and comprising an auxiliary power source connected between one phase of an output of the electrical converter and a neutral point of the DC link of the main stage and wherein the controller is configured to: switch the main stage such that all phases of the output of the main stage are directly connected to the neutral point of the DC link of the main stage; switch at least one of the filter cells into a rectifying state, in which a rectified current flows through a cell capacitor of the respective filter cell; and switch the pre-charge circuit on and charge the cell capacitor of the at least one filter cell by the pre-charge circuit, until a nominal cell voltage is achieved at the cell capacitor of the at least filter cell, wherein all phases of the output of the electrical converter are connected via an electrical load.”
Claims 2-12 dependent on claim 1, thus are also allowed because of their dependency.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SISAY G TIKU whose telephone number is (571)272-6898. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM-6:00PM. 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, Crystal L Hammond can be reached at (571) 270-1682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SISAY G TIKU/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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