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
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
Claim(s) 1,2,3,4,6,7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by LEY et al. US20190305551A1.
CLAIM 1
LEY et al. discloses an energy storage and supply system (Fig. 1, PV Array) including:
a renewable energy source (PV Array) arranged to generate electricity;
a first energy storage means arranged to receive electrical energy and to convert that
energy to mechanical potential energy ([0024] a pumped-storage hydroelectricity, gravitational potential energy, or a hydraulic accumulator.); and
a battery energy storage system (BESS) arranged to receive and store electrical energy (Fig. 1, Battery);
wherein the first energy storage means includes an electricity generating means arranged
to convert mechanical potential energy to electrical energy ([0024] gravitational potential energy, or a hydraulic accumulator);
the electricity generating means of the first energy storage means and the BESS both
being connected to a common DC bus (Fig. 1, ;
the DC bus being connected to an output inverter (Fig, 1, inverter);
the output inverter being arranged to supply AC electricity to an electrical grid.
CLAIM 2
LEY et al. discloses an energy storage and supply system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first energy storage means is a pumped hydraulic system.
CLAIM 3
LEY et al. discloses an energy storage and supply system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the associated electricity generating means is a water-powered turbine or a reversible pump.
CLAIM 4
LEY et al. discloses (Currently Amended) An energy storage and supply system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electricity generating means associated with the first energy storage means is arranged to produce alternating current (Fig. 1).
CLAIM 6
LEY et al. discloses an energy storage and supply system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the BESS is connected to the DC bus by means of a DC/DC converter (Fib. 1).
CLAIM 7
LEY et al. discloses an energy storage and supply system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a transformer (Fig. 1, XFMR) is positioned between the output inverter and the broader electrical grid to step-up the voltage to match that of relevant transmission lines. Transformers have well known inherent properties to step up voltages.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LLEY et al. US20190305551A1 in view of SEEKER et al. US20100181837.
CLAIM 5
LEY et al. discloses an energy storage and supply system as claimed in claim 4.
LEY et al. does not disclose wherein the DC bus is connected to an inlet inverter, the inlet inverter being arranged to convert AC electricity from the first energy storage means to DC electricity.
SEEKER et al. discloses wherein the DC bus is connected to an inlet inverter FIG. 2, The power regulator monitors the voltage level on the DC bus as an indicator to determine whether the supply exceeds the demand or whether the demand exceeds the supply. In addition, if the power system includes a grid-independent AC load or is connected to the utility grid, an inverter is provided between the common DC bus and the AC system. The inverter controller is capable of providing bidirectional power flow such that excess energy generated by the sources may be supplied to the utility grid when the power generated exceeds the power demanded. Similarly, energy may be drawn from the utility grid when the power generated by the sources fails to meet the power demanded by the power system
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have connected to an inlet inverter (a bidirectional inverter), the inlet inverter being arranged to convert AC electricity from the first energy storage means to DC electricity to supply power to the bus when turbine generator is supplying power to the bus and to supply power to the turbine motor when the turbine is in the pump mode.
Claim(s) 15,16,17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by TAKAHASHI et al. US 11152788.
CLAIM 15
TAKAHASHI et al. discloses a method of supplying stored electricity, the method including the steps of: recognizing a demand for stored electricity to be supplied; and
(in claim 1) “…determining a priority between the storage battery and the water electrolyzer as a destination to which electric power is supplied from a power generation device using renewable energy, based on the detection results detected by the detector…”
TAKAHASHI et al. does not discloses providing electricity from a battery energy storage system for a first time period;
commencing electricity generation from a first energy storage means during the first time period; and
providing electricity from the first energy storage means during a second time period.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to prioritize the power source to service the load based on for example cost of the energy, speed to which it is available, stored capacity, etc. and the overlapping time would be obvious to have, to provide uninterrupted power to the load.
CLAIMS 16,17
TAKAHASHI et al. discloses a method of supplying stored electricity as claimed in claim 15.
TAKAHASHI et al. does not disclose wherein the first time period is in the range of 1 to 10 minutes.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have chosen time periods dependent on capacity of the energy source and the availability of the energy source providing the energy.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-14 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.
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March 15, 2026
/ROBERT L DEBERADINIS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836