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 .
Inventorship
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements submitted on 4/28/2025 and 1/02/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-7 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "connection points therebetween" in line 5. This is vague and indefinite. What connection points? And, therebetween where??
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the respective phases" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the positive side arms (plural)" in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the negative side arms (plural)" in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "as the frequency of the carrier wave, at least" [sic] in line 2. As the frequency of the carrier wave does what?? Claims 5 and 7 inherit the same from claim 3.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the gate signal" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. which gate signal is the applicant referring to?
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the gate signal" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. which gate signal is the applicant referring to?
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the gate signal" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. which gate signal is the applicant referring to?
Claims 2-7 inherit the same from claim 1.
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.
(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) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1/a2 as being anticipated by Toshiba (JP2016174490 – IDS).
Claims 1 Toshiba discloses a power conversion device (figure 6) comprising: a power converter (1) which performs power conversion between AC and DC and has a plurality of leg circuits (e.g. three phase legs) in which a positive-side arm (6) and a negative-side arm (6) corresponding to each of a plurality of phases are connected in series and connection points (3) there-between are connected to AC lines for the respective phases, the leg circuits being connected in parallel between positive and negative DC lines (Vdc); and a control circuit (2) which controls the power conversion unit (1), wherein the positive-side arms (6) and the negative-side arms (6) each include one or a plurality of converter cells (3) connected in series, the one or each converter cell (3) having a series unit in which a plurality of semiconductor switching elements (31) are connected in series and a capacitor (32) connected in parallel to the series unit, the control circuitry includes a modulation command generation circuit (inside 2) which calculates arm modulation commands respectively for a plurality of the positive-side arms (6) and a plurality of the negative-side arms (6) on the basis of a command value for voltages to be outputted by the plurality of positive-side arms (6) and the plurality of negative-side arms (6) (see para. [0060] Control circuit 2 sets voltage command values of respective phases based on system voltages srsr, ss, stst, converter currents irp, irn, isp, isn, itp, itn and capacitor voltages cr1 to crcrn, cscs1 to cscsn, ctct1 to ctctn; gate signals of the respective semiconductor switching elements 31 are outputted so that vr*, ss*, tt* are calculated, and a sine wave voltage is outputted to each output terminal based on the calculated result for all phases.), a gate signal generation unit (inside 2) which generates gate signals for driving the plurality of semiconductor switching elements, by comparing each calculated arm modulation command with a carrier wave (see in D1 : [0033] In PWM control, an output of a pulse width corresponding to the magnitude of the voltage command value rr* is obtained by comparing the voltage command value rr * and a carrier wave that periodically changes at a specific frequency.), and a gate signal switchover determination circuit (22+23) which determines whether or not to switch a number of times of ON/OFF change of each gate signal per one cycle of the carrier wave, with respect to a frequency of the carrier wave (see in D1 : [0032] the control method is switched from the one-pulse control to the PWM control according to the pulse system instruction from the selector 23 which performs switching operation according to the comparison result in the comparator 22."), and the gate signal generation circuit (inside 2) generates the gate signals on the basis of a determination result of the gate signal switchover determination circuit.
Claims 2; operation is switched from one pulse mode (performed in steady state) to PWM mode (performed when a transient operation is detected) - see in para. [0055] the control unit 2 in the present embodiment is in the transition period of the current, such as the charging stage until the capacitor 13 of the unit converter 11 reaches the rated voltage, or when changing the reactive current large or fast. It performs control to switch between 1 pulse control and PWM control or to switch the frequency of PWM control; thus, during pre-charge of the capacitor (13) the converter operates in PWM mode and when the capacitor reaches/exceeds the rated voltage, the converter is in steady state and operates in one pulse mode.
Claims 3 and 5; para. [0041] "The carrier frequency to be switched may be set in advance as a fixed value in the control unit 2 or may be determined each time by calculating the degree of reduction of the system voltage. Also, three or more carrier frequencies and two or more threshold values may be provided, and the carrier frequency may be switched in three or more steps. - switching the operation between one-pulse mode and PWM mode based on the value of the switching frequency is an obvious alternative to switching based on current or voltage.
Claims 4, 6 and 7; the converter operates in one-pulse mode in steady state and switches to PWM operation when a transient operation occurs, according to the signal output by the block (23).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20140016379 Yamamoto et al. disclose a voltage source converter and method for controlling; US 10819217 Ido et al. disclose a power conversion device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY L LAXTON whose telephone number is (571)272-2079. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8 am-4 pm.
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/GARY L LAXTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838 10/06/2026
