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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in paragraph [0001], the issued patent information for applications 18/373,083 and 17/466,604 should be provided.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 11-20 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.
For claim 11, the recitation “the control device …. and lacks additional terminals or diodes for controlling other thyristors” on lines 2-3 is indefinite because it is not clear what it means since it is not clear what “diodes” and “other thyristors” that it is referenced to in the circuitry. Clarification and/or appropriate correction is required.
Claim 12 is indefinite because it depends on claim 11. Further, the recitation “a control signal” is unclear antecedent basis because it is not clear if it refers to “a control signal” recited earlier in claim 1 (see line 16, claim 1). Clarification and/or appropriate correction is required.
For claim 13, the recitation “a resistor and a thyristor connected in parallel between internal nodes of the rectifying bridge” on lines 1-2 is indefinite because it is misdescriptive since Figure 2 of the disclosure discloses a resistor (R) and a thyristor (Th3) connected in parallel and between internal node 110 and output node 106, however it is not between internal nodes 112 and 110 of the rectifying bridge. Clarification and/or appropriate correction is required.
Claims 14-20 are indefinite because they depend on claim 13.
Also, for claim 19, the recitation “wherein the control device … does not control other thyristors in the rectifying bridge” on lines 2-3 is indefinite because it is not clear what “other thyristors” that it is referenced in the circuitry. Clarification and/or appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 13, 16-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sekiguchi et al. (USP 6,426,885).
For claim 13, Figure 2 of Sekiguchi et al. teaches a method of operating a rectifying bridge comprising a resistor (3) and a thyristor (4a-4b) connected in parallel between internal nodes (the nodes of parallel connected of resistor 3 and thyristor 4a-4b) of the rectifying bridge, the method comprising: applying an AC voltage (AC 1) to input nodes of the rectifying bridge; rectifying the AC voltage (1) through first and second branches of the rectifying bridge to generate a rectified voltage (through diode bridge 2, see Col. 5, lines 22-60); initially charging a capacitor (7) connected between output nodes (the two nodes of the circuitry connected the capacitor 7) of the rectifying bridge through the resistor (3) while maintaining the thyristor (4a-4b) in an off state to limit inrush current (see Col. 5, line 62 to Col. 6, line 50; also see Figure 3); and switching the thyristor (4a-4b) to an on state after the capacitor reaches a predetermined charge level to prevent overheating of the resistor (3) (see Col. 5, line 62 to Col. 6, line 50; also see Figure 3).
For claim 16, Figure 2 of Sekiguchi et al. teaches wherein rectifying the AC voltage (rectifying the AC voltage 1 by the diode rectifying bridge 2, see Col. 5, lines 22-60) comprises: conducting current through a first pair of diodes in the first branch during a first half-cycle of the AC voltage (inherently in the operation of the diode rectifying bridge 2); and conducting current through a second pair of diodes in the second branch during a second half-cycle of the AC voltage (inherently in the operation of the diode rectifying bridge 2).
For claim 17, it is seen in the operation of Figure 2 of Sekiguchi et al. teaches monitoring a charge level of the capacitor (7, see Col. 5, line 62 to Col. 6 line 60, also see Figure 3); and determining that the capacitor (7) has reached the predetermined charge level before switching the thyristor to the on state (see Col. 5, line 62 to Col. 6 line 60, also see Figure 3).
For claim 18, it is seen in the operation of Figure 2 of Sekiguchi et al. teaches wherein initially charging the capacitor (7) through the resistor (3) comprises charging the capacitor (7) with a time constant determined by a resistive value of the resistor (3) and a capacitive value of the capacitor (7) (inherently in the operation of the circuit because the charging of the capacitor depends on the RC time constant of the circuit).
For claim 20, it is seen in the operation of Figure 2 of Sekiguchi et al. teaches maintaining the thyristor (4a-4b)in the on state during normal operation of the rectifying bridge (see Col. 5, line 62 to Col. 6 line 60, also see Figure 3); and bypassing the resistor (3) through the thyristor (4a-4b) to avoid power dissipation in the resistor (3) during the normal operation (see Col. 5, line 62 to Col. 6 line 60, also see Figure 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 are allowed.
Claim 1 is allowed because the closet prior art (Sekiguchi et al., USP 6,426,885), in Figure 1, teaches a parallel connection of a resistor (3) and a thyristor (4a-4b), and a control device (30); however, the closet prior art (Sekiguchi et al., USP 6,426,885), in Figure 1, fails to teach “a control device, comprising: a triac; and a first diode series-connected between the triac and a first terminal of the control device, wherein the first terminal is configured to be connected to a cathode gate of the thyristor; and wherein a second terminal of the control device is configured to be connected to an anode of the thyristor; wherein the triac has a gate connected to a third terminal of the control device, wherein the third terminal is configured to receive a control signal” as recited in claim 1.
Claims 2-10 are allowed because they depend on claim 1.
Claims 11-12, which depend on allowable claim 1, 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.
Claims 14, 15 and 19 would be allowable if rewritten 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 and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directly to Examiner Long Nguyen whose telephone number is (571) 272-1753. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 5:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Regis Betsch, can be reached at (571) 270-7101. The fax number for this group is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
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.
/Long Nguyen/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2836
Prosecution Insights