ABB Research Ltd.Download PDFPatent Trials and Appeals BoardMay 22, 202013892715 - (D) (P.T.A.B. May. 22, 2020) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 13/892,715 05/13/2013 Yujing Liu 04189-P0138A 7779 137670 7590 05/22/2020 ABB - Whitmyer IP Group LLC 600 Summer Street Stamford, CT 06901 EXAMINER MATES, ROBERT E ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2832 MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE 05/22/2020 PAPER Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ________________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ________________ Ex parte YUJING LIU and PIERLUIGI TENCA ________________ Appeal 2018-009246 Application 13/892,715 Technology Center 2800 ________________ Before CAROLYN D. THOMAS, BRADLEY W. BAUMEISTER, and ADAM J. PYONIN, Administrative Patent Judges. BAUMEISTER, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s final rejection of claims 1–20, which constitute all of the pending claims. 1 Appeal Br. 2. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).2 We REVERSE. 1 We use the word “Appellant” to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42. Appellant identifies ABB Research Ltd. as the real party in interest. Appeal Brief filed April 18, 2018 (“Appeal Br.”) 2. 2 Oral argument was held on May 15, 2020. A transcript will be added to the record in due course. Appeal 2018-009246 Application 13/892,715 2 CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER Appellant describes the present invention as follows: A rotating electrical machine including a stator or rotor including a plurality of serially connected switching cells. Each switching cell includes a winding subsection and a current reverser arranged to controllably alter a current direction through the winding subsection, and each current reverser includes a capacitor arranged to form a resonant circuit in cooperation with the winding subsection. Abstract. Independent claim 1, reproduced below with the disputed claim language emphasized, illustrates the appealed claims: 1. A rotating or linear electrical machine comprising: a stator or rotor comprising a plurality of serially connected switching cells, wherein each switching cell comprises a winding subsection and a current reverser arranged to controllably alter a current direction through the winding subsection, wherein each current reverser comprises a capacitor arranged to form a resonant circuit in cooperation with the winding subsection, wherein each current reverser further comprises switch assemblies that provide bidirectional voltage blocking for changing the polarity of the voltage across the winding subsection, and wherein each switching cell comprises a switch configured to disconnect the capacitor from the winding subsection without stopping the flow of current through the winding subsection. Appeal Br. 15 (Claims App.). Appeal 2018-009246 Application 13/892,715 3 STATEMENT OF THE REJECTIONS Claims 1, 3, 5–7, 9, 13, and 16–19 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Maslov (US 2004/0021437 Al; published Feb. 5, 2004), Falk (US 7,102,901 B2; issued Sept. 5, 2006), Klatt (US 5,237,255; issued Aug. 17, 1993), and Ni (US 5,166,617; published Nov. 24, 1992). Final Act. 3–12.3 Claim 2 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, and Mongeau (US 5,917,295; issued June 29, 1999). Final Act. 12–14. Claim 4 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, and Tokumasu (US 6,388,357 Bl; issued May 14, 2002). Final Act. 14–15. Claim 8 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, and Miskin (US 4,804,895; issued Feb. 14, 1989). Final Act. 16–17. Claim 10 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, and Lee (US 6,064,175; issued May 16, 2000). Final Act. 17. Claim 11 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, and Suenaga (US 2008/0272115 Al; published Nov. 6, 2008). Final Act. 18. 3 Rather than repeat the Examiner’s positions and Appellant’s arguments in their entirety, we refer to the above mentioned Appeal Brief, as well as the following documents for their respective details: the Final Action mailed December 14, 2017 (“Final Act.”); the Examiner’s Answer mailed August 7, 2018 (“Ans.”); and the Reply Brief filed September 24, 2018 (“Reply Br.”). Appeal 2018-009246 Application 13/892,715 4 Claim 12 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, and MacKay (US 2006/0038517 Al; published Feb. 23, 2006). Final Act. 18–20. Claim 14 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, and Kikuchi (US 2009/0200885 Al; published Aug. 13, 2009). Final Act. 20–21. Claim 15 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, and Lander (US 6,054,791; issued Apr. 25, 2000). Final Act. 22. Claim 20 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Maslov, Falk, and Divan (US 4,864,483; issued Sept. 5, 1989). Final Act. 22–25. STANDARD OF REVIEW The Board conducts a limited de novo review of the appealed rejections for error based upon the issues identified by Appellant, and in light of the arguments and evidence produced thereon. Ex parte Frye, 94 USPQ2d 1072, 1075 (BPAI 2010) (precedential). ANALYSIS The Examiner finds that Maslov discloses most of the limitations of independent claims 1 and 20, specifically including the limitation of “wherein each current reverser further comprises switch assemblies that provide bidirectional voltage blocking for changing the polarity of the voltage across the winding subsection.” Final Act. 4–5. In particular, the Examiner interprets this limitation as merely reading on a conventional Appeal 2018-009246 Application 13/892,715 5 electrical circuit that is commonly called an H-bridge, and the Examiner finds that Maslov’s switch set circuit 52 of Figures 16 and 18A, which circuit includes four metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) 53–56, includes such an H-bridge, as claimed. Ans. 2–3 (citing Maslov ¶¶ 42, 251, 253; Figs. 3, 18A). The Examiner relies on Falk for teaching switching cells that are connected serially. Id. at 6 (citing Falk Figure 1, switching cells 4.1 to 4.n). The Examiner relies on Klatt for teaching a capacitor arranged to form a resonant circuit in cooperation with each winding subsection. Id. at 6–7. The Examiner relies on Ni for teaching switching cells that each comprise a switch configured to disconnect the capacitor from the winding subsection without stopping the flow of current through the winding subsection. Id. at 7. The Examiner concludes that motivation existed to combine the teachings of these four references in a manner as recited in claim 1. Id. at 6– 8. More particularly, the Examiner initially reasons in relation to Maslov and Falk, [i]t would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Maslov to have the switching cells 52 [] serially connected[,] as taught by Falk, for the advantageous benefit of converting a high input voltage to a useful output[,] as taught by Falk. Id. (citing Falk, col. 1, ll. 11–13). The Examiner subsequently supplements the reasoning for why one of ordinary skill would have combined the references’ teachings, taking the additional position that Maslov also teaches connecting the switching cells in series: Appeal 2018-009246 Application 13/892,715 6 Maslov does not specify how the switch sets 52 shown in FIG. 16 and 19 are connected to each other and states that the switch sets 52 can be connected in parallel or in series. Maslov clearly contemplates either one of series or parallel connections between the switch sets 52. Ans. 4 (citing Maslov ¶ 258). Regarding the Examiner’s supplemental reasoning, Appellant disputes the Examiner’s finding that Maslov contemplates either series or parallel connections between the switch sets. Reply Br. 8–9. Appellant notes the passage of Maslov that the Examiner relies upon, reads more fully, as follows: “the power source provides energization to multiple independent switch sets 52 each connected to respective motor winding or windings 34 in parallel, series, or more complex commutated arrangements.” Id. at 8 (citing Maslov ¶ 258). Appellant contends that “[c]ontrary to the Examiner’s interpretation, Maslov does not teach the switch sets 52 themselves are connected in parallel or series with each other.” Id. (emphasis added). Appellant argues, and we agree, that this passage teaches that “for any given switch set, Maslov describes that the switch set is connected in parallel or series with its corresponding winding 34.” Id. (emphasis added). As such, the Examiner has not established that Maslov contemplates serially connecting the switch sets, themselves. Regarding the Examiner’s combination of Maslov and Falk, Appellant additionally argues that there would have been insufficient reason to connect Maslov’s switching cells serially because “Maslov teaches that the switch sets are connected independently of each other—not serially connected—for the intended purpose of isolating the machine’s electromagnetic circuits. Reply Br. 8 (citing Maslov ¶¶ 23, 111). Appellant argues that the switch Appeal 2018-009246 Application 13/892,715 7 sets’ independence “allows effective control of more independent machine parameters, enabling greater freedom to optimize and providing adaptive motors and generators that are cheaper, smaller, lighter, more powerful, and more efficient than conventional designs.” Id. at 9 (citing Maslov, Abstract). Appellant further cites multiple passages of Maslov to support the assertion that Maslov intentionally designed the switch-set circuits specifically to be electrically isolated from each other and independently connected to a power source. Reply Br. 5–9 (citing Maslov ¶¶ 23, 92, 93, 111, 113, 114, 134, 144, 153, 168, 251; Figs. 3, 18a). In light of Maslov’s multiple disclosures of the benefits and central goal of electrically isolating the circuits, the Examiner does not sufficiently explain why one of ordinary skill would have expected that modifying Maslov’s motor to connect the circuits serially would achieve “the [relatively] advantageous benefit of converting a high input voltage to a useful output[,] as taught by Falk.” Ans. 4. For example, Maslov expressly describes the benefits of independent control as follows: Modern electric motors often have sophisticated, microprocessor-based control systems. But an adaptive electric machine may provide even better control over machine operation by isolating the machine's electromagnetic circuits to eliminate interference, then providing adequate optimal control to each independent electromagnetic circuit by controlling electrical flow in each circuit independently of electrical flow in each other circuit. Better control means better opportunity to optimize. Rather than being forced to accept compromises in selecting the type of motor to use–– such as giving up high starting torque to achieve variable speed-an adaptive electric machine may, Appeal 2018-009246 Application 13/892,715 8 because of its adaptive nature, provide optimum performance over a wide range of conditions. Maslov ¶ 23. The Examiner’s combining of at least Falk with Maslov appears to be a result of impermissible hindsight that was based on knowledge gleaned only from Appellant’s claims and disclosure. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 1395, (CCPA 1971) (holding that a judgement on obviousness is proper so long as it takes into account only knowledge that was within the level of ordinary skill in the art and does not include knowledge gleaned only from an applicant’s disclosure). CONCLUSIONS For the foregoing reasons, Appellant has persuaded us of error in the Examiner’s obviousness rejection of independent claim 1. Accordingly, we reverse the Examiner’s rejection of that claim, and claims 1, 3, 5–7, 9, 13 and 16–19, which either depend from claim 1 or otherwise recite that the switching cells are serially connected. With respect to the remaining rejections of dependent claims 2, 4, 8, 10–12, 14, and 15 and of independent claim 20, the Examiner does not rely on any of the additionally cited references to cure the deficiency of the obviousness rejection explained above. See Final Act. 12–25. Appeal 2018-009246 Application 13/892,715 9 DECISION SUMMARY In summary: REVERSED Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed 1, 3, 5–7, 9, 13, 16– 19 103 Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni 1, 3, 5–7, 9, 13, 16– 19 2 103 Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, Mongeau 2 4 103 Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, Tokumasu 4 8 103 Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, Miskin 8 10 103 Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, Lee 10 11 103 Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, Suenaga 11 12 103 Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, MacKay 12 14 103 Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, Kikuchi 14 15 103 Maslov, Falk, Klatt, Ni, Lander 15 20 103 Maslov, Falk, Divan 20 Overall Outcome 1–20 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation