Ex Parte Jansson et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Jan 13, 2017

13159743 (P.T.A.B. Jan. 13, 2017)

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.
13/159,743 06/14/2011 Peter Sven Jansson KW-10155US 2064
22835 7590 01/18/2017
PARK, VAUGHAN, FLEMING & DOWLER LLP
2820 FIFTH STREET
DAVIS, CA 95618-7759
EXAMINER
GBLENDE, JEFFREY A
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2838
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
01/18/2017 ELECTRONIC
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.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address(es):
uspto-incoming@parklegal.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte PETER SVEN JANS SON and ANDERS LARS UDDNER
Appeal 2015-007340
Application 13/159,7431
Technology Center 2800
Before PETER F. KRATZ, N. WHITNEY WILSON, and
CHRISTOPHER L. OGDEN, Administrative Patent Judges.
OGDEN, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s
decision2 finally rejecting claims 1—10 in the above-identified application.
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We REVERSE.
1 Appellants identify Kollmorgen AB as the real party in interest. Br. 1, Dec.
1,2014.
2 Office Action, June 6, 2014 [hereinafter Action]; Examiner’s Answer, May
27,2015 [hereinafter Answer],
Appeal 2015-007340
Application 13/159,743
BACKGROUND
Appellants’ invention relates to an inverter for use in control of an
electric motor. Spec. 1:8—10. One embodiment is depicted in Figure 2,
which is reproduced below:
*PC .......24a
izzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzk■ □□□□□□□ no □□□□□□□ -w
U LJ LI LJ LiLlLJU U UOUiJOO D^-^nr
21v i..o....... c o
cf*annnz l.oooddoo^
“V ' '
j**v4 I. ' ■’ f ; ■■ "V \ 1 % • X J - - - -X s C"""3' f""""' C""t Xw.-££W i x_ L...i L..
I :....O............O... "O...............O
wsrf * q o □□□□□□□□□ d □ □ □ □
-- ->
1.....
a
■-*D€
■24b
-aw
.—DC
-23b
Fig.
Figure 2 is a schematic top view of an insulated metal substrate board,
showing four horizontal DC distribution busbars (from top to bottom, 24a,
23a, 24b, 23b). In each of the three spaces between pairs of busbars, there
are two switch assemblies, or six assemblies in all (from top to bottom, 22u,
21u, 21v, 22v, 22w, and 21w). Each switch assembly consists of a horizontal
row of 16 switches, represented by square boxes. See Spec. 8:7—13.
Claim 1 is the sole independent claim on appeal:
1. An inverter type motor drive device for feeding or receiving
three phase AC electric power to or from an electric motor, the
inverter type motor drive device comprising:
an insulated metal substrate board on which, for each of
the three phases, a plurality of power switches are mounted in
2
Appeal 2015-007340
Application 13/159,743
straight lines in switch assemblies along a first direction,
wherein two switch assemblies are assigned for each phase;
a printed circuit board on which a plurality of capacitors
are mounted, wherein the printed circuit board is essentially
parallel to the insulated metal substrate board; and
two DC power input terminals mounted on the printed
circuit board;
wherein the inverter type motor drive device further
comprises three AC power output terminals mounted on the
insulated metal substrate board, wherein each of the three AC
power output terminals extend through the printed circuit board
while avoiding galvanic contact with the printed circuit board,
and each of the three AC power output terminals comprise an
elongated AC bus bar mounted to the insulated metal substrate
board, wherein a longitudinal direction of the AC busbar
extends along the first direction;
wherein each of the two DC power input terminals
comprise an input DC busbar, wherein the input DC busbar
extends along the first direction.
Br. 18 (emphasis added).
The Examiner maintains the following grounds of rejection:
I. Claims 1—5 and 8—10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as
being anticipated by Nakakita.3 See Action 3—6.
II. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Nakakita in view of Takeda.4 See Action 7.
III. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Nakakita in view of Frisch.5 See Final Action 8.
3 Osamu Nakakita et al., U.S. Patent Application Pub. No.
US 2008/0232073 Al (published Sept. 25, 2008).
4 Hitoshi Takeda et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,939,835 (issued Aug. 17, 1999).
5 Michael Frisch, U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 2005/0105277 Al
(published May 19, 2005).
3
Appeal 2015-007340
Application 13/159,743
DISCUSSION
The Examiner finds that Nakakita discloses all the limitations of claim
1, including the required direction in which the switch assemblies are
aligned. See Action 3^4 (citing Nakakita, Figs. 3 and 11). Figure 3 of
Nakakita is reproduced below:
Figure 3 depicts a device comprising six insulated metal substrate boards, a
pair associated with each of phases U, V, and W (11U, 1IV, and 11W,
respectively). Nakakita 1 56. The six boards are depicted as being
essentially identical, except that the 11V and 11W boards are rotated 180°
and 90°, respectively, in comparison to the 11U boards. The common
4
Appeal 2015-007340
Application 13/159,743
features of the six boards are shown in more detail in Figure 11, which is
reproduced below:
Fig. 11
y
A
------- 4
Figure 11 depicts horizontal rows 51 and 53 of four square boxes in each
row, the boxes representing high-side power MOSFETs, and horizontal rows
52 and 54 of four square boxes in each row, the boxes representing low-side
5
Appeal 2015-007340
Application 13/159,743
power MOSFETs. Id. 198. Rows 51 and 52 are adjacent, but offset
horizontally, and likewise rows 53 and 54 are adjacent but offset
horizontally, so that the MOSFETs in each adjacent row do not align in the
vertical direction. Figure 11 has the same orientation as boards 11W in
Figure 3. Thus, boards 11U and 1IV have the same structure as depicted in
Figure 11, but the rows of MOSFETS are vertical instead of horizontal in the
device depicted in Figure 3.
Although the switch assemblies in board 11W of Figure 3 are not
aligned in the same direction as the switch assemblies of boards 11U and
11V, the Examiner interprets claim 1 to only require that the switch
assemblies are aligned for each of the three phases U, V, and W, considered
individually. See Answer 4. Thus, according to the Examiner, boards 11U,
11V, and 11W each depict switch assemblies that are aligned with other
switch assemblies associated with the same phase. See id. at 4—5; see also
Action 3^4.
Although we construe claims broadly during prosecution, the
construction must be reasonable in light of the Specification. In re Man
Machine Interface Techs. LLC, 822 F.3d 1282, 1287 (Fed. Cir. 2016). It
must also be consistent with the interpretation that a person of ordinary skill
in the art would reach. In re Cortright, 165 F.3d 1353, 1358 (Fed. Cir.
1999). The Examiner’s interpretation of claim 1 is not reasonable in light of
the remainder of claim 1 and in light of the Specification. First, claim 1
requires that the AC and DC busbars extend “along the first direction.” Br.
18 (emphasis added). The use of a definite article in this phrase indicates
that claim 1 only refers to a single “first direction,” rather than three separate
“first directions,” one for each phase.
6
Appeal 2015-007340
Application 13/159,743
The Specification supports this interpretation of claim 1. It describes
Figure 2 as follows:
All of the switches of the switch assemblies 2 lu, 21 v, 21 w,
22u, 22v, 22w are thus mounted in straight lines along ... the
same direction x. The x direction can also be called a first direc­
tion. Furthermore, the DC distribution busbars 23a, 23b, 24a,
24b are mounted along the same direction x. Since the DC input
and the AC output of the power switches is distributed along the
x direction, there is no significant disadvantage to extend along
the x direction by installing more power switches. This allows
for easy dimensioning of the motor drive device 1 during design.
Spec. 9:18—27. Thus, the Specification refers to a single “first direction” for
the orientation of all switch assemblies and busbars.
For the above reasons, the broadest reasonable interpretation of the
phrase “for each of the three phases, a plurality of power switches are
mounted in straight lines in switch assemblies along a first direction”
requires that the switch assemblies for all three phases are oriented along the
same direction. In light of this construction, the Examiner reversibly erred
in finding that Nakakita discloses switch assemblies aligned as required by
claim 1.
The Examiner alternatively finds that Nakakita discloses all the
limitations of claim 1 because in the circuit diagram of Nakakita’s Figure 12,
the symbols representing the MOSFET switches are arranged in a 4x4 grid,
so that even if the grid were rotated 90°, one could identify switch
assemblies in boards 11U and 11V that are oriented in the same direction as
board 11W. See Answer 4. We do not find the Examiner’s rationale
persuasive of anticipation, because Figure 12 of Nakakita is a schematic
circuit diagram corresponding to stage 14U in Figure 11, which shows
7
Appeal 2015-007340
Application 13/159,743
circuit connections rather than the physical layout of electronic components.
See Nakakita 199.
Therefore, the Examiner reversibly erred in rejecting claim 1. The
rejections of dependent claims 2—10 do not remedy this error. Thus, we
reverse the Examiner’s decision to reject claims 1—10.
DECISION
The Examiner’s decision is reversed.
REVERSED
8