DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/03/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of the amendment filed on 08/03/2026 in which claims 10-12, 21, 23-24, 27-30, and 34 are amended and claims 35-36 added. Claims 1-7, 9, and 15-20 stand as canceled, therefore claims 8, 10-14, and 21-36 are pending for examination below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 8 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hobbs [US 2006/0028178] in view of Pozsgay et al. [US 6,928,372] and Klang et al. [US 7,545,146], and Pryor [US 2008/0007202].
With respect to claim 8, Hobbs discloses a method of charging a battery of a vehicle [Fig. 3], the method comprising: releasably connecting an electrical power cord [125] to the vehicle [150]; automatically upon connection of the electrical cord to the vehicle, receiving, by a second controller of a vehicular battery charger [270], signals of the battery representative of at least one of a group consisting of a capacity of the battery, a type of the battery, a manufacturer of the battery, a model of the battery, and an age of the battery [par. 0072,0080,0086,0088,0095,0096; during certain phases voltage and current information is received/measured and used to determine “the type of battery”]; and commencing the battery charging session based at least in part upon the signals received by the controller of the vehicular battery charger [par. 0072,0080,0086,0088,0095,0096; additionally the information is used to determine “power level to start charging at”, “how quickly to change the charging rate”, and “when to stop charging”] and the commands from the user [par. 0111; fast charging takes place for a particular amount of time as entered by the user]. However, Hobbs fails to explicitly disclose the a first controller of the vehicle receiving input of the data and the second charge controller communicating with a first battery controller of the vehicle (i.e. consequentially the data being received by the charger controller from the battery controller) to receive the data and user input of time of day.
Pozsgay discloses a method for charging a battery wherein a battery 302 includes a memory/controller 309 that stores information including the battery serial number, type of cell, charging instructions, and date of manufacture (age) in the memory [col. 2 lines 35-55] and sends that data to a memory/controller 311 of a charger so that the charging can receive and use the information in a charging operation [abstract].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to modify Hobbs such that the battery included a memory/controller with the battery information (including type of cell) to send to the charger as taught by Pozsgay for the benefit of increasing efficiency of the recharging operation, i.e. Hobbs discloses the operation is stopped and restarted to double-check the type of cell was correctly determined whereas a memory that explicitly sent the information to the charger would skip the guess work and the starting/stopping of the recharging operation.
Furthermore, Klang relates to battery charging testing methods and teaches receiving a user input at a controller regarding the type of battery [col. 8 lines 19-67, Fig. 4-1].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to further modify Hobbs as modified by Pozsgay to include a user input in the vehicle controller to allow entry of the battery type for the benefit of preventing faults in the battery charging operation by testing for the battery type/limits as suggested by Klang.
Finally, Pryor relates to vehicle battery charging and teaches receiving, by a user interface, commands regarding a time of day when the vehicular battery charger will begin or end the battery charging session, wherein commencing the battery charging session is based at least in part upon the battery information retrieved from the memory and the commands [Fig. 4-5], and wherein the user interface is mounted within the vehicle within view of a user seated within the vehicle [Fig. 2].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to further modify Hobbs to utilize time of day entry for the benefit of allowing the user greater control on when/how the charging operation is performed based on their preferences.
Claims 12, 21-26, 28-30, 33-36 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hobbs [US 2006/0028178] in view of Pozsgay et al. [US 6,928,372] and Klang et al. [US 7,545,146].
With respect to claims 35-36, Hobbs discloses a method of charging a battery of a vehicle [Fig. 3], the method comprising: releasably connecting an electrical power cord [125] to the vehicle [150]; automatically upon connection of the electrical cord to the vehicle, receiving, by a second controller of a vehicular battery charger [270], signals of the battery representative of at least one of a group consisting of a capacity of the battery, a type of the battery, a manufacturer of the battery, a model of the battery, and an age of the battery [par. 0072,0080,0086,0088,0095,0096; during certain phases voltage and current information is received/measured and used to determine “the type of battery”]; and commencing the battery charging session based at least in part upon the signals received by the controller of the vehicular battery charger [par. 0072,0080,0086,0088,0095,0096; additionally the information is used to determine “power level to start charging at”, “how quickly to change the charging rate”, and “when to stop charging”] and the commands from the user [par. 0111; fast charging takes place for a particular amount of time as entered by the user]. However, Hobbs fails to explicitly disclose the a first controller of the vehicle receiving input of the data and the second charge controller communicating with a first battery controller of the vehicle (i.e. consequentially the data being received by the charger controller from the battery controller) to receive the data.
Pozsgay discloses a method for charging a battery wherein a battery 302 includes a memory/controller 309 that stores information including the battery serial number, type of cell, charging instructions, and date of manufacture (age) in the memory [col. 2 lines 35-55] and sends that data to a memory/controller 311 of a charger so that the charging can receive and use the information in a charging operation [abstract].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to modify Hobbs such that the battery included a memory/controller with the battery information (including type of cell) to send to the charger as taught by Pozsgay for the benefit of increasing efficiency of the recharging operation, i.e. Hobbs discloses the operation is stopped and restarted to double-check the type of cell was correctly determined whereas a memory that explicitly sent the information to the charger would skip the guess work and the starting/stopping of the recharging operation.
Furthermore, Klang relates to battery charging testing methods and teaches receiving a user input at a controller regarding the type of battery [col. 8 lines 19-67, Fig. 4-1].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to further modify Hobbs as modified by Pozsgay to include a user input in the vehicle controller to allow entry of the battery type for the benefit of preventing faults in the battery charging operation by testing for the battery type/limits as suggested by Klang.
With respect to claim 12, Hobbs discloses receiving signals representative of commands from a portable controller that is remote from the vehicular battery charger and the vehicle, wherein commencing the battery charging session is based at least in part upon the battery information retrieved from the memory and the commands [130].
With respect to claim 21, Hobbs further discloses changing a supply of electric power to the battery during the battery charging session based at least in part upon the battery information retrieved from the memory and commands received via a user interface [Fig. 3].
With respect to claim 22, Hobbs further discloses wherein changing the supply of electric power to the battery during the battery charging session includes at least one of a group consisting of increasing a rate of charge of the battery, decreasing the rate of charge of the battery, starting battery charging, and stopping battery charging [Fig. 3; increase and/or decrease power].
With respect to claim 23, Hobbs further discloses wherein the second controller and the memory are located in a common housing [i.e. controller implicitly control memory to execute the instructions and data stored therein].
With respect to claim 24, Hobbs further discloses communicating wirelessly, via the second controller, with a third controller that is remote from the second controller and the vehicle; and in response to signals received with the second controller from the third controller, changing a supply of electric power to the battery [via 130 on cellular telephony].
With respect to claim 25, Hobbs further discloses wherein changing the supply of electric power to the battery includes at least one of a group consisting of increasing a rate of charge of the battery, decreasing the rate of charge of the battery, starting battery charging, and stopping battery charging [Fig. 3; increase and/or decrease power].
With respect to claim 26, Hobbs further discloses wherein communicating wirelessly with the third controller includes transmitting data to the third controller based on the battery information retrieved from the memory of the vehicle [par. 0037; diagnostic control for batteries over discharge implies data came from memory of vehicle controller alerting to the over discharged condition].
With respect to claim 28, Hobbs further discloses wherein commencing the battery charging session is based at least in part upon the battery information retrieved from the memory and a power draw [par. 0078; power draw calculations].
With respect to claims 29 and 34, Hobbs further discloses wherein commencing the battery charging session is based at least in part upon the battery information retrieved from the memory and a cost of power [par. 0112-0113; price calculations, Fig. 3 for level of charge].
With respect to claim 30, Hobbs further discloses comprising interrupting charging of the battery during the battery charging session [Fig. 3; 339].
With respect to claim 33, Hobbs further discloses wherein interrupting charging of the battery includes interrupting charging of the battery responsive to a wireless signal received from a third controller remote from the second controller and the vehicle [par. 0037; PDA 130 over telephony allows for manual control of the battery charging, inclusive of starting/stopping].
Claims 10-11, 13, 27, and 32 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hobbs [US 2006/0028178], Pozsgay et al. [US 6,928,372] and Klang et al. [US 7,545,146] as applied above, and further in view of Pryor [US 2008/0007202].
With respect to claim 10, Hobbs as applied above fails to explicitly disclose user input of a time of day. Pryor relates to vehicle battery charging and teaches receiving, by a user interface, commands regarding a time of day when the vehicular battery charger will begin or end the battery charging session, wherein commencing the battery charging session is based at least in part upon the battery information retrieved from the memory and the commands [Fig. 4-5], and wherein the user interface is mounted within the vehicle within view of a user seated within the vehicle [Fig. 2].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to further modify Hobbs to utilize time of day entry for the benefit of allowing the user greater control on when/how the charging operation is performed based on their preferences.
With respect to claim 11, Hobbs further discloses wherein the user interface is part of the vehicular battery charger and is electrically coupled to the controller of the vehicular battery charger [as illustrated in Figs 1-2, par. 0035-0037,0055], however, fails to disclose the charger user interface incorporating time of day.
Pryor relates to vehicle battery charging and teaches receiving, by a user interface, commands regarding a time of day when the vehicular battery charger will begin or end the battery charging session, wherein commencing the battery charging session is based at least in part upon the battery information retrieved from the memory and the commands [Figs. 4-5].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to further modify Hobbs to utilize time of day entry for the benefit of allowing the user greater control on when/how the charging operation is performed based on their preferences.
With respect to claim 13, Hobbs discloses receiving, at the portable controller, signals, and displaying information, on a display screen electrically coupled to the portable controller [par. 0037] and on the display 107, however, fails to explicitly disclose receiving/displaying information about the level of charge (capacity).
Pryor further discloses wirelessly sending signals indicative of the level of charge of the battery to a remote controller [par. 0024-0025].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to modify Hobbs to send and display the level of charge (current capacity of the battery) to the remote controller/charger for the benefit of aiding the user in the control of the charging operation by providing all relevant data regarding the battery, as level of charge is one of the most important pieces of information (as Hobbs suggest the remote controller is used with an over-discharging event).
With respect to claim 27, Hobbs fails to disclose time of day data. However, Pryor relates to vehicle battery charging and teaches receiving signals representative of the commands regarding a time of day when the vehicular battery charger will begin or end the battery charging session from the user from the third controller, wherein commencing the battery charging session is based at least in part upon the battery information retrieved from the memory and the commands [Fig. 4-5].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to further modify Hobbs to utilize time of day entry for the benefit of allowing the user greater control on when/how the charging operation is performed based on their preferences.
With respect to claim 32, Pryor as applied above further discloses wherein interrupting charging of the battery includes interrupting charging of the battery based on an interruption time [i.e. charging end time]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to further modify Hobbs to utilize time of day entry for the benefit of allowing the user greater control on when/how the charging operation is performed based on their preferences.
Claims 14 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hobbs [US 2006/0028178], Pozsgay et al. [US 6,928,372], Klang et al. [US 7,545,146], and Pryor [US 2008/0007202] as applied above, and further in view of Woo [US 2009/0051223].
With respect to claim 14, Hobbs as applied above discloses displaying information, on the display screen but fails to explicitly disclose that information being at least one of the group consisting of the size of the battery, the type of the battery, the manufacturer of the battery, the model of the battery, and the age of the battery.
Woo teaches a battery device that includes a display for displaying information related to the battery wherein that information being at least one of the group consisting of the size of the battery, the type of the battery, the manufacturer of the battery, the model of the battery, and the age of the battery [par. 0043, i.e. type].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to modify Hobbs to further modify the display to include the type of battery for the benefit of quickly and easily identifying to the user the type of battery for which information is being displayed.
Claims 31 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hobbs [US 2006/0028178], Pozsgay et al. [US 6,928,372] and Klang et al. [US 7,545,146] as applied above, and further in view of Miller [US 2006/0276938].
With respect to claim 31, Hobbs fails to disclose charging base on a demand surge. The difference between the prior art and the claim is therefore grid management. Miller relates to optimizing energy management with mains/grid and teaches wherein interrupting charging of the battery includes interrupting charging of the battery based on a demand surge [at least. Par. 0120 discloses utilizing a backup/interruption during high demand, see also par. 0031 for grid outages based on demand, see par. 0038 for high energy prices during high demand].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was made to modify Hobbs to interrupt charging based on demand surge for the benefit of maximizing cost saving for the user as suggested by Miller.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL R PELTON whose telephone number is (571)270-1761. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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/NATHANIEL R PELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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