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 .
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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 02/13/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christen et al. (US 2017/0088005), herein after Christen and King et al. (US 2014/0277869), herein after King.
Regarding claim 1, Christen discloses a method for controlling the charging process of an electrical energy storage device (paragraph [0029]), at an electric charging device, wherein the charging device has a first temperature control system (cooling system 40, fig. 2) and the energy storage device has a second temperature control system (thermal management system 50, fig. 2), the method comprising:
transferring electrical energy between the charging device and the energy storage device (Current originating from the external power source 42 may be transferred from the vehicle charging station 32 to the electrified vehicle 12 for charging the battery pack 24 via the charging cord 38, paragraph [0041]);
transferring thermal energy between a cooling medium that loops through the first temperature control system of the charging device and a cooling medium that loops through the second temperature control system of the energy storage device (paragraph [0044]-[0045]);
closed-loop or open-loop controlling of at least a first temperature (air flow 48, fig. 2) of the cooling medium in the first temperature control system of the charging device and of the second temperature control system of the energy storage device as the vehicle is being charged (paragraph [0041]-[0043]),
wherein the first temperature control system of the charging device (the cooling system 40, fig. 2) is different from the second temperature control system of the energy storage device (thermal management system 50, fig. 2), wherein the second temperature control system is different from the first temperature control system such that the cooling medium looping through the second temperature control system remains separated from the cooling medium looping through the first temperature control system(the loops 40 and 50 are separated from each other),
wherein the first temperature is a supply temperature of the cooling medium (chiller assembly 54, paragraph [0044]) of the first temperature control system of the charging device, and the first temperature is controlled to lower or increase by a coolant heat exchanger provided inside of the charging device, such that the charging device provides for heating and cooling of the energy storage device during the transfer of the electrical energy between the charging device and the energy storage device (the cooling system 40 of the vehicle charging station 32 includes a fan 52 and a chiller assembly 54. A coolant C2 may be circulated through a heat exchanger 56 of the chiller assembly 54. The coolant C2 exchanges heat with an airflow F that is communicated across the heat exchanger 56 by the fan 52. The airflow F is cooled (i.e., loses heat to the coolant C2) as it is blown across a plurality of fins or coils 58 of the heat exchanger 56 to generate the cooling airflow 48. The cooling airflow 48 may then be communicated through a vent 60 of the housing 34 toward the electrified vehicle 12 to aid the thermal management system 50 in cooling the battery pack 24, paragraph [0044]). Christen discloses controlling the temperature of the system during electric vehicle fast charging process (paragraph [0047]).
However, Christen is silent about obtaining charging progress information; and control the temperature of the system based on the charging progress information.
King discloses a system of charging the battery of electric vehicle. King discloses the method step of about obtaining charging progress information; and control the temperature of the system based on the charging progress information (The algorithm 200 then determines a charging profile at 246 by arbitrating the user profile information at 210, energy information at 224, weather information at 230, and battery state information at 238. The charging profile at 246 contains information used to control the charging process in terms of how and when to charge the battery 50, how and when to condition the battery 50 temperature, and/or how and when to condition the cabin temperature, paragraph [0059]).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Christen’s method of charging the electric vehicle’s battery to include the step of controlling the battery temperature based on charging progress information as taught by King, in order to increase cooling during later stages of charging, where the battery is more susceptible to overheating, thereby improving operational safety.
Regarding claim 2, Christen further discloses wherein the first temperature is additionally controlled in a closed-loop or open-loop manner as a function of information on an outside air temperature (the controller 36 may command continued operation of the cooling system 40 even after a DC fast charging event has ended in order to continue to chill the battery pack 24 during relatively extreme ambient conditions (e.g., when an ambient temperature exceeds a predefined threshold temperature stored in the memory of the controller 36), paragraph [0047]).
Regarding claim 5, Christen further discloses wherein the first temperature is lowered (The cooling system 40 may include a chiller assembly 54 that includes a compressor 64, a first heat exchanger 66 (e.g., a condenser), an expansion valve 68, a second heat exchanger 70 (e.g., an evaporator) and a fan 52, paragraph [0048]).
Regarding claim 8, Christen further discloses the method further comprising: obtaining a temperature specification that was generated by a computing unit associated with the charging device; and closed-loop or open-loop controlling of the first temperature furthermore dependent on the temperature specification (paragraph [0047]).
Regarding claim 9, Christen further discloses a charging device (32, fig. 2) for electrical energy storage devices, the charging device comprising:
a first interface for the transfer of electrical energy (the charging cord 38 may extend outside of the housing 34 for connecting to the electrified vehicle 12, paragraph [0038]);
a second interface for the transfer of thermal energy (48 is in connection with the cooling pack 62, paragraph [0045]);
a first temperature control system (40, fig. 2); and
a computing unit (36, fig. 2) configured to carry out the method according to claim 1 (see the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 10, Christen further discloses a system comprising: an electric vehicle (12, fig. 2) and the charging device according to claim 9 (see the rejection of claim 9),
wherein the electric vehicle comprises: the energy storage device (24, fig. 2); and
a first interface (a charging port 46 of the electrified vehicle 12, paragraph [0041]) for the transfer of electrical energy, which is connectable to the first interface of the charging device (paragraph [0041]),
a second interface for the transfer of thermal energy, which is connectable to the second interface of the charging device (48 is in connection with the cooling pack 62, paragraph [0045]), and
wherein the second interface of the electric vehicle is in operative thermal connection with the second temperature control system of the energy storage device (paragraph [0045]-[0046]), and the energy storage device is electrically charged via the first interface of the electric vehicle (paragraph [0047]).
Regarding claim 14, Christen further discloses wherein the energy storage device is provided inside of a vehicle (24 in vehicle 12, fig. 2) and the electric charging device is provided external to the vehicle (32 is external to 12, fig. 2), wherein the first temperature control system of the charging device is provided inside of the charging device (40 is inside the charging station 32, fig. 2) and the second temperature control system of the energy storage device is provided inside of the vehicle (50 is inside the vehicle 12, fig. 2).
Regarding claim 15, Christen further discloses wherein the transferring of thermal energy between the cooling medium of the first temperature control system of the charging device and the cooling medium of the second temperature control system of the energy storage device occurs by a thermal interface of the coolant heat exchanger provided inside of the charging device (paragraph [0045]-[0047]).
Regarding claim 16, Christen further discloses wherein the cooling medium looping through the first temperature control system is a coolant (paragraph [0048]) and the cooling medium looping through the second temperature control system is a coolant (the cooling pack 62 may include a radiator, paragraph [0045] where the radiator have coolant), and wherein the transferring of thermal energy occurs by a transfer of thermal energy between the coolant of the first temperature control system and the coolant of the second temperature control system (paragraph [0045]-[0047]).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christen (US 2017/0088005), and King (US 2014/0277869), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kelty et al. (US 2009/0243538), here in after Kelty.
Regarding claim 3, Christen in view of King discloses the method of claim 1. However, they silent over wherein the closed-loop or open-loop control of the first temperature is deactivated when the outside air temperature exceeds a specified temperature threshold.
Kelty discloses the battery cooling system is deactivated if the outside air temperature exceed the certain temperature (paragraph [0044]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify Christen in view of King to include the steps of adjusting the heating rate of the battery system as taught by Kelty, in order to improve the discharge capacity of the battery (paragraph [0044]).
Claim(s) 6, 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christen (US 2017/0088005), and King (US 2014/0277869) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kummer et al. (US 2013/0166119), herein after Kummer.
Regarding claim 6, Christen in view of King discloses the method of battery cooling of claim 1, but they are silent about the first temperature variation as claimed in 6. However, the variation of supply temperature to keep the temperature of battery at the optimal level is not a novel concept in the art.
Kummer discloses the various temperature thresholds with respect to various charging and discharging phases of battery operation is illustrated in Fig. 3 (paragraph [0044]- [0046]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skills in the art, before the time the invention was filed to use the teaching of Kumar the temperature of the electric battery, during its charging and discharging process, could be kept at the optimal level for its proper working. If batteries are exposed to excessive temperature, they will stop working, bulge, bubble, create sparks and flames, or blowup. Extreme heat can lead to battery corrosion that shortens the average life of the car battery. When battery's internal temperature drops, the cells are unable to accept the same amount of charging current (warmth) as they did when the temperature was warm. Thus, it’s very important to keep the temperature of a battery at the optimal level.
Regarding claim 12, Christen in view of King discloses the method of battery cooling of claim 1, but they are silent about the first temperature increased at a start of a charging process, is increased at an end of a charging process and is lowered between the start of the charging process and the end of the charging process.
Kummer discloses the first temperature increased at a start of a charging process, is increased at an end of a charging process and is lowered between the start of the charging process and the end of the charging process (see the annotated fig below).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skills in the art, before the time the invention was filed to use the teaching of Kummer the temperature of the electric battery, during its charging and discharging process, could be kept at the optimal level for its proper working. If batteries are exposed to excessive temperature, they will stop working, bulge, bubble, create sparks and flames, or blowup. Extreme heat can lead to battery corrosion that shortens the average life of the car battery. When battery's internal temperature drops, the cells are unable to accept the same amount of charging current (warmth) as they did when the temperature was warm. Thus, it’s very important to keep the temperature of a battery at the optimal level.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christen (US 2017/0088005), King (US 2014/0277869) and Kummer (US 2013/0166119), as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Loewel W et al. [DE 102013021360].
Regarding claim 7, Christen in view of King and Kummer discloses the method of claim 6. But they do not explicitly disclose that the first temperature is increased by at least 5K.
Loewel W et al. discloses the regulation of the overheating of the refrigerant at the inlet of the electric compressor from 5K (paragraph [0011]).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skills in the art, before the time the invention was filed to use the teaching of Loewel one could control the increase of the supply temperature by 5K for the homogeneity of temperature distribution.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christen (US 2017/0088005), and King (US 2014/0277869) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Grimes et al. (US 2019/0118655), herein after Grimes.
Regarding claim 11, Christen in view of King discloses the method of claim 1 Christen in view of King discloses the method of keeping the battery charging system at optimal level during the charging of the battery, but they silent over the charging progress information includes information as to how much time has passed since a start of a charging process of the energy storage device and how much time still remains until an end of the charging process.
Grimes discloses the charging progress information includes information as to how much time has passed since a start of a charging process of the energy storage device (paragraph [0057]the step 305 and 315 of fig. 2 determine the elapsed time of charging ) and how much time still remains until an end of the charging process (CT 255 establishes how much time remains to complete the current charge/recharge event, and is calculated by the controller(s) as a function of, among other data and information, an operating condition (OC) 270, which includes one or more of charge station (XPS, EVSE) data, environment data, and location data, vehicle data such as current power and cooling demands, and battery performance data and parameters of BRP 260, as well as instantaneous operating parameters and data, paragraph [0046]the operating condition (like cooling demand) can be controlled by charging progress information).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the claimed invention to modify Christen in view of King charging information to include the estimation of the remaining time to fully charge the battery as taught by Aker, in order to improve the battery charging method to increase the battery performance (paragraph [0012]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SADIA KOUSAR whose telephone number is (571)272-3386. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am-5:30pm.
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SADIA . KOUSAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859