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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 12/21/2021. Applicant elected claims 1,8-18 and 22-25, and withdrew claims 2-7 and 19-21. Claims 1,8-18 and 22-25 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s elects Species (A) (described in [0027]-[0052] of the specification), which are directed to claims 1,8-18 and 22-25 with traverse in the reply filed on 08/11/2025 is acknowledged. Claims 2-7 and 19-21 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/21/2021,6/8/2022, and 6/27/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (b), 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.
Claim 22 is/are 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
As to claim 22 recites “ignoring the detection abnormality by the master control unit when the detection abnormality does not affect the safety and reliability of the battery system” is unclear. It is unclear what is meant by “ignoring” the detection abnormality by the master control unit. What action does the master control unit takes to “ignore” the detection abnormality?
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 1,9-12,14-16,18, and 23-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sun (US 20170256825).
As to claim 1, Sun discloses a battery system, comprising:
a plurality of unit battery groups (Fig. 1, 102_1 through 102_N), each comprising a plurality of cells serially connected to each other ([0018] the current lines of the battery sets 102_1-102_N are electrically connected in series), and the plurality of unit battery groups connected in series with each other (Fig. 1, 102_1 through 102_N);
a main switch serially connected to the plurality of unit battery groups (Fig. 1 main switch 114);
a current measuring unit serially connected to the plurality of unit battery groups to measure a measured system current value of the plurality of unit battery groups (Fig. 1 current sensor 112);
a plurality of slave control units electrically connected to the plurality of unit battery groups respectively ([0018] Fig. 1 a unit battery management circuit 104_1) wherein each slave control unit is configured to obtain a physical parameter value of each cell in each unit battery group ([0020] the cell voltage Vx and the cell temperature Tx); and
a master control unit (master control unit 108) communicatively connected to the plurality of slave control units (Fig. 1) and configured to:
disconnect the main switch when abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to a system abnormality ([0024]-[0026] the battery system 100 further comprises a main current switch 114 controlled by the master control circuit 108. The main current switch 114 may selectively conduct or block the charge and discharge path of the battery system 100 to protect the internal cells of the battery system 100 from damage due to abnormal condition such as over charge or over discharge); and perform a processing procedure for a detection abnormality when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the detection abnormality ([0027]. If the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) fails to transmit the warning signal to the master control circuit 108 through the communication bus (i.e. detection abnormality), the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) will enable the emergency announcing line EL, to have the master control circuit 108 opening the main current switch 114 to block the charge and discharge path… Each unit battery management circuit 104_J may effectively notice the master control circuit 108 to turn off the power through the emergency announcing line EL when the communication bus is disabled, thus this may improve the protection mechanism).
As to claim 9, Sun discloses a protection method of a battery system, wherein the battery system is the battery system of according to claim 1 (Fig. 1), and the protection method comprises:
measuring the measured system current value of the plurality of unit battery groups by the current measuring unit ([0026] the master control circuit 108 may also obtain the system current value I and the system coulomb value Q by the current and coulomb measurement circuit 106);
measuring the physical parameter value of each cell in each unit battery group by each cell ([0020] the cell voltage Vx and the cell temperature Tx);
disconnecting the main switch by the master control unit when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the system abnormality ([0024]-[0026] the battery system 100 further comprises a main current switch 114 controlled by the master control circuit 108. The main current switch 114 may selectively conduct or block the charge and discharge path of the battery system 100 to protect the internal cells of the battery system 100 from damage due to abnormal condition such as over charge or over discharge); and
performing the processing procedure for the detection abnormality by the master control unit when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the detection abnormality ([0027] If the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) fails to transmit the warning signal to the master control circuit 108 (i.e. detection abnormality) through the communication bus, the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) will enable the emergency announcing line EL, to have the master control circuit 108 opening the main current switch 114 to block the charge and discharge path… Each unit battery management circuit 104_J may effectively notice the master control circuit 108 to turn off the power through the emergency announcing line EL when the communication bus is disabled, thus this may improve the protection mechanism).
As to claim 10, Sun discloses the protection method according to claim 9, wherein the physical parameter value is a measured voltage value or a measured temperature value detected by each cell ([0020] the cell voltage Vx and the cell temperature Tx); the protection method further comprises: obtaining the measured system current value by the plurality of slave control units ([0019] The battery sets 102_1-102_N are used to store electric energy. Each unit battery management circuit 104_J calculates battery information corresponding to the battery set 102_J according to a system current value I, a system coulomb value Q, a cell voltage VJ corresponding to the battery set 102_J and a cell temperature TJ corresponding to the battery set 102_J, wherein 1 N); determining, by the plurality of slave control units, whether the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the system abnormality or the detection abnormality according to the measured voltage value, the measured temperature value and the measured system current value ([0025] When the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) detects the cell voltage (such as V1) of the corresponding battery set (such as 102_1) meets a voltage warning condition (such as cell voltage higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell voltage) or detects the cell temperature (such as T1) of the correspond battery set (such as 102_1) meets a temperature warning condition (such as the cell temperature higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell temperature), the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) transmits a warning signal to the master control circuit 108 through a communication bus (such as CAN/LIN/I2C/RS485 bus).
As to claim 11, Sun discloses the protection method according to claim 10, further comprising: determining, by the plurality of slave control units, whether the measured temperature value of a measured cell of the plurality of cells increases dramatically within a unit of time or not; determining, by the plurality of slave control units, whether measured temperature values of the plurality of cells adjacent to the measured cell synchronously increase dramatically or not when the measured temperature value of the measured cell within the unit of time increases dramatically; and determining, by the plurality of slave control units, that the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the system abnormality when the measured temperature values of the plurality of cells adjacent to the measured cell synchronously increase dramatically ([0025] When the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) detects the cell voltage (such as V1) of the corresponding battery set (such as 102_1) meets a voltage warning condition (such as cell voltage higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell voltage) or detects the cell temperature (such as T1) of the correspond battery set (such as 102_1) meets a temperature warning condition (such as the cell temperature higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell temperature), the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) transmits a warning signal to the master control circuit 108 through a communication bus (such as CAN/LIN/I2C/RS485 bus).
As to claim 12, Sun discloses the protection method according to claim 10, further comprising: determining, by the plurality of slave control units, whether a change in the measured voltage value of a measured cell of the plurality of cells within a unit of time is over a limit value or not; determining, by the plurality of slave control units, whether the measured system current value synchronously varies with the measured voltage value of the measured cell or not in comparison to the measured system current value broadcasted by the master control unit when the change in the measured voltage value of the measured cell within the unit of time is over the limit value; and determining, by the plurality of slave control units, that the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the system abnormality when the measured voltage value of the measured cell changes synchronously with the measured system current value ([0025] When the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) detects the cell voltage (such as V1) of the corresponding battery set (such as 102_1) meets a voltage warning condition (such as cell voltage higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell voltage) or detects the cell temperature (such as T1) of the correspond battery set (such as 102_1) meets a temperature warning condition (such as the cell temperature higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell temperature), the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) transmits a warning signal to the master control circuit 108 through a communication bus (such as CAN/LIN/I2C/RS485 bus).
As to claim 14, Sun discloses the protection method according to claim 10, further comprising: Determining, by the plurality of slave control units, whether the measured temperature value of a measured cell of the plurality of cells increases dramatically or not; determining whether the measured temperature values of the plurality of cells adjacent to the measured cell synchronously increase dramatically or not when the measured temperature value of the measured cell increases dramatically; and determining that the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the detection abnormality when the measured temperature values of the plurality of cells adjacent to the measured cell do not synchronously increase dramatically ([0025] When the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) detects the cell voltage (such as V1) of the corresponding battery set (such as 102_1) meets a voltage warning condition (such as cell voltage higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell voltage) or detects the cell temperature (such as T1) of the correspond battery set (such as 102_1) meets a temperature warning condition (such as the cell temperature higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell temperature), the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) transmits a warning signal to the master control circuit 108 through a communication bus (such as CAN/LIN/I2C/RS485 bus).
As to claim 15, Sun discloses the protection method according to claim 10, further comprising: determining by the plurality of slave control units that the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the detection abnormality when a change in the measured voltage value of a measured cell of the plurality of cells is inconsistent with the change in the measured voltage value of another one of the plurality of cells and the measured system current value synchronously varies with the measured voltage value of the another one of the plurality of cells ([0025] When the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) detects the cell voltage (such as V1) of the corresponding battery set (such as 102_1) meets a voltage warning condition (such as cell voltage higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell voltage) or detects the cell temperature (such as T1) of the correspond battery set (such as 102_1) meets a temperature warning condition (such as the cell temperature higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell temperature), the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) transmits a warning signal to the master control circuit 108 through a communication bus (such as CAN/LIN/I2C/RS485 bus).
As to claim 16, Sun discloses the protection method according to claim 10, further comprising: determining by the plurality of slave control units that the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the detection abnormality when a change in the physical parameter value of a measured cell of the plurality of cells has an equivalent offset with respect to the change in the physical parameter value of other cells (0025]).
As to claim 18, Sun discloses the protection method according to claim 10, further comprising: determining by the plurality of slave control units that the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the detection abnormality when the measured temperature value of a measured cell of the plurality of cells surges or plummets abruptly ([0025] When the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) detects the cell voltage (such as V1) of the corresponding battery set (such as 102_1) meets a voltage warning condition (such as cell voltage higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell voltage) or detects the cell temperature (such as T1) of the correspond battery set (such as 102_1) meets a temperature warning condition (such as the cell temperature higher than the alert value or other abnormal changes of the cell temperature), the unit battery management circuit (such as 104_1) transmits a warning signal to the master control circuit 108 through a communication bus (such as CAN/LIN/I2C/RS485 bus).
As to claim 23, Sun discloses the protection method according to claim 9, further comprising: disconnecting the main switch by the master control unit when the battery system is not in use with the detection abnormality ([0024]-[0026] the battery system 100 further comprises a main current switch 114 controlled by the master control circuit 108. The main current switch 114 may selectively conduct or block the charge and discharge path of the battery system 100 to protect the internal cells of the battery system 100 from damage due to abnormal condition such as over charge or over discharge).
As to claim 24, Sun discloses the protection method according to claim 9, further comprising: decreasing an output of a system current value by the master control unit when the battery system is in use with the detection abnormality ([0024]-[0026] the battery system 100 further comprises a main current switch 114 controlled by the master control circuit 108. The main current switch 114 may selectively conduct or block the charge and discharge path of the battery system 100 to protect the internal cells of the battery system 100 from damage due to abnormal condition such as over charge or over discharge).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (US 20170256825) in view of Perry (US 20150257903).
As to claim 8, Sun discloses the battery system of according to claim 1.
Sun does not disclose/teach an indicator coupled to the master control unit to output a detection abnormality alarm signal when the detection abnormality occurs.
Perry teaches an indicator coupled to the master control unit to output a abnormality alarm signal when the abnormality occurs ([0303] LEDs 4622 may include a system alert 4746 for alerting the user of a system fault condition.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the battery system of Sun to include an indicator coupled to the master control unit to output a detection abnormality alarm signal when the detection abnormality occurs in order to alert the user of a system fault condition to facilitate quick repair.
Claim 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (US 20170256825).
Sun does not disclose/teach activating a power-cut countdown timer mode by the master control unit when the battery system is in use with the detection abnormality.
However, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the battery system of Sun to include activating a power-cut countdown timer mode by the master control unit when the battery system is in use with the detection abnormality in order to shut down the system in the proper sequence prevent damage and lost data.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 17 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 22 would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims and rewritten to overcome the 112 second rejection above.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding dependent claim 13, Although the prior art discloses a battery system, comprising: a plurality of unit battery groups, each comprising a plurality of cells serially connected to each other, and the plurality of unit battery groups connected in series with each other; a main switch serially connected to the plurality of unit battery groups; a current measuring unit serially connected to the plurality of unit battery groups to measure a measured system current value of the plurality of unit battery groups; a plurality of slave control units electrically connected to the plurality of unit battery groups respectively, wherein each slave control unit is configured to obtain a physical parameter value of each cell in each unit battery group; and a master control unit communicatively connected to the plurality of slave control units and configured to: disconnect the main switch when abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to a system abnormality; and perform a processing procedure for a detection abnormality when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the detection abnormality, a protection method of a battery system, wherein the battery system is the battery system, and the protection method comprises: measuring the measured system current value of the plurality of unit battery groups by the current measuring unit; measuring the physical parameter value of each cell in each unit battery group by each cell; disconnecting the main switch by the master control unit when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the system abnormality; and performing the processing procedure for the detection abnormality by the master control unit when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the detection abnormality, wherein the physical parameter value is a measured voltage value or a measured temperature value detected by each cell; the protection method further comprises: obtaining the measured system current value by the plurality of slave control units; determining, by the plurality of slave control units, whether the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the system abnormality or the detection abnormality according to the measured voltage value, the measured temperature value and the measured system current value, the prior art of record does not disclose or teach the combination of:
“determining, by the plurality of slave control units, that the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the detection abnormality when the battery system is in a discharging state, the measured system current value suddenly becomes zero, and the measured voltage value of each cell does not have corresponding change.”
Regarding dependent claim 17, Although the prior art discloses a battery system, comprising: a plurality of unit battery groups, each comprising a plurality of cells serially connected to each other, and the plurality of unit battery groups connected in series with each other; a main switch serially connected to the plurality of unit battery groups; a current measuring unit serially connected to the plurality of unit battery groups to measure a measured system current value of the plurality of unit battery groups; a plurality of slave control units electrically connected to the plurality of unit battery groups respectively, wherein each slave control unit is configured to obtain a physical parameter value of each cell in each unit battery group; and a master control unit communicatively connected to the plurality of slave control units and configured to: disconnect the main switch when abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to a system abnormality; and perform a processing procedure for a detection abnormality when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the detection abnormality, a protection method of a battery system, wherein the battery system is the battery system, and the protection method comprises: measuring the measured system current value of the plurality of unit battery groups by the current measuring unit; measuring the physical parameter value of each cell in each unit battery group by each cell; disconnecting the main switch by the master control unit when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the system abnormality; and performing the processing procedure for the detection abnormality by the master control unit when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the detection abnormality, wherein the physical parameter value is a measured voltage value or a measured temperature value detected by each cell; the protection method further comprises: obtaining the measured system current value by the plurality of slave control units; determining, by the plurality of slave control units, whether the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the system abnormality or the detection abnormality according to the measured voltage value, the measured temperature value and the measured system current value, the prior art of record does not disclose or teach the combination of:
“determining by the plurality of slave control units that the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the detection abnormality when the physical parameter value of a measured cell of the plurality of cells or the measured system current value is not interlinked and has irregular jittering changes.”
Regarding dependent claim 22, Although the prior art discloses a battery system, comprising: a plurality of unit battery groups, each comprising a plurality of cells serially connected to each other, and the plurality of unit battery groups connected in series with each other; a main switch serially connected to the plurality of unit battery groups; a current measuring unit serially connected to the plurality of unit battery groups to measure a measured system current value of the plurality of unit battery groups; a plurality of slave control units electrically connected to the plurality of unit battery groups respectively, wherein each slave control unit is configured to obtain a physical parameter value of each cell in each unit battery group; and a master control unit communicatively connected to the plurality of slave control units and configured to: disconnect the main switch when abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to a system abnormality; and perform a processing procedure for a detection abnormality when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the detection abnormality, a protection method of a battery system, wherein the battery system is the battery system, and the protection method comprises: measuring the measured system current value of the plurality of unit battery groups by the current measuring unit; measuring the physical parameter value of each cell in each unit battery group by each cell; disconnecting the main switch by the master control unit when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the system abnormality; and performing the processing procedure for the detection abnormality by the master control unit when the abnormality determined according to the physical parameter value or the measured system current value pertains to the detection abnormality, wherein the physical parameter value is a measured voltage value or a measured temperature value detected by each cell; the protection method further comprises: obtaining the measured system current value by the plurality of slave control units; determining, by the plurality of slave control units, whether the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the system abnormality or the detection abnormality according to the measured voltage value, the measured temperature value and the measured system current value, wherein determining, by the plurality of slave control units, whether the measured temperature value of a measured cell of the plurality of cells increases dramatically or not; determining whether the measured temperature values of the plurality of cells adjacent to the measured cell synchronously increase dramatically or not when the measured temperature value of the measured cell increases dramatically; and determining that the abnormality occurring to the battery system pertains to the detection abnormality when the measured temperature values of the plurality of cells adjacent to the measured cell do not synchronously increase dramatically, the prior art of record does not disclose or teach the combination of:
“ignoring the detection abnormality by the master control unit when the detection abnormality does not affect the safety and reliability of the battery system.”
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TYNESE V MCDANIEL whose telephone number is (313)446-6579. The examiner can normally be reached on M to F, 9am to 530pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Drew Dunn can be reached on 5712722312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TYNESE V MCDANIEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859