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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 10/06/2025 These drawings are acceptable.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-5, 7-10 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuba (US 2018/0097390) in view of Askan (US 2019/0206638), further in view of CN2613917, hereinafter 917’.
As to claim 1, Kuba discloses in figures 1-4 (figure 1 is reproduced below):-
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a battery junction box comprising [see figure above]:
a controller [controller 11];
a first input [the battery positive terminal; see figure above]configured to connect to a battery pack [battery pack (2) comprises battery cells (2)] a first output [see figure above] via a switch circuit [a switch circuit comprises MOSFE transistor (TE) and body diode (DL) see figure 1; ¶0033], which switch circuit is configured to connect the first input [the battery positive terminal] to the first output [see figure above] upon receiving a control signal from a controller [controller 11; see ¶0033-0034];
a second input [the battery negative terminal; see figure above] configured to connect to the battery pack , where the second input is connected to a second output [see figure above], via a fuse [safety device ( 10); see figure above] and a main switch [relay switch 8; see ¶0034-0035] arranged in series; and wherein the switch circuit comprises:
at least a first branch with a semiconductor switch [switch TE] between the first input and the first output, which semiconductor switch [transistor switch is disclosed; see ¶0014-0015’ see also ¶0037] has a control line connected to the controller; wherein the semiconductor switch is a MOSFET (metaloxide semiconductor field effect transistor) having a body diode [the switch MOSFET has body diode see ¶0012], wherein the MOSFET is configured such that when the MOSFET is turned to an off-state via the controller and the main switch is closed, the body diode allows current to flow in a reverse direction in the MOSFET, thereby allowing charging of the battery pack connected between the first input and the second input via the body diode of the MOSFET. and a second branch with a snubber circuit, which second branch is parallel with the first branch between the first input and the first output [the switch is MOSFET Switch and the DL is reverse diode during charging the battery; also the MOSFET comprised body diode to charge the batteries; It is also implicit that in order to charge the battery pack the fuse and the main switch must be in on position so that the current can flow in close loop to charge the battery; see ¶0015; and ¶0032-0035 ].
Kuba does not disclose explicitly, a second branch with a snubber circuit, which second branch is parallel with the first branch between the first input and the first output.
Askan discloses in figure 1, a second branch with a snubber circuit [snubber circuit (24) see figure 1 and also ¶0048], which second branch is parallel with the first branch [the first branch 21] between the first input and the first output [see ¶0048].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use snubber circuit in Kuba’s apparatus as taught by Askan in order to limit overvoltage across the output and increases power efficiency.
Neither Kuba nor Askan discloses a flywheel diode with a first terminal connected to the first output, and a second terminal connected to the second output [see figure above], wherein the switch circuit comprises:
917’ discloses in figure 1, a flywheel diode [see element 44] with a first terminal connected to the first output [the diode is connected between the first output(+) terminal and the second output (-) terminal], and a second terminal [negative or (-) terminal] connected to the second output [see figure 1].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use flywheel diode in Kuba’s apparatus as taught by 917’ in order to avoid voltage spikes.
As to claim 2, Askan discloses in figure 5, wherein the snubber circuit of the second branch comprises a capacitor in series with a diode, and wherein a resistor is arranged in parallel with the diode [see figure 5].
As to claim 4, Kuba discloses in figures 1-5, wherein the MOSFET is made of a wide bandgap material [MOSFET is disclosed; see ¶008, ¶0013-0014;¶0033-0034].
As to claim 5, Kuba discloses in figures 1-5,wherein the wide bandgap material is one of SiC (silicon carbide) or GaN (gallium nitride) [see ¶0015].
As to claim 8, Kuba discloses in figure 1, wherein the load [motor 5] comprises the electric motor for propulsion of the vehicle [traction system or motor; see ¶0029], and the electric motor is connected to the first output and the second output of the battery junction box of the battery pack [see ¶002, ¶0029-31].
As to Claim 9, Kuba discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the MOSFET [see figure above, TE] is configured to disconnect the first input from the first output when a short-circuit is detected on an output side of the battery junction box [Kuba discloses transistor switch (TE) is off to avoid short circuits; see ¶0033-¶0038]. .
As to claim 13, Kuba discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the MOSFET is configured to disconnect the first input from the first output when a short-circuit is detected on an output side of the battery junction box [Kuba discloses transistor switch (TE) is off to avoid short circuits; see ¶0033-¶0038].
As to claims 10 and 14, Kuba discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the main switch is configured to selectively control charging of the battery pack via the MOSFET, wherein when the main switch is closed, charging of the battery pack via the MOSFET is provided and when the main switch is open, charging of the battery pack via the MOSFET is interrupted [the switch controls the charging of the battery pack by allowing current flows to the battery pack via the body diode of the MOSFET switch; see ¶0012].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 10/06/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive or moot in view of new ground of rejection.
In response to applicant's argument that “a snubber circuit is needed in the current invention to provide safety measures against over voltages due to switching of inductive loads, which may cause severe over voltages that could destroy the semiconductor switch”, a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL BERHANU whose telephone number is (571)272-8430. The examiner can normally be reached M_F.
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/SAMUEL BERHANU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859