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 .
Response to Arguments
Claims 1-5, 7-15, 17-20 remain pending.
Applicant's arguments filed 2/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Lee “teaches sensing a datum of a vehicle inlet, not a datum of a vehicle battery as required by the instant claims.” Examiner respectfully disagrees. Lee [0068] and [0054] sense battery SOC, while Lee FIG. 1 provides an “isolation monitor” tapped into the battery circuit.
Applicant argues that “the sensed temperature of Lee is actually a datum of the source of the material received at inlet 201 since the sensing module of Lee senses a temperature of the inlet. Thus, it is arguable whether the datum is even of the vehicle itself.” Examiner respectfully disagrees. A simple web search for the term “charging inlet for vehicle” (see attached NPL, “Websearch Charging Inlet for Vehicle) indicates an industry accepted standard that an inlet (for charging a vehicle) is mounted on the vehicle and thus considered part of the vehicle.
Applicant argues that for the Dickinson reference “the temperature sensor is in the battery pack, not in the vehicle port as required by claims 1 and 11.” Examiner respectfully disagrees. In the previous Non-Final Rejection the Examiner provides an example of a teaching by Dickinson in claim 8. Claim 8 of Dickinson provides for: (claim 2) An integrated battery unit (IBU) for coupling an electric battery charger to a battery pack having one or more battery cells, the IBU comprising:
battery connection cables electrically connecting the IBU to the battery pack;
motor controller connection cables electrically connecting the IBU to a vehicle motor controller; … (claim 6) a thermal and ventilation management system, including at least one fan for cooling the battery pack… (claim 6) a battery mounted monitor and controller for controlling fan operation… (claim 8) The IBU of claim 5, further comprising a temperature sensor for driving operation of the at least one fan. The BRI of the IBU includes at least a charge port, for example in Dickinson [0073].
In summary, the Examiner maintains the position that the present application teaches conventional vehicle traction battery cooling and monitoring systems applied to an electric aircraft (aerial vehicle).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-15, 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US20220203855A1 Lee et al ("Lee") in view of US20150115890A1 Dickinson et al ("Dickinson").
As per claims 1 and 11, Lee teaches the limitations of the system and method:
A system for establishing an ambient requirement in an electric aircraft (Lee at least the abstract, [0046], [0029]: “aircraft”)
an electric aircraft port on an electric aircraft, wherein the electric aircraft port is configured to removably mate to a charging connecter (Lee at least [0036] charging connector 101, inlet 201)
a sensor configured to generate a datum of a battery of the electric aircraft; and a controller communicatively connected to the sensor (Lee at least [0045-0046]: “sensing module”, [0036] CP signal, FIG. 1)
Lee does not disclose:
the electric aircraft port comprises: a sensor configured to generate a datum of a battery of the electric aircraft; and a controller communicatively connected to the sensor, wherein the controller is configured to: receive the datum from the sensor; determine, as a function of the datum, an ambient requirement for the battery, wherein the ambient requirement comprises a ventilation requirement; and transmit the ambient requirement to another component for implementation.
However, Dickinson teaches the aforementioned limitation implemented on a vehicle (Dickinson at least the abstract, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, claim 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Lee with the aforementioned limitations taught by Dickinson with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to combine these references in order to improve charging efficiency in a vehicle (Dickinson [0007]).
As per claims 2 and 12, Lee in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Lee additionally teaches:
the datum comprises a voltage datum. (Lee at least [0054])
As per claims 3 and 13, Lee in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Lee additionally teaches:
the voltage datum is stored in a database. (Lee at least [0031]: “telematics server”)
As per claims 4 and 14, Lee in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Lee additionally teaches:
the voltage datum comprises a state of charge datum. (Lee at least [0036], [0037-0041])
As per claims 5 and 15, Lee in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Lee does not disclose:
the datum is based on an ambient temperature of the battery.
Dickinson teaches the aforementioned limitation (Dickinson at least [0059]).
As per claims 7 and 17, Lee in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Lee additionally teaches:
the ambient requirement comprises a thermal requirement. (Lee at least [0046]: “inlet temperature sensing module”)
As per claims 8 and 18, Lee in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Lee additionally teaches:
the ambient requirement is stored in a database. (Lee at least [0031])
As per claims 9 and 19, Lee in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Lee does not disclose:
the system further comprises an ambience implementation system, and the another component is the ambience implementation system.
Dickinson teaches the aforementioned limitation (Dickinson at least the abstract: “fan”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Lee with the aforementioned limitations taught by Dickinson with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to combine these references is the same as above in claim 1.
As per claims 10 and 20, Lee in combination with the other references teaches the invention as described above. Lee does not disclose:
the controller is configured to control the ambience implementation system.
Dickinson teaches the aforementioned limitation (Dickinson at least the abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Lee with the aforementioned limitations taught by Dickinson with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to combine these references is the same as above in claim 1.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/O.T./Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/NAVID Z. MEHDIZADEH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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