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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 3/24/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 3/24/2026, with respect to the objection of claims 1-9, 12, 16-23, and 25-26 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection of the claims has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, filed 3/24/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s)1-14, 16-23, 25-26 under 35 U.S.C 102 and 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of 35 U.S.C 103 and 112.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 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.
Claims 1, 9 and 11 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the at least one voltage value" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 9 recites the limitation “the at least one voltage value" in lines 5-6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the elements. See MPEP § 2172.01. The omitted elements are: “transferring charge between” (…a first number of accumulator cells and a second number of accumulator by at least one switching element, in line 4 of the claim.)
Regarding claim 11, the wording of the claim is not clear.
For examination purposes, the claim will be interpreted as follows:
only for a maximum of 1/10 of the period of the lowest frequency of the charge transfer; or
using an excitation signal causing the charge transfer for which the apparatus is configured; or
for a maximum of ten times the greatest closing time of the at least one switching element used for the charge transfer that is provided in the apparatus
Additionally, the frequency (1/t) is the inverse of a period (t), so the meaning of ‘period of a frequency’ is not clear.
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, 9-14, 16-18, 23 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kain (US 20150145520 A1) in view of Sugeno et al. (US 20170144565 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Kain teaches a method for determining at least one impedance value of at least one accumulator cell of a first quantity of accumulator cells (B1-B4) (¶[15] “The circuit may be used to evaluated cells 102 in a battery 107. For example, it may be used to determine a state of charge (SoC) or a state of health (SOH) of the cells 102, for example via determining an impedance of the cells 102”) comprising:
transferring charge back and forth between a first number of accumulator cells and a second number of accumulator by at least one switching element (¶[78] “The circuit 100 and method 700 described use a transformer that is operated as a flyback transformer. However, any other kind of DC-DC converter may be used”, a DC/DC converter contains switching elements) during the determination of the at least one voltage value ([Claim 28] “A circuit, comprising: an active balancing circuit, configured to balance voltages of cells of a battery by inductively transferring charges between a respective cell and the battery using current pulses”, see also ¶[23-24], ¶[71-74], and Fig. 4);
wherein the first quantity of accumulator cells is formed by the first number of accumulator cells (B1-B2) and the second number of accumulator cells (B3-B4),
wherein the at least one voltage value or voltage change, of at least one of the accumulator cells of the first number of accumulator cells or of the second number of accumulator cells is determined (¶[28] “In order to determine which cell 102 is to be charged or discharged, the distribution unit 134 may be coupled to the cells 102 to determine their voltages V.sub.B1, V.sub.B2, V.sub.B3, and V.sub.B4”, see also Fig. 4);,
wherein the accumulator cells of the first number of accumulator cells are wired in series with the accumulator cells of the second number of accumulator cells (see Fig. 1);
wherein the first number of accumulator cells and the second number of accumulator cells respectively is at least two (B1-B2 and B3-B4, see Fig. 1),
and wherein the first number of accumulator cells has at least two accumulator cells wired in series (B1-B2, see Fig. 1),
and wherein the second number of accumulator cells has at least two accumulator cells wired in series (B3-B4, see Fig. 1).
Kain does not teach wherein charge is transferred back and forth between all of the first number of accumulator cells and all of the second number of accumulator cells;
Sugeno teaches wherein charge is transferred back and forth between all of the first number (BB2) of accumulator cells and all of the second number of accumulator cells (BB1, see Fig. 4) (¶[66] “In an active balance adjustment operation using the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4, the switch connected to the primary-side coil of a battery unit whose voltage is the highest is turned on, and then the switch is turned off while the switch S0 is turned on to supply current to the secondary-side coil W0 and charge the battery units BB1 to BB14. For example, when the voltage of the battery unit BB2 is 56.5 V and the voltages of the other battery units are 55.9 V, the primary-side switch S2 is turned on for a certain period of time, and then the switch S2 is turned off while the secondary-side switch S0 is turned on. The battery units BB1 to BB14 (however, BB2 is excluded) are charged by the current flowing through the secondary-side coil W0”)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kain to incorporate the teachings of Sugeno to provide wherein charge is transferred back and forth between all of the first number of accumulator cells and all of the second number of accumulator cells;
in order to keep each group of battery cells balanced and improve their efficiency and performance (see Sugeno ¶[61]).
Regarding Claim 2, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain further teaches wherein the accumulator cells of the first number of accumulator cells are wired in series (B1-B2, see Fig. 1);
the accumulator cells of the second number of accumulator cells are wired in series (B3-B4, see Fig. 1);
the accumulator cells of the first number of accumulator cells are wired in series with the accumulator cells of the second number (B1-B4, see Fig. 1); or
wherein the accumulator cells of the first quantity of accumulator cells are wired in series (B1-B4, see Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 3, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain further teaches carrying out the transfer of the charge back and forth by at least one DC/DC converter (¶[78] “The circuit 100 and method 700 described use a transformer that is operated as a flyback transformer. However, any other kind of DC-DC converter may be used”).
Regarding Claim 4, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain further teaches wherein the accumulator cells of the first quantity (B1-B4) are accumulator cells of a single accumulator (107) (¶[15] “The circuit may be used to evaluated cells 102 in a battery 107”).
Regarding Claim 5, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain further teaches wherein the transfer of the charge back and forth is effected and reversed (¶[17] “The circuit may be configured to transfer charges to and from any cell 102 in the battery 107”, ¶[74] “The method may repeat steps 702, 704, 706 and 708 with the charge transfer or current pulses being modulated with a different frequency f.sub.T.”).
Regarding Claim 7, Kain teaches the method according to claim 4.
Kain further teaches carryinq out the transfer of the charge back and forth such that a total voltage of the first quantity of accumulator cells, of the quantities, or of the single accumulator fluctuates less than 2%; or
wherein the charge transfer and the reversed charge transfer occurs during the charging or discharging of all of the accumulator cells; or
determining the at least one voltage value occurs during the transfer of the charge back and forth (¶[28] “In order to determine which cell 102 is to be charged or discharged, the distribution unit 134 may be coupled to the cells 102 to determine their voltages V.sub.B1, V.sub.B2, V.sub.B3, and V.sub.B4”, see also Fig. 4 and ([Claim 28] “A circuit, comprising: an active balancing circuit, configured to balance voltages of cells of a battery by inductively transferring charges between a respective cell and the battery using current pulses”, see also ¶[23-24], ¶[71-74]);
Regarding Claim 9, Kain teaches an apparatus (calculation 126, measuring unit 105) for carrying out at least one impedance measurement,
configured for determining at least one impedance value, of at least one accumulator cell of a first quantity of accumulator cells (102, B1-B4) (¶[15] “FIG. 1 shows an embodiment 100 of a circuit. The circuit may be used to evaluated cells 102 in a battery 107. For example, it may be used to determine a state of charge (SoC) or a state of health (SOH) of the cells 102, for example via determining an impedance of the cells 102”) comprising:
a first number of accumulator cells and a second number of accumulator by at least one switching element (¶[78] “The circuit 100 and method 700 described use a transformer that is operated as a flyback transformer. However, any other kind of DC-DC converter may be used”, a DC/DC converter contains switching elements) during the determination of the at least one voltage value ([Claim 28] “A circuit, comprising: an active balancing circuit, configured to balance voltages of cells of a battery by inductively transferring charges between a respective cell and the battery using current pulses”, see also ¶[23-24], ¶[71-74], and Fig. 4);
wherein the first quantity of accumulator cells (B1-B4) is formed by the first number of accumulator cells (B1-B2) and the second number of accumulator cells (B3-B4);
wherein the apparatus is configured to determine at least one voltage value of at least one of the accumulator cells of the first number or of the second number (¶[28] “In order to determine which cell 102 is to be charged or discharged, the distribution unit 134 may be coupled to the cells 102 to determine their voltages V.sub.B1, V.sub.B2, V.sub.B3, and V.sub.B4”),
wherein the accumulator cells of the first number of accumulator cells (B1-B2) are wired in series with the accumulator cells of the second number of accumulator cells (B3-B4) (see Fig. 1);
wherein the first number of accumulator cells and the second number of accumulator cells respectively, are at least two (B1-B2 and B3-B4, see Fig. 1);
wherein the first number of accumulator cells has at least two accumulator cells wired in series (B1-B2, see Fig. 1);
and wherein the second number of accumulator cells has at least two accumulator cells wired in series (B3-B4, see Fig. 1).
Kain does not teach wherein charge is transferred back and forth between all of the first number of accumulator cells and all of the second number of accumulator cells;
Sugeno teaches wherein charge is transferred back and forth between all of the first number (BB2) of accumulator cells and all of the second number of accumulator cells (BB1, see Fig. 4) (¶[66] “In an active balance adjustment operation using the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4, the switch connected to the primary-side coil of a battery unit whose voltage is the highest is turned on, and then the switch is turned off while the switch S0 is turned on to supply current to the secondary-side coil W0 and charge the battery units BB1 to BB14. For example, when the voltage of the battery unit BB2 is 56.5 V and the voltages of the other battery units are 55.9 V, the primary-side switch S2 is turned on for a certain period of time, and then the switch S2 is turned off while the secondary-side switch S0 is turned on. The battery units BB1 to BB14 (however, BB2 is excluded) are charged by the current flowing through the secondary-side coil W0”)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kain to incorporate the teachings of Sugeno to provide wherein charge is transferred back and forth between all of the first number of accumulator cells and all of the second number of accumulator cells;
in order to keep each group of battery cells balanced and improve their efficiency and performance (see Sugeno ¶[61]).
Regarding Claim 10, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the apparatus according to claim 9.
Kain further teaches having a control apparatus (103) configured for carrying out a method for determining at least one impedance value of at least one accumulator cell of a first quantity of accumulator cells,
wherein the first quantity of accumulator cells (B1-B4) is formed by a first number of accumulator cells (B1-B2) and a second number of accumulator cells (B3-B4),
wherein at least one voltage value or voltage change, of at least one of the accumulator cells of the first number or of the second number is determined (¶[28] “In order to determine which cell 102 is to be charged or discharged, the distribution unit 134 may be coupled to the cells 102 to determine their voltages V.sub.B1, V.sub.B2, V.sub.B3, and V.sub.B4”),
wherein the accumulator cells of the first number (B1-B2) are wired in series with the accumulator cells of the second number (B3-B4) (see Fig. 1),
and wherein the first number and the second number respectively is at least two (B1-B2 and B3-B4, see Fig. 1),
and wherein the first number of accumulator cells has at least two accumulator cells wired in series (B1-B2, see Fig. 1),
and wherein the second number of accumulator cells has at least two accumulator cells wired in series (B3-B4, see Fig. 1),
wherein charge is transferred back and forth between the first number of accumulator cells and the second number of accumulator cells during the determination of the at least one voltage value ([Claim 28] “A circuit, comprising: an active balancing circuit, configured to balance voltages of cells of a battery by inductively transferring charges between a respective cell and the battery using current pulses”, see also ¶[23-24]).
Regarding Claim 11, Kain teaches the apparatus according to claim 9.
Kain further teaches wherein the apparatus is configured to temporarily store energy within the apparatus outside of the first quantity of accumulator cells (primary coils 104 and secondary coils 106, see Fig. 1, ¶[41] “Energy may first be transferred via a secondary coil 106 into a magnetic field. Then, the energy stored in the magnetic field may be transferred to the primary coil 104”),
only for a maximum of 1/10 of the period of the lowest frequency of the charge transfer; or
using an excitation signal causing the charge transfer for which the apparatus is configured (¶[42-43] “Before time t1, all of the control signals G.sub.S1, G.sub.S2, G.sub.S3, G.sub.S4, and G.sub.P may be low and the first switching element 110 and the plurality of second switching elements 112 may be OFF, that is non-conducting. There is no current I.sub.B1, I.sub.B2, I.sub.B3, and I.sub.B4 flowing through the cells 102. At time t1, the control signal G.sub.S4 may change its value, for example to a high-value 208, and the corresponding second switching element 112 may begin to conduct”); or
for a maximum of ten times the greatest closing time of the at least one switching element
Regarding Claim 12, Kain teaches a charging device (Fig. 1) for an accumulator (107) with a first quantity of accumulator cells (B1-B4), wherein the charging device has an apparatus (103) according to claim 9 (as taught by Kain in view of Sugeno above).
Kain further teaches the charging device is configured to determine the at least one impedance value (¶[15] “FIG. 1 shows an embodiment 100 of a circuit. The circuit may be used to evaluated cells 102 in a battery 107. For example, it may be used to determine a state of charge (SoC) or a state of health (SOH) of the cells 102, for example via determining an impedance of the cells 102”).
Regarding Claim 13, Kain teaches a battery management system (Fig. 1, control unit 103), having an apparatus according to claim 9 (as taught by Kain in view of Sugeno).
Regarding Claim 14, An accumulator (107) having a first quantity of accumulator cells (B1-B4) and at least one battery management system (control unit 103, see Fig. 1) according to claim 13 (as taught by Kain in view of Sugeno).
Regarding Claim 16, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain further teaches wherein charge is periodically (¶[25] “The control unit 103 and the balancing circuit 101 may from a pulse generating unit. They may be configured such that an average value of the current pulses oscillates over time. The average value may be determined by an amplitude of the pulses, a period of (or a time difference between) the pulses, a phase of the pulses or a width of the pulses, or a combination thereof”) transferred back and forth between the first number of accumulator cells and the second number of accumulator cells during the determination of the at least one voltage value (¶[17] “The circuit may be configured to transfer charges to and from any cell 102 in the battery 107”, ¶[74] “The method may repeat steps 702, 704, 706 and 708 with the charge transfer or current pulses being modulated with a different frequency f.sub.T.”).
Regarding Claim 17, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain further teaches wherein the single accumulator (107) does not have any additional accumulator cells (see Fig. 1 where the accumulator only has four cells).
Regarding Claim 18, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain further teaches wherein the charge transfer is effected and reversed (¶[17] “The circuit may be configured to transfer charges to and from any cell 102 in the battery 107”, ¶[74] “The method may repeat steps 702, 704, 706 and 708 with the charge transfer or current pulses being modulated with a different frequency f.sub.T.”) periodically (¶[25] “The control unit 103 and the balancing circuit 101 may from a pulse generating unit. They may be configured such that an average value of the current pulses oscillates over time. The average value may be determined by an amplitude of the pulses, a period of (or a time difference between) the pulses, a phase of the pulses or a width of the pulses, or a combination thereof”).
Regarding Claim 23, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the apparatus according to claim 9.
Kain further teaches wherein the apparatus is configured to periodically (¶[25] “The control unit 103 and the balancing circuit 101 may from a pulse generating unit. They may be configured such that an average value of the current pulses oscillates over time. The average value may be determined by an amplitude of the pulses, a period of (or a time difference between) the pulses, a phase of the pulses or a width of the pulses, or a combination thereof”) transfer charge back and forth between the first number of accumulator cells and the second number of accumulator cells during the determination of the at least one voltage value (¶[17] “The circuit may be configured to transfer charges to and from any cell 102 in the battery 107”, ¶[74] “The method may repeat steps 702, 704, 706 and 708 with the charge transfer or current pulses being modulated with a different frequency f.sub.T.”).
Regarding Claim 25, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the apparatus according to claim 1.
Kain further teaches wherein the first number of accumulator cells (B1-B2) and the second number of accumulator cells (B3-B4) are disjunct such that an accumulator cell within the one of the first number of accumulator cells or the second number of accumulator cell is not within the respective other of the first number of accumulator cells or the second number of accumulator cell (see Fig. 1 where B1 and B2 are adjacent to each other, and B3 and B4 are adjacent to each other).
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Kain (US 20150145520 A1) in view of Sugeno in view of Kawata et al. (US 20080219337 A1).
Regarding Claim 6, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 5.
Kain further teaches carrying out the transfer of charge back and forth in a time average over multiples of a period of a smallest contained frequency,
no net charge offset takes place between the first quantity of accumulator cells (B1-B4) and a second quantity of accumulator cells (¶[16] “While only four cells 102 are shown, the circuit may also have a different number of cells 102”, ¶[17] The circuit may be configured to transfer charges to and from any cell 102 in the battery 107”, if no charge is transferred between the first four cells B1-B4 and the additional cells (not shown), then there is no net charge offset),
or in the alternative, if the applicant argues that Kain's balancing circuit seems would appear to one of ordinary skill in the art to interact with the other conceived cells described by Kain, Kain is silent to the first quantity of accumulator cells and a second quantity of accumulator cells in which the balancing operation circuitry [of the first quantity of accumulator cells] is isolated from the balancing operation circuitry [of the second quantity of accumulator cells].
Kawata teaches (Fig. 1) the first quantity of accumulator cells (1-1) and a second quantity of accumulator cells (1-2) in which the balancing operation circuitry [of the first quantity of accumulator cells] (CC1, see expanded cell controller in Fig. 2, ¶[56] “The balancing switches 28A, 28B, 28C, 28D discharge the series-connected battery cells 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, which constitute the unit battery cell 1, and short-circuit the four battery cells 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D through the resistors R1, R2, R3, R4 to equalize the voltages of the battery cells”) is isolated from the balancing operation circuitry [of the second quantity of accumulator cells] (CC2) (see Fig. 1).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kain in view of Sugeno to incorporate the teachings of Kawata to provide the first quantity of accumulator cells and a second quantity of accumulator cells in which the balancing operation circuitry [of the first quantity of accumulator cells] is isolated from the balancing operation circuitry [of the second quantity of accumulator cells] in order to prevent an abnormal battery cell from affecting the entire battery module (see ¶[66] of Kawata).
Claim(s) 19, 21, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kain (US 20150145520 A1) in view of Sugeno et al. (US 20170144565 A1) further in view of Ziegler et al. (US 20120019253 A1).
Regarding Claim 19, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain in view of Sugeno does not teach wherein the charge transfer is effected, with at least one frequency in the range between 0.1 and 10 kHz.
Ziegler teaches at least one frequency of 1 kHz or less (¶[11] “The impedance spectrum can be recorded over a frequency range ≤ 100 Hz, ≤ 10 Hz, ≤ 1 Hz, or from 100 to 0.001 Hz”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kain in view of Sugeno to incorporate the teachings of Ziegler to provide wherein the charge transfer is effected, with at least one frequency in the range between 0.1 and 10 kHz in order to effectively determine the impedance of the battery cells.
Regarding Claim 21, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain in view of Sugeno does not teach wherein the charge transfer is effected, at a nominal total voltage of the accumulator cells of the first quantity of accumulator cells of 12 V and less.
Ziegler teaches that any rechargeable batteries can be used (¶[10] “Battery cells of all the usual rechargeable battery technologies can be employed”, see ¶10 for the full list) including lead acid batteries (¶[10] “In particular, battery cells of the lead/acid, nickle-cadmium, nickel-metal hydride, and/or sodium/sodium nickel chloride cell can be used”). It is well known to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the nominal voltage of lead acid batteries is 2-2.1 V.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kain in view of Sugeno to incorporate the teachings of Ziegler to provide lead acid batteries because they are a commonly used type of rechargeable battery.
The combination of Kain, Sugeno and Ziegler teaches that four lead acid cells connected in series would have a nominal voltage of 8-8.4 volts.
Regarding Claim 26, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the apparatus according to claim 1.
Kain in view of Sugeno does not explicitly teach wherein the least one accumulator cell is a lithium-ion accumulator cell.
Ziegler teaches wherein the least one accumulator cell is a lithium-ion accumulator cell (¶[10] “Battery cells of all the usual rechargeable battery technologies can be employed. Battery cells of the following types can be used: lead battery, NiCd or nickel-cadmium battery, NiH2 or nickel-hydrogen battery, NiMH or nickel-metal hydride battery, Li-ion or lithium-ion battery”)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kain in view of Sugeno to incorporate the teachings of Ziegler to provide wherein the least one accumulator cell is a lithium-ion accumulator cell because lithium ion batteries are the most common type of rechargeable battery.
Claim(s) 20 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kain (US 20150145520 A1) in view of Sugeno et al. (US 20170144565 A1) further in view of Mukaitani et al. (US 20140312915 A1).
Regarding Claim 20, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain in view of Sugeno does not teach wherein the charge transfer is effected so that frequency components of the charge transfer below 1 kHz have a charge transfer total current of at least 0.1 A.
Mukaitani teaches the charge transfer is effected so that frequency components of the charge transfer below 1 kHz (¶[30] “Also, since this frequency has been used widely and lots of reference data involving the frequency have been accumulated, the frequency of about 1 kHz (e.g., 350 Hz or higher to lower than 2000 Hz) is used as one of the frequencies in this embodiment”) have a charge transfer total current of at least 0.1 A (¶[59] “The sine wave generating unit 35 generates sine waves of a plurality of frequencies as described above and current (e.g., 3 A or less) at respective frequencies is applied to the storage battery 41.”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kain in view of Sugeno to incorporate the teachings of Mukaitani to provide the charge transfer is effected so that frequency components of the charge transfer below 1 kHz have a charge transfer total current of at least 0.1 A in order to precisely determine the impedance of the battery, as suggested by Mukaitani (¶[60]).
Regarding Claim 22, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 1.
Kain in view of Sugeno does not teach wherein charge transfer current is at least 1 A.
Mukaitani teaches wherein the charge transfer current is at least 1 A (¶[59] “The sine wave generating unit 35 generates sine waves of a plurality of frequencies as described above and current (e.g., 3 A or less) at respective frequencies is applied to the storage battery 41”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kain in view of Sugeno to incorporate the teachings of Mukaitani to provide the charge transfer current is at least 1 A in order to effectively determine the impedance of the battery.
Claim(s) 8 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kain (US 20150145520 A1) in view of Sugeno et al. (US 20170144565 A1) further in view of Hock (US 20210408807 A1).
Regarding Claim 8, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the method according to claim 5.
Kain in view of Sugeno does not explicitly teach transferring a stored energy quantity to an energy store outside of the accumulator cells of the first quantity is kept less than
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wherein if is a maximum amplitude of the charge transfer current or of an excitation signal causing the charge transfer,
Uopen-circuit is a nominal total voltage or total open-circuit voltage of the first quantity of accumulator cells,
and uf is a maximum amplitude of the sum of the individual voltage response of the first quantity of accumulator cells
and fmin is a minimum charge transfer frequency or a minimum frequency component in the charge transfer current for which the apparatus is configured.
Hock teaches transferring a stored energy quantity to an energy store outside of the accumulator cells (energy in balancing capacitor 120) is kept less than
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wherein if is a maximum amplitude of the charge transfer current or of an excitation signal causing the charge transfer,
Uopen-circuit is a nominal total voltage or total open-circuit voltage of the first quantity of accumulator cells,
and uf is a maximum amplitude of the sum of the individual voltage response of the first quantity of accumulator cells
and fmin is a minimum charge transfer frequency or a minimum frequency component in the charge transfer current for which the apparatus is configured (¶[36], “an amount of electrical charge transferred from the first ultracapacitor 112 to the balancing capacitor 120 can correspond to an amount needed to make the first voltage V1 across the first ultracapacitor 112 and the second voltage V2 across the second ultracapacitor 114 be substantially the same,” because the voltage difference is transferred the balancing capacitor, it is much lower than Uopen-circuit, and a low frequency provides a large range that the energy in the balancing capacitor easily remains under the claimed equation).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kain to incorporate the teachings of Hock to provide transferring a stored energy quantity to an energy store outside of the accumulator cells of the first quantity is kept less than
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wherein if is a maximum amplitude of the charge transfer current or of an excitation signal causing the charge transfer,
Uopen-circuit is a nominal total voltage or total open-circuit voltage of the first quantity of accumulator cells,
and uf is a maximum amplitude of the sum of the individual voltage response of the first quantity of accumulator cells
and fmin is a minimum charge transfer frequency or a minimum frequency component in the charge transfer current for which the apparatus is configured in order to reduce the energy transfer needed to balance the cells.
Regarding Claim 27, Kain in view of Sugeno teaches the apparatus according to claim 9.
Kain in view of Sugeno does not explicitly teach wherein the apparatus in sum cannot store more energy within the apparatus outside of the first quantity of accumulator cells than
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n
wherein umax is a maximum accumulator voltage or maximum total voltage of the accumulator cells of the first quantity for which the apparatus is configured,
and imax is a maximum charge transfer current intensity for which the apparatus is configured,
and fmin is a minimum charge transfer frequency or a minimum frequency component in the charge transfer current for which the apparatus is configured.
Hock teaches wherein the apparatus in sum cannot store more energy within the apparatus outside of the first quantity of accumulator cells than
u
m
a
x
*
i
m
a
x
4
*
f
m
i
n
wherein umax is a maximum accumulator voltage or maximum total voltage of the accumulator cells of the first quantity for which the apparatus is configured,
and imax is a maximum charge transfer current intensity for which the apparatus is configured,
and fmin is a minimum charge transfer frequency or a minimum frequency component in the charge transfer current for which the apparatus is configured (¶[16] “Alternatively, or additionally, a capacitance of the balancing capacitor can be smaller than a capacitance of at least one of the plurality of ultracapacitors”, a smaller capacitance indicates that less energy will be stored).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kain in view of Sugeno to incorporate the teachings of Hock to provide wherein the apparatus in sum cannot store more energy within the apparatus outside of the first quantity of accumulator cells than
u
m
a
x
*
i
m
a
x
4
*
f
m
i
n
wherein umax is a maximum accumulator voltage or maximum total voltage of the accumulator cells of the first quantity for which the apparatus is configured,
and imax is a maximum charge transfer current intensity for which the apparatus is configured,
and fmin is a minimum charge transfer frequency or a minimum frequency component in the charge transfer current for which the apparatus is configured in order to reduce the energy stored in the balancing elements outside of the accumulator cells.
Conclusion
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/A.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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