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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 5/11/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
The replacement drawing filed on 4/9/2026 overcomes the previous drawing objection. Accordingly, the drawing objection has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 11 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.
Newly relied upon prior art Lopez et al. (US 2016/0221458) discloses the amended argued limitations: a recharging component (56, 58) disposed in the electric vehicle (12) (Fig.2), wherein the recharging component includes a ventilation system (72) configured to be connected to a port (34) of the electric vehicle (12) (Fig.5), wherein the recharging component (56, 58) is configured to supply power to an energy source (24) of the electric vehicle (12) (Par.21 and 25), and wherein the ventilation system (72) is configured to permit a flow of a gas at least one of towards and away from at least one of the recharging component (56, 58) through the port (34) (Par.34-35).
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “recharging component” as seen in Claims 1, 5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17 and 19.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
A review of the specification shows that the following appears to be the corresponding structure described in the specification for the 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph limitation: The specification states the recharging component encompasses an electric port, a charging connector and a power supply circuit (Par.12). If applicant wishes to provide further explanation or dispute the examiner’s interpretation of the corresponding structure, applicant must identify the corresponding structure with reference to the specification by page and line number, and to the drawing, if any, by reference characters in response to this Office action.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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, 5-8, 11, 15 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez et al. (US 2016/0221458) in view of Schreiber et al. (US 2020/0070668).
Claim 1: Lopez teaches a system for recharging an electric vehicle (12) (Fig.2), the system (Fig.5) comprising:
a recharging component (56, 58) disposed in the electric vehicle (12) (Fig.2), wherein the recharging component includes a ventilation system (72) configured to be connected to a port (34) of the electric vehicle (12) (Fig.5), wherein the recharging component (56, 58) is configured to supply power to an energy source (24) of the electric vehicle (12) (Par.21 and 25), and wherein the ventilation system (72) is configured to permit a flow of a gas at least one of towards and away from at least one of the recharging component (56, 58) through the port (34) (Par.34-35);
a sensor (62) at the recharging component (56, 58), wherein the sensor (62) is configured to generate an environment datum (Par.28); and
a control pilot (Par.40) in electronic communication with the sensor (62), wherein the control pilot is configured to: receive the environment datum from the sensor (62) (Par.31; Temperature);
generate a ventilation requirement datum as a function of the environment datum (Par.31 and 34-35); and
command the recharging component to perform a ventilation process using the ventilation system (72) as a function of the ventilation requirement datum (Par.31 ad 34-35).
Lopez does not explicitly teach the electric vehicle including an electric aircraft.
Schreiber teaches an electric vehicle includes an electric aircraft (Par.34).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had substituted the electric vehicle in the system of Lopez for an electric aircraft as they are known elements as taught in Schreiber (Par.34) with the reasonable expectation that the system for recharging comprising a ventilation system would maintain its functions in the electric aircraft; with the predictable result of providing ventilation to the recharging elements of the electric aircraft thereby protecting charging elements from heat related malfunctions.
Claim 5: Lopez in view of Schreiber teaches the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Lopez teaches the ventilation system (72) is configured to direct a flow of particles away from the recharging component (56, 58) (Par.35)
Claim 6: Lopez in view of Schreiber teaches the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Lopez teaches wherein the ventilation system (72) includes an exhaust device (fan) (Par.35).
Claim 7: Lopez in view of Schreiber teaches the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Lopez teaches wherein the ventilation process includes activating the ventilation system (72) of the recharging component (56, 58) (Par.31 and 35; The ventilation system inherently includes activation to begin the flow of air.).
Claim 8: Lopez in view of Schreiber teaches the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Lopez teaches wherein the ventilation process is configured to improve an environment quality of the energy source (24) (Par.34-35, The ventilation process permits cooling during the charging process which improves the environment quality of the energy source.).
Claim 11: Lopez teaches a method of ventilating an energy source (24) of an electric vehicle (12) (Fig.2), the method comprising:
providing a recharging component (56, 58) of and disposed in a port (34) of the electric vehicle (12) (Fig.2) (Par.24-25);
providing a ventilation system (72) of the recharging component (56, 587) configured to be connected to a port (34) of the electric vehicle (12) (Fig.5), wherein the recharging component (56, 58) configured to permit a flow of a gas at least one of towards and away from the recharging component (56, 58) of the electric vehicle (12) through the port (34) (Par.34-35);
generating, by a sensor (62), an environment datum related to the recharging component (56, 58) (Par.28);
receiving, at a control pilot of the electric vehicle (12) (Par.40), the environment datum (Par.31; Temperature);
generating, at the control pilot, a ventilation requirement datum as a function of the environment datum (Par.31 and 34-35); and
commanding, via the control pilot, the recharging component to perform a ventilation process using the ventilation system (72) as a function of the ventilation requirement datum (Par.31 ad 34-35).
Lopez does not explicitly teach the electric vehicle including an electric aircraft.
Schreiber teaches an electric vehicle includes an electric aircraft (Par.34).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had substituted the electric vehicle in the system of Lopez for an electric aircraft as they are known elements as taught in Schreiber (Par.34) with the reasonable expectation that the system for recharging comprising a ventilation system would maintain its functions in the electric aircraft; with the predictable result of providing ventilation to the recharging elements of the electric aircraft thereby protecting charging elements from heat related malfunctions.
Claim 15: Lopez in view of Schreiber teaches the limitations of claim 11 as disclosed above. Lopez teaches the ventilation system (72) is configured to direct a flow of particles away from the recharging component (56, 58) (Par.35).
Claim 18: Lopez in view of Schreiber teaches the limitations of claim 11 as disclosed above. Lopez teaches wherein the ventilation process is configured to improve an environment quality of the energy source (24) (Par.34-35, The ventilation process permits cooling during the charging process which improves the environment quality of the energy source.).
Claims 2-3, 12-13 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez et al. (US 2016/0221458) in view of Schreiber et al. (US 2020/0070668) as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Cheng et al. (US 2020/0001735).
Claims 2-3 and 12-13: Lopez in view of Schreiber teaches the limitations of claims 1 and 11 as disclosed above. Lopez does not explicitly teach the electric vehicle including an electric aircraft.
Schreiber teaches an electric vehicle includes an electric aircraft (Par.34).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had substituted the electric vehicle in the system of Lopez for an electric aircraft as they are known elements as taught in Schreiber (Par.34) with the reasonable expectation that the system for recharging comprising a ventilation system would maintain its functions in the electric aircraft; with the predictable result of providing ventilation to the recharging elements of the electric aircraft thereby protecting charging elements from heat related malfunctions.
The combination of Lopez in view of Schreiber does not explicitly teach a pilot display configured to display the ventilation requirement datum to a pilot; the pilot display further comprises a graphical user interface.
Cheng teaches a pilot display (display in 30) coupled to the electric aircraft (10) (Fig.2A), wherein the pilot display is configured to display the ventilation requirement datum to a pilot (Par.52, The analysis of the sensed data is displayed.); the pilot display comprises a graphical user interface (Par.52).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had a display pilot, displaying ventilation requirement datum in the combination of Lopez in view of Schreiber to have had presented analysis results to personnel, locally or remotely, to have had controlled the system based on the presented analysis (Par.52) as taught in Cheng thereby improving efficient operation of the system.
Claim 16: Lopez in view of Schreiber and Cheng teach the limitations of claim 13 as disclosed above. Lopez teaches wherein the ventilation system (72) includes an exhaust device (fan) (Par.35).
Claim 17: Lopez in view of Schreiber and Cheng teach the limitations of claim 13 as disclosed above. Lopez teaches wherein the ventilation process includes activating the ventilation system (72) of the recharging component (56, 58) (Par.31 and 35; The ventilation system inherently includes activation to begin the flow of air.).
Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez et al. (US 2016/0221458) in view of Schreiber et al. (US 2020/0070668) as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Sugimura et al. (US 2019/0199075).
Claims 9 and 19: Lopez in view of Schreiber teaches the limitations of claims 1 and 11 as disclosed above. Lopez does not explicitly teach the recharging component further comprises an alarm system.
Sugimura teaches a recharging component comprises an alarm system (Par.71).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Sugimura in the system of Lopez to have had alert a user of a potential malfunction of the recharging component thereby improving safety (Par.71).
Claims 10 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez et al. (US 2016/0221458) in view of Schreiber et al. (US 2020/0070668) as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Roy et al. (US 11,270,243).
Claims 10 and 20: Lopez in view of Schreiber teaches the limitations of claims 1 and 11 as disclosed above. Lopez does not explicitly teach wherein the control pilot is configured to utilize a machine learning process.
Roy teaches a system for recharging an electric vehicle (EV) (Fig.2), comprising: a controller configured to utilize a machine learning process (Col.6, Lines 18-25).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Roy in the system of Lopez to have had optimized the performance of the charging system (Col.6, Lines 18-25).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Wu et al. (US 2020/0275582) teaches a system (100) for recharging an electric vehicle (Fig.1) (Par.26), the system (100) comprising: a recharging component disposed in the electric vehicle, wherein the recharging component includes a ventilation system (7, 11) configured to be connected to a port (20) of the electric vehicle (Par.32), wherein the recharging component is configured to supply power to an energy source (power battery) of the electric vehicle (Par.76), and wherein the ventilation system (7, 11) is configured to permit a flow of a gas at least one of towards and away from at least one of the recharging component and the energy source (12) through the port (20) (Par.35).
Varns et al. (US 2011/0298241) discloses a recharging component disposed in an electric vehicle (Fig.1), wherein the recharging component includes a ventilation system (34,36,38,40,44,46,50) configured to be connected to a port of the electric vehicle (Fig.1), and wherein the ventilation system (34,36,38,40,44,46,50) is configured to permit a flow of a gas at least one of towards and away from at least one of the recharging component and an energy source (12) (Par.26-27).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHALI ALEJANDRA TORRES RUIZ whose telephone number is (571)270-1262. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00am-6:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian D Huffman can be reached at 571-272-2147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHALI A TORRES RUIZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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