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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/23/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claim 1 is amended. Claim 10 is new. Claims 3, 5 have been cancelled. Claims 1, 2, 4, 6-10 are currently pending.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments filed on 4/23/2026 have been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 1 has been amended to state that “a first power supply havinq a first input voltage electrically coupled to the first measuring device and configured to provide power to the first measuring device; and a second power supply havinq a second input voltage, different than the first input voltage”. The specification states the following:
[0017] A first measuring device is provided on a first section of the electrical conductor, in which a contactless current measurement is performed using a magnetic measuring principle by way of a Hall sensor (contactless ASIC or open loop HALL). The Hall sensor is supplied with power by a low-voltage circuit with 5V (power supply 2), for example by a vehicle battery (12V). Furthermore, the Hall sensor has a signal output (analog out) for outputting the measured values. The Hall sensor itself is not connected to the electrical conductor and therefore has no electrical contact with the high-voltage side (HV). The Hall sensor is therefore located entirely on the low-voltage side (LV).
[0018] A second measuring device is provided on a second section, having a measuring resistor (shunt) and a measuring apparatus (shunt Quibz + Z), which makes contact with the electrical conductor in each case upstream and downstream of the measuring resistor. The measuring device can measure the voltage upstream and downstream of the measuring resistor and thus the voltage drop across the measuring resistor. The current flowing via the measuring resistor can be calculated from the voltage difference and the known electrical resistance of the measuring resistor by way of Ohm's law.
[0019] The second measuring device also has a low-voltage power connection with 5 V or 12 V (power supply 1) and a signal output (CAN out) for outputting the measured values.
[0020] As can be seen in particular in figure 1, the second measuring device is connected to the high-voltage circuit via the connections upstream and downstream of the measuring resistor. The isolation between the high-voltage side and the low- voltage side takes place here in the power supply (DC/DC) or in the correspondingly isolated signal output (isolated CAN driver). On the printed circuit board of the second measuring device, for example, the power supply and the signal output are isolated via a transformer that isolates the high-voltage side and the low-voltage side from one another.
Based on the above, the specification does not support that the first input voltage is different from the second input voltage because it states using 5V or 12V supply for both devices.
The limitation needs to be clarified by Applicant, and for purposes of examination, Examiner will consider that claim implies that each device is connected to a low or high voltage side/circuit respectively.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al (US 2017/0261536 A1) in view of Yugou (US 20170089955 A1), and further in view of Tzivanopolous et al (US 2012/0282500 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, and Claim 10,
Hong teaches a hybrid current sensor used in battery management system, comprising a Hall core/Hall sensor (first measuring device), and a shunt terminal/microprocessor (second measuring device). See Paragraph 0024. Hong also teaches that the Hall sensor 112 is connected to a first side of the circuit board 16 and the microprocessor 123 is connected to an opposite second side of the circuit board 16 (Paragraph 0030). Hall sensor and microprocessor being on opposite sides of the circuit board provides structural isolation from each other. Per instant specification a Hall sensor device is a contactless measurement method, and a shunt measuring device makes contact with the electrical conductor.
Hong does not provide specific teaching around the first and second measuring device being electrically isolated from each other. The instant specification states that complete isolation of the measuring devices reliably ensures that they do not influence one other. A separate power supply is preferably provided for each measuring device. Each measuring device preferably has a separate signal input and/or signal output. This means there is no joint signal processing or evaluation within the battery sensor.
Hong teaches that the connector 19 functions as a path to supply power to the electronic components arranged in the circuit board 16 from an external source (Paragraph 0032). The Hall sensor 112 and microprocessor 123 (for shunt terminal) are connected to opposite sides of the circuit board (Paragraph 0030). Connector 19 supplies power separately to both sides of the circuit board that house the two measuring devices. Hong teaches that the Hall sensor module and the shunt sensor module independently measure the current (Paragraph 0051). However, Hong does not explicitly teach that there is a first power supply and a second power supply configured to each of the measuring devices.
Yugou teaches the presence of a first voltage supply circuit 40a, and second voltage supply circuit 40b (paragraph 0048; Figure 5). The field of invention of Yugou is in the analogous field of art regarding an electrical current detection device that is capable of detecting a failure of shunt resistor and a power supply device (Paragraph 0001). Shunt resistor 10 (in Figure 5) is configured by a plurality of conducting parts and a plurality of resistors (Paragraph 0018, and 0019). In Figure 5, there is a first resistor 14 and second resistor 15 that provide a plurality of current detection modules that have power supply units 40a and 40b connected to each respectively. This is, in essence, providing separate power supply to separate current measuring devices. Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a first and second power supply to each first and second measuring devices as a redundant system that would be able to detect the failure or breakdown of the devices and prevent common cause failures (Yugou; paragraph 0047).
Furthermore, Tzivanopoulus teaches a current sensor (shunt type) connected to a nanocontroller with an evaluation unit downstream (Paragraph 0011), and another current sensor (Hall type) connected to a microcontroller (Paragraph 0015). This shows that the two sensors have no joint signal processing or evaluation within the battery. Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the separate controllers/processors as shown in Tzivanapolous into the device of Hong in order to provide redundant measurement of battery current and a higher degree of reliability for protection against short circuits (Paragraph 0019).
Hong does not teach that the first power supply has a first input voltage, and second power supply has a second input voltage, different than the first input voltage. Yugou teaches the presence of a first voltage supply circuit and second voltage supply circuit (Paragraph 0048), and does not limit the first and second voltage supply to be the same as each other. Hence, it would be obvious that Yugou generally teaches that the first and second voltage supply can be different from each other.
However, to further support the difference in the first and second voltage for the first and second measuring device, the prior art reference of Tzivanopoulus teaches that a first current sensor embodied as a shunt resistor is connected to the high voltage network comprising battery cells 11-1 to 11-n (Paragraph 0011, and 0019), and the second current sensor embodied as a Hall sensor is connected to the low voltage network (Paragraph 0015). Per instant specification, the Hall sensor is located entirely on the low-voltage side (LV) in Paragraph 0017, and the second measuring device (shunt type) is connected to the high-voltage circuit (Paragraph 0020). This shows the similarity in the arrangement of both types of sensors/measuring devices as shown in Tzivanopolous and the instant specification. Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the first power supply has a first input voltage, and second power supply has a second input voltage, different than the first input voltage based on the configuration in Tzivanopolous in order to provide redundant measurement of battery current and a higher degree of reliability for protection against short circuits (Paragraph 0019).
Regarding Claim 10, Tzivanopolous teaches that the Hall sensor (which is the first measuring device in the claim) is connected to the low voltage circuit, and the shunt type sensor (which is the second measuring device in the claim) is connected to the high voltage circuit. Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the first input voltage is less than the second input voltage in order to provide redundant measurement of battery current and a higher degree of reliability for protection against short circuits.
Regarding Claim 6,
Hong teaches that the Hall sensor 112 senses the current based on the magnetic field applied to the Hall core 111. The Hall sensor 112 is disposed on an inner side of the Hall core 111. A potential difference occurs at both ends of the Hall sensor 112 due to the magnetic field applied to the Hall core 111 (Paragraph 0034).
Regarding Claim 7,
Hong teaches that a current measuring device which is a shunt sensor module 120 includes the conductor 15, the shunt resistance 121, the shunt terminals 122, and the microprocessor 123. When a current flows in the conductor 15, the current flowing in the conductor 15 generates a voltage drop in the shunt resistance 121. Since a resistance value of the shunt resistance 121 is predetermined, the microprocessor 123 measures voltage values at a first end and a second end of the shunt resistance 121 and calculates a difference between the voltage values based on Ohm's law to determine a current flowing in the shunt resistance 121 (Paragraph 0049).
Regarding Claim 8,
Hong teaches that the circuit board 16 includes a circuit to connect the electronic components Hall sensor 112, shunt terminal 122, microprocessor 123, connector 19 positioned on the circuit board 16 to one another (Paragraph 0029). Hong also teaches that the Hall sensor and microprocessor are on opposite sides of the circuit board (structurally isolated) – per Paragraph 0031. Connector 19 functions as a path to externally transmit information from both current measuring devices, and to supply power to both devices from an external source (Paragraph 0032). Hence, the circuit connecting the electronic components is isolated between the two measuring devices via connector 19.
Claims 2, 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view Yugou et al, Tzivanopolous et al and further in view of Keck et al (WO 2007068221 A1; machine translation).
Regarding Claim 2,
Hong does not teach disposing the first and second measuring device on separate printed circuit boards.
However, Keck teaches a current measuring device wherein, magnetic field sensors are each arranged on an associated circuit board 330. Each of the circuit boards is fastened to a carrier plate 300 (Paragraph 0049). Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide separate printed circuit boards for each measuring device in order to enable a precise measurement of current flowing in the conductor for different operating states of the conductor (Paragraph 0007).
Regarding Claim 4,
Hong teaches the connector 19 which functions as a path to supply power to the electronic components, and as a path to externally transmit information sensed by the Hall sensor 112 or the microprocessor 123 (Paragraph 0032; signal input and signal output). When a value of the current measured by the Hall sensor module 110 (referred to as a first current value), and a value of the current measured by a shunt sensor module 120 (referred to as a second current value) are received, the microprocessor 123 externally transmits, selectively or simultaneously, the first current value and the second current value, out through the connector 19 (Paragraph 0040).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Yugou et al, Tzivanopolous et al and further in view of Daginnus et al (DE 102016218049 A1; machine translation).
Hong does not teach that the circuit comprises at least one transformer.
However, Daginnus teaches the presence of a transformer on a current sensor device used for battery monitoring. Hence, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a transformer on the circuit in order to achieve galvanic isolation between the analog-digital converter and the evaluation unit (Paragraph 0013).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/23/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant's argument that Hong in view of Yugou, do not teach or disclose that the first and second measuring devices are structurally isolated from each other is not persuasive. Examiner states in the rejection that the Hall sensor and microprocessor in Hong are located on opposite sides of the circuit board. The instant specification states that the complete isolation of the measuring devices ensures that they do not influence one another. Hong states that the microprocessor placed on an opposite surface of the circuit board is positioned outside of a central region of the Hall core 111 to reduce any interference of the magnetic field applied to the Hall core on the microprocessor 123 (paragraph 0038). Hong also states in Paragraph 0051 that the Hall sensor module and the shunt sensor module independently measure the current. Hence, Hong appreciates that the two current sensors function without influencing one another, and provide complete isolation and is consistent with that which applicant teaches or discusses in the instant specification.
Applicant argues that the sensors are not electrically isolated from each other, and are not supplied power separately. Examiner points to Figure 5 of Yugou which shows the first and second voltage supply circuit, and Yugou also further states the use of first power supply line 41a and second power supply line 41b in Paragraph 0048 and 0049.
Applicant argues that the Hall sensor output in Hong is connected to the microprocessor and hence, fails to teach electrical isolation. This action relies on the secondary reference of Tzivanopolous to show how that the two sensors are connected to separate controllers/processors for evaluating outputs.
Conclusion
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/SUHANI JITENDRA PATEL/Examiner, Art Unit 1783
/MARIA V EWALD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1783
