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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hamidi (USPUB 2010/0181129).
As to Claim 1, Hamidi discloses a battery swapping method, characterized in that, the battery swapping method comprises: taking out an insufficient electricity battery pack from an electric vehicle and place it at a first position (Figure 15); overturning the taken-out insufficient electricity battery pack from the first position along a first direction to a second position; putting the insufficient electricity battery pack located at the second position into the charging compartment for charging, and/or taking out a full electricity battery pack from the charging compartment and place it at a third position; overturning the taken-out full electricity battery pack from the third position along a second direction to a fourth position (Figures 13-16); placing the full electricity battery pack located at the fourth position into the electric vehicle (Figure 16).
As to Claim 2, Hamidi discloses the battery swapping method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the battery swapping method realizes the overturning of the insufficient electricity battery pack or the full electricity battery pack by providing an overturning mechanism, wherein, taking out the insufficient electricity battery pack from the electric vehicle and placing it at the first position comprising: taking out the insufficient electricity battery pack from the electric vehicle and placing it at the first position on the overturning mechanism; or, taking out the full electricity battery pack from the charging compartment and placing it at the third position comprises: taking out the full electricity battery pack from the charging compartment and placing it at the third position of the overturning mechanism (Figure 13-16).
As to Claim 3, Hamidi discloses the battery swapping method as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the battery pack is taken and placed from the electric vehicle or the charging compartment by providing a battery taking and placing mechanism; wherein, taking out the insufficient electricity battery pack from the electric vehicle at the first position comprising: controlling the battery taking and placing mechanism to remove the insufficient electricity battery pack from the electric vehicle and to place it at the first position on the overturning mechanism; or, taking out the full electricity battery pack from the charging compartment and placing it at the third position comprises: controlling the battery taking and placing mechanism to remove the full electricity battery pack from the charging compartment and to place it at the third position of the overturning mechanism (Figures 13-16).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamidi in view of O’Hora et al. (USPUB 2019/0118782).
As to Claim 15, Hamidi discloses the battery swapping method as claimed in claim 1, but does not expressly disclose in that moving the battery pack towards the charging compartment or the electric vehicle when the battery pack is rotated; or moving the battery pack towards the charging compartment or the electric vehicle after rotating the battery pack; or before rotating the battery pack, moving the battery pack in the direction of the charging compartment or the electric vehicle. O’Hora discloses a robotic arm for moving and rotating a battery from a charging station position to an installed position in the vehicle (Figure 5). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of this invention to take the teachings of O’Hora’s battery swapping robotic arm, and add it to the device of Hamidi in order to allow for batteries located and accessible in a variety of positions to be swappable by the system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT J GRANT whose telephone number is (571)270-5820. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am - 5:30pm.
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/ROBERT GRANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859