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 .
This Office Action is in response to the RCE filed on 18 December 2025, for application number 17/962,846. Claims 1-10 have been considered. Claims 1 and 4 are independent claims. Claims 1, 4, 9, and 10 have been amended.
This action is made Non-Final.
Response to Remarks
Applicant’s prior art arguments have been fully considered and they are partially persuasive.
Applicant argues that the combination of Fukunaga and Li is improper under the 103 standard. However, the argument is moot given the newly amended claims.
Applicant further argues that the cited references do not teach the determination curve is a time change model in a case where the filling speed is increased as much as possible within a range in which the hydrogen tank does not overheat.
Examiner agrees. Accordingly, a new reference, Wu, has been added for the newly added claims, as further detailed below.
Prior Art
Listed herein below is the prior art reference relied upon in this Office Action:
Fukunaga et al. (US Patent Application Publication US 20210062973 A1), referred to as Fukunaga herein.
Wu et al. (Fast filling strategy of type III on-board hydrogen tank based on time-delayed method), hereinafter known as Wu.
Bourgeois et al. (Evaluating the temperature inside a tank during a filling with highly-pressurized gas, 2015, attached as pdf), hereinafter known as Bourgeois.
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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukunaga in view of Wu.
Regarding independent claim 4, Fukunaga discloses “A hydrogen filling apparatus for filling a hydrogen tank of a vehicle with hydrogen (Fukunaga, at ¶ [0002], a hydrogen gas filling device for a vehicle powered by hydrogen gas at a hydrogen station.), the hydrogen filling apparatus comprising:
one or more processors that execute computer-executable instructions stored in a storage unit (id. at ¶ [0037], storage devices and a processor.), wherein the one or more processors execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the hydrogen filling apparatus to:
control a filling speed of the hydrogen (id. at ¶ [0057], the control circuit adjusts the opening of the flow rate adjustment valve in the dispenser so that a filling speed becomes the calculated filling speed M.);
acquire a determination curve from the storage unit, the determination curve being a time change model of a temperature of the hydrogen inside the hydrogen tank during filling of the hydrogen tank with the hydrogen (Examiner notes that “a time change model of a temperature” is not defined in the current claim set, so the examiner interprets it as a relation expression parameter. id. at ¶ [0039], a relation expression parameter between a difference ΔT between a maximum allowable temperature Tmax of the fuel tank and an initial temperature Ti of the fuel tank and a filling speed M is stored in a storage device.);
...
predict that overheating of the hydrogen inside the hydrogen tank will occur before the hydrogen tank is fully filled, if the estimated temperature of the hydrogen inside the hydrogen tank becomes higher than the determination curve (id. at ¶ [0041], in the case of filling the hydrogen gas at the hydrogen station, a filling time until full filling is estimated by a simulation with a large margin in advance for an actual temperature increase of the fuel tank 202 so that the temperature of the fuel tank 202 of the FCV 200 does not become a high temperature),
wherein if it is predicted that the overheating will occur, the one or more processors cause the hydrogen filling apparatus to suppress the filling speed of the hydrogen so as to be lower than before it is predicted that the overheating will occur (id. at ¶ [0041], a filling speed is determined according to the estimated filling time. Therefore, the determined filling speed is generally set lower as compared with the actual filling capacity of the hydrogen station.) or to stop filling of the hydrogen tank with the hydrogen, and
...
An embodiment of Fukunaga does not explicitly teach but another embodiment teaches:
continuously estimate, during filling of the hydrogen tank with the hydrogen, the temperature of the hydrogen inside the hydrogen tank; and (Fukunaga: Fig. 3 (S114-S120) and ¶[0041]; Fukunaga teaches the filling of hydrogen and while the filling commences, recalculating the filling speed based on the supply temperature. However, the calculation still takes into account the filling speed so as to keep the temperature from overheating. Accordingly, the foregoing is interpreted as continuously estimating the temperature.)
Fukunaga is in the same field of endeavor as the present invention, as it is directed to filling hydrogen. It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person of ordinary skill in the art, to combine the filling of hydrogen and calculating the filling speed based on a temperature estimate with further continuously adjusting the filling speed by inputting a supply temperature which allows a new calculation that takes into account the filling speed while not overheating the tank. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine these teachings because the combination would allow
Fukunaga does not explicitly teach but Wu teaches:
the determination curve is a time change model in a case where the filling speed is increased as much as possible within a range in which the hydrogen tank does not overheat and is a curve indicating a relationship between an elapsed time, which has elapsed since the hydrogen tank starts to be filled with the hydrogen, and the temperature of the hydrogen inside the hydrogen tank. (Wu: pgs. 4-6; Wu teaches a relationship between temperature and filling time and further different curves which do not exceed the maximum temperature limit based on different flow rates.)
Fukunaga and Wu are in the same field of endeavor as the present invention, as the references are directed to filling hydrogen tanks. It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the filling of hydrogen and continuously estimating the temperature based on the relation expression parameter as taught in Fukunaga with using a determination curve which optimizes flow rate based on temperature limit as taught in Wu. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Fukunaga to include teachings of Wu, because it would allow for effective temperature control, as suggested by Wu: pg. 1.
Independent claim 1 is directed towards a method equivalent to a hydrogen filling apparatus found in claim 4, and is therefore similarly rejected.
Regarding claim 5, Fukunaga in view of Wu teaches all the limitation of independent claim 4. Fukunaga further teaches “wherein the storage unit stores a plurality of the determination curves in association with respective combinations of an outside air temperature and a temperature of the hydrogen cooled by a cooling unit configured to cool the hydrogen (Fukunaga, at ¶ [0039], the plurality of relation expression parameter which is a difference ΔT between a maximum allowable temperature Tmax of the fuel tank and an initial temperature Ti of the fuel tank and a filling speed M are stored in a storage device as depicted at Fig. 2, the plurality of relation expression parameter are created for each hydrogen gas supply temperature which is corresponds to the temperature of the hydrogen, and the relation expression parameter is created depending on an outside air temperature T′, while the refrigerator control unit in the control circuit controls the refrigerator via the communication control circuit and drives a circulation pump of the refrigerator, the circulation of the refrigerant between the refrigerator and the cooler is started, as a result, cooling of the hydrogen gas is started by the cooler as described at id. at ¶ [0044].), and
the one or more processors cause the hydrogen filling apparatus to acquire, from the storage unit, the determination curve corresponding to the outside air temperature and the temperature of the hydrogen cooled by the cooling unit at a time when filling of the hydrogen tank with the hydrogen is started (id. at ¶ [0054], the filling speed calculation unit, which includes a processor (id. at ¶ [0037]), calculates the filling speed M of the hydrogen gas that depends on the difference ΔT, the filling speed M is calculated by using the above-described relation expression or relation table between the temperature increase change of the tank depending on the supply temperature of the hydrogen gas supplied via the dispenser and the filling speed.).”
Claim 2 is directed towards a method equivalent to a hydrogen filling apparatus found in claim 5, and is therefore similarly rejected.
Regarding claim 6, Fukunaga in view of Wu teaches all the limitation of independent claim 1 and its dependent claim 4. Fukunaga further teaches “wherein the one or more processors cause the hydrogen filling apparatus to: in a case where the storage unit stores no determination curve corresponding to the outside air temperature and the temperature of the hydrogen cooled by the cooling unit at the time when filling of the hydrogen tank with the hydrogen is started (Fukunaga, at ¶ [0050] and as depicted at Fig. 5, hydrogen gas supply temperatures are set as three degrees Celsius apart, therefore values of coefficients a, b, and c of the quadratic polynomial described in FIG. 4 are not defined in between the temperatures.), select and acquire two or more of the determination curves from among the plurality of determination curves, based on the outside air temperature and the temperature of the hydrogen cooled by the cooling unit at the time when filling of the hydrogen tank with the hydrogen is started; and generate a new determination curve, based on the acquired two or more determination curves and the outside air temperature and the temperature of the hydrogen cooled by the cooling unit at the time when filling of the hydrogen tank with the hydrogen is started (id. at ¶¶ [0049]-[0050], correlations between the temperature increase change of the fuel tank and the filling speed for each hydrogen gas supply temperature depends on the outside air temperature T’ are shown in Fig. 4, and when hydrogen gas supply temperatures at the time of actual calculation are not defined, linearly interpolated values may be used, it means certain parameter or values of coefficients a, b, and c of the quadratic polynomial could be calculated by linear interpolation of two nearby values of each hydrogen gas supply temperature and the outside air temperature.).” Even though Fukunaga does not explicitly teach the term “no”, Fukunaga further teaches there is a case hydrogen gas supply temperatures that are not shown in the correlation equation of FIG. 4, and the relation expression parameters, which is expressed as a quadratic polynomial (id. at ¶ [0049]), could be obtained by linear interpolation (id. at ¶ [0050]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the filing date of the invention to modify Fukunaga by assuming the storage unit stores no relation expression parameter corresponding to the outside air temperature and the temperature of the hydrogen cooled because the correlation is created on the basis of data when the hydrogen gas is actually filled at the hydrogen station (Fukunaga, at ¶ [0049]).
Claim 3 is directed towards a method equivalent to a hydrogen filling apparatus found in claim 6, and is therefore similarly rejected.
Claims 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukunaga in view of Wu in view of Bourgeois.
Regarding claim 7, Fukunaga in view of Wu further teaches the method of controlling the hydrogen filling apparatus according to claim 1.
Fukunaga does not explicitly teach but Bourgeois teaches:
wherein the temperature of the hydrogen inside the hydrogen tank is continuously estimated during the filling of the hydrogen tank with the hydrogen based on an equation including pressure inside the hydrogen tank, capacity of the hydrogen tank, a compressibility factor of the hydrogen, mass of the hydrogen inside the hydrogen tank before the hydrogen tank is filled with the hydrogen, mass of the hydrogen filled in the hydrogen tank from when the hydrogen tank starts to be filled with the hydrogen till present time, and a gas constant. (Bourgeois: pgs. 3-4; Bourgeois teaches modeling the temperature rise in a tank with an equation which takes into account the pressure, capacity, compressibility, mass of the hydrogen inside the tank before it is filled, mass when the tank starts to be filled, and a gas constant.)
Fukunaga and Bourgeois are in the same field of endeavor as the present invention, as the references are directed to filling hydrogen tanks. It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the filling of hydrogen and continuously estimating the temperature as taught in Fukunaga with using an equation that takes into account the pressure, capacity, compressibility, mass of the hydrogen inside the tank before it is filled, mass when the tank starts to be filled, and a gas constant as taught in Bourgeois. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Fukunaga to include teachings of Bourgeois, because it would allow not exceeding a specific temperature, as suggested by Bourgeois: pg. 1.
Regarding claim 8, Fukunaga in view of Wu further teaches the method of controlling the hydrogen filling apparatus according to claim 1.
Fukunaga does not explicitly teach but Bourgeois teaches:
wherein the temperature of the hydrogen inside the hydrogen tank is continuously estimated during the filling of the hydrogen tank with the hydrogen based on an equation Te
PNG
media_image1.png
66
220
media_image1.png
Greyscale
where Te denotes the temperature of the hydrogen inside the hydrogen tank, Pe denotes pressure inside the hydrogen tank, Ve denotes capacity of the hydrogen tank, Z denotes a compressibility factor of the hydrogen, m0 denotes mass of the hydrogen inside the hydrogen tank before the hydrogen tank is filled with the hydrogen, dm denotes mass of the hydrogen filled in the hydrogen tank from when the hydrogen tank starts to be filled with the hydrogen till present time, and R denotes a gas constant. (Bourgeois: pgs. 3-4; Bourgeois teaches modeling the temperature rise in a tank with an equation which takes into account the pressure, capacity, compressibility, mass of the hydrogen inside the tank before it is filled, mass when the tank starts to be filled, and a gas constant. More specifically, equations 3, 4, and 5 show the relationship of temperature equaling pressure multiplied by Volume, which is divided by compressibility multiplied by R. Wherein the amount of the gas is modeled using the mass flow rate.)
Fukunaga and Bourgeois are in the same field of endeavor as the present invention, as the references are directed to filling hydrogen tanks. It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the filling of hydrogen and continuously estimating the temperature as taught in Fukunaga with using an equation that takes into account the pressure, capacity, compressibility, mass of the hydrogen inside the tank before it is filled, mass when the tank starts to be filled, and a gas constant as taught in Bourgeois. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Fukunaga to include teachings of Bourgeois, because it would allow not exceeding a specific temperature, as suggested by Bourgeois: pg. 1.
Regarding claims 9 and 10, these claims recite a hydrogen filling apparatus that performs the function of the method of claims 7 and 8; therefore, the same rationale for rejection applies.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX OLSHANNIKOV whose telephone number is (571)270-0667. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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, Scott Baderman can be reached at 571-272-3644. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ALEKSEY OLSHANNIKOV/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118