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 .
Status of Preliminary Amendment
Examiner acknowledges receipt of preliminary amendment to application 18/000,401 received December 1, 2022. Claims 1-25 are left as original.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, “electric vehicle”, “first coupling device” and “second coupling device” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
The drawings are also objected to because the unlabeled rectangular box(es) shown in the drawings should be provided with descriptive text labels. Although the boxes in Fig. 1 have large font letters which allows a correlation to each box as one reads the specification, the large font letters do not allow one to quickly ascertain the concept of the invention which is desirable during a later search of analogous art. The large font letters should be complimented with words spelled out to facilitate future searches.
The drawings are further objected to because it appears the box with “GW” label should be “WR”, reference specification page 19, lines 20-22. Also, it appears the “GGE” label in Fig. 7, should be “GE1”? And again, in Fig. 7, like in Fig. 5, it appears one/or both of the “GW” should be “WR”?
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 11, Line 9, change “rectifier GR1” to –rectifier GR—to be consistent
Page 11, Line 19, The acronym “HMI” should be spelled out at the first use within a document. It is the examiner’s understanding this stands for Human Machine Interface, but to avoid confusion, the first use should be spelled out for clarity.
“inverter” appears to be referred to as “WR” in some instances and “GW” in other instances, as an example see Page 16, Lines 29-30, also Page 21, Lines 1-2.
Page 24, Line 4, In this instance, it appears “GW” stands for “DC converter”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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.
Claim 9-11 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 9 recites the limitation "the first coupling device" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "the first coupling device" in lines 4-5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “… an HMI unit, a controller and/or a communication unit…” It is not clear whether the limitations after the “and/or” conjunction is part of the limitations or just optional.
Correction or further explanation is required to address or resolve these issues.
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 1-16, 18, 20-21 and 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Thiet DE-202019105359-U1 (hereinafter Thiet).
Regarding Claim 1, Thiet teaches a process for generating and delivering charging current for an electric vehicle in a charging pole (Thiet, Fig. 4, Abstract), comprising the following process steps, generating kinetic energy with an energy conversion unit (Thiet, Fig. 1, Element 3, “internal combustion engine”), feeding a first generator with the generated kinetic energy (Thiet, Figs. 1 and 3, Element 4, “electric generator”),
PNG
media_image1.png
244
800
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
converting the generated kinetic energy into electrical energy by means of the first generator (Thiet, Fig. 3, Element 4; and text as copied and annotated below)
PNG
media_image2.png
182
786
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Excerpts from Thiet:
PNG
media_image3.png
244
800
media_image3.png
Greyscale
characterised in that a second generator (Thiet, Fig. 3, Element 22, “second electric generator” . Where the energy conversion unit in this case is split into two separate internal combustion machines which provides redundancy.) is fed with the generated kinetic energy,
PNG
media_image4.png
162
780
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
and the generated kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy by means of the second generator (Thiet, Fig. 3, Element 22; and text as copied and annotated below).
PNG
media_image5.png
162
780
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 2, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the first generator produces an electric current with a voltage greater than 100V (Thiet, Fig. 1, Elements 6/10; “400 volts AC”).
PNG
media_image6.png
102
779
media_image6.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 3, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claims 2/1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the second generator produces an electric current with a voltage lower than 250V (Thiet, Figs. 2-3, Elements 6/16; “230 volts AC”).
PNG
media_image7.png
230
776
media_image7.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 4, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches that 80%, preferably 90% and particularly preferably 100% of the electricity generated by the first generator is used for charging an electric vehicle.
PNG
media_image8.png
232
780
media_image8.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 5, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the electricity generated by the second generator (Thiet, Fig. 3, Elements 2 and 20) is used to charge an energy storage device (Thiet, Figs. 1-3, Element 7, “energy storage device”) associated in the charging pole (Thiet, Figs. 1-3, Element 1, “energy container”).
PNG
media_image9.png
162
780
media_image9.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 6, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claims 5/1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the battery (Thiet, Figs. 1-3, Element 7, “energy storage device”) is located in the charging pole (Thiet, Figs. 1-3, Element 1, “energy container”).
PNG
media_image10.png
232
780
media_image10.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 7, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the first generator is fed with the generated kinetic energy via a first coupling device (Thiet, Figs. 1-3; Although not explicitly illustrated; inherent in the disclosure as a whole).
Excerpt from Thiet:
PNG
media_image11.png
232
780
media_image11.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 8, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the second generator is fed with the generated kinetic energy via a second coupling device (Thiet, Fig. 3; Although not explicitly illustrated; inherent in the disclosure as a whole).
PNG
media_image12.png
171
786
media_image12.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 9, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claims 8/1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the second coupling device is arranged separately from the first coupling device (Thiet, Fig. 3; As seen in the illustration as the separation of elements 2 and 20.).
Regarding Claim 10, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claims 8/1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the first generator is coupled to the energy conversion device via the first coupling device and the second generator is coupled to the energy conversion device via the second coupling device (Thiet, Fig. 3; As seen in the illustration as the separation of elements 2 and 20.).
PNG
media_image11.png
232
780
media_image11.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image12.png
171
786
media_image12.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
PNG
media_image13.png
232
780
media_image13.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 11, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the power generated by the second generator is used to operate an HMI unit (Thiet, Fig. 4, Element 17, “payment system”), a controller (Thiet, Fig. 3, Element 8; “control unit”) and/or a communication unit (Thiet, Fig. 3, Element 9; “communication device”), wherein the HMI unit, the controller and/or the communication unit are arranged in the charging pole (Thiet, Fig. 3; Abstract).
Regarding Claim 12, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the electricity generated by the second generator (Thiet, Fig. 3, Elements 2 and 20) is used for charging an electric vehicle (Thiet, Where both generators can be used for charging electric vehicles).
PNG
media_image14.png
171
786
media_image14.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 13, Thiet teaches a charging pole suitable and intended for charging electric vehicles (Thiet, Fig. 4, Abstract), comprising a first energy conversion unit (Thiet, Fig. 1, Element 3, “internal combustion engine”), a first generator connected to the energy conversion unit (Thiet, Figs. 1 and 3, Element 4, “electric generator”) characterised in that a second generator is connected to the energy conversion unit (Thiet, Fig. 3, Element 22, “second electric generator”. Where the energy conversion unit in this case is split into two separate internal combustion machines which, as stated in Thiet, provides redundancy.).
Regarding Claim 14, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 13. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the first generator (Thiet, Figs. 1 and 3, Element 4, “electric generator”) and the second generator (Thiet, Fig. 3, Element 22, “second electric generator”) are connected to the energy conversion unit (Thiet, Fig. 1, Element 3, and Fig. 3, Elements 3 and 21, “internal combustion engine” . Where the energy conversion unit in this case is split into two separate internal combustion machines which, as stated in Thiet, provides redundancy.) via separate linking elements (Thiet, Figs. 1-3; Although not explicitly illustrated; inherent in the disclosure as a whole).
PNG
media_image12.png
171
786
media_image12.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image11.png
232
780
media_image11.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 15, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 13. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the first generator is connected to the charging cable terminal via a power line suitable and intended to conduct the generated current (Thiet, Fig. 4, Elements 10, 16 and 26).
PNG
media_image15.png
162
774
media_image15.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image16.png
58
782
media_image16.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 16, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claims 15/13. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the first generator (Thiet, Figs. 1 and 3, Element 4, “electric generator”) is connected to one or more charging cable terminals exclusively via one or more power lines suitable and intended to conduct the generated current (Thiet, Fig. 4, Elements 10, 16 and 26).
PNG
media_image16.png
58
782
media_image16.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image15.png
162
774
media_image15.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 18, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 13. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the second generator (Thiet, Fig. 3, Element 22, “second electric generator”) is connected to a battery via a power line suitable and intended to conduct the generated current (Thiet, Fig. 4, Elements 10, 16 and 26).
PNG
media_image15.png
162
774
media_image15.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image16.png
58
782
media_image16.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 20, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 13. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the battery is connected to the energy conversion unit via a power line, the power line being intended and suitable for supplying electrical energy to the energy conversion unit (Thiet, Fig. 1).
PNG
media_image17.png
238
776
media_image17.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 21, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 13. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the second generator is connected to an HMI unit (Thiet, Fig. 4, Element 17, “payment system”), a communication unit (Thiet, Fig. 3, Element 9; “communication device”) and/or a controller (Thiet, Fig. 3, Element 8; “control unit”) via a power line suitable and intended to conduct the generated current (Thiet, Fig. 4, Elements 17, 24 and 27).
PNG
media_image13.png
232
780
media_image13.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 24, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 13. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the first generator is intended and suitable for generating current with a voltage greater than 100V (Thiet, Fig. 1, Elements 6/10; “400 volts AC”).
PNG
media_image6.png
102
779
media_image6.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
Regarding Claim 25, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 13. Furthermore, Thiet teaches the second generator is intended and suitable for generating current with a voltage lower than 250V, e.g. 220V domestic current (Thiet, Figs. 2-3, Elements 6/16; “230 volts AC”).
PNG
media_image7.png
230
776
media_image7.png
Greyscale
Excerpt from Thiet:
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 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thiet DE-202019105359-U1 (hereinafter Thiet) as applied to claims 15/13 above, and further in view of Ballatine et al. U.S. PGPub 2012/0326668 A1 (hereinafter Ballatine).
Regarding Claim 17, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claims 15/13, but does not explicitly teach a rectifier in the charging circuit.
Ballatine, however, teaches a first rectifier is connected between the first generator and the charging cable connection (Ballatine, Fig. 6B, Element 602B; Para. [0062]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to understand that although Thiet is silent as to the details of the charging circuit components, Thiet would inherently incorporate some type of conventional charging circuitry components commonly understood in the art. The control circuitry taught by Ballatine, for controlling the charging of the rechargeable battery, teaches one of the many conventional battery charging circuits utilized in the art for charging a battery. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Ballatine, to control the charge/discharge of the battery within the charging system of Thiet.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thiet DE-202019105359-U1 (hereinafter Thiet) as applied to claims 18/13 above, and further in view of Ballatine et al. U.S. PGPub 2012/0326668 A1 (hereinafter Ballatine).
Regarding Claim 19, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claims 18/13, but does not explicitly teach a rectifier in the charging circuit.
Ballatine, however, teaches a second rectifier is connected between the second generator and the battery (Ballatine, Fig. 6B, Element 602C; Para. [0062]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to understand that although Thiet is silent as to the details of the charging circuit components, Thiet would inherently incorporate some type of conventional charging circuitry components commonly understood in the art. The control circuitry taught by Ballatine, for controlling the charging of the rechargeable battery, teaches one of the many conventional battery charging circuits utilized in the art for charging a battery. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Ballatine, to control the charge/discharge of the battery within the charging system of Thiet.
Claims 22-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thiet DE-202019105359-U1 (hereinafter Thiet) as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Ballatine et al. U.S. PGPub 2012/0326668 A1 (hereinafter Ballatine).
Regarding Claim 22, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 13, but does not explicitly teach battery is connected to the first rectifier via an inverter and a power line.
Ballatine, however, teaches the battery is connected to the first rectifier via an inverter and a power line (Ballatine, Fig. 6B, Element 104A; Para. [0019]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to understand that although Thiet is silent as to the details of the charging circuit components, Thiet would inherently incorporate some type of conventional charging circuitry components commonly understood in the art. The control circuitry taught by Ballatine, for controlling the charging of the rechargeable battery, teaches one of the many conventional battery charging circuits utilized in the art for charging a battery. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Ballatine, to control the charge/discharge of the battery within the charging system of Thiet.
Regarding Claim 23, The teaching of the Thiet reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 13, but does not explicitly teach the battery is connected to the charging cable connection via a DC converter and a power line.
Ballatine, however, teaches the battery is connected to the charging cable connection via a DC converter and a power line (Ballatine, Fig. 6B, Element 602A; Para. [0062]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to understand that although Thiet is silent as to the details of the charging circuit components, Thiet would inherently incorporate some type of conventional charging circuitry components commonly understood in the art. The control circuitry taught by Ballatine, for controlling the charging of the rechargeable battery, teaches one of the many conventional battery charging circuits utilized in the art for charging a battery. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Ballatine, to control the charge/discharge of the battery within the charging system of Thiet.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hunter U.S. PGPub 2010/0060093 teaches a container type vehicle charging station with multiple vehicle charging ports.
Zink et al. U.S. PGPub 2019/0390560 teaches a portable energy producer with multiple generators.
Curry et al. U.S. PGPub 2010/006356 teaches an EV charging system with multiple generators/alternators and charging componentry.
Barnard U.S. Patent 4,597,463 teaches an electrical generation system with multiple generators and one engine.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY D ROBBINS whose telephone number is (571)272-7585. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00AM - 6:00PM Tuesday-Saturday.
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 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.
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.
/JERRY D ROBBINS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2859