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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS filed 2/17/23 has been considered and placed of record. The initialed copy is attached herewith.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The disclosure should be carefully reviewed to ensure that any and all grammatical, idiomatic, and spelling or other minor errors are corrected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Japanese document JP2011259672A (see machine translation).
Re claim 1, the document discloses a charge controller having, inter alia, an environment prediction part that predicts, during charging of a battery mounted on a vehicle, a state of an external environment of the vehicle after an end of charging (To set a temperature of a power storage device at an appropriate temperature after the completion of charging by an external power source… Further, the higher the temperature TB and the outside air temperature, the longer the time required for cooling using the cooling fan 28 after completion of charging, and the lower the temperature TB and the outside temperature, the time required for cooling using the cooling fan 28 after completion of charging Becomes shorter);
a target temperature setting part that sets a target temperature of the battery at the end of charging on the basis of the state of the external environment predicted by the environment prediction part (the required time calculation unit is the second temperature at which the temperature TB (or outside air temperature) is higher than the first temperature than the necessary time when the temperature TB (or outside air temperature) is the first temperature);
and a temperature adjusting part that adjusts a temperature of the battery during the charge such that the temperature of the battery becomes the target temperature, set by the target temperature setting part, at the end of charging (the temperature of power storage device 16 is lower than the appropriate temperature range after charging by external power supply 30 is completed. The output of the power storage device 16 may be lower than when the temperature of the power storage device 16 is within a suitable temperature range. Further, when the temperature of the power storage device 16 is higher than the appropriate temperature range after the charging by the external power supply 30 is completed, it is necessary to operate the cooling fan 28 to cool the power storage device 16). Figure 4.
Re claim 2, the document further discloses the environment prediction part predicts a change in an outside air temperature after the end of charging as the state of the external environment, and the target temperature setting part sets the target temperature on the basis of the change in the outside air temperature (when the temperature TB is TB (0) and the current outside air temperature is To (0) (point G shown in FIG. 4), “rapid charging” is performed. Executed. For example, when the temperature TB is TB (0) and the outside air temperature is To (1) (point H shown in FIG. 4), “normal charging” is executed. Alternatively, for example, when the temperature TB is TB (0) and the outside air temperature is To (2) (point I shown in FIG. 4), “slow charging” is executed – when outside temperature changes, the new temperature is set to secure type of charging).
Re claim 3, the document further discloses the environment prediction part predicts a magnitude of the change in the outside air temperature after the end of charging, and the target temperature setting part sets the target temperature within a predetermined temperature zone according to the magnitude of the change in the outside air temperature. the environment prediction part predicts a magnitude of the change in the outside air temperature after the end of charging, and the target temperature setting part sets the target temperature within a predetermined temperature zone according to the magnitude of the change in the outside air temperature (the difference between the estimated temperature immediately after charging and the final target temperature. The target temperature is a temperature set in advance between a lower limit value TB (2) and an upper limit value TB (3) of an appropriate temperature range. The cooling time is determined based on, for example, a difference between the estimated temperature immediately after charging and the target temperature and a map. The map is a map showing the relationship between the estimated difference between the temperature immediately after charging and the target temperature and the cooling time).
Re claim 7, the document further discloses the temperature adjusting part adjusts the temperature of the battery during the charge by performing heating and cooling of the battery during charging of the battery (the temperature of power storage device 16 is lower than the appropriate temperature range after charging by external power supply 30 is completed. The output of the power storage device 16 may be lower than when the temperature of the power storage device 16 is within a suitable temperature range. Further, when the temperature of the power storage device 16 is higher than the appropriate temperature range after the charging by the external power supply 30 is completed, it is necessary to operate the cooling fan 28 to cool the power storage device 16).
Re claim 8, the document further discloses a temperature detection part that detects the temperature of the battery during the charge, wherein the temperature adjusting part adjusts the temperature of the battery during the charge such that the temperature detected by the temperature detection part at the end of charging becomes the target temperature (and charging the power storage device so that the temperature of the power storage device is within a predetermined range at the charging end time and the remaining capacity of the power storage device becomes a remaining capacity corresponding to the fully charged state).
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 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Japanese document JP2011259672A (see machine translation).
The document is silent on setting the target temperature lower than the predetermined value/zone when a prediction that the temperature would rise at end of charging or vice versa. Official notice is taken of the fact that lowering the temperature when knowing the operational temperature rises or raising the temperature knowing the operational temperature falls in order to reach a target temperature. It would have been obvious to have lowered or raised the temperature if predicting operating temperature would rise or fall at end of charging respectively to achieve the desired set temperature.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is 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.
The art of record fails to disclose or suggest, at least, a storage that stores environment information indicating a state of past external environment, and the environment prediction part predicts a state of an external environment after an end of charging on the basis of the environment information stored in the storage.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Art made of record exemplified temperature control in EVs.
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to the Examiner at the below-listed number. The Examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thu from 7:00am-5:00pm.
The Examiner’s SPE is Taelor Kim and he can be reached at 571.270.7166. The fax number for the organization where this application is assigned is 571.273.8300.
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/EDWARD TSO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 571.272.2087