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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been received.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 3/22/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the references given in the IDS are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-2, 11-12, and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites
on line 3, “the power supply mains” instead of “a power supply mains”
on line 8, “the electric current” instead of “an electric current”
on line 11, “the charging phase” instead of “a charging phase”
on line 12, “said element to be charged” instead of “said device to be charged” or “said rechargeable battery”
Claim 2 recites “resistor Rs” on lines 2 and 5. Rs should be omitted.
Claim 11 recites
on line 6, “the power supply mains” instead of “a power supply mains”
on line 8, “the electric current” instead of “an electric current”
on line 12, “the charging phase” instead of “a charging phase,” and “said element to be charged” instead of “said device to be charged” or “said rechargeable battery”
Claim 12 recites
on line 7, “the charging state” instead of “a charging state”
on line 7, “the power supply of the meter device” instead of “the power supply mains”
Claim 15 recites
on line 3, “the mains” instead of “the power supply mains”
on line 10, “the value of the temperature of the rechargeable battery” instead of “a value of a temperature of the rechargeable battery”
on line 11, “the charging current” instead of “a charging current”
on line 13, “the ultra-fast charging function” instead of “an ultra-fast charging function”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 12-13 and 15 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 12 recites “restoring the charging state of the device to be charged if the power supply of the meter device is stopped and restored, storing the state of the switch for a predetermined time, in particular for a time between 1 and 5 minutes.”
The phrase “storing the state” is unclear since it could be referring to a state before or after “restoring the charging state,” or in other words “stopped” or “restored.” Additionally, the term “maintaining” the state seems to be more appropriate and clearer instead of “storing”. For the purposes of compact prosecution, the examiner interprets the recitation above as:
“restoring the charging state of the device to be charged if the power supply of the meter device is stopped and restored, maintaining the stopped state of the switch for a predetermined time, in particular for a time between 1 and 5 minutes.”
Claim 13 recites “maintaining the output of a timer system present in the current meter device as if the current read is below the current threshold if one or more current pulses absorbed by the device to be charged exceed said current threshold when said device to be charged has reached the end of charging”
It is not clear what is the “output” of a timer system. The examiner understands the timer system triggers the cut-off switch in response to the charging current exceeding a current threshold for a predetermined time so as to prevent momentary current pulses above the current threshold from stopping the charge (as understood in paragraph 0053 of US Patent Publication US 20230408589 A1). For the purposes of compact prosecution, the examiner interprets
“maintaining the output of a timer system present in the current meter device as if the current read is below the current threshold if one or more current pulses absorbed by the device to be charged exceed said current threshold when said device to be charged has reached the end of charging”
as
“maintaining the output of a timer system present in the current meter device as if the current read is below the current threshold if one or more current pulses absorbed by the device to be charged exceed said current threshold when said device to be charged has reached the end of charging”
Claim 15 recites “powering the device to be charged directly through the mains without simultaneously powering the rechargeable battery connected to the device to be charged.”
It is unclear how the rechargeable battery connected to the device powered by the mains is not also simultaneously powered by the mains. Paragraph [0073] in the US Patent Publication recites the same the phrasing but does not appear to further explain.
Appropriate correction is required.
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, 9-11, and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai (US 20180269701 A1) in view of Sawyers (“It’s Electric! How Your Circuit Breaker Panel Works” Popular Mechanics, < https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to/a5571/how-your-circuit-breaker-works/ > Posted online 4/16/2010).
Regarding independent claim 1, Dai discloses a current meter device (Figs. 1-2: energy saving charger) comprising:
an input connector device (Fig. 2: AC IN) for operatively connecting said meter device removably to at least one adapter device(¶[6, 16] and Fig. 2: Based on the broadest reasonable interpretation, adapter device is interpreted by the examiner as a wall outlet that is connected to an AC mains from a power grid).
Dai does not explicitly disclose the said adapter device being connectable to the power supply mains.
Sawyers discloses an adapter device being connectable to the power supply mains (Page 3: a wall outlet that is connected to an AC mains of a power grid can be disconnected from the power grid by a building’s breaker box).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate an outlet removably connectable to an AC mains of Sawyers into the system of Dai to allow for the safe replacement or servicing of the outlet.
Dai discloses the current meter device comprising:
an output connector device (¶[14, 33] and Figs. 2 and 4: USB female socket, USB Port ) for operatively connecting said meter device removably (via USB female socket to USB plug) to at least one charging element, said charging element being operatively connectable to at least one device to be charged having at least one rechargeable battery (¶[3, 5, esp. 31, 32]: battery of a load to be charged);
a current reader for reading the electric current flowing between the input connector device and the output connector device (¶[12, esp. 15, 36]: central processing unit U1 monitors charging current through the current detection unit); and
at least one switch (¶[24, 30] and Figs. 1 and 3: electronic switch Q1 connected in series between the bridge rectifier circuit and switch control circuit) for operatively connecting the device to be charged by the charging element to said meter device and (¶[29]: when the load is connected and charging is needed, a reset button is pushed to achieve the same functionality of the charger being completely disconnected from the mains network), and for disconnecting the device to be charged from said meter device when the electrical current read by the current reader is lower than a current threshold and the charging phase has finished (¶[2-3, 6, esp. 25]: Upon detecting that charging current approximates to zero, low-voltage control detection circuit immediately sends a cut-off control signal which results in the electric switch to cut off. This saves electrical energy and prolongs the service of the charging device).
Dai does not explicitly disclose operatively connecting the device to be charged by the charging element to said meter device and then to
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to disconnect the mains network from the charger and reconnect the mains to the charger, as described in Dai ¶[29], in the situation where the reset button is malfunctioning and unable to restart charging, since it has been held that choosing from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success is obvious. KSR International Co. v Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 127 S. Ct. 1727, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007).)
Regarding claim 2, Dai discloses the meter device according to claim 1, comprising at least one pressure element for activating the switch, operatively connecting the output connector device to the input connector device and then to the adapter device (¶[9-10, esp. 29]: restart button AN is pushed, when charging protection is powered off, to restart the charging function).
Regarding claim 3, Dai discloses the meter device according to claim 1, comprising a resistor positioned between the input connector device and the output connector device (¶[35] and Figs. 2-3, 5-6: first and second resistors R1 and R2 placed between current path between AC IN and USB Port), wherein the current meter is configured to measure the electric current flowing between the input connector device and the output connector device by reading the voltage drop induced on said resistor (¶[30]: current flows through first and second resistors R1 and R2 producing a divided voltage and the low-voltage output obtains electricity).
Regarding claim 4, Dai discloses the meter device according to claim 1, comprising at least one indicator element for sending a first light signal when said meter device is operatively connected to the adapter device and for sending a second light signal when said meter device is operatively disconnected from the adapter device (¶[11, 31]: indication light LED. When the charger performs charging operation, the indication light goes on; when the charger cuts off power, the indication light goes off).
Regarding claim 5, Dai discloses the meter device according to claim 1, comprising at least one voltage reference determining element, in particular a resistive divider element (¶[31] and Figs. 2-3, 5-6: comparator CMP is connected with seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh resistors R7-11), for determining the current threshold at which the meter device operatively disconnects the output device from the input device via the switch (¶[31]: a comparator CMP and resistor network R7-11 to compare voltage with a preset value. Depending on the voltage being above or below the preset, the charging output is cut off).
Regarding claim 6, Dai discloses the meter device according to claim 1, further comprising a timer system to adjust the activation of the switch, in particular to delay or prevent the activation and/or deactivation of the switch (¶[15, 36]: when the charging current is lower than the charging cut-off current threshold, the photoelectric coupler Q2 is controlled to turn off after a period of delay).
Regarding claim 9, Dai discloses the meter device according to claim 1, wherein the switch comprises
a. a relay device (alternative language); and/or
b. a MOSFET (¶[10, 30]: electronic switch Q1 adopts a PMOS transistor).
Regarding claim 10, Dai discloses the meter device according to claim 1, further comprising a microcontroller ([¶35]: the central processing unit may adopt a single-chip microcomputer KF8V series).
Regarding independent claim 11, Dai discloses a method for limiting the wear of at least one rechargeable battery connected to a device to be charged (Fig. 1 and ¶[16]: method to provide various protection for overcurrent overvoltage, undercharge, overcharge, and the like) comprising:
removably connecting a current meter device between an adapter device (¶[6, 16] and Fig. 2: Based on the broadest reasonable interpretation, adapter device is interpreted by the examiner as a wall outlet that is connected to an AC mains from a power grid) and a charging element (¶[3, 5, esp. 31, 32]: battery of a load to be charged), wherein the current meter device comprises an input connector (Fig. 2: AC IN) connectable to the adapter device and an output connector (¶[14, 33] and Figs. 2 and 4: USB female socket, USB Port) connectable to the charging element (¶[3, 5, esp. 31, 32])
Dai does not explicitly disclose the said adapter device being connectable to the power supply mains.
Sawyers discloses an adapter device being connectable to the power supply mains (Page 3: a wall outlet that is connected to an AC mains of a power grid can be disconnected from the power grid by a building’s breaker box).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate an outlet removably connectable to an AC mains of Sawyers into the system of Dai to allow for the safe replacement or servicing of the outlet.
Dai discloses reading the electric current flowing between the input connector device and the output connector device (¶[12, esp. 15, 36]: central processing unit U1 monitors charging current through the current detection unit);
activating a switch of the current meter device to operatively connect the device to be charged via the charging element to said meter device and (¶[29]: when the load is connected and charging is needed, a reset button is pushed to achieve the same functionality of the charger being completely disconnected from the mains network); and
deactivating said switch to disconnect the device to be charged from said meter device when the electric current read by the current reader is lower than said current threshold and the charging phase is finished (¶[2-3, 6, esp. 25]: Upon detecting that charging current approximates to zero, low-voltage control detection circuit immediately sends a cut-off control signal which results in the electric switch to cut off. This saves electrical energy and prolongs the service of the charging device).
Regarding claim 14, Dai discloses the method according claim 11, further comprising restarting a timer system present in the current meter device as a function of the electric current read (¶[9-10, esp. 29]: restart button pushed when charging protection is powered off and charging current value is zero), whenever said electric current read exceeds a predefined threshold value for a predetermined time interval (¶[31, 36]: when the charging current is lower than the charging cut-off current threshold, the photoelectric coupler Q2 is controlled to turn off after a period of delay. Before the current is lower than the charging cut-off current threshold, charging is maintained).
Regarding claim 15, Dai discloses the method according to claim 11, further comprising at least one of the following steps:
powering the device to be charged directly through the mains without simultaneously powering the rechargeable battery connected to the device to be charged (alternative claim language used);
varying the value of the charging of the rechargeable battery connected to the device to be charged between a maximum charge value and a minimum discharge value in a cyclical and automatic manner (alternative claim language used);
setting a percentage current threshold at which to disconnect the device to be charged even if the device to be charged is turned off (alternative claim language used);
measuring the value of the temperature of the rechargeable battery connected to the device to be charged and adapting the value of the charging current as a function of said temperature value (alternative claim language used); and
disabling the ultra-fast charging function of the device to be charged during the charging step (¶[15, 36]: constant current charging is turned off after a period of delay to provide overcharge protection).
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai in view of Sawyers, and further in view of Kanai (US 20150340883 A1), as evidenced by
Specialty Product Technologies (“Electro-Mechanical Timers – Minimal Electrical Component, Long Lasting Fixed Timing Controls” < https://www.specialtyproducttechnologies.com/eagle-signal/products/electro-mechanical-timers#:~:text=Electro%2Dmechanical%20timers%20function%20as,timer%20is%20characteristically%20long%2Dlived. > Retrieved from online 4/15/2026), hereinafter referred to as Product Tech.
Regarding claim 7, Dai discloses the meter device according to claim 6.
Dai does not disclose wherein the timer system comprises two analog timers consisting of two capacitors.
Kanai discloses the meter device according to claim 6, wherein the timer system comprises one analog timer consisting of one capacitor (¶[38] and Fig. 4: analog timer includes capacitor C2).
Dai and Kanai both disclose the charging of batteries. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the analog timer of Kanai into the system of Dai for a long lasting and low cost timing system, as evidenced by Product Tech.
Dai and Kanai do not explicitly disclose a second analog timer. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to include a second analog timer for redundancy, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8 (CA7 1977).
Regarding claim 8, Dai discloses the meter device according to claim 6, wherein the meter device consists of a capacitor (Figs. 2-3 and 5-6: capacitor C1) and a resistive network, in particular a first resistor and a second resistor (R1 and R2).
Dai does not explicitly disclose wherein the timer system consists only of a capacitor and a resistive network, in particular a first resistor and a second resistor.
Kanai discloses a timer system consisting only of a capacitor (Fig. 4 and ¶[38]: capacitor C1) and a resistive network, in particular a first resistor and a second resistor(R1 and R2).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the timer system of Kanai into Dai for the simple and low cost circuit design.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai in view of Sawyers, and further in view of Schwartz (US 20190140464 A1).
Regarding claim 13, Dai discloses the method according to claim 11.
Dai does not explicitly disclose the method further comprising:
maintaining the output of a timer system present in the current meter device as if the current read is below the current threshold if one or more current pulses absorbed by the device to be charged exceed said current threshold when said device to be charged has reached the end of charging.
Schwartz discloses absorbing pulses to prevent false triggering (¶[11]: snubber circuit prevents false triggering).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the snubber circuit of Schwartz into the system of Dai so that charging is not stopped before the battery of the device has been completely charged.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 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 and if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Regarding claim 12, closest prior art Dai discloses the method according to claim 11, wherein activating the switch of the meter device occurs by actuating a pressure element (¶[9-10, esp. 29]: restart button AN is pushed, when charging protection is powered off, to restart the charging function).
Prior art of record as considered and understood by the examiner does not teach or fairly suggest:
the method further comprises:
a. keeping the switch activated for a predetermined time, in particular for a time between 1 and 5 minutes, from the actuation of the pressure element regardless of the value of the current read (alternative language used); and/or
b. restoring the charging state of the device to be charged if the power supply of the meter device is stopped and restored, storing the state of the switch for a predetermined time, in particular for a time between 1 and 5 minutes
taken in combination with the other limitations of claim 12.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
HP Community (“Can I use the laptop without a battery?” < https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebooks-Archive-Read-Only/Can-I-use-the-laptop-without-the-battery/td-p/1208391 > Posted online 1/19/2012)
Premium Electric (“Understanding Your Circuit Breaker Panel” < https://www.premium-electric.ca/blog/circuit-breaker-panel/ > Posted online 11/18/2022)
Apple (“Is it safe to charge iPhone while it is powered off?” Stack Exchange < https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/327727/is-it-safe-to-charge-iphone-while-it-is-powered-off > Posted online 7/13/2018)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ryu-Sung Peter Weinmann whose telephone number is (703)756-5964. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm ET.
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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.
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/Ryu-Sung P. Weinmann/Examiner, Art Unit 2859 April 15, 2026
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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