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 9/18/2023 and 10/18/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the references given in the IDS are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The term “charging cut-off capacity” is objected for its unclear combination of the terms cut-off and capacity. Cut-off is normally understood as an artificially set limit for the purpose of control whereas capacity refers to an inherent physical property of how much of a quantity an entity can contain.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-2, 4-5, 7-8, and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claims 1-2, 5, 7-8, and 11, the term “charging cut-off capacity” is objected for its unclear combination of the terms cut-off and capacity. Cut-off is normally understood as an artificially set limit for the purpose of control whereas capacity refers to an inherent physical property of how much of a quantity an entity can contain.
Claim 4 recites "battery consistency or battery state of charge errors" without using articles (a/an/the) before the term(s) and without clarity on whether it is one or two terms.
Claim 7 recites “a prediction value” instead of “the prediction value”; recites “an electricity consumption prediction value” instead of “the electricity consumption prediction value”; recites “an electricity consumption lower limit value” instead of “the electricity consumption lower limit value”; and recites “an electricity lower limit threshold value” instead of “the electricity lower limit threshold value.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 5-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Duan et al. (US 20210218073 A1), hereinafter referred to as Duan.
Regarding independent claim 1, Duan discloses a method for acquiring a charging cut-off capacity (abstract: an ending state of charge) being applied to a cloud server (Fig. 1: cloud 146), wherein the cloud server is communicatively connected to a charging apparatus (Fig. 1: charger 103) which is communicatively connected to a new energy vehicle (Fig. 1 and ¶[35]: telecommunication between vehicle 102 and external cloud server 146 through a wireless connection 148), the method comprising:
receiving a charging request from the charging apparatus for a power battery of the new energy vehicle (¶[35, 40]: cloud server 146 processing data to determine charge settings, battery electronic control module 160 controlling cell charging);
invoking battery history data of the new energy vehicle according to the charging request, wherein the battery history data is obtained by the cloud server acquiring battery usage data of the new energy vehicle and processing the battery usage data (¶[44]: traction battery data is received by cloud server 146 from vehicle 102);
calculating the charging cut-off capacity of the power battery charged by the charging apparatus according to the battery history data (¶[26, 32, especially 44] and Fig. 3: charger 103 is configured to access cloud server 146 for a determined target SOC less than a full charge SOC); and
sending the charging cut-off capacity to the charging apparatus so that the charging apparatus charges the power battery of the new energy vehicle and detects whether a state of charge (SOC) of the power battery of the new energy vehicle reaches the charging cut-off capacity (¶[47]: target SOC is used to by vehicle controllers to charge battery to target).
Regarding claim 2, Duan discloses the acquiring method according to claim 1, wherein calculating a charging cut-off capacity of the power battery charged by the charging apparatus according to the battery history data comprises:
determining an upper limit value for the charging capacity according to the battery history data (Fig. 3 and ¶[51]: At step 350, and SOC minimum is calculated based on predicted travel and predicted temperature);
determining a prediction value for the charging cut-off capacity according to the battery history data (Fig. 3 and ¶[51]); and
determining the charging cut-off capacity to be a smaller one of the upper limit value for the charging capacity and the prediction value for the charging cut-off capacity (Fig. 3 and ¶[51]: At step 350, and SOC minimum is chosen from a selection of ranges less than 100% SOC).
Regarding claim 5, Duan discloses the acquiring method according to claim 2, wherein determining a prediction value for the charging cut-off capacity according to the battery history data comprises:
determining an electricity consumption prediction value, an electricity consumption lower limit value and an electricity lower limit threshold value after the power battery is charged according to the battery history data (¶[29, 32, 51]: vehicle and charge data is stored along with planned trip data used for determining anticipated energy consumption of the battery); and
determining the prediction value for the charging cut-off capacity according to the electricity consumption prediction value, the electricity consumption lower limit value and the electricity lower limit threshold value after the power battery is charged (¶[51]).
Regarding claim 6, Duan discloses the acquiring method according to claim 5, wherein determining an electricity consumption prediction value, an electricity consumption lower limit value and an electricity lower limit threshold value after the power battery is charged according to the battery history data comprises:
determining the electricity consumption prediction value and the electricity lower limit threshold value according to the battery history data and the environment data of the power battery use environment (¶[23, 32]: determining ending SOC is determined from anticipated temperatures, map and routing data, and charging history and ).
Regarding claim 7, Duan discloses the acquiring method according to claim 6, wherein determining the prediction value for the charging cut-off capacity according to the electricity consumption prediction value, the electricity consumption lower limit value and the electricity lower limit threshold value after the power battery is charged applies a calculation formula as follows:
SOCpre = k1SOCwindow + SOCIower + k2SOCbuffer
where SOCpre represents a prediction value for the charging cut-off capacity; SOCwindow represents an electricity consumption prediction value; SOClower represents an electricity consumption lower limit value; SOCbuffer represents an electricity lower limit threshold value; k1 represents a low-temperature coefficient for the electricity consumption prediction value; and k2 represents a low-temperature coefficient for the electricity lower limit threshold value.
(Fig. 3 and ¶[51-57]: Steps 340-390 calculate an SOC for the ending of the charge event SOCcharge with equation: SOCcharge = SOCend_opt + ΔSOC, which uses charging history, planned battery consumption, and optimization for battery use and battery health.
The optimized ending state of charge SOCend_opt, is calculated with J = v1HOLefct(SOCend) + v2Effefct(SOCend) , where the highest J value modifies SOCend_opt to be the optimum value based on health of life effects on the battery v1HOLefct(SOCend) and battery working efficiency v2Effefct(SOCend). The examiner interprets if the two terms are evaluated independently from each other to determine SOCend_opt , the examiner interprets v1HOLefct(SOCend) and v2Effefct(SOCend) in Duan as respectively corresponding to k1SOCwindow and k2SOCbuffe in the application, wherein SOCmin in Duan (corresponding to SOClower in the application) is incorporated into the terms v1HOLefct(SOCend) and v2Effefct(SOCend) from step 380 of ¶[56], and that the range of SOC to be consumed ΔSOC in Duan added in the end to the equation SOCcharge = SOCend_opt + ΔSOC, in step 390.
Regarding independent claim 8, Duan discloses a method for setting a charging cut-off capacity (abstract: an ending state of charge) applied to a charging apparatus (Fig. 1: charger 103), wherein the charging apparatus is communicatively connected to a cloud server, and the charging apparatus is electrically connected to a new energy vehicle (Fig. 1 and ¶[35]: telecommunication between vehicle 102 and external cloud server 146 through a wireless connection 148), the method comprising:
sending a charging request for a power battery of the new energy vehicle to the cloud server, so that the cloud server obtains battery history data of the new energy vehicle according to the charging request, wherein the battery history data is obtained by the cloud server acquiring battery usage data of the new energy vehicle and processing the battery usage data (¶[35, 40]: cloud server 146 processes data to determine charge settings, and battery electronic control module 160 controls cell charging);
receiving a charging cut-off capacity of the power battery sent by the cloud server, wherein the charging cut-off capacity is calculated by the cloud server according to the battery history data (¶[35, 40]: cloud server 146 processes data to determine charge settings, and battery electronic control module 160 controls cell charging); and
charging the power battery of the new energy vehicle and detecting whether a state of charge of the power battery of the new energy vehicle reaches the charging cut-off capacity (¶[47]: target SOC is used to by vehicle controllers to charge battery to target).
Regarding independent claim 9, Duan discloses a cloud server (Fig. 1: 146), comprising:
at least one processor, and a storage communicatively coupled to the at least one processor (¶[35] the external cloud server includes computers configured to process and, as implied, store data);
wherein the storage stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions being executable by the at least one processor to perform the method of claim 1 (See rejection for claim 1).
Regarding independent claim 10, Duan discloses a charging apparatus (Fig. 1: 103), comprising:
at least one processor, and a storage communicatively coupled to the at least one processor (¶[29] computing platform 104 controls charger 103 and comprises a computer-readable media 110 that is read or accessed by a processor 106);
wherein the storage stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions being executable by the at least one processor to perform the method of claims 8 (See rejection for claim 8).
Regarding independent claim 11, Duan discloses a charging management system (abstract and Fig. 1), comprising:
the cloud server of claim 9 configured for calculating and acquiring a charging cut-off capacity of the power battery (See rejection for claim 9); and
the charging apparatus of claim 10, which is communicatively connected to the cloud server and electrically connected to the new energy vehicle, configured for charging the power battery of the new energy vehicle according to the charging cut-off capacity calculated by the cloud server and detecting whether a state of charge (SOC) of the power battery of the new energy vehicle reaches the charging cut-off capacity (See rejection for claim 10).
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(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan in view of Ren et al. (CN 110221222 A, published 2019-09-10).
Regarding claim 3, Duan discloses the acquiring method according to claim 2.
Duan does not disclose wherein determining an upper limit value for the charging capacity according to the battery history data comprises:
determining a battery safety failure level of the power battery based on the battery history data; and
determining the upper limit value for the charging capacity of the power battery charged by the charging apparatus according to the battery safety failure level.
Ren discloses determining a battery safety failure level (abstract: real-time battery state of health) of the power battery based on the battery history data; and
determining the upper limit value for the charging capacity of the power battery charged by the charging apparatus according to the battery safety failure level (abstract: cut-off voltage prediction model relates battery health states to safe cut-off voltages).
Duan and Ren both measure state of health as it relates to charging batteries (Duan - ¶[52] ; Ren - abstract). 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 upper limit cutoff derived from battery state of health in Ren into the system of Duan to optimize battery use and extend battery life.
Regarding claim 4, Duan in view of Ren discloses the acquiring method according to claim 3, wherein determining an upper limit value for the charging capacity of the power battery charged by the charging apparatus according to the battery safety failure level comprises:
determining battery consistency or battery state of charge errors for the power battery of the new energy vehicle when the battery safety failure level is no safety risk (Ren - abstract: real-time battery health state acquired when battery is not at risk of failure. NOTE: battery safety failure level at no safety risk does not preclude any time that the battery is safe from being destroyed. In Duan or Ren, the battery is never destroyed.);
judging whether the power battery satisfies a fully charged condition according to the battery consistency or the battery state of charge errors (Duan - ¶[49]: full charge condition is taken into account when calculating target battery charge);
if so, determining that the upper limit value for the charging capacity is a first upper limit value; and
if not, determining that the upper limit value for the charging capacity is a second upper limit value, wherein the second upper limit value is less than the first upper limit value (Duan - ¶[49]: At step 350, and SOC minimum is chosen from a selection of ranges less than 100% SOC).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Onnerud et al. (US 20100121511 A1) discloses state of health as a percentage of the ratio of current fully charged SOC to design SOC (¶[51].
The State Intellectual Property Office of People’s Republic of China published 2021-07-13 (English translation)
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/Ryu-Sung P. Weinmann/Examiner, Art Unit 2859
September 30, 2025
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859