DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AA 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 .
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 1-4, 8-11 and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi et al. (US 9,197,085), hereinafter Yamaguchi, in view of Cho et al. (US 2019/0379212), hereinafter Cho.
As to claims 1, 8 and 15, Yamaguchi discloses in figures 1-5, an apparatus comprising:
a battery module [see figure 1, battery module (70); see Col. 3, line 22];
a switching circuit [charging circuit 101 includes switching element, Col. 4, lies 13-15] configured to convert an input voltage into system voltage for charging the battery module [the charging circuit (101) receives input voltage via charge port (110) from power supply (210) and transmits the charging voltage to battery (70); see Col. 4, lines 11-21];
wherein the input voltage [the input voltage of the power supply (210) is received at an input port of a battery charger [input port (110) of battery charger (101) ; See Col. 3, lines 65-68; Col. 4, lines 3-4] ; and a controller [controller (300) determines the input voltage , see Col. 7, lines 16-19] configured to: measure the input voltage; in response to the input voltage being less than a reference voltage [less than the reference voltage , select an input voltage control loop [the controller measures input voltage and if it is less than the minimum value, the controller enters charging control mode by controlling the Charging current]; operate the switching circuit [controlling the switching circuit (101)] in accordance with the selected input voltage control loop to regulate a voltage level of the input voltage to a predetermined voltage level [regulating the charging voltage to be above the Vmin].
Yamaguchi does not disclose explicitly, in response to a lapse of a predetermined amount of time, send a signal to a discharge circuit to discharge the input voltage.
Cho discloses in figure 4, in response to a lapse of a predetermined amount of time [see Steps S410—S440], send a signal to a discharge circuit to discharge the input voltage. [according to Cho the charging time is based on battery charge amount and start charging after the predetermined time or set time is passed; see steps S430-S440; noted also that battery being charged by the power source is the same as the power source discharged power].
` It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to set charging start time in Yamaguchi’s apparatus based on battery charge amount as taught by Cho in order to efficiently performing repeated battery charge and discharge
As to claims 2 and 9, Yamaguchi discloses in figure 1, wherein operating the input voltage control loop comprises reducing a charge current of the battery charger [current reduction control is disclosed; see Col. 6, lines 35-37].
As to claims 3. 10 and 17, Yamaguchi discloses in figure 1, wherein operating the input voltage control loop comprises deactivating a switching circuit of the battery charger [[the charging circuit is terminated or stop (off) providing charging when the Voltage is falls below the threshold; see Abstract and Col. 9, lines 24-26] .
As to claims 4, 11, and 18, Yamaguchi discloses in figure 1, wherein the input voltage is less than the reference voltage in response to the input port being disconnected from a power source [when the power source is disconnected the input voltage is less than the reference voltage]..
As to claim 16, Yamaguchi discloses in figure 1, wherein a load [the load PCU and the motor are electrically connected to the battery] is connected to the battery module, and the controller is configured to reduce a charge current from the input port to the battery module to operate the input voltage control loop [see Col 6, lines , 35-37].
Claims 7, 14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi in view of Cho as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Kazuno (US 2021/0057927).
As to claims 7, 14 and 20, neither Yamaguchi nor Cho. Discloses, wherein the input port is a universal serial bus (USB) port.
Kazuno discloses in figure 1, wherein the input port [input port /power feeding port (80) is USB port]is a universal serial bus (USB) port [see ¶0045].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use USB interface in Yamaguchi’s apparatus as taught by Kazuno in order to provide faster charging for the battery.
The method merely recites the steps of using the elements of the device as disclosed above. Thus, the method steps will be met during the normal operation of the apparatus described above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6, 12-13 and 19 are 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.
Claim 5 recites, inter alia, wherein: the input voltage is a receptacle voltage of the battery charger in response to the input port being disconnected from the power source; and the input voltage being regulated at the predetermined voltage level causes a voltage difference, between a plug voltage of the power source and the receptacle voltage of a power sink, to be regulated below an arc voltage caused by the disconnection of the input port from the power source. The above limitation is not disclosed, taught, or suggested in the art of record, nor would it have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the art of record to meet the above limitation.
Claim 6 recites, inter alia, wherein the predetermined amount of time is based on an arcing prevention distance between the battery charger and a power source. The above limitation is not disclosed, taught, or suggested in the art of record, nor would it have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the art of record to meet the above limitation.
. Claim 12 recites, inter alia, wherein: the input voltage is a receptacle voltage of the battery charger in response to the input port being disconnected from the power source; and the input voltage being regulated at the predetermined voltage level causes a voltage difference, between a plug voltage of the power source and the receptacle voltage of a power sink, to be regulated below an arc voltage caused by the disconnection of the input port from the power source. The above limitation is not disclosed, taught, or suggested in the art of record, nor would it have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the art of record to meet the above limitation
Claim 13 recites, inter alia, wherein the predetermined amount of time is based on an arcing prevention distance between the battery charger and a power source. The above limitation is not disclosed, taught, or suggested in the art of record, nor would it have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the art of record to meet the above limitation.
Claim 19 recites, inter alia, wherein: the input voltage is a receptacle voltage in response to the input port being disconnected from the power source; and the input voltage being regulated at the predetermined voltage level causes a voltage difference, between a plug voltage of the power source and the receptacle voltage of a power sink, to be regulated below an arcing voltage caused by the disconnection of the input port from the power source. The above limitation is not disclosed, taught, or suggested in the art of record, nor would it have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the art of record to meet the above limitation.
Conclusion
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/SAMUEL BERHANU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859