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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 12/12/2022. Claims 1-20 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Response to arguments
Applicant amended claims 1, 3-6, 8, 10-13, 15, and 17-20 which changes the scope of the claims and as such a new grounds of rejection is issued.
In regards to the rejection of Claim(s) 1-20 Applicant asserts:
As best understood, Itagaki ….does not disclose using a register as any part of the abnormality detection logic.
And further asserts:
Therefore, Nibir and Itagaki, individually and in combination, do not disclose or suggest "detecting whether the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode based on a value stored in a register that indicates a current operation mode of the battery charger" recited in claim 1.
In response:
Examiner does not rely on Itagaki but the combined teachings of Nibir, Itagaki and Mizushima, to teach the claim language of claims 1-20 as specified below.
In regards to applicants remaining remarks:
Applicant remarks have been considered but are moot base on new grounds of rejection.
Examiners notes on claim interpretation.
In regards to claim language “forced battery mode” Based on the specification ([0018]), Examiner will interpret a “forced battery mode” as a mode where the battery is configured to supply power to a load.
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 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nibir (US 20200295588) in view of Itagaki (US 20140042828) evident by Mizushima (US 20070253251).
As to claim 1, Nibir discloses a method for operating a battery charger (Fig. 4), the method comprising: switching an operation mode of the battery charger to a forced battery mode ([0035] FIG. 4-5 shows charger 102 operating in a normal battery only mode in block 502. …the normal battery only mode (i.e. “forced battery mode”) can include normal mode module 422 turning off FETs Q1 402, Q2 403 Q4 407, and Q5 408, turning off the bypass FETs Q6 416 and Q7 418, and turning on the FETs Q3 414 and Q8 426 to … provide the voltage from battery 104 to the output node 410).
Nibir does not disclose/teach detecting whether the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode based on a value stored in a register that indicates a current operation mode of the battery charger.
However Nibir teaches switching from a forced battery mode to another mode through modifying a register ([0037] If EC 112 determines that the threshold discharge level has been reached, in block 506, EC 112 can request that charger 102 transition to reverse boost mode from a normal battery only mode by signaling that reverse boost is enabled. EC 112 can do this by writing certain values to registers via SMBus, for example one or more bits of one or more control registers of charger 102).
Since Nibir teaches switching modes through a register, then it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Nibir to switch to the forced battery mode by modifying a register in the battery charger in order to enable fast processing and control of system behavior.
Additionally, confirming or not confirming a register setting is old and well known in the art as evident by Mizushima ([0081] The initialization register is read to confirm the completion of the setting (6040)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Nibir to wherein detecting whether the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode based on a value stored in a register that indicates a current operation mode of the battery charger as it is old and well known method of confirming or not confirming a register setting.
Nibir further does not disclose/teach in response to the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode, determining a switch being controlled by the battery charger is connected to a battery module; and in response to the operation mode failed to switch to the forced battery mode, determining an occurrence of a failure condition of the battery module (Based on BRI in light of the specification (claim 5 and [0020]) which recites “apparatus 100 can encounter various failure conditions associated with battery module 110. For example, battery module 110 can be disconnected from B GATE (or from Vsys)“, Examiner interprets “ a failure condition of the battery module” as battery module being disconnected from the switch being controlled by the battery charger”).
Itagaki teaches in response to the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode, determining a switch being controlled by the battery charger is connected to a battery module (Fig. 4 203 “No” and 208 “No” and [0057]. If the latch relay 30 is normally held in the closed state, a voltage V1 measured by the battery voltage measuring unit 11 and a voltage V2 measured by the charging/discharging voltage measuring unit 12 are equal to each other. As such the method of Itagaki has determined that the latch and the main circuit serving as a charging/discharging path formed between an outside load or a battery charger connected to the electric storage apparatus 1 is connected to the battery); and in response to the operation mode failed to switch to the forced battery mode, determining an occurrence of a failure condition associated with the battery module (Fig. 4 S203 “Is Abnormal discharging recognized? “Yes and [0069] S207 “Is difference predetermined value or more?”, “Yes” to Step 209 “determine malfunction of latch relay”),
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Nibir to wherein in response to the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode, determining a switch being controlled by the battery charger is connected to a battery module; and in response to the operation mode failed to switch to the forced battery mode, determining an occurrence of a failure condition of the battery module in order to enhance the determination accuracy with respect to the switch of the charging/discharging path or the power path and therefore high reliability can be achieved [0036].
As to claim 2, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the method of claim 1 further comprising: detecting an adapter of the battery charger is enabled ([0014] when a power adapter is plugged into port 106, battery charger 102 is configured to charge battery 104); and setting a voltage detection threshold to a minimum system voltage of the battery charger ([0018] of Nibir During this time, charger 102 provides the battery voltage to VSYS/VOUT), wherein switching the operation mode to the forced battery mode is performed in response to setting the voltage detection threshold ([0018] For example, with reference to FIG. 1, charger 102 can be configured to operate in a “battery only” mode …. During this time, charger 102 provides the battery voltage to VSYS/VOUT. As such battery only mode was enabled in response to setting Vsys/Vout).
As to claim 3, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the method of claim 1.
Nibir in view of Itagaki does not disclose/teach wherein switching the battery charger to the forced battery mode comprises modifying a register in the battery charger to switch the operation mode to the forced battery mode.
However Nibir teaches switching from a forced battery mode to another mode through modifying a register ([0037] If EC 112 determines that the threshold discharge level has been reached, in block 506, EC 112 can request that charger 102 transition to reverse boost mode from a normal battery only mode by signaling that reverse boost is enabled. EC 112 can do this by writing certain values to registers via SMBus, for example one or more bits of one or more control registers of charger 102).
Since Nibir teaches switching modes through a register, then it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Nibir to wherein switching the battery charger to the forced battery mode comprises modifying a register in the battery charger to switch the operation mode to the forced battery mode in order to enable fast processing and control of system behavior.
As to claim 4, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the method of claim 3.
Nibir in view of Itagaki does not disclose/teach wherein detecting whether the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode comprises reading the value from the register in the battery charger.
However, Examiner takes official notice that confirming or not confirming a register setting is old and well known in the art as evident by Mizushima ([0081] The initialization register is read to confirm the completion of the setting (6040)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Nibir to wherein detecting whether the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode comprises reading the value from the register in the battery charger as it is old and well known method of confirming or not confirming a register setting.
As to claim 5, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the method of claim 1 wherein the failure condition is at least one of: the switch being controlled by the battery charger being disconnected from the battery module ([0069] of Itagaki, if the difference is the predetermined value or more (step 208), .. The chive determining unit 15 determines the malfunction of the latch relay 30. [0055]-[0056] [0058] of Itagaki a description will be given of the malfunction of the latch relay 30 ... Even in the state in which the latch relay 30 is closed …, the latch relay 30 may be independently operated so as to be possibly opened. The actual open/closed state of the main circuit by the operation of the latch relay 30 is checked based on the measurement of the voltages at upstream side and downstream side of the latch relay 30 in the main circuit. In the case where a sufficiently large difference between the voltages, i.e., a sufficiently large absolute value |V2-V1| is obtained, …., the main circuit is determined to be open and the malfunction of the latch relay 30 is recognized).
As to claim 6, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the method of claim 1, wherein in response to the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode ([0019] FIG. 2 of Nabir provides two graphs illustrating system operation in such a “battery only” mode).
Nibir does not disclose/teach in response to determining the occurrence of the failure condition, setting a voltage detection threshold to a new voltage level; in response to setting the voltage detection threshold, detecting whether the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode; and in response to the battery charger failed to switch to the forced battery mode, determining the switch being controlled by the battery charger is disconnected from the battery module.
Itagaki teaches in response to determining the occurrence of the failure condition ( Fig. 4 S203 “Is Abnormal discharging recognized? “Yes), setting a voltage detection threshold to a new voltage level (Step 207-208 predetermined value); in response to setting the voltage detection threshold, detecting whether the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode (Step 208 “is the difference predetermined value or more?” “ Yes” or “no”); and in response to the battery module failed to switch to the forced battery mode (s208 “Yes”), determining the switch being controlled by the battery charger is disconnected from the battery module ([0069] S207 “Is difference predetermined value or more” “Yes” to Step 209 “determine malfunction of latch relay”. [0055]-[0056] [0058] of Itagaki a description will be given of the malfunction of the latch relay 30 ... Even in the state in which the latch relay 30 is closed …, the latch relay 30 may be independently operated so as to be possibly opened. The actual open/closed state of the main circuit by the operation of the latch relay 30 is checked based on the measurement of the voltages at upstream side and downstream side of the latch relay 30 in the main circuit. In the case where a sufficiently large difference between the voltages, i.e., a sufficiently large absolute value |V2-V1| is obtained, …., the main circuit is determined to be open and the malfunction of the latch relay 30 is recognized).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Nibir to wherein in response to determining the occurrence of the failure condition, setting a voltage detection threshold to a new voltage level; in response to setting the voltage detection threshold, detecting whether the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode; and in response to the battery charger failed to switch to the forced battery mode, determining the switch being controlled by the battery charger is disconnected from the battery module in order to enhance the determination accuracy with respect to the switch of the charging/discharging path or the power path and therefore high reliability can be achieved [0036].
Nibir does not disclose/teach wherein in response to the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode determining the battery module is fully drained.
However it is old and well known to one of ordinary skill in the art to discover dead or fully drained batteries in response to a battery operated electronic device’s failure to power up or operate (i.e successfully switched to the forced battery mode). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Nabir to wherein in response to the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode determining the battery charger is fully drained in order to replace the batteries with fully charged batteries and continue operation.
As to claim 7, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the method of claim 6, wherein the new voltage level ([0086] predetermined value of 0V when V2-V1 is substantially the same) is less than a minimum system voltage of the battery charger (V1 when discharging).
As to claims 8 and 15, Nibir discloses an apparatus and a semiconductor device (charger 102 including IC 402 (Fig. 4) and embedded controller (EC) 112.) comprising:
a battery (Fig. 4, 104) ;
a battery charger configured to charge the battery (Fig. 1 and 4;
an integrated circuit (IC 402) configured to control an operation mode of a battery charger (Fig. 4); and a controller (EC 112) configured to: operate the integrated circuit to switch the operation mode to a forced battery mode and switch an operation mode of the battery charger to a forced battery mode ([0032] in a battery only mode (e.g. as communicated to IC 402 by EC 112), [0035] FIG. 4-5 shows charger 102 operating in a normal battery only mode in block 502. …the normal battery only mode (i.e. “forced battery mode”) can include normal mode module 422 turning off FETs Q1 402, Q2 403 Q4 407, and Q5 408, turning off the bypass FETs Q6 416 and Q7 418, and turning on the FETs Q3 414 and Q8 426 to … provide the voltage from battery 104 to the output node 410);
Nibir does not disclose/teach the controller configured to: detect whether the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode based on a value stored in a register that indicates a current operation mode of the battery charger.
However Nibir teaches switching from a forced battery mode to another mode through modifying a register ([0037] If EC 112 determines that the threshold discharge level has been reached, in block 506, EC 112 can request that charger 102 transition to reverse boost mode from a normal battery only mode by signaling that reverse boost is enabled. EC 112 can do this by writing certain values to registers via SMBus, for example one or more bits of one or more control registers of charger 102).
Since Nibir teaches switching modes through a register, then it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Nibir to switch to the forced battery mode by modifying a register in the battery charger in order to enable fast processing and control of system behavior.
Additionally, confirming or not confirming a register setting is old and well known in the art as evident by Mizushima ([0081] The initialization register is read to confirm the completion of the setting (6040)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Nibir to wherein detecting whether the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode based on a value stored in a register that indicates a current operation mode of the battery charger as it is old and well known method of confirming or not confirming a register setting.
Nibir further does not disclose/teach in response to the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode, determine a switch being controlled by the battery charger is connected to a battery; and in response to the operation mode failed to switch to the forced battery mode, determine an occurrence of a failure condition of the battery module. (Based on BRI in light of the specification (claim 5 and [0020]) which recites “apparatus 100 can encounter various failure conditions associated with battery module 110. For example, battery module 110 can be disconnected from B GATE (or from Vsys)“, Examiner interprets “ a failure condition of the battery module” as battery module being disconnected from the switch being controlled by the battery charger”).
Itagaki teaches in response to the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode, determine a switch being controlled by the battery charger is connected to a battery (Fig. 4 203 “No” and 208 “No” and [0057]. If the latch relay 30 is normally held in the closed state, a voltage V1 measured by the battery voltage measuring unit 11 and a voltage V2 measured by the charging/discharging voltage measuring unit 12 are equal to each other. As such the method of Nibir has determined that the latch and the main circuit serving as a charging/discharging path formed between an outside load or a battery charger connected to the electric storage apparatus 1 is connected to the battery); and in response to the operation mode failed to switch to the forced battery mode, determining an occurrence of a failure condition associated with the battery module ( Fig. 4 S203 “Is Abnormal discharging recognized? “Yes and [0069] S207 “Is difference predetermined value or more?”, “Yes” to Step 209 “determine malfunction of latch relay”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the controller of Nibir to be configured to: in response to the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode, determine a switch being controlled by the battery charger is connected to a battery; and in response to the operation mode failed to switch to the forced battery mode, determine an occurrence of a failure condition of the battery module in order to enhance the determination accuracy with respect to the switch of the charging/discharging path or the power path and therefore high reliability can be achieved [0036].
As to claims 9 and 16, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the semiconductor device of claim 8 and the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to: detect an adapter of the battery charger is enabled ([0014] when a power adapter is plugged into port 106, battery charger 102 is configured to charge battery 104); and set a voltage detection threshold to a minimum system voltage of the battery charger ([0018] of Nibir During this time, charger 102 provides the battery voltage to VSYS/VOUT), wherein operate the integrated circuit to switch the operation mode to the forced battery mode is performed in response to setting the voltage detection threshold ([0018] For example, with reference to FIG. 1, charger 102 can be configured to operate in a “battery only” mode …. During this time, charger 102 provides the battery voltage to VSYS/VOUT. As such battery only mode was enabled in response to setting Vsys/Vout).
As to claims 10 and 17, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the semiconductor device of claim 8 and the apparatus of claim 15.
Nibir in view of Itagaki does not disclose/teach wherein the controller is configured to modify a register in the integrated circuit to switch the operation mode to the forced battery mode.
However Nibir teaches switching from a forced battery mode to another mode through modifying a register ([0037] If EC 112 determines that the threshold discharge level has been reached, in block 506, EC 112 can request that charger 102 transition to reverse boost mode from a normal battery only mode by signaling that reverse boost is enabled. EC 112 can do this by writing certain values to registers via SMBus, for example one or more bits of one or more control registers of charger 102).
Since Nibir teaches switching modes through a register, then it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the controller of Nibir to be configured to modify a register in the integrated circuit to switch the operation mode to the forced battery mode in order to enable fast processing and control of system behavior.
As to claims 11 and 18, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the semiconductor device of claim 8 and the apparatus of claim 15.
Nibir in view of Itagaki does not disclose/teach wherein the controller is configured to read the value from the register in the integrated circuit to detect whether the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode.
However Examiner takes official notice that confirming or not confirming a register setting is old and well known in the art as evident by Mizushima ([0081] The initialization register is read to confirm the completion of the setting (6040)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the controller of Nibir to be configured to wherein detecting whether the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode comprises reading the value from the register in the battery charger as it is old and well known method of confirming or not confirming a register setting.
As to claims 12 and 19, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the semiconductor device of claim 8 and the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the failure condition is at least one of: the switch being controlled by battery charger being disconnected from the battery ( [0069] of Itagaki, if the difference is the predetermined value or more (step 208), .. The chive determining unit 15 determines the malfunction of the latch relay 30. [0055]-[0056] [0058] of Itagaki a description will be given of the malfunction of the latch relay 30 ... Even in the state in which the latch relay 30 is closed …, the latch relay 30 may be independently operated so as to be possibly opened. The actual open/closed state of the main circuit by the operation of the latch relay 30 is checked based on the measurement of the voltages at upstream side and downstream side of the latch relay 30 in the main circuit. In the case where a sufficiently large difference between the voltages, i.e., a sufficiently large absolute value |V2-V1| is obtained, …., the main circuit is determined to be open and the malfunction of the latch relay 30 is recognized); and the battery module being fully drained.
As to claims 13 and 20, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the semiconductor device of claim 8 and the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the controller is further configured to: in response to the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode([0019] FIG. 2 of Nabir provides two graphs illustrating system operation in such a “battery only” mode),
Nibir does not disclose/teach in response to determining the occurrence of the failure condition, set a voltage detection threshold to a new voltage level; in response to setting the voltage detection threshold, detect whether the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode; and in response to the operation mode failed to switch to the forced battery mode, determine the switch being controlled by battery charger is disconnected from the battery module.
Itagaki teaches in response to determining the occurrence of a failure condition ( Fig. 4 S203 “Is Abnormal discharging recognized? “Yes), setting a voltage detection threshold to a new voltage level (Step 207-208 predetermined value) ; in response to setting the voltage detection threshold, detecting whether the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode (Step 208 “is the difference predetermined value or more?” “ Yes” or “no”); and in response to the battery charger failed to switch to the forced battery mode (s208 “Yes”), determining the main circuit is disconnected from the battery ([0069] S207 “Is difference predetermined value or more” “Yes” to Step 209 “determine malfunction of latch relay”. [0055]-[0056] [0058] of Itagaki a description will be given of the malfunction of the latch relay 30 ... Even in the state in which the latch relay 30 is closed …, the latch relay 30 may be independently operated so as to be possibly opened. The actual open/closed state of the main circuit by the operation of the latch relay 30 is checked based on the measurement of the voltages at upstream side and downstream side of the latch relay 30 in the main circuit. In the case where a sufficiently large difference between the voltages, i.e., a sufficiently large absolute value |V2-V1| is obtained, …., the main circuit is determined to be open and the malfunction of the latch relay 30 is recognized)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the controller of Nibir to in response to determining the occurrence of the failure condition, set a voltage detection threshold to a new voltage level; in response to setting the voltage detection threshold, detect whether the operation mode successfully switched to the forced battery mode or failed to switch to the forced battery mode; and in response to the operation mode failed to switch to the forced battery mode, determine the switch being controlled by battery charger is disconnected from the battery module in order to enhance the determination accuracy with respect to the switch of the charging/discharging path or the power path and therefore high reliability can be achieved [0036].
Nibir does not disclose/teach wherein the controller is further configured to: in response to the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode determining the battery module is fully drained.
However it is old and well known to one of ordinary skill in the art to discover dead or fully drained batteries in response to a battery operated electronic device’s failure to power up or operate (i.e successfully switched to the forced battery mode). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Nabir to wherein in response to the battery charger successfully switched to the forced battery mode determining the battery module is fully drained in order to replace the batteries with fully charged batteries and continue operation.
As to claim 14, Nibir in view of Itagaki teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13, wherein the new voltage level ([0086] predetermined value of 0V when V2-V1 is substantially the same) is less than a minimum system voltage of the battery charger (V1 when discharging).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TYNESE V MCDANIEL whose telephone number is (313)446-6579. The examiner can normally be reached on M to F, 9am to 530pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Taelor Kim can be reached at 571-270-7166. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TYNESE V MCDANIEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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