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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action has been issued in response to the amendment filed on January 20, 2026.
Claims 1-16 are pending.
Applicant’s arguments have been carefully and respectfully considered. Rejections have been maintained where arguments were not persuasive. Also, new rejections based on the amended claims have been set forth. Accordingly, claims 1-16 are rejected, and this action is made FINAL, as necessitated by amendment.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant argues Kusumi fails to disclose or suggest "a controller configured to control an operation of the voltage switching circuit unit based on a charger supply voltage or an available voltage according to charger specifications, which is determined by a charger connected to the vehicle, a battery state of charge and the current battery voltage detected by the voltage sensor when a battery of the vehicle is charged".
Kusumi (US 2019/0255996) discloses a voltage sensor (500) (Fig.1) for detecting a current battery voltage, which is a voltage of the battery pack (10) including the first group module (11) and the second group module (12) (Par.64) when a battery of the vehicle (1) is charged (Par.64 and 80).
Newly cited prior art Krieg et al. (US 2020/0055412) discloses the amended limitations: a controller (Par.68) configured to control operation of a voltage switching circuit unit (S1-S5) (Fig.3) based on a charger supply voltage (Par.84), a state of charge of a battery pack (100) (Par.88-89); and the current battery voltage, detected by a voltage sensor (Par.82-84).
The rejection of claim 1 is based on the combination of Kusumi in view of Krieg as seen in the office action below.
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 1-16 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 1, Line 14; and Claim 8, Line 11 recite the limitation “a battery state of charge”.
Claim 1, Line 3; and Claim 8, Line 2 recite the limitation “a battery pack”.
Claim 1, Line 4; and Claim 8, Line 4 recite the limitation “battery modules”.
It is unclear to which battery is the battery state of charge recited in Claim 1, Line 14; and Claim 8, Line 11 is referring to. Is it the battery pack as a whole or is it a battery module comprised in the battery pack?
For purpose of examination the limitation of Claim 1, Line 14; and Claim 8, Line 11 is interpreted as reciting: a state of charge of the battery pack.
Claims 2-7 and 9-16 are rejected under 112(b) as they inherit the deficiencies of Claims 1 and 8 as disclosed above.
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, 8-9 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusumi (US 2019/0255996) in view of Krieg et al. (US 2020/0055412).
Claim 1: Kusumi teaches a battery system (10) of a vehicle (1) (Fig.1), the battery system (10) comprising:
a battery pack (10) comprising a first group module (12) and a second group module (11) each including and connecting a plurality of battery modules in series (Par.49) (Fig.1);
a voltage sensor (500) for detecting a current battery voltage, which is a voltage of the battery pack (10) including the first group module (11) and the second group module (12) (Par.64);
a voltage switching circuit unit (R1-R3) disposed between the first group module (12) and the second group module (11) to selectively switch between a series connection and a parallel connection of the first group module (12) and the second group module (11) (Par.53-54); and
a controller (100) configured to control an operation of the voltage switching circuit unit (R1-R3) based on a charger supply voltage or an available voltage according to charger specifications, which is determined by a charger (300) connected to the vehicle (1) (Par.71), and
the current battery voltage detected by the voltage sensor (500) when a battery of the vehicle (1) is charged (Par.64 and 80).
Kusumi does not explicitly teach the controller configured to control an operation of the voltage switching circuit unit based on a state of charge of the battery pack and the current battery voltage detected by the voltage sensor.
Krieg teaches a battery system (Fig.3) of a vehicle (Fig.3), the battery system comprising:
a controller (Par.68) configured to control operation of a voltage switching circuit unit (S1-S5) based on a state of charge of a battery pack (100) (Par.88-89);
and the current battery voltage, which is a voltage of the battery pack (100) (Par.82-84).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Krieg in the system of Kusumi to have had controlled the configuration in which the battery pack is being charged based on the charging voltage of the battery pack (Par.84); and have had terminated the charging process once a desired state of charge is reached (Par.89) thereby preventing battery damage by avoiding over-voltage and/or over-charging.
Claim 2: Kusumi in view of Krieg teach the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Kusumi wherein the voltage switching circuit unit (R1-R3) includes:
a first switch (R3) provided between a negative electrode of a battery module connected to a first end of the first group module (12) and a positive electrode of a battery module connected to a first end of the second group module (11) (Fig.1) (Par.51);
a second switch (R1) provided between a positive electrode of a battery module connected to a second end of the first group module (12) and the positive electrode of the battery module connected to the first end of the second group module (11) (Fig.1); and
a third switch (R2) provided between the negative electrode of the battery module connected to the first end of the first group module (12) and a negative electrode of a battery module connected to a second end of the second group module (11) (Fg.1).
Claim 3: Kusumi in view of Krieg teach the limitations of claim 2 as disclosed above. Kusumi teaches a power relay assembly (30) configured to electrically connect or disconnect the battery pack (10) including the first group module (12) and the second group module (11) to or from an external device (300) (Fig.1), wherein the power relay assembly (30) is provided on a circuit connected to the positive electrode of the battery module connected to the second end of the first group module (12) and the negative electrode of the battery module connected to the second end of the second group module (11) (Par.62).
Claim 4: Kusumi in view of Krieg teach the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Kusumi teaches wherein the controller (100) is configured to: compare the charger supply voltage with the current battery voltage while the charger (300) is connected to the vehicle (1) for battery charging (Fig.2, S130) (Par.80); and
control an operation of the voltage switching circuit unit (R1-R3) so that a circuit connection state between the first group module (12) and the second group module (11) is switched to a parallel connection state (Par.81), and
then perform a control operation for battery charging when the charger supply voltage is less than or equal to the current battery voltage (Fig.2, S140) (Par.81).
Claim 8: Kusumi teaches a method of controlling, during charging, a battery system (Fig.1) of a vehicle (1) including a battery pack (10) comprising a first group module (12) and a second group module (11) each including and connecting a plurality of battery modules in series (Par.49), a voltage switching circuit unit (R1-R3, 20 and 30) configured between the first group module (12) and the second group module (11) to switch and vary a circuit connection state between the first group module (12) and the second group module (11) between a series connection state and a parallel connection state (Par.53-54), the method comprising:
receiving, by a controller (100), a charger supply voltage (Fig.2, S120), which is a suppliable voltage according to charger specifications, as information of a charger (300) connected to the vehicle (1) when the charger (300) is connected to the vehicle (1) to charge a battery (Par.79);
receiving, by the controller (100), a current battery voltage (inter-terminal voltage) detected by a voltage sensor (500), wherein the current battery voltage is a voltage of the battery pack including the first group module (12) and the second group module (11), as battery state information (Par.64);
determining, by the controller (100), the circuit connection state during charging from among the series connection state (Fig.2, S150) and the parallel connection state (Fig.2, S140) based on the information of the charger (300) (Par.81-82);
controlling, by the controller (100), an operation of the voltage switching circuit unit (R1-R3, 20 and 30) so that the circuit connection state becomes the determined circuit connection state (Par.81-82); and
performing, by the controller (100), a control operation for battery charging (Fig.2, S190) (Par.86).
Kusumi does not explicitly teach receiving, by the controller, a state of charge of the battery pack and a current battery voltage detected by a voltage sensor, as battery state information; determining, by the controller, the circuit connection state during charging from among the series connection state and the parallel connection state based on the information of the charger and the battery state information.
Krieg teaches receiving, by a controller (Par.68), a state of charge of a battery pack (100) (Par.88) and a current battery voltage detected by a voltage sensor (Par.82), as battery state information; determining, by the controller, the circuit connection state during charging from among a series connection state and a parallel connection state based on information of a charger (Par.81) and the battery state information (Par.81-86 and 89).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Krieg in the system of Kusumi to have had controlled the configuration in which the battery pack is being charged based on a comparison between the maximum charging voltage of the charger and a charging voltage of the battery pack (Par.84); and have had terminated the charging process once a desired state of charge is reached (Par.89) thereby preventing battery damage by avoiding over-voltage and/or over-charging.
Claim 9: Kusumi in view of Krieg teach the limitations of claim 8 as disclosed above. Kusumi teaches wherein the determining includes: comparing, by the controller (100), the charger supply voltage with the current battery voltage while the charger (300) is connected to the vehicle (1) for battery charging (Fig.2, S130) (Par.80); and
determining the circuit connection state during charging to be the parallel connection state when the charger supply voltage is less than the current battery voltage (Fig.2, S140) (Par.81).
Claim 13: Kusumi in view of Krieg teach the limitations of claim 8 as disclosed above. Kusumi teaches wherein the voltage switching circuit unit (R1-R3, 20 and 30) includes:
a first switch (R3) provided between a negative electrode of a battery module connected to a first end of the first group module (12) and a positive electrode of a battery module connected to a first end of the second group module (11) (Fig.1) (Par.51);
a second switch (R1) provided between a positive electrode of a battery module connected to a second end of the first group module (12) and the positive electrode of the battery module connected to the first end of the second group module (11) (Fig.1); and
a third switch (R2) provided between the negative electrode of the battery module connected to the first end of the first group module (12) and a negative electrode of a battery module connected to a second end of the second group module (11) (Fg.1).
Claim 14: Kusumi in view of Krieg teach the limitations of claim 13 as disclosed above. Kusumi teaches wherein the voltage switching circuit unit (R1-R3, 20 and 30) further includes a power relay assembly (30) configured to electrically connect or disconnect the battery pack (10) including the first group module (12) and the second group module (11) to or from an external device (300) (Fig.1), wherein the power relay assembly (30) is provided on a circuit connected to the positive electrode of the battery module connected to the second end of the first group module (12) and the negative electrode of the battery module connected to the second end of the second group module (11) (Par.62).
Claims 5 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusumi (US 2019/0255996) in view of Krieg et al. (US 2020/0055412) as applied to claims 4 and 9 above, and further in view of Chettiar et al. (US 2021/0218251).
Claims 5 and 10: Kusumi in view of Krieg teach the limitations of claims 4 and 9 as disclosed above. Kusumi does not explicitly teach wherein the controller is configured to check the circuit connection state between the first group module and the second group module after end of the battery charging, and is configured to control an operation of the voltage switching circuit unit so that the circuit connection state is switched to a series connection state when the circuit connection state is currently the parallel connection state.
Chettiar teaches a controller configured to check a circuit connection state between a first group module (102) and a second group module (104) after end of battery charging, and is configured to control an operation of a voltage switching circuit unit so that the circuit connection state is switched to a series connection state when the circuit connection is currently a parallel connection state (Par.58, 63 and 67; The connection of the batteries change from parallel in a first phase (charging) to series in a second phase (discharging).).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Chettiar in the system of Kusumi to have had selectively provided parallel charging and series discharging, thereby enabling a combination of faster charging and higher output voltage to a load (Par.3).
Claims 6-7, 11-12 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusumi (US 2019/0255996) as applied to claims 4 and 9 above, and further in view of Kamel et al. (US 2023/0402870).
Claims 6-7 and 11-12: Kusumi in view of Krieg teach the limitations of claims 1 and 8 as disclosed above. Kusumi teaches wherein the controller (100) is configured to: compare the charger supply voltage with the current battery voltage while the charger (300) is connected to the vehicle (1) for battery charging (Fig.2, S130) (Par.80); and
maintain a series circuit connection state between the first group module (12) and the second group module (11) and then perform a control operation for battery charging when the charger supply voltage is higher than the current battery voltage (Fig.2, S150) (Par.82).
Kusumi does not explicitly teach maintaining a circuit connection state in a current circuit connection state without switching; wherein the controller is configured to check the circuit connection state between the first group module and the second group module after end of the battery charging, and to end a charging control process without switching the circuit connection state when the circuit connection state is currently a series connection state.
Kamel teaches a controller configured to maintain a series circuit connection state between a first group module (P1) (Fig.3A) and a second group module (P2) without switching and then perform a control operation for battery charging (Par.55; Lines 31-36; Switching not required to charge the batteries in series if the batteries are connected in series for propulsion.); wherein the controller is configured to check the circuit connection state between the first group module (P1) and the second group module (P2) after end of the battery charging (Fig.8, 819), and to end a charging control process without switching the circuit connection state when the circuit connection state is currently a series connection state (Par.55, Lines 79-85; Switching the circuit connection is not required when charging in series and used in series for propulsion.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Kamel in the system of Kusumi to have had the battery modules providing power for vehicle propulsion in series for a system requiring a high voltage output (Par.55, Lines 11-14 and 31-36), thereby not requiring switching to charge/discharge in series.
Claims 15-16: Kusumi in view of Krieg teach the limitations of claims 1 and 8 as disclosed above. Kusumi does not explicitly teach wherein, after the battery charging of the vehicle is completed, the controller restores and maintains a circuit connection state between the first group module and the second group module to a state before battery charging.
Kamel teaches after a battery charging of a vehicle is completed (Fig.2), a controller (208) restores and maintains a circuit connection state between a first battery module (P1) and a second battery module (P2) to a state before battery charging (Par.55; The modules are charged in series. If the modules are configured in series for propulsion, the modules are maintained in series after charging is completed. If the modules are configured in parallel for propulsion, the modules are reconfigured to parallel after charging is completed in step 822).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Kamel in the system of Kusumi to have had fast charged the battery modules in series while reconfiguring the battery modules to a connection required for powering a load (Par.44 and 55) thereby preventing improper load operation after charging is completed.
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 JOHALI ALEJANDRA TORRES RUIZ whose telephone number is (571)270-1262. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00am-6:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JOHALI A TORRES RUIZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/TAELOR KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859