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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3/26/26 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 3-6 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
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 and 3-6 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 recites the limitation "the abnormal battery pack" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the detection results" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the detection results of the plurality of battery packs" in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites “if the detection results are invalid” in line 10, however, claim 1 recites “the detection results" in line 8, and it also recites "the detection results of the plurality of battery packs" in line 9, therefore, it is not clear which detection result “if the detection results are invalid” in line 10” is referring to.
For purpose of the examination, the examiner has interpreted lines 5-11 of claim 1 as “a hardware processor, when an abnormality in the temperature or voltage of any of the plurality of battery packs is detected, determines an abnormal battery pack based on the abnormality detected, executes a protection operation to disconnect the abnormal battery pack from the external load,
wherein the hardware processor determines whether result of the abnormality is valid by comparing the detection [[results]]result of the abnormality with detection result of other battery packs of the plurality of battery packsresultof the abnormality is invalid, inhibits the execution of the protection operation”.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the abnormal battery pack" in lines 7-8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the detection results" in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the detection results of the plurality of battery packs" in line 11. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
For purpose of the examination, the examiner has interpreted lines 7-13 of claim 3 as: “a third step of determining an abnormal battery pack based on the abnormality detected;
a fourth step of executing a protection operation to disconnect the abnormal battery pack from the external load in response to the detected abnormality in the temperature or voltage of any of the plurality of battery packs;
a fifth step of determining that result of the abnormality is invalid by comparing the detection [[results]]result of the abnormality with detection result of other battery packs of the plurality of battery packs
a sixth step of inhibiting the execution of the protection operation in response to the invalid detection [[results]]result”.
Claims 4-6, included in the statement of rejection but not specifically addressed in the body of the rejection have inherited the deficiency of their parent claim and have not resolved the deficiencies. Therefore, they are rejected based on the same rationale as applied to their parent claim above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 3 would be allowable if rewritten or amended according to the examiner’s interpretation of the claims 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 1, US 20200319259 discloses a system includes a first group of sensors and a control circuit including one or more processors. The first group of sensors is associated with an energy storage module having one or more energy storage devices. The sensors in the first group generate sensor measurements representing one or more parameters of the energy storage module. The control circuit is configured to receive the sensor measurements and determine one or more of a reference value or a reference variation of a specific parameter related to the energy storage module based at least in part on the sensor measurements. The control circuit compares one or more of monitored values or monitored variations of the specific parameter, based on the sensor measurements generated by sensors, to the reference value or the reference variation of the specific parameter and detects a deviation that is greater than a designated tolerance margin. US20110089953 discloses a sensor arrangement and method that may be used with a variety of different energy storage devices, including battery packs found in hybrid vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and other types of vehicles. An exemplary sensor arrangement includes a number of sensor units, a controller, and several connections, wherein two or more sensor units are coupled to each node of the battery pack and are coupled to the controller over different connections. An exemplary method is divided into two aspects: an error detection aspect and an error resolution aspect. Because the sensor arrangement provides multiple sensor readings for each node being evaluated, the method can enable the sensor arrangement to continue operating accurately and with redundancy even if it experiences a loss of one or more sensor units. US20100321025 discloses a system and method for use with a vehicle battery pack having a number of individual battery cells, such as a lithium-ion battery commonly used in hybrid electric vehicles. In one embodiment, the method evaluates individual battery cells within a vehicle battery pack in order to obtain accurate estimates regarding their average transient voltage effect, open circuit voltage (OCV.sub.Cell) and/or state of charge (SOC.sub.Cell) so that a cell balancing process can be performed. These cell evaluations may be performed fairly soon after the vehicle is turned off and in a manner that utilizes a minimal amount of in-vehicle resources.
The combination of the cited prior arts does not describe:
wherein the hardware processor determines whether detection result of the abnormality is valid by comparing the detection result of the abnormality with detection result of other battery packs of the plurality of battery packs, and if the detection result of the abnormality is invalid, inhibits the execution of the protection operation
Regarding claim 3, US 20200319259 discloses a system includes a first group of sensors and a control circuit including one or more processors. The first group of sensors is associated with an energy storage module having one or more energy storage devices. The sensors in the first group generate sensor measurements representing one or more parameters of the energy storage module. The control circuit is configured to receive the sensor measurements and determine one or more of a reference value or a reference variation of a specific parameter related to the energy storage module based at least in part on the sensor measurements. The control circuit compares one or more of monitored values or monitored variations of the specific parameter, based on the sensor measurements generated by sensors, to the reference value or the reference variation of the specific parameter and detects a deviation that is greater than a designated tolerance margin. US20110089953 discloses a sensor arrangement and method that may be used with a variety of different energy storage devices, including battery packs found in hybrid vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and other types of vehicles. An exemplary sensor arrangement includes a number of sensor units, a controller, and several connections, wherein two or more sensor units are coupled to each node of the battery pack and are coupled to the controller over different connections. An exemplary method is divided into two aspects: an error detection aspect and an error resolution aspect. Because the sensor arrangement provides multiple sensor readings for each node being evaluated, the method can enable the sensor arrangement to continue operating accurately and with redundancy even if it experiences a loss of one or more sensor units. US20100321025 discloses a system and method for use with a vehicle battery pack having a number of individual battery cells, such as a lithium-ion battery commonly used in hybrid electric vehicles. In one embodiment, the method evaluates individual battery cells within a vehicle battery pack in order to obtain accurate estimates regarding their average transient voltage effect, open circuit voltage (OCV.sub.Cell) and/or state of charge (SOC.sub.Cell) so that a cell balancing process can be performed. These cell evaluations may be performed fairly soon after the vehicle is turned off and in a manner that utilizes a minimal amount of in-vehicle resources.
The combination of the cited prior arts does not describe:
a third step of determining an abnormal battery pack based on the abnormality detected; a fourth step of executing a protection operation to disconnect the abnormal battery pack from the external load in response to the detected abnormality in the temperature or voltage of any of the plurality of battery packs; a fifth step of determining that detection result of the abnormality is invalid by comparing the detection result of the abnormality with detection result of other battery packs of the plurality of battery packs; and a sixth step of inhibiting the execution of the protection operation in response to the invalid detection result
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON LIN whose telephone number is (571)270-3175. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert E. Fennema can be reached on (571)272-2748. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON LIN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2117
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