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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDSes filed 4/26/23, 7/5/24, 10/15/24 and 9/11/24 have all been considered and made of record. The four (4) initialed copies are attached herewith.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the text in the flowcharts of figures 3-6 is blurry. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: it does not have the requisite phrase “a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claim lacks the requisite phrase “a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1, 2 and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chinese document CN106663843B (see attached machine translation).
Re claims 1 and 10, the document discloses an over-discharge protection method of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle comprises a traction battery 12, a switcher (solid state switch), a starter, and a battery management system 50, wherein the switcher is connected between the traction battery and the starter, and when the switcher is in an on state, the traction battery powers the starter; the starter is capable of starting the vehicle when receiving an enabling signal in a state of being powered (Para starts “the battery pack 12 may be a starting, lighting and ignition (SLI) battery pack”)); the battery management system is connected to a control terminal of the switcher for controlling the switcher to be turned on or off (battery pack management system is configured to transition… between operation mode and sleep mode in response to signal), and the battery management system is further connected to the traction battery; and the method is applied to the battery management system, and the method comprises, at least, detecting a current state of charge of the traction battery (if battery pack management system 50… the state of charge of the battery 12 determined based on voltage/current and/or temperature of battery 12; further, the microprocessor 94 may be configured to calculate SOC of battery 12… using suitable signal (e.g., from voltmeter 90…)); when the current state of charge is less than a first preset state of charge and greater than or equal to a second preset state of charge, and the switcher is in the on state, turning off the switcher; and when the current state of charge is less than the first preset state of charge and greater than or equal to the second preset state of charge, and the switcher is in an off state (in some embodiments.. if the state of charge of the battery 12 is above a first threshold, microprocessor 94 provide a first indicator signal (green).. if state of charge below a second threshold, microprocessor 94 provide a second indicator signal (red); …if battery pack management system 50… For example, if the vehicle 14 requires at least 11 volts to start, the predetermined threshold may be at least 11 volts. In some embodiments, the predetermined threshold may be about 11.3 volts. Accordingly, the battery pack 12 may have a sufficient amount of charge to start and power the vehicle 14 for a period of time until the battery pack 12 receives a charge from the charger/maintainer 24. If the battery pack management system 50 determines that the state of charge of the battery pack 12 is less than the predetermined threshold, the battery pack management system 50 may force the battery pack 12 into a sleep mode (block 206) to prevent overdischarge (e.g., undervoltage… Furthermore, it should be noted..battery pack management system 50 may not transition the battery 12 to sleep mode if the voltage is 14.8); see flowchart), if a hardware trigger signal (reset button 190) is received, turning on the switcher, wherein the second preset state of charge is less than the first preset state of charge (As described in more detail below… may include a reset button (eg, momentary contact) adapted to allow the battery pack to manually placed into sleep mode and manually reactivated (i.e. “wake up”)). The method steps of claim 1 performed by apparatus claim 10.
Re claim 2, the document further discloses if the hardware trigger signal is received, after the switcher is turned on, the method further comprises: if the hardware trigger signal is not received within a first preset time after the switcher is turned on, turning off the switcher (the predetermined amount of time may be the same or different than the predetermined amount of time used to disconnect the battery pack 12 from the vehicle. For example, the state of charge indicator 20 may be adapted to send a reactivation signal after the reset button 190 has been pressed for 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, or any other suitable amount of time).
Re claim 11, the document further discloses the vehicle 40 utilizes the method steps (see figures).
Re claim 12, the document further discloses at least one processor 92/94; and a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and when executed by the at least one processor (microprocessor 90 algorithm to compute these different operating parameters), the instructions cause the at least one processor to perform the over-discharge protection method of the vehicle according to claim 1.
Re claim 13, the document further discloses a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the over-discharge protection method of the vehicle according to claim 1 (microprocessor 90 algorithm to compute these different operating parameters).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinese document CN106663843B (see attached machine translation).
Re claim 4, the document is silent on having the switcher turned off when the vehicle is in the parking brake state. Official notice is taken of the fact that having the switch turned off would prevent phantom drain of the battery. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to ensure the switch is in the OFF position when the parking brake is ON the prevent any leakage of SOC of the battery.
Re claim 5, the document is silent on specific time being greater than or equal to a third preset time in which the switcher is in the OFF state. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have selected the claimed specific time range since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 6-9 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.
Re claim 3, the art made of record fails to disclose or suggest at least a difference between the first preset state of charge and the second preset state of charge is greater than the sum of a self-discharge power loss and an on power loss, wherein the self-discharge power loss is an amount of power lost by the traction battery after a second preset time when the switcher is in the off state, and the on power loss is an amount of power lost by the traction battery after the first preset time when the switcher is in the on state.
Re claims 6-9, the art made of record fails to disclose or suggest at least a wake-up structure and a driving structure having the claimed connection details.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Art made of record exemplified overdischarge protection of a battery for a vehicle.
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to the Examiner at the below-listed number. The Examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thu from 7:00am-5:00pm.
The Examiner’s SPE is Taelor Kim and he can be reached at 571.270.7166. The fax number for the organization where this application is assigned is 571.273.8300.
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/EDWARD TSO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 571.272.2087