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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 1/29/2026, with respect to the drawing objection have been fully considered. The drawing objection has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, filed 1/29/2026, with respect to the claim objections have been fully considered. The objection of claim 15 been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, filed 1/19/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 in view of 35 U.S.C 103.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-2, and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (US 20200406777 A1) in view of Schmidt (US 20220385079 A1) further in view of Allert et al. (US 20230396078 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Nguyen teaches an electric vehicle charging system (Fig. 9) comprising:
a switchable battery including a first battery pack and a second battery pack (20A-20D (battery packs are labelled in Figs. 2-3)) (¶[74] “Each of the FIGS. 2A through 12D are shown with four sub-packs, each having four modules. It should be understood that different sizes of batteries, different number of sub-packs, and different number of modules per sub-pack may be used within the scope of the present invention”) that are selectively arranged in one of a fast-charging configuration and a drive configuration (see Fig. 2A),
wherein the fast-charging configuration includes connecting the first battery pack and the second battery pack (20A-20D) to separate charging sources (Chargers 12A-12D in conjunction with DC/DC converters 18) and the drive configuration includes connecting the first battery pack and the second battery pack in parallel (see Fig. 2A, ¶[76] “In FIG. 2A, one Level 2 charging connection is connected to port 12A. The result is similar to conventional charging, where power from the port 12A is delivered to each of the sub-packs 20A-20D in parallel)”;
and a controller (PM 14) configured to:
configure the switchable battery (¶[81] “the power manager 14 can control switches S1 through S16”, see also ¶[10] “any of the modules may be reconfigured by the power management system to be electrically disconnected from the battery pack as deemed desirable for improved operation of the battery pack and/or the vehicle or device equipped with said battery pack”);
Nguyen does not teach a plurality of sensors configured to measure one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack;
a first switchable active load connected in parallel with the first battery pack;
a second switchable active load connected in parallel with the second battery pack;
and a controller configured to activate at least one of the first switchable active load and the second switchable active load based on the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack,
wherein the activation is configured to balance at least one of the one or more characteristics to the first battery pack and the second battery pack throughout the charging process and during a fast-charging mode;
and prior to configuring the switchable battery in the drive configuration, determine whether a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack, and when the first voltage level is not within the threshold range, prevent connection of the first battery pack and the second battery pack in parallel and activate the switchable active load connected in parallel to the battery pack having the higher voltage level to reduce its voltage level until the first voltage level is within the threshold range of the second voltage level.
Schmidt teaches a plurality of sensors configured to measure one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack (¶[13] “The BMU is additionally set up to measure the voltage U.sub.i of each cell unit”);
a first switchable active load (R1 in conjunction with S1, ¶[25] “at least one switch S.sub.i (for example a MOSFET)”) connected in parallel with the first battery pack (Cell 1);
a second switchable active load (Rn in conjunction with Sn, see ¶[25] quoted above) connected in parallel with the second battery pack (Cell n);
and a controller configured to activate at least one of the first switchable active load and the second switchable active load based on the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack (¶[13] “The BMU is additionally set up to measure the voltage U.sub.i of each cell unit and to actuate the discharge circuit at a selectable time in order to discharge the cell unit i in a controlled manner via the load resistor R.sub.i.”, see also ¶[23] “To this end, in a cell or cell group, the cell voltage of which is raised in comparison with at least one other cell or cell group, the balancing circuit is actuated in order to draw charge from this cell or cell group until the cell voltages are equalized”) throughout the charging process and during a fast-charging mode (see ¶[24], “If the battery system is installed in an electric vehicle, the balancing can be carried out at an arbitrary time, other than during driving operation”),
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Nguyen to incorporate the teachings of Schmidt to provide a plurality of sensors configured to measure one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack;
a first switchable active load connected in parallel with the first battery pack;
a second switchable active load connected in parallel with the second battery pack;
and a controller configured to activate at least one of the first switchable active load and the second switchable active load based on the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack,
wherein the activation is configured to balance at least one of the one or more characteristics to the first battery pack and the second battery pack throughout the charging process and during a fast-charging mode;
in order to balance battery packs by selectively discharging and therefore improving battery efficiency and performance.
Nguyen in view of Schmidt does not explicitly teach prior to configuring the switchable battery in the drive configuration, determine whether a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack, and when the first voltage level is not within the threshold range, prevent connection of the first battery pack and the second battery pack in parallel and activate the switchable active load connected in parallel to the battery pack having the higher voltage level to reduce its voltage level until the first voltage level is within the threshold range of the second voltage level.
Allert teaches prior to configuring the switchable battery (1) in the drive configuration (all battery packs 1 connected to first DC bus 7), determine whether a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack (¶[40] “At the end of the equalization process, the affected battery rack 1 may have a state of charge that differs from the state of charge of the other battery racks 1. A direct connection of this battery rack 1 to the first DC bus 7 with the other battery racks 1 should therefore be avoided because of the equalization currents that then occur”), and when the first voltage level is not within the threshold range, prevent connection of the first battery pack and the second battery pack in parallel and activate the switchable active load connected in parallel to the battery pack having the higher voltage level to reduce its voltage level until the first voltage level is within the threshold range of the second voltage level (¶[40] “It is therefore advantageous in one embodiment to balance the state of charge of the affected battery rack 1 to the state of charge of the other battery racks 1 in a balancing process via a power exchange via the DC/DC converter 6 before it is disconnected again from the second DC bus 8 and re-connected to the first DC bus 7 in parallel with the other battery racks 1”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Nguyen in view of Schmidt to incorporate the teachings of Allert to provide prior to configuring the switchable battery in the drive configuration, determine whether a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack, and when the first voltage level is not within the threshold range, prevent connection of the first battery pack and the second battery pack in parallel and activate the switchable active load connected in parallel to the battery pack having the higher voltage level to reduce its voltage level until the first voltage level is within the threshold range of the second voltage level; in order to prevent damage from equalization currents as suggested by Allert (¶[40]).
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert teaches the electric vehicle charging system of claim 1.
Schmidt further teaches wherein the one or more characteristics includes one or more of an open circuit voltage, a state-of-charge, a terminal voltage, a temperature and an input current level (¶[23] “To this end, in a cell or cell group, the cell voltage of which is raised in comparison with at least one other cell or cell group, the balancing circuit is actuated in order to draw charge from this cell or cell group until the cell voltages are equalized”).
Regarding Claim 15, Nguyen teaches an electric vehicle (¶[73] “The embodiments discussed below include devices, such as electric vehicles”), comprising:
a first charging source (charger 12A in conjunction with first DC/DC converter 18, see Fig. 9);
a second charging source (charger 12B in conjunction with second DC/DC converter 18, see Fig. 9);
a switchable battery including a first battery pack and a second battery pack (20A-20D (battery packs are labelled in Figs. 2-3)) (¶[74] “Each of the FIGS. 2A through 12D are shown with four sub-packs, each having four modules. It should be understood that different sizes of batteries, different number of sub-packs, and different number of modules per sub-pack may be used within the scope of the present invention”) that are selectively arranged in one of a fast-charging configuration and a drive configuration,
wherein the fast-charging configuration includes connecting the first battery pack (20A) to the first charging source (12A and DC/DC converter 18) and the second battery pack (20B) to the second charging source (12B and DC/DC converter 18) and the drive configuration includes connecting the first battery pack and the second battery pack in parallel (see Fig. 2A, ¶[76] “In FIG. 2A, one Level 2 charging connection is connected to port 12A. The result is similar to conventional charging, where power from the port 12A is delivered to each of the sub-packs 20A-20D in parallel)”;
and a controller (PM 14) configured to:
configure the switchable battery (¶[81] “the power manager 14 can control switches S1 through S16”, see also ¶[10] “any of the modules may be reconfigured by the power management system to be electrically disconnected from the battery pack as deemed desirable for improved operation of the battery pack and/or the vehicle or device equipped with said battery pack”);
Nguyen does not teach a plurality of sensors configured to measure one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack;
a first switchable active load connected in parallel with the first battery pack;
a second switchable active load connected in parallel with the second battery pack;
and a controller configured to:
activate at least one of the first switchable active load and the second switchable active load based on the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack, wherein the activation is configured to balance at least one of the one or more characteristics to the first battery pack and the second battery pack throughout the charging process and during a fast-charging mode; and
prior to configuring the switchable battery in the drive configuration, determine whether a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack, and when the first voltage level is not within the threshold range, prevent connection of the first battery pack and the second battery pack in parallel and activate the switchable active load connected in parallel to the battery pack having the higher voltage level to reduce its voltage level until the first voltage level is within the threshold range of the second voltage level.
Schmidt teaches a plurality of sensors configured to measure one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack (¶[13] “The BMU is additionally set up to measure the voltage U.sub.i of each cell unit”);
a first switchable active load (R1 in conjunction with S1, ¶[25] “at least one switch S.sub.i (for example a MOSFET)”) connected in parallel with the first battery pack (Cell 1);
a second switchable active load (Rn in conjunction with Sn, see ¶[25] quoted above) connected in parallel with the second battery pack (Cell n);
and a controller configured to:
activate at least one of the first switchable active load and the second switchable active load based on the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack, wherein the activation is configured to balance at least one of the one or more characteristics to the first battery pack and the second battery pack (¶[13] “The BMU is additionally set up to measure the voltage U.sub.i of each cell unit and to actuate the discharge circuit at a selectable time in order to discharge the cell unit i in a controlled manner via the load resistor R.sub.i.”, see also ¶[23] “To this end, in a cell or cell group, the cell voltage of which is raised in comparison with at least one other cell or cell group, the balancing circuit is actuated in order to draw charge from this cell or cell group until the cell voltages are equalized”) throughout the charging process and during a fast-charging mode (see ¶[24], “If the battery system is installed in an electric vehicle, the balancing can be carried out at an arbitrary time, other than during driving operation”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Nguyen to incorporate the teachings of Schmidt to provide a plurality of sensors configured to measure one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack;
a first switchable active load connected in parallel with the first battery pack;
a second switchable active load connected in parallel with the second battery pack;
and a controller configured to activate at least one of the first switchable active load and the second switchable active load based on the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack,
wherein the activation is configured to balance at least one of the one or more characteristics to the first battery pack and the second battery pack, wherein the activation is configured to balance at least one of the one or more characteristics to the first battery pack and the second battery pack throughout the charging process and during a fast-charging mode;
in order to balance battery packs by selectively discharging and therefore improving battery efficiency and performance.
Nguyen in view of Schmidt does not explicitly teach prior to configuring the switchable battery in the drive configuration, determine whether a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack, and when the first voltage level is not within the threshold range, prevent connection of the first battery pack and the second battery pack in parallel and activate the switchable active load connected in parallel to the battery pack having the higher voltage level to reduce its voltage level until the first voltage level is within the threshold range of the second voltage level.
Allert teaches prior to configuring the switchable battery (1) in the drive configuration (all battery packs 1 connected to first DC bus 7), determine whether a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack (¶[40] “At the end of the equalization process, the affected battery rack 1 may have a state of charge that differs from the state of charge of the other battery racks 1. A direct connection of this battery rack 1 to the first DC bus 7 with the other battery racks 1 should therefore be avoided because of the equalization currents that then occur”), and when the first voltage level is not within the threshold range, prevent connection of the first battery pack and the second battery pack in parallel and activate the switchable active load connected in parallel to the battery pack having the higher voltage level to reduce its voltage level until the first voltage level is within the threshold range of the second voltage level (¶[40] “It is therefore advantageous in one embodiment to balance the state of charge of the affected battery rack 1 to the state of charge of the other battery racks 1 in a balancing process via a power exchange via the DC/DC converter 6 before it is disconnected again from the second DC bus 8 and re-connected to the first DC bus 7 in parallel with the other battery racks 1”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Nguyen in view of Schmidt to incorporate the teachings of Allert to provide prior to configuring the switchable battery in the drive configuration, determine whether a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack, and when the first voltage level is not within the threshold range, prevent connection of the first battery pack and the second battery pack in parallel and activate the switchable active load connected in parallel to the battery pack having the higher voltage level to reduce its voltage level until the first voltage level is within the threshold range of the second voltage level; in order to prevent damage from equalization currents as suggested by Allert (¶[40]).
Regarding Claim 16, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert teaches the electric vehicle of claim 15.
Schmidt further teaches wherein the one or more characteristics includes one or more of an open circuit voltage, a state-of-charge, a terminal voltage, a temperature and an input current level (¶[23] “To this end, in a cell or cell group, the cell voltage of which is raised in comparison with at least one other cell or cell group, the balancing circuit is actuated in order to draw charge from this cell or cell group until the cell voltages are equalized”).
Claim(s) 3-4, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (US 20200406777 A1) in view of Schmidt (US 20220385079 A1) further in view of Allert et al. (US 20230396078 A1) and further in view of Griffith (US 20240162721 A1).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert teaches the electric vehicle charging system of claim 1.
The combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert does not teach wherein the controller is further configured to identify a first battery pack as a master pack based on a determination that the first battery pack has a lower voltage level than the second battery pack.
Griffith teaches wherein the controller is further configured to identify a first battery pack as a master pack (¶[30] “Alternatively, in other embodiments that without a master controller 400, one of the pack controllers 300 can be determined or designated to be the master controller of the system”),
based on a determination that the first battery pack has a lower voltage level than the second battery pack (¶[37] “The pack controllers 300 can communicate and run a monitoring cycle to determine the battery pack with the highest or lowest state of charge (“SOC”) to be used and designated as the primary battery pack 200 for a charge or discharge cycle”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert to incorporate the teachings of Griffith to provide wherein the controller is further configured to identify a first battery pack as a master pack based on a determination that the first battery pack has a lower voltage level than the second battery pack, in order to quickly determine which battery pack needs to be discharged in order to balance the battery packs.
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt, Allert and Griffith teaches the electric vehicle charging system of claim 3.
Schmidt further teaches wherein activating the at least one of the first switchable active load and the second switchable active load includes only activating the second switchable active load (¶[23] “To this end, in a cell or cell group, the cell voltage of which is raised in comparison with at least one other cell or cell group, the balancing circuit is actuated in order to draw charge from this cell or cell group until the cell voltages are equalized” the lower voltage cell or cell group also has a load/ balancing circuit, but it is not actuated).
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert teaches the electric vehicle of claim 15.
The combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert does not teach wherein the controller is further configured to identify a first battery pack as a master pack based on a determination that the first battery pack has a lower voltage level than the second battery pack.
Griffith teaches wherein the controller is further configured to identify a first battery pack as a master pack (¶[30] “Alternatively, in other embodiments that without a master controller 400, one of the pack controllers 300 can be determined or designated to be the master controller of the system”),
based on a determination that the first battery pack has a lower voltage level than the second battery pack (¶[37] “The pack controllers 300 can communicate and run a monitoring cycle to determine the battery pack with the highest or lowest state of charge (“SOC”) to be used and designated as the primary battery pack 200 for a charge or discharge cycle”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert to incorporate the teachings of Griffith to provide wherein the controller is further configured to identify a first battery pack as a master pack based on a determination that the first battery pack has a lower voltage level than the second battery pack, in order to quickly determine which battery pack needs to be discharged in order to balance the battery packs.
Regarding Claim 18, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt, Allert and Griffith teaches the electric vehicle of claim 17.
Schmidt further teaches wherein activating the at least one of the first switchable active load and the second switchable active load includes only activating the second switchable active load (¶[23] “To this end, in a cell or cell group, the cell voltage of which is raised in comparison with at least one other cell or cell group, the balancing circuit is actuated in order to draw charge from this cell or cell group until the cell voltages are equalized” the lower voltage cell or cell group also has a load/ balancing circuit, but it is not actuated).
Claim(s) 5 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (US 20200406777 A1) in view of Schmidt (US 20220385079 A1) further in view of Allert et al. (US 20230396078 A1), further in view of Griffith (US 20240162721 A1) and further in view of Liu et al. (US 20220239119 A1).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt, Allert and Griffith teaches the electric vehicle charging system of claim 3.
The combination of Nguyen, Schmidt, Allert and Griffith does not teach wherein the identification of the master pack is performed periodically during charging of the switchable battery.
Liu teaches wherein the identification of the master pack is performed periodically during charging of the switchable battery (¶[62] “Moreover, configuration of the battery packs may be automatically performed without user interaction. When the master battery pack is removed, one of the slave battery packs is automatically reconfigured to become the master battery pack”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt, Allert and Griffith to incorporate the teachings of Liu to provide wherein the identification of the master pack is performed periodically during charging of the switchable battery in order to make sure one of the battery packs is designated as the master battery pack in the case of failure.
Regarding Claim 19, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt, Allert and Griffith teaches the electric vehicle of claim 17.
The combination of Nguyen, Schmidt, Allert and Griffith does not teach wherein the identification of the master pack is performed periodically during charging of the switchable battery.
Liu teaches wherein the identification of the master pack is performed periodically during charging of the switchable battery (¶[62] “Moreover, configuration of the battery packs may be automatically performed without user interaction. When the master battery pack is removed, one of the slave battery packs is automatically reconfigured to become the master battery pack”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt, Allert and Griffith to incorporate the teachings of Liu to provide wherein the identification of the master pack is performed periodically during charging of the switchable battery in order to make sure one of the battery packs is designated as the master battery pack in the case of failure.
Claim(s) 6 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (US 20200406777 A1) in view of Schmidt (US 20220385079 A1) further in view of Allert et al. (US 20230396078 A1) and further in view of Liu et al. (US 20220239119 A1).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert teaches the electric vehicle charging system of claim 1.
The combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert does not teach wherein the controller is configured to only activate the at least one of the first switchable active load and the second switchable active load based on a determination that a state-of-charge of at least one of the first battery pack and the second battery pack is above a threshold minimum.
Liu teaches a determination that a state-of-charge of at least one of the at least two battery packs is above a threshold minimum (¶[55] “battery packs in a battery system may be charge-balanced to mitigate and/or prevent in-rush electrical current that may occur for one or more of a plurality of battery packs in the battery system when there is significant variation of state of charge (SoC) among the battery packs. For example, a large SoC variation may occur when a new battery pack is installed in a battery system, such as when a SoC of the new battery pack is much different (e.g., discharged, fully charged) when compared to the existing battery packs in the battery system”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert to incorporate the teachings of Liu to provide a determination that a state-of-charge of at least one of the at least two battery packs is above a threshold minimum to prevent the higher voltage battery pack from discharging to zero.
Regarding Claim 20, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert teaches the electric vehicle of claim 15.
The combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert does not teach wherein the controller is configured to only activate the at least one of the first switchable active load and the second switchable active load based on a determination that a state-of-charge of at least one of the first battery pack and the second battery pack is above a threshold minimum.
Liu teaches a determination that a state-of-charge of at least one of the at least two battery packs is above a threshold minimum (¶[55] “battery packs in a battery system may be charge-balanced to mitigate and/or prevent in-rush electrical current that may occur for one or more of a plurality of battery packs in the battery system when there is significant variation of state of charge (SoC) among the battery packs. For example, a large SoC variation may occur when a new battery pack is installed in a battery system, such as when a SoC of the new battery pack is much different (e.g., discharged, fully charged) when compared to the existing battery packs in the battery system”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert to incorporate the teachings of Liu to provide a determination that a state-of-charge of at least one of the at least two battery packs is above a threshold minimum to prevent the higher voltage battery pack from discharging to zero.
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (US 20200406777 A1) in view of Schmidt (US 20220385079 A1) further in view of Allert et al. (US 20230396078 A1) and further in view of Ke et al. (US 20120319657 A1).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert teaches the electric vehicle charging system of claim 1,
The combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert does not teach wherein the controller is further configured to: monitor the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack; identify an anomaly with one of first battery pack, the second battery pack, and a charging source for one of the first battery pack the second battery pack; and perform a mitigation action based on the anomaly
Ke further teaches wherein the controller is further configured to: monitor the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack; identify an anomaly with one of first battery pack, the second battery pack, and a charging source for one of the first battery pack the second battery pack; and perform a mitigation action based on the anomaly (¶[26] “The BMC 110 may further be configured to detect the status of cell(s) (shown in FIG. 3) of the battery 108 and the DC/DC output current and/or voltage in real-time. In the event that the BMC 110 detects any damage to one or more cells of the battery 108, the BMC may be configured to disconnect DC/DC output of the battery module 102 and/or discontinue providing message(s) to the CCC 104 concerning the battery module 102”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Nguyen, Schmidt and Allert to incorporate the teachings of Ke to provide wherein the controller is further configured to: monitor the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack; identify an anomaly with one of first battery pack, the second battery pack, and a charging source for one of the first battery pack the second battery pack; and perform a mitigation action based on the anomaly in order to prevent damage to the system that could be caused by a faulty battery pack.
Claim(s) 8-9 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ke et al. (US 20120319657 A1) in view of Marshall et al. (WO 2024030557 A1) further in view of Yoon et al. (KR 20230134655 A).
Regarding Claim 8, Ke teaches a method for charging an electric vehicle (¶[18] “A system consistent with the present disclosure may provide balancing of the batteries and/or battery modules resulting in a more accurate means of controlling the charge voltage for each battery of a group of batteries used in an electric vehicle”), the method comprising:
configuring a switchable battery (100) of the electric vehicle in a fast-charging configuration by connecting a first battery pack (108 in module 102(1)) of the switchable battery to a first charging source (DC-DC converter 112 in module (102(1)) and a second battery pack (108 in module 102(2)) of the switchable battery to a second charging source (DC-DC converter 112 in module (102(2));;
obtaining one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack (¶[22] “The BMC 110 may be configured to detect data received from the battery 108. The data may include an indication of a voltage, a discharge current, a charging current, a state-of-charge, and/or a depth-of-discharge from the battery 108”);
Ke does not teach identifying the first battery pack as a master pack and the second battery pack as a follower pack based on a determination that the first battery pack has a lower voltage level than the second battery pack;
deactivating a switchable active load connected in parallel to the master pack and, based on a calculated difference between the voltage level of the follower pack and the voltage level of the master pack, activating and controlling a switchable active load connected in parallel to the follower pack to divert a portion of a charging current for the follower pack through the switchable active load
increasing an operational workload of a chiller of the follower pack such that the chiller operates as a switchable active load in parallel with the follower pack to reduce a state-of-charge of the follower pack while balancing temperatures of the battery packs
upon a change in designation of the master pack during the fast-charging configuration, switching the same switchable active load from a previously designated follower pack to a newly designated follower pack;
and adjusting a duty cycle of a switchable active load connected in parallel to the follower pack based on the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack,
wherein the adjustment of the duty cycle is configured to balance at least one of the one or more characteristics to the first battery pack and the second battery pack.
Marshall teaches identifying the first battery pack as a master pack and the second battery pack as a follower pack (¶[94] “one of the battery controllers 310 is designated as a primary controller or leader controller. The other battery controllers 310 may be designated as secondary controllers or follower controllers”),
based on a determination that the first battery pack has a lower voltage level than the second battery pack (¶[97] “The leader controller designation is dynamically assigned (e.g., changes between different battery controllers 310 in response to certain conditions). The system 100 may operate according to predetermined logic to select the leader controller according to one or more predetermined criteria” see also ¶[80] “By way of another example, the system controller 302 may select one or more battery packs 112 having the lowest state of charge for use in the first subset”).
deactivating a switchable active load (122) connected in parallel to the master pack (¶[80] “The first subset may include fewer than the total number of battery packs 112 available in the system 100. The system controller 302 may select the battery packs 112 of the first subset based on various predetermined criteria. By way of example, the system controller 302 may select one or more battery packs 112 having the highest state of charge for use in the first subset”, the lowest charge battery back is not connected to the load) and, based on a calculated difference between the voltage level of the follower pack and the voltage level of the master pack, activating and controlling a switchable active load connected in parallel to the follower pack to divert a portion of a charging current for the follower pack through the switchable active load (¶[88] “The system controller 302 may initially discharge a first battery pack 112 (e.g., the battery pack 112 having the highest voltage). When the difference between a first voltage of the first battery pack 112 and a second voltage of a second battery pack 112 falls below a threshold difference (e.g., the first voltage and the second voltage are within a threshold range of one another), the system controller 302 couples the second battery pack 112 to the loads 122”);
adjusting a duty cycle of a switchable active load (122) connected in parallel to the follower pack (any of battery packs 112a-c) based on the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack (¶[74] “the system controller 302 rapidly opens and closes the switching elements to vary the rate at which electrical energy flows through the system 100 … by increasing the duty cycle of a switching element, the system controller 302 may increase the energy supplied through the switching element”, ¶[80] “the system controller 302 initially connects a first subset of the battery packs 112 (e.g., one battery pack 112, multiple battery packs 112) to one of the buses (e.g., the load bus 124, the charger bus 134) … the system controller 302 may select one or more battery packs 112 having the highest state of charge for use in the first subset.”)
wherein the adjustment of the duty cycle is configured to balance at least one of the one or more characteristics to the first battery pack and the second battery pack (connecting the higher charged battery pack first as described in ¶[80] quoted above would result in balanced battery packs).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Ke in view of Griffith to incorporate the teachings of Marshall to provide identifying the first battery pack as a master pack and the second battery pack as a follower pack based on a determination that the first battery pack has a lower voltage level than the second battery pack;
deactivating a switchable active load connected in parallel to the master pack and, based on a calculated difference between the voltage level of the follower pack and the voltage level of the master pack, activating and controlling a switchable active load connected in parallel to the follower pack to divert a portion of a charging current for the follower pack through the switchable active load;
adjusting a duty cycle of a switchable active load connected in parallel to the follower pack based on the one or more characteristics of the first battery pack and the second battery pack,
wherein the adjustment of the duty cycle is configured to balance at least one of the one or more characteristics to the first battery pack and the second battery pack;
in order to balance higher charged battery packs and allow the system to operate more efficiently.
Marshall does not explicitly teach upon a change in designation of the master pack during the fast-charging configuration, switching the same switchable active load from a previously designated follower pack to a newly designated follower pack; however Marshall teaches that the master pack designation can change dynamically (¶[97] “The leader controller designation is dynamically assigned (e.g., changes between different battery controllers 310 in response to certain conditions)”) and switches the same switchable active load (122). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to upon a change in designation of the master pack during the fast-charging configuration, switch the same switchable active load from a previously designated follower pack to a newly designated follower pack, in order to balance the system by discharging the most charged battery pack.
The combination of Ke, Griffith and Marshall does not teach increasing an operational workload of a chiller of the follower pack such that the chiller operates as a switchable active load in parallel with the follower pack to reduce a state-of-charge of the follower pack while balancing temperatures of the battery packs;
Yoon teaches increasing an operational workload of a chiller of the follower pack such that the chiller operates as a switchable active load in parallel with the follower pack to reduce a state-of-charge of the follower pack while balancing temperatures of the battery packs (¶[38] “the processor (130) can perform passive balancing by discharging a battery pack to be discharged using at least one of a battery heater and/or a battery chiller” see also ¶[41] “if the processor (130) determines that the temperature of at least one battery pack among the battery packs (150) is outside a specified range, it can control the output level of the battery heater and/or battery chiller that was discharging the battery pack”);
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Ke in view of Marshall to incorporate the teachings of Yoon to provide increasing an operational workload of a chiller of the follower pack such that the chiller operates as a switchable active load in parallel with the follower pack to reduce a state-of-charge of the follower pack while balancing temperatures of the battery packs;
in order to make the system more efficient by balancing the SOC and temperature at the same time.
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon teaches the method of claim 8.
Ke further teaches wherein the one or more characteristics includes one or more of an open circuit voltage, a state-of-charge, a temperature, a terminal voltage, and an input current level (¶[22] “The BMC 110 may be configured to detect data received from the battery 108. The data may include an indication of a voltage, a discharge current, a charging current, a state-of-charge, and/or a depth-of-discharge from the battery 108”).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon teaches the method of claim 8.
Ke as modified does not explicitly teach: based at least in part on a determination that a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack,
configuring the switchable battery of the electric vehicle in a drive configuration by connecting the first battery pack of the switchable battery and the second battery pack in parallel
and based at least in part on a determination that the first voltage level of the first battery pack is not within the threshold range of the second voltage level of the second battery pack, preventing the switchable battery of the electric vehicle from being configured in the drive configuration and activating the switchable active load to reduce a voltage level of the follower pack.
Marshall teaches based at least in part on a determination that a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack,
configuring the switchable battery of the electric vehicle in a drive configuration by connecting the first battery pack of the switchable battery and the second battery pack in parallel (¶[88] “The system controller 302 may initially discharge a first battery pack 112 (e.g., the battery pack 112 having the highest voltage). When the difference between a first voltage of the first battery pack 112 and a second voltage of a second battery pack 112 falls below a threshold difference (e.g., the first voltage and the second voltage are within a threshold range of one another), the system controller 302 couples the second battery pack 112 to the loads 122”);
and based at least in part on a determination that the first voltage level of the first battery pack is not within the threshold range of the second voltage level of the second battery pack, preventing the switchable battery of the electric vehicle from being configured in the drive configuration and activating the switchable active load to reduce a voltage level of the follower pack (see ¶[88] quoted above, when the battery packs have a large voltage difference, only the higher voltage pack is discharged via switchable load 122).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon to further incorporate the teachings of Marshall to provide based at least in part on a determination that a first voltage level of the first battery pack is within a threshold range of a second voltage level of the second battery pack,
configuring the switchable battery of the electric vehicle in a drive configuration by connecting the first battery pack of the switchable battery and the second battery pack in parallel
and based at least in part on a determination that the first voltage level of the first battery pack is not within the threshold range of the second voltage level of the second battery pack, preventing the switchable battery of the electric vehicle from being configured in the drive configuration and activating the switchable active load to reduce a voltage level of the follower pack;
in order to prevent damage by connecting two battery packs of differing voltages in parallel.
Claim(s) 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ke et al. (US 20120319657 A1) in view of Marshall et al. (WO 2024030557 A1) further in view of Yoon et al. (KR 20230134655 A) and further in view of Liu et al. (US 20220239119 A1).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon teaches the method of claim 8.
The combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon does not teach wherein the identification of the master pack is performed periodically during charging of the switchable battery.
Liu teaches wherein the identification of the master pack is performed periodically during charging of the switchable battery (¶[62] “Moreover, configuration of the battery packs may be automatically performed without user interaction. When the master battery pack is removed, one of the slave battery packs is automatically reconfigured to become the master battery pack”)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon to incorporate the teachings of Liu to provide
wherein the identification of the master pack is performed periodically during charging of the switchable battery in order to make sure one of the battery packs is designated as the master battery pack in the case of failure.
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon teaches the method of claim 8.
The combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon does not teach wherein the identifying the first battery pack as the master pack and adjusting the duty cycle of the switchable active load are only performed based on a determination that a state-of-charge of at least one of the first battery pack and the second battery pack is above a threshold minimum.
Liu teaches wherein a determination that a state-of-charge of at least one of the first battery pack and the second battery pack is above a threshold minimum (¶[55] “battery packs in a battery system may be charge-balanced to mitigate and/or prevent in-rush electrical current that may occur for one or more of a plurality of battery packs in the battery system when there is significant variation of state of charge (SoC) among the battery packs. For example, a large SoC variation may occur when a new battery pack is installed in a battery system, such as when a SoC of the new battery pack is much different (e.g., discharged, fully charged) when compared to the existing battery packs in the battery system”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon to incorporate the teachings of Liu to provide a determination that a state-of-charge of at least one of the first battery pack and the second battery pack is above a threshold minimum to increase the efficiency of the system and prevent unnecessary balancing.
Claim(s) 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ke et al. (US 20120319657 A1) in view of Marshall et al. (WO 2024030557 A1) further in view of Yoon et al. (KR 20230134655 A) and further in view of Yu (US 20220227256 A1).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon teaches the method of claim 8.
The combination of Ke, Marshall, and Yoon does not teach wherein the switchable active load includes a plurality of individually controllable active loads connected in parallel.
Yu teaches wherein the switchable active load (409 which includes switch A and resistor 408) includes a plurality of individually controllable active loads connected in parallel (¶[99] “Although one resistor 408 is shown, multiple resistors could be provided in series, and/or multiple resistors could be provided in selectable parallel branches for different voltage imbalances”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Ke, Griffith and Marshall to incorporate the teachings of Yu to provide wherein the switchable active load includes a plurality of individually controllable active loads connected in parallel in order to more easily balance large voltage differences.
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Ke, Marshall, Yoon , and Yu teaches the method of claim 12.
Yu further teaches activating one or more of the plurality of individually controllable active loads based on a voltage imbalance between the first battery pack and the second battery pack and a power rating of each of the one or more of the plurality of individually controllable active loads (¶[99] “Although one resistor 408 is shown, multiple resistors could be provided in series, and/or multiple resistors could be provided in selectable parallel branches for different voltage imbalances”).
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.
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/A.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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