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 2/3/2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 24-26 under 35 U.S.C 112 have been fully considered. The rejection has been withdrawn due to amendments.
Applicant’s arguments, filed 2/3/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 20-26 under 35 U.S.C 102 and claims 1-19 and 27 under 35 U.S.C 103 have been fully considered. The rejection has been withdrawn due to amendments. 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) 1-3 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onozawa et al. (JP 2013207916 A) in view of Cao et al. (US 20230127099 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Onozawa teaches an energy storage system, comprising:
at least one energy storage unit cluster (see Fig. 1), the at least one energy storage unit cluster comprising: a centralized monitoring system (host system, see ¶[23] “The host system monitors, controls, and records the status of the unit modules based on the transmitted signals”);
a control bus (13-14) coupled to the centralized monitoring system (¶[23] “Furthermore, this signal is transmitted to a higher-level system via the control signal input/output terminals 13 and 14 of the storage battery device”); and
at least two energy storage modules connected in series (101, 201) and connected in parallel to the control bus (see Fig. 1), an energy storage module of the at least two energy storage modules comprising:
an energy storage element group; and
a switch bridge arm (see Fig. 1), the switch bridge arm comprising:
a master control switch (106, 206), a first terminal of the master control switch being connected to the energy storage element group and a second terminal being used as a first input/output terminal of the energy storage module (see Fig. 1); and
a bypass switch (109, 209), a first terminal of the bypass switch being connected to the first input/output terminal of the energy storage module and a second terminal being connected to a second input/output terminal of the energy storage module (see Fig. 1); and
the centralized monitoring system (host system) being configured to control a master control (106, 206) switch and a bypass switch (109, 209) of any energy storage module in the energy storage unit cluster to be on or off to access or bypass the any energy storage module (¶[19-20] “When the detected voltage is within a preset range, the output switch 206 is driven on, and when the detected voltage is outside the preset range, i.e., exceeds the upper limit value or is
below the lower limit value, the output switch 206 is driven off … The upper and lower limits can be set arbitrarily from an external host system via the control signal input/output terminals 13 and 14”).
Onozawa does not teach at least one energy storage unit cluster coupled to a direct current busbar and a DC/DC converter;
a centralized monitoring system coupled to the direct current busbar;
and at least two energy storage modules connected in series to the centralized monitoring system.
Cao teaches at least one energy storage unit cluster (20) coupled to a direct current busbar (10) and a DC/DC converter (30) (¶[51] “Each of a subset of the battery packs 20 is connected in series with the at least one voltage equalization module 30”);
a centralized monitoring system (39) coupled to the direct current busbar (10) ;
and at least two energy storage modules connected in series to the centralized monitoring system (¶[50] “Each of the battery packs 20 includes multiple battery cores. The multiple battery cores are connected in series or in parallel to form a battery pack … Each of a subset of the battery packs 20 is connected in series with the at least one voltage equalization module 30”; the centralized monitoring system 39 is part of the DC/DC converter, see Fig. 4).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Onozawa to incorporate the teachings of Cao to provide at least one energy storage unit cluster coupled to a direct current busbar and a DC/DC converter;
a centralized monitoring system coupled to the direct current busbar;
and at least two energy storage modules connected in series to the centralized monitoring system; in order to control the voltage output by the whole string (using the monitoring system and converter) and provide the correct voltage to the user.
Regarding Claim 2, Onozawa in view of Cao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 1.
Cao further teaches wherein the centralized monitoring system is integrated into the DC/DC converter (¶[65] “the voltage equalization module 30 includes a voltage regulation unit 31, a communication unit 36, a current detection unit 38, a voltage detection unit 37, and a control unit 39”).
Regarding Claim 3, Onozawa in view of Cao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 2.
Onozawa further teaches wherein one of the at least two energy storage modules further comprises one battery management unit BMU (107, 207);
and the centralized monitoring system is connected to BMUs of the energy storage modules in the energy storage unit cluster through the control bus (see Fig. 1 and ¶[23] “This signal is transmitted to the control circuit 207 of the other unit module 201 via the control signal input/output terminals 112 and 113 of the unit module 101 and the control signal input/output terminals 212 and 213 of the unit module 201. Furthermore, this signal is transmitted to a higher-level system via the control signal input/output terminals 13 and 14 of the storage battery device”).
Regarding Claim 6, Onozawa in view of Cao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 3.
Onozawa further teaches wherein the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module are integrated into the BMU of the any energy storage module (see Fig. 3, compare to Fig. 5b of the instant application, switches and controller are both contained in module 101).
Regarding Claim 7, Onozawa in view of Cao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 6.
Onozawa further teaches wherein the BMU of the any energy storage module comprises a board (107, 207).
Regarding Claim 8, Onozawa in view of Cao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 6.
Onozawa further teaches wherein the BMU of the any energy storage module comprises a plurality of boards, the plurality of boards comprise a modular battery management system mBMS board (107, 207) and a switch bridge arm board (see Fig. 3), and the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module are integrated onto the switch bridge arm board (see Fig. 3, compare to Fig. 5b of the instant application, see arrows from controller to switches).
Claim(s) 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onozawa et al. (JP 2013207916 A) in view of Cao et al. (US 20230127099 A1) further in view of Zhao et al. (CN 110661314 A).
Regarding Claim 4, Onozawa in view of Cao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 3.
Onozawa in view of Cao does not explicitly teach wherein the centralized monitoring system is configured to control, by using a BMU of any energy storage module, the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module to be on or off.
Zhao teaches wherein the centralized monitoring system (6) is configured to control, by using a BMU (control units inside control group 4, see Fig. 3) of any energy storage module (battery module inside battery group 3, see Fig. 4), the master control switch (14) and the bypass switch (15) of the any energy storage module to be on or off (¶[54] “All battery control units in the battery control group 4 are connected to the central controller 6”, ¶[56] “The battery control unit collects the status information of the batteries in the battery circuit connected to it, and sends the collected battery status information to the central controller 6, receives the control message sent by the central controller 6 and controls the conduction and disconnection of the switch group in the battery circuit connected to it according to the control information”).
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 Onozawa in view of Cao to incorporate the teachings of Zhao to provide wherein the centralized monitoring system is configured to control, by using a BMU of any energy storage module, the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module to be on or off, in order to control the battery string to provide a specific voltage by controlling some modules to be bypassed.
Regarding Claim 5, Onozawa in view of Cao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 3.
Onozawa in view of Cao does not explicitly teach wherein the centralized monitoring system is configured to send a switch control signal through the control bus to control the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module to be on or off.
Zhao further teaches wherein the centralized monitoring system is configured to send a switch control signal through the control bus to control the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module to be on or off (see ¶[54] and ¶[56] cited above, and bus in Fig. 1 connecting central controller 6 and individual battery control units (4).
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 Onozawa in view of Cao to incorporate the teachings of Zhao to provide wherein the centralized monitoring system is configured to send a switch control signal through the control bus to control the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module to be on or off (, in order to control the battery string to provide a specific voltage by controlling some modules to be bypassed.
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onozawa et al. (JP 2013207916 A) in view of Cao et al. (US 20230127099 A1) further in view of Yu (CN 104253469 A).
Regarding Claim 9, Onozawa in view of Cao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 6.
Onozawa in view of Cao does not explicitly teach wherein the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module in the energy storage unit cluster are in an off state.
Yu teaches wherein the master control switch (K1) and the bypass switch (K2) (see Fig. 3) of the any energy storage module in the energy storage unit cluster are in an off state (¶[64] “The switch status detection unit 1128 is used to detect the on or off status of the series switch and the bypass switch, and send the status information to the data processing unit to generate a corresponding switch control signal to ensure that one switch is completely opened before closing the other switch to prevent a common short circuit”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Onozawa in view of Cao to incorporate the teachings of Yu to provide wherein the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module in the energy storage unit cluster are in an off state in order to prevent short circuits, as suggested by Yu.
Claim(s) 10 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onozawa et al. (JP 2013207916 A) in view of Cao et al. (US 20230127099 A1) further in view of Yu (CN 104253469 A) and further in view of Brotto et al. (US 20080266913 A1).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Onozawa, Cao, and Yu teaches the energy storage system according to claim 9.
The combination of Onozawa, Cao, and Yu does not explicitly teach wherein a power supply module of the BMU of the any energy storage module supplies power via an energy storage element group of the any energy storage module or the control bus.
Brotto teaches wherein a power supply module of the BMU (CC) of the any energy storage module supplies power via an energy storage element group (BC) of the any energy storage module (see Fig. 4) or the control bus (¶[44] “Preferably, cluster controls CC0, CC1, . . . CCn are powered by battery cells BC”).
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 Onozawa, Cao, and Yu to incorporate the teachings of Brotto to provide wherein a power supply module of the BMU of the any energy storage module supplies power via an energy storage element group of the any energy storage module or the control bus in order to provide a consistent power source for the battery controller.
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, and Brotto teaches the energy storage system according to claim 10.
Onozawa further teaches wherein the BMU (107, 207) of the any energy storage module (101, 201) is configured to:
upon detecting that a port voltage for charging or discharging of the energy storage element group in the any energy storage module is equal to a protection voltage threshold, turn off the master control switch of the any energy storage module (¶[19] “When the detected voltage is within a preset range, the output switch 206 is driven on, and when the detected voltage is outside the preset range, i.e., exceeds the upper limit value or is below the lower limit value, the output switch 206 is driven off”) and turn on the bypass switch of the any energy storage module (¶[21] “In FIG. 1, the protection switches 109 and 209 are turned on when the output switches 106 and 206 are turned off, and prevent abnormal voltages from occurring in the unit modules 101 and 201”).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, and Brotto teaches the energy storage system according to claim 10.
Onozawa further teaches wherein the BMU (107, 207) of the any energy storage module (101, 201) is configured to:
upon detecting that a parameter of the energy storage element group in the any energy storage module exceeds a threshold, turn off the master control switch of the any energy storage module (¶[19] “When the detected voltage is within a preset range, the output switch 206 is driven on, and when the detected voltage is outside the preset range, i.e., exceeds the upper limit value or is below the lower limit value, the output switch 206 is driven off”)
and turn on the bypass switch of the any energy storage module (¶[21] “In FIG. 1, the protection switches 109 and 209 are turned on when the output switches 106 and 206 are turned off, and prevent abnormal voltages from occurring in the unit modules 101 and 201”).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, and Brotto teaches the energy storage system according to claim 13.
Onozawa further teaches wherein the parameter of the energy storage element group (102-105) comprises one or more of a charge/discharge time, a state of charge SOC, a depth of discharge DOD, a state of health SOH, and a port voltage (¶[18] “In FIG. 1, a control circuit 107 detects the voltage of each of the storage battery cells 102 , 103, 104 , and 105”).
Claim(s) 11 and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onozawa et al. (JP 2013207916 A) in view of Cao et al. (US 20230127099 A1) further in view of Yu (CN 104253469 A) and further in view of Brotto et al. (US 20080266913 A1), and further in view of Zhao et al. (CN 110661314 A).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, and Brotto teaches the energy storage system according to claim 10.
Onozawa as modified does not teach wherein the centralized monitoring system is configured to: when the energy storage system is started, control, by using the BMUs of the energy storage modules in the energy storage unit cluster, master control switches of the energy storage modules to be on one by one.
Zhao teaches wherein the centralized monitoring system (6) is configured to:
when the energy storage system is started, control, by using the BMUs of the energy storage modules (4) in the energy storage unit cluster (3), master control switches (14) of the energy storage modules to be on one by one (see “Discharge process” starting from ¶[35] to ¶[39], ¶[36] “a control signal is sent through the central controller to the battery control group to remove the batteries with low remaining capacity”, ¶[37] “Step 2: After step 1, if the remaining capacity of a battery in the removed battery section is higher than the lowest remaining capacity of the connected battery section, connect the battery section”)
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 Onozawa, Cao, Yu, and Brotto to further incorporate the teachings of Zhao to provide herein the centralized monitoring system is configured to: when the energy storage system is started, control, by using the BMUs of the energy storage modules in the energy storage unit cluster, master control switches of the energy storage modules to be on one by one in order to balance the batteries for longer battery life and improved performance.
Regarding Claim 15, the combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, and Brotto teaches the energy storage system according to claim 10.
Onozawa as modified does not explicitly teach the BMU of the any energy storage module is configured to:
upon detecting that the energy storage element group in the any energy storage module has an anomaly, turn off the master control switch of the any energy storage module and turn on the bypass switch,
wherein the anomaly of the energy storage element group comprises:
a state of health SOH of the energy storage element group is less than an SOH threshold, a short circuit occurs in the energy storage element group, or over-temperature occurs in the energy storage element group.
Zhao teaches the BMU (control unit inside control group 4) of the any energy storage module (modules inside battery group 3) is configured to:
upon detecting that the energy storage element group in the any energy storage module has an anomaly, turn off the master control switch of the any energy storage module and turn on the bypass switch (¶[88] “the battery control group can detect and feedback the battery status information and adjust the switch status in the corresponding battery circuit under the control of the central controller, so as to promptly remove the faulty batteries and bypass these batteries”),
wherein the anomaly of the energy storage element group comprises:
a state of health SOH of the energy storage element group is less than an SOH threshold, a short circuit occurs in the energy storage element group, or over-temperature occurs in the energy storage element group (¶[44] “if a battery cell experiences an abnormal condition such as an open plate fault, a short plate fault, too low available capacity, or too high a temperature, the present invention can utilize the battery control group to remove the faulty battery”).
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 Onozawa, Cao, Yu, and Brotto to incorporate the teachings of Zhao to provide the BMU of the any energy storage module is configured to:
upon detecting that the energy storage element group in the any energy storage module has an anomaly, turn off the master control switch of the any energy storage module and turn on the bypass switch,
wherein the anomaly of the energy storage element group comprises:
a state of health SOH of the energy storage element group is less than an SOH threshold, a short circuit occurs in the energy storage element group, or over-temperature occurs in the energy storage element group;
in order to prevent adverse effects from a faulty battery or cause more damage to it.
Regarding Claim 16, the combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, and Brotto teaches the energy storage system according to claim 12.
Onozawa further teaches the BMU (107, 207) of the any energy storage module (101, 201) is further configured to:
upon detecting that the battery charge/discharge current is equal to a preset current threshold, turn off or on the master control switch or the bypass switch of the any energy storage module (¶[19] “When the detected current is within a preset range, the output switch 206 is driven on, and when the detected voltage is outside the preset range, i.e., exceeds the upper limit, the output switch 206 is driven off”).
Onozawa as modified does not teach wherein the BMU of the any energy storage module is configured to send a current adjustment request to the centralized monitoring system;
the centralized monitoring system is configured to:
upon receiving the current adjustment request, control the DC/DC converter to reduce a battery charge/discharge current of the energy storage unit cluster;
Zhao teaches wherein the BMU of the any energy storage module (4) is configured to send a current adjustment request to the centralized monitoring system (6, ¶[87] “When its power is exhausted, the battery control unit detects this state and sends the information to the central controller”),
the centralized monitoring system (6) is configured to
upon receiving the current adjustment request, control the DC/DC converter (2) to reduce a battery charge/discharge current of the energy storage unit cluster (3) (¶[87] “In the above situation, since the small-capacity battery is bypassed, the total voltage provided by the battery pack 3 is reduced, and the bidirectional DC-DC converter 2 operates in the boost mode to ensure normal operation of the load”, the DC-DC converter 2 is connected to the central controller 6, see Fig. 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 the combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, and Brotto to further incorporate the teachings of Zhao to provide wherein the BMU of the any energy storage module is configured to send a current adjustment request to the centralized monitoring system;
the centralized monitoring system is configured to:
upon receiving the current adjustment request, control the DC/DC converter to reduce a battery charge/discharge current of the energy storage unit cluster;
in order to avoid overcharging or undercharging the battery.
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, Brotto, and Zhao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 16.
The combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, Brotto, and Zhao does not explicitly teach wherein the preset current threshold is 50%, 20%, or 10% of a rated operating current of the energy storage unit cluster; however, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the current decreases when the battery is discharged and to disconnect the battery to prevent over-discharging.
Claim(s) 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onozawa et al. (JP 2013207916 A) in view of Cao et al. (US 20230127099 A1) further in view of Yu (CN 104253469 A) and further in view of Brotto et al. (US 20080266913 A1), and further in view Zhao et al. (CN 110661314 A) and further in view of Reed et al. (US 20100088843 A1).
Regarding Claim 18, the combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, Brotto, and Zhao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 11.
The combination of Onozawa, Cao, Yu, Brotto, and Zhao does not teach wherein the BMU of the any energy storage module is further configured to:
upon detecting no control signal of the centralized monitoring system, turn off the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module.
Reed teaches wherein the BMU (510) of the any energy storage module (505) is further configured to:
upon detecting no control signal of the centralized monitoring system (545), turn off the master control switch and the bypass switch (515 and 520) of the any energy storage module (¶[85] “if the battery pack and the device fail to successfully maintain communication, the battery pack controller 510 turns off the charge and discharge control modules 515 and 520 and enters the sleep mode”, ¶[85] “In other embodiments, the battery pack is configured to disconnect the positive terminal of the cell assembly to stop the supply of power to the device”).
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 Onozawa, Cao, Yu, Brotto, and Zhao to incorporate the teachings of Reed to provide wherein the BMU of the any energy storage module is further configured to:
upon detecting no control signal of the centralized monitoring system, turn off the master control switch and the bypass switch of the any energy storage module;
in order to prevent damage from overcharging or over-discharging the battery modules.
Claim(s) 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onozawa et al. (JP 2013207916 A) in view of Cao et al. (US 20230127099 A1) further in view of Yoscovich (US 20240056000 A1).
Regarding Claim 19, Onozawa in view of Zhao teaches the energy storage system according to claim 1.
Onozawa further teaches wherein the switch bridge arm is a low-voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor MOSFET (¶[25] “Therefore, a storage battery device can be easily realized by configuring unit modules using low-voltage power MOSFETs as output switches”).
Onozawa as modified does not teach a voltage of the low-voltage MOSFET comprises 60 V, 80 V, 100 V, 120 V, 150 V, or 200 V.
Yoscovich teaches a voltage of the low-voltage MOSFET comprises 60 V, 80 V, 100 V, 120 V, 150 V, or 200 V (¶[6] “the control system allows the use of low-voltage MOSFETs (e.g. 80V)”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Onozawa in view of Zhao to incorporate the teachings of Yoscovich to provide a voltage of the low-voltage MOSFET comprises 60 V, 80 V, 100 V, 120 V, 150 V, or 200 V in order to reduce switching losses and improve efficiency.
Claim(s) 20-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. (CN 110661314 A) in view of Cao et al. (US 20230127099 A1).
Regarding Claim 20, Zhao teaches a control method for energy storage system, comprising:
at least one energy storage unit cluster (3) coupled to a direct current busbar (bus bar after the DC/DC converter 2 in Fig. 1) and a DC/DC converter (2), the at least one energy storage unit cluster comprising: a centralized monitoring system (6);
a control bus (connection between controller 6 and control group 4 in Fig. 1) coupled to the centralized monitoring system (6); and
at least two energy storage modules (modules inside cluster 3, see Fig. 3) connected in parallel to the control bus (see Fig. 3), an energy storage module of the at least two energy storage modules (Fig. 4a) comprising:
an energy storage element group (16); and
a switch bridge arm (see Fig. 4a), the switch bridge arm comprising:
a master control switch (14), a first terminal of the master control switch being connected to the energy storage element group and a second terminal being used as a first input/output terminal of the energy storage module (see Fig. 4a); and
a bypass switch (15), a first terminal of the bypass switch being connected to the first input/output terminal of the energy storage module and a second terminal being connected to a second input/output terminal of the energy storage module (see Fig. 4a).
Zhao does not explicitly teach a centralized monitoring system coupled to the direct current busbar; and at least two energy storage modules connected in series to the centralized monitoring system.
Cao teaches a centralized monitoring system (39) coupled to the direct current busbar (10); and
at least two energy storage modules connected in series to the centralized monitoring system (¶[50] “Each of the battery packs 20 includes multiple battery cores. The multiple battery cores are connected in series or in parallel to form a battery pack … Each of a subset of the battery packs 20 is connected in series with the at least one voltage equalization module 30”; the centralized monitoring system 39 is part of the DC/DC converter, see Fig. 4).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhao to incorporate the teachings of Cao to provide a centralized monitoring system coupled to the direct current busbar; and at least two energy storage modules connected in series to the centralized monitoring system; in order to reduce the connection latency between the battery modules and the monitoring system.
Regarding Claim 21, Zhao in view of Cao teaches the control method according to claim 20.
Zhao further teaches wherein the centralized monitoring system (6) being connected to the energy storage unit cluster (3) through a control bus comprises:
the centralized monitoring system (6) being connected to battery management units (BMUs) (4) of the energy storage modules in the energy storage unit cluster through the control bus (see Figs. 1 and 3, ¶[54] “All battery control units in the battery control group 4 are connected to the central controller 6”);
and the controlling, by the centralized monitoring system, the master control switch and the bypass switch of any energy storage module in the energy storage unit cluster to be on or off comprises:
controlling, by the centralized monitoring system by using a BMU of the energy storage module, the master control switch (14) and the bypass switch (15) of the energy storage module to be on or off (see ¶[56] quoted above).
Regarding Claim 22, Zhao in view of Cao teaches the control method according to claim 20.
Zhao further teaches wherein the controlling, by the centralized monitoring system (6), the master control switch (14) and the bypass switch (15) of the energy storage module in the energy storage unit cluster (3) to be on or off comprises:
sending, by the centralized monitoring system, a switch control signal through the control bus to control the master control switch and the bypass switch of the energy storage module to be on or off ¶[56] “The battery control unit … receives the control message sent by the central controller 6 and controls the conduction and disconnection of the switch group in the battery circuit connected to it according to the control information”).
Regarding Claim 23, Zhao in view of Cao teaches the control method according to claim 21.
Zhao further teaches wherein the controlling, by the centralized monitoring system (6), the master control switch (14) and the bypass switch (15) of the energy storage module in the energy storage unit cluster (3) to be on or off comprises:
when the energy storage system is started, controlling, by the centralized monitoring system by using the BMUs (4) of the energy storage modules in the energy storage unit cluster, master control switches of the energy storage modules to be on one by one (see “Discharge process” starting from ¶[35] to ¶[39], ¶[36] “a control signal is sent through the central controller to the battery control group to remove the batteries with low remaining capacity”, ¶[37] “Step 2: After step 1, if the remaining capacity of a battery in the removed battery section is higher than the lowest remaining capacity of the connected battery section, connect the battery section”)
Regarding Claim 24, Zhao in view of Cao teaches the control method according to claim 21.
Zhao further teaches wherein the method further comprises:
when the centralized monitoring system detects, by using the BMU of the energy storage module, that a port voltage for charging or discharging of an energy storage element group in the energy storage module is equal to a protection voltage threshold (¶[13] “The central controller receives status information of all batteries collected by all battery control units in the battery control group, and uses a voltage balancing strategy or a capacity balancing strategy based on the collected battery status information to determine whether each battery in the battery group needs to be bypassed”, ¶[22] “Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 until half of the batteries being charged have reached the full voltage condition. Then, the central controller sends a control signal to the battery control unit to connect all batteries to the charging circuit and stop charging”),
turning off, by the BMU of the energy storage module, the master control switch of the energy storage module and turning on the bypass switch of the energy storage module (¶[54] “All battery control units in the battery control group 4 are connected to the central controller 6”, ¶[56] “The battery control unit collects the status information of the batteries in the battery circuit connected to it, and sends the collected battery status information to the central controller 6, receives the control message sent by the central controller 6 and controls the conduction and disconnection of the switch group in the battery circuit connected to it according to the control information”).
Regarding Claim 25, Zhao in view of Cao teaches the control method according to claim 21.
Zhao further teaches wherein the method further comprises:
when the centralized monitoring system (6) detects, by using the BMU of the energy storage module (4), that a parameter of the energy storage element group in the energy storage module exceeds a threshold (¶[44] “if a battery cell experiences an abnormal condition such as an open plate fault, a short plate fault, too low available capacity, or too high a temperature, the present invention can utilize the battery control group to remove the faulty battery”),
turning off, by the BMU of the energy storage module, the master control switch of the any energy storage module and turning on the bypass switch of the any energy storage module (¶[88] “the battery control group can detect and feedback the battery status information and adjust the switch status in the corresponding battery circuit under the control of the central controller, so as to promptly remove the faulty batteries and bypass these batteries”),
wherein the parameter of the energy storage element group comprises one or more of a charge/discharge time, a state of charge SOC, a depth of discharge DOD, a state of health SOH, and a port voltage (see ¶[44] quoted above).
Regarding Claim 26, Zhao in view of Cao teaches the control method according to claim 21.
wherein the method further comprises:
when the centralized monitoring system (6) detects, by using the BMU of the energy storage module (4), that the energy storage element group in the energy storage module (3) has an anomaly (¶[44] “if a battery cell experiences an abnormal condition such as an open plate fault, a short plate fault, too low available capacity, or too high a temperature, the present invention can utilize the battery control group to remove the faulty battery”),
turning off, by the BMU of the energy storage module, the master control switch of the energy storage module and turning on the bypass switch (¶[56] “The battery control unit collects the status information of the batteries in the battery circuit connected to it, and sends the collected battery status information to the central controller 6, receives the control message sent by the central controller 6 and controls the conduction and disconnection of the switch group in the battery circuit connected to it according to the control information”).
wherein the anomaly of the energy storage element group comprises:
an SOH of the energy storage element group is less than an SOH threshold, a short circuit occurs in the energy storage element group, or over-temperature occurs in the energy storage element group (see ¶[44] quoted above).
Regarding Claim 27, Zhao in view of Cao teaches the control method according to claim 24.
Zhao further teaches wherein the method further comprises: when the centralized monitoring system (6) receives a current adjustment request from the BMU of the energy storage module (4, ¶[87] “When its power is exhausted, the battery control unit detects this state and sends the information to the central controller”),
controlling a DC/DC converter to reduce a battery charge/discharge current of the energy storage unit cluster (¶[87] “In the above situation, since the small-capacity battery is bypassed, the total voltage provided by the battery pack 3 is reduced, and the bidirectional DC-DC converter 2 operates in the boost mode to ensure normal operation of the load”);
and when the centralized monitoring system detects, by using the BMU of the energy storage module, that the battery charge/discharge current is equal to a preset current threshold, turning on or off, by the BMU of the energy storage module, the master control switch or the bypass switch of the any energy storage module (¶[87] “When its power is exhausted, the battery control unit detects this state and sends the information to the central controller. After receiving the processing information from the central controller, the switch 14 is adjusted to be turned off and switch 15 is turned on”, the capacity information is based on the current, as referenced in ¶[73] “The battery current information measured by the battery control unit is used to calculate the available capacity and remaining capacity of each battery”),
Zhao in view of Cao does not explicitly teach wherein the preset current threshold is 50%, 20%, or 10% of a rated operating current of the energy storage unit cluster; however, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the current decreases when the battery is discharged and to disconnect the battery to prevent over-discharging.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/A.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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