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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1 – 6, 8, 9, 12 – 18, and 20 are pending in the application.
Claims 7, 10 – 11, and 19 are cancelled.
Claims 1, 9, and 14 are independent.
This action is Non-final based on a new 35 U.S.C. §103 prior art reference that was not necessitated by the applicant’s amendment; and based on objected to claim 19 limitations which a reference was found.
Given the amended claims 9 and 17, the 35 U.S.C. §101 and the 35 U.S.C. §112(b) rejections are rescinded.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Horita (US PG Pub. No. 20130226441), herein “Horita,” in view of De Miranda et al. (PG Pub. No. 20170072804), herein “De Miranda” in further view of Bhambare et al. (US PG Pub. No. 20240027212), herein “Bhambare.”
Regarding claim 14, it is directed to a system having a controller to implement the program or application set forth in previously rejected claim 1. Horita also teaches the element of a controller with computer readable instructions stored on non-transitory memory that when executed during electronic communication with the mobile application (Par. 0093: “The vehicle status check unit 211 is configured to repeatedly or even periodically check the vehicle status through the in-vehicle network and control unit 11, wherein the vehicle status may include, for example, the battery status of the battery 10, the speed and/or velocity of the vehicle 4, the electric consumption status of the electric devices 12 and 13 in the vehicle 4 and the like.” See also Figure 2 and Par. 0063, 0066, 0075, and 0094.)
Horita does not explicitly teach power interface or adjusting vehicle operating conditions. However, De Miranda does teach an electric vehicle having a power interface, the power interface enabled to supply energy to an auxiliary device; Par. 0101: “…power sockets for personal use devices in the vehicle's cabin…” Par. 0109. See figure 4. De Miranda also teaches adjust one or more vehicle operating conditions (adaptive control) in response to a control signal from the mobile application. (Par. 0046: “A method for managing energy in a smart energy management system is also addressed in the present invention. This method comprises the steps of monitoring, by way of the MECU, the instantaneous operating conditions of the system and the real-time information of some of its subsystems; storing the real-time information on the MECU through the adaptive control, performed by the MECU (3) by monitoring of the load status of the energy storage system (4), based on historical consumption; and determining, by way of the MECU and from the information stored therein, the power and energy streams by way of the busbar to the different energy consumer subsystems and storers on board the system, in order to prevent an electric energy generator from attending to situations of direct demands from the energy consumer subsystems, operating in approximately constant power to satisfy the operating conditions of best energy efficiency of the generator.” Par. 0087: “Using the man-machine interface 19 of the MECU 3, it is possible to use a device with tablet-like touch-sensitive screen, which enables starting and stopping the vehicle, recognizing the driver, starting and stopping devices of the vehicle's traction and auxiliary systems, providing dynamic operation information of the vehicle, such as load status of the energy storage system 4, speed and geographical position of the vehicle by GPS (Global Positioning System), instantaneous power expended in the vehicle, consumption currents and regeneration of kinetic energy into electric energy and screen to adjust variables and maintenance;…” See also Par. 0044, 0077, 0088 – 0091, 0101, and claim 12.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the mobile application in the form of a computer program product that determines the electric usage of onboard devices, of which profiles are stored in memory, and allows a user to select which mobile devices will be used while travelling and calculates the amount of charge used during a trip as in Horita with having an electric vehicle system with power sockets that power personal use devices aboard the EV wherein speed of the vehicle and other dynamics are monitored to provide dynamic and adaptive control of the EV as in De Miranda in order to ensure optimized stream of power generated by the electric traction motor and managing the load status of the energy storage system. (Par. 0044)
Horita and De Miranda do not teach the amended portion of claim 14 of stopping the power to an interface based on range. However, Bhambare does teach in response to a first control signal based on a request to monitor a use case profile, generate current to the power interface, and in response to a second control signal based on a vehicle range being not more than a threshold range, stop current to the power interface. (Par. 0096: “Step 710 includes achieving Stage Three (S3) and continuing to monitor an expected range. S3 may include achieving a minimal or otherwise significantly reduced energy usage condition, any other suitable significant modification, or any combination thereof. When the system determines to modify operation still further, the system may achieve S3 modification, which corresponds to even more significant modifications as compared to S2, and then monitors the range. S3 operation may include, for example, changing a pedal map to a limited power mode (e.g., further reducing peak speed, current, and/or torque), limiting top vehicle speed, reducing HVAC performance to a minimum or severely reduced level (e.g., turning OFF or otherwise limiting the magnitude of changes the HVAC system can bring about), turning some or all lights off (e.g., a subset of non-legally required lights), turning OFF accessories (e.g., chargers, cabin interior lights, audio system, graphics system), close the AGS, provide a notification to the driver (e.g., at interface 360) that range is being managed (e.g., according to S3), any other suitable modification or action, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, S3 may be sub-staged, with the system modifying operation of one or several vehicle systems at a time, sequentially until the range is improved.” Par. 0095: “Step 708 includes determining whether to modify operation of one or more vehicle systems further based on a change in expected range or other suitable metric. If operation in S2 is sufficient to increase, maintain, or otherwise achieve a range that greater than a threshold, greater than a distance to a charger (e.g., by a threshold such as 20 units or 50 units), greater than a distance to a destination (e.g., by a threshold such 20 units or 50 units), or other sufficient range to cause the system to cease modifying operation of the one or more vehicle systems, or optionally return to operation in S1.” Examiner Note – the element of “not more than a threshold range” is a lower limit; thus, the element of maintaining the range greater than a threshold is the logical equivalent. See also Bhambare Par. 0035 that teaches a “more than sufficient range.” Bhambare also teaches in paragraph 0090 that the power consuming accessories contain operating characteristics. See also Par. 0093 - 0095.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the mobile application in the form of a computer program product that determines the electric usage of onboard devices, of which profiles are stored in memory, and allows a user to select which mobile devices will be used while travelling and calculates the amount of charge used during a trip as in Horita with having an electric vehicle system with power sockets that power personal use devices aboard the EV wherein speed of the vehicle and other dynamics are monitored to provide dynamic and adaptive control of the EV as in De Miranda with a system that has accessories with operating characteristics that charge on board an electrical vehicle wherein the accessory charging can be turned off if the vehicle range is below an expected value as in Bhambare in order to facilitate
modification of an operating characteristic of one or more electrical components of a vehicle system to compensate for a change in environmental conditions and plan the vehicle to have enough charge at its destination. (Abstract and Par. 0020)
Claim 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Horita in view of De Miranda in further view of Stevo et al. (PG Pub. No. 20230314522), herein “Stevo,” in further view of Bhambare.
Regarding claim 16, it is dependent on claim 14 and is directed to a system having a controller with instructions on a non-transitory memory to implement the program or application set forth in previously rejected claim 4. Horita, De Miranda, and Bhambare teach the claimed program or application in claim 14. Horita in view of Stevo teaches the elements of claim 4. Therefore, Horita, De Miranda, Bhambare, and Stevo teach the elements of claim 16 and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the cited references given the previous cited motivation statements.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Horita in view of De Miranda in further view of Bhambare in further view of Diamond et al. (PG Pub. No. 20220266694), herein “Diamond.”
Regarding claim 18, the previously cited references teach the limitations of claim 14 which claim 18 depends. They do not teach determining an actual energy consumption and then compute one of several parameters and transmit the data to the user. However, Dimond teaches the controller further includes computer readable instructions stored on the non-transitory memory that when executed cause the controller to: in response to a request to determine an actual energy consumption, receive or measure the actual energy consumption, the actual energy consumption comprising one of a distance to empty, a battery state of charge, a vehicle range, and a current electrical load of one or more auxiliary devices electrically coupled to the power interface, and transmit the actual energy consumption to the mobile application. (Par. 0031: “At operation 404, responsive to detecting a power draw from the power outlet 133, the computing platform 150 starts to measure an actual power drawn from the power outlet 133 and identify which device is drawing the power. The computing platform 150 may communicate with the device currently being used via the power outlet 133 or via a wireless connection (e.g., Bluetooth connection). Alternatively, the computing platform 150 may make an assumption about the identity of the current device based on the actual power being drawn from the power outlet 133. At operation 406, the computing platform 150 presents the interface 302 to the user via the display/projector 214 and/or via the mobile device 228. The interface 302, as discussed above, may include a devices being used entry 320 based on the identification at operation 404.” Par. 0028: “An example of the interface 302 is illustrated in FIG. 3. The interface may include a battery level gauge (fuel gauge) 308 indicative of a current state-of-charge (SOC) of the traction battery 124. The SOC of the battery 124 may be presented in a percentage form although other forms such as an actual ampere hour (Ah) may be used in other embodiments. Although the present disclosure may be more applicable to a BEV situation without an internal combustion engine, the same concept may also be applicable to a hybrid vehicle. In case that the vehicle 112 is provided with the engine 118, the interface 302 may further include a fuel gauge 310 indicative of a fuel level of the vehicle 112. The interface 302 may further include a distance to empty (DTE) entry 312 dynamically calculated using the SOC of the battery 124 alone or in addition to the fuel level. The interface 302 may further include a distance to station entry 314 indicative of a distance from a current vehicle location to a predetermined station location equipped with charging/fueling facilities (e.g., an EVSE) calculated via the navigation controller 222 of the computing platform 150. The station location may include one or more predefined locations assigned to the vehicle to return to after finishing a scheduled operating task. For instance, for a work truck vehicle 112, the station location may be shop or garage associated with an entity managing the operation of the vehicle. In case that multiple station locations are present in the vehicle database, the navigation controller 222 may automatically identify the nearest location as the station location for the vehicle 112 to return to. Additionally or alternatively, in a more comprehensive scheduling system, the computing platform 105 may be configured to select one of the station locations based on an availability of EVSEs 136 at each station location. The vehicle 112 may determine a minimum SOC of the traction battery 124 based on the distance to station to ensure that the vehicle 112 has enough charge/fuel to reach the station for charging.” Par. 0003, 0030 and 0032.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the mobile application in the form of a computer program product that determines the electric usage of onboard devices, of which profiles are stored in memory, and allows a user to select which mobile devices will be used while travelling and calculates the amount of charge used during a trip as in Horita with having an electric vehicle system with power sockets that power personal use devices aboard the EV wherein speed of the vehicle and other dynamics are monitored to provide dynamic and adaptive control of the EV as in De Miranda with a system that has accessories with operating characteristics that charge on board an electrical vehicle wherein the accessory charging can be turned off if the vehicle range is below an expected value as in Bhambare with determine that actual energy usage including the power outlet charged from the traction battery (main battery of the EV) and then calculate the distance to empty metric and output that data to user via a display as in Diamond in order to display a recommendation to a user either against or for usage of a power outlet in the vehicle. (Par. 0003 – 0005).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 – 6, 8, 9, 12, and 13 are allowed. Claims 15, 17, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. For claim 15, the prior art does not disclose the elements of claim 14 and that the controller further includes computer readable instructions stored on the non-transitory memory that when executed cause the controller to: in response to a request to determine a power rating for a first auxiliary device, and the first auxiliary device being electrically coupled to the power interface, generate current to the power interface, measure the electrical load for a threshold duration, calculate the power rating from the electrical load and the threshold duration, and transmit the power rating to the mobile application; and in response to not obtaining the power rating after the threshold duration, transmit a conservative estimate to the mobile application.
For claim 17, the prior art does not disclose the elements of claim 14 and that the controller further includes computer readable instructions stored on the non-transitory memory that when executed cause the controller to: in response to a request to determine a storage capacity of a rechargeable battery, and the rechargeable battery being electrically coupled to the power interface, obtain a first vehicle range, generate current to the power interface, charge the rechargeable battery to full capacity, obtain a second vehicle range, estimate the storage capacity based on a difference between the second vehicle range and the first vehicle range, and communicate the estimate to the mobile application.
For dependent claim 20, the prior art does not disclose the elements of claim 14 and that the controller further includes computer readable instructions stored on the non-transitory memory that when executed cause the controller to: generate current to the power interface at a first power rate based on a first control signal and generate current to the power interface a second power rate based on a second control signal, the first control signal generated by the mobile application in response to a first use case preference and the second control signal generated by the mobile application in response to a second use case preference.
Response to Arguments
Applicant has amended the claims to overcome the 35 USC 101 and 35 USC 112(b) rejections in the first office action filed on 08/04/2025. Applicant has also amended independent claims 1 and 9 to include allowable subject matter from claims 7 and 11 (now cancelled). Claim 14 was amended to include previously objected to claim 19 elements that was indicated as allowable subject matter. However, a new reference was found, Bhambare, that teaches the amended elements of claim 14. Because the previous office action objected to claim 19 as being allowable, this is a non-final action.
CONCLUSION
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Schaffer et al. (US PG Pub. No. 20200317084), published in October 8, 2020, teaches similar elements to the instant application including displaying via user interface parameters of the EV (102) including battery charge and remaining and expected range of the EV.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAD G ERDMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0177. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 7am - 3pm or 4pm EST..
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/CHAD G ERDMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2116