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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7-11 and 16-18 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions II, III, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/12/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-6, 12-15 and 21-22 in the reply filed on 03/12/2026 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/21/2023 and 06/18/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 12 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 12, line 5, delete “amounting part” and replace with “a mounting part”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wojcik et al. US Pub 2015/0194839 (hereinafter Wojcik).
Regarding claim 1, Wojcik teaches a battery pack (title and abstract), comprising:
a battery assembly (claim 1, and Abstract; the battery pack includes one or more rechargeable batteries), a charging assembly, matched with the battery assembly to charge the battery assembly by an external power source (claim 1 and ¶ 0072; a first inductive coil proximate the first surface of the housing, the first inductive coil configured for wirelessly receiving electrical power from an external power source), and
a discharging assembly, matched with the battery assembly to supply power to an electric equipment by the battery assembly (¶ 0066 and claims 1, 19; Inductive coil 512 is used to wirelessly transfer power stored in the battery(s) of battery pack 500 to an electronic device, such as a smartphone),
wherein the discharging assembly comprises a discharging coil and a discharging integration module matched with the discharging coil, so that the battery assembly outputs electrical energy through the discharging assembly in a non-contact manner (¶ 0071 and claims 1 and 15; electrical circuitry in battery pack 500 is used to drive or transfer electrical energy stored in battery(s) of battery pack 500 through inductive coil 512 to wirelessly charge an electronic device that is external to battery pack 500).
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Regarding claim 2, Wojcik teaches wherein the discharging integration module comprises a frequency converter (¶ 0036; switching circuitry 110 may control the electrical power only in terms of switching it on or off. In other configurations, switching circuitry 110 may be capable of further controlling the electrical power by limiting the amount of current available to the attached electronic device) and a converter, an input end of the frequency converter (fig. 1, element 110) is connected to (directly or indirectly connected to) the battery assembly (fig. 1, element 150), an output end of the frequency converter is connected to (directly or indirectly connected to) the discharging coil (element 512 and ¶ 0065), an input end of the converter is connected to (directly or indirectly connected to) the battery assembly (rechargeable batteries), and an output end of the converter (154) is connected to (directly or indirectly connected to) the input end of the frequency converter (110).
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Regarding claim 12, Wojcik teaches a tool system, comprising: a battery pack (fig. 1, element 100) of claim 1, and a power tool (¶ 0042; smart phone), comprising: a working part (screen of the smart phone), used to perform specific operations (display information), and a mounting part (¶ 0066; installable to the smartphone), provided with at least one energy receiving assembly to receive energy wirelessly and transfer received energy to the working part (¶ 0066), wherein the battery pack is mounted in the mounting part (the battery pack is connectable to the smartphone) , and the discharging assembly matches the energy receiving assembly, so that the battery pack is capable of wirelessly supplying power to the working part (¶ 0066).
Regarding claim 13, Wojcik teaches wherein the energy receiving assembly comprises an energy receiving coil (claim 1) and a power rectifier circuit matched with the energy receiving coil;
an input end of the power rectifier circuit is connected with the energy receiving coil, an output end of the power rectifier circuit is connected with the working part to supply power to the working part (¶ 0027; voltage converter/regulator 120 may also convert incoming alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC));
the discharging assembly further comprises a frequency converter, an input end of the frequency converter is connected with the battery assembly of the battery pack, and an output end of the frequency converter is connected with the discharging coil (¶ 0036; Switching circuitry 110 includes one or more devices for limiting or controlling delivery of electrical power from voltage converter 154 to one or more electronic devices
attached to device interface 182 and/or device interface 184).
Regarding claim 14, Wojcik teaches a charging system, comprising: a battery pack (fig. 1, element 100) of claim 1, and a charger (¶ 0102 and fig. 14), comprising: a charging input (connected to the wall outlet), used to be connected with an external power source to obtain power from an external power source (AC power source; see fig. 14), and an energy transmitting assembly (¶ 0101; via wireless connection), comprising an energy transmitting coil and an energy transmitting integration module matched with the energy transmitting coil (Claim 1; a first inductive coil proximate the first surface of the housing, the first inductive coil configured for wirelessly receiving electrical power from an external power source),
wherein one end of the energy transmitting integration module (1440) is connected with the charging input (via a cable; see fig. 14), and the other end of the energy transmitting integration module is connected with (indirectly connected with) the energy transmitting coil (claim 1), so that the power obtained by the charger through the charging input is transmitted to the charging assembly in the battery pack in a non-contact manner through the energy transmitting assembly (claim 1).
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Regarding claim 15, Wojcik teaches wherein the charger is provided with a charging groove to house at least part of the battery pack (see fig. 14), the charging groove comprises a groove bottom and a groove wall surrounding the groove bottom, and the energy transmitting coil is arranged on the groove bottom or the groove wall (see fig. 14).
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 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(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wojcik et al. US Pub 2015/0194839 (hereinafter Wojcik).
Regarding claim 3, Wojcik teaches wherein the charging assembly comprises a charging coil (claim 1 and ¶ 0072; a first inductive coil proximate the first surface of the housing, the first inductive coil configured for wirelessly receiving electrical power from an external power source) and
a charging integration module matched with the charging coil, so that the battery assembly receives electrical energy in a non-contact manner through the charging assembly (claim 1; first inductive coil proximate the first surface of the housing,
the first inductive coil configured for wirelessly receiving electrical power from an external power source),
the charging integration module comprises a charging rectifier circuit (¶ 0103; wall outlet 1462 provides higher voltage AC power and charger 1440 converts it to
lower voltage DC power) and a transformer circuit (¶ 0103), an input end of the charging rectifier circuit is connected with (indirectly connected with) the charging coil (claim 1 and ¶ 0072), and an output end of the charging rectifier circuit is connected with (indirectly connected with) the battery assembly (batteries),
an input end of the transformer circuit (¶ 0103) is connected with (indirectly connected with) the output end of the charging rectifier circuit, and an output end of the transformer circuit is connected with (indirectly connected with) the battery assembly (batteries).
Wojcik discloses all the limitations as stated above, but the charging rectifier circuit and the transformer circuit are not parts of the battery pack. Changing the location of the charging rectifier circuit and the transformer circuit from the location shown by the prior art to a location on the charger, absent any criticality, is only considered to be an obvious modification of Wojcik’s the device that a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would be able to provide using routine experimentation since the courts have held that there is no invention in shifting the position if the operation of the device would not be thereby modified. See In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) and MPEP 2144.04 VI.
Claim(s) 6, 21-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wojcik et al. US Pub 2015/0194839 (hereinafter Wojcik) in view of Jung (US Pub 2009/0206791)
Regarding claim 6, Wojcik fails to teach wherein the battery pack is further provided with a magnetic sheet matched with the charging coil and the discharging coil, and a current detection unit to detect current of the charging assembly or the discharging assembly.
However, Jung further discloses wherein the battery pack is further provided with a magnetic sheet (¶ 0127 and fig. 9; magnetic plates 48) matched with the charging coil and the discharging coil (¶ 0123 and fig. 9; the non-contact power receiving apparatus 30 is made of a coil), and a current detection unit to detect current of the charging assembly or the discharging assembly (¶ 0056; a protection circuit module block 37 disposed between the charger IC block and the battery cell to detect current charged to the battery cell).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wojcik to incorporate with the teaching of Jung by including magnetic plates and current detecting device in the battery pack, because it would be advantageous to improve charging efficiency and further detect overcurrent protection.
Regarding claim 21, Wojcik fails to teach wherein the discharging coil and the charging coil share a coil assembly, the coil assembly is arranged on a side of the top wall facing the receiving cavity, the coil assembly comprises the coil, a magnetic sheet matched with the coil, and a fixing plate fixing the coil and the magnetic sheet on the top wall.
However, Jung further discloses wherein the discharging coil and the charging coil share a coil assembly (¶ 0123 and fig. 9; the non-contact power receiving apparatus 30 is made of a coil), the coil assembly is arranged on a side of the top wall facing the receiving cavity (see fig. 9, elements 481, 482), the coil assembly comprises the coil (see fig. 9, element 32), a magnetic sheet matched with the coil, and a fixing plate fixing the coil and the magnetic sheet on the top wall (¶ 0127 and fig. 9; magnetic plates 48).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wojcik to incorporate with the teaching of Jung by including magnetic plates in the battery pack, because it would be advantageous to improve charging efficiency and reduce heat dissipation.
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Regarding claim 22, Wojcik teaches wherein the battery pack comprises a plurality of coil assemblies (¶ 0067; two conductors or coils), the plurality of coil assemblies is disposed on the bottom wall and side wall of the housing and configured to be in parallel to increase an output current of the battery pack (see fig. 6 below).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 4, Wojcik fails to teach wherein the charging coil and the discharging coil are a coil of a same one or of a same group, the battery pack is also provided with a mode switching button and a status indicator; when the mode switching button is in a first state, the coil matches with the charging integration module; when the mode switching button is in a second state, the coil matches with the discharging integration module; when the battery pack is in a charging mode, the status indicator is in a first state; when the battery pack is in a discharging mode, the status indicator is in a second state.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jakubowski
US 2009/0039828
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/ZIXUAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 03/27/2026