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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-5, 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nozawa (US 2019/0181633 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Nozawa teaches: An electric power supply (power supply system 2, Fig. 1 and para. 0019-0020) device installed in a vehicle (electric vehicle 100), the electric power supply device comprising: a relay (system main relay 4) provided between a high-voltage battery (main battery 3) and one or more pieces of in-vehicle equipment (converter 5, cooler 30, auxiliary machines 40, car navigation 46); and a processor (controller 7 including CPU 44) configured to, based on a state of a main switch (main switch 8, also called a power switch or an ignition switch, see para. 0032) configured to operate a traveling system (for example, electric power converter 10 and motor 20, see para. 0022) of the vehicle, switch on or off of the relay (see para. 0032), and configured to control electric power supply from the high-voltage battery (3) to the one or more pieces of in-vehicle equipment (5, 30, 40, 46), wherein the processor is configured to supply electric power from the high-voltage battery (3) to particular in-vehicle equipment (cooler 30, for example, the controller 7 controls operation of the cooler 30 and the pump 32, see para. 0029, 0030 and 0036) during maintaining the relay (4) on when the main switch (8) is turned off during the relay (4) being turned on and the one or more pieces of in-vehicle equipment (5, 30, 40, 46) include the particular in-vehicle equipment (30), and the particular in-vehicle equipment (30) is configured to operate after the main switch (8) is turned off (see Fig. 3 and para. 0038-0045).
Regarding claim 2, Nozawa teaches: The electric power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the processor (7) is configured to maintain the relay (4) on when a predetermined operation (for example, the main switch 8 is turned off) is performed with respect to the vehicle during the relay being turned off (turning main switch 8 off would normally turn off relay 4, see para. 0037) and the particular in-vehicle equipment (30) is present, even in a case where the main switch (8) is turned on (see S14, Fig. 3) after turning on the relay (4) to supply electric power from the high-voltage battery (3) to the particular in-vehicle equipment (30, power is supplied from the high voltage battery 3 to the cooler 30 via converter 5 and control of the processor 7).
Regarding claim 3, Nozawa teaches: The electric power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the processor (7) is configured to turn off the relay (4) when electric power is being supplied from the high-voltage battery (3) to the particular in-vehicle equipment (30) for a predetermined time (see S15, Fig. 3, a specified time has lapsed).
Regarding claim 4, Nozawa teaches: The electric power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the processor (7) is configured to determine whether the particular in-vehicle equipment (30) is present while the main switch (8) is turned on (since the controller 7 controls the cooler 30, this is interpreted as determining whether the cooler is present when the switch 8 is turned on. It is noted that the claim does not recite any particular steps or structure to make the determination).
Regarding claim 5, Nozawa teaches: The electric power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the processor (7) is configured to determine whether the particular in-vehicle equipment (30) is present based on whether a request is made to supply electric power from the high-voltage battery (3) to the particular in-vehicle equipment (30) (since the controller 7 controls the cooler 30, control of the cooler 30 is interpreted as a request to supply power from the high-voltage battery 3 to the cooler 30, otherwise, the system main relay 4 would not need to remain on as taught by Nozawa).
Regarding claim 9, Nozawa teaches: A control method executed by a computer (CPU 44 of controller 7) of an electric power supply device (2, see Fig. 1 and para. 0019-0020) installed in a vehicle (100), the control method comprising: determining a state of a main switch (main switch 8, see S14, Fig. 3 and para. 0032) configured to operate a traveling system (for example, electric power converter 10 and motor 20, see para. 0022) of the vehicle; determining to switch on or off a relay (system main relay 4, see Fig. 1) that is provided between a high-voltage battery (main battery 3) and one or more pieces of in-vehicle equipment (converter 5, cooler 30, auxiliary machines 40, car navigation 46), based on the state of the main switch; determining, when the main switch (8) is turned off during the relay (4) being turned on (for example, when the vehicle is parked after driving and main switch 8 is turned off), whether particular in-vehicle equipment (cooler 30, for example, the controller 7 controls operation of the cooler 30 and the pump 32, see para. 0029, 0030 and 0036) that operates after the main switch (8) is turned off is present among the one or more pieces of in-vehicle equipment (since the controller 7 controls the cooler 30, this is interpreted as determining whether the cooler is present. It is noted that the claim does not recite any particular steps or structure to make the determination); and determining, when the particular in-vehicle equipment (30) that operates after the main switch (8) is turned off is present, to supply electric power from the high-voltage battery (3) to the particular in-vehicle equipment during maintaining the relay on (system main relay 4 remains on to supply electric power from the battery 3 to the converter 5, controller 7 and cooler 30 at least during the specified time period, see Fig. 3 and para. 0029, 0030, 0036 and 0038-0040).
Regarding claim 10, Nozawa teaches: A non-transitory storage medium (memory 45, Fig. 1 and para. 0031) storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors (CPU 44) in a computer (controller 7) of an electric power supply device (2, see Fig. 1 and para. 0019-0020) installed in a vehicle (100), and that cause the one or more processors (CPU 44) to perform the functions comprising: determining a state of a main switch (main switch 8, see S14, Fig. 3 and para. 0032) configured to operate a traveling system (for example, electric power converter 10 and motor 20, see para. 0022) of the vehicle; determining to switch on or off a relay (system main relay 4, see Fig. 1) that is provided between a high-voltage battery (main battery 3) and one or more pieces of in-vehicle equipment (converter 5, cooler 30, auxiliary machines 40, car navigation 46), based on the state of the main switch; determining, when the main switch (8) is turned off during the relay (4) being turned on (for example, when the vehicle is parked after driving and main switch 8 is turned off), whether particular in-vehicle equipment (cooler 30, for example, the controller 7 controls operation of the cooler 30 and the pump 32, see para. 0029, 0030 and 0036) that operates after the main switch (8) is turned off is present among the one or more pieces of in-vehicle equipment (since the controller 7 controls the cooler 30, this is interpreted as determining whether the cooler is present. It is noted that the claim does not recite any particular steps or structure to make the determination); and determining, when the particular in-vehicle equipment (30) that operates after the main switch (8) is turned off is present, to supply electric power from the high-voltage battery (3) to the particular in-vehicle equipment during maintaining the relay on (system main relay 4 remains on to supply electric power from the battery 3 to the converter 5, controller 7 and cooler 30 at least during the specified time period, see Fig. 3 and para. 0029, 0030, 0036 and 0038-0040).
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(s) 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nozawa (US 2019/0181633 A1) in view of Mitsutani et al (US 2019/0359079 A1).
Regarding claims 6-8, the teachings of Nozawa as applied to claim 1 have been discussed above.
Nozawa does not specifically teach: (regarding claim 6) wherein the particular in-vehicle equipment is equipment that is configured to operate when an occupant exits the vehicle; (regarding claim 7) wherein the particular in-vehicle equipment is equipment that is configured to operate when an occupant enters the vehicle; and (regarding claim 8) wherein the particular in-vehicle equipment is equipment that is configured to operate when an occupant exits and enters the vehicle.
Mitsutani et al teaches an electric power supply device (10, Fig. 1 and para. 0026-0027) installed in a vehicle (see abstract), including a high-voltage battery (11) and one or more pieces of in-vehicle equipment (30), where a processor (control unit 14) is configured to supply electric power from the high-voltage battery (11) to particular in-vehicle equipment (30, via DC/DC converter 13) when a main switch (a start switch) is turned off (see Figs. 2 & 3 and para. 0029-0047), the one or more pieces of in-vehicle equipment include a particular in-vehicle equipment (for example, a getting-out support system, see para. 0005 & 0026), and the particular in-vehicle equipment is configured to operate after the main switch is turned off (see para. 0026), (regarding claim 6) wherein the particular in-vehicle equipment is equipment that is configured to operate when an occupant exits the vehicle (the getting-out support system is configured to operate when an occupant exits the vehicle); (regarding claim 7) wherein the particular in-vehicle equipment is equipment that is configured to operate when an occupant enters the vehicle (for example, a getting-in sensor, see para. 0039); and (regarding claim 8) wherein the particular in-vehicle equipment is equipment that is configured to operate when an occupant exits and enters the vehicle (for example, a getting-in sensor may be used to determine that a user has been seated, see para. 0039, and used to determine that the user has got out of the vehicle, see para. 0043).
In view of Mitsutani et al’s teachings, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to include, with the system of Nozawa, (regarding claim 6) wherein the particular in-vehicle equipment is equipment that is configured to operate when an occupant exits the vehicle; (regarding claim 7) wherein the particular in-vehicle equipment is equipment that is configured to operate when an occupant enters the vehicle; and (regarding claim 8) wherein the particular in-vehicle equipment is equipment that is configured to operate when an occupant exits and enters the vehicle; since the use of this particular in-vehicle equipment can improve safety and/or convenience for a user when they are exiting or entering a vehicle.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see the additional references cited on the attached PTO-892, which are directed to control of electric power systems in vehicles.
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/JARED FUREMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859