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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 6, 7, 14, 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 6, 7, 14, 16 and 17 recite the limitation “about”. The term “about” renders the claims indefinite because the claim(s) include(s) elements not clearly defined in the specification and it is a broad term, thereby rendering the scope of the claim(s) unascertainable. See MPEP § 2173.05.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 8-11 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bertness [US 2007/0069734 A1].
Regarding claim 1, Bertness teaches an energy storage device sensor comprising:
a shunt defining a resistance area (figure 2, a resistance shunt – 0033, 0036, 0037);
a printed circuit board in electrical communication with the resistance area through two spaced-apart electrical contacts that establish a resistance datum (figure 2 - 0036), the printed circuit board having a powered data connection and further including a microcontroller having a memory and a processor, the microcontroller including a data acquisition input to receive raw data from the shunt resistance area (0036, 0037) (device is coupled to the vehicle battery - 0099); and
a static neural network model resident in the memory and configured to calculate and output at least one of an energy storage device state of charge or an energy storage state of health (state of charge can be determined, use of artificial intelligence techniques such as neural networks – 0035, 0040).
Regarding claim 2, Bertness teaches the energy storage device sensor is connected to an energy storage device configured as one of a chemical battery, a fuel cell, or a capacitor, and the shunt includes a first end attached to a first terminal connection of the energy storage device and the a second end connected to an external load (figure 2 - 0036) (figure 13 – 0099).
Regarding claim 3, Bertness teaches the raw data comprises at least one of battery voltage, battery current, battery temperature (battery temperature - 0032), or time (data is collected - 0038) and wherein the output comprises a value for the state of health or the state of charge of in a range of 0 percent to 100 percent of a new, unworked energy storage device (fully charged – 0046, 0043, 0048).
Regarding claim 8, Bertness teaches an auxiliary display circuit is in data communication (figure 2 - 0036) (communicated to monitor – 0049) with the printed circuit board and is powered by the energy storage device configured as a chemical battery through a battery application- specific, integrated circuit controller and a powered data cable (display, in-line connection – 0082) (onboard databus connector to the device - 0085).
Regarding claim 9, Bertness teaches an auxiliary communication circuit is in data communication with the printed circuit board and is powered by the energy storage device configured as a chemical battery through a battery application-specific, integrated circuit controller and a powered data cable (figure 2 - 0036) (communicated to monitor – 0049) (display, in-line connection – 0082) (onboard databus connector to the device - 0085).
Regarding claim 10, Bertness teaches a battery sensor comprising:
a shunt defining a resistance area (figure 2, a resistance shunt – 0033, 0036, 0037);
a printed circuit board in electrical communication with the resistance area through two spaced-apart electrical contacts that establish a resistance datum (figure 2 - 0036), the printed circuit board having a powered data connection and further including a microcontroller having a memory and a processor, the microcontroller including a data input to receive raw data from the shunt resistance area and a data output (0036, 0037) (device is coupled to the vehicle battery - 0099); and
a neural network model resident in the memory and configured with training data directed to a battery chemistry and including test-derived life cycle data, the neural network model configured to calculate and output at least one of a battery state of charge or a battery state of health (state of charge can be determined, use of artificial intelligence techniques such as neural networks – 0035, 0040).
Regarding claim 11, Bertness teaches the shunt includes a first end attached to a first terminal connection of a battery and a second end connected to an external load (figure 2 - 0036) (figure 13 – 0099), the battery comprising the battery chemistry configured as one of a lead- acid chemistry, a lithium-ion chemistry, a nickel metal hydride chemistry, or a nickel hydrogen chemistry (particular battery chemistry – 0023).
Regarding claim 18, Bertness teaches an auxiliary display circuit is in data communication with the printed circuit board and is powered by the battery through a battery application-specific, integrated circuit controller and a powered data cable (figure 2 - 0036) (communicated to monitor – 0049) (display, in-line connection – 0082) (onboard databus connector to the device - 0085).
Regarding claim 19, Bertness teaches an auxiliary communication circuit is in data communication with the printed circuit board and is powered by the battery through a battery application-specific, integrated circuit controller and a powered data cable (figure 2 - 0036) (communicated to monitor – 0049) (display, in-line connection – 0082) (onboard databus connector to the device - 0085).
Regarding claim 20, Bertness teaches a polymer encapsulant is configured to provide an environmental seal over at least the printed circuit board (figure 10, shows external housing shell including a display 382 – 0082).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5, 12-13 and 15 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.
Claims 6, 7, 14, 16 and 17 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Relevant Prior Art / Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Veloo et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2005/0057865 A1) discloses a shunt connection to a pcb of an energy management system;
IMOTO et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2020/0386815 A1) discloses an open circuit voltage measuring system for a battery pack.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICKY GO whose telephone number is (571)270-3340. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arleen M. Vazquez can be reached on (571) 272-2619. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICKY GO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857