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.
Claims 1-2, 8-10, 13, 16-18, 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yan (USPUB 2022/0077707).
As to Claim 1, Yan discloses a power system comprising: an input configured to be coupled to at least one power source; an output configured to be coupled to at least one load; an energy-storage-device connection configured to be coupled to at least one energy-storage device; at least one power converter; and at least one controller configured to: control the at least one power converter to provide power to the output in a battery mode of operation, determine one or more battery-mode parameters associated with the battery mode of operation, determine a maximum state-of-charge (SOC) limit based on the one or more battery-mode parameters, and control the at least one power converter to charge the at least one energy-storage device to the maximum SOC limit (Figure 1 and 2, Paragraphs 25-27).
As to Claim 2, Yan discloses the power system of claim 1, wherein the at least one power source includes a first power source and a second power source (Paragraph 13).
As to Claim 8, Yan discloses the power system of claim 2, wherein the first power source includes a generator and the second power source includes a utility mains (Paragraph 15).
As to Claim 9, Yan discloses the power system of claim 1, wherein the one or more battery-mode parameters include one or more of a load profile of the at least one load, a total necessary runtime of the at least one energy-storage device, or a total available runtime of the at least one energy-storage device in the battery mode (Figure 4B).
As to Claim 10, Yan discloses the power system of claim 1, wherein the at least one controller is further configured to: determine, based on the one or more battery-mode parameters, a maximum expected runtime of the at least one energy-storage device; and determine the maximum SOC limit based on the maximum expected runtime of the at least one energy-storage device (Figure 4B).
As to Claim 13, Yan discloses the power system of claim 1, wherein the at least one controller is further configured to: monitor the one or more battery-mode parameters for changes while the at least one energy-storage device discharges; identify a change in the one or more battery-mode parameters while the at least one energy-storage device discharges; and lower a battery cut-off voltage of the at least one energy-storage device responsive to identifying the change in the one or more battery-mode parameters (Figure 4C).
As to Claim 16, Yan discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon sequences of computer-executable instructions for controlling a power system configured to provide output power derived from at least one energy-storage device to at least one load in a battery mode of operation, the sequences of computer-executable instructions including instructions that instruct at least one processor to: determine one or more battery-mode parameters associated with the battery mode of operation; determine a maximum state-of-charge (SOC) limit based on the one or more battery-mode parameters; and control the power system to limit charging of the at least one energy-storage device to the maximum SOC limit (Figure 1 and 2, Paragraphs 25-27).
As to Claim 17, Yan discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more battery-mode parameters include one or more of a load profile of the at least one load, a total necessary runtime of the at least one energy-storage device, or a total available runtime of the at least one energy-storage device in the battery mode (Figure 4B).
As to Claim 18, Yan discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further instruct the at least one processor to: determine, based on the one or more battery-mode parameters, a maximum expected runtime of the at least one energy-storage device; and determine the maximum SOC limit based on the maximum expected runtime of the at least one energy-storage device (Figure 4B).
As to Claim 21, Yan discloses a method of controlling a power system configured to provide output power derived from at least one energy-storage device to at least one load in a battery mode of operation, the method comprising: determining one or more battery-mode parameters associated with the battery mode of operation; determining a maximum state-of-charge (SOC) limit based on the one or more battery-mode parameters; and controlling the power system to limit charging of the at least one energy-storage device to the maximum SOC limit (Figure 1 and 2, Paragraphs 25-27).
As to Claim 22, Yan discloses the method of claim 21, wherein the one or more battery-mode parameters include one or more of a load profile of the at least one load, a total necessary runtime of the at least one energy-storage device, or a total available runtime of the at least one energy-storage device in the battery mode (Figure 1 and 2, Paragraphs 25-27).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, 11-12, 14-15, 19-20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT J GRANT whose telephone number is (571)270-5820. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am - 5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Drew Dunn can be reached at (571)272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT GRANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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