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
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) 1-6, 8-9, 12, 14-19, 40, 66 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Vaghefinazari (US 20160193932)
Vaghefinazari discloses
1. A system comprising:
at least one power generator (9020); a plurality of charging cables (214) electrically connected to the at least one power generator by a switch system (Fig. 2B, abstract, par. 210), wherein each respective charging cable of the plurality of charging cables is electrically connected to a respective vehicle (9030) of a plurality of vehicles, and wherein only a subset of the plurality of charging cables is capable of providing power simultaneously (Fig. 6F-6H, par. 150: if controller 220 may be operating switch relay 210 in a parallel fashion, two or more switches 212 may be simultaneously in the engaged operational state to charge only vehicles in the selected priority order);
a control circuitry configured to:
identify the plurality of vehicles simultaneously electrically connected to the plurality of charging cables (par. 142, 197, 284);
identify an order of connection of the plurality of vehicles to the plurality of charging cables (abstract, par. 137: “The controller may control both an order of how the two or more PEVs may be charged (i.e. determining an order of priority for connected PEVs to be charged) and how a given PEV presently receiving charging may be charged”);
based on the order of connection, select a subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged, wherein a total number of vehicles in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged is less than or equal to a number of charging cables in the subset of charging cables capable of providing power to the subset of the plurality of vehicles; (Fig. 6H, par. 137, 150: a subset of vehicles are charged simultaneously according to the priority order selected at 648).
allocate, to a first vehicle of the subset of the plurality of vehicles, a first amount of non-zero power; allocate, to a second vehicle of the subset of the plurality of vehicles, a second amount of non-zero power, wherein the second amount of non-zero power is different from the first amount of non-zero power,
wherein the allocation to the first vehicle and to the second vehicle is based at least in part on one or more of (a) an order of connection of the first vehicle and the second vehicle to the plurality of charging cables, (par. 263: first in time to connect basis … this order may be assigned in an ascending order of first to removably couple”), (b) charge level of the first vehicle and the second vehicle (par. 268: “option 632 may be base order of charging priority on highest SOC detected or highest SOC presented … ”, (c) vehicle charging user account status of the first vehicle and the second vehicle, (d) time specified by a vehicle charging user account that the vehicle will be connected to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables, (e) a number of charging cables currently providing power to vehicles, (f) charging capability of the electric vehicle charging station, or (g) charging settings of the first vehicle and the second vehicle; and
configure the switch system to enable the at least one power generator to charge the subset of the plurality of vehicles, including charging the first vehicle at the first amount of non-zero power and the second vehicle at the second amount of non-zero power (par. 266-268, 295: different SOCs or energy for different vehicles).
2.1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: configure the switch system such that the at least one power generator does not charge vehicles connected to at least one of the plurality of charging cables that are not in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged (par. 150: vehicles not in subset are charged serially or one at a time).
3.1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: configure the switch system such that the at least one power generator simultaneously charges all of the plurality of vehicles simultaneously electrically connected to the plurality of charging cables (par. 150: charger capable of charging all vehicles in parallel).
4.1, wherein the control circuitry is configured to select the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged by: determining that one or more charging cables in the subset of the plurality of charging cables capable of providing power simultaneously is not currently providing power to a vehicle; and selecting a vehicle of vehicles not currently being charged in the plurality of vehicles simultaneously electrically connected to the plurality of charging cables that was earliest to electrically connect to the plurality of charging cables to be in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged (par. 277, 287: charger may determine a charging has completed and switches to the next vehicle that selected the charging priority option).
5.4, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: in response to the selecting the vehicle that was earliest to electrically connect to the plurality of charging cables to be in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged: allocate a level of power to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables electrically connected to the vehicle that was earliest to electrically connect to the plurality of charging cables (par. 263, 281, 297), wherein the level of power is less than or equal to an amount of power the at least one power generator is able to generate; and based on the level of power allocated to the charging cable electrically connected to the vehicle that was earliest to electrically connect to the plurality of charging cables, reallocate a level of power to the other charging cables in the plurality of charging cables electrically connected to the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged, wherein total power allocated to the vehicles in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged is less than or equal to the amount of power the at least one power generator is able to generate (it is inherent that total power allocated to all vehicles in the subset is less than or equal the power the generator is able to generate).
6.1, further comprising: input/output circuitry configured to: receive, from a user device associated with a vehicle electrically connected to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables, a user interface input indicating a period of time during which the vehicle is expected to be electrically connected to the charging cable; and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to select the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged based on the user interface input indicating the period of time during which the vehicle is expected to be electrically connected to the charging cable (par. 223, 236, 318: system expects the PEV charging start at desired time slot).
8.1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to select the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged based on charging settings of each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, wherein the charging settings of each vehicle comprise a battery level at which to stop or slow charging, and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
stop or slow charging of a currently charging vehicle when the currently charging vehicle reaches the battery level at which to stop or slow charging specified in the charging settings of the currently charging vehicle (Fig. 6; par. 165, 268, 277-278, 285, 291);
determine a not currently charging vehicle, wherein the not currently charging vehicle is a vehicle of vehicles not currently being charged in the plurality of vehicles simultaneously electrically connected to the plurality of charging cables that was earliest to electrically connect to the plurality of charging cables, to be in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged (par. 167, 170, 203, 291, 296-299, the displays on the charging station and user device show the status of which vehicles not currently charging are next in queue to be charged)
9.1, further comprising: input/output circuitry configured to: transmit data to a user device associated with a vehicle charging user account of a vehicle electrically connected to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables, and wherein the data comprises at least one of: (a) a confirmation that the vehicle is electrically connected to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables, (b) a number of other vehicles that will be charged prior to the vehicle beginning charging, or (c) an estimate of how much time it will take for the vehicle to begin charging (par. 167, 203, 223, 255: status of PEV connected to charging station expander is communicated to mobile device interactively connected; user is notified of the order of charging).
12.1, further comprising: input/output circuitry configured to: receive, from a user device associated with a vehicle charging user account of a vehicle electrically connected to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables, an indication of an amount of time that the vehicle will be electrically connected to the plurality of charging cables (par. 254, 270-271, 288); based on the indication, allocate a level of power to the charging cable that the vehicle is electrically connected to for the indicated amount of time; wherein the level of power is less than or equal to the amount of power the at least one power generator is able to generate; and based on the level of power allocated to the charging cable electrically connected to the vehicle, reallocate the level of power to the other charging cables in the plurality of charging cables electrically connected to the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged, wherein the total power allocated to the vehicles in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged is less than or equal to the amount of power the at least one power generator is able to generate (par. 284: power is subdivided among EVs).
14. A method comprising:
identifying, via control circuitry of an electric vehicle charging station, a plurality of vehicles simultaneously electrically connected to a plurality of charging cables, wherein the plurality of charging cables are electrically connected to at least one power generator (9020) by a switch system (Fig. 2B, abstract, par. 210),
wherein each respective charging cable of the plurality of charging cables (214) is electrically connected to a respective vehicle (9030) of the plurality of vehicles, and wherein only a subset of the plurality of charging cables is capable of providing power simultaneously;
identifying, via the control circuitry, an order of connection of the plurality of vehicles to the plurality of charging cables (abstract, par. 137: “The controller may control both an order of how the two or more PEVs may be charged (i.e. determining an order of priority for connected PEVs to be charged) and how a given PEV presently receiving charging may be charged”);
based on the order of connection, selecting, via the control circuitry, a subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged, wherein a total number of vehicles in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged is less than or equal to a number of charging cables in the subset of charging cables capable of providing power to the subset of the plurality of vehicles;
allocating, to a first vehicle of the subset of the plurality of vehicles, a first amount of non-zero power;
allocating, to a second vehicle of the subset of the plurality of vehicles, a second amount of non-zero power, wherein the second amount of non-zero power is different from the first amount of non-zero power,
wherein the allocation to the first vehicle and to the second vehicle is based at least in part on one or more of (a) an order of connection of the first vehicle and the second vehicle to the plurality of charging cables, (par. 263: first in time to connect basis … this order may be assigned in an ascending order of first to removably couple”), (b) charge level of the first vehicle and the second vehicle (par. 268: “option 632 may be base order of charging priority on highest SOC detected or highest SOC presented … ”, (c) vehicle charging user account status of the first vehicle and the second vehicle, (d) time specified by a vehicle charging user account that the vehicle will be connected to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables, (e) a number of charging cables currently providing power to vehicles, (f) charging capability of the electric vehicle charging station, or (g) charging settings of the first vehicle and the second vehicle; and
configuring the switch system, via the control circuitry, to enable the at least one power generator to charge the subset of the plurality of vehicles, including charging the first vehicle at the first amount of non-zero power and the second vehicle at the second amount of non-zero power (par. 266-268, 295: different SOCs or energy for different vehicles).
(Fig. 6H, par. 137, 150: a subset of vehicles are charged simultaneously according to the priority order selected at 648).
Re claims 15-19, see discussion regarding claims above.
40. A system comprising:
means for identifying, via control circuitry of an electric vehicle charging station, a plurality of vehicles simultaneously electrically connected to a plurality of charging cables, wherein the plurality of charging cables are electrically connected to at least one power generator (9020) by a switch system (Fig. 2B, abstract, par. 210),
wherein each respective charging cable of the plurality of charging cables (214) is electrically connected to a respective vehicle of the plurality of vehicles (9030), and wherein only a subset of the plurality of charging cables is capable of providing power simultaneously;
means for identifying, via the control circuitry, an order of connection of the plurality of vehicles to the plurality of charging cables (abstract, par. 137: “The controller may control both an order of how the two or more PEVs may be charged (i.e. determining an order of priority for connected PEVs to be charged) and how a given PEV presently receiving charging may be charged”);
means for selecting, via the control circuitry, based on the order of connection, a subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged, wherein a total number of vehicles in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged is less than or equal to a number of charging cables in the subset of charging cables capable of providing power to the subset of the plurality of vehicles; (Fig. 6H, par. 137, 150: a subset of vehicles are charged simultaneously according to the priority order selected at 648).
means for allocating, to a first vehicle of the subset of the plurality of vehicles, a first amount of non-zero power; means for allocating, to a second vehicle of the subset of the plurality of vehicles, a second amount of non-zero power, wherein the second amount of non-zero power is different from the first amount of non-zero power, wherein the means for allocating to the first vehicle and to the second vehicle is based at least in part on one or more of (a) an order of connection of the first vehicle and the second vehicle to the plurality of charging cables (par. 263: first in time to connect basis … this order may be assigned in an ascending order of first to removably couple”), (b) charge level of the first vehicle and the second vehicle (par. 268: “option 632 may be base order of charging priority on highest SOC detected or highest SOC presented … ”, (c) vehicle charging user account status of the first vehicle and the second vehicle, (d) time specified by a vehicle charging user account that the vehicle will be connected to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables, (e) a number of charging cables currently providing power to vehicles, (f) charging capability of the electric vehicle charging station, or (g) charging settings of the first vehicle and the second vehicle; and
means for configuring the switch system, via the control circuitry, to enable the at least one power generator to charge the subset of the plurality of vehicles, including charging the first vehicle at the first amount of non-zero power and the second vehicle at the second amount of non-zero power (par. 266-268, 295: different SOCs or energy for different vehicles).
66.1, wherein the control circuitry is configured to allocate, to the first vehicle, the first amount of non-zero power at a first time, and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: allocate, at a second time, to the first vehicle, a third amount of non-zero power, wherein the third amount of non-zero power is different from the second amount of non-zero power (par. 254-255, 258-259, 266-268, 281, 308, 312, 318: single or multiple users of the first vehicle may charge the vehicle at different times at different SOC levels or requests).
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) 10-11, 67 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vaghefinazari (US 20160193932)
Re claim 10.1, further comprising: input/output circuitry configured to: receive, from a user device associated with a vehicle charging user account of a vehicle electrically connected to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables, a selection of a user interface option to modify charging settings of the vehicle to stop charging at less than a threshold percentage of battery level; and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to select the vehicle with the charging setting to stop charging at less than the threshold percentage of battery level to be in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged prior to selecting a vehicle that was earliest to electrically connect to the plurality of charging cables (Fig. 6, par. 288; the user can select charging SOC threshold; Vaghefinazari is unclear regarding prior to selecting a vehicle that was earliest; however, this is considered an obvious extension of Vaghefinazari’s teachings since the system can dictate the order at which vehicle or group of vehicles to be charged).
11.1, further comprising: input/output circuitry configured to: receive, from a user device associated with a vehicle charging user account of a vehicle electrically connected to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables, an indication that the vehicle will be electrically connected to the plurality of charging cables for less than a threshold amount of time; and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to select the vehicle to be in the subset of the plurality of vehicles to be charged prior to selecting a vehicle that was earliest to electrically connect to the plurality of charging cables (par. 159, 167: mobile 9040 receives status of each PEV connected charging station, whether in a queue; Vaghefinazari is unclear regarding prior to selecting a vehicle that was earliest; however, this is considered an obvious extension of Vaghefinazari’s teachings since the system can dictate the order at which vehicle or group of vehicles to be charged).
67.1, further comprising: input/output circuitry configured to: transmit data to a user device associated with a vehicle charging user account of a vehicle electrically connected to a charging cable of the plurality of charging cables (par. 167, 170: mobile device receives and displays status data from the system),
wherein the data comprises instructions to change charging settings of the vehicle to bypass vehicles that were scheduled to begin charging before the vehicle, and wherein the charging settings comprise one or more of (a) time specified by the vehicle charging user account that the vehicle will be connected to a charging cable or (b) a battery level at which to stop or slow charging (Vaghefinazari is silent to transmitting instructions to the user device to change charging settings;
However, Vaghefinazari also teaches users can be asked to pay more to change the priority or shift the time slot; par. 255, 285, 305, which changes the priority setting of the vehicle to bypass other scheduled vehicles; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to extend Vaghefinazari’s teachings by transmitting a request to the user device asking for higher bids for higher priority so that financial gains can be achieved.)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Vaghefinazari does not discuss allocating differing amounts of non-zero power to different concurrently charging vehicles, because Vaghefinazari focuses on switching charge power between vehicles, rather than continuously dividing a finite power pool into independently variable power levels for multiple vehicles simultaneously.
However, the Examiner respectfully disagrees and contends that Vaghefinazari teaches connected vehicles PEVs can be charged simultaneously and power is provided to the vehicles using prioritized parameters that comprise user needs or load constraints (par. 264-268, 285, 310, 314-318). In Vaghefinazari, the order of priority for connected PEVs to be charged can be determined based on parameters such as SOC level, load requirement, higher payment, …. Thus, vehicles with different parameters that are rated with the same priority or vehicles with similar levels, i.e. vehicles with highest SOC of 80% or similar, can be rated with same priority to be charged together simultaneously.
Applicant argues that Vaghefinazari does not teach new limitations in claims 66 and 67.
However, these claims have been addressed above.
For these reasons, the previous rejection(s) is/are respectfully maintained.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THIEN T. MAI whose telephone number is (571)272-8283. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F, 8-5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner' s supervisor, Steve S. Paik can be reached at (571)272-2404. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Thien T Mai/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2887
