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 .
DETAILED ACTION
1. This action is in response to the application filed on 27 June 2023.
Claims 1-8 are presently pending for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/27/2023 has being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
3. Claim 1-6 are objected to because of the following informalities: claims including reference step numbers (i.e. S100, S200, S400) from the specification. Please remove the reference step numbers from the claims as claims are examined in light of the specification. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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) 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al., U. S. Patent Publication No. 2022/0294239 in view of Hortop et al., U. S. Patent Publication No. 2019/0039467.
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses an address allocation method, wherein in a battery management system consisting of a main battery management unit and N sub-battery management units, where N is greater than or equal to 1, the main battery management unit is connected with the N sub-battery management units through a single bus (see Liu, ¶ [0012] and [0051]; battery management system comprising primary and secondary batteries are disclosed), and the method for allocating addresses to the sub-battery management units by the main battery management unit specifically includes: S100 After the battery management system is powered on, all sub-battery management units calculate identification codes (see Liu, ¶ [0102] and [0123]; address is assigned to all the battery packs); S200 The main battery management unit sequentially selects one sub-battery management unit through the 1/0 line; S300 The main battery management unit sends the address allocation message in a broadcast manner; wherein, the address allocation message comprises an address number (see Liu, ¶ [013]-[0105]; broadcast message is sent to all the slave battery packs comprising address); S400 After the first sub-battery management unit receives the address allocation message, if the first sub-battery management unit is selected, the first sub-battery management unit judges whether the address allocation message is the same as the local first sub-battery management unit: if the identification is the same as the local identification, entering a normal communication state, if the identification is different from the local identification, save the allocated address number, send the local the configured address to the main battery management unit (see Liu, ¶ [0112]-[0113] and [0121]; master selection process begins by sending broadcast message to all the slave battery packs, upon receiving the message each slave battery packs determines based on the address and identification value if the selection is directed to it and only the battery pack the message is pertains to responds and as is made to be the master battery pack).
Although Liu discloses the invention substantially as claimed, it does not explicitly disclose identification code of the sub-battery.
Hortop teaches battery management system comprising identification code of the sub-battery (see Hortop, ¶ [0020]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to corporate the teaching of Hortop with that of Liu in order to efficiently identify and distinguish the plurality of battery packs based on their associated identification code.
Regarding claim 2, Liu-Hortop teaches wherein the step S400 further includes: after the first sub-battery management unit receives the address allocation message, if the first sub-battery management unit is not selected and the first sub-battery management unit is no connection timeout, abandon the address allocation message (see Liu, ¶ [0121] and [0130]).
Regarding claim 3, Liu-Hortop teaches wherein the step S400 further includes: after the sub battery management unit receives the address allocation message, the connection timeout has not been selected, and also judges whether the identification code is consistent with the local identification code; if the identification code is consistent with the local identification code, enter normal communication, and mark the corresponding 1/0 line fault; if the identification code is not consistent with the local identification code, abandon the address allocation message (see Liu, ¶ [0129]-[0130] and Hortop, ¶ [0054]). Same motivation utilized in claim 1, applies equally as well to claim 3.
Regarding claim 4, Liu-Hortop teaches wherein the step S400 further includes: if the connection timeout is not selected and the identification code is not consistent with the local identification code, the first sub-battery management unit sends a pairing request message to the main battery management unit, wherein the pairing request message includes the local identification code of the first sub-battery management unit (see Liu, ¶ [0123], [0130] and Hortop, ¶ [0054]). Same motivation utilized in claim 1, applies equally as well to claim 4.
Regarding claim 5, Liu discloses further comprising step S500: the main battery management unit receives the local identification code in the pairing request message, and searches whether there is a corresponding record in a record sequence: if there is a corresponding record in the recorded sequence, a pairing message with the recorded sequence position number as the address is sent; if there is no corresponding record in the recording sequence, an unused position number is added or replaced in sequence, and a pairing message with the sequence position as the address is sent (see Liu, ¶ [0101], [0121] and Hortop, ¶ [0054]). Same motivation utilized in claim 1, applies equally as well to claim 5.
Regarding claim 6, Liu discloses wherein the step S500 further includes: after the first sub-battery management unit receives the pairing message, the first sub- battery management unit is selected and the identification code of the pairing message is the same as the local identification code, and enter normal communication (see Liu, ¶ [0062], [0081] and Hortop, ¶ [0054]). Same motivation utilized in claim 1, applies equally as well to claim 6.
Claim 7 list all the same elements of claim 1, but in system form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 7.
5. Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Hortop and further in view of K. V. et al, U. S. Patent Publication No. 2022/0221524.
Although Liu-Hortop discloses monitoring connection status of the battery management units (see Liu, ¶ [0091]), they do not explicitly disclose an offline reconnection method of a battery management system that monitors the connection state of a sub-battery management unit in real time, and if the connection is offline, an address allocation method according to claim 1 is adopted to re-allocate the address until the offline sub-battery management unit resumes connection.
K. V. teaches an offline reconnection method of a battery management system that monitors the connection state of a sub-battery management unit in real time, and if the connection is offline, an address allocation method according to claim 1 is adopted to re-allocate the address until the offline sub-battery management unit resumes connection (see K. V. ¶ [0012] and [0038]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of K.V. with that of Liu-Hortop in order to effectively detect battery pack connection loss to the controller and restore efficiently.
Prior Art of Record
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. Please refer to form PTO-892 (Notice of Reference Cited) for a list of relevant prior art.
a. US 20130141106 A1 is directed to power storage system includes at least one battery, at least one sub-battery management systems connected to each of the batteries and configured to perform management of a corresponding battery, and a main battery management system configured to receive data corresponding to the batteries from the sub-battery management systems, the main battery management system including a detection circuit configured to measure voltage output of the batteries. The detection circuit includes a switching element, the switching element configured to receive a signal at a first voltage level, and wherein the switching element is configured to be turned on in response to a voltage measurement control signal, a voltage conversion circuit connected to the switching element and configured to output a second signal at a second voltage level that is proportional to the first voltage level, an analog-digital converter configured to receive the second signal and convert the received second signal into a digital signal, and a controller configured to transfer the voltage measurement control signal to the switching element, and to receive the digital signals from the analog-digital converter.
b. US 2014/0115191 is directed to a method of allocating unique identifiers to slave battery managers for managing battery modules by a master battery manager and a battery management system using the same, and the method includes making a request for allocation information to the slave battery managers; receiving the allocation information from the slave battery managers; and allocating the unique identifiers to the slave battery managers based on the allocation information, wherein the allocation information contains an MAC address of a device performing a calibration between the slave battery manager and the battery module and time information on a time when the calibration is performed. According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently control and manage a plurality of battery modules by allocating unique identifiers by using allocation information set to each of the plurality of battery modules.
c. US 20120183813 A1 is directed to A battery system including a stably operating battery management unit and an energy storage system including the battery system is disclosed. The battery system includes a battery rack configured to store and provide power, a rack protection circuit configured to selectively connect and disconnect the battery rack to and from the input/output terminal, and a rack battery management system (BMS) configured to communicate with the battery rack and with the rack protection circuit. The rack BMS receives data from the battery rack and generates control signals for the rack protection circuit. In addition, the rack protection circuit includes a current path between the battery rack and the input/output terminal, and the rack BMS is excluded from the current path.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMED IBRAHIM whose telephone number is (571)270-1132. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9:30AM to 6:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Follansbee can be reached on 571-272-3964. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Mohamed Ibrahim/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2444