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 .
Status of Preliminary Amendment
Examiner acknowledges receipt of preliminary amendment to application 18/268,766 received June 21, 2023. Claims 1-15 are canceled and claims 16-32 are newly added.
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 16-18, 25 and 29-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipate by Prestl Willibald Dr, DE-102011007763-A1 (hereinafter Prestl).
Regarding Claim 16, Prestl teaches a charging cable for charging an electric vehicle (Prestl, Title), the charging cable comprising a network-side first connector for connecting the charging cable to a power network (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 202. Refer to annotated Fig. 1 below.), a load-side second connector for connecting the charging cable to the electric vehicle (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 102), and an adapter assembly between the first connector and the second connector (Prestl, Figs. 1-3, Made up of Elements 101 and 201 when connected), the adapter assembly including a first adapter element (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 201) and a second adapter element (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 101) detachably connected to one another, wherein one of the first and second adapter elements is electrically connected to the first connector and the other one of the first and second adapter elements is electrically connected to the second connector (As can be seen in the annotated figure 1 below),
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and a locking device (Prestl, Elements 3 and 3’) configured to automatically lock the first and second adapter elements to one another in response to an event associated with charging the electric vehicle (Where the automatic locking is not illustrated, but clearly described in the specification of the invention. See excerpts below.).
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Regarding Claim 17, The teaching of the Prestl reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 16. Furthermore, Prestl teaches wherein the locking device is formed in the adapter assembly to be inaccessible from the outside while the first and second adapter elements are connected to one another (Although not illustrated in the drawings, it is clear from the specification of the invention that the locking means would not be accessible from the outside when using an automatic locking control as described in the excerpt below.).
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Regarding Claim 18, The teaching of the Prestl reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 16. Furthermore, Prestl teaches wherein the locking device is bistable, such that the locking device is either in a locked or unlocked state, and the state of the locking device is maintained when the locking device is de-energized (It is clear from the illustration of the locking device illustrated in Figs. 2-3, the device maintains the locked position even when power is removed).
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Regarding Claim 25, The teaching of the Prestl reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 16. Furthermore, Prestl teaches further including a control unit for controlling the locking device, the control unit communicatively connected to the locking device and one of the first and second connectors (It is clear from the description of the locking device when an automatic device is incorporated, the control device can take several forms.).
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Regarding Claim 29, Prestl teaches a mobile charging device for charging an electric vehicle (Prestl, Fig. 1; Using the “Electronic Device”, Element 204 as an in-cable EVSE),
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the mobile charging device comprising a charging cable having a network-side first connector for connecting the charging cable to a power network (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 202. Refer to annotated Fig. 1 above.), a load-side second connector for connecting the charging cable to the electric vehicle(Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 102), and an adapter assembly between the first connector and the second connector of the charging cable (Prestl, Figs. 1-3, Made up of Elements 101 and 201 when connected), the adapter assembly including a first adapter element (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 201) and a second adapter element (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 101) detachably connected to one another, wherein one of the first and second adapter elements is electrically connected to the first connector and the other one of the first and second adapter elements is electrically connected to the second connector (As can be seen in the annotated figure 1 above), a locking device (Prestl, Elements 3 and 3’) configured to automatically lock the first and second adapter elements to one another in response to an event associated with charging the electric vehicle (Where the automatic locking is not illustrated, but clearly described in the specification of the invention. See excerpts below.),
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and a charge control device for controlling charging the electric vehicle, the charge control device being between one of the first and second connectors and the adapter assembly (Prestl, Fig. 1; Element 204, “in-cable EVSE”).
Regarding Claim 30, Prestl teaches a method for charging an electric vehicle(Prestl, Abstract and Description), the method comprising the steps of providing a charging cable having (a) a network-side first connector for connecting the charging cable to a power network (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 202. Refer to annotated Fig. 1 above.), (b) a load-side second connector for connecting the charging cable to the electric vehicle (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 102), and (c) an adapter assembly between the first and second connectors (Prestl, Figs. 1-3, Made up of Elements 101 and 201 when connected), the adapter assembly having a first adapter element (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 201) and a second adapter element (Prestl, Fig. 1, Element 101) detachably connected to one another, connecting the first and second adapter elements to one another, connecting the first connector to the power network and the second connector to the electric vehicle (As can be seen in the annotated figure 1 above), and locking the first and second adapter elements to one another with a locking device (Prestl, Elements 3 and 3’), the locking taking place automatically in response to an event associated with charging the electric vehicle (Where the automatic locking is not illustrated, but clearly described in the specification of the invention. See excerpts below.).
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Regarding Claim 31, The teaching of the Prestl reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 30. Furthermore, Prestl teaches wherein the event associated with charging the electric vehicle is the connection of the second connector to the electric vehicle or startup of charging the electric vehicle (Where a variety of options are available and taught by Prestl for initiating the charging operation. See excerpt from Prestl below.).
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Regarding Claim 32, The teaching of the Prestl reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 30. Furthermore, Prestl teaches further comprising the steps of recognizing the event associated with charging the electric vehicle by a control unit, and actuating the locking device with the control unit to lock the first and second adapter elements (Where a variety of options are available and taught by Prestl for initiating the charging operation. See excerpt from Prestl below.).
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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.
Claims 26-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Prestl Willibald Dr, DE-102011007763-A1 (hereinafter Prestl).
Regarding Claim 26, The teaching of the Prestl reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 16. Furthermore, Prestl teaches wherein the first and second adapter elements have a diameter that is no more than 200 mm.
Prestl discloses the claimed invention except for limiting the diameter of the connector elements. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to design the locking connectors to be within the desired functional dimensions, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding Claim 27, The teaching of the Prestl reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 16. Furthermore, Prestl teaches wherein the first and second adapter elements have a diameter that is no more than 100 mm.
Prestl discloses the claimed invention except for limiting the diameter of the connector elements. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to design the locking connectors to be within the desired functional dimensions, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding Claim 28, The teaching of the Prestl reference discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 16. Furthermore, Prestl teaches wherein the first and second adapter elements have a diameter that is no more than 60 mm.
Prestl discloses the claimed invention except for limiting the diameter of the connector elements. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to design the locking connectors to be within the desired functional dimensions, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19-24 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.
Regarding Claim 19: Though the prior art discloses a charging cable with connectors on each end for connecting a power supply to a port of an electric vehicle with an intermediate connection made by a locking connection of two adapters, it fails to teach or suggest the aforementioned limitations of claim 19, and further including the combination of:
wherein the first adapter element includes a first locking element and the second adapter element includes a second locking element, and while the first and second adapter elements are connected to one another, the first and second locking elements engage mechanically with one another in a first position and are detached from one another in a second position.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Mackenzie U.S. PGPub 2020/0156492 teaches an electric vehicle charging system with an intermediate locking connection between the source of power and the port of the electric vehicle made up of cables, connectors and locking mechanisms.
Erni DE-10-2019-121-108 teaches a charging cable with intermediate detachable connectors and an in-cable charging controller.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY D ROBBINS whose telephone number is (571)272-7585. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00AM - 6:00PM Tuesday-Saturday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian Huffman can be reached at 571-272-2147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JERRY D ROBBINS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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