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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7, 9-12 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LAI et al. (US 2019/0393826 A1, hereinafter LAI) in view of HIRATSUKA (US 2019/0341800 A1, hereinafter HIRATSUKA).
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Regarding claim 1, LAI discloses A power supply device comprising:
a solar battery that generates electric power by light and outputs the electric power (See Fig.1, Item#10 discloses solar panels. Applicant’s specification Par.23 discloses that “the solar battery 10 is a photelectric conversion device that generates electric power by light and outputs electric power”. There is no disclosure of integrated storage in the claimed solar battery);
a secondary battery cell configured to store the electric power (See Fig.1, Item#30, disclose a lithium battery);
a battery management unit configured to perform a protection operation by cutting off the extraction of the electric power stored in the secondary battery cell when a storage voltage of the secondary battery cell is equal to or less than a protection voltage (See Fig.1, Item#31, discloses a BMS. Par.27 discloses the BMS (31) is configured to monitor and protect the lithium battery set (30) from overcharging and over-discharging”. Par.30, further discloses that when the lithium battery set (30) is at low electrical potential due to over-discharging, the BMS (31) is configured to automatically enter into sleep mode); and
an automatic recovery control unit that is connected between the solar battery and the battery management unit (See Fig.1 and Par.27 disclose the low potential wake-up circuit (40) has a double-contact relay (41) and a single-contact relay (42). The circuit 40 is connected between the solar panel 10 and the BMS 31) and configured to perform a recovery charging operation supplying the electric power to the battery management unit even when the battery management unit is in an operation stop state (See Pars.14 and 27, disclose that when the battery voltage is below threshold, the BMS enters a sleep mode, switch 42 is switched on , switch 41 is connected between main contact 411 and second contact 413 [Fig.6] and the BMS is activated using the solar power).
However, LAI does not disclose converting a portion of the electric power output from the solar battery into a first voltage and a first current value.
HIRATSUKA discloses a charging device comprising a solar battery and a converter for converting a portion of the electric power output from the solar battery into a first voltage and a first current value (See Fig.2, Items#10 and 20, and Pars.27-29, disclose the step-down unit 10 and the step-up unit 20 provide voltage V2 which is sufficient for start-up operation).
LAI and HIRATSUKA are analogous art since they both deal with solar chargers.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by LAI with the teachings of by adding the converters for the benefit of providing a voltage that is capable of starting the operation of the BMS even when output voltage of the solar panel fluctuates due to change in the amount of incident light (See Par.27).
Regarding claim 2, LAI and HIRATSUKA disclose the power supply device according to claim 1 as discussed above, wherein the automatic recovery control unit is configured to continue the recovery charging operation even while the battery management unit is performing the protection operation (See Par.30, disclose the single contact relay 42 and the double-contact relay with the main contact 411 connected to second contact 413 provide wake up power from the solar panel to the BMS while the BMS is in the stop state. After the battery is charged the switch 42 is opened and switch 41 connects main contact 411 to contact 412).
Regarding claims 3 and 9, LAI and HIRATSUKA disclose the power supply device according to claim 1 as discussed above, further comprising:
a charge/discharge control unit connected between the solar battery and the battery management unit and configured to convert the electric power output from the solar battery into a charging voltage and a charging current and supply the electric power to the battery management unit (See Figs.1 and 7, Item#11, disclose an MPPT circuit),wherein the charge/discharge control unit is operated by the electric power stored in the secondary battery cell (See Fig.7, discloses power is provided to MPPT 11 from lithium battery 30).
Regarding claims 4 and 10, LAI and HIRATSUKA disclose the power supply device according to claim 3 as discussed above, wherein the automatic recovery control unit is configured to stop the recovery charging operation when the charging voltage reaches a predetermined maximum voltage. (See LAI, Par.30, discloses When the lithium battery set (30) is charged back to normal electrical potential and free from the over-discharging protection from the BMS (31), the double-contact relay (41) is configured to switch back its electrical connection to enable the main contact (411) to electrically connect to the first contact (412), thereby rebooting the MPPT (11) and the inverter (60)).
Regarding claims 5, 11 and 12, LAI and HIRATSUKA disclose the power supply device according to claim 3, wherein the charge/discharge control unit is configured to use maximum power point tracking control. (See LAI, Figs.1 and 6, disclose an MPPT 11).
Regarding claims 7 and 17-20, LAI and HIRATSUKA disclose the power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic recovery control unit includes:
a voltage adjustment unit configured to boost a portion of the electric power from the solar battery and output the electric power at the first voltage (See HIRATSUKA, Fig.2, Item#20 and Par.24, disclose a step-up unit).
However, LAI and HIRATSUKA do not disclose a constant current output unit configured to be driven by the output of the first voltage from the voltage adjustment unit and output the first current value, wherein the output of the constant current output unit is supplied to the battery management unit.
However, the examiner explains that constant-current circuits are well known in the art and that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by LAI and HIRATSUKA by adding a constant-current output unit to the output of the voltage adjustment unit and wherein the output of the constant current output unit is supplied to the battery management unit for the benefit of protecting the battery against damage caused by current spikes.
Claim(s) 6 and 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LAI in view of HIRATSUKA and in further view of MCBEE (US 2009/0167238 A1, hereinafter MCBEE).
Regarding claims 6 and 13-16 (Claim 6 is considered representative for limitation matching purposes), LAI and HIRATSUKA disclose the power supply device according to claim 1 as discussed above, However, LAI and HIRATSUKA do not disclose wherein the automatic recovery control unit includes a temperature measurement unit that acquires a temperature of the secondary battery cell as a cell temperature, wherein the recovery charging operation stops when a temperature rise of the cell temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined protection temperature.
MCBEE discloses a battery charging system comprising a temperature measurement unit that acquires a temperature of the secondary battery cell as a cell temperature, wherein the control unit stops when a temperature rise of the cell temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined protection temperature (See Fig.3, discloses temperature sensor NTC, Fig.1, Steps#140-150, disclose detecting the battery temperature and discontinuing battery charging when the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature).
LAI, HIRATSUKA and MCBEE are analogous art since they all deal with battery charging.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by LAI and HIRATSUKA with the teachings of MCBEE by adding a temperature measurement circuit and stopping recovery charging when a temperature rise of the cell temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined protection temperature for the benefit of protecting the battery against damage caused by overheating.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LAI in view of HIRATSUKA and in further view of TOGASHI (US 2013/0113281 A1, hereinafter TOGASHI).
Regarding claim 8, LAI and HIRATSUKA disclose the power supply device according to claim 7 as discussed above, However, LAI and HIRATSUKA do not disclose wherein a backflow prevention diode is connected between the constant current output unit and the battery management unit.
TOGASHI discloses a power supply comprising backflow prevention diode is connected between a power source and a battery (See Fig.6, Item#55 and Par.69).
LAI, HIRATSUKA and TOGASHI are analogous art since they all deal with battery charging.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by LAI and HIRATSUKA with the teachings of TOGASHI by adding a backflow prevention diode between the constant current output unit and the battery management unit for the benefit of protecting the power supply including the conversion circuits from backflow current from the battery system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED H OMAR whose telephone number is (571)270-7165. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am -7:00 PM EST.
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/AHMED H OMAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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