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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-10 in the reply filed on 29 May 2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-5, 8, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHOU et al. (US 2022/0336921, hereinafter “Zhou”), in view of Kwon (KR 20140015702 A; listed in the IDS filed 11 September 2023; using the attached English machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Zhou teaches a battery management apparatus comprising:
a communication unit (BMS 202, see Fig. 2b; see [0076]) configured to communicate with a plurality of sensors (one or more first detection apparatuses 2021, see Fig. 2c; see [0078]-[0080]); and
a controller (control apparatus 2022, see Fig. 2b; see [0077]-[0079]) configured to obtain base line information of each of the plurality of sensors (see [0079]).
Zhou is silent to a controller configured to set identification information of each of the plurality of sensors and obtain base line information of each of the plurality of sensors based on the identification information.
Kwon teaches a controller (central control unit (CPU), see Fig. 1; see [0013]-[0014]) configured to set identification information (see [0014]) of each of the plurality of sensors (first and second battery sensors IBS1, IBS2, see Fig. 1; [0014]) and obtain base line information of each of the plurality of sensors based on the identification information (equated to initial battery monitoring information from the first and second battery sensors IBS1, IBS2; see [0016]-[0027]). Kwon teaches that an ID for each battery sensor can be automatically assigned via LIN communication, so there is no need to manage the software for each battery sensor separately, and by using the identifier of each software as the ID, the inconvenience of having to mount each battery sensor in a designated location during the assembly process can be eliminated. Therefore, the present invention can simplify the assembly process, reduce working time, and reduce mounting defects (see [0008]).
In view of Kwon’s teachings, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus of Zhou to include a controller configured to set identification information of each of the plurality of sensors and obtain base line information of each of the plurality of sensors based on the identification information, because it can help to simplify the assembly process, reduce working time, and reduce mounting defects.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Zhou and Kwon teaches wherein the plurality of sensors comprise a plurality of gas sensors (Zhou: see [0048]-[0052]), and
each of the plurality of gas sensors are connected for identification information allocation (Kwon: see [0014]-[0027]).
Though the combination of Zhou and Kwon is silent to specifically teaching wherein the plurality of gas sensors are serially connected to a power supply line, the particular power connections, whether in serial or parallel, would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed. See MPEP §2144.04(VI)(C).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Zhou and Kwon teaches wherein the controller is further configured to set the identification information when power for identification information allocation is applied to each of the plurality of gas sensors (Kwon: see [0014]-[0027]).
Though the combination of Zhou and Kwon is silent to setting the identification information when power for identification information allocation is applied to each of the plurality of gas sensors, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to do so in order for the system to identify the plurality of gas sensors with unique IDs and to record the monitoring information of the individual sensors as the system is initially powered on.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Zhou and Kwon teaches wherein the controller is further configured for identification information allocation to a first gas sensor (Kwon: IBS1, see Fig. 1) connected to the power supply line (Kwon: LIN1, see Fig. 1) for identification information allocation among the plurality of gas sensors and set the identification information (Kwon: see [0014]-[0027]).
Though the combination of Zhou and Kwon is silent to specifically teaching that the controller is configured to apply power to a first gas sensor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to do so in order for the controller to begin identification of the sensors and collecting base line information as the system is initially powered on.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Zhou and Kwon teaches wherein the controller is further configured to set the identification information for each of the plurality of gas sensors for identification information allocation from another gas sensor through the power supply line for identification information allocation (Kwon: see [0014]-[0027]).
Though the combination of Zhou and Kwon is silent to specifically teaching wherein the plurality of gas sensors is sequentially supplied with the power, the particular power connections, whether made sequentially or simultaneously, would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed. See MPEP §2144.04(VI)(C).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Zhou and Kwon is silent to wherein the controller is further configured to obtain base line information measured for a preset time by the plurality of sensors, when an error does not occur in the plurality of sensors. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to do so in order to determine a reference level for measurements that are known to be error free from the plurality of sensors.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Zhou and Kwon is silent to wherein the preset time is 24 hours. However, absent persuasive evidence to the contrary, it would have been within the purview of one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to determine a sufficient preset time, such as 24 hours, for the collection of base line information.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Zhou and Kwon as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Seo et al. (US 2016/0226263, hereinafter “Seo”).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Zhou and Kwon is silent to wherein the communication unit is further configured to communicate with a higher-level battery management system (BMS), and
the controller is further configured to deliver the base line information measured from the plurality of sensors to the higher-level BMS.
Seo teaches a multi-module battery pack. In order to enhance the battery pack's efficiency, a multi-slave structure including a plurality of BMS′ including a master or main BMS (equated to the claimed higher-level battery management system (BMS)) controlling a plurality of slave BMS′ is largely used (see [0009]). In such a structure, in order to check the current battery state and utilize the same for controlling charging and discharging the batteries, the master BMS communicates with the slave BMS′ to collect data regarding a plurality of batteries handled by the slave BMS′ (see [0010]).
In view of Seo’s teachings, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus of the combination of Zhou and Kwon to include wherein the communication unit is further configured to communicate with a higher-level battery management system (BMS), because it enhances the overall battery’s efficiency and allows for the master BMS to communicate with the slave BMS to control charging and discharging the batteries. Though the combination of Zhou, Kwon, and Seo is silent to specifically teach wherein the controller is further configured to deliver the base line information measured from the plurality of sensors to the higher-level BMS, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to do so in order for the master or main BMS to evaluate all the battery state information at once and send commands to the slave BMS to regulate their associated batteries.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 7 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 6: The prior art, either taken alone or in combination, fails to teach:
the controller is further configured to obtain base line information of each of the plurality of gas sensors from the higher-level BMS when the plurality of gas sensors are powered off and then on, due to an error occurring in the plurality of gas sensors, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 6.
Claim 7: Depends directly from claim 6.
Conclusion
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/S.S.H/Examiner, Art Unit 1735 21 August 2026
/KEITH WALKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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