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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/27/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 8, filed 07/27/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Koyama (JP2016054628A), with publication date 2016/04/14.
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) 1,5-7, 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abdennadher et al. (US 2009/0112493), herein after Abdennadher, and Koyama (JP2016054628A), attached is the human translation.
Regarding claim 1, Abdennadher discloses a method performed by a measurement tool for determining a State of Health, SOH, of a capacitor component in a vehicle (determining an item of information representative of the state of ageing of the capacitor, Abstract), wherein the method comprises:
performing charging and discharging of the capacitor component according to a specific determined charge and discharge cycle; obtaining current and voltage measurements during both the charging and discharging of the capacitor component (measuring the ripple voltage between the contact terminals of the capacitor, paragraph [0019]; The means for determining the current flowing in the capacitor (charging of capacitor) are preferably connected to means for measuring a current on the power supply line and means for measuring a current in an electric load (discharging of capacitor), paragraph [0040]);
determining an Equivalent Series Resistance, ESR and a capacitance of the capacitor component based on the obtained current and voltage measurements (the method comprises determination of the capacitance value of the capacitor, determinations of the equivalent series resistance and of the capacitance, paragraph [0025]); and
determining the SOH of the capacitor component based on the determined capacitance and ESR (the method comprises display of information representative of the capacitance value of the capacitor or/and of information representative of at least one cause associated with the state of ageing of said capacitor according to the capacitance value and/or the equivalent series resistance of the capacitor, paragraph [0025]). However, Abdennadher does not disclose wherein the performing is further based on the ambient temperature surrounding the capacitor component, wherein the ambient temperature is provided by a temperature sensor, and wherein the ambient temperature is used to adjust a charging voltage, VC;
Koyama discloses that the charging and discharging of the capacitor is control based on the ambient temperature (abstract). Wherein the ambient temperature is provided by a temperature sensor (the temperature sensors 52, 53 connected close to the capacitor 21, fig. 1,), and wherein the ambient temperature is used to adjust a charging voltage, VC (A power supply device comprising a charging voltage control unit that controls the charging voltage corresponding to the ambient temperature for pre-charging the capacitor, claim 1).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abdennadher’s method to include the measurement of ambient temperature during charging and discharging of a capacitor and adjust the charging voltage according to temperature as taught by Koyama, in order to have improved diagnostic accuracy by enabling temperature compensation of capacitor parameters (e.g. ESR, capacitance etc.), thereby allowing more reliable determination of capacitor state of health, early detection of overheating conditions, and improved prediction of capacitor performance and lifetime. Adjusting the charging voltage according to ambient temperature improves charging reliability, protect the capacitor from over stress under high temperature conditions, thereby enhancing overall performance, and durability of the system.
Regarding claim 5, Abdennadher further discloses the method further comprising providing, to a user of the measurement tool via a display, information indicating the SOH of the capacitor component (the method comprises display of information representative of the capacitance value of the capacitor or/and of information representative of at least one cause associated with the state of ageing of said capacitor, paragraph [0025]).
Regarding claim 6, Abdennadher further discloses wherein the determining further comprises determining a time period until the capacitor component is in need of being replaced based on the determined SOH of the capacitor component, and the providing further comprises providing, to a user of the measurement tool via the display, information indicating the determined time period (paragraph [0069], [0083]).
Regarding claim 7, Abdennadher discloses a measurement tool for determining a State of Health, SOH, of a capacitor component in a vehicle (Abstract), wherein the measurement tool is configured to perform charging and discharging of the capacitor component according to a specific determined charge and discharge cycle, obtain current and voltage measurements during both the charging and discharging of the capacitor component(measuring the ripple voltage between the contact terminals of the capacitor, Paragraph [0019]; The means for determining the current flowing in the capacitor (charging of capacitor) are preferably connected to means for measuring a current on the power supply line and means for measuring a current in an electric load (discharging of capacitor), paragraph [0040]),
determine an Equivalent Series Resistance, ESR, and a capacitance of the capacitor component based on the obtained current and voltage measurements(the method comprises determination of the capacitance value of the capacitor, determinations of the equivalent series resistance and of the capacitance, paragraph [0025]), and determine the SOH of the capacitor component based on the determined capacitance and ESR(the method comprises display of information representative of the capacitance value of the capacitor or/and of information representative of at least one cause associated with the state of ageing of said capacitor according to the capacitance value and/or the equivalent series resistance of the capacitor, paragraph [0025]). However, Abdennadher does not disclose wherein the performing is further based on the ambient temperature surrounding the capacitor component, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to communicate with a temperature sensor to receive the ambient temperature surrounding the capacitor component, and wherein the ambient temperature is used to adjust a charging voltage, VC.
Koyama discloses that the charging and discharging of the capacitor is control based on the ambient temperature (abstract), wherein the processing circuitry (the control unit 41, fig. 1) is configured to communicate with a temperature sensor to receive the ambient temperature surrounding the capacitor component, and wherein the ambient temperature is used to adjust a charging voltage, VC (paragraph [0032]).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abdennadher’s method to include the measurement of ambient temperature during charging and discharging of a capacitor and adjust the charging voltage according to temperature as taught by Koyama, in order to have improved diagnostic accuracy by enabling temperature compensation of capacitor parameters (e.g. ESR, capacitance etc.), thereby allowing more reliable determination of capacitor state of health, early detection of overheating conditions, and improved prediction of capacitor performance and lifetime. Adjusting the charging voltage according to ambient temperature improves charging reliability, protect the capacitor from over stress under high temperature conditions, thereby enhancing overall performance, and durability of the system.
Regarding claim 11, Abdennadher further discloses the measurement tool further comprising to provide, to a user of the measurement tool via a display, information indicating the SOH of the capacitor component(the method comprises display of information representative of the capacitance value of the capacitor or/and of information representative of at least one cause associated with the state of ageing of said capacitor, paragraph [0025]).
Regarding claim 12, Abdennadher further discloses the measurement tool further configured to determine a time period until the capacitor component is in need of being replaced based on the determined SOH of the capacitor component, and provide, to a user of the measurement tool via the display, information indicating the determined time period(paragraph [0069], [0083]).
Claim(s) 4, 10, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abdennadher (US 2009/0112493), and Koyama (JP2016054628A), as applied to claim 1 and 7 above, and further in view of Yu et al. (US 2018/0033937), herein after Yu.
Regarding claim 4, Abdennadher and Koyama disclose the method of claim 1. However, they are silent about wherein the specific determined charge and discharge cycle is less than 120 seconds long.
Yu discloses the supper capacitor with capacitance of 10F (paragraph [0089]). The charge and discharge cycle of such capacitor is less than 120 second long.
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Abdennadher’s in view of Koyama method to have the capacitor such that whose charge and discharge cycle is less than 120 secs as taught by Yu, in order to have rapid charge and discharge capability with high peak power delivery, enabling reliable short-term energy storage and repeated cycling without significant degradation.
Regarding claim 10, Abdennadher in view of Koyama discloses the measuring tool of claim 7. However, they are silent about wherein the specific determined charge and discharge cycle is less than 120 seconds long.
Yu discloses the supper capacitor with capacitance of 10F (paragraph [0089]). The charge and discharge cycle of such capacitor is less than 120 second long.
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Abdennadher’s in view of Koyama method to have the capacitor such that whose charge and discharge cycle is less than 120 secs as taught by Yu, in order to have rapid charge and discharge capability with high peak power delivery, enabling reliable short-term energy storage and repeated cycling without significant degradation.
Regarding claim 13, Abdennadher in view of Koyama discloses the measuring tool of claim 7. However, Abdennadher is silent about the capacitor is a super capacitor.
Yu discloses the capacitor is a super capacitor (paragraph [0089]).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Abdennadher’s in view of Koyama method to have a super capacitor as taught by Yu, in order to have rapid charge and discharge capability with high peak power delivery, enabling reliable short-term energy storage and repeated cycling without significant degradation.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abdennadher (US 2009/0112493), and Koyama (JP2016054628A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Eilertsen (US 2014/0114592).
Regarding claim 14, Abdennadher in view of Koyama discloses a processing unit to perform steps of claim 1 (paragraph [0045], see the rejection of claim 1). However, Abdennadher is silent about the processing unit have a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.
Eilertsen discloses the processing unit is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium (microcontroller, data storage, paragraph [0005]).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Abdennadher’s in view of Koyama processing unit to have the controller with the data storage as taught by Eilersten, in order to have persistent retention of the program code, allowing reliable execution of the method after power cycles.
Conclusion
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SADIA . KOUSAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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