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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 04/27/2023 and 10/29/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The amended drawings and substitute specification filed on 01/30/2024 are acknowledged and entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 7-8, 10-11, 13-14, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Marovac et al. [US 2020/0062449].
With respect to claim 1, Marovac discloses a modular energy pallet [see figs 2 and 17-19], comprising: a battery [2]; one or more selectively enabled outlets that when selectively enabled provide power from the battery via the outlets [4; the energy transfer devices are situated with sockets/plug and wherein the user’s control of plugging in the cables is equated to a selective enabling of the energy transfer devices; further par. 0047 details an alternative form of wireless charging including a charging/discharging and then repeated charging which implicitly discloses the ability for selectively enabling the power transfer process of the energy transfer device 4]; and an enclosure system, comprising: one or more skid rails disposed at a base of the enclosure system [as depicted the pallets include grooves 163-168 for facilitating transport].
With respect to claim 7, Marovac further discloses wherein the one or more selectively enabled outlets comprise a first DC outlet configured to provide direct power from the battery [i.e. outlets 40,41].
With respect to claims 8 and 18, Marovac further discloses a selectively enabled access point powered by the battery, that, when enabled, is configured to couple with a component powered by the modular energy pallet [see figs 11-13, alternatively see also par. 0011 regarding RFID].
With respect to claim 10, Marovac further discloses wherein the one or more skid rails are disposed at the base of the enclosure system in a manner that creates one or more fork pockets for one or more forks of a fork lift [as depicted in fig. 1].
With respect to claim 11, Marovac further discloses a battery restraint system disposed within the enclosure system, wherein the battery securing system configured to secure the battery within the modular energy pallet [Fig. 2, see items 180-182, additionally, under BRI since the storage is within pallet 1 and encompassed by the plurality of walls it is at the very least restrained by the dimensions or the inner pallet].
With respect to claim 13, Marovac discloses a modular energy pallet system [Fig. 19], comprising: a first modular energy pallet [1] configured to provide power from an onboard battery [2] of the first modular energy pallet via a first one or more selectively enabled outlets [4; the energy transfer devices are situated with sockets/plug and wherein the user’s control of plugging in the cables is equated to a selective enabling of the energy transfer devices; further par. 0047 details an alternative form of wireless charging including a charging/discharging and then repeated charging which implicitly discloses the ability for selectively enabling the power transfer process of the energy transfer device 4], wherein the first modular energy pallet comprises: one or more first skid rails disposed at a base of the first modular energy pallet [as depicted the pallets include grooves 163-168 for facilitating transport]; and a second modular energy pallet, configured to receive, at a top of second modular energy pallet, the one or more first skid rails and supply supplemental power via a second one or more selectively enabled outlets [as depicted in Figs 19 and 19a].
With respect to claim 14, Marovac further discloses wherein the one or more first skid rails are shaped and sized such that a fork of a fork lift may fit within the one or more first skid rails and the fork may be removed after the first one or more skid rails are received by the second modular energy pallet [as depicted in fig. 1].
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Deighton et al. [US 2023/0123166].
With respect to claim 19, Deighton discloses a method, comprising: powering a DC powered attraction component via a modular energy pallet [Fig. 6, par. 0019, 0029, 0084] by: selectively enabling a DC outlet of the modular energy pallet [par. 0029; “switches”, par. 0069, user input controls starting/turn-off]; and coupling the DC powered attraction component to the selectively enabled DC outlet of the modular energy pallet [par. 0029, 0041; i.e. via the outlets], wherein DC power powering the DC powered attraction component is supplied direct from an onboard battery of the modular energy pallet [Fig. 1; see item 110]; and powering an AC powered attraction component via the modular energy pallet by: selectively enabling an AC outlet of the modular energy pallet [par. 0029, “inverter” see also the depicted AC plugs]; and coupling the AC powered attraction component to the selectively enabled AC outlet of the modular energy pallet [Fig. 6, see also 360], wherein AC power powering the AC powered attraction component is supplied from the onboard battery via one or more inverters [par. 0029].
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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marovac et al. [US 2020/0062449] as applied above.
With respect to claim 2, Marovac fails to explicitly disclose the nameplate attributes of the battery such as wherein the battery comprises a 51-volt (V), 150 Amp-hour (Ah) battery. However, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention utilize a 51V, 150 Ah battery since it has been held that discovering an optimum value involves only routine skill in the art. The specification does not disclose any criticality or unexpected results from using a 51V, 150Ah battery and there would be no undue experimentation involved for the person to arrive at such a battery. The benefit of utilizing a battery which such a sizing allows for a wide array of power and capacity to be afforded for supply to a variety of potential equipment.
Claim(s) 3-4, 5-6, 9, 12, and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marovac et al. [US 2020/0062449] as applied above, and further in view of Deighton et al. [US 2023/0123166].
With respect to claims 3-4, Marovac fails to disclose AC power output. Deighton relates to stackable/modular power supplies [Fig 3A-3B] wherein one or more inverters are configured to convert DC power from the battery to AC power and wherein the one or more selectively enabled outlets comprise: an AC outlet that provides the AC power [par. 0029, 0032, 0072].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Marovac to include AC power output plugs in the stackable energy pallets as taught by Deighton for the benefit of providing power to a wider range of devices and uses (i.e. AC and DC supply).
With respect to claims 5 and 15, while Deighton shows an outlet such as 230c he fails to explicitly disclose wherein the AC outlet comprises a weatherproof 19-pin output that utilizes a first subset of available channels of the 19- pin output for provision of the AC power. It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art to utilize a weatherproof 19-pin AC output since it has been held that selection of a known component based on its suitability for its intended use involves only routine skill. The benefit of such an outlet protects against the elements while simultaneously providing versatility of a common connector while providing a higher current capacity.
With respect to claims 6 and 16-17, Deighton as applied above further discloses receiving additional AC power from a second stackable modular energy pallet and route the additional AC power through one or more open channels of the available channels to provide the additional AC power through the AC outlet [Figs 3A-3B and par. 0058-0061] including a third modular energy pallet [note both Marovac and Deighton show many modular storage units, well over and including three].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Marovac to receive the additional power from the stackable power sources for the benefit of increasing the power output capacity.
With respect to claim 9, Marovac fails to explicitly disclose one or more selectively enabled work lights powered by the battery, wherein the one or more selectively enabled work lights comprise: a first work light configured to illuminate a control and patch panel of the modular energy pallet; a second work light configured to illuminate the one or more selectively enabled outlets; or both.
Deighton further teaches one or more selectively enabled work lights powered by the battery, wherein the one or more selectively enabled work lights comprise: a first work light configured to illuminate a control and patch panel of the modular energy pallet [par. 0033, 0041; i.e. includes a control panel for illuminating with LEDs selectively based on the power level]. It is noted the claim is recited in the “OR” format and therefore the second work light is not required.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Marovac to provide a control panel with lights configured for illuminating a control panel of the storage devices for the benefit of quickly and easily providing visual feedback to the users regarding the battery status levels.
With respect to claim 12, Marovac fails to explicitly disclose an onboard battery management system; and an onboard charger configured to charge the battery in accordance with a scheme of the onboard battery management system.
Deighton further teaches an onboard battery management system and an onboard charger configured to charge the battery in accordance with a scheme of the onboard battery management system [Fig. 1, see internal power storage components such as the power manager 115].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Marovac to include a power manager/charger for the battery for the benefit of ensuring the storage units are recharged in a safe manner (charging regulation).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deighton et al. [US 2023/0123166] as applied above, and further in view of Xu [US 2025/0047145].
With respect to claim 20, Deighton teaches the DC powered attraction and control for powering the component as detailed above, but fails to explicitly disclose wirelessly controlling via a wireless access point connection to an access point coupled to a controller.
However, utilizing data during charging/power supply is routine in the art. For example, Xu relates to power supply/charging and teaches wirelessly controlling via a wireless access point connection to an access point coupled to a controller [par. 0075, 0134].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Deighton to include the wireless access point connection for the modular battery for the benefit of receiving information relating to the component, i.e. charging information, thereby improving the charging operation/power supply.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL R PELTON whose telephone number is (571)270-1761. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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/NATHANIEL R PELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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