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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-14 and 16-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al (US 2019/0123404 A1) in view of Betzner et al (US 2016/0290877 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, Kim et al teaches: A system (see Figs. 2-7) and method comprising: a battery (110-1 to 110-n); at least one component electrically coupled to and powered from the battery (a low voltage load, see para. 0073); a coil (215-1 to 215-1n, 215-2 to 215-2n) located proximate to the battery such that a temperature of the coil is indicative of a temperature of the battery (215-1 and 215-2 are placed on a first surface 111 and second surface 112, respectively, of battery 110-1, see Figs. 4A & 4B and para. 0082); the coil has a resistance (see R in Fig. 5 and paras. 0092-0093), a battery temperature reporting system (while Kim et al is not specific as to how the temperature is obtained, the BMS 200 acquires a temperature of the battery, see paras. 0060, 0087-0095 & 0202); and a power management system (BMS 200, including S-BMS 210-1 & M-BMS 220) communicatively coupled to the battery temperature reporting system, the battery, and the at least one component and configured to control power delivered and consumed by the battery and the at least one component based on the temperature (BMS 200, including S-BMS 210-1 & M-BMS 220, controls operation of the battery on a variety of factors, including temperature, see paras. 0060-0064, 0073, 0087-0095).
Kim et al does not teach a specific temperature reporting system, and thus, does not specifically teach: a coil resistance and battery temperature reporting system electrically coupled to the coil and configured to: monitor a direct current resistance of the coil; and estimate a temperature of the coil based on the direct current resistance; and controlling power delivered and consumed based on the temperature of the coil.
Betzner et al teaches (see Figs. 1-2): a device (100) and method (see Fig. 2) for measuring the temperature of a battery (106) using a coil resistance and battery temperature reporting system (108) electrically coupled to the coil (104) and configured to: monitor a direct current resistance of the coil (see step 200 in Fig. 2 and para. 0031); and estimate a temperature of the coil based on the direct current resistance (see step 202 in Fig. 2 and para. 0032-0033); and controlling power delivered and consumed based on the temperature of the coil (see step 204 in Fig. 2 and para. 0034).
In view of the teachings of Betzner et al, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date, to include with the system of Kim et al, a coil resistance and battery temperature reporting system electrically coupled to the coil and configured to: monitor a direct current resistance of the coil; and estimate a temperature of the coil based on the direct current resistance; and controlling power delivered and consumed based on the temperature of the coil, since this would provide a simple, efficient way to measure the temperature of a battery in a device without installing a new temperature sensor (see para. 0003 of Betzner et al).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al teaches: The system of Clam 1 and the method of claim 12, wherein monitoring the direct current resistance comprises: measuring an electrical signal associated with the coil and responsive to an electrical bias driven on the coil (see step 200 in Fig. 2 and para. 0031 of Betzner et al); and estimating the direct current resistance based on the electrical bias and the electrical signal (see step 202 in Fig. 2 and para. 0032-0034 of Betzner et al).
Regarding claims 3 and 14, Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al teaches: The system of Claim 2 and the method of claim 13, wherein the electrical bias comprises an electrical current and the electrical signal comprises an electrical voltage (see step 200 in Fig. 2 and para. 0031 of Betzner et al).
Regarding claims 5 and 16, Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al teaches: The system of Claim 1 and the method of claim 12, wherein the coil is integral to a wireless charging subsystem of an electronic device comprising the system (see paras. 0066 & 0071 of Kim et al).
Regarding claims 6 and 17, Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al teaches: The system of Claim 1 and the method of claim 12, wherein the coil is a Near Field Communication (NFC) coil used for communication of an electronic device comprising the system (see para. 0064 of Kim et al).
Regarding claims 7 and 18, Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al teaches: The system of Claim 1 and the method of claim 12, further comprising a battery modeling subsystem configured to calculate parameters of an equivalent circuit thermal model associated with the coil based on the temperature (see Fig. 5 and paras. 0080, 0092-0093 of Kim et al and Figs. 2-3 and paras. 0031-0033 of Betzner et al).
Regarding claims 8 and 19, Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al teaches: The system of Claim 1 and the method of claim 12, wherein the coil resistance and battery temperature reporting system is further configured to drive electrical current to the coil in order to heat the coil (see paras. 0075-0076 and 0093-0094 of Kim et al).
Regarding claims 9 and 20, Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al teaches: The system of Claim 1 and the method of claim 12, wherein the coil resistance and battery temperature reporting system is further configured to drive electrical current to the coil in order to heat the coil in response to the temperature falling below a threshold temperature (less than a reference value, see paras. 0075-0076 and 0093-0094 of Kim et al).
Regarding claims 10 and 21, Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al teaches: The system of Claim 1 and the method of claim 12, wherein estimating the temperature of the coil comprises estimating the temperature based on the direct current resistance and initial thermal parameters associated with the coil (see Fig. 5 and paras. 0080, 0092-0093 of Kim et al and Figs. 2-3 and paras. 0031-0033 of Betzner et al).
Regarding claims 11 and 22, Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al teaches: The system of Claim 10 and the method of claim 21, wherein the initial thermal parameters comprise a value of the direct coil resistance recorded at a known temperature of the coil and a conductive coefficient of the coil (see Fig. 5 and paras. 0080, 0092-0093 of Kim et al and Figs. 2-3 and paras. 0031-0033 of Betzner et al).
Claim(s) 4 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al (US 2019/0123404 A1) in view of Betzner et al (US 2016/0290877 A1) as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and further in view of Frank et al (WO 2023/052066 A1).
Regarding claims 4 and 15, the teachings of Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al, as applied to claims 1 and 12, have been discussed above.
Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al does not specifically teach wherein the battery is thermally coupled to the coil via a thermal compound.
Frank et al teaches a system and method for monitoring a battery (12) temperature, wherein the battery (12) is thermally coupled to a temperature sensor (22) via a thermal compound (32, see Fig. 2, the abstract and the last full paragraph on page 2 of the attached translation).
In view of the teachings of Frank et al, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date, to include with the system and method of Kim et al as modified by Betzner et al, wherein the battery is thermally coupled to the coil via a thermal compound, since this would fill any gaps between the coil and the battery (see the last full paragraph on page 2 of the attached translation of Frank et al), thereby resulting in more efficient and accurate heat transfer.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see the additional references cited on the attached PTO-892, which are directed to battery and or coil temperature monitoring.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jared Fureman whose telephone number is (571)272-2391. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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/JARED FUREMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859