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 § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to Judicial exception (calculating and Mental mathematical process) without significantly more.
The claims 1 and 11 recite “ ---- determining a depletion configuration of one or more loads of a powered system, the one or more loads configured to be powered by multiple battery packs of the powered system; and calculating a time required to deplete the battery packs to at least one of a target voltage or a target energy level, wherein calculating the time is based at least in part on a current state of charge (SOC) of the battery packs, a pack configuration of the battery packs, and the depletion configuration”.
The above limitations are directed to a Judicial Exception (memory, firmware, acquiring, storing, updating information, and manipulation of data, which are all considered abstract ideas) without additional elements that amount so significantly more than the Judicial Exception. The claim does not recite "significantly more" because the claim is not either 1) improving another technology, 2) improving the functioning of the computer itself, 3) Applying the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine, 4) Effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, 5) Adding a specific limitation other than what is well-understood, routine and conventional in the field, or adding unconventional steps that confine the claim to a particular useful application, or 6) Other meaningful limitations beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because data gathering and updating steps required to perform the recited acquiring, storing, updating, and comparing, do not add a meaningful limitation to the method as they are insignificant extra-solution activity.
Further, the recitation " calculating a time required to deplete the battery packs” can be done by a general computer without user intervention. This amounts no more than invoking computers to perform the abstract ideas of collecting information, analyzing information, and calculating the information. Applicant's disclosure clear that calculating depleting time of the batter is directed to an abstract idea, he recitation of the loads configured to be powered by multiple battery packs of a powered system does not change the character of the claims as a whole. The individual claim elements are either generic computer components or routine activity. These components perform routine functions, like "calculating", "collecting data'. Applicant's specification also fails to explain how the calculation improves the SOC of the battery or determination of battery depletion process, or battery life.
.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.
Claims 1, 6-7,11 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamura (US 2012/0248876) in view of Harshe et al. (US 2022/0089054), hereinafter Harshe.
As to claims 1 and 11, Tamura discloses in figure 1, a charge transfer timing system comprising, a controller [controller 5] comprising one or more processors and configured to determine a depletion configuration of one or more loads ]element L] of a powered system, the one or more loads configured to be powered by a battery pack [battery pack 2; see figure ¶0033] of the powered system [see figure 1] , the controller configured to calculate a time required to deplete the battery pack to at least one of a target voltage or a target energy level, the controller configured to calculate the time based at least in part on a current state of charge (SOC) of the battery packs, a pack configuration of the battery pack, and the depletion configuration [the degradation /depletion time of the battery is determined based on SOC; see ¶0043 and ¶0062].
Tamura does not disclose explicitly, multiple battery packs.
Harshe discloses in figure 1, multiple battery packs [battery modules (24) discloses; see ¶0026].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to replace the battery power source of Tamura with plurality of batteries as taught by Harshe in order to provide sufficient power to the load.
As to claims 6 and 16, Tamura discloses all of the claim limitations except, identifying one or more locations to add or remove one or more charging stations based on the time required to deplete the battery packs that is calculated.
Harshe discloses in figure 1, identifying one or more locations to add or remove one or more charging stations based on the time required to deplete the battery packs that is calculated [see ¶0030].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide plural charging stations as taught by Harshe in Tamura’s apparatus in order to optimize battery charging.
As to claims 7 and 17, Harshe discloses in figure 1,communicating the time required to deplete the battery packs to at least one of a movement planning system or a yard planning system [see ¶0030].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide plural charging stations as taught by Harshe in Tamura’s apparatus in order to optimize battery charging.
As to claim 18, Harshe discloses in figure 1, wherein the controller is onboard the powered system, and the powered system is a vehicle [see Abstract].
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamura in view of Harshe, and Heinen (US 2018/0080995).
As to claims 2 and 12, Tamura discloses all of the claim laminations except, wherein the time required to deplete the battery packs is based on one or more operating conditions of the powered system.
Heinen discloses in figures 1-3, wherein the time required to deplete the battery packs is based on one or more operating conditions of the powered system [see Abstract and ¶0043-0044].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was to use load operation status in Tamura’s apparatus as taught by Heinen in order to avoid battery damage due to deep discharge.
As to claims 3 and 13 , Tamura discloses in figure 1,wherein the one or more operating conditions of the powered system change, and the time required to deplete the battery packs is repeatedly calculated based on changes to the one or more operating conditions [it is implicitly that the calculation is performed repeatedly].
Claims 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamura in view of Harshe, and in view of Machine Translation of CN202797500, hereinafter 500’.
As to claims 5 and 15, Tamura discloses all of the claim limitations except, Harshe discloses I figure 1, sending a notification indicating the time required to deplete the battery packs to the at least one of the target voltage or the target energy level [see ¶0024-0026, and ¶0031].
500’ discloses in figure 1, sending a notification indicating the time required to deplete the battery packs to the at least one of the target voltage or the target energy level [sending time required to discharge the battery to the display element is disclosed; see page 5].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add discharge time notification means in Tamura’s apparatus as taught by 500’ in order to allow the user to manage power consumption and extend battery life.
10. Claims 9 and 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamura in view of Harshe, and in view of Sanford et al. (US 2016/0126761), hereinafter Sanford.
As to claim 9, Tamura discloses all of the claim limitations except, wherein the battery packs are arranged in multiple battery strings, and the time required to deplete the battery packs is based at least in part on a sequence or order in which the battery strings are connected with the one or more loads of the powered system.
Sanford discloses in figure 1, wherein the battery packs are arranged in multiple battery strings, and the time required to deplete the battery packs is based at least in part on a sequence or order in which the battery strings are connected with the one or more loads of the powered system [sequential discharging of the plurality of battery cells disclosed; see ¶0013].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention made to discharge battery strings in sequence as taught by Sanford in order to avoid battery damage due to over discharge.
As to claims 10 and 20, Tamura in combination with Harshe and Sanford discloses, connecting the battery strings to the one or more loads in the sequence or order based at least in part on one or both of a fault status of a battery pack of the battery strings or an imbalance in the SOCs of the battery strings [Harshe discloses plurality of battery packs and Sanford discloses discharging plurality of batteries sequentially],
As to Claims 1-3,5-7 and 9-10 the method merely recites the steps of using the elements of the device as disclosed above. Thus, the method steps will be met during the normal operation of the apparatus described above.
Conclusion
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/SAMUEL BERHANU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859