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
Claims 2-4 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected subcombination, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 01/21/2026.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 5, 6 and 10-13 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 12, “the self-discharge characteristic” should be --a self-discharge characteristic-- to avoid the issue of lack of antecedent basis.
In claim 5, lines 1-2, “the self-discharge performance” should be --the self-discharge characteristic-- to avoid the issue of lack of antecedent basis.
In claim 10, line 13, “the self-discharge characteristic” should be --the self-discharge performance-- to avoid the issue of lack of antecedent basis.
In claim 11, line 8, “the self-discharge performance” should be --a self-discharge performance-- to avoid the issue of lack of antecedent basis.
The other claim(s) not discussed above, or depending on the above claim(s), are objected to for inheriting the issue(s) from their linking claim(s).
Appropriate correction is required.
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, 5, 7, 8, 10-12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brorein et al. (US 20180164363 A1; hereinafter “Brorein”) in view of OKURA (US 20220043047 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Brorein teaches a battery detection apparatus (i.e., “a system for determining a self-discharge current characteristic of a storage cell”; see Abstract), comprising:
a voltage measurement module (i.e., “a first voltage measurement circuit 215, a second voltage measurement circuit 220”; see [0024]), configured to be connected to a battery (see FIG. 2), and measure an open-circuit voltage of the battery (i.e., “The first voltage resolution allows the processing unit 205 to carry out a measurement of an open circuit voltage of the storage cell 230 with millivolt level accuracy”; see [0026]; “The second voltage measurement circuit 220 provides a second voltage resolution that is significantly higher than the first voltage resolution and offers a higher level of measurement granularity. Thus, the second voltage resolution allows the processing unit 205 to use the second voltage measurement circuit 220 to identify the storage cell 230 as having an open circuit voltage of 4.305375V”; see [0029]);
a processor (i.e., “processing unit 205”), connected to the voltage measurement module, and configured to obtain the open-circuit voltage (i.e., “the second voltage resolution allows the processing unit 205 to use the second voltage measurement circuit 220 to identify the storage cell 230 as having an open circuit voltage of 4.305375V. The processing unit 205 can then change the potentiostat voltage provided by the voltage source 210 to match the open circuit voltage of the storage cell 230 down to microvolt levels of accuracy”; see [0029] and FIG. 2);
a constant voltage source (i.e., “voltage source 210”), connected to the processor, and configured to input a test voltage to the battery under control of the processor (i.e., “The processing unit 205 can then change the potentiostat voltage provided by the voltage source 210 to match the open circuit voltage of the storage cell 230 down to microvolt levels of accuracy”; see [0029] and FIG. 2); and
a current measurement module (i.e., “current measurement circuit 225”), connected to the battery (see FIG. 2), and configured to measure an instantaneous current of' the battery after the test voltage is inputted (i.e., “After setting of the potentiostat voltage… the processing unit 205 uses the current measurement circuit 225 to measure an amplitude of a self-discharge current flowing through the storage cell 230”; see [0032] and FIG. 2);
wherein the processor is also connected to the current measurement module and configured to obtain the instantaneous current (i.e., “the processing unit 205 uses the current measurement circuit 225 to measure an amplitude of a self-discharge current flowing through the storage cell 230”; see [0032] and FIG. 2) and determine the self-discharge characteristic of the battery according to the instantaneous current (i.e., “using the one or more self-discharge leakage current measurements to determine a self-discharge leakage current characteristic of the storage cell (or the bank of storage cells)”; see [0005]).
Brorein does not explicitly disclose (see only the underlined):
a constant voltage source, connected to the processor, and configured to input a test voltage to the battery under control of the processor after the battery stands for a preset time, wherein the test voltage is the same as the open-circuit voltage.
But Brorein further teaches:
the battery voltage will drop after a period of time due to self-discharge (i.e., “after a period of time, such as for example, a few days, the voltage of the cell begins to drop as a result of a flow of leakage current in the storage cell 115. The drop in the voltage is countered by the potentiostat voltage provided by the DC power source 105 that tends to maintain the storage cell 115 at the measured open circuit voltage”; see [0019]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brorein by configuring the constant voltage source to input a test voltage to the battery under control of the processor after the battery stands for a preset time, as claimed. The rationale would be to wait for a sufficient time for the voltage drop due to self-discharge to manifest itself, so that the self-discharge current is large enough to be detectable.
Brorein does not explicitly disclose (see only the underlined):
wherein the processor is also connected to the current measurement module and configured to obtain the instantaneous current and determine the self-discharge characteristic of the battery according to the instantaneous current and a preset current threshold.
But OKURA teaches:
determining a defect battery based on a leak current being greater than a preset threshold (i.e., “When the detected convergence current value Ibs is greater than a predetermined reference current value Ibk (Ibs>Ibk), the battery is determined to be a defective product having a low insulation property (i.e., in which a minute internal short circuit has occurred)”; see [0004]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brorein in view of OKURA to configure the processor to: obtain the instantaneous current and determine the self-discharge characteristic of the battery according to the instantaneous current and a preset current threshold, as claimed. The rationale would be to help inspecting the battery.
Regarding claim 5, as a result of modification applied to claim 1 above, Brorein in view of OKURA further teaches: wherein in determining the self-discharge performance of the battery, the processor is configured to:
determine that the battery is an abnormal self-discharge product if the instantaneous current is greater than the preset current threshold (see discussion in claim 1 and OKURA [0004]); and
determine that the battery is anormal self-discharge product if the instantaneous current is less than or equal to the preset current threshold (see discussion in claim 1 and OKURA [0004]).
Regarding claim 7, the claim recites the same substantive limitations as claim 1 and is rejected by applying the same teachings.
Regarding claim 8, the claim recites the same substantive further limitations as claim 5 and is rejected by applying the same teachings.
Regarding claim 10, the claim recites the same substantive limitations as claim 1 and is rejected by applying the same teachings.
Regarding claim 11, the claim recites the same substantive limitations as claim 1 and is rejected by applying the same teachings, except for the “measurement module” to measure the open-circuit voltage and the instantaneous current. However, this is also taught by Brorein (i.e., the combination of 215, 220, and 225 in FIG. 2; or the combination of 215 and 355 in FIG. 3).
Regarding claim 12, the claim recites the same substantive further limitations as claim 5 and is rejected by applying the same teachings.
Regarding claim 14, the claim recites the same substantive limitations as claim 1 and is rejected by applying the same teachings. See Brorein, [0024], discussing the implementation in a non-transitory computer storage medium.
Claims 6, 9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brorein in view of OKURA and Ro (US 20110234232 A1; cited in IDS).
Regarding claim 6, the prior art applied to the preceding linking claim(s) teaches the features of the linking claim(s).
Brorein does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the detection apparatus further comprises a placing apparatus, the placing apparatus is connected to the processor, and the processor is further configured to:
control the placing apparatus to place the battery to a first position if it is determined that the battery is an abnormal self-discharge product; and
control the placing apparatus to place the battery to a second position if it is determined that the battery is anormal self-discharge product.
But Ro teaches:
a battery placing apparatus for placing sorted battery in corresponding group (i.e., “The battery cell sorting machine may further include a sorting unit configured to move the battery cell of each group sorted by the control unit and to load the battery cell in the corresponding group”; see [0011]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brorein in view of OKURA, further in view of Ro, by incorporating a placing apparatus, such that the detection apparatus further comprises a placing apparatus, the placing apparatus is connected to the processor, and the processor is further configured to: control the placing apparatus to place the battery to a first position if it is determined that the battery is an abnormal self-discharge product; and control the placing apparatus to place the battery to a second position if it is determined that the battery is anormal self-discharge product, as claimed. The rationale would be to help placing the battery to a corresponding place for further processing (e.g., use or disposal).
Regarding claim 9, the claim recites the same substantive further limitations as claim 6 and is rejected by applying the same teachings.
Regarding claim 13, the claim recites the same substantive further limitations as claim 6 and is rejected by applying the same teachings.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KIM et al. (US 20210190874 A1) teaches a jig pressing-type pressing short-circuiting inspection method, involving applying a constant voltage to a battery cell; and detecting a separator defect by measuring a leakage current. The range of the applied voltage may be from an open circuit voltage of the battery cell to the open circuit voltage of the battery cell+ 500 μV or less.
OKURA et al. (US 20220278382 A1) teaches a battery self-discharge inspection method, involving detecting a first device voltage of the power storage device pressed under the first load and charged; continuously applying a power-supply voltage equal to the first device voltage from an external power supply, detecting a power-supply current flowing to the power storage device, and determining a self-discharge state of the power storage device based on the detected power-supply current.
Zheng et al. ("A novel classification method of commercial lithium-ion battery cells based on fast and economic detection of self-discharge rate" Journal of Power Sources 478 (2020) 229039) teaches a method of sorting battery cells based on detection of self-discharge rate, involving clamping small batches of equalized cells in detection circuits to realize an external mapping of the internal current originated from the self-discharge. The relative self-discharge rates of the cells are estimated by the equivalent parallel circuit model with self-discharge. Zheng also discusses various existing methods of measuring self-discharge current of battery cells.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN C KUAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7066. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00AM-5:30PM.
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/JOHN C KUAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857