DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Invention II in the reply filed on 01/09/2026 is acknowledged, but the Applicant’s argument is found NOT persuasive because of the following reasons.
Foremost, the “voltage drop detector” is described in the Specification in much more details with respect to its functionality and structure. As an example, Paragraph [00023] discloses various specific functioning of the voltage drop detector with respect to the battery voltage being greater than the voltage drop threshold, triggering a cranking event, switching on the controller, only turning on when there is a change in the battery voltage characteristics, etc. The Paragraph [000145] further discloses the functioning of the voltage drop detector asserting a pin or a wake-up signal line that generates an interrupt at the controller. Meanwhile structurally, the Specification discloses specific circuit diagrams of the voltage drop detector that is also used for SPICE simulation, that are described in detail in Paragraphs [000157]-[000163]. Certainly, with all the details described with respect to the voltage drop detector, the Invention I does not require the particulars of the voltage drop detector for the patentability, and Invention II have utility by itself or in another different combination. Plus, such details would be a serious burden on the Examiner if the restriction were not required.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Double Patenting
2. The double patenting rejection against the US Pat No. 11/719,752 is not raised due to the Applicant filing of a terminal disclaimer on 01/09/2026 and approved on 01/23/2026.
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.
Claims 1, 4, 7-8 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davidson, US-PGPUB 2019/0385387 (hereinafter Davidson) in view of Wood, SR. et al., US-PGPUB 2022/0407343 (hereinafter Wood).
Regarding Claim 1. Davidson discloses a telematics device for coupling to a machine having an engine coupled to a starter powered by a battery of the machine (Abstract; Figs. 1, 2; Paragraph [0022], starter), the telematics device comprising:
a controller, a network interface coupled to the controller (Fig. 1, computing device, Network); a voltage drop detector coupled to the controller and connectable with the battery (Figs. 2, sensors; Paragraphs [0047]-[0048], battery voltage drop measurements; Paragraph [0025], vehicle battery);
a memory coupled to the controller, the memory storing machine-executable
programming instructions for execution by the controller (Figs. 1-2);
wherein when the telematics device is coupled with a machine (Figs. 1-2):
the voltage drop detector is connected with the battery (Figs. 2, sensors; Paragraphs [0047]-[0048], battery voltage drop measurements; Paragraph [0025], vehicle battery);
the voltage drop detector detects a voltage drop in a battery voltage of the battery
that is greater than a voltage drop threshold and in response to detecting the voltage drop: the voltage drop detector triggers a cranking event on the controller (Paragraph [0032], greater than threshold);
Davidson does not discloses a switchable voltage monitor coupled to the controller, and connectable with the battery, the switchable voltage monitor is connected with the battery, the voltage drop detector detects a voltage drop in a battery voltage of the battery that is greater than a voltage drop threshold and in response to detecting the voltage drop: the voltage drop detector triggers a cranking event on the controller, and in response to the cranking event: the controller executes machine-executable programming instructions which switch on the switchable voltage monitor.
Wood discloses a switchable voltage monitor coupled to the controller, and connectable with the battery, the switchable voltage monitor is connected with the battery, the voltage drop detector detects a voltage drop in a battery voltage of the battery that is greater than a voltage drop threshold and in response to detecting the voltage drop: the voltage drop detector triggers a cranking event on the controller, and in response to the cranking event: the controller executes machine-executable programming instructions which switch on the switchable voltage monitor (Figs. 3, 5, Paragraphs [0101]-[0104], [0027], when voltage drop below the threshold during cranking, closes the FET switch or turns on the FET, where FET is a rudimentary switchable voltage monitor as the transistor monitors or detects voltage levels reaching a certain threshold for it to turn-on. In other words, turning on/off is an indication of the voltage levels; Paragraph [0015]-[0016]; Figs. 6)
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Wood in Davidson and have a switchable voltage monitor coupled to the controller, and connectable with the battery, the switchable voltage monitor is connected with the battery, the voltage drop detector detects a voltage drop in a battery voltage of the battery that is greater than a voltage drop threshold and in response to detecting the voltage drop: the voltage drop detector triggers a cranking event on the controller, and in response to the cranking event: the controller executes machine-executable programming instructions which switch on the switchable voltage monitor, so as to reliably start the vehicle.
Regarding Claim 4. Wood discloses the switchable voltage monitor consumes no power when switched off (Paragraphs [0101]-[102], FET consumes no power when off)
Regarding Claim 7. Wood discloses the machine-executable programming instructions which switch on the switchable voltage monitor comprise machine-executable programming instructions which cause the controller to assert a voltage monitor enablement signal between the controller and the switchable voltage monitor (Paragraphs [0101]-[0103], signal sent to close the switch)
Regarding Claim 8. Wood discloses when the voltage monitor enablement signal is asserted, a transistor of the switchable voltage monitor switches on thus connecting a voltage monitor of the switchable voltage monitor with the battery (Paragraphs [0101]-[0103])
Regarding Claim 16. Wood discloses detecting that the engine is running,
and keeps the switchable voltage monitor switched on in response to detecting that
the engine is running (Paragraphs [0102]-[0104])
5. Claims 11-14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davidson, US-PGPUB 2019/0385387 in view of Wood, US-PGPUB 2022/0407343 as applied to Claim 1, and further in view of Kumar et al., US-PGPUB 2022/0205420 (hereinafter Kumar)
Regarding Claim 11. The modified Davidson does not disclose switching off the switchable voltage monitor in response to detecting that the machine has been turned off.
Kumar discloses cranking engine method, which includes electrically isolating the secondary energy storage system (SESS) by switching off the electrical connection using discharge switch Cb when not involved in the cranking operation (Paragraph which would include when the engine is turned off (Paragraphs [0049], [0045], [0028])
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Kumar in the modified Davidson and switch off the switchable voltage monitor in response to detecting that the machine has been turned off, to avoid current drain.
Regarding Claim 12. Kumar discloses the machine-executable programming instructions which switch off the switchable voltage monitor comprise machine-executable programming instructions which de-assert a voltage monitor enablement signal (Paragraph [0045])
Regarding Claim 13. Kumar discloses the machine-executable programming instructions which de-assert a voltage monitor enablement signal cause a transistor of the switchable voltage monitor to turn off thus isolating a voltage monitor of the switchable voltage monitor from the battery (Paragraph [0045])
Regarding Claim 17. Davidson disclose the telematics device is coupled with a machine (Figs. 1-2).
The modified Davidson does not disclose the telematics device detects that the engine is not running, and switches off the switchable voltage monitor in response to detecting that the engine is not running.
Kumar discloses cranking engine method, which includes electrically isolating the secondary energy storage system (SESS) by switching off the electrical connection using discharge switch Cb when not involved in the cranking operation (Paragraph which would include when the engine is turned off (Paragraphs [0049], [0045], [0028])
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Kumar in the modified Davidson and have the telematics device detects that the engine is not running, and switches off the switchable voltage monitor in response to detecting that the engine is not running, to avoid current drain.
6. Claims 1,2, 4, 7-8, 10, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davidson, US-PGPUB 2019/0385387 in view of Lei, et al., US-PGPUB 2022/0085646 (hereinafter Lei)
discloses a telematics device for coupling to a machine having an engine coupled to a starter powered by a battery of the machine (Abstract; Figs. 1, 2; Paragraph [0022], starter), the telematics device comprising:
a controller, a network interface coupled to the controller (Fig. 1, computing device, Network); a voltage drop detector coupled to the controller and connectable with the battery (Figs. 2, sensors; Paragraphs [0047]-[0048], battery voltage drop measurements; Paragraph [0025], vehicle battery);
a memory coupled to the controller, the memory storing machine-executable
programming instructions for execution by the controller (Figs. 1-2);
wherein when the telematics device is coupled with a machine (Figs. 1-2):
the voltage drop detector is connected with the battery (Figs. 2, sensors; Paragraphs [0047]-[0048], battery voltage drop measurements; Paragraph [0025], vehicle battery);
the voltage drop detector detects a voltage drop in a battery voltage of the battery
that is greater than a voltage drop threshold and in response to detecting the voltage drop: the voltage drop detector triggers a cranking event on the controller (Paragraph [0032], greater than threshold);
Davidson does not disclose a switchable voltage monitor coupled to the controller, and connectable with the battery, the switchable voltage monitor is connected with the battery; and in response to the cranking event: the controller executes machine-executable programming instructions which switch on the switchable voltage monitor.
disclose a switchable voltage monitor coupled to the controller, and connectable with the battery, the switchable voltage monitor is connected with the battery, the voltage drop detector detects a voltage drop in a battery voltage of the battery that is greater than a voltage drop threshold and in response to detecting the voltage drop: the voltage drop detector triggers a cranking event on the controller, and in response to the cranking event: the controller executes machine-executable programming instructions which switch on the switchable voltage monitor.
Lei discloses a switchable voltage monitor coupled to the controller, and connectable with the battery, the switchable voltage monitor is connected with the battery, the voltage drop detector detects a voltage drop in a battery voltage of the battery that is greater than a voltage drop threshold and in response to detecting the voltage drop: the voltage drop detector triggers a cranking event on the controller, and in response to the cranking event: the controller executes machine-executable programming instructions which switch on the switchable voltage monitor (Fig. 7; Paragraph [0084], [0066], switch module may be FET, etc., where FET is a rudimentary switchable voltage monitor as the transistor monitors or detects voltage levels reaching a certain threshold for it to turn-on. In other words, turning on/off is an indication of the voltage levels; Paragraph [0079]; [0004]-[0006])
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Lei in Davidson and have a switchable voltage monitor coupled to the controller, and connectable with the battery, the switchable voltage monitor is connected with the battery, the voltage drop detector detects a voltage drop in a battery voltage of the battery that is greater than a voltage drop threshold and in response to detecting the voltage drop: the voltage drop detector triggers a cranking event on the controller, and in response to the cranking event: the controller executes machine-executable programming instructions which switch on the switchable voltage monitor, so as to control cranking in intelligent and efficient manner.
Regarding Claim 2. Lei discloses converting a voltage monitor output by the switchable voltage monitor to a digital value representing a cranking voltage of the machine (Paragraph [0078])
Regarding Claim 4. Lei discloses the switchable voltage monitor consumes no power when switched off (Paragraph [0066], FET when off, consumes no power)
Regarding Claim 7. Lei discloses the machine-executable programming instructions which switch on the switchable voltage monitor comprise machine-executable programming instructions which cause the controller to assert a voltage monitor enablement signal between the controller and the switchable voltage monitor (Paragraphs [0084], [0094], enable output signal to switch-control module)
Regarding Claim 8. Lei discloses when the voltage monitor enablement signal is asserted, a transistor of the switchable voltage monitor switches on thus connecting a voltage monitor of the switchable voltage monitor with the battery (Paragraph [0084])
Regarding Claim 10. Lei discloses configuring the telematics device to enable a conversion at an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled with the controller and connected with the voltage monitor output of the switchable voltage monitor (Paragraphs [0078], [0080]-[0085], [0091], [0093])
Regarding Claim 18. Lei discloses switching off the switchable voltage monitor subsequent to converting the voltage monitor output (Paragraph [0077]-[0079])
Regarding Claim 19. Lei discloses periodically switches on and switches off the switchable voltage monitor for obtaining a plurality of voltage monitor outputs (Paragraph [0005], switches on and off)
7. Claims 11-14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davidson, US-PGPUB 2019/0385387 in view of Lei, US-PGPUB 2022/0085646 as applied to Claim 1, and further in view of Kumar et al., US-PGPUB 2022/0205420 (hereinafter Kumar)
Regarding Claim 11. The modified Davidson does not disclose switching off the switchable voltage monitor in response to detecting that the machine has been turned off.
Kumar discloses cranking engine method, which includes electrically isolating the secondary energy storage system (SESS) by switching off the electrical connection using discharge switch Cb when not involved in the cranking operation (Paragraph which would include when the engine is turned off (Paragraphs [0049], [0045], [0028])
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Kumar in the modified Davidson and switch off the switchable voltage monitor in response to detecting that the machine has been turned off, to avoid current drain.
Regarding Claim 12. Kumar discloses the machine-executable programming instructions which switch off the switchable voltage monitor comprise machine-executable programming instructions which de-assert a voltage monitor enablement signal (Paragraph [0045])
Regarding Claim 13. Kumar discloses the machine-executable programming instructions which de-assert a voltage monitor enablement signal cause a transistor of the switchable voltage monitor to turn off thus isolating a voltage monitor of the switchable voltage monitor from the battery (Paragraph [0045])
Regarding Claim 17. Davidson disclose the telematics device is coupled with a machine (Figs. 1-2).
The modified Davidson does not disclose the telematics device detects that the engine is not running, and switches off the switchable voltage monitor in response to detecting that the engine is not running.
Kumar discloses cranking engine method, which includes electrically isolating the secondary energy storage system (SESS) by switching off the electrical connection using discharge switch Cb when not involved in the cranking operation (Paragraph which would include when the engine is turned off (Paragraphs [0049], [0045], [0028])
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Kumar in the modified Davidson and have the telematics device detects that the engine is not running, and switches off the switchable voltage monitor in response to detecting that the engine is not running, to avoid current drain.
8. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davidson, US-PGPUB 2019/0385387 in view of Lei, et al., US-PGPUB 2022/0085646 as applied to Claim 2 above, and further in view of Berkobin et al., US-PGPUB 2011/0082621 (hereinafter Berkobin)
Regarding Claim 9. The modified Davidson does not explicitly discloses configuring the telematics device to transmit the digital value representing the cranking voltage to a remote server.
Berkobin discloses configuring the telematics device to transmit the digital value representing the cranking voltage to a remote server (Abstract; Paragraph [0085]; Fig. 2; Paragraph [0018])
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Berkobin in the modified Davidson and configure the telematics device to transmit the digital value representing the cranking voltage to a remote server, so as to efficiently use the battery with respect to vehicle usage.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Reynolds, US-PGPUB 2009/0322101
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/HYUN D PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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