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 § 102
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 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) 1-2, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable by Mitsunaga et al. (US 2023/0344244), herein after Mitsunaga (with PCT publication date: 10-18-2022)
Regarding claim 1, Mitsunaga discloses a power supply system that performs charging and discharging between the power supply system and an external system (fig. 1), the power supply system comprising:
a plurality of battery units including a plurality of battery assemblies (storage battery 71, fig. 1, paragraph [0046]) and a plurality of converters provided corresponding to the plurality of battery assemblies (plurality of the converter 73 connected to the plurality of the energy storage devices, fig. , paragraph [0050]); and
a controller (power management device 10+BMU 72, fig. 1, paragraph [0048]-[0051]) that controls the plurality of battery units, wherein the plurality of battery units are connected together in parallel (the batteries are connected in parallel, fig. 1), and
the controller controls the plurality of converters to charge each of the plurality of battery assemblies to a fully charged state (paragraph [0012]), and
for each of the plurality of battery assemblies, the controller performs equalization control to equalize voltages of cells included in the battery assembly when the battery assembly is charged to the fully charged state (paragraph [0079]-[0081]).
Regarding claim 2, Mitsunaga further discloses wherein for each of the plurality of battery assemblies, the controller controls a converter of the plurality of converters that corresponds to the battery assembly so as to charge the battery assembly to the fully charged state whenever a predetermined period has elapsed since the battery assembly is charged to the fully charged state the last time (paragraph [0076], [0077], [0079], [0080] where the last five days is equating a predetermined period).
Regarding claim 5, Mitsunaga discloses a method of controlling a power supply system that performs charging and discharging between the power supply system and an external system (figs. 1, 5), wherein the power supply system includes a plurality of battery units including a plurality of battery assemblies (storage battery 71, fig. 1, paragraph [0046]); and a plurality of converters provided corresponding to the plurality of battery assemblies(plurality of the converter 73 connected to the plurality of the energy storage devices, fig. , paragraph [0050]), and the plurality of battery units are connected together in parallel(the batteries 71 are connected in parallel, fig. 1), the method comprising:
controlling the plurality of converters to charge each of the plurality of battery assemblies to a fully charged state(paragraph [0012]); and for each of the plurality of battery assemblies, performing equalization control to equalize voltages of cells included in the battery assembly when the battery assembly is charged to the fully charged state(paragraph [0079]-[0081]).
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.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mitsunaga (US 2023/0344244), and Zheng et al. (US 2019/0190282), herein after Zheng.
Regarding claim 3, Mitsunaga discloses the power supply system of claim 1. Mitsunaga further discloses Lithium-ion battery assembly includes a plurality of cells connected in series (paragraph [0046]). However, Mitsunaga does not explicitly disclose that the lithium-ion battery is an iron-phosphate-based lithium-ion battery.
Zheng discloses technical filed of the batteries (abstract). Zheng discloses further discloses various lithium-ion batteries including lithium iron phosphate batteries (paragraph [0002]).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Mitsunaga’s lithium-ion battery charging system to have lithium iron phosphate batteries as taught by Zheng, in order to have exceptional safety, a long lifespan, high thermal stability, and a lightweight design compared to other batteries. . They maintain stable voltage under load and are non-toxic and eco-friendly.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mitsunaga (US 2023/0344244) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Demetriades (US 2014/0028266).
Regarding claim 4, Mitsunaga discloses the power supply system of claim 1. Mitsunaga discloses the plurality of the converters connected to the plurality of the battery assemblies (fig. 1). However, Mitsunaga does not explicitly disclose the converter is diverted from a three-phase inverter, and a battery assembly of the plurality of battery assemblies that corresponds to the converter is connected to each phase arm of the three-phase inverter.
Demetriades discloses a cell-based voltage source converter (paragraph [0019]). Demetriades further discloses the converter is diverted from a three-phase inverter, where the converter is connected to each phase arm of the three-phase inverter (paragraph [0036], fig. 1 2).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Mitsunaga’s charging system to have converter diverted from a three-phase inverter as taught by Demetriades, in order to provide utility grade perfectly balanced three-phase power (to connect plurality of the batteries with each phase) from a single-phase source using solid state electronics.
Conclusion
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SADIA . KOUSAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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