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 .
Priority
Acknowledgement has been made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 USC 119 (a-d). The certified copy has been filed on 2/2/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed 12/29/2023, 12/19/2024 has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings received 12/29/2023 are acceptable for examination purposes.
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, 2, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 2021/0370799) in view of Hirose (JP 2007-221885).
Figure 4. Regarding claim 1, Li discloses a battery cooling system comprising:
a solid-state battery 2013 [0070];
a heat-exhausting device 2011;
a cooling circuit through which a refrigerant circulates between the solid-state
battery and the heat-exhausting device; and
a battery control device configured to control input-output power of the solid-state
battery,
wherein the refrigerant absorbs heat from the solid-state battery to cool the solid-
state battery, and the heat-exhausting device exhausts heat absorbed from the solid-state battery [0074].
Regarding the limitation in claim 1, in a case where a battery temperature, which is a temperature of the solid-state battery, exceeds a predetermined output limitation starting temperature, Li discloses measuring the temperature of the power assembly and the temperature of a coolant to implement the heat dissipation system [0087]. Hiroe teaches controlling a supply of a refrigerant to cool a battery according to the temperature of a battery (page 5 of translation). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to cool the battery Li based on the temperature of the battery, in addition of the temperature of the power assembly and the temperature of the coolant.
It is noted that the controller of Li would be capable of performing the function of:
the battery control device controls an output current of the solid-state battery such that a heat generation amount of the solid-state battery, a heat absorption amount of the refrigerant from the solid-state battery, and a heat exhaust amount of the refrigerant in the heat-exhausting device are equal to each other,
by calculating the current and resistance of the battery; the flowrate, specific heat capacity, and temperature of the coolant in and out of the battery; the flowrate, specific heat capacity, and temperature of the coolant in and out of the radiator. Li’s controller has the capability of determining the flowrate of the pump by determining the rotational speed of the water pump [0091]. It is noted that the variable current and resistance are common variables in the battery art, and hence would have been obvious to detect current and resistance for the benefit of determining the power output and the efficiency of the battery.
Regarding claim 1 limitation, controls the battery temperature such that the battery temperature is equal to or higher than the output limitation starting temperature, and is lower than a predetermined output permission upper-limit temperature which is an upper-limit temperature at which the solid-state battery is permitted to output power, battery temperature, the controller of Li would be capable of programming a lower and an upper temperature limit.
Regarding claim 2, wherein the battery control device
acquires the heat generation amount of the solid-state battery by detection
or calculation,
acquires, by detection or calculation, a battery inlet temperature which is a temperature of the refrigerant introduced into the solid-state battery, and a battery outlet temperature which is a temperature of the refrigerant discharged from the solid-state battery,
acquires the heat absorption amount of the refrigerant from the solid-state battery by calculation based on the battery inlet temperature and the battery outlet
temperature,
acquires, by detection or calculation, a heat-exhausting device inlet
temperature which is a temperature of the refrigerant introduced into the heat-exhausting device, and a heat-exhausting device outlet temperature which is a temperature of the refrigerant discharged from the heat-exhausting device, and
acquires the heat exhaust amount of the refrigerant in the heat-exhausting
device by calculation based on the heat-exhausting device inlet temperature and the heat- exhausting device outlet temperature, and
in a case where the heat generation amount of the solid-state battery is larger than the heat absorption amount of the refrigerant from the solid-state battery when the battery temperature is equal to or higher than the output limitation starting temperature,
the battery control device limits the output current of the solid-state battery to a first limited current value, and thereafter performs feedback control on the output current of the solid-state battery based on the heat generation amount of the solid-state battery, the heat absorption amount of the refrigerant from the solid-state battery, and the heat exhaust amount of the refrigerant in the heat-exhausting device, which are respectively acquired, such that the heat generation amount of the solid-state battery, the heat absorption amount of the refrigerant from the solid-state battery, and the heat exhaust amount of the refrigerant in the heat- exhausting device are equal to each other,
the Examiner notes that the battery control device that controls an output current of the solid-state battery such that a heat generation amount of the solid-state battery, a heat absorption amount of the refrigerant from the solid-state battery, and a heat exhaust amount of the refrigerant in the heat-exhausting device are capable of being programmed to be equal to each other,
by calculating the current and resistance of the battery; the flowrate, specific heat capacity, and temperature of the coolant in and out of the battery; the flowrate, specific heat capacity, and temperature of the coolant in and out of the radiator. Li’s controller has the capability of determining the flowrate of the pump by determining the rotational speed of the water pump [0091]. It is noted that the variable current and resistance are common variables in the battery art, and hence would have been obvious to detect current and resistance for the benefit of determining the power output and the efficiency of the battery.
Regarding claim 6, wherein the battery control device
acquires, by detection or calculation, a battery inlet temperature which is a temperature of the refrigerant introduced into the solid-state battery, and a battery outlet
temperature which is a temperature of the refrigerant discharged from the solid-state battery,
calculates the heat absorption amount of the refrigerant from the solid-state battery based on the battery inlet temperature, the battery outlet temperature, a mass flow rate of the refrigerant, and a specific heat of the refrigerant,
acquires, by detection or calculation, a heat-exhausting device inlet temperature which is a temperature of the refrigerant introduced into the heat-exhausting device, and a heat-exhausting device outlet temperature which is a temperature of the refrigerant discharged from the heat-exhausting device, and
calculates the heat exhaust amount of the refrigerant in the heat-exhausting device based on the heat-exhausting device inlet temperature, the heat-exhausting device outlet temperature, the mass flow rate of the refrigerant, and the specific heat of the refrigerant,
the Examiner notes that the battery control device that controls an output current of the solid-state battery such that a heat generation amount of the solid-state battery, a heat absorption amount of the refrigerant from the solid-state battery, and a heat exhaust amount of the refrigerant in the heat-exhausting device are capable of being programmed to be equal to each other,
by calculating the current and resistance of the battery; the flowrate, specific heat capacity, and temperature of the coolant in and out of the battery; the flowrate, specific heat capacity, and temperature of the coolant in and out of the radiator. Li’s controller has the capability of determining the flowrate of the pump by determining the rotational speed of the water pump [0091]. It is noted that the variable current and resistance are common variables in the battery art, and hence would have been obvious to detect current and resistance for the benefit of determining the power output and the efficiency of the battery.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO WALLS whose telephone number is (571)272-8699. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F until 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Leong can be reached at 571-270-1292. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CYNTHIA K WALLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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