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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/24/2024 and 08/23/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 8-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Truettner et al. [US 10,827,655] in view of Yamamoto et al. [US 2007/0298316].
With respect to claims 1 and 8, Truettner discloses a battery pack charger [10] comprising: a battery pack interface configured to receive a battery pack [14]; a fan [44]; an ambient temperature sensor configured to sense an ambient temperature of an environment around the battery pack charger and output a temperature signal [col. 1 lines 59-67; i.e. temperature in/around the charger]; and a controller configured to: determine the ambient temperature based on the temperature signal [i.e. via the first sensor], determine a battery pack temperature of the battery pack [col. 2 lines 1-3; i.e. second sensor measuring battery temperature], and control a speed of the fan [see fig. 24] based on temperature readings. However, Truettner fails to explicitly disclose based on a comparison of the ambient temperature and the battery pack temperature.
Yamamoto relates to battery cooling and teaches measuring an ambient temperature [36] and also a battery temperature [13] and sending to a controller [16] to control a fan [20] based on a comparison between the ambient temperature and battery temperature [Fig. 3].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Truettner to control the fan based on the difference as taught by Yamamoto for the benefit of optimizing the energy usage and control of the fan as stated by Yamamoto.
With respect to claim 2, Truettner further discloses wherein, to control the speed of the fan, the controller is configured to increase the speed of the fan based on the comparison of the ambient temperature and the battery pack temperature [i.e. “activate” or simply turning it on].
With respect to claim 3, Truettner further discloses wherein a difference between the ambient temperature and the battery pack temperature is less than a threshold difference value [an apparatus claimed is defined by what it is and not what it does and therefore the function recitation stating a difference is some value fails to further limit the claims. Additionally, there would implicitly have to be some value where the difference is less than some threshold, i.e. at least when the temperatures are the same and equal 0].
With respect to claim 4, Truettner further discloses wherein, to control the speed of the fan, the controller is configured to turn the fan OFF based on the comparison of the ambient temperature and the battery pack temperature [see fig. 24; “deactivate fan” which is equated to both turning off and derating the speed of the fan].
With respect to claim 5, Truettner further discloses wherein the ambient temperature sensor is located within a housing of the battery pack charger [col. 1 lines 59-67].
With respect to claims 8-14, Yamamoto as applied above discloses a mode map [Fig. 3] regarding the comparing of the temperatures differences to thresholds for determining the dynamic fan control. Specifically, the fan is derated/stopped in response to both the battery temperature being low (less than threshold) and the difference in temperatures being small and conversely operated at increasing speeds when the battery temperature is high and the difference in temperature being great [see modes 0-3 and regions a-e]. As detailed by Yamamoto this creates the effect that hot battery is cooled but also the fan is not simply wasting energy by blowing hot air at the battery which creates an efficient and optimized system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Truettner to operate under teach described scenario as taught by Yamamoto for the benefit of optimizing the energy usage and control of the fan as stated by Yamamoto.
With respect to claim 15, Truettner discloses a battery pack charger [10] comprising: a battery pack interface configured to receive a battery pack [14]; a fan within the housing [44]; an ambient temperature sensor configured to sense an ambient temperature of an environment around the battery pack charger and output a temperature signal [col. 1 lines 59-67; i.e. temperature in/around the charger]; and a controller configured to: determine the ambient temperature based on the temperature signal [i.e. via the first sensor], determine a battery pack temperature of the battery pack [col. 2 lines 1-3; i.e. second sensor measuring battery temperature], and control a speed of the fan [see fig. 24] based on temperature readings. However, Truettner fails to explicitly disclose based on a comparison of the ambient temperature and the battery pack temperature and also two fans.
Yamamoto relates to battery cooling and teaches measuring an ambient temperature [36] and also a battery temperature [13] and sending to a controller [16] to control a fan [20] based on a comparison between the ambient temperature and battery temperature [Fig. 3].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Truettner to control the fan based on the difference as taught by Yamamoto for the benefit of optimizing the energy usage and control of the fan as stated by Yamamoto.
Furthermore, duplication of essential working parts is considered obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art. Applicant’s specification does not detail any unexpected results from adding a fan and supplying an extra fan is one of a finite number of possibilities. Providing additional fans allows for more cooling air to be moved over the battery/charger. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Truettner to include a second fan within the housing for the benefit of providing additional cooling power for the batteries/charger.
With respect to claim 16, Truettner further discloses wherein, to control the speed of the fan, the controller is configured to increase the speed of the fan based on the comparison of the ambient temperature and the battery pack temperature [i.e. “activate” or simply turning it on].
With respect to claim 17, Truettner further discloses wherein a difference between the ambient temperature and the battery pack temperature is less than a threshold difference value [an apparatus claimed is defined by what it is and not what it does and therefore the function recitation stating a difference is some value fails to further limit the claims. Additionally, there would implicitly have to be some value where the difference is less than some threshold, i.e. at least when the temperatures are the same and equal 0].
With respect to claim 18, Truettner further discloses wherein, to control the speed of the fan, the controller is configured to turn the fan OFF based on the comparison of the ambient temperature and the battery pack temperature [see fig. 24; “deactivate fan” which is equated to both turning off and derating the speed of the fan].
With respect to claims 19-20, Truettner further discloses a battery pack temperature sensor and controller configured to determine the battery pack temperature [col. 2 lines 1-3; i.e. second sensor measuring battery temperature].
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Truettner et al. [US 10,827,655] and Yamamoto et al. [US 2007/0298316] as applied above, and further in view of Mueckl et al. [US 2019/0356147].
With respect to claims 6-7, Truettner fails to disclose a movable handle. However, Mueckl relates to a battery pack device and teaches a handle that is configured to be movable between a first position and a second position, wherein, in the first position, the handle obstructs removal of the battery pack from the battery pack charger [par. 0072-0076].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Truettner to the movable handle with locking feature as taught by Mueckl for the benefit of providing a convenient carrying member that additional provides security to the battery packs by locking them in place.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL R PELTON whose telephone number is (571)270-1761. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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/NATHANIEL R PELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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