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 07/02/2024 and 08/21/2024 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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With respect to claims 1, 4, and 11, the claim language include “(unclaimed)” throughout the body is multiple places. This term is unclear and lack definition in the claims as well as raises the question on if it’s an admission that the subsequent limitation is in fact not being claimed.
Claims 2-3, 5-10, and 12 depend from the claims above and are rejected for the same reasons.
With respect to claim 3, the claim states “as shown in Fig. 1”. This limitation is unclear as to what specifically claim 3 is trying to claim in Fig. 1. Claims cannot generally refer back to a figure for support in claim language.
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)s 1-2, 4-8 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sawazaki et al. [US 2018/0281605] in view of Griffiths et al. [US 2020/0274375].
With respect to claim 1, Sawazaki discloses an apparatus for increasing the life of an (unclaimed) battery accepting electrical input and providing output to a controller accepting input and providing output after converting the electrical current to that acceptable to an (unclaimed) electric motor causing movement of an (unclaimed) electric vehicle and providing output after generating (unclaimed) regen energy for routing to the battery via the controller [controllers 2 and 95, par. 0023-0025 ], said apparatus being incorporated into and extending the electrical circuitry of the battery and the OEM controller and the motor [Figs 1-2], and comprising:
(a) a supplemental inverter accepting electrical input and providing output acceptable by the battery [par. 0025];
(b) a regen transmission cable accepting output from the controller and transporting it for input into the supplemental inverter [par. 0039]; and
(c) an inverter transmission cable accepting output from the supplemental inverter and transporting it for input into the battery [par. 0025, 12a/12b];
wherein, regen energy produced by the motor flows through the regen transmission cable into and through the supplemental inverter, then flows through the inverter transmission cable and into the battery [par. 0025; regen energy produced by motors flows to inverter which sends the energy to the battery].
However, Sawazaki does not explicitly disclose an OEM controller. Such a concept is well-known in the art. For example, Griffiths relates to power distribution for a vehicle to extend life of a battery and teaches an OEM controller [par. 0539]. 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 Sawazaki to utilize an OEM controller as taught by Griffiths for the benefit of increased reliability/durability of parts.
With respect to claim 2, Sawazaki further discloses said controller providing AC regen energy to the regen transmission cable and to the supplemental inverter [par. 0025].
With respect to claims 4 and 11-12, Sawazaki discloses an apparatus for increasing the life of an (unclaimed) battery accepting electrical input and providing output to a controller accepting electrical input and providing output after converting the electrical current to that acceptable to an (unclaimed) electric motor causing movement of an (unclaimed) electric vehicle and providing output after generating (unclaimed) regen energy [controllers 2 and 95, par. 0023-0025], the vehicle also having an auxiliary battery accepting electrical input and providing output to an auxiliary battery transmission cable connected to the controller and routing said output to the battery, said apparatus being incorporated into and extending the electrical circuitry of the battery and OEM controller and motor and auxiliary battery [par. 0024-0025 and 0037; regen power generated by motors is sent to battery by the controller], and comprising: (a) a supplemental inverter accepting electrical input and providing DC output acceptable by the auxiliary battery [par. 0025]; (b) a regen transmission cable accepting output from the controller and transporting it for input into the supplemental inverter [par. 0039]; and (c) an inverter transmission cable accepting output from the supplemental inverter and transporting it for input into the auxiliary battery [par. 0025, 12a/12b]; wherein, regen energy flows from the OEM controller through the regen transmission cable into and through the supplemental inverter, then flows through the inverter transmission cable into the auxiliary battery, then flows through the auxiliary battery transmission cable into the controller, then flows into the battery [par. 0028, 0037; regen produced by motors flows from controller to inverter when sends to aux battery where it can flow to controller and to the battery].
However, Sawazaki does not explicitly disclose an OEM controller. Such a concept is well-known in the art. For example, Griffiths relates to power distribution for a vehicle to extend life of a battery and teaches an OEM controller [par. 0539]. 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 Sawazaki to utilize an OEM controller as taught by Griffiths for the benefit of increased reliability/durability of parts.
With respect to claim 5, Sawazaki further discloses a primary battery transmission cable accepting output from the battery and transporting it for input into the supplemental inverter [par. 0028, 0036].
With respect to claims 6-7, Sawazki fails to explicitly disclose a junction box, however, Griffiths teaches a junction box accepting electrical input and providing output, wherein the regen transmission cable instead transports the output of the OEM controller for input into the junction box, and further comprising a junction box transmission cable accepting the output of the junction box and transporting it for input into the supplemental inverter [par. 0627, 0782, 0786].
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 Sawazaki to utilize a junction box as taught by Griffiths for the benefit of utilizing safe/organized power distribution as well as protection from environmental hazards.
With respect to claim 8, Sawazaki as applied above further discloses said OEM controller providing AC regen energy to the regen transmission cable [91a/b/c].
Claim(s)s 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sawazaki et al. [US 2018/0281605] and Griffiths et al. [US 2020/0274375] as applied above, and further in view of Dent [US 2018/0026550].
With respect to claims 9-10, Sawazaki discloses the regen battery/inverter cables and motor being an AC motor as detailed above, additionally Griffiths further discloses the inverters operating at varying power ranges including 6-10 kW [par. 0639,0864; i.e. power components such as the inverter are configured to operate at 6-10kW where the inverter converts AC energy from the controller to DC energy]. The claimed ranges are known components and do not provide any unexpected results from their usage and the specification fails to describe any critically from these specific values. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to utilize the claimed range for the benefit of increasing power conversion (minimizing losses).
However, the specific gauge of wires is still not disclosed by the prior arts above. Dent relates to an inverter with voltage controlled outputs and teaches transmission cables each include a 6.0 gauge cables [par. 0205]. 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 Sawazaki to utilize 6 gauge cable for the benefit of preventing short circuits and heat build up by ensuring enough power can be safely transmitted through the system.
Note: while claim 3 is rejected under 112 above for clarity issues it is envisioned that if the reference to the figure is deleted that claim 3 would be rejected in a similar manner as claims 9-10 above.
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian Huffman can be reached at 571-272-2147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NATHANIEL R PELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
Prosecution Insights