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 § 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.
Claims 1-4, 12-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Forssell et al. (US 2023/0187713), hereinafter Forssell, in view of Iida (US 2010/0133913).
As to claims 1, 13 and 20, Forrssell discloses in figure 1, a smartcell battery system that supplies power to an electrical system of an electric vehicle [see figures 13-19], the smartcell battery system comprising:
a plurality of battery cell clusters arranged in three strings [plurality of battery cells are disclosed see figures 13-14 and 17; battery pack 1702 shows as group of battery cells; see ¶0149] , each battery cell cluster of the plurality comprising one or more battery cells [see ¶00149]; direct current to direct current (DCDC) converters [see figure 19, element (1906); see also ¶0161] connected to respective ones of the battery cell clusters and the electrical system;
Forrssell does not disclose explicitly, a master controller that controls when respective ones of the DCDC converters activate and deactivate generation and provision of respective output voltages to the electrical system using respective ones of the battery cell clusters to which they are connected based on monitored power demands of the electrical system.
Iida discloses in figure 1, a master controller [controller ECU (1000)] that controls when respective ones of the DCDC converters activate and deactivate generation and provision of respective output voltages to the electrical system using respective ones of the battery cell clusters to which they are connected based on monitored power demands of the electrical system [the controller ECU discloses controlling the convertor (410) and (420) independently; see ¶0037-0043].
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to use a single converter in Forssell’s apparatus as taught by Iida in order to reduce cost and minimize circuit elements.
As to claims 2 and 14, Forssell discloses in figures 1-17, grouping, by the system, the DCDC converters into different subsets [see figure 17; ¶0149, ¶0161], wherein each subset of the different subsets comprises two or more of the DCDC converters [see converters (1906) for each battery cell; see also figures 13 and 14] ; associated with a same string of the three strings, wherein the different subsets comprise subsets associated with each of the three strings, and wherein the controlling comprises: controlling, by the system, when respective ones of the subsets activate and deactivate generation and provision of respective aggregated output voltages to the electrical system using respective ones of the of the battery cell clusters to which the subsets are connected based on the monitored power demands of the electrical system [see ¶0084-0086,¶0149, ¶0161].
As to claim 3, Forssell discloses in figures 1-17, wherein the controlling comprises: assigning, by the system, different voltage set points to the different subsets; and directing, by the system, the different subsets to activate and deactivate the generation and provision of the respective aggregated output voltages to the electrical system based on whether a current voltage level of the electrical system decreases and increases relative to the different voltage set points as assigned ]see ¶0084-0085].
As to claim 4, Forssell discloses in figures 1-17, wherein the assigning comprises assigning a same voltage set point to all of the two or more of the DCDC converters included in a same subset, and wherein the directing comprises directing all of the two or more of the DCDC converters to activate and deactivate generation and provision of a collective output voltage to the electrical system in accordance with the same voltage set point [see figure 19; each battery cells have DC/DC converter (1906) and ¶0161].
As to claim 12, Iida discloses in figure 1, wherein the plurality of battery cell clusters comprise a first group of battery cell clusters [battery (510)] that provide a first power source to the electrical system [battery (510) provides battery to the load (200)] and a second group of battery cell [battery (520)] clusters that provide a second power source to the electrical system independent from the first power source [the second battery (520) provides power to the load (200)], wherein respective first DCDC converters of the first group are electrically connected to one another and the electrically system, wherein respective second DCDC converters of the second group are electrically connected to one another and electrical [the controller (ECU) receives voltage and current values of each battery module and the controller (ECU) controls each converter based on battery parameters; see ¶0037-0042].
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to use a single converter in Forssell’s apparatus as taught by Iida in order to reduce cost and minimize circuit elements.
Noted that the method merely recites the steps of using the elements of the device as disclosed above and since each element must be present to perform the steps, the method as claimed would be inherent in view of the device as disclosed by Forssell and Iida.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-11 and 15-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
For Claim 5: primarily, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest in the claimed combination: wherein the controlling comprises: assigning, by the system, different voltage set points to the respective ones of the DCDC converters; and directing, by the system, the respective ones of the DCDC converters to activate and deactivate the generation and provision of the respective output voltages to the electrical system based on whether a current voltage level of the electrical system decreases and increases relative to the different voltage set points as assigned.
For Claim 15: primarily, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest in the claimed combination: wherein the master controller: assigns different voltage set points to the respective ones of the DCDC converters; and directs the respective ones of the DCDC converters to activate and deactivate the generation and provision of the respective ones of the output voltages to the electrical system based on whether a current voltage level of the electrical system decreases and increases relative to the different voltage set points as assigned.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL BERHANU whose telephone number is (571)272-8430. The examiner can normally be reached M_F.
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/SAMUEL BERHANU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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