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 .
Acknowledgement is made of application #18/467,676 filed on 09/14/2023 in which claims 1-14 have been presented for prosecution in a first action on the merits.
Response to Preliminary Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of preliminary amendment filed on 11/07/2023 in which claims 1-14 have been amended while claims 15-17 have been newly added. By this amendment, claims 1-17 are now pending in the application for prosecution in a first action on the merits.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/20/2023 and 02/26/2024 have been considered and put on record. Initialed copies are attached herewith.
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.
(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) 1-3,6-8,11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cao et al., (Cao) US 2018/056797 A1(cited by Applicant).
Regarding claims 1,12 and 13: Cao at least discloses and shows in Fig. 1: A supply cable(combo 1000/190)(see [0069],[0088],[0099]) for transmitting electrical energy to or from a vehicle(not shown but discussed in [0055] since the intelligent charge handle for charging a vehicle battery; see also [0002]), wherein the supply cable(combo 1000/190) comprises:
at least one connector(charge handle 1000 has connector 200)([0056]) for connecting the supply cable(190) to a vehicle and/or a charging port(2100)(see [0065]-[0066] and Fig. 3A) and/or a consumer(see [0058]-[0059], and
a sensor(400) for detecting accelerations and/or rotation rates(see [0017],[0056] and [0097]), wherein the supply cable(combo 1000/190) is configured
to detect a spatial position and/or movement of a partial area of the supply cable by the sensor(via movement sensor 400)(see [0017]-[0020],[0094]), and
to set an operating mode of the supply cable(combo 1000/190) depending on the detected position and/or movement(see [0018],[0020],[0094]-[0095],[0097] and [0102]).
Regarding claims 2 and 14, Cao discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claims 1 and respectively 13. Cao further discloses, wherein setting the operating mode comprises adjusting and/or increasing and/or decreasing one or more of the following:
an amount of electrical power and/or electrical energy to be transmitted via the supply cable(190)(see [0094]-[0095],[0097]-[0099])(note-the sensor is configured to detect a pattern of movement and the charge handle is configured to activate a vehicle feature based on the detected pattern of movement and/or actuate a vehicle feature based on the pattern identified; see [0018]-[0020]),
a time at which the charging or discharging process should begin or end,
charging thresholds or discharging thresholds at which a user is notified,
electricity price thresholds below which the vehicle is charged or above which the vehicle is discharged
Regarding claim 3, Cao discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 1. Cao discloses, wherein the connector (1000/190) comprises a connector housing(100)(see [0056]-[0057]), wherein the sensor (400) is arranged in an interior space of the connector housing(100)(see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 6, Cao discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 1. Cao discloses, wherein the sensor(400) is configured to detect a position and/or movement with respect to one axis(longitudinal or Lateral axis; see Fig. 2) or with respect to several axes(see Figs. 1-2 and 8 and [0017]-[0020] and [0094]-[0097]).
Regarding claim 7, Cao discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 1. Cao discloses, wherein the supply cable (190) has an output unit(note- Visual indications may be provided via LED indicators embedded in or otherwise carried by housing 100, and/or via graphics displayed on a GUI (via a user device operatively coupled therewith, or a display (not shown) provided on the housing 100 of charge handle 1000; see [0091]), wherein the output unit is configured to output the operating mode, and wherein the output unit is configured to emit an acoustic and/or optical and/or haptic signal when the operating mode changes(see [0088],[0091],[0099] and [0103] and Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 8, Cao discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 7. Cao discloses, wherein the output unit has at least one light-emitting diode, and/or wherein the output unit has a display for outputting text and/or graphics and/or symbols(see [0091] and [0103]; Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 11, Cao discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 1. Cao discloses, A charging infrastructure (1000/190) comprising
a base module (10a) for providing electrical energy, and
a supply cable (190) according to claim 1, wherein the connector (1000/190 has a connector) is a primary connector (200) for connecting the supply cable (190) to the vehicle (vehicle systems 2000 comprises a vehicle (not shown); see [0102]-[0103]), and wherein
the primary connector (200) is coupled to the base module (construed as faceplate(104))(see [0072] and Figs. 1 and 4) via an electrical connecting line(110)([0082]).
Regarding claim 15, Cao discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 1. Cao further discloses, wherein the partial area of the supply cable (190) is the connector (200).
Regarding claim 16, Cao discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 6. Cao discloses, wherein the sensor (400) is a MEMS(note-the computing platform 750 may be embodied in a microcontroller (including a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc.) that is combined on the same PCB as the movement sensor 400(which is the definition of MEMS as it refers to the technology of microscopic devices that combine electronic circuits and moving mechanical parts on a single chip). Computing platform 750, or any one or more of electronic storage 751, processors 752, or other components of computing platform 750 may be onboard the charge handle (i.e. carried by the housing 100 of charge handle 1000), offboard the charge handle (e.g. incorporated into the charging station, the charging port, an user device 3000, a vehicle system 2000, an external resource 5000, or otherwise; see [0096])
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) 9-10 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cao et al., (Cao) US 2018/0056797 A1 in view of Ichikawa et al., (Ichikawa) US 2012/0007553.
Regarding claim 9, Cao discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 1. Cao further discloses, wherein the supply cable (190) comprises:
a primary connector (200) for connecting the supply cable (190) to the vehicle (not shown), wherein the primary connector (200) has a primary connector housing(100), and wherein the sensor (400) is arranged in the primary connector housing (100)(see [0056]-[0057]; see Fig. 1) and/or in the secondary connector housing.
Cao does not expressly teach the limitations of:
a secondary connector for connecting the supply cable to a charging port or a
consumer, wherein the secondary connector has a secondary connector housing
Ichikawa teaches factual evidence of, a secondary connector(310) for connecting the supply cable(300) to a charging port(vehicle inlet 270) or a consumer(10), wherein the secondary connector(310) has a secondary connector housing(inherent as mean of safety to the user/operator from the charging cable 340 in an event of electrocution)(see [0055]-[0057]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Cao with Ichikawa to include, a secondary connector for connecting the supply cable to a charging port or a consumer, wherein the secondary connector has a secondary connector housing, as recited to improve the efficiency of the power transfer between the power supplying side to the receiving end at the vehicle side. Having a tight coupling improve the efficiency of the power transfer.
Accordingly claim 9 would have been obvious.
Regarding claim 10, Cao in view of Ichikawa discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 9. Cao discloses, wherein the supply cable(190) is configured(via movement sensor 400)(see [0017]-[0020],[0094]) to detect the spatial and/or movements at the primary connector(200).
Regarding claim 17, Cao in view of Ichikawa discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 10. Modified Cao discloses, wherein the supply cable(190) is configured to detect the spatial position and/or movements at the primary connector(200) (via movement sensor 400)(see [0017]-[0020],[0094]) only if a connection already exists between the secondary connector(310)(as disclosed by Ichikawa) and the charging port(vehicle inlet 270) and/or the consumer(10)(see Ichikawa [0070]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Cao with Ichikawa to have, wherein the supply cable be configured to detect the spatial position and/or movements at the primary connector in the system of Cao only if a connection already exists between the secondary connector and the charging port(vehicle inlet 270) and/or the consumer, as recited, so as to prevent leakage and ensure the actual start of charging to thereby optimize the efficiency of power transfer between external power supply and vehicle, as per the teachings of Ichikawa ([0069]-[0070]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 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.
Regarding claim 4, patentability exists at least in part with the claimed limitations of, “wherein the supply cable is configured: to increase a charging current to be conducted through the supply cable during a first predefined movement, and/or to reduce a charging current to be conducted through the supply cable during a second predefined movement.
Claim 5 depend directly from claim 4 and is thus allowable for the same reasons.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to M'BAYE DIAO whose telephone number is (571)272-6127. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 10:00AM-6:30PM and OFF most of the time Friday when working IFP.
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M'BAYE DIAO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/M BAYE DIAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 June 16, 2026
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