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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Choi Yong Gil KR-20220101351-A (hereinafter Choi).
Regarding Claim 11, Choi teaches an electric vehicle charging system for charging automatically an electric driven vehicle (Choi, Figs. 1-3; Abstract. Refer to annotated Figs 2 and 3 below.), comprising a positioning system (Choi, Fig. 1, Element 300, “bridge”; Fig. 2, Element 304, “rail”),
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Excerpt from Choi:
a charger-side control unit, and a pantograph including an actuator (Choi, Fig. 2, Elements 401-403, “moving means”, “adjusting means” and “pantograph, i.e. charging device”) and a charger controller (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 420, “charging control unit”),
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Excerpt from Choi:
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Annotated Fig. 2 of Choi:
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Annotated Fig. 3 of Choi:
wherein the charger controller (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 420, “charging control unit”) is configured to receive an allowance from the charger-side control unit to charge the vehicle, control the actuator of the pantograph to get in contact with the electric driven vehicle, and provide the charging current for charging a battery of the electric driven vehicle.
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Excerpt from Choi:
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 1-4, 6, 8, 10 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi Yong Gil KR-20220101351-A (hereinafter Choi) in view of Rastoll et al. U.S. PGPub 2020/0307403 A1 (hereinafter Rastoll).
Regarding Claim 1, Choi teaches a positioning system (Choi, Fig. 1, Element 300, “bridge”; Fig. 2, Element 304, “rail”) for an automatic vehicle charging system (Choi, Figs. 1-3; Abstract. Refer to annotated Figs 2 and 3 above.),
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Excerpt from Choi:
the positioning system comprising a master module (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 420, “charging control unit”), the module being arranged on a charger (Choi, Fig. 3, Elements 400 and 500 comprise the charger.),
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and a charger-side control unit connected to the static master module (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 420, “charging control unit”. Not illustrated separately.), wherein the static master module is configured to receive a charging request from a vehicle to be charged, wherein the charging request contains an ID of the vehicle,
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Excerpt from Choi:
provide the position of the mobile module to the charger-side control unit, and wherein the charger-side control unit is configured to provide an allowance for charging the vehicle when the position of the mobile module is within a pre-defined tolerance with respect to a reference position and if the ID of the vehicle of which the position has been determined matches with the ID in the charging request, but does not teach charger side positioning modules comprising a static master module and at least two slave modules to determine distances for use by the charger.
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Excerpt from Choi:
Rastoll, however, teaches a positioning system (Rastoll, Fig. 4, Element 400) comprising a plurality of charger-side positioning modules comprising a static master module (Rastoll, Fig. 4, Element 422; Paras. [0037]) and at least two slave modules connected to the static master module (Rastoll, Fig. 4, Elements 415A-D; Paras. [0034] – [0036]), the plurality of charger-side positioning modules being arranged on a charger (Rastoll, Fig. 4, Element 420; Para. [0034]), receive distances to a mobile module on the vehicle or on a further vehicle, the distances measured by the charger-side positioning modules (Rastoll, Fig. 4; Para. [0035]), determine a position of the mobile module using the measured distances (Rastoll, Fig. 4; Para. [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to understand that although Choi is silent as using charger-side positioning modules to accurately align the bars of the pantograph to the contacts of the vehicle, Choi would inherently incorporate some type of conventional alignment process commonly understood in the art. The alignment system/process taught by Rastoll, for controlling alignment of the two devices to allow for efficient charging, teaches one of the many conventional alignment processes utilized in the art for charging a battery of an electric vehicle. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Rastoll, to control the alignment process of the charging system of Choi.
Regarding Claim 2, The combined teaching of the Choi and Rastoll references discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Choi teaches wherein the positioning system further comprises a charger-side communication module (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 510, “pantograph communication module”) connected to the static master module and configured to receive the charging request from a vehicle-side communication module of the vehicle via a wireless communication (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 125, “vehicle communication unit”).
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Excerpt from Choi:
Regarding Claim 3, The combined teaching of the Choi and Rastoll references discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Rastoll teaches wherein the static master module is further configured, upon receiving the charging request from the vehicle, to send a distance measurement request to the slave modules (Rastoll, Paras. [0035] – [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to understand that although Choi is silent as using charger-side positioning modules to accurately align the bars of the pantograph to the contacts of the vehicle, Choi would inherently incorporate some type of conventional alignment process commonly understood in the art. The alignment system/process taught by Rastoll, for controlling alignment of the two devices to allow for efficient charging, teaches one of the many conventional alignment processes utilized in the art for charging a battery of an electric vehicle. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Rastoll, to control the alignment process of the charging system of Choi.
Regarding Claim 4, The combined teaching of the Choi and Rastoll references discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claims 3/1. Furthermore, Rastoll teaches wherein the static master module is configured to determine a distance to the mobile module, and to send a distance measurement request to the slave modules when the distance between the static master module and the mobile module is below a pre-defined value (Rastoll, Paras. [0035] – [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to understand that although Choi is silent as using charger-side positioning modules to accurately align the bars of the pantograph to the contacts of the vehicle, Choi would inherently incorporate some type of conventional alignment process commonly understood in the art. The alignment system/process taught by Rastoll, for controlling alignment of the two devices to allow for efficient charging, teaches one of the many conventional alignment processes utilized in the art for charging a battery of an electric vehicle. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Rastoll, to control the alignment process of the charging system of Choi.
Regarding Claim 6, The combined teaching of the Choi and Rastoll references discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Rastoll teaches wherein the static master module is further configured to receive repeatedly distances measured by the slave modules and to determine repeatedly the position, and to use a median filter over the repeatedly determined positions for determining a final position (Rastoll, Paras. [0035] – [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to understand that although Choi is silent as using charger-side positioning modules to accurately align the bars of the pantograph to the contacts of the vehicle, Choi would inherently incorporate some type of conventional alignment process commonly understood in the art. The alignment system/process taught by Rastoll, for controlling alignment of the two devices to allow for efficient charging, teaches one of the many conventional alignment processes utilized in the art for charging a battery of an electric vehicle. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Rastoll, to control the alignment process of the charging system of Choi.
Regarding Claim 8, The combined teaching of the Choi and Rastoll references discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claims 3/1. Furthermore, Rastoll teaches wherein the static master module and the plurality of slave modules are modules according to the IEEE Ultra-Wide Band (UWB)-standard, and wherein the charger-side wireless communication module is a Wi-Fi device (Rastoll, Para. [0034]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to understand that although Choi is silent as using charger-side positioning modules to accurately align the bars of the pantograph to the contacts of the vehicle, Choi would inherently incorporate some type of conventional alignment process commonly understood in the art. The alignment system/process taught by Rastoll, for controlling alignment of the two devices to allow for efficient charging, teaches one of the many conventional alignment processes utilized in the art for charging a battery of an electric vehicle. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Rastoll, to control the alignment process of the charging system of Choi.
Regarding Claim 10, The combined teaching of the Choi and Rastoll references discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1. Furthermore, Choi teaches wherein the electric driven vehicle is a bus (Choi, Fig. 2, Element 103; Abstract, “electric bus”).
Regarding Claim 12, Choi teaches an electrical driven vehicle (Choi, Fig. 2, Element 103, “electric vehicle”. Refer to annotated Figs. 2 and 3 above.) comprising a mobile module (Choi, Fig. 2, Element 120, “vehicle device”) of a positioning system (Choi, Fig. 1, Element 300, “bridge”; Fig. 2, Element 304, “rail”),
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Excerpts from Choi:
the electrical driven vehicle further comprising a vehicle-side control unit configured to send a charging request, the charging request including an ID of the electrical driven vehicle,
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Excerpt from Choi:
and a battery (Choi, Fig. 2, Element 110, “battery”) configured to be connected to a pantograph (Choi, Fig. 2, Elements 401-403, “moving means”, “adjusting means” and “pantograph, i.e. charging device”) when a position determined by the positioning system is within a pre-defined tolerance with respect to a reference position and if the ID of the vehicle of which the position has been determined matches with the ID in the charging request, but does not teach charger side positioning modules comprising a static master module and at least two slave modules to determine distances for use by the charger.
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Rastoll, however, teaches wherein the mobile module (Rastoll, Fig. 4, Element 412) is configured to provide a response to one or more distance measurement requests sent from a static master module and/or a slave module of a charger-side control unit (Rastoll, Fig. 4, Element 422; Paras. [0037]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to understand that although Choi is silent as using charger-side positioning modules to accurately align the bars of the pantograph to the contacts of the vehicle, Choi would inherently incorporate some type of conventional alignment process commonly understood in the art. The alignment system/process taught by Rastoll, for controlling alignment of the two devices to allow for efficient charging, teaches one of the many conventional alignment processes utilized in the art for charging a battery of an electric vehicle. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Rastoll, to control the alignment process of the charging system of Choi.
Regarding Claim 13, The combined teaching of the Choi and Rastoll references discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 12. Furthermore, Choi teaches wherein the electrical driven vehicle further comprises a vehicle-side wireless communication module (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 125, “vehicle communication unit”),
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Excerpt from Choi:
wherein the vehicle-side control unit (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 124, “vehicle charge request unit”) is further configured to cause the vehicle-side wireless communication module (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 125, “vehicle communication unit”)
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Excerpt from Choi:
to send a charging request, the charging request containing a vehicle ID that is detectible by a charger-side control unit of the positioning system, wherein the sending of the vehicle ID is a pre-requisite for the battery to get charged.
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Excerpt from Choi:
Regarding Claim 14, Choi teaches a method for providing an allowance for charging an electrical driven vehicle (Choi, Figs. 1-3; Abstract. Refer to annotated Figs 2 and 3 above.) by a positioning system (Choi, Fig. 1, Element 300, “bridge”; Fig. 2, Element 304, “rail”),
Excerpt from Choi:
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comprising providing a master module (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 420, “charging control unit”), and a charger-side control unit (Choi, Fig. 3, Element 420, “charging control unit”),
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wherein the static master module is configured to receive a charging request from the electric driven vehicle to be charged, wherein the charger-side control unit compares the ID of the vehicle for which currently the position is determined with the ID contained in the charging request, and
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Excerpt from Choi:
provides an allowance for charging the electric driven vehicle when the position of the mobile module is within a pre-defined tolerance with respect to a reference position and when the ID of the vehicle of which the position has been determined matches the ID in the charging request, but does not teach charger side positioning modules comprising a static master module and at least two slave modules to determine distances for use by the charger.
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Excerpt from Choi:
Rastoll, however, teaches comprising providing a plurality of charger-side positioning modules comprising a static master module (Rastoll, Fig. 4, Element 422; Paras. [0037]) and at least two slave modules connected to the static master module (Rastoll, Fig. 4, Elements 415A-D; Paras. [0034] – [0036]), the method comprising receiving distances to at least the mobile module measured by the charger-side positioning modules (Rastoll, Fig. 4; Para. [0035]), determine a position of the mobile module, and providing the positions to the charger-side control unit (Rastoll, Fig. 4; Para. [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to understand that although Choi is silent as using charger-side positioning modules to accurately align the bars of the pantograph to the contacts of the vehicle, Choi would inherently incorporate some type of conventional alignment process commonly understood in the art. The alignment system/process taught by Rastoll, for controlling alignment of the two devices to allow for efficient charging, teaches one of the many conventional alignment processes utilized in the art for charging a battery of an electric vehicle. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to choose based on desirability, one of the many known conventional methods, such as the one taught by Rastoll, to control the alignment process of the charging system of Choi.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi Yong Gil KR-20220101351-A (hereinafter Choi) in view of Rastoll et al. U.S. PGPub 2020/0307403 A1 (hereinafter Rastoll) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Herrod et al. U.S. PGPub 2001/0055978 A1 (hereinafter Herrod).
Regarding Claim 7, The combined teaching of the Choi and Rastoll references discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claim 1, but does not teach the communication between the modules using RS485.
Herrod, however, teaches wherein the static master module is further configured to receive all measured distances using an RS485 bus (Herrod, Para. [0155]).
Choi as modified by Rastoll discloses the claimed invention except for using RS485 as the communication interface. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use RS485 for the communication interface, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to employ/use a known technique to improve similar devices (methods, products) in the same way is obvious.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi Yong Gil KR-20220101351-A (hereinafter Choi) in view of Rastoll et al. U.S. PGPub 2020/0307403 A1 (hereinafter Rastoll) as applied to claims 3/1 above, and further in view of Herrod et al. U.S. PGPub 2001/0055978 A1 (hereinafter Herrod).
Regarding Claim 9, The combined teaching of the Choi and Rastoll references discloses the claimed invention as stated above in claims 3/1, but does not teach the distances are measured using a CSMA protocol.
Herrod, however, teaches wherein the distances are measured using a CSMA protocol (Herrod, Para. [0189]).
Choi as modified by Rastoll discloses the claimed invention except for using a CSMA protocol for communication. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use a CSMA protocol, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to employ/use a known technique to improve similar devices (methods, products) in the same way is obvious.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 5: Though the prior art discloses a positioning system for an automatic vehicle charging system comprising a plurality of positioning modules, control units and communication modules to identify an electrical vehicle requesting charge and provide charging power to the electric vehicle, it fails to teach or suggest the aforementioned limitations of claim 5, and further including the combination of:
wherein the static master module is further configured to:
initially scan for mobile modules in range and detect the IDs of vehicles associated to the respective mobile modules;
determine a distance to all mobile modules in range;
create a presence table filled with the detected IDs for mobile modules whose distance to the static master module is below a pre-defined value, and after receiving the charging request, to determine positions of the mobile modules in the presence table one after another; and to
provide the positions to the charger-side control unit;
wherein the charger-side control unit is configured to:
compare the ID of the vehicle for which currently the position is determined with the ID contained in the charging request; and
provide the allowance for charging the vehicle when additionally to the position of the vehicle being within a pre-defined tolerance, also the ID contained in the request matches with the ID for the vehicle for which currently the position is determined.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Oman et al. U.S. PGPub 2015/0015193 teaches a vehicle positioning system using UWB.
Peer Reinhard, DE-102017216127A-1 teaches a communication connection between a stationary charging station and a motor vehicle using trilateration.
Cashdollar et al. U.S. PGPub 2023/0131483 teaches a charging system for electric buses.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY D ROBBINS whose telephone number is (571)272-7585. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00AM - 6:00PM Tuesday-Saturday.
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/JERRY D ROBBINS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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