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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al, CN 108539841.
Regarding claims 1 and 12, He et al disclose a power supply system for a hybrid combination DC-DC converter comprising: a photovoltaic cell 21, a rechargeable battery 24, a switching group 27, a bidirectional DC-DC converter 22, a bidirectional DC-DC converter 25, a controller 28, an inverter 26, and an alternating current power supply 29. Output ends of the photovoltaic cell 21 and the rechargeable battery 24 are connected to input ends of the bidirectional DC-DC converters 22 and 25 by means of the switching group 27, output ends of the bidirectional DC-DC converters 22 and 25 are connected in parallel to a direct current (DC) bus, and the switching group 27 comprises four switches S 1-S4. The controller 28 is used for controlling a switching or turn-on state of the switching group 27, and controlling working modes of the bidirectional DC-DC converters 22 and 25 (figure 2), wherein the working modes comprise first to sixth working modes (figures 3-8). In the working modes, the photovoltaic cell 21 and the rechargeable battery 24 can be in turn-on connection to one or two of the bidirectional DC-DC converters 22 and 25 by means of the switching group 27 for charging or discharging.
He et al fail to disclose that the control unit is connected to at least one battery cluster by means of a control bus for controlling the rated charging and discharging rate of an energy storage system and/or for obtaining the output current magnitude and an initial charge state of each battery cluster, and controlling charging and discharging of each battery cluster according to the output current magnitude and the initial charge state of each battery cluster, so as to balance the remaining power of the each battery cluster. However, the purpose of the connection and the technical problems to be solved are how to control the rated charging and discharging rate of the system, and how to prevent overcharge and over-discharge of a battery. Therefore, it would be easily conceived by combining the teachings of He et al with the common general knowledge in the art (i.e. preventing overcharging and over-discharging of batteries) to arrive at the technical structure as presented by the claims.
Regarding claims 2-11 and 13-14, the additional features are disclosed in He et al, or would be easily conceived of by combining He et al and common general knowledge in the art. For instance:
Regarding claim 2, wherein: the at least one battery cluster comprises a first battery cluster; and the controller is configured to turn-on a first switch connecting the first battery cluster to a first DC/DC conversion circuit of the at least two DC/DC conversion circuits, to be turned on and turn-off a second switch connecting the first battery cluster to a second DC/DC conversion circuit of the at least two DC/DC conversion circuits so that the rated charge/discharge rate of the energy storage system is a first rated charge/discharge rate. (See Fig. 2 and its description in the English translation).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the controller is further configured to turn-on n switches connecting the first battery cluster to n DC/DC conversion circuits in the at least two DC/DC conversion circuits and turn-off a third switch connecting the first battery cluster to connect to a third DC/DC conversion circuit that is other than the n DC/DC conversion circuits and that is in the at least two DC/DC conversion circuits so that the rated charge/discharge rate of the energy storage system is a second rated charge/discharge rate, wherein the n DC/DC conversion circuits or the third DC/DC conversion circuit comprise the first DC/DC conversion circuit, the second rated charge/discharge rate is n times the first rated charge/discharge rate, and n is an integer greater than 1 (with respect to the number of DC/DC conversion circuits and/or the ratio between the rated charge/discharge rate, such limitations are merely an engineering choice for meeting specific customer requirements, which therefore, obvious. therefore, it would have been an obvious extension as taught by the prior art.
Regarding claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to control charging and discharging of each of the at least one battery cluster based on an output current magnitude and initial state of charge of the battery cluster, to balance remaining power of each battery cluster. (See Fig. 2 and its description in the English translation).
Regarding claim 5, wherein the controller is further configured to control charging and discharging of each of the at least one battery cluster based on an output current magnitude and initial state of charge of the battery cluster, to balance remaining power of each battery cluster. (See Fig. 2 and its description in the English translation).
Regarding claim 6, further comprising at least two battery clusters, the at least two battery clusters comprising a first battery cluster and a second battery cluster, wherein the controller is further configured to: turn-on a fourth switch connecting the first battery cluster to h DC/DC conversion circuits in the at least two DC/DC conversion circuits; turn-off a fifth switch connecting the first battery cluster to a fourth DC/DC conversion circuit that is other than the h DC/DC conversion circuits and that is in the at least two DC/DC conversion circuits; and turn-off a sixth switch connecting the second battery cluster to each of the at least two DC/DC conversion circuits so that the rated charge/discharge rate of the energy storage system is a target rated charge/discharge rate, wherein h is an integer greater than 0 (with respect to the number of DC/DC conversion circuits and/or the ratio between the rated charge/discharge rate, such limitations are merely an engineering choice for meeting specific customer requirements, which therefore, obvious. therefore, it would have been an obvious extension as taught by the prior art.
Regarding claim 7, wherein the controller is further configured to control charging and discharging of each of the at least one battery cluster based on an output current magnitude and initial state of charge of the at least one battery cluster to balance remaining power of each of the at least one battery cluster. (See Figs. 2 and 9-10 and their description in the English translation).
Regarding claim 8, wherein each of the at least one battery cluster comprises at least one battery module connected in series, each at least one battery module comprises a battery management unit (BMU), the controller is connected to a BMU of each of the at least one battery module in each of the at least one battery cluster through the control bus, and the controller is configured to obtain an initial state of charge of each of the at least one battery cluster by using a BMU of each of the at least one battery module. (See Figs. 2, 9-10 and their description in the English translation).
Regarding claim 9, wherein each of the at least two DC/DC conversion circuits comprises a battery control unit (BCU), the controller is connected to each BCU in the at least two DC/DC conversion circuits through the control bus, and the controller is configured to obtain an output current magnitude of each of the at least one battery cluster through each BCU. (See Figs. 2, 9-10 and their description in the English translation).
Regarding claim 10, wherein the at least two DC/DC conversion circuits comprise a battery control unit (BCU), the controller is connected to the BCU through the control bus, and the controller is configured to obtain an output current magnitude of each battery cluster through the BCU. (See Figs. 2, 9-10 and their description in the English translation).
Regarding claim 11, further comprising a power converter, wherein an input end of the power converter is connected to the direct current bus, an output end of the power converter is connected to an alternating current bus, and the power converter is configured to convert, into alternating current electricity during discharging of the at least one battery cluster, direct current electricity that is input based on the direct current bus, or the power converter is configured to convert, into direct current electricity during charging of the at least one battery cluster, alternating current electricity that is input based on the alternating current bus. (See Figs. 2, 9-10 and their description in the English translation).
Regarding claim 13, wherein the controlling charging and discharging of each of the at least one battery cluster based on an output current magnitude and initial state of charge of the respective battery cluster comprises: controlling, based on an output current magnitude and initial state of charge of each of the at least one battery cluster, operating power of each DC/DC conversion circuit correspondingly connected to the respective battery cluster, to control charging and discharging of each of the at least one battery cluster. (See Figs. 2, 9-10 and their description in the English translation).
Regarding claim 4, wherein the controlling, based on an output current magnitude and initial state of charge of each of the at least one battery cluster, operating power of each DC/DC conversion circuit correspondingly connected to the respective battery cluster comprises: determining, based on an output current magnitude and initial state of charge of the respective battery cluster, a first state of charge corresponding to the respective battery cluster; and controlling, based on a first state of charge corresponding to each of the at least one battery cluster, operating power of each DC/DC conversion circuit correspondingly connected to the respective battery cluster, to control charging and discharging of each of the at least one battery cluster. (See Figs. 2, 9-10 and their description in the English translation).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Weir et al, US Pub. 2014/0035371, disclose a system and method for proportioned power distribution in power converter.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL ST CYR whose telephone number is (571)272-2407. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 8:00-8:00.
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DANIEL ST CYR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2876
/DANIEL ST CYR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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