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 .
Continuation Data
This application is a divisional of application 17/343,221 filed June 9, 2021, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 11,932,769, which is a continuation of application 16/690,475 filed November 21, 2019, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,060,896, which is a continuation of application 15/954,063 filed April 16, 2018, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,508,939, which is a continuation of U.S. application 15/365,264 filed November 30, 2016, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,945,705, which is a continuation of application 14/281,757 filed May 19, 2014, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,541,432, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/855,515 filed May 17, 2013.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The Information Disclosure Statement filed on October 12, 2023 has been considered. An initialed copy of the Form 1449 is enclosed herewith.
Claim Objections
4. Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Re claim 1, line 8: replace, “batter” with --battery--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
6. Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over White et al (2012/0086400), hereinafter White in view of Walley et al (2011/0127954), hereinafter Walley.
With respect to claim 1, White teaches a process of charging and discharging a sealed battery pack for a flow monitoring system (abstract: directed to charging and discharging battery pack system modules and balancing battery pack systems), comprising: recharging the battery pack using an input power connector (battery pack system modules are charged by charging current; battery pack system is charged through positive charge terminal 304 and negative terminal 302: see paragraphs 0042 and 0044-0046); applying a flag, to battery pack memory on a microcontroller to indicate that power cell banks within the sealed battery pack are ready for use (paragraph 0028 discloses current status of the battery cells); isolating each of n power cell banks using a power switch controlled by the microcontroller (discharge switch 254, charge switch 252, module bypass switch 240, which are each controlled by microprocessor 206: see paragraphs 0031-0035); requesting power from the sealed battery pack, when the sealed batter pack is connected to the flow monitoring system (supplying a load, selectively drawing power, enabling/disabling discharge paths: see paragraphs 0025, 0031, and 0034); and opening a power cell bank for discharge according to rules established by software used in the microcontroller (microprocessor 206, software/code, monitoring modules, enabling/disabling switches, determining operation of switches based on battery conditions: see paragraphs 0035 (the microprocessor may issue commands to maintain a balance between the battery pack system modules), 0051, and 0060-0062 (software may be executed to display a user interface for monitoring and/or controlling the battery pack system), wherein the rules established by the software comprise mapping around dead power cells (bypass unbalance modules, isolate modules from charging/discharging) in the cell banks and/or balancing the charge/discharge cycle for various power cells (balancing modules during charging, inter-module balancing, intra-module balancing, maintaining balance among modules) see paragraphs 0021-0024, 0034-0035, 0042, 0051-0052, 0060-0064).
With respect to claim 2, White teaches in paragraph 0037, wherein when power is drawn, the flag is reset and the duration of discharge for a cell bank is logged until it reaches a low energy level or is exhausted, at which time a depleted flag is set (when low state of charge is reached in the battery pack system module, the discharge switch 254 may be de-activated to prevent over discharge of the battery pack system module 200. Such determination requires obtaining and maintaining battery module status information, which constitutes the depleted flag).
White’s teachings are discussed above. White teaches a battery pack system including multiple battery modules, a microprocessor configured to control charge, discharge, and bypass switches, and further teaches software-based management of battery module status, however White fails to specifically teach wirelessly communicating battery-related information. With respect to claim 3, White teaches monitoring SOC and disabling when a low SOC threshold is met (paragraph 0037), however fails to specifically teach specific power management techniques.
With respect to claim 1, Walley teaches battery electronics configured for wireless communication of battery information, including battery related data communication via RFID/wireless interfaces (paragraph 0142).
With respect to claim 3, Walley teaches reducing power consumption by selectively removing power from modules, reducing supply voltages, disabling clock signals, and reducing clock frequencies. (paragraphs 0140-0141)
In view of Walley’s teachings, it would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the battery management system of White to wirelessly communicate battery status information, as is taught by Walley. One would be motivated to include wireless communication in order to facilitate battery monitoring management and status exchange without requiring a wired communication connection. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to employ such power conservation techniques when White’s battery modules become depleted in order to preserve remaining power for controller operation and extend operational life of the battery management system.
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure: See attached PTO form 892, Refence Cited.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Allyson N. Trail whose telephone number is (571) 272-2406. The examiner can normally be reached between the hours of 7:30AM to 4:00PM Monday thru Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael G. Lee, can be reached on (571) 272-2398. The fax phone number for this Group is (571) 273-8300.
Communications via Internet e-mail regarding this application, other than those under 35 U.S.C. 132 or which otherwise require a signature, may be used by the applicant and should be addressed to [allyson.trail@uspto.gov].
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/ALLYSON N TRAIL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
June 24, 2026
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