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 .
1. Claims 1-20 have been presented for examination.
Priority
2. The instant application is a CON of PCT/CN2023/082397, filed 3/20/2023. Acknowledgement is made to Applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. Acknowledgement is made to the information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/25/2023, 12/19/2024, & 6/16/2025. The information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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.
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.
4. Claims 1-4, 10-13, 19, & 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu et al. (CN 109786877 A), hereinafter Wu, the examiner referencing the included machine translation.
Regarding claim 1, Wu discloses a charging method of an energy storage power supply, the charging method comprising:
obtaining a voltage of each of a plurality of cells in a battery pack of a battery module [0036-0038]; and
charging the battery module by selecting, based on a minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells, a corresponding charging scheme, wherein the corresponding charging scheme comprises a first charging scheme and a second charging scheme [0039-0044].
Regarding claim 2, Wu discloses the charging method according to claim 1, wherein said selecting, based on the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells, the corresponding charging scheme comprises: performing the first charging scheme when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is greater than or equal to a first predetermined value [0041 & 0042].
Regarding claim 3, Wu discloses the charging method according to claim 1, wherein said selecting, based on the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells, the corresponding charging scheme comprises:
discharging the battery module at a first constant power when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is greater than or equal to a second predetermined value and smaller than a first predetermined value, and obtaining a first discharging period when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is equal to a third predetermined value [0039-0044 & 0058-0060];
performing the second charging scheme when the first discharging period is greater than or equal to a first predetermined duration; and performing the first charging scheme when the first discharging period is smaller than the first predetermined duration [0039-0044 & 0058-0060].
Regarding claim 4, Wu discloses the charging method according to claim 1, wherein said selecting, based on the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells, the corresponding charging scheme comprises:
charging the battery module at a second constant power when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is greater than or equal to a fourth predetermined value and smaller than a second predetermined value, and obtaining a charging period when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is equal to a fifth predetermined value [0033, 0043, 0044, & 0052-0054];
performing the second charging scheme when the charging period is greater than or equal to a second predetermined duration [0041-0044, 0059, & 0060];
discharging the battery module at a first constant power when the charging period is smaller than the second predetermined duration, and obtaining a second discharging period when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is equal to a third predetermined value [0041-0044, 0059, & 0060];
performing the second charging scheme when the second discharging period is greater than or equal to the second predetermined duration; and performing the first charging scheme when the second discharging period is smaller than the second predetermined duration [0041-0044, 0059, & 0060].
Regarding claim 10, Wu discloses an electronic device, comprising:
at least one processor; and a memory in communication connection with the at least one processor, wherein the memory has a computer program stored thereon, the computer program being executable by the at least one processor; and wherein the computer program [0068], when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to:
obtain a voltage of each of a plurality of cells in a battery pack of a battery module [0036-0038]; and
charge the battery module by selecting, based on a minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells, a corresponding charging scheme, wherein the corresponding charging scheme comprises a first charging scheme and a second charging scheme [0039-0044].
Regarding claim 11, Wu discloses the electronic device according to claim 10, wherein the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the at least one processor to: perform the first charging scheme when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is greater than or equal to a first predetermined value [0041 & 0042].
Regarding claim 12, Wu discloses the electronic device according to claim 10, wherein the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the at least one processor to:
discharge the battery module at a first constant power when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is greater than or equal to a second predetermined value and smaller than a first predetermined value, and obtaining a first discharging period when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is equal to a third predetermined value [0039-0044 & 0058-0060];
perform the second charging scheme when the first discharging period is greater than or equal to a first predetermined duration; and perform the first charging scheme when the first discharging period is smaller than the first predetermined duration [0039-0044 & 0058-0060].
Regarding claim 13, Wu discloses the electronic device according to claim 10, wherein the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the at least one processor to:
charge the battery module at a second constant power when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is greater than or equal to a fourth predetermined value and smaller than a second predetermined value, and obtaining a charging period when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is equal to a fifth predetermined value [0033, 0043, 0044, & 0052-0054];
perform the second charging scheme when the charging period is greater than or equal to a second predetermined duration [0041-0044, 0059, & 0060];
discharge the battery module at a first constant power when the charging period is smaller than the second predetermined duration, and obtaining a second discharging period when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is equal to a third predetermined value [0041-0044, 0059, & 0060];
perform the second charging scheme when the second discharging period is greater than or equal to the second predetermined duration; and perform the first charging scheme when the second discharging period is smaller than the second predetermined duration [0041-0044, 0059, & 0060].
Regarding claim 19, Wu discloses a computer-readable storage medium, having computer instructions stored thereon [0068], wherein the computer instructions, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:
obtain a voltage of each of a plurality of cells in a battery pack of a battery module [0036-0038]; and
charge the battery module by selecting, based on a minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells, a corresponding charging scheme, wherein the corresponding charging scheme comprises a first charging scheme and a second charging scheme [0039-0044].
Regarding claim 20, Wu discloses the computer-readable storage medium according to claim 19, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by a processor, further causes the processor to: perform the first charging scheme when the minimum voltage among the voltages of the plurality of cells is greater than or equal to a first predetermined value [0041 & 0042].
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
5. Claims 5-9 & 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu and Xie et al. (CN 113258150 A), hereinafter Xie, the examiner referencing the included machine translation.
With respect to claims 5 & 14, the teachings of Wu have been discussed above.
Wu is silent with respect to explicitly disclosing the limitations, as recited in claims 5 & 14.
Claims 5 & 14 disclose limitations further limiting the first charging scheme and the second charging scheme wherein each of the first charging scheme and the second charging scheme comprises obtaining a battery cell temperature of the battery module and, according to the temperature obtained, based on various temperature ranges, performing the same charging process with differing charging parameter values for the constant power and the predetermined value, such that once the predetermined value is reached, reducing the current to 0.6 times the current current, except when the temperature is lower than 0°C and higher than or equal to 50°C wherein no charging is performed.
Xie teaches, regarding claims 5 & 14, a charging method for charging an electronic device containing a battery comprising identifying the power of the charger, determining the temperature of the battery, and determining the charging strategy (interpreted as the claimed charging scheme) based on the power and the temperature [0037-0040 & 0054]. Xie further disclosing multiple temperature ranges, low, normal, and high, and wherein each of the ranges can further include multiple subranges [0048 & 0052-0054] and including various parameters for the charging current, voltage, and cutoff values based on charger power levels, temperature, and battery characteristics [0037-0060].
As Xie clearly discloses known systems and methods for adapting an appropriate charging method based upon the determined values for charging power, battery condition, and temperature in order to properly charge the battery, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, that implementing the temperature features of Xie with the claimed values found in claims 5 & 14 within the system of Wu would have been an obvious matter of design choice based upon the specific application desired and/or the environment of use for the charging system.
Claims 6-9 & 15-18 are similarly directed to presenting specific values for the constant power, predetermined values, and cut-off voltages and are thus rejected for the same reasons as claims 5 & 14 as being an obvious matter of design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention in order to have the system function as desired based upon the specifics of the battery and charging system being used and/or the desired operating characteristics or intended outcome for the same.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAULTEP SAVUSDIPHOL whose telephone number is (571)270-1301. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F,7-3 EST. If the examiner cannot be reached by telephone, he can be reached through the following email address: paultep.savusdiphol@uspto.gov
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/PAULTEP SAVUSDIPHOL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
