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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because there are no descriptive labels for element boxes in figures 1-5. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Larson et al. (US 2025/0065773).
Regarding claim 1, Larson teaches a method for controlling a plurality of converters (218, fig. 2) that are coupled to a plurality of cells (222, fig. 2) of a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) (102, fig. 1) and that are configured to supply current to one or more electrical loads (110, 112, 114, fig. 1), the method comprising: determining, by a control module (104, fig. 2) coupled to the plurality of converters, an expected current consumption for the one or more electrical loads based at least in part on measurement data obtained via one or more sensors ([0036]); identifying, by the control module, an active subset of the plurality of converters to supply the expected current consumption based at least in part on the expected current consumption, resulting in a reserve subset of the plurality of converters, wherein the active subset and the reserve subset are mutually exclusive (figs. 5-8, [0049] and [0068]-[0070]); configuring, by the control module, respective droop control settings of respective active converters of the active subset based at least in part on the expected current consumption (figs. 5-8 and [0060]-[0075]); and configuring, by the control module, respective reserve converters of the reserve subset with respective droop control settings different from the respective droop control settings of the respective active converters of the active subset based at least in part on the respective droop control settings of the respective active converters of the active subset (figs. 5-8 and [0060]-[0075]).
Regarding claims 2-4, Larson further teaches wherein configuring the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset comprises configuring the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset for a droop control voltage setpoint that is less than a targeted voltage for the expected current consumption and further limitations as claimed (figs. 5-7 and [0049]).
Regarding claim 5, Larson further teaches operating the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset to supply at least a portion of the current to the one or more electrical loads when the current is greater than the expected current consumption (figs. 7, 8, [0055], [0056] and [0068]).
Regarding claim 6, Larson wherein configuring the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset comprises configuring the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset for a droop control voltage setpoint that prevents the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset from supplying at least a portion of the current to the one or more electrical loads when the current is less than the expected current consumption (figs. 7, 8, [0049]-[0051], [0055], [0056] and [0068]).
Regarding claim 7, Larson further teaches wherein configuring the respective droop control settings of the respective active converters of the active subset based at least in part on the expected current consumption comprises: determining a desired distribution of the expected current consumption across the respective active converters of the active subset based at least in part on cell data for respective cell groups of the plurality of cells associated with the respective active converters of the active subset; and configuring the respective droop control settings of respective active converters of the active subset to achieve the desired distribution of the expected current consumption, wherein the respective droop control settings of at least one of the respective active converters of the active subset is different from the respective droop control settings of another active converter of the active subset (figs. 7, 8 and [0067]-[0069]).
Regarding claim 8, Larson further teaches wherein configuring the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset with respective droop control settings different from the respective droop control settings of the respective active converters comprises configuring the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset with a droop control resistance setting value that is less than a respective droop control resistance setting value for at least one of the respective active converters of the active subset to disproportionately supply at least a portion 29 of the current to the one or more electrical loads via the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset when the current is greater than the expected current consumption (figs. 7, 8 and [0067]-[0070]).
Regarding claim 9, Larson teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor (fig. 3), cause the processor to provide one or more services configurable to: determine an expected current consumption for one or more electrical loads (110, 112, 114, fig. 1) coupled to a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) (102, fig. 1) based at least in part on measurement data obtained via one or more sensors ([0036]); identify an active subset of a plurality of converters (218, fig. 2) that are coupled to a plurality of cells (106, fig. 1) of the RESS and that are configured to supply the expected current consumption to the one or more electrical loads based at least in part on the expected current consumption, resulting in a reserve subset of the plurality of converters, wherein the active subset and the reserve subset are mutually exclusive (figs. 5-8, [0049] and [0068]-[0070]); configure respective droop control settings of respective active converters of the active subset based at least in part on the expected current consumption (figs. 5-8 and [0068]-[0070]); and configure respective reserve converters of the reserve subset with respective droop control settings different from the respective droop control settings of the respective active converters of the active subset based at least in part on the respective droop control settings of the respective active converters of the active subset (figs. 5-8 and [0068]-[0070]).
Regarding claims 10 and 11, Larson further teaches wherein the one or more services are configurable to configure the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset for a droop control voltage setpoint that is less than a targeted voltage for the expected current consumption and further limitations as claimed (figs. 5-7, [0027] and [0049]-[0052]).
Regarding claim 12, Larson further teaches wherein the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset are activated to supply at least a portion of a current to the one or more electrical loads when the current is greater than the expected current consumption (figs. 7, 8, [0055], [0056] and [0068]).
Regarding claim 13, Larson further teaches wherein the one or more services are configurable to configure the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset for a droop control voltage setpoint that prevents the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset from supplying at least a portion of a current to the one or more electrical loads when the current is less than the expected current consumption (figs. 7, 8, [0049]-[0051], [0055], [0056] and [0068]).
Regarding claim 14, Larson further teaches wherein the one or more services are configurable to: determine a desired distribution of the expected current consumption across the respective active converters of the active subset based at least in part on cell data for respective cell groups of the plurality of cells associated with the respective active converters of the active subset; and configure the respective droop control settings of respective active converters of the active subset to achieve the desired distribution of the expected current consumption, wherein the respective droop control settings of at least one of the respective active converters of the active subset is different from the respective droop control settings of another active converter of the active subset (figs. 7, 8 and [0067]-[0069]).
Regarding claim 15, Larson further teaches wherein the one or more services are configurable to configure the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset with a droop control resistance setting value that is less than a respective droop control resistance setting value for at least one of the respective active converters of the active subset to disproportionately supply at least a portion of a current to the one or more electrical loads via the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset when the current is greater than the expected current consumption (figs. 7, 8 and [0067]-[0070]).
Regarding claim 16, Larson teaches a vehicle (100, fig. 1) comprising: a rechargeable energy (RESS) (102, fig. 1) that includes a plurality of cells (106, fig. 1) and a plurality of converters (218, fig. 2) that are coupled thereto and that are configured to supply current; one or more electrical loads (110, 112, 114, fig. 1) to receive the current from the RESS; and a control system (104, fig. 1) comprising: one or more sensors ([0036]) configured to obtain cell data as to the plurality of cells, the cell data including a state of charge for each of the plurality of cells ([0057]); and a processor (312, fig. 3) that is coupled to the one or more sensors and to the plurality of converters to provide one or more services configurable to: obtain data indicative of an expected current consumption by the one or more electrical loads ([0027] and [0034]); identify an active subset of the plurality of converters based at least in part on the expected current consumption, resulting in a reserve subset of the plurality of converters, wherein the active subset and the reserve subset are mutually exclusive (figs. 5-8, [0049] and [0068]-[0070]); configure respective droop control settings of respective active converters of the active subset based at least in part on the expected current consumption (figs. 5-8 and [0060]-[0070]); and configure respective reserve converters of the reserve subset with respective droop control settings different from the respective droop control settings of the respective active converters of the active subset based at least in part on the respective droop control settings of the respective active converters of the active subset (figs. 5-8 and [0060]-[0070]).
Regarding claim 17, Larson further teaches wherein respective droop control voltage setpoints of the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset are less than respective droop control voltage setpoints of the respective active converters of the active subset (fig. 7 and [0049]).
Regarding claim 18, Larson further teaches wherein the respective droop control voltage setpoints of the respective active converters of the active subset are configured to achieve a desired distribution of the expected current consumption across the respective active converters of the active subset (figs. 7, 8 and [0067]-[0070]).
Regarding claim 19, Larson further teaches wherein the respective droop control voltage setpoints of the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset are configured to cause the respective reserve converters of the reserve subset to supply at least a portion of the current to the one or more electrical loads when the current is greater than the expected current consumption (figs. 7, 8, [0049]-[0051], [0055], [0056] and [0068]).
Regarding claim 20, Larson further teaches wherein the one or more services are configurable to: determine a desired distribution of the expected current consumption across the respective active converters of the active subset based at least in part on the cell data for respective cell groups of the plurality of cells associated with the respective active converters of the active subset; and configure the respective droop control settings of respective active converters of the active subset to achieve the desired distribution of the expected current consumption, wherein the respective droop control settings of at least one of the respective active converters of the active subset is different from the respective droop control settings of another active converter of the active subset (figs. 7, 8 and [0067]-[0070]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
References: Kamel Ahmed et al. (US 2021/0399352); Wright et al. (US 11,878,605); Giri et al. (US 2024/0088665) and Bean (US 9,893,545) are cited because they are related to vehicle charging system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tuyen Kim Vo whose telephone number is (571)270-1657. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs: 8AM-6:30PM.
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/TUYEN K VO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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