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 .
Receipt is acknowledged of IDS filed on 11/2/2023.
Claims 1-4 are presented for examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakanishi (US 2011/0025270).
Re Claim 1: Nakanishi teaches battery pack manager, which includes a plurality of battery modules connected in series (¶ 36+); and a higher-level controller {herein a master unit 26 serving as high level control means}, wherein: each of the plurality of battery modules includes: a plurality of battery cells connected in series (¶ 12+, 37+); a detection unit detecting {herein the state of charge of the battery pack mentioned in connection with the present invention may also be remaining capacity} respective remaining capacities of the plurality of battery cells (¶ 11-16+); a lower-level controller {herein a plurality of slave units 14,16 serving as low level control means} configured to execute a process of setting a target value for equalizing the remaining capacities of the plurality of battery cells based on the remaining capacities of the plurality of battery cells that are detected by the detection unit (¶ 37+); and an equalization processor {herein the master unit 26 outputs an equalization processing execution} for equalizing the remaining capacities of the plurality of battery cells according to the target value set by the lower-level controller (¶ 45+), wherein: the higher-level controller {herein the high level control means can detect variations in the state of charge according to the terminal voltages of the battery} is configured to execute a first process of setting an adjusting value for adjusting the target value set by the lower-level controller of each of the plurality of battery modules (¶ 12+); and the lower-level controllers of the plurality of battery modules are configured to execute a second process of updating the target value set respectively by the lower-level controllers (¶ 38+).
Re Claim 3: Nakanishi teaches a device, wherein each of the lower-level controllers is configured to set the target value to be a remaining capacity of one of the battery cells having the lowest remaining capacity among the plurality of battery cells incorporated in the battery module (¶ 16+).
Re Claim 4: Nakanishi teaches a device, wherein the higher-level {herein master unit 26} controller is configured to set the adjusting value to be the lowest one of the plurality of target values acquired from the lower-level controllers {herein the respective slave units 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24} (¶ 78+).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 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: the prior art of record fails to specifically teach equalizing the remaining capacities between the plurality of battery modules, the higher-level controller transmits the adjusting value to the lower-level controllers of the plurality of battery modules; and each of the lower-level controllers is configured to receive the adjusting value from the higher-level controller and update the target value based on the adjusting value, to control the equalization processor of a corresponding one of the battery modules based on the updated target value. These limitations in conjunction with other limitations in the claimed invention were not shown by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Li et al. (US 2024/0030724) teaches energy storage system and method for controlling energy storage system and photovoltaic power generation system.
Kubo et al. (US 2010/0001737) teaches battery system.
Tsushima (US 2014/0232302) teaches battery processing apparatus and battery processing program.
Kawata et al. (US 2011/0187326) teaches battery apparatus and motor drive unit.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDWYN LABAZE whose telephone number is (571)272-2395. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mr. STEVE PAIK can be reached at 571-272-2404. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDWYN LABAZE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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