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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1).
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CORT (US 2016/0195219 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, CORT discloses a hydrogen (¶ 67-69) storage system (¶ 66) for a fuel cell (¶ 1, 66, 78) electric vehicle (FCEV), comprising: (The claimed storage system being for an electric vehicle is an intended use limitation. The storage system taught by CORT, which discloses all the limitations after the preamble and at least teaches the storage system being for a fuel cell power source, would certainly be capable of being used for a fuel cell of an electric vehicle. The structure taught by CORT therefore meets the claim limitation. See MPEP 2111.02.II and 2112.01.I.)
a controller (Fig. 1 controller 5, ¶ 71) in electronic communication with a first tank and a second tank, (Fig. 1 storage vessels 2a-2b. ¶ 71, 86, 98: A controller is in electronic communication with temperature sensors and valves on a plurality of storage tanks.)
the first tank having a first tank on tank valve (OTV) temperature sensor and the second tank having a second tank OTV temperature sensor; (Fig. 1 temperature sensors 4a-d, ¶ 67: Each of a plurality of tanks has a temperature sensor. The temperature sensors are adjacent to the filling ports 3a-d, which comprise valves. See ¶ 71, 98. The temperature sensors are therefore on tank valve temperature sensors. See ¶ 9: “The sensors may be… located in or adjacent to the filling ports.”)
and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in electronic communication with the controller, having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the controller, cause the controller to perform operations comprising: (¶ 80-81, Fig. 7: A person of ordinary skill in the art would know that a controller that is programmed to perform a method would be in communication with a storage medium that contains the program, such as a computer memory.)
receiving, by the controller, a first temperature from the first tank OTV temperature sensor; receiving, by the controller, a second temperature from the second tank OTV temperature sensor; (¶ 67, 82: The controller monitors and therefore receives temperature measurements from each of the temperature sensors on each of the storage vessels.)
determining, by the controller, whether the first temperature is at least one of greater than or equal to a predetermined temperature; determining, by the controller, whether the second temperature is at least one of greater than or equal to the predetermined temperature; (¶ 83, 86, 94, 98: A determination is made for each temperature measurement from each storage tank whether the temperature from the respective sensor is equal to or above a threshold temperature.)
in response to finding that at least one of the first temperature or the second temperature is at least one of greater than or equal to the predetermined temperature, transmitting, by the controller, a stop fuel command. (¶ 83, 86, 98: If any of the storage tanks has a temperature that is above the threshold, the supply of hydrogen is shut off at least to the tank that has that condition.)
Claim 9 is directed to an article of manufacture including a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and Claim 15 is directed to a method, but they otherwise recite the same limitations as claim 1. Claim 9 and Claim 15 are therefore rejected due to the same reasoning discussed above.
Regarding Claim 2, CORT further discloses wherein the controller transmits the stop fuel command to an electronically controlled flow controller of a fueling station. (¶ 87, 89-90, 94, Fig 4 flow controller 44 filling station 43, Fig. 5 flow controller 62 in communication with controller 61: The pause, reduce, and abort commands are communicated by a controller to a flow controller of a filling, or fueling, station.)
Claim 10 and Claim 16 recite the same limitations as claim 2 and are therefore rejected using the same reasoning discussed above.
Regarding Claim 3, CORT further discloses wherein the hydrogen storage system further comprises a regulator in electronic communication with the controller. (¶ 67, 90, Fig. 1 pressure valve 6 and Fig. 5 regulator 62/ controller 61: A pressure control device 6 is a regulator that is electronic communication with the controller 5. ¶ 86, 98: Each of the tanks also contain controllable regulators in the form of bypass valves. Both embodiments read on the claim.)
Regarding Claim 4, CORT further discloses wherein the instructions further comprise transmitting, by the controller, the stop fuel command to the regulator. (¶ 83, 86, 94, 98: The command to pause, reduce, or shut off flow of hydrogen to one or more storage vessels is transmitted to the appropriate regulator.)
Claim 11 and Claim 17 recite substantially the same limitations as claim 4 and are therefore rejected using the same reasoning discussed above.
Regarding Claim 5, CORT further discloses further comprising a plumbing system placing the regulator in fluid communication with the first tank and the second tank. (¶ 69, Fig. 1: Pressure control regulator is in fluid communication with the plurality of tanks via a manifold 7. ¶ 97: The bypass valves for each storage tank are in fluid communication with the plurality of tanks via the inlet and outlet ports. Both embodiments read on the claim.)
Regarding Claim 6, CORT further discloses wherein the regulator actuates to fluidically isolate the first tank from the second tank in response to the stop fuel command. (¶ 83, 93-94: During the pause period after the pause command, the control valve is actuated to close. ¶ 97-98: A first storage vessel (i.e. tank) is fluidically isolated from the rest of the plurality of vessels using a controllable bypass valve that turns off the supply of hydrogen to that tank in response to the stop fuel command from the controller due to the temperature exceeding the threshold. Both embodiments read on the claim.)
Claim 12 and Claim 18 recite the same limitations as claim 6 and are therefore rejected using the same reasoning discussed above.
Regarding Claim 7, CORT further discloses wherein the instructions further comprise: waiting, by the controller, for a time interval between a first time and a second time; determining, at the second time, by the controller, whether the first temperature is at least one of greater than or equal to the predetermined temperature. (¶ 26, 94-95: The controller waits a certain period of time for the temperature of a tank to reduce. The controller monitors the temperatures of the tanks to determine whether the temperature of each tank is above or below an overheating threshold. If the temperature is below the threshold, the pause period is ended.)
Claim 13 and Claim 19 recite the same limitations as claim 7 and are therefore rejected using the same reasoning discussed above.
Regarding Claim 8, CORT further discloses wherein the instructions further comprise: transmitting, by the controller, a command to the regulator to place the first tank and the second tank in fluid communication. (Note: While this claim depends from claim 7, it does not require that the tanks are placed in fluid communication responsive to the time interval passing or in response to the first or second temperature being above or below a threshold. The command to place the tanks in fluid communication could therefore be in response to any condition, such as simply connecting the tanks to the filling station.
Regardless, CORT teaches placing the tanks back in fluid communication in response to the pause period passing and the temperature of the overheated tank falling back below the threshold. See ¶ 26, 94-95, which discuss continuously monitoring a temperature and entering a pause period where fueling is reduced or the supply of hydrogen to the tank is cut off until the tank cools down.)
Claim 14 and Claim 20 recite the same limitations as claim 8 and are therefore rejected using the same reasoning discussed above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The references appear in the same order as they are listed in the Notice of References Cited.
Kanoya teaches monitoring whether a temperature or a temperature variance in a hydrogen tank being filled exceeds a threshold, and if so, closing a first valve and opening a second valve that provides cooled hydrogen. (¶ 46-49)
Pechtold (¶ 27), Glaeser (¶ 43, 46, 75), and Schulze (¶ 16) teach that it is common practice to measure the temperature of a fluid using the temperature sensor included on an OTV.
Kawase teaches providing an abort signal if the tank temperature sensor value exceeds an overheating prevention threshold. (¶ 54)
Miyoshi teaches an upper limit temperature threshold for a tank filing process. (¶ 81)
Handa ‘611 teaches filling a plurality of tanks with hydrogen gas and aborting the filling if temperature exceeds a threshold. (Fig. 1, ¶ 48)
Jung teaches outputting a warning signal if the temperature of a hydrogen tank exceeds a threshold. (¶ 16)
KOMIYA (US 2018/0138528 A1) teaches all the limitations of claims 1-6 and 8 other than the temperature sensors being included on the tank valves. (Fig. 2, claim 4, ¶ 12, 36, 38)
Handa ‘032 teaches an abort signal if a temperature is above a threshold in a hydrogen gas filling process. (¶ 48)
Natori teaches stopping hydrogen filling if an in-vehicle tank temperature is equal to or higher than a safety threshold. (¶ 43-47)
Muehleder teaches an apparatus for filling a plurality of tanks. (claim 3, Fig. 1)
Crist teaches a refuse vehicle with a plurality of fuel tanks and restricting the flow of fuel in response to a temperature exceeding a threshold. (claim 11, Fig. 6)
Borup teaches refueling a plurality of fuel cell vehicles simultaneously, continuing flow if a temperature is below a threshold (¶ 269-270) and resuming refueling of a vehicle after a period of time passes. (¶ 59-62, 112, 207, 273)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMI RAFAT OKASHA whose telephone number is (571)272-0675. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6 EST.
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/RAMI R OKASHA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118