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 Claims
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 11/06/2023. Claims 1-20 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 3 recites “, ,“ and should be “,“ .
Appropriate correction required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (b), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
As to claim 13, which recites “wherein the digital feedback is converted to an analog signal” which is unclear. Claim 12 from which it depends recites “wherein the feedback is analog feedback or digital feedback” which does not limit the claim to digital feedback. It is unclear how a digital feedback be converted to an analog signal if the feedback was analog.
Correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-5,7,9,12 and 14-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonkhoff (US 8310209) in view of Pressgrove (US 20230258736).
As to claim 1, Bonkhoff discloses a method for controlling a charge to a battery pack (Fig. 1-3, battery pack 10) via battery management system (BMS) (microcontroller unit 3), comprising:
Bonkhoff discloses monitoring one or more parameters associated with the battery pack (Fig. 3 step S2. Column lines 28-32 and Column 5 lines 4-10. A charging current and battery voltage are measured at the terminals of the battery. Column 3 lines 66-67 and Column 4 lines 1-4..the control unit is further adapted to measure a temperature of the battery);
monitoring a charge output from a direct current (DC)-DC converter (Fig. 2 converter 2) to the battery pack (Fig. 3, Column 5 lines 4-10 In step S2, a charging current and battery voltage are measured at the terminals of the battery); and
adjusting feedback to the DC-DC converter in accordance with monitoring the one or more parameters and monitoring the charge output, the feedback being a local feedback to the DC-DC converter or a reference input to the DC-DC converter (Column 3 lines 28-67 and Column 3 lines 1-4. … It then calculates a power at the battery 10 based on the measured voltage and current… The control unit 3 then transmits a signal to the PWM-controlled DC/DC converter 2 to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery 10 based on the comparison result.. Column 3 lines 66-67 and Column 4 lines 1-4..the control unit is further adapted to measure a temperature of the battery and to transmit the measured temperature of the battery in the signal to the pulse width modulation controlled DC/DC converter to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery).
Bonkhoff does not disclose/teach the battery management system (BMS) is an integrated circuit (IC).
Pressgrove teaches battery management system (BMS) is an integrated circuit (IC) ([0030] It should be understood that the exemplary battery pack(s) disclosed herein may comprise any number, size, configuration, and/or shape of cells therein. In some embodiments, the battery pack(s) disclosed herein may be lithium batteries and may further comprise, or be coupled to, a battery management system (BMS) and/or cell monitoring integrated circuit (IC) for monitoring and/or operating battery pack(s)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the battery management system (BMS) Bonkhoff to be an integrated circuit (IC) in order to implement the BMS on a cost effective design that uses less space.
As to claim 2, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 1.
Bonkhoff does not disclose/teach wherein the BMS IC is collocated with the battery pack.
Pressgrove teaches wherein the BMS IC is collocated with the battery pack ([0030] It should be understood that the exemplary battery pack(s) disclosed herein may comprise any number, size, configuration, and/or shape of cells therein. In some embodiments, the battery pack(s) disclosed herein may be lithium batteries and may further comprise, or be coupled to, a battery management system (BMS) and/or cell monitoring integrated circuit (IC) for monitoring and/or operating battery pack(s))
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Bonkhoff to wherein the BMS IC is collocated with the battery pack in order to reduce the number of components in the system.
As to claim 3, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters include one or more of a current ambient temperature, one or more temperatures of the battery pack (Column 3 lines 66-67 and Column 4 lines 1-4..the control unit is further adapted to measure a temperature of the battery), health or aging status of one or more cells in the battery pack, system power usage, a respective cell voltage level of one or more cells associated with the battery pack, a respective impedance of one or more cells, or a flow of currents entering and/or exiting the battery pack (Fig. 3 step S2. Column 3 lines 28-32 and Column 5 lines 4-10. A charging current and battery voltage are measured at the terminals of the battery).
As to claim 4, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 3, wherein the BMS IC adjusts the feedback based on the respective cell voltage level of the one or more cells satisfying charge profile condition (Column 3 lines 28-67 and Column 4 lines 1-4. … It then calculates a power at the battery 10 based on the measured voltage and current… The control unit 3 then transmits a signal to the PWM-controlled DC/DC converter 2 to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery 10 based on the comparison result).
As to claim 5, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 3 wherein adjusting the feedback reduces the charge output (Column 3 lines 66-67 and Column 4 lines 1-4..the control unit is further adapted to measure a temperature of the battery and to transmit the measured temperature of the battery in the signal to the pulse width modulation controlled DC/DC converter to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery).
Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove does not disclose/teach the BMS IC adjusts the feedback based on identifying an increase in the one or more temperatures exceeding;
Bonkhoff teaches the control unit 3 is adapted to measure a temperature change of the battery 10 and transmit a signal to the PWM-controlled DC/DC converter 2 which contains information on the measured temperature change. (Column 4 lines 12-16).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the BMS IC of Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove to adjusts the feedback based on identifying an increase in the one or more temperatures exceeding in order to prevent overheating and deterioration of the battery.
As to claim 7, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 3, wherein a maximum cell voltage during a charge is increased based on the respective impedance of the one or more cells (Column 5 lines 33-36 While the charging level of the battery increases, the differential resistance of the battery increases and the voltage at the battery increases.
As to claim 9, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the BMS IC closes a DC-DC charge output loop (Fig. 2).
As to claim 12, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the feedback is analog feedback or digital feedback (Fig. 2 feedback to microcontroller 3 is either digital or analog).
As to claim 14, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the feedback (battery voltage) is added with a local feedback signal (charging current) associated with the charge output of the DC-DC converter (Fig. 3 step S2. Column lines 28-32 and Column 5 lines 4-10. A charging current and battery voltage are measured at the terminals of the battery. Column 3 lines 66-67 and Column 4 lines 1-4..the control unit is further adapted to measure a temperature of the battery. Column 3 lines 28-67 and Column 3 lines 1-4. … It then calculates a power at the battery 10 based on the measured voltage and current… The control unit 3 then transmits a signal to the PWM-controlled DC/DC converter 2 to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery 10 based on the comparison result).
As to claim 15, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the charge output includes a current output (Fig. 3 charging current) wherein the charge output includes a voltage output (Fig. 3 “output power”).
As to claim 16, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the feedback causes the DC-DC converter to adjust the charge output (Fig. 3 step S2. Column lines 28-32 and Column 5 lines 4-10. The control unit 3 then transmits a signal to the PWM-controlled DC/DC converter 2 to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery 10 based on the comparison result).
As to claim 17, Bonkhoff discloses a charging system (Fig. 1-3), comprising: a direct current (DC)-DC converter (Fig. 2 converter 2);
a battery pack (Fig. 1-3, battery pack 10); and a battery management system (BMS) (microcontroller unit 3), the BMS configured to:
monitor one or more parameters associated with the battery pack(Fig. 3 step S2. Column lines 28-32 and Column 5 lines 4-10. A charging current and battery voltage are measured at the terminals of the battery. Column 3 lines 66-67 and Column 4 lines 1-4..the control unit is further adapted to measure a temperature of the battery); ; monitoring a charge output from the DC-DC converter to the battery pack (Fig. 3, Column 5 lines 4-10 In step S2, a charging current and battery voltage are measured at the terminals of the battery); and adjust feedback to the DC-DC converter in accordance with monitoring the one or more parameters and monitoring the charge output, the feedback being a local feedback to the DC-DC converter or a reference input to the DC-DC converter (Column 3 lines 28-67 and Column 3 lines 1-4. … It then calculates a power at the battery 10 based on the measured voltage and current… The control unit 3 then transmits a signal to the PWM-controlled DC/DC converter 2 to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery 10 based on the comparison result.. Column 3 lines 66-67 and Column 4 lines 1-4..the control unit is further adapted to measure a temperature of the battery and to transmit the measured temperature of the battery in the signal to the pulse width modulation controlled DC/DC converter to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery).
Bonkhoff does not disclose/teach the battery management system (BMS) is an integrated circuit (IC).
Pressgrove teaches battery management system (BMS) is an integrated circuit (IC) ([0030] It should be understood that the exemplary battery pack(s) disclosed herein may comprise any number, size, configuration, and/or shape of cells therein. In some embodiments, the battery pack(s) disclosed herein may be lithium batteries and may further comprise, or be coupled to, a battery management system (BMS) and/or cell monitoring integrated circuit (IC) for monitoring and/or operating battery pack(s)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the battery management system (BMS) Bonkhoff to be an integrated circuit (IC) in order to implement the BMS on a cost effective design that uses less space.
As to claim 18, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the charging system of claim 17.
Bonkhoff does not disclose/teach wherein the BMS IC is collocated with the battery pack.
Pressgrove teaches wherein the BMS IC is collocated with the battery pack ([0030] It should be understood that the exemplary battery pack(s) disclosed herein may comprise any number, size, configuration, and/or shape of cells therein. In some embodiments, the battery pack(s) disclosed herein may be lithium batteries and may further comprise, or be coupled to, a battery management system (BMS) and/or cell monitoring integrated circuit (IC) for monitoring and/or operating battery pack(s))
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Bonkhoff to wherein the BMS IC is collocated with the battery pack in order to reduce the number of components in the system.
As to claim 19, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the charging system of claim 17, wherein the one or more parameters include one or more of a current ambient temperature, a temperature of the battery pack (Column 3 lines 66-67 and Column 4 lines 1-4..the control unit is further adapted to measure a temperature of the battery), health or aging status of one or more cells in the battery pack, system power usage, a respective cell voltage level of one or more cells associated with the battery pack, a respective impedance of one or more cells, or a flow of currents entering and/or exiting the battery pack (Fig. 3 step S2. Column 3 lines 28-32 and Column 5 lines 4-10. A charging current and battery voltage are measured at the terminals of the battery) .
As to claim 20, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the charging system of claim 18, wherein the feedback is analog feedback or digital feedback (Fig. 2 feedback to microcontroller 3 is either digital or analog).
Claims 6 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonkhoff (US 8310209) in view of Pressgrove (US 20230258736) in view of Takahashi (US 20110018500).
As to claim 6 Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 3, wherein adjusting the feedback reduces the charge output (Column 3 lines 66-67 and Column 4 lines 1-4..the control unit is further adapted to measure a temperature of the battery and to transmit the measured temperature of the battery in the signal to the pulse width modulation controlled DC/DC converter to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery).
Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove does not disclose/teach the BMS IC adjusts the feedback based on identifying an increase in the respective impedance of the one or more cells.
Takahashi teaches the BMS IC adjusts the feedback based on identifying an increase in the respective impedance of the one or more cells (Fig. 2 [0064] Then, at step S103, the first control circuit 1b-1 compares the calculated impedance Zdet1 and the predetermined threshold value Zth1 and determines whether or not the secondary battery 2 is in a depleted condition and restriction of the duty cycle is required. [0066] when the calculated impedance Zdet1 is greater than the predetermined threshold value Zth1 (Zdet1>Zth1), (No at step S103), the first control circuit 1b-1 determines that the secondary battery 2 is depleted, that is, restriction of the duty cycle is required, and thus the charging device 1 performs a duty-cycle decreased constant-current charging at step S112).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the BMS IC of Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove adjust the feedback based on identifying an increase in the respective impedance of the one or more cells in order to determine that the secondary battery is in a depleted condition [0064].
As to claim 8, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 3.
Bonkhoff in view of in view of Pressgrove does not disclose/teach further comprising determining the respective impedance of the one or more cells based on the feedback varying the charge output.
Takahashi teaches determining the respective impedance of the one or more cells based on the feedback varying the charge output (Fig.3 [0066]-[0079] S112-S114 “Yes” to S105 to S109)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Bonkhoff to determining the respective impedance of the one or more cells based on the feedback varying the charge output in order to determine that the secondary battery is in a depleted condition [0064].
Claim 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonkhoff (US 8310209) in view of Pressgrove (US 20230258736) in view of Roberts (US 20110089867)
As to claim 10, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 1.
Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove does not disclose/teach wherein the DC-DC converter regulates to a predetermined minimum system voltage without intervention of the BMS IC.
Roberts teaches wherein the DC-DC converter regulates to a predetermined minimum system voltage without intervention of the BMS IC (and without use of switching components (i.e., the linear regulator 130a is a non-switching regulator with FET M1 operating generally in linear mode).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Bonkhoff to wherein the DC-DC converter regulates to a predetermined minimum system voltage without intervention of the BMS IC in order to provide a design with small size, low cost and low component count while implementing high efficiency ([0020]).
Claim 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonkhoff (US 8310209) in view of Pressgrove (US 20230258736) in view of Lai (US 20190115765)
As to claim 11, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 1, wherein: the feedback is a frequency (Column 3 lines 28-67 and Column 3 lines 1-4. … It then calculates a power at the battery 10 based on the measured voltage and current… The control unit 3 then transmits a signal to the PWM-controlled DC/DC converter 2 (i.e. frequency of the PWM signal) to adjust a charging current supplied to the battery 10 based on the comparison result.
Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove does not disclose/teach an amount of a switched-capacitor current for adjusting the reference input or the local feedback is based on the frequency.
Lai teaches an amount of a switched-capacitor current for adjusting the reference input or the local feedback is based on the frequency ([0031] Referring to FIG. 1A, the adapter 2 provides controlled voltage and current to the switched-capacitor current multiplication battery charger 10, with feedback from the battery charger based on sensed VBAT and IBAT.)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Bonkhoff to wherein an amount of a switched-capacitor current for adjusting the reference input or the local feedback is based on the frequency IC in order to charge the battery with high efficiency and charge fast without overheating.
Claim 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonkhoff (US 8310209) in view of Pressgrove (US 20230258736) in view of Zhang US 20220045540
As to claim 13, Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove teaches the method of claim 12.
Bonkhoff in view of Pressgrove does not disclose/teach wherein the digital feedback is converted to an analog signal.
Zhang teaches wherein the digital feedback is converted to an analog signal ([0038] FIG. 3 ..the circuit 309 for temperature feedback includes a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 2391,
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Bonkhoff to include wherein the digital feedback is converted to an analog signal in order to convert the signal in a format suitable for the controller and converter.
Conclusion and Related Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Abo (US 20040100241) is cited for monitoring a charge output from a direct current (DC)-DC converter to the battery pack; and adjusting feedback to the DC-DC converter in accordance with monitoring the charge output, the feedback being a local feedback to the DC-DC converter or a reference input to the DC-DC converter.
Hsu et al (US 8421416) is cited for having monitoring one or more parameters associated with the battery pack; monitoring a charge output from a direct current (DC)-DC converter to the battery pack; and adjusting feedback to the DC-DC converter in accordance with monitoring the one or more parameters and monitoring the charge output, the feedback being a local feedback to the DC-DC converter or a reference input to the DC-DC converter.
Platania et al (US 8575889) is cited for having monitoring one or more parameters associated with the battery pack; monitoring a charge output from a direct current (DC)-DC converter to the battery pack; and adjusting feedback to the DC-DC converter in accordance with monitoring the one or more parameters and monitoring the charge output, the feedback being a local feedback to the DC-DC converter or a reference input to the DC-DC converter.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TYNESE V MCDANIEL whose telephone number is (313)446-6579. The examiner can normally be reached on M to F, 9am to 530pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Drew Dunn can be reached at 571-272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TYNESE V MCDANIEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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