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 .
Acknowledgement is made of application #18/515,740 filed on 11/21/2023 in which claims 1-20 have been presented for prosecution in a first action on the merits.
Response to Preliminary Amendment
Drawings
The drawings were received on 12/06/2023. These drawings are acceptable.
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of preliminary amendment filed on 04/30/2026 in which claims 16-20 have been canceled while claims 1-15 remain as originally presented.
By this amendment, claims 1-15 are still pending in the application for prosecution in a first action on the merits.
Priority
As required by M.P.E.P. 201.14(e), acknowledgement is made of applicant's claim for priority based on US provisional applications #63/427,179, filed on November 22, 2022 and #63/462,332 filed on April 27, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/21/2023, 06/06/2024, 02/14/2025 and 06/06/2025 have been considered and put on record. Initialed copies are attached herewith.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: In claim 2, the underlined limitations of, “…wherein electronic controller is further configured to control the DC/DC converter using the first set of control parameters when the operating voltage Vo is at or greater than an upper dead band limit of an upper dead band voltage range, and control the DC/DC converter using the second set of control parameters when the operating voltage Vo is at or less than a lower dead band limit of a lower dead band voltage range” should and would read for examination purpose -- …wherein the electronic controller is further configured to control the DC/DC converter using the first set of control parameters when the operating voltage Vo is at or greater than an upper dead band limit of an upper dead band voltage range, and control the DC/DC converter using the second set of control parameters when the operating voltage Vo is at or less than a lower dead band limit of a lower dead band voltage range. Appropriate correction is required--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-2,5-11,14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miller USPAT 9,272,627 in view of Huh et al., (Huh) USPAT 10,272,788 (both cited by applicants).
Regarding claims 1 and 10: Miller at least discloses and shows in Figs. 10-11:An ultracapacitor module(see Figs. 10-11), comprising: an ultracapacitor cell stack(38) containing one or more ultracapacitor cells(29)(see col. 2, lines 38-49); a bidirectional boost/buck DC/DC converter(32)(col. 8, lines 6-29, Fig. 11), wherein the ultracapacitor cell stack(28) and the DC/DC converter(32) are configured to be connected in series(see Figs. 10-11) with a voltage supply bus(at terminals 30, 31)(note- Terminals 30, 31 connect to loads and/or power sources external to the system 34; see col. 3, lines 21-24) of a vehicle(hybrid automobile 21); one or more voltage sensors(47,57) configured to determine an operating voltage Vo(as determined dynamic set-point control by continuously calculating the ultracapacitor pack SOC and then using this to schedule the feedback gains of the dc-dc converter control loops regardless of the mode at any particular instant; see col. 6, lines 4-16) of the voltage supply bus(provided at terminals 30,31); and an electronic controller(55) in electrical communication(see Fig. 10-11 and col. 3, lines 30-52) with the DC/DC converter(32) and the one or more voltage sensors(47,57), wherein the electronic controller(55) is configured to: control the DC/DC converter(32) using a first set of control parameters(one of the the feedback gains of the dc-dc converter control loops; see col. 6, lines 4-16) when the operating voltage Vo(as determined dynamic set-point control) is greater than a target bus voltage value Vt, and control the DC/DC converter using a second set of control parameters different from the first set of control parameters when the operating voltage Vo is less than the target bus voltage value Vt.
Miller discloses all the claimed invention except for the limitations of:
The electronic controller configured to: control the DC.DC converter using a first set of control parameters when the operating voltage Vo is greater than a target bus voltage value Vt, and control the DC/DC converter using a second set of control parameters different from the first set of control parameters when the operating voltage Vo is less than the target bus voltage value Vt
However, Huh teaches factual evidence of, when the operating voltage Vo (construed as Vnom ) is greater than a target bus voltage value Vt (construed as V2)(buck feedback operation, that is the drive system will operate to discharge the ultracapacitor such that its voltage is reduced from V3 to Vnom ; see col. 6, lines 39-63), and control(via vehicle controller 125)(note- The controller 125 operates to control operation of components of the energy system 102 based on power requirements of the electric drive 118 and based on voltage levels of the battery 110 and ultracapacitor 112. More specifically, controller 125 controls operation of DC-DC converter 108 (to boost/buck voltage), controls actuation of switch 122 between open and closed positions, and controls charging and discharging of the battery 110 and ultracapacitor 112 based on power requirements of the electric drive 118 and based on voltage levels of the battery 110 and ultracapacitor 112; see col. 6, line 64-col. 7, line 13) the DC/DC converter(108) using a second set of control parameters different from the first set of control parameters(using a boost feedback operation that is the drive system will operate to charge the ultracapacitor such that its voltage is increased from V2 to Vnom; see col. 6, lines 39-63) when the operating voltage Vo is less than the target bus voltage value Vt (as measured at node (22)).
Miller and Huh are hybrid system energy storage devices analogous art. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Miller and Huh in having the controller of Miller configured to: control the DC.DC converter using a first set of control parameters when the operating voltage Vo is greater than a target bus voltage value Vt, and control the DC/DC converter using a second set of control parameters different from the first set of control parameters when the operating voltage Vo is less than the target bus voltage value Vt, as recited, in or der to improve the overall efficiency of the drive system, as per the teachings of Huh (col. 6, lines 4-13).
Accordingly claims 1 and 10 would have been obvious.
Regarding claims 2 and 11, Miller in view of Huh discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claims 1 and respectively 10. Huh further discloses, wherein electronic controller(125) is further configured to control the DC/DC converter(108) using the first set of control parameters(see col. 6, lines 39-63) when the operating voltage Vo(construed as Vnom) is at or greater than an upper dead band limit of an upper dead band voltage range(construed as V4-V3), and control the DC/DC converter(108) using the second set of control parameters(using a boost feedback operation that is the drive system will operate to charge the ultracapacitor such that its voltage is increased from V2 to Vnom; see col. 6, lines 39-63) when the operating voltage Vo(construed as Vnom) is at or less than a lower dead band limit of a lower dead band voltage range(construed as V2-V1).
Regarding claims 5 and 14, Miller in view of Huh discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 2 and respectively 11. Huh further discloses, wherein a magnitude of the upper dead band voltage range is different than a magnitude of the lower dead band voltage range(note- that V4-V3 is different from V2-V1)(see Huh; col. 6, lines 39-63).
Regarding claims 6 and 15, Miller in view of Huh discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 2 and respectively 11. Huh further discloses, wherein the lower dead band voltage range is determined by the electronic controller based on transitions of the operating voltage Vo relative to the target bus voltage value Vt(as measured at node 22 on bus 16 or DC link 16)(see Huh; col. 6, lines 39-63).
Regarding claim 7, Miller in view of Huh discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 6. Modified Miller further discloses, wherein the lower dead band voltage range is further determined by the electronic controller based on frequency content of the transitions of the operating voltage Vo relative to the target bus voltage value Vt(note- the controller 55 will be an online or embedded controller, developing control coefficients by performing an FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) upon the sensed load current of the application electric drive. In FIG. 10, for example, the controller 55 may sense load current at 49 via line 50 with the FFT carried out upon that sensed current over an interval of time. Although a variety of particular control approaches may be employed to bring about the results sought herein, one approach thought to be fruitful is simply to average the lowest three to five frequencies (from the results of the FFT) and from this nominal value setting the filter coefficients depending on type)(see Miller; col. 6, lines 56 to col. 7, line 8).
Although a variety of particular control approaches may be employed to bring about the results sought herein, one approach thought to be fruitful is simply to average the lowest three to five frequencies (from the results of the FFT) and from this nominal value setting the filter coefficients depending on type)(see Miller; col. 6, lines 56 to col. 7, line 8).
Regarding claim 8, Miller in view of Huh discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 2. Huh further discloses, wherein the upper dead band voltage(construed as V4-V3) range is determined by the electronic controller based on transitions of the operating voltage Vo(Vnom) relative to the target bus voltage value Vt(as measured at node (22) on DC link or bus 16; see Fig. 1 of Huh)(see Huh; col. 6, lines 39-63)).
Regarding claim 9, Miller in view of Huh discloses all the claimed invention as set forth and discussed above in claim 8. Modified Miller further discloses, wherein the upper dead band voltage range is further determined by the electronic controller based on frequency content of the transitions of the operating voltage Vo relative to the target bus voltage value Vt(note- the controller 55 will be an online or embedded controller, developing control coefficients by performing an FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) upon the sensed load current of the application electric drive. In FIG. 10, for example, the controller 55 may sense load current at 49 via line 50 with the FFT carried out upon that sensed current over an interval of time.
Although a variety of particular control approaches may be employed to bring about the results sought herein, one approach thought to be fruitful is simply to average the lowest three to five frequencies (from the results of the FFT) and from this nominal value setting the filter coefficients depending on type)(see Miller; col. 6, lines 56 to col. 7, line 8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 and 12-13 are 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to M'BAYE DIAO whose telephone number is (571)272-6127. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 10:00AM-6:30PM and OFF most of the time Friday when working IFP.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DREW A 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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M'BAYE DIAO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/M BAYE DIAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 June 27, 2026
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