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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/22/2024 and 09/17/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dougan (US 2016/0221454) in view of Kawamura et al. US 2016/0099580 (hereinafter Kawamura).
Regarding claim 1, Dougan discloses an electric working machine (¶ 0032 and fig. 1; battery-type forklift 1) comprising:
an electric actuator (¶¶ 0032, 0036-0037; The battery type forklift 1 is a battery-type work vehicle which is provided with a battery 30 as a battery for work vehicle and at least one motor driven by electric power supplied from the battery 30);
a battery unit (fig. 1, element 30) including a battery to supply electricity to the electric actuator (¶¶ 0032, 0046-0047; The battery 30 is a DC power supply for supplying DC power);
a working device (13, 14, 15) to operate using a driving force from the electric actuator (¶¶ 0031-0032, 0038; The fork 13 is supported to a mast 14 which is provided in the upper and lower direction. The fork 13 moves up and down along the mast 14 while a mast cylinder 15 provided in the mast 14 is driven);
a connector (fig. 4, element 23) to be connected to an external fast charger (see fig. 4, element 2 and ¶¶ 0068, 0071-0072, 0107-0108; charging device) via a charging cable (see fig. 1);
a manual operator to be operated to set at least one charging parameter (¶¶ 0041, 0044; the operator can perform control on the charging device 2, which is included in the in-vehicle controller 60, through the display panel 52); and
a controller is able to change a value of electric current supplied from the fast charger to the battery unit (¶¶ 0052, 0054, 0108; the control unit 70 controls the current or voltage of the DC power to be supplied to the battery 30 on the basis of a command signal from the in-vehicle controller 60 for charging the battery 30).
Dougan fails to teach the controller is able to change a value of electric current supplied from the fast charger to the battery unit according to the at least one charging parameter set via the manual operator.
Kawamura discloses the battery charger 100 can be implemented with a second switch 104 which may be a push button switch for allowing the user to select a "Charge Rate." The Charge Rate selected may set the amperage (A) of the charge current to be provided by the battery charger 100 to a battery to be charged in ¶ 0062.
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dougan to incorporate with the teaching of Kawamura by manually selecting the charge rate via a push button switch, because it would be advantageous to maximize the charging efficiency and reduce the charging time.
Regarding claim 2, Dougan does not disclose wherein the manual operator is operable to set the at least one charging parameter which is a command for the fast charger; and the controller is configured or programmed to output the at least one charging parameter set via the manual operator to the fast charger.
However, Kawamura discloses wherein the manual operator is operable to set the at least one charging parameter which is a command for the fast charger (¶¶ 0062, 0108, 0120; the battery charger 100 may be implemented with a second switch 104 which may be a push button switch for allowing the user to select a "Charge Rate." The Charge Rate selected may set the amperage (A) of the charge current to be provided by the battery charger 100 to a battery to be charged); and
the controller is configured or programmed to output the at least one charging parameter set via the manual operator to the fast charger (¶¶ 0108, 0120; Once the
user selects a Charge Rate, the battery charger 100 may be configured to begin supplying a charge current to the battery to be charged).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dougan to incorporate with the teaching of Kawamura by manually selecting the charge rate via a push button switch, because it would be advantageous to maximize the charging efficiency and reduce the charging time.
Regarding claim 3, Dougan in view of Kawamura discloses the electric working machine further comprising a display (Dougan, ¶ 0041; The display panel 52 includes an input unit through which various settings are made with respect to the battery-type forklift 1),
wherein the battery unit includes a battery monitor to monitor a status of the battery (Dougan, ¶¶ 0041, 0043; the information on the states of the battery-type forklift 1 which is displayed in the display unit of the display panel 52 include the states of the battery 30);
the battery monitor is configured or programmed to determine a permissible range of the at least one charging parameter based on the status of the battery (Dougan, ¶ 0054; The control unit 70 controls the operations of the switching elements 73SW on the basis of at least one of the current value and voltage value detected by the sensor 74, so that at least one of the current and voltage of the DC power output by the charging device becomes a predetermined value which is indicated from the in-vehicle controller 60);
the controller is configured or programmed to cause the display to display the permissible range determined by the battery monitor (Dougan, ¶ 0041; displayed in the display unit of the display panel 52 include the states of the battery 30); and
the manual operator is operable to set the at least one charging parameter within the permissible range (Kawamura, ¶¶ 0064, 0120; Once the user selects a Charge Rate, the battery charger 100 may be configured to begin supplying a charge current to the battery to be charged).
Regarding claim 4, Dougan discloses the electric working machine further comprising a display (Dougan, ¶ 0041; The display panel 52 includes an input unit through which various settings are made with respect to the battery-type forklift 1),
wherein the battery unit includes a battery monitor to monitor a status of the battery (Dougan, ¶¶ 0041, 0043; the information on the states of the battery-type forklift 1 which is displayed in the display unit of the display panel 52 include the states of the battery 30);
the battery monitor is configured or programmed to detect at least a temperature of the battery as the status of the battery (¶ 0062, When the battery 30 is charged, the in-vehicle controller 60 controls the control unit 70 of the charging device 2 on the basis of the temperature Tb of the battery 30 detected by the communication controller 61);
the controller is configured or programmed to cause the display to display the at least one charging parameter set via the manual operator (¶ 0041; the information on the states of the battery-type forklift 1 which is displayed in the display unit of the display panel 52 include the states of the battery 30) and the temperature of the battery detected by the battery monitor (¶ 0044; the communication controller 61 detects a temperature Tb of the battery 30 and a voltage Vb between the terminals and transmits
the detected values to the in-vehicle controller 60); and
the manual operator is operable to change the set at least one charging parameter (¶ 0044; the operator can perform control on the charging device 2, which is included in the in-vehicle controller 60, through the display panel 52).
Regarding claim 5, Dougan discloses wherein
the controller is configured or programmed to, if the temperature of the battery detected by the battery monitor is equal to or above a preset temperature lower than a use limit temperature of the battery, change the at least one charging parameter set via the manual operator to a charging parameter for the temperature of the battery to decrease below the preset temperature (¶ 0063; the in vehicle controller 60 makes the charging current command value lowered when the temperature Tb of the battery 30 becomes high, and the charging current command value heightened when the temperature Tb of the battery 30 becomes low).
Regarding claim 7, Dougan discloses wherein the battery unit includes a battery monitor to monitor a status of the battery (¶ 0043; the in-vehicle controller 60 controls
a displaying operation of the display panel 52, a communication operation between the communication apparatus 64 and the maintenance center, and a monitoring operation of the states of the battery 30);
the battery monitor is configured or programmed to determine whether or not to stop charging the battery based on at least one of a temperature, electric current, voltage, remaining charge level, or charging time of the battery (¶ 0074); and
the controller is configured or programmed to output a charging stop request to the fast charger if the battery monitor determines to stop charging (¶ 0074; The control
unit 70 of the charging device 2 transmits a signal (a stop signal) indicating the stop of the charging device 2 to the in-vehicle controller 60).
Regarding claim 8, Dougan discloses wherein the electric actuator is an electric motor (claim 1 and ¶ 0032);
the electric working machine further comprises:
a hydraulic pump (¶ 0041; hydraulic pump 56) to be driven by the electric motor to deliver hydraulic fluid (¶ 0041, The working fluid is supplied from a hydraulic pump 56 which is driven by a cargo-handling motor 55);
a hydraulic device to be driven by hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic pump (¶ 0041); and
a working device to be actuated by the hydraulic device (¶ 0049; The driving system DS makes the battery-type forklift 1 run, or drives the hydraulic pump 56 to make the fork 13 move up and down); and
the manual operator is operable to be used to set a motor rotational speed of the electric motor during a normal period (¶ 0031), and used to set the at least one charging parameter during a charging period other than the normal period (¶¶ 0037, 0045).
Regarding claim 9, Dougan discloses wherein the controller is configured or programmed to:
receive an operation on the manual operator as an operation to set the at least one charging parameter when the charging cable is connected to the connector (¶ 0048; When the battery 30 is supplied with the charging power, the contactor 66 comes to be a connection state (a closed state or an ON state) by the in-vehicle controller 60. When the battery 30 is not supplied with the charging power, the contactor 66 comes to be a nonconnection state (an open state or an OFF state) by the in-vehicle controller 60); and
receive the operation on the manual operator as an operation to set the motor rotational speed of the electric motor when the charging cable is not connected to the connector (¶ 0031, 0032, 0036).
Regarding claim 10, Dougan discloses wherein the controller is configured or programmed to stop supply of electricity from the battery to the electric actuator while the fast charger supplies electric current to the battery unit (¶ 0049; When the battery-type forklift 1 is being stopped, for example, when the battery 30 is being charged, the contactor 69 comes to be a non-connection state).
Regarding claim 11, Dougan discloses wherein the electric actuator is an electric motor (claim 1 and ¶ 0032);
the electric working machine further comprises:
a hydraulic pump to be driven by the electric motor to deliver hydraulic fluid (¶ 0041, The working fluid is supplied from a hydraulic pump 56 which is driven by a cargo-handling motor 55);
a hydraulic device to be driven by hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic pump (¶ 0041);
a working device to be actuated by the hydraulic device (¶ 0049; The driving system DS makes the battery-type forklift 1 run, or drives the hydraulic pump 56 to make the fork 13 move up and down); and
an unloading valve switchable between a supply position in which hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic pump is supplied to the hydraulic device and a blocking position in which the hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic pump is not supplied to the hydraulic device (¶ 0049; The driving system DS makes the battery-type forklift 1 run, or drives the hydraulic pump 56 to make the fork 13 move up and down); and
the controller is configured or programmed to not supply electric current from the fast charger to the battery unit when the unloading valve is in the supply position (¶ 0055; The control unit 70 is connected with an emergency stop switch 75 and a coil 75L. When the emergency stop switch 75 is operated, the control unit 70 stops the charging operation).
Regarding claim 12, Dougan in view of Kawamura discloses wherein the at least one charging parameter set via the manual operator includes at least one of electric current value (Kawamura, ¶ 0062), charging time, charging amount, or charging speed.
Regarding claim 13, Dougan discloses a charging system for an electric working machine (abstract), the charging system comprising:
the electric working machine according to claim 1; and a fast charger (element 2 and ¶ 0032) to change a value of electric current supplied via the charging cable to the electric working machine according to a command from the electric working machine (¶ 0052; The control unit 70, for example, is a computer which controls the charging operation of the battery 30 on the basis of a command signal from the in-vehicle controller 60 of the battery-type forklift 1).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dougan in view of Kawamura as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Hu (CN116455026A).
Regarding claim 6, Dougan discloses wherein the battery monitor is configured or programmed to calculate a remaining charge level of the battery (¶ 0044; The display panel 52 is controlled by the in-vehicle controller 60, and displays information about the states of the battery-type forklift 1, for example, a pressure of working oil, a remaining level of the battery 30), the at least one charging parameter set via the manual operator (¶ 0044; the operator can perform control on the charging device 2, which is included in the in-vehicle controller 60, through the display panel 52).
Dougan in view of Kawamura fails to disclose wherein the battery monitor is configured or programmed to calculate an estimated charging time using a target charging level of the battery, a charging amount per unit time, the estimated charging time being a time taken for the battery to be charged to the target charging level; and the controller is configured or programmed to cause the display to display the estimated charging time.
However, Hu discloses wherein the battery monitor is configured or programmed to calculate an estimated charging time using a target charging level of the battery (page 3: calculate and display the remaining charging time according to the duration of the target charging stage), a charging amount per unit time (page 36; calculate the remaining discharge time according to the current state of charge and
operating current of the battery, and display the remaining discharge time), the estimated charging time being a time taken for the battery to be charged to the target charging level (pages 13-14; the time required for the battery to be fully charged after the constant voltage charging phase); and the controller is configured or programmed to cause the display to display the estimated charging time (page 17; When the battery is in the target charging stage, calculate and display the remaining charging time according to the duration of the target charging stage and the reference remaining charging time).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dougan in view of Kawamura to incorporate with the teaching of Hu by displaying and calculating the remaining charge/discharge time, because it would be advantageous to increase system usability and reduce downtime.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZIXUAN ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)272-6739. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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/ZIXUAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 07/03/2026
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