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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 11/27/2023 and 11/14/2024 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, 7-9, 11-12, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Feng et al. (CN 118024956 A).
Regarding Claim 1, Feng teaches a method of controlling charging of a battery in an electric vehicle by a charging station, the method comprising:
the vehicle sending a set of battery parameters to an analysis system prior to charging (¶[101] “Vehicle 1000 sends its current vehicle location and battery information to server 3000 via a 4G/5G wireless link … The battery information mentioned above may include the battery capacity (SoC), state of health (SoH), battery identification, battery model, battery temperature, and battery charging parameters of battery 100”)
the analysis system using the battery parameters to calculate a target charging current profile and a target temperature profile for a charging operation (¶[101] “When server 3000 receives battery information containing the identifier of battery 100 from vehicle 1000, server 3000 queries and obtains a mapping table of the correspondence between the state of charge of battery 100, battery temperature and battery charging current based on the identifier of battery 100”)
the analysis system sending a first set of temperature control signals to the vehicle (¶[108] “The data frames provided by server 3000 to vehicle 1000 can be seen in Figure 7c. By reading the data packets sent by the server to the vehicle, information related to the thermal management strategy can be obtained”);
the vehicle receiving the first set of temperature control signals (see ¶[108 quoted above);
with the vehicle coupled to a charging station (¶[123] “After vehicle 1000 enters charging station 2000, vehicle 1000 is connected to charging pile 400 via charging cable”):
the charging station issuing current to the electric vehicle to charge the battery by controlling the current to match the target charging current profile (¶[123] “After the charging station 400 certifies vehicle 1000, it charges vehicle 1000 according to the received commonly supported charging protocol”); and
the electric vehicle using the first set of temperature control signals to control a temperature of the battery (¶[124] “the battery can be preheated according to the matching between the battery and the charging equipment, thereby effectively reducing the charging time of the vehicle”, see also ¶[146]).
Regarding Claim 3, Feng teaches the method of claim 1.
Feng further teaches the analysis system sending a second set of temperature control signals to the electric vehicle as the battery is charged;
the electric vehicle receiving the second set of temperature control signals; and
the electric vehicle using the second set of temperature control signals to control the temperature of the battery as the battery is being charged;
wherein the electric vehicle uses the first set of temperature control signals and the second set of temperature control signals to match the target temperature profile as the battery is being charged.
(¶[123] “According to the thermal management strategy, the vehicle 1000 continues to adjust the temperature of the battery 100 during the charging phase so that the battery 100 can be charged with a large charging power in each state of charge”);
Regarding Claim 4, Feng teaches the method of claim 1.
Feng further teaches wherein the first set of temperature control signals includes the target temperature profile (¶[146] “When vehicle 1000 arrives at charging station 2000 and connects to charging pile 400, the battery management system (BMS) of vehicle 1000 performs charging on the vehicle's battery according to the charging preheating plan and vehicle information”), and the electric vehicle includes a battery temperature management system which controls the temperature of the battery during charging to match the target temperature profile (¶[93] “The thermal management strategy of battery 100 includes a control strategy that adjusts the operating parameters of at least one of the heater, cooling pipe, motor 30 operating mode and kinetic energy recovery mode to raise or lower battery 100 to the target temperature”).
Regarding Claim 7, Feng teaches the method of claim 1.
Feng further teaches wherein the analysis system is a component of the charging station (¶[91] “The server 3000 and the charging station 2000 establish a communication link through wireless or wired communication”)
Regarding Claim 8, Feng teaches the method of claim 1.
Feng further teaches wherein the analysis system is remote from the charging station, and at least one of the electric vehicle or the charging station communicates the battery parameters to the analysis system (see Fig. 5) (¶[91] “Referring to Figure 5, vehicle 1000 establishes a communication link with server 3000 through wireless communication methods such as cellular networks”).
Regarding Claim 9, Feng teaches an analyzer for determining a cycle for charging of a battery in an electric vehicle by a charging station, the analyzer comprising a controller and a controller-readable memory storing executable instructions (¶[183] “Some embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer program product or computer program that includes computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The processor of the computer device reads the computer instructions from a computer-readable storage medium, executes the computer instructions, and causes the computer device to perform the steps of the method in any of the above embodiments”) for performing the following:
receiving a set of battery parameters from the electric vehicle prior to charging (¶[101] “Vehicle 1000 sends its current vehicle location and battery information to server 3000 via a 4G/5G wireless link … The battery information mentioned above may include the battery capacity (SoC), state of health (SoH), battery identification, battery model, battery temperature, and battery charging parameters of battery 100”);
calculating a target charging current profile and a target temperature profile for a charging operation based on the set of battery parameters (¶[101] “When server 3000 receives battery information containing the identifier of battery 100 from vehicle 1000, server 3000 queries and obtains a mapping table of the correspondence between the state of charge of battery 100, battery temperature and battery charging current based on the identifier of battery 100”);
sending a first set of temperature control signals to the electric vehicle based on the target temperature profile (¶[108] “The data frames provided by server 3000 to vehicle 1000 can be seen in Figure 7c. By reading the data packets sent by the server to the vehicle, information related to the thermal management strategy can be obtained”); and
sending the target charging current profile to a charger controller in the charging station (¶[102] “The data frame sent by vehicle 1000 to server 3000 for querying surrounding charging stations can be seen in Figure 7a. By reading the data packets between vehicle 1000 and server 3000, the charging parameter information of battery 100 can be obtained”).
Regarding Claim 11, Feng teaches the analyzer of claim 9.
Feng further teaches wherein the executable instructions further include an instruction for sending a second set of temperature control signals to the electric vehicle as the battery system is charged (¶[123] “According to the thermal management strategy, the vehicle 1000 continues to adjust the temperature of the battery 100 during the charging phase so that the battery 100 can be charged with a large charging power in each state of charge”);
Regarding Claim 12, Feng teaches the analyzer of claim 9.
Feng further teaches wherein the first set of temperature control signals includes the target temperature profile for use by the electric vehicle to control the temperature of the battery during charging (¶[124] “the battery can be preheated according to the matching between the battery and the charging equipment, thereby effectively reducing the charging time of the vehicle”, see also ¶[146]).
Regarding Claim 18, Feng teaches a charging system for an electric vehicle having therein a battery, the charging system comprising a charging architecture having a charging controller, and an analyzer (see Fig. 5) as in claim 9 (as taught by Feng above).
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) 2, 10, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feng et al. (CN 118024956 A) in view of Lee et al. (US 20220221516 A1).
Regarding Claim 2, Feng teaches the method of claim 1.
Feng further teaches wherein the set of battery parameters sent by the vehicle to the analysis system includes each of an initial battery temperature, a battery state of charge (¶[101] “Vehicle 1000 sends its current vehicle location and battery information to server 3000 via a 4G/5G wireless link … The battery information mentioned above may include the battery capacity (SoC), state of health (SoH), battery identification, battery model, battery temperature, and battery charging parameters of battery 100”).
Feng does not explicitly teach wherein the set of battery parameters includes the impedance of the battery.
Lee teaches wherein the set of battery parameters includes the impedance of the battery (¶[101] “In addition, the control unit 130 may be configured to calculate the impedance for the battery cell 11 based on a plurality of voltages measured while the plurality of currents whose frequency is changed by the EIS unit 160 are being supplied to the battery cell 11”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Feng to incorporate the teachings of Lee to provide wherein the set of battery parameters includes the impedance of the battery,
in order to determine the state of health of the battery and prevent further deterioration of the battery.
Regarding Claim 10, Feng teaches analyzer of claim 9.
Feng further teaches wherein the set of battery parameters includes each of an initial battery temperature, a battery state of charge (¶[101] “Vehicle 1000 sends its current vehicle location and battery information to server 3000 via a 4G/5G wireless link … The battery information mentioned above may include the battery capacity (SoC), state of health (SoH), battery identification, battery model, battery temperature, and battery charging parameters of battery 100”).
Feng does not explicitly teach wherein the set of battery parameters includes the impedance of the battery.
Lee teaches wherein the set of battery parameters includes the impedance of the battery (¶[101] “In addition, the control unit 130 may be configured to calculate the impedance for the battery cell 11 based on a plurality of voltages measured while the plurality of currents whose frequency is changed by the EIS unit 160 are being supplied to the battery cell 11”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Feng to incorporate the teachings of Lee to provide wherein the set of battery parameters includes the impedance of the battery,
in order to determine the state of health of the battery and prevent further deterioration of the battery.
Regarding Claim 19, Feng teaches an electric vehicle (1000) comprising:
a battery (100) for providing driving power to the electric vehicle (¶[78] “The vehicle 1000 has a battery 100 installed inside, which can be located at the bottom, head or tail of the vehicle 1000. Battery 100 can be used to power vehicle 1000; for example, battery 100 can be used as the operating power source for vehicle 1000”);
a battery thermal management system (BTMS) (¶[93] “The thermal management strategy of battery 100 includes a control strategy that adjusts the operating parameters of at least one of the heater, cooling pipe, motor 30 operating mode and kinetic energy recovery mode to raise or lower battery 100 to the target temperature”); and
in anticipation of a charging event at a charging station, a state of charge of the battery, and a temperature of the battery to an analyzer (3000) (¶[101] “Vehicle 1000 sends its current vehicle location and battery information to server 3000 via a 4G/5G wireless link … The battery information mentioned above may include the battery capacity (SoC), state of health (SoH), battery identification, battery model, battery temperature, and battery charging parameters of battery 100”);
receive, from the analyzer one or more temperature control instructions (¶[108] “The data frames provided by server 3000 to vehicle 1000 can be seen in Figure 7c. By reading the data packets sent by the server to the vehicle, information related to the thermal management strategy can be obtained”);
control the BTMS to execute the one or more temperature control instructions during charging of the battery at the charging station (¶[124] “the vehicle 1000 continues to adjust the temperature of the battery 100 during the charging phase so that the battery 100 can be charged with a large charging power in each state of charge”).
Feng does not teach an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) diagnostic system for performing EIS on the battery to obtain a complex impedance thereof;
a controller configured to: control the EIS diagnostic system to perform EIS on the battery to determine a complex impedance of the battery; and
in anticipation of a charging event at a charging station, send the complex impedance of the battery to an analyzer;
Lee teaches an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) diagnostic system for performing EIS on the battery to obtain a complex impedance thereof (¶[12] “The battery management apparatus according to the present disclosure may further comprise an electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) unit connected to the control unit”); and
a controller configured to: control the EIS diagnostic system to perform EIS on the battery to determine a complex impedance of the battery (¶[13] “The control unit may be configured to calculate an impedance for the battery cell based on a plurality of voltages measured while the plurality of currents whose frequencies are changed by the EIS unit are being supplied to the battery cell”);
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Feng to incorporate the teachings of Lee to provide an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) diagnostic system for performing EIS on the battery to obtain a complex impedance thereof; and a controller configured to: control the EIS diagnostic system to perform EIS on the battery to determine a complex impedance of the battery, in order in order to determine the state of health of the battery and prevent further deterioration of the battery.
The combination of Feng in view of Lee teaches in anticipation of a charging event at a charging station, send the complex impedance of the battery to an analyzer.
Regarding Claim 20, Feng in view of Lee teaches the electric vehicle of claim 19.
Feng further teaches wherein the controller is further configured to: control the BTMS to adjust the battery temperature to match a first temperature in the one or more temperature control instructions (¶[124] “the battery can be preheated according to the matching between the battery and the charging equipment, thereby effectively reducing the charging time of the vehicle”, see also ¶[146]);
determine the battery is at the first temperature; and
issue a communication to the charge station indicating that the battery is ready for charging (¶[88] “When vehicle 1000 arrives at charging station 2000 and connects to charging pile 400 to charge battery 100, the battery management system of vehicle 1000 first preheats battery 100 to the charging temperature (45 degrees Celsius) corresponding to the maximum charging current of the current battery charge (SoC is 30%) in the first 5 minutes of charging. During the preheating stage of battery 100, no charging current flows. Once the temperature of battery 100 reaches 45 degrees Celsius, the charging pile 400 will then charge battery 100 quickly with a maximum charging current of 320 amps, and gradually reduce the maximum charging current as the battery capacity increases”).
Claim(s) 5-6, 13-14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feng et al. (CN 118024956 A) in view of Safaei et al. (US 20200150185 A1).
Regarding Claim 5, Feng teaches the method of claim 1.
Feng further teaches wherein the analysis system calculates the target charging current profile and the target temperature profile by minimizing a sum of an estimated charge completion time (¶[108] “The server 3000 or vehicle 1000 matches the battery charging parameters supported by the battery 100 of vehicle 1000 and the charging equipment charging parameters supported by the available charging piles, and determines the shortest predicted total charging time T_total for vehicle 1000 to charge to the preset charging capacity at each charging station based on the matched charging parameters”)
Feng does not explicitly teach one or more penalties related to battery degradation, including at least a first penalty for lithium plating.
Safaei teaches one or more penalties related to battery degradation, including at least a first penalty for lithium plating (¶[31] “The equations of the electrochemical battery model 30 are designed to capture the primary electrochemical reactions that characterize operation of the battery, as well as all of the relevant mechanisms that lead to aging or other undesirable processes, such as (but not limited to) lithium plating, battery swelling, solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer growth, or gas generation due to electrolyte decomposition … In at least one embodiment, the processor 14 is configured to determine the undefined parameters of the electrochemical battery model 30 through an optimization routine that attempts to minimize the difference between the experimental battery measurements (e.g., voltage, current, temperature, etc.) and corresponding model based predictions”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Feng to incorporate the teachings of Safaei to provide one or more penalties related to battery degradation, including at least a first penalty for lithium plating in order to preserve and improve the lifespan of the battery.
Regarding Claim 6, Feng in view of Safaei teaches the method of claim 5.
Safaei further teaches wherein the one or more penalties also includes a second penalty for solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer growth (see ¶[31] quoted above).
Regarding Claim 13, Feng teaches the analyzer of claim 9.
Feng further teaches wherein the executable instructions further include instructions for calculating the target charging current profile and the target temperature profile by:
minimizing a sum of an estimated charge completion time by manipulating charging current to be delivered in each of the plurality of charging steps (¶[108] “The server 3000 or vehicle 1000 matches the battery charging parameters supported by the battery 100 of vehicle 1000 and the charging equipment charging parameters supported by the available charging piles, and determines the shortest predicted total charging time T_total for vehicle 1000 to charge to the preset charging capacity at each charging station based on the matched charging parameters”).
Feng does not explicitly teach calculating one or more penalties determined for each of a plurality of charging steps, including at least a first penalty for lithium plating.
Safaei teaches calculating one or more penalties determined for each of a plurality of charging steps, including at least a first penalty for lithium plating (¶[31] “The equations of the electrochemical battery model 30 are designed to capture the primary electrochemical reactions that characterize operation of the battery, as well as all of the relevant mechanisms that lead to aging or other undesirable processes, such as (but not limited to) lithium plating, battery swelling, solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer growth, or gas generation due to electrolyte decomposition … In at least one embodiment, the processor 14 is configured to determine the undefined parameters of the electrochemical battery model 30 through an optimization routine that attempts to minimize the difference between the experimental battery measurements (e.g., voltage, current, temperature, etc.) and corresponding model based predictions”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Feng to incorporate the teachings of Safaei to provide calculating one or more penalties determined for each of a plurality of charging steps, including at least a first penalty for lithium plating in order to preserve and improve the lifespan of the battery.
Regarding Claim 14, Feng in view of Safaei teaches the analyzer of claim 13.
Safaei further teaches wherein the one or more penalties also includes a second penalty for solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer growth (see ¶[31] quoted above).
Regarding Claim 17, Feng in view of Safaei teaches the analyzer of claim 14.
Feng further teaches wherein the analyzer is part of a remote server located away from the charging station, and the executable instructions are for sending the target charging current profile to a charger controller in the charging station by communicating remotely to the charger controller (see Fig. 5) (¶[91] “Referring to Figure 5, vehicle 1000 establishes a communication link with server 3000 through wireless communication methods such as cellular networks”).
Claim(s) 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feng et al. (CN 118024956 A) in view of Safaei et al. (US 20200150185 A1) further in view of Hu et al. (US 11780348 B1).
Regarding Claim 15, Feng in view of Safaei teaches the analyzer of claim 14.
Feng in view of Safaei does not explicitly teach wherein the first penalty is determined from a data table using temperature of the battery system, charging current, and state of charge, and the second penalty is determined from a data table using temperature of the battery system, charging current, and state of charge.
Hu teaches wherein the first penalty is determined from a data table using temperature of the battery system, charging current, and state of charge, and the second penalty is determined from a data table using temperature of the battery system, charging current, and state of charge ([Col 3-4] “For example, the present solution can provide a derate factor table developed based on a validated physics-based electrochemical-thermal model of the battery that is dependent on temperature, state of charge (SOC), and capacity recovery ratio between the discharge event and a prior (e.g., preceding) regenerative charging event. For instances in which the battery has not reached equilibrium (e.g., due to an insufficient amount of time since a prior recharging event), the present solution can provide database with a lookup table by which a derate factor can be determined”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Feng in view of Safaei to incorporate the teachings of Hu to provide wherein the first penalty is determined from a data table using temperature of the battery system, charging current, and state of charge, and the second penalty is determined from a data table using temperature of the battery system, charging current, and state of charge in order to reduce the amount of on-chip memory used, as suggested by Hu.
Regarding Claim 16, Feng in view of Safaei teaches the analyzer of claim 14.
Feng in view of Safaei does not explicitly teach wherein the first penalty is an explicit function of temperature of the battery system, charging current, and state of charge.
Hu teaches wherein the first penalty is an explicit function of temperature of the battery system, charging current, and state of charge ([Col 3-4] “For example, the present solution can provide a derate factor table developed based on a validated physics-based electrochemical-thermal model of the battery that is dependent on temperature, state of charge (SOC), and capacity recovery ratio between the discharge event and a prior (e.g., preceding) regenerative charging event”).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Feng in view of Safaei to incorporate the teachings of Hu to provide wherein the first penalty is an explicit function of temperature of the battery system, charging current, and state of charge in order to reduce the amount of on-chip memory used, as suggested by Hu.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AIMAN BICKIYA whose telephone number is (571)270-0555. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 - 6 PM EST.
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/A.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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