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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on March 03, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments/remarks filed March 03, 2026, with respect to claims 1-3 rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (BIE – CN 106809013 A), in view of (LIN – CN 112550040 A) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn.
More specifically, claims 1-3 are indicated as allowable over the prior art.
Further on, claims 10 and 12 were previously indicated as allowable over the prior art.
Accordingly, claims 1-3, 10 and 12 are allowable over the prior art.
Applicant's amendments/remarks filed March 03, 2026, with respect to claims 4-9 rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (BIE – CN 106809013 A), in view of (LIN – CN 112550040 A) have been fully considered but they are not persuasive as explained below.
Applicant respectfully asserts that the cited prior art does not discloses “…the power range of the battery pack of the rail vehicle is a maximum distance that the rail vehicle is configured to travel with a current residual capacity…” as amended in independent claim 4.
The Examiner respectfully submits that LIN ([0018, 0045]) discloses that the remaining power support value: namely the processing unit 10 according to the average power consumption amount of the vehicle, calculating whether the current remaining battery power only can support using a preset time, if so, the processing unit 10 judges that the trigger condition is satisfied. For example, the memory storage unit 20 can be set a preset time, such as set as 2 days, and the processing unit 10 according to the data provided by the driving data unit 30 can calculate the average power consumption per day of the vehicle is 10 %, once the power consumption to 20 %; The processing unit 10 determines that the remaining 20 % power can only be supported for 2 days, and then it is determined that the trigger condition is met; For example, the average power consumption per day of another vehicle is 15 %; once the power consumption is 30 %, the processing unit 10 judges that the remaining 30 % power can only be supported for 2 days, and is also considered to be in accordance with the trigger condition. Therefore, according to the power supportable value as a trigger condition can more react different riding habits, the user has a sufficient time to supplement electric power to the vehicle. Recent Power Supply Power Station the processing unit 10 according to the positioning coordinate data output by the satellite positioning unit 40, can determine the current position of the locomotive; in the memory storage unit 20 can be stored with picture information and information of each power supply station, and the processing unit 10 according to the current position of the locomotive is a reference point, from the memory storage unit 20 to find out the supply station with the shortest distance; The shortest distance between the present vehicle and the power supply station is the shortest or the length of the route is the shortest.
Further on, LIN discloses that time of operation of the locomotive is calculated based on the remaining battery capacity or residual battery power.
Still Further, LIN discloses to calculate shortest distance between the present vehicle and the power supply station is the shortest or the length of the route is the shortest which means that LIN inherently discloses/teaches “a maximum distance that the rail vehicle is configured to travel with a current residual capacity”.
Disposition of Claims
Claims 1-10 and 12 are pending in this application.
Claims 1-3, 10 and 12 are allowable.
Claims 4-9 are rejected.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 10 and 12 are allowable.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 non-obviousness.
Claims 4-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (BIE – CN 106809013 A), in view of (LIN – CN 112550040 A).
Regarding claim 4, BIE discloses:
A method for controlling battery swapping of a rail vehicle (Control center for train scheduling and a control method for train scheduling: Figs. 1-8), applicable to the rail vehicle, comprising:
sending, by the rail vehicle, vehicle information of the rail vehicle to a battery swapping management platform (Control Center 50, First Controller 203, Second Controller 305, Communication module 303, Power Detection Module 308, Acquisition device 501, and Control Device 502: Figs. 1-8);
wherein the vehicle information comprises current position information and current power information of the rail vehicle, wherein the battery swapping management platform (Control Center 50, First Controller 203, Second Controller 305, Communication module 303, Power Detection Module 308, Acquisition device 501, and Control Device 502: Figs. 1-8) is configured to determine whether the rail vehicle has a battery swapping need based on the vehicle information of the rail vehicle, and to send a battery swapping notification signal and a vehicle control signal to the rail vehicle when determining that the rail vehicle has the battery swapping need, and wherein the battery swapping notification signal comprises position information of a target battery swapping station ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]);
receiving, by the rail vehicle, the battery swapping notification signal and the vehicle control signal sent by the battery swapping management platform (Control Center 50, First Controller 203, Second Controller 305, Communication module 303, Power Detection Module 308, Acquisition device 501, and Control Device 502: Figs. 1-8), and travelling to the target battery swapping station according to the battery swapping notification signal and the vehicle control signal ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]); and
exchanging, by the rail vehicle, battery swapping information with the target battery swapping station for the target battery swapping station to swap a battery pack of the rail vehicle based on the battery swapping information ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]: “In addition, the train according to the embodiment of the present invention directly replaces the power pack having a small amount of electricity, thereby effectively avoiding the problem of slow charging of the power battery, and it is possible to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the vehicle while saving the cost of the infrastructure construction”).
But BIE does not explicitly and/or specifically meet the following limitations:
wherein the vehicle information comprises current position information and current power information of the rail vehicle, and the current power information comprises a power range of a battery pack of the rail vehicle; determining, by the battery swapping management platform, whether the rail vehicle has a battery swapping need based on the vehicle information of the rail vehicle and at least the power range of the battery pack of the rail vehicle.
the power range of the battery pack of the rail vehicle is a maximum distance that the rail vehicle is configured to travel with a current residual capacity
However, regarding limitations (A-B) above, LIN discloses/teaches the following:
A position prompting method and system of locomotive power supply station, the method detects the battery power information of the locomotive, when judging whether the current battery power of the locomotive falls to the preset trigger condition, if it meets the trigger condition, namely automatically starting a power supply station searching function; the power station searching function according to the preset searching condition to search the suitable power supply station, and the related information output of the power supply station is displayed on the digital instrument board of the locomotive or the mobile device of the user, so as to prompt the user to change or charge the locomotive battery immediately; Therefore, it reduces the inconvenience that the user finds the charging station artificially (Abstract).
The trigger condition is judging whether the current battery power of the locomotive is less than at least one value of a fixed power critical value {{{or a residual power support value}}}; if so, judging that it is in accordance with the trigger condition ([0056]).
The remaining power support value: namely the processing unit 10 according to the average power consumption amount of the vehicle, calculating whether the current remaining battery power only can support using a preset time, if so, the processing unit 10 judges that the trigger condition is satisfied. For example, the memory storage unit 20 can be set a preset time, such as set as 2 days, and the processing unit 10 according to the data provided by the driving data unit 30 can calculate the average power consumption per day of the vehicle is 10 %, once the power consumption to 20 %; The processing unit 10 determines that the remaining 20 % power can only be supported for 2 days, and then it is determined that the trigger condition is met; For example, the average power consumption per day of another vehicle is 15 %; once the power consumption is 30 %, the processing unit 10 judges that the remaining 30 % power can only be supported for 2 days, and is also considered to be in accordance with the trigger condition. Therefore, according to the power supportable value as a trigger condition can more react different riding habits, the user has a sufficient time to supplement electric power to the vehicle. Recent Power Supply Power Station the processing unit 10 according to the positioning coordinate data output by the satellite positioning unit 40, can determine the current position of the locomotive; in the memory storage unit 20 can be stored with picture information and information of each power supply station, and the processing unit 10 according to the current position of the locomotive is a reference point, from the memory storage unit 20 to find out the supply station with the shortest distance; The shortest distance between the present vehicle and the power supply station is the shortest or the length of the route is the shortest ([0018, 0045]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the method for controlling battery swapping of a rail vehicle of BIE incorporating additional controller instructions/communications/calculation-unit modules as taught by LIN in order for the user to replace or charge the locomotive battery immediately.
Regarding claim 5, BIE as combined above disclose the method according to claim 4, and further on BIE as combined above also discloses:
wherein: the current power information comprises current residual capacity information and a power range of the battery pack of the rail vehicle ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]);
the rail vehicle comprises a train control, management system (TCMS), and a plurality of carriages, and a battery pack and a battery management system (BMS) disposed in each of the carriages ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]); and
the method further comprises:
obtaining current residual capacity information of the battery pack of each of the carriages through the BMS of each of the carriages ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]);
sending the current residual capacity information of the battery pack of each of the carriages the TCMS through the BMS of each of the carriages ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]); and
calculating a driving range of the rail vehicle through the TCMS based on the current residual capacity information of the battery pack of each of the carriages and average energy consumption of the rail vehicle in a running record, to obtain the current power information ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]).
The claim 5 new amendment limitations “…the current residual capacity information comprises a current residual capacity of the battery pack of the rail vehicle and the power range of the battery pack of the rail vehicle is a maximum distance that the rail vehicle is configured to travel with the current residual capacity…” and “…wherein the power range of the battery pack of the rail vehicle is a maximum distance that the rail vehicle is configured to travel with the current residual capacity…” are also taught/disclosed in LIN above as explained in the cited Abstract and Paragraph [0056].
Regarding claim 6, BIE as combined above disclose the method according to claim 5, and further on BIE as combined above also discloses:
wherein the calculating the driving range of the rail vehicle through the TCMS based on the current residual capacity information of the battery pack of each of the carriages and the average energy consumption of the rail vehicle in the running record comprises:
determining a lowest residual capacity from the current residual capacity information of the battery pack of each of the carriages through the TCMS ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]);
obtaining the average energy consumption of the rail vehicle in the running record through the TCMS ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]); and
calculating a ratio of the lowest residual capacity to the average energy consumption through the TCMS, and determining the driving range of the rail vehicle according to the ratio ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]).
Regarding claim 7, BIE as combined above disclose the method according to claim 5, and further on BIE as combined above also discloses:
arriving at the target battery swapping station ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]);
stopping at a target location ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]), and
sending a battery swapping indication signal to the BMS through the TCMS to trigger the BMS of each of the carriages to exchange battery swapping information with the target battery swapping station ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]).
Regarding claim 8, BIE as combined above disclose the method according to claim 5, and further on BIE as combined above also discloses:
wherein: the rail vehicle further comprises a vehicle on-board controller (VOBC) ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]); and
the sending, by the rail vehicle, the vehicle information of the rail vehicle to the battery swapping management platform (Control Center 50, First Controller 203, Second Controller 305, Communication module 303, Power Detection Module 308, Acquisition device 501, and Control Device 502: Figs. 1-8) further comprises:
sending the vehicle information of the rail vehicle to the VOBC through the TCMS ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]); and
sending the vehicle information to the battery swapping management platform (Control Center 50, First Controller 203, Second Controller 305, Communication module 303, Power Detection Module 308, Acquisition device 501, and Control Device 502: Figs. 1-8) by the VOBC ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]).
Regarding claim 9, BIE as combined above disclose the method according to claim 5, and further on BIE as combined above also discloses:
wherein: the rail vehicle further comprises a first wireless signal converter disposed in each of the carriages ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]); and
the exchanging, by the rail vehicle, battery swapping information with the target battery swapping station further comprises:
exchanging battery swapping information of the battery pack with the target battery swapping station by the first wireless signal converter ([0004-0007, 0027, 0029, 0034, 0036-0038, 0042-0043, 0049, 0051, 0053-0055, 0058-0059, 0065]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ruben Picon-Feliciano whose telephone number is (571)-272-4938. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday within 11:30 am-7:30 pm ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lindsay M. Low can be reached on (571)272-1196. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RUBEN PICON-FELICIANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/GRANT MOUBRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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