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 .
This action is in response to an application filed on 12/13/2023.
Claims 1-15 are pending for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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.
Claims 1-5 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (2) as being anticipated by Otsuka et al. (US 2023/0387713 A1 and Otsuka hereinafter).
As to Claim 1, Otsuka in its teachings as shown in Fig.1-11 disclose a forced discharge apparatus (60) for a high-voltage component (see [Abstract]), the apparatus comprising:
a component unit (42) connected to a power supply unit (20) through a connector (30 via 31, 32);
a forced discharge circuit (61,62) connected between the power supply unit (20) and the component unit (42); and
a control unit (13) configured to discharge (13a) the component unit through the forced discharge circuit such that a voltage of the component unit becomes below a target voltage in response to detecting a back electromotive force (residual electric charges) generated from the component unit when the connector is separated (in a state where the power supply unit 20 is disconnected from the high-voltage circuit 9 by control of the contactor 30, control (the first discharge control) is initiated to consume the electric charges stored in the component unit 42 by the in-vehicle component 12 and when the voltage of the component unit 42 is reduced and reaches a specified threshold, control (the second discharge control) is executed to forcibly discharge the electric charges of the component unit 42 in the active discharge circuit 61 by control of the switch 61b (see [0101] – [0110] and also the flow chart of the forced discharge control by the PCM 13- Fig.4-6).
As to Claim 9, Otsuka in its teachings as shown in Fig.1-11 disclose a forced discharge method for a high-voltage component (see [Abstract]), the method comprising:
starting a forced discharge (13a) to forcibly discharge a back electromotive force (residual electrical charges), by a forced discharge apparatus (60), when an occurrence of an interlock is detected according to separation of a connector (30 via 31, 32) between a power supply unit (20) and a component unit (42) (the PCM 13 turns off the negative electrode contactor 31b in an interlocking manner and the battery 20 is disconnected - see [0114]);
detecting (43), by the forced discharge apparatus (60), whether a back electromotive force occurs at the component unit (see [0096]); and
performing the forced discharge, by the forced discharge apparatus, for discharging a voltage of the component unit to be below a target voltage, in response to detecting the occurrence of the back electromotive force (in a state where the power supply unit 20 is disconnected from the high-voltage circuit 9 by control of the contactor 30, control (the first discharge control) is initiated to consume the electric charges stored in the component unit 42 by the in-vehicle component 12 and when the voltage of the component unit 42 is reduced and reaches a specified threshold, control (the second discharge control) is executed to forcibly discharge the electric charges of the component unit 42 in the active discharge circuit 61 by control of the switch 61b (see [0101] – [0110] and also the flow chart of the forced discharge control by the PCM 13- Fig.4-6)).
As to Claim 2, Otsuka disclose the forced discharge apparatus of claim 1, wherein the forced discharge circuit (61, 62) comprises a switching element (61b) connected to the control unit (13) and comprises a power consumption element (61a, 62a) connected to the switching element (see [0094]- [0095]).
As to Claim 3, Otsuka disclose the forced discharge apparatus of claim 2, wherein the power consumption element is electrically connected to the power supply unit through the switching element (see [0094] – [0095]).
As to Claim 4, Otsuka disclose the forced discharge apparatus of claim 3, wherein the power consumption element comprises at least one of a resistor or a varistor (see [0094] – [0095]).
As to Claim 5, Otsuka disclose the forced discharge apparatus of claim 4, wherein when the back electromotive force is detected, the control unit is configured to apply a switching signal to the switching element, and wherein when the switching signal is applied to the switching element, the power consumption element is connected to both ends of the power supply unit to lower a voltage due to the back electromotive force (see [0113] – [0118]).
As to Claim 8, Otsuka disclose the forced discharge apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to: detect an occurrence of an interlock based on a voltage change of the component unit generated when the connector is separated; and send an interlock occurrence signal to a cooperative controller when the occurrence of the interlock is detected (see [0113] – [0118]).
As to Claim 10, Otsuka disclose the forced discharge method of claim 9, wherein detecting whether the back electromotive force occurs comprises determining whether the back electromotive force occurs at the component unit based on a comparison of a current voltage according to the forced discharge and a back electromotive force value according to operation RPM of the component unit (see [0091], [0101] – [0110] and also the flow chart of the forced discharge control by the PCM 13- Fig.4-6)).
As to Claim 11, Otsuka disclose the forced discharge method of claim 10, wherein performing the forced discharge (13 via 13a) comprises applying a switching signal to a forced discharge circuit (60), and wherein the switching signal activates the forced discharge circuit that includes a switching element (61b) and a power consumption element (61a, 62a) (see [0094] – [0095]).
As to Claim 12, Otsuka disclose the forced discharge method of claim 11, wherein the power consumption element comprises at least one of a resistor (61a, 62a) or a varistor (see [0094] – [0095]).
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 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.
Claims 6, 7 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Otsuka in view of Jin et al. (US 2022/0052602 A1 and Jin hereinafter).
As to Claim 6, 7 and 13-15, Otsuka disclose the forced discharge apparatus of claim 1 and the forced discharge method of claim 9, however, it doesn’t explicitly disclose:
an interlock circuit configured to be connected to the power supply unit, the component unit, and a cooperative controller through the connector and configured to be disconnected when the connector is separated, wherein when the interlock circuit is disconnected, the cooperative controller is configured to detect an occurrence of an interlock and request an electrical power cut to a battery management system (claims 6 and 13);
an interlock circuit configured to be connected to the control unit and the power supply unit through the connector and configured to disconnected when the connector is separated, wherein the control unit is configured to detect an occurrence of an interlock according to a disconnection of the interlock circuit and send an interlock occurrence signal to a cooperative controller configured to perform a cooperative control together with the control unit (claims 7 and 14) and
wherein the starting the forced discharge comprises: detecting the occurrence of the interlock by detecting a voltage change of the component unit generated according to separation of the connector; and sending an interlock occurrence signal to a cooperative controller (claim 15)
Nonetheless, Jin in its teachings as shown in Fig.1-5 disclose that the control device 1 includes a main control unit 3 composed of a microcomputer provided with a microprocessor, an interlock circuit 6 having an interlock loop 4, an inverter output circuit 7 that operates the motor 2, a drive circuit 8 that drives the inverter output circuit 7, a voltage detection device 13 composed of a voltage sensor circuit that detects a voltage (HV voltage value) between a power line 11 and a ground line 12 of a connector (HV connector) 9, a smoothing capacitor 14, and a discharge resistor 16 and the control device 1 is connected to an HV battery 17 (DC 300V to 500V) serving as a high-voltage power supply mounted in a vehicle through the connector 9 (see [0036]). Furthermore, the operation for forcibly discharging the residual charge of the smoothing capacitor 14 performed by the discharge control unit 18 of the main control unit 3 and constantly monitors the state of the interlock loop 4 by the signal level output from the interlock circuit 6 in step S1 of FIG. 4, and judges in step S2 whether a signal level output from the interlock circuit 6 has reached the signal level indicating that the interlock loop 4 has become the open circuit; and when the connector 9 is detached and becomes disconnected, and the open circuit of the interlock loop 4 is detected in step S2, the discharge control unit 18 proceeds to step S3 to first transmit the information that the connector 9 has become disconnected to a higher level controller (ECU) via a vehicle communication bus by the LIN transceiver 21, and to control the inverter output circuit 7 by the drive circuit 8 so as to stop the motor 2 (see [0045]-[0046] and also the flowchart illustrating the operation of a main control of Fig.4)
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the instant application to an interlock circuit configured to be connected to the power supply unit, the component unit, and a cooperative controller through the connector and configured to be disconnected when the connector is separated as thought by Jin within the teachings of Otsuka in order for the control device to detect the connection/disconnection of the connector on the basis of a state of the interlock loop, and in the case where disconnection of the connector is detected for the control device to forcibly discharge an internal residual charge (see also [0012]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (US 9,929,570 B2: A control apparatus, including: a discrimination section configured to discriminate a plurality of battery units which are to share and output electric power required by a load; and a control section configured to carry out discharge control for the battery units in response to a situation of each of batteries which the battery units individually have- see [Abstract])
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GABRIEL T AGARED whose telephone number is (571)270-1981. The examiner can normally be reached 8-5 (Mon- Thursday).
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/GABRIEL AGARED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846