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 IDSes filed 12/14/23 and 11/20/24 have both been considered and placed of record. The two (2) initialed copies are attached herewith.
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.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO document WO 2010/029823 A1 in view of Chinese document CN113872275A.
Re claim 1, the WO document discloses a charging control method for a battery pack having a plurality of battery modules (para 11; battery cells), the method having, inter alia, controlling charging of the battery pack in a constant current-constant voltage charging mode (para 11, lines 3-5); changing a charging mode to a step charging mode based on a state deviation between the plurality of battery modules (para 42) if a newly mounted battery module is detected from among the plurality of battery modules; controlling charging of the battery pack in the step charging mode by gradually decreasing a charging current of the battery pack if the charging mode is changed to the step charging mode (para 57 and fig 5); and returning the charging mode to the constant current-constant voltage charging mode based on the state deviation from among the plurality of battery modules if a full charge of the battery pack is detected during the charging in the step charging mode (para 52). (note: bolded limitation is not found in WO document). However, WO document is silent on having detection means to detect whether a new battery module is mounted from among a plurality of modules. The Chinese document teaches, in the same field of battery charging, detecting a new battery mounted in the charging path (para 13-15, 18 and 67) to ensure all the battery modules are charge balanced. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have incorporated the teachings of the Chinese document into the device of the WO document to prevent overcharging of the new module by modifying the charging modes.
Re claim 2, Chinese document further discloses the state deviation comprises a module voltage deviation between the plurality of battery modules (para 67; fig 2).
Re claims 3-5, both documents are silent on the specific claimed threshold and the particular claimed period. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have selected the appropriate threshold and period including the claimed threshold and claimed period since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Re claims 6 and 10, both documents are silent on having SOC deviation detected between the modules or determining the charging current based on the voltage detected. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to having additionally including the SOC deviation and/or determining the charging current based on the detected voltage since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known materiale on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Re claims 7-9, both documents are silent on the specific claimed threshold and the particular claimed period. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have selected the appropriate threshold and period including the claimed threshold and claimed period since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Re claim 11, the WO document discloses a charging control apparatus for a battery pack having a plurality of battery modules (para 11; batter cells), the apparatus having, inter alia, a monitoring device configured to detect state information comprising voltages and a state of charge (SOC) of the plurality of battery modules; and a control device configured to select a charging mode of the battery pack from among a constant current-constant voltage charging mode and a step charging mode, and control charging of the battery pack according to the selected charging mode, wherein the control device is further configured to: select the constant current-constant voltage charging mode as the charging mode if a new battery module is not mounted in the battery pack; change the charging mode to the step charging mode based on a state deviation between the plurality of battery modules if a new battery module is installed in the battery pack while the charging mode is the constant current-constant voltage charging mode; control charging of the battery pack in the step charging mode by gradually decreasing a charging current of the battery pack if the charging mode is changed to the step charging mode; and return the charging mode to the constant current-constant voltage charging mode based on the state deviation from among the plurality of battery modules if a full charge of the battery pack is detected during the charging in the step charging mode. (note: bolded limitations are not found in WO document). charging mode (para 52). (note: bolded limitation is not found in WO document).
The WO document is silent on having detection means to detect whether a new battery module is mounted from among a plurality of modules. The Chinese document teaches, in the same field of battery charging, detecting a new battery mounted in the charging path (para 13-15, 18 and 67) to ensure all the battery modules are charge balanced. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have incorporated the teachings of the Chinese document into the device of the WO document to prevent overcharging of the new module by modifying the charging modes.
Both documents are silent on detecting SOC of the modules. Official notice is taken of the fact that SOC detection is well-known in battery art as important characteristic of the battery in relation to the health of the battery. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have included SOC as state information since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Re claims 12-14, both documents are silent on the specific claimed threshold and the particular claimed period. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have selected the appropriate threshold and period including the claimed threshold and claimed period since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Re claims 15 and 18, both documents are silent on having SOC deviation detected between the modules or determining the charging current based on the voltage detected. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to having additionally including the SOC deviation and/or determining the charging current based on the detected voltage since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known materiale on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Re claims 15 (additional limitation), 16 and 17, both documents are silent on the specific claimed threshold and the particular claimed period. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have selected the appropriate threshold and period including the claimed threshold and claimed period since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication** should be directed to the Examiner at the below listed number. The Examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thu from 7:00am-5:00pm.
The Examiner’s SPE is Drew Dunn and he can be reached at 571.272.2312. The fax number for the organization where this application is assigned is 571.273.8300.
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/EDWARD TSO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 571.272.2087
**Communications after 10/31/26 should be directed to SPE Drew Dunn at his number.
