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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference characters not mentioned in the description: S40 and U11. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference characters in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: paragraph [111] as originally filed (PGPUB 2024286512 para 131) appears to have been cut off and is missing the end of the sentence.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “kind of” in claim 2 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “ Kind of” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The term "kind of" is a replacement for the term "type". The term “kind of” is not defined or found in the specification. This renders the claim unclear on what "kind of" power transfer device or power receiving device is being referred to.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the number of installations" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)) as being anticipated by MOGHE et al., US Patent No. 10507737 (Effective File Date 10/25/2017 hereinafter MOGHE).
As per claim 1, A wireless power transfer system configured to transfer power in a non-contact manner from a supply device on a road side to a vehicle (see Fig. 1B and pg.5 ln. 25: In particular, WPT system 140 may include any or all of the following components: a vehicle 160, a roadside unit (RSU) 150, one or more ground-based charging coils);
the wireless power transfer system comprising a processor, (see claim 8; pg. 7 ln. 19-26 and Fig 1B: the WPT as one of the devices in FIG. 1; Based on the specification, this reads as the WPT contains a processor);
wherein the processor is configured to: acquire power transferring device information related to a power transferring device included in the supply device, (see pg. 13 ln. 24 – 30, pg. 14 ln.1-9: charging and alignment information);
power receiving device information related to one or more power receiving devices provided in the vehicle, (see Fig. 3A-3D pg. 11 ln. 9-11 and above: the vehicle information, location of coils etc.);
and state information related to a state of a battery of the vehicle (see pg. 12 ln. 22-27: Battery management system. Which includes charge and temperature of the battery);
and based on the power transferring device information, the power receiving device information, and the state information, determine an amount of power to be supplied to the vehicle (see pg. 13 ln. 12 – 24: calculates amount of power);
in accordance with a positional relationship between the power transferring device and each of the one or more power receiving devices (see pg. 22 ln. 24 – 28, pg. 14 ln. 1-9: the position of the vehicle- based coil on the vehicle, the location of the ground-based coil, and the vehicle speed. Other techniques may also be used);
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over MOGHE (10507737) in view of KEELING (9608465 Effective File Date: 03/08/2017) hereinafter KEELING.
As per claim 2, limitations of parent claim 1 have been discussed above. MOGHE teaches the wireless power transfer system according to claim 1, wherein: the power transferring device information includes a kind of the power transferring device; (see pg. 13 ln. 24 – 30, pg. 14 ln. 1-9 charging and alignment information);
the power receiving device information includes an installation position and a kind of each of the one or more power receiving devices (see pg. 22 ln. 24 – 28, pg. 11 ln. 22: In some embodiments, when the vehicle will be within charging proximity may be determined, for example, based on the location of the vehicle, the position of the vehicle based coil on the vehicle, the location of the ground-based coil, and the vehicle speed. Other techniques may also be used.);
and the number of installations of the one or more power receiving devices in the vehicle (pg. 11 19-29, pg. 12 ln. 1-8 Vehicle information, Type of coil, locations and assembly information);
the state information includes a voltage of the battery (see pg. 12 ln. 22-28 Battery Management System containing the voltage of the battery);
and the processor is configured to determine a first amount of power based on the kind of the power transferring device, the kind of each of the one or more power receiving devices, and the voltage of the battery (see pg. 10 ln. 24-27, pg. 11 ln. 14-18 pg. 12 ln. 22-27 and pg. 13 ln. 12-24 For example, based on the vehicle characteristics 302, supervisory service 170 may determine that the charging coil 162 of vehicle 160 will be in close proximity (e.g., less than several feet) with that of ground-based charging coil 164b at a time t=t1. In addition, supervisory service 170 may determine that vehicle 160 requires charging, is authorized to charge, and/or an amount of power that should be delivered to the identified ground-based charging coil);
based on a position in which the power transferring device is disposed and a position in which each of the one or more power receiving devices is disposed, determine a second amount of power in accordance with the positional relationship between the power transferring device and each of the one or more power receiving devices (see pg. 14 ln. 16-23 In such cases, including alignment information in charging information 304 allows vehicle 160 to be directed towards the proper lane and alignment, for maximum charging. For example, charging information 304 may indicate that vehicle 160 should drive ten inches to the right of lane center, to maximize the overlap, if coil 164 is six inches to the right of the center of the lane and coil 162 is four inches to the left of the center of vehicle 160. This relatively small change often inches may lead to a significant increase in the percentage of overlap between coils 162 and 164 and, therefore, the power transfer);
MOGHE does not appear to explicitly disclose determine a smaller one of the first amount of power and the second amount of power as the amount of power.
KEELING teaches determine a smaller one of the first amount of power and the second amount of power as the amount of power (see ¶ 066 The comparator680 may compare the output power/current from the voltage/current measure unit665 and the power/current request from the vehicle battery670. The comparator may then generate an error value based on the comparison and supply the error value to the PID controller gains685. The PID controller gains685 receives the error value and may attempt to minimize the error value of the comparator680 by adjusting control outputs, e.g., adjusting the power/current request from the vehicle battery670 to generate the base current request from the vehicle controller675);
MOGHE and KEELING are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, which is Wireless Power Transfer.
At the time of the invention, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art as of the effective filing date, to modify a wireless power transfer system to include a comparison of the values already tracked in the system to determine the smallest of the two and set that as the new value.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been as MOGHE discloses on pg. 14 ln. 14-18: In such cases, including alignment information in charging information 304 allows vehicle 160 to be directed towards the proper lane and alignment, for maximum charging.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine KEELING with MOGHE for the benefit of adding testing and using information, they could increase the efficiency of the WPL and alignment of the coils reducing the effects directed to the battery to obtain the invention as specified in claim 2.
As per claim 3, MOGHE teaches the wireless power transfer system according to claim 2, wherein: the state information further includes a rate of charge of the battery and a temperature of the battery (see pg. 12 ln. 22-27 this data can include any information regarding the current and/or prior states of the battery of vehicle 160. For example, the BMS data may be indicative of the existing charge in the battery of vehicle 160, a history of charging of the battery of vehicle 160, the current battery temperature and/or surrounding temperature, or the like);
and the processor is configured to, based on the rate of charge of the battery and the temperature of the battery, calculate a maximum value of power that is able to be supplied to the vehicle (see pg. 10: 24-28 and BMS inform, pg. 12 22-27, pg. 13 ln. 12-16 In FIG. 3B, supervisory service 170 may use the received vehicle characteristics 302, to determine the appropriate coil charging parameters 306 for ground-based charging coils 164. Generally, coil charging parameters 306 may indicate which of ground-based charging coils 164 are to be powered, if any, when coils 164 should be powered, and the appropriate power level to be supplied);
MOGHE does not appear to explicitly disclose cause the power transferring device to supply power to the vehicle by reducing the amount of power such that the amount of power does not exceeds the maximum value.
KEELING teaches cause the power transferring device to supply power to the vehicle by reducing the amount of power such that the amount of power does not exceeds the maximum value (see ¶ 34 The receiver208 and the transmitter204 may alternatively communicate via in-band signaling using characteristics of the wireless field205. The receiver208 may be configured to determine whether an amount of power transmitted by the transmitter204 and received by the receiver208 is appropriate for charging the battery236);
MOGHE and KEELING are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, which is Wireless Power Transfer.
At the time of the invention, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art as of the effective filing date, to modify a wireless power transfer system to include safety measures such as a maximum voltage and current to be sent to the battery.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been as KEELING discloses on ¶69 accordance with embodiments described below the vehicle controller675 may communicate less frequently with the base controller620 when sending a power request rather than a current request, which may reduce the effects of the wireless communications delay625 on the overall wireless charging system600.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine KEELING and MOGHE for the benefit of not overcharging the battery based on the provided information to obtain the invention as specified in claim 3
As per claim 4, MOGHE teaches the wireless power transfer system according to claim 3, wherein the supply device includes the processor (see pg. 7 ln. 19-26, Fig 1B shows the RSU as one of the devices in FIG. 1. Based on the specification this reads as the RSU contains a processor);
As per claim 5, MOGHE teaches the wireless power transfer system according to claim 3, further comprising a server configured to communicate with the vehicle and the supply device, wherein the server includes the processor (see claim 8, pg. 7 ln. 19-26, Fig 1B shows the Supervisory Service(server) as one of the devices in FIG. 1. Based on the specification, this reads as the server contains a processor);
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CONNOR D COUSINEAU whose telephone number is (571)447-9620. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kamini Shah can be reached at (571) 272-2279. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CONNOR D COUSINEAU/Examiner, Art Unit 2115
/KAMINI S SHAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2115