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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: BATTERY SOC BALANCING METHOD IN A UTILITY VEHICLE INCLUDING CONVERTER BALANCING AND DIRECT BALANCING
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it includes phrases which can be implied, i.e., “is disclosed”. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the recitations of claims 6-8 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
Claim Objections
Claim 27 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 7, there is no antecedent basis for “the lawn mower”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 14-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KANG (Patent No.: US 10,944,278 B1; cited on IDS with date 12/12/2023).
Regarding claim 1, KANG discloses a battery balancing method for balancing voltages of battery packs (col 1, ll. 63-67: the aforementioned applications desire longer operational time frames that are made possible by the battery management system such as disclosed herein, which extend the usable life of batteries in the battery pack by implementing smart algorithms for charge, discharge, and balancing; col 11, ll. 5-11: the battery management system of the master battery pack determines whether to balance the battery packs when the battery compartment has more than two battery packs. If so, the difference of charge of the battery packs may be reduced by one or more battery packs discharging to charge one or more of the other battery packs; balancing the charge implies the voltages are balanced) on a bus bar (151, Fig. 1; col 8, ll. 11-16: power circuitry (including battery cells 203) of battery pack 200 interacts with power bus 151 through power bus interface circuit 206 when battery pack 200 is discharging, charging, and/or being balanced with respect to the other battery packs) of a utility vehicle (101, Fig. 1; col 7, ll. 20-24: End device 101 may assume different types of devices including, but not limited to, power tools, lawn mowers, garden tools, appliances, and vehicles including forklifts, cars, trucks, and so forth), the battery balancing method comprising:
determining, by a control system including at least one electronic controller (col 7, l. 66 – col 8, l. 5: FIG. 2A shows battery pack 200 with an internal battery management system (BMS) in accordance with an embodiment. The battery management system may be implemented by processor 201, which may comprise one or more microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers, computing devices, and/or the like, executing computer-executable instructions stored at memory device 202), a state of charge for a first battery pack and a state of charge for a second battery pack of the utility vehicle (multiple battery packs 102, 103, and 104 are shown in Fig. 1; col 17, ll. 24-29: when the master battery pack determines that there are a sufficient number of battery packs, the master battery pack gathers battery pack information (for example, SoC, SoH, and voltage information) from each of the slave battery packs as well as for itself at block 710);
initiating converter battery balancing, by the control system (col 11, ll. 5-11: see above), to discharge the first battery pack to the second battery pack through a DC-to-DC converter (207, Fig. 2A; 218, Fig. 2B; col 9, ll. 43-49: Converter 207 may assume different forms capable of controlling power transfer between the power bus and the cells of the battery pack such as by providing a stepped-down output voltage with respect to the input voltage (e.g., a buck converter, a auk converter, a buck-boost converter, a single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) converter, etc.)) in response to determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is more than a first threshold amount above the state of charge of the second battery pack (col 18, ll. 42-52: Block 723 identifies the battery pack with the highest SoC value so that the identified battery pack can discharge, thus providing charge to the other battery packs during balancing. At block 724 process 712 determines whether direct balancing cannot be applied (for example, when the SoC difference between the highest SoC pack and an identified battery pack is above a predetermined SoC threshold). If so, converter balancing is applied to the identified battery pack (where the highest SoC battery pack discharges onto the power bus and the identified battery pack charges through the power bus via its converter) at block 728); and
initiating direct battery balancing, by the control system, to discharge the first battery pack to the second battery pack in response to determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is less than the first threshold amount above the state of charge of the second battery pack (col 9, ll. 52-55: when converter 207 is bypassed, battery cells 203 may charge at a quicker rate (for example, corresponding to direct balancing flowchart 714 as shown in FIG. 11); col 18, ll. 44-48: At block 724 process 712 determines whether direct balancing cannot be applied (for example, when the SoC difference between the highest SoC pack and an identified battery pack is above a predetermined SoC threshold); col 21, ll. 13-20: FIG. 11 shows flowchart 714 for direct balancing with a plurality of battery packs in accordance with an embodiment. When process 700, as shown in FIG. 7A, determines that direct balancing should be performed, the master battery pack initiates direct balancing at block 1101.With direct balancing, one of the battery packs is charging another battery pack through a low impedance electrical path).
Regarding claim 2, KANG discloses initiating the direct battery balancing includes enabling, with the control system, a bypass positioned between the first and second battery packs to connect the first and second battery packs, and disabling the DC-to-DC converter, and initiating the converter battery balancing includes disabling the bypass (col 9, ll. 52-55; col 18, ll. 41-67).
Regarding claim 3, KANG discloses determining whether safety constraints of the utility vehicle are satisfied as a precondition to initiating the converter battery balancing or the direct battery balancing (col 19, ll. 4-55).
Regarding claim 4, KANG discloses determining, by the control system, a state of charge of a third battery pack of the utility vehicle; and initiating converter battery balancing, by the control system, to discharge the first battery pack to each of the second and third battery packs through the DC-to-DC converter in response to determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is within a second threshold amount of the state of charge of the second battery pack (col 20, ll. 34-43; col 25, ll. 33 – 40; col 28, l. 45 - col 29, l. 10).
Regarding claim 14, KANG discloses a battery balancing method for balancing voltages of battery packs (col 1, ll. 63-67: the aforementioned applications desire longer operational time frames that are made possible by the battery management system such as disclosed herein, which extend the usable life of batteries in the battery pack by implementing smart algorithms for charge, discharge, and balancing; col 11, ll. 5-11: the battery management system of the master battery pack determines whether to balance the battery packs when the battery compartment has more than two battery packs. If so, the difference of charge of the battery packs may be reduced by one or more battery packs discharging to charge one or more of the other battery packs; balancing the charge implies the voltages are balanced) on a bus bar (151, Fig. 1; col 8, ll. 11-16: power circuitry (including battery cells 203) of battery pack 200 interacts with power bus 151 through power bus interface circuit 206 when battery pack 200 is discharging, charging, and/or being balanced with respect to the other battery packs) of a utility vehicle (101, Fig. 1; col 7, ll. 20-24: End device 101 may assume different types of devices including, but not limited to, power tools, lawn mowers, garden tools, appliances, and vehicles including forklifts, cars, trucks, and so forth), the battery balancing method comprising:
determining, by a control system including at least one electronic controller (col 7, l. 66 – col 8, l. 5: FIG. 2A shows battery pack 200 with an internal battery management system (BMS) in accordance with an embodiment. The battery management system may be implemented by processor 201, which may comprise one or more microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers, computing devices, and/or the like, executing computer-executable instructions stored at memory device 202), a state of charge for each battery pack of three or more battery packs (Figures 1 and 10 show at least three battery packs) of the utility vehicle (col 17, ll. 24-29: when the master battery pack determines that there are a sufficient number of battery packs, the master battery pack gathers battery pack information (for example, SoC, SoH, and voltage information) from each of the slave battery packs as well as for itself at block 710);
determining, by the control system, a first battery pack having a highest state of charge of the three or more battery packs and a second battery pack having a second highest state of charge of the three or more battery packs (col 27, ll. 26-36: Using only a group of one or more battery packs having the highest or higher SoC level (in this case the single battery pack 1905a) to initially power an end device, until the SoC values of the group reaches those of the rest of the pack, may be a more efficient and/or safe method of utilizing battery packs to power an end device. As shown in FIG. 19A, after the single battery pack with the initially higher SoC value has been used to initially power the end device, and its SoC readings reach those of the other battery packs (e.g., battery packs 1902b-1905b), the other battery packs may join in powering the end device 1901b; col 27, ll. 64-67: Discharging may use one or more battery packs with higher SoC values first until passing a set threshold for lower SoC battery packs, at which point the lower SoC battery packs may be enabled);
initiating converter battery balancing, by the control system, to discharge the first battery pack to each other battery pack of the three or more battery packs through a DC-to-DC converter (207, Fig. 2A; 218, Fig. 2B; col 9, ll. 43-49: Converter 207 may assume different forms capable of controlling power transfer between the power bus and the cells of the battery pack such as by providing a stepped-down output voltage with respect to the input voltage (e.g., a buck converter, a auk converter, a buck-boost converter, a single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) converter, etc.); col 20, ll. 34-43: FIG. 9 shows flowchart 713 (referenced in FIG. 7A) for converter balancing with a plurality of battery packs in accordance with an embodiment. Block 901 starts converter balancing, where one of the battery packs (either the master battery pack or one of the slave master packs) charges one or more of the other battery packs. With converter balancing, charge of a single battery pack is transferred to one or more battery packs via converters on each of the charged battery packs. Consequently, two or more battery packs are involved with this type of balancing) in response to at least one selected from the group of:
determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is more than a first threshold amount above the state of charge of the second battery pack (col 18, ll. 44-49: At block 724 process 712 determines whether direct balancing cannot be applied (for example, when the SoC difference between the highest SoC pack and an identified battery pack is above a predetermined SoC threshold). If so, converter balancing is applied to the identified battery pack; the “predetermined SoC threshold” is interpreted as the claimed “first threshold amount”), and
determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is within a second threshold amount of the state of charge of the second battery pack (this recitation is recited in the alternative, and KANG teaches the other alternative; it is noted that “a second threshold amount” is not defined); and
initiating direct battery balancing, by the control system, to discharge the first battery pack to the second battery pack in response to determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is between the first threshold amount and the second threshold amount above the state of charge of the second battery pack (col 9, ll. 52-55: when converter 207 is bypassed, battery cells 203 may charge at a quicker rate (for example, corresponding to direct balancing flowchart 714 as shown in FIG. 11); col 18, ll. 44-49: see above; col 21, ll. 13-20: FIG. 11 shows flowchart 714 for direct balancing with a plurality of battery packs in accordance with an embodiment. When process 700, as shown in FIG. 7A, determines that direct balancing should be performed, the master battery pack initiates direct balancing at block 1101.With direct balancing, one of the battery packs is charging another battery pack through a low impedance electrical path; col 21, ll. 36-39: At block 1104, the master battery pack gathers SoC data from the batter packs being charge balanced. When an acceptable SoC is reached at block 1105, direct balancing is terminated at block 1106; the “acceptable SoC” is interpreted as the claimed “second threshold amount”).
Regarding claim 15, KANG discloses initiating the direct battery balancing includes enabling, with the control system, a bypass positioned between the first and second battery packs to connect the first and second battery packs, and disabling the DC-to-DC converter, and initiating the converter battery balancing includes disabling the bypass (col 9, ll. 52-55; col 18, ll. 41-67).
Regarding claim 16, KANG discloses determining whether safety constraints of the utility vehicle are satisfied as a precondition to initiating the converter battery balancing or the direct battery balancing (col 19, ll. 4-55).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANG as applied to claims 1-4 and 14-16 above, and further in view of JABAJI (Patent No. US 6,452,363).
Regarding claim 5, KANG discloses the battery balancing method as applied to claim 1, but fails to disclose providing, by the control system to a user display of the utility vehicle, a communication that is indicative of the performance of battery balancing; and displaying, in response to the communication, a message on the user display of the utility vehicle that the battery balancing is being performed.
JABAJI discloses providing, by the control system (26, Fig. 1) to a user display (28, Fig. 1) of the utility vehicle (col 1, ll. 19-32; col 2, ll. 50-59), a communication that is indicative of the performance of battery balancing; and displaying, in response to the communication, a message on the user display of the utility vehicle that the battery balancing is being performed (col 3, l. 56 – col 4, l. 26; use of blinking colored LEDs is considered a visual message that indicates balancing is being performed).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the message on the user display as recited in order to provide increased user convenience.
Regarding claim 6, KANG as modified by JABAJI teaches the battery balancing method as applied to claim 5, but fails to teach displaying, in response to a second communication provided by the control system, the state of charge of the first and second battery packs on the user display of the utility vehicle.
JABAJI further teaches displaying, in response to a second communication provided by the control system, the state of charge of the first and second battery packs on the user display of the utility vehicle (col 3, ll. 32-34).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include displaying the state of charge of the battery packs in order to provide increased user convenience.
Regarding claim 7, KANG as modified by JABAJI teaches determining, by the control system, characteristics indicative of the battery balancing; and displaying, in response to the communication, a message including the characteristics of the battery balancing (JABAJI, col 3, l. 56 – col 4, l. 26; use of different colored LEDs is considered a visual message that indicates characteristics of balancing).
Regarding claim 8, KANG as modified by JABAJI teaches the characteristics indicative of the battery balancing includes at least one selected from the group of: an amount of time remaining in the battery balancing; and a type of battery balancing that is being performed (JABAJI, col 3, l. 56 – col 4, l. 26; use of different colored LEDs is considered a visual message that indicates “a type of battery balancing” within the broadest reasonable interpretation).
Claim(s) 17-21 and 27-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KANG (Patent No.: US 10,944,278 B1; cited on IDS with date 12/12/2023) in view of CRAIN (Pub. No.: 2010/0314182 A1; cited on IDS with date 12/12/2023).
Regarding claim 17, KANG discloses a utility vehicle (101, Fig. 1; col 7, ll. 20-24: End device 101 may assume different types of devices including, but not limited to, power tools, lawn mowers, garden tools, appliances, and vehicles including forklifts, cars, trucks, and so forth) comprising:
a utility device (col 7, ll. 20-24: see above; a “utility device”, such as a blade and corresponding motor, is implied for the disclosed lawn mower);
two or more battery packs (multiple battery packs 102, 103, and 104 are shown in Fig. 1) electrically connected to a bus bar (151, Fig. 1; col 7, ll. 6-12: FIG. 1 shows end device 101 electrically powered by a plurality of battery packs 100 (battery system) in accordance with an embodiment. Each battery pack 102, 103, and 104 includes its own internal battery management system (BMS) 112, 113, and 114, respectively. Battery packs 102, 103, and 104 are electrically connected to a direct current (DC) power bus 151); and
a control system including at least one electronic controller (col 7, l. 66 – col 8, l. 5: FIG. 2A shows battery pack 200 with an internal battery management system (BMS) in accordance with an embodiment. The battery management system may be implemented by processor 201, which may comprise one or more microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers, computing devices, and/or the like, executing computer-executable instructions stored at memory device 202), the control system in communication with the two or more battery packs (col 17, ll. 24-29: when the master battery pack determines that there are a sufficient number of battery packs, the master battery pack gathers battery pack information (for example, SoC, SoH, and voltage information) from each of the slave battery packs as well as for itself at block 710), the control system configured to:
determine a state of charge for a first battery pack and a state of charge for a second battery pack of the utility vehicle (col 17, ll. 24-29: see above);
initiate converter battery balancing (col 11, ll. 5-11: the battery management system of the master battery pack determines whether to balance the battery packs when the battery compartment has more than two battery packs. If so, the difference of charge of the battery packs may be reduced by one or more battery packs discharging to charge one or more of the other battery packs) to discharge the first battery pack to the second battery pack through a DC-to-DC converter (207, Fig. 2A; 218, Fig. 2B; col 9, ll. 43-49: Converter 207 may assume different forms capable of controlling power transfer between the power bus and the cells of the battery pack such as by providing a stepped-down output voltage with respect to the input voltage (e.g., a buck converter, a auk converter, a buck-boost converter, a single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) converter, etc.)) in response to determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is more than a first threshold amount above the state of charge of the second battery pack (col 18, ll. 42-52: Block 723 identifies the battery pack with the highest SoC value so that the identified battery pack can discharge, thus providing charge to the other battery packs during balancing. At block 724 process 712 determines whether direct balancing cannot be applied (for example, when the SoC difference between the highest SoC pack and an identified battery pack is above a predetermined SoC threshold). If so, converter balancing is applied to the identified battery pack (where the highest SoC battery pack discharges onto the power bus and the identified battery pack charges through the power bus via its converter) at block 728); and
initiate direct battery balancing to discharge the first battery pack to the second battery pack in response to determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is less than the first threshold amount above the state of charge of the second battery pack (col 9, ll. 52-55: when converter 207 is bypassed, battery cells 203 may charge at a quicker rate (for example, corresponding to direct balancing flowchart 714 as shown in FIG. 11); col 18, ll. 44-48: At block 724 process 712 determines whether direct balancing cannot be applied (for example, when the SoC difference between the highest SoC pack and an identified battery pack is above a predetermined SoC threshold); col 21, ll. 13-20: FIG. 11 shows flowchart 714 for direct balancing with a plurality of battery packs in accordance with an embodiment. When process 700, as shown in FIG. 7A, determines that direct balancing should be performed, the master battery pack initiates direct balancing at block 1101.With direct balancing, one of the battery packs is charging another battery pack through a low impedance electrical path).
KANG fails to disclose the utility vehicle comprises:
a frame;
a drive wheel supporting the frame above a ground surface;
a drive motor mounted to the frame and driving rotation of the drive wheel to move the utility vehicle over the ground surface;
an operator platform supported by the frame, and operable to support the weight of a user during operation of the utility vehicle;
the utility device is coupled to the frame;
the two or more battery packs are supported by the frame; and
the control system is in communication with the drive motor and the utility device.
CRAIN discloses the utility vehicle (100, Fig. 2; ¶ 0074: the present disclosure is primarily directed to a utility vehicle; ¶ 0078: Returning to FIG. 1, vehicle 100 includes a bed 120 having a cargo carrying surface 122) comprises:
a frame (150, Fig. 2; ¶ 0081: utility vehicle 100 includes a plurality of body components, and as best shown in FIGS. 2-4, namely side panels 170, floor boards 172…All of these items are directly or indirectly attached to and/or supported by the vehicle frame 150);
a drive wheel (104, 106, Fig. 2) supporting the frame above a ground surface (¶ 0075: ground engaging members 102 are wheels 104 and associated tires 106);
a drive motor (370, Figs. 7, 10, & 11) mounted to the frame and driving rotation of the drive wheel to move the utility vehicle over the ground surface (¶ 0094: power from battery supply 556 (at 48V) is provided to controller 308 to power motor 370. Further, contactor 330 powers DC-to-DC converter 564. DC-to-DC converter 564 provides a lower voltage (12V) to power many of the components of vehicle 100. Since controller 308 powers motor 370, vehicle 100 is still drivable in a two-wheel mode even if the 12V system of vehicle 100 is malfunctioning);
an operator platform (130, 132, Fig. 2) supported by the frame, and operable to support the weight of a user during operation of the utility vehicle (¶ 0079: Vehicle 100 includes an operator area 130 including seating 132 for one or more passengers);
a utility device (720, 722, Fig. 23; and/or 900, Fig. 33) coupled to the frame (¶ 0149: vehicle 100 may include an accessory battery 720, represented in FIG. 23. In one embodiment, accessory battery 720 is supported by front frame portion 210 of frame 150. Accessory battery 720 is provided to power an accessory 722. An exemplary accessory is a winch; ¶ 0163: External device 900 also includes diagnostic software 920 through which an operator of external device 900 may retrieve error codes and other information from controller 552 of vehicle 100);
the two or more battery packs (304, Fig. 7) are supported by the frame (¶ 0087: With respect first to battery packs 304, two groups of batteries 304A and 304B are defined where each battery group 304A, 304B includes a battery 318 of 12V capacity where each of the groups 304A, 304B are wired in series, thereby defining two 48V groups. Each of the groups 304A, 304B are connected through the controller 308 in parallel to define a 48V power source. It should be appreciated that battery group 304B is supported by platform 270 (FIG. 5) whereas battery group 304A is supported by platform 272 (FIG. 6C)); and
the control system (552, 554, Figs. 15, 21, & 33; ¶ 0093: Referring to FIG. 15, an exemplary electrical system 550 of vehicle 100 is represented. Vehicle 100 includes a controller 552 which controls the operation of vehicle 100. In the illustrated embodiment, controller 552 includes a first controller 308 and a second controller 554) is in communication with the drive motor (¶ 0105: Returning to FIG. 15, controller 552 controls the operation of motor 370, rear drive 300, and front drive 302) and the utility device (¶ 0150: As shown in FIG. 23, in one embodiment, accessory battery 720 is selectively charged by either DC-to-DC converter 564 or dc-to-dc converter 724 based on a position of a relay 726. In one embodiment, relay 726 is a single pole, double throw relay. The operation of relay 726 is controlled by controller 554; ¶ 0163: External device 900 also includes diagnostic software 920 through which an operator of external device 900 may retrieve error codes and other information from controller 552 of vehicle 100).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the utility vehicle comprising a frame, a drive wheel, a drive motor, and an operator platform as recited in order to provide the predictable result of a self-propelled, motorized utility vehicle.
Regarding claim 18, KANG discloses the control system is further configured to: initiate the direct battery balancing by enabling a bypass positioned between the first and second battery packs to connect the first and second battery packs, and disabling the DC-to-DC converter; and initiate the converter battery balancing by disabling the bypass (col 9, ll. 52-55; col 18, ll. 41-67).
Regarding claim 19, KANG discloses the control system is further configured to determine whether safety constraints of the utility vehicle are satisfied as a precondition to initiating the converter battery balancing or the direct battery balancing (col 19, ll. 4-55).
Regarding claim 20, KANG discloses the control system is further configured to: determine a state of charge of a third battery pack of the utility vehicle; and initiate converter battery balancing to discharge the first battery pack to each of the second and third battery packs through the DC-to-DC converter in response to determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is within a second threshold amount of a state of charge of the second battery pack (col 20, ll. 34-43; col 25, ll. 33 – 40; col 28, l. 45 - col 29, l. 10).
Regarding claim 21, KANG as modified by CRAIN teaches the utility vehicle as applied to claim 17, and KANG further discloses the utility vehicle is an electric lawn mower (col 7, ll. 20-24).
KANG fails to disclose the utility device is a cutting deck.
Official notice is taken that cutting decks were an old and known expedient in the lawn mower art at the time of the invention.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the cutting deck in order to protect spinning blades and/or safely control airflow.
Regarding claim 27, KANG discloses a utility vehicle (101, Fig. 1; col 7, ll. 20-24: End device 101 may assume different types of devices including, but not limited to, power tools, lawn mowers, garden tools, appliances, and vehicles including forklifts, cars, trucks, and so forth) comprising:
a utility device (col 7, ll. 20-24: see above; a “utility device”, such as a blade and corresponding motor, is implied for the disclosed lawn mower);
three or more battery packs (multiple battery packs 102, 103, and 104 are shown in Fig. 1) electrically connected to a bus bar (151, Fig. 1; col 7, ll. 6-12: FIG. 1 shows end device 101 electrically powered by a plurality of battery packs 100 (battery system) in accordance with an embodiment. Each battery pack 102, 103, and 104 includes its own internal battery management system (BMS) 112, 113, and 114, respectively. Battery packs 102, 103, and 104 are electrically connected to a direct current (DC) power bus 151); and
a control system including at least one electronic controller (col 7, l. 66 – col 8, l. 5: FIG. 2A shows battery pack 200 with an internal battery management system (BMS) in accordance with an embodiment. The battery management system may be implemented by processor 201, which may comprise one or more microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers, computing devices, and/or the like, executing computer-executable instructions stored at memory device 202), the control system in communication with the three or more battery packs (col 17, ll. 24-29: when the master battery pack determines that there are a sufficient number of battery packs, the master battery pack gathers battery pack information (for example, SoC, SoH, and voltage information) from each of the slave battery packs as well as for itself at block 710), the control system configured to:
determine a state of charge for each battery pack of three or more battery packs of the utility vehicle (col 17, ll. 24-29: see above);
determine a first battery pack having a highest state of charge of the three or more battery packs and a second battery pack having a second highest state of charge of the three or more battery packs (col 27, ll. 26-36: Using only a group of one or more battery packs having the highest or higher SoC level (in this case the single battery pack 1905a) to initially power an end device, until the SoC values of the group reaches those of the rest of the pack, may be a more efficient and/or safe method of utilizing battery packs to power an end device. As shown in FIG. 19A, after the single battery pack with the initially higher SoC value has been used to initially power the end device, and its SoC readings reach those of the other battery packs (e.g., battery packs 1902b-1905b), the other battery packs may join in powering the end device 1901b; col 27, ll. 64-67: Discharging may use one or more battery packs with higher SoC values first until passing a set threshold for lower SoC battery packs, at which point the lower SoC battery packs may be enabled),
initiate converter battery balancing to discharge the first battery pack to each other battery pack of the three or more battery packs through a DC-to-DC converter (207, Fig. 2A; 218, Fig. 2B; col 9, ll. 43-49: Converter 207 may assume different forms capable of controlling power transfer between the power bus and the cells of the battery pack such as by providing a stepped-down output voltage with respect to the input voltage (e.g., a buck converter, a auk converter, a buck-boost converter, a single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) converter, etc.); col 20, ll. 34-43: FIG. 9 shows flowchart 713 (referenced in FIG. 7A) for converter balancing with a plurality of battery packs in accordance with an embodiment. Block 901 starts converter balancing, where one of the battery packs (either the master battery pack or one of the slave master packs) charges one or more of the other battery packs. With converter balancing, charge of a single battery pack is transferred to one or more battery packs via converters on each of the charged battery packs. Consequently, two or more battery packs are involved with this type of balancing) in response to at least one selected from the group of:
determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is more than a first threshold amount above the state of charge of the second battery pack (col 18, ll. 44-49: At block 724 process 712 determines whether direct balancing cannot be applied (for example, when the SoC difference between the highest SoC pack and an identified battery pack is above a predetermined SoC threshold). If so, converter balancing is applied to the identified battery pack; the “predetermined SoC threshold” is interpreted as the claimed “first threshold amount”), and
determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is within a second threshold amount of the state of charge of the second battery pack (this recitation is recited in the alternative, and KANG teaches the other alternative; it is noted that “a second threshold amount” is not defined); and
initiate direct battery balancing, by the control system, to discharge the first battery pack to the second battery pack in response to determining that the state of charge of the first battery pack is between the first threshold amount and the second threshold amount above the state of charge of the second battery pack (col 9, ll. 52-55: when converter 207 is bypassed, battery cells 203 may charge at a quicker rate (for example, corresponding to direct balancing flowchart 714 as shown in FIG. 11); col 18, ll. 44-49; see above; col 21, ll. 13-20: FIG. 11 shows flowchart 714 for direct balancing with a plurality of battery packs in accordance with an embodiment. When process 700, as shown in FIG. 7A, determines that direct balancing should be performed, the master battery pack initiates direct balancing at block 1101.With direct balancing, one of the battery packs is charging another battery pack through a low impedance electrical path; col 21, ll. 36-39: At block 1104, the master battery pack gathers SoC data from the batter packs being charge balanced. When an acceptable SoC is reached at block 1105, direct balancing is terminated at block 1106; the “acceptable SoC” is interpreted as the claimed “second threshold amount”).
KANG fails to disclose the utility vehicle comprising:
a frame;
a drive wheel supporting the frame above a ground surface;
a drive motor mounted to the frame and driving rotation of the drive wheel to move the utility vehicle over the ground surface;
an operator platform supported by the frame, and operable to support the weight of a user during operation of the lawn mower;
the utility device is coupled to the frame;
the three or more battery packs are supported by the frame; and
the control system is in communication with the drive motor and the utility device.
CRAIN discloses the utility vehicle (100, Fig. 2; ¶ 0074: the present disclosure is primarily directed to a utility vehicle; ¶ 0078: Returning to FIG. 1, vehicle 100 includes a bed 120 having a cargo carrying surface 122) comprising:
a frame (150, Fig. 2; ¶ 0081: utility vehicle 100 includes a plurality of body components, and as best shown in FIGS. 2-4, namely side panels 170, floor boards 172…All of these items are directly or indirectly attached to and/or supported by the vehicle frame 150);
a drive wheel (104, 106, Fig. 2) supporting the frame above a ground surface (¶ 0075: ground engaging members 102 are wheels 104 and associated tires 106);
a drive motor (370, Figs. 7, 10, & 11) mounted to the frame and driving rotation of the drive wheel to move the utility vehicle over the ground surface (¶ 0094: power from battery supply 556 (at 48V) is provided to controller 308 to power motor 370. Further, contactor 330 powers DC-to-DC converter 564. DC-to-DC converter 564 provides a lower voltage (12V) to power many of the components of vehicle 100. Since controller 308 powers motor 370, vehicle 100 is still drivable in a two-wheel mode even if the 12V system of vehicle 100 is malfunctioning);
an operator platform (130, 132, Fig. 2) supported by the frame, and operable to support the weight of a user during operation of the [utility vehicle] (¶ 0079: Vehicle 100 includes an operator area 130 including seating 132 for one or more passengers);
the utility device (720, 722, Fig. 23; and/or 900, Fig. 33) is coupled to the frame (¶ 0149: vehicle 100 may include an accessory battery 720, represented in FIG. 23. In one embodiment, accessory battery 720 is supported by front frame portion 210 of frame 150. Accessory battery 720 is provided to power an accessory 722. An exemplary accessory is a winch; ¶ 0163: External device 900 also includes diagnostic software 920 through which an operator of external device 900 may retrieve error codes and other information from controller 552 of vehicle 100);
the three or more battery packs (304, Fig. 7) are supported by the frame (¶ 0087: With respect first to battery packs 304, two groups of batteries 304A and 304B are defined where each battery group 304A, 304B includes a battery 318 of 12V capacity where each of the groups 304A, 304B are wired in series, thereby defining two 48V groups. Each of the groups 304A, 304B are connected through the controller 308 in parallel to define a 48V power source. It should be appreciated that battery group 304B is supported by platform 270 (FIG. 5) whereas battery group 304A is supported by platform 272 (FIG. 6C); there are two groups of battery packs, each group having a plurality of battery packs, and therefore “three or more battery packs” is implied); and
the control system (552, 554, Figs. 15, 21, & 33; ¶ 0093: Referring to FIG. 15, an exemplary electrical system 550 of vehicle 100 is represented. Vehicle 100 includes a controller 552 which controls the operation of vehicle 100. In the illustrated embodiment, controller 552 includes a first controller 308 and a second controller 554) is in communication with the drive motor (¶ 0105: Returning to FIG. 15, controller 552 controls the operation of motor 370, rear drive 300, and front drive 302) and the utility device (¶ 0150: As shown in FIG. 23, in one embodiment, accessory battery 720 is selectively charged by either DC-to-DC converter 564 or dc-to-dc converter 724 based on a position of a relay 726. In one embodiment, relay 726 is a single pole, double throw relay. The operation of relay 726 is controlled by controller 554; ¶ 0163: External device 900 also includes diagnostic software 920 through which an operator of external device 900 may retrieve error codes and other information from controller 552 of vehicle 100).
Providing the operator platform of CRAIN for the utility device of KANG, which is disclosed as a lawn mower, teaches the recitation “an operator platform…operable to support the weight of a user during operation of the lawn mower”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the utility vehicle comprising a frame, a drive wheel, a drive motor, and an operator platform as recited in order to provide the predictable result of a self-propelled, motorized utility vehicle.
Regarding claim 28, KANG discloses the control system is further configured to: initiate the direct battery balancing by enabling a bypass positioned between the first and second battery packs to connect the first and second battery packs, and disabling the DC-to-DC converter; and initiate the converter battery balancing by disabling the bypass (col 9, ll. 52-55; col 18, ll. 41-67).
Regarding claim 29, KANG discloses the control system is further configured determine whether safety constraints of the utility vehicle are satisfied as a precondition to initiating the converter battery balancing or the direct battery balancing (col 19, ll. 4-55).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record on form PTO-892 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANUEL HERNANDEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-7916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9a-5p ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Drew Dunn can be reached at (571) 272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Manuel Hernandez/Examiner, Art Unit 2859 6/29/2026
/DREW A DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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