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 office action is a response to an application filed 01/04/2024, in which claims 18-34 are pending and ready for examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Examiner has considered the references listed on the Information Disclosure Statement submitted on 01/04/2024, 02/26/2024, 05/20/2025, 08/19/2025.
Preliminary Amendment to the Instant Specification
The preliminary amendment to the instant specification, dated 01/04/2024, has been reviewed and does not appear to introduce new matter. Therefore, said amendment is accepted.
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
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.
Claims 18-27 and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Publication No. 2016/0316621 to Fritz et al., (hereinafter Fritz)
Regarding claim 18, Fritz discloses an energy supply management system for a vehicle (Vehicle energy management system, see abs., Fritz), comprising:
at least one energy supply system having at least one energy supply unit (Electric power supply system with vehicle battery unit, see P7, p28, abs., Fritz);
at least one load unit having a predetermined scope of functions (Electrical consumers (loads) with functions (e.g. vehicle core functions, vehicle agricultural functions, drive functions, comfort functions, etc.,), see p30-35, P7, p28-29, abs., Fritz), which is able to be connected to the at least one energy supply system in order to be supplied with energy (Electrical consumers (loads) , thus able to be connected to energy supply system, since they consume electric energy, see p30-35, P7, p28-29, abs., Fritz), wherein the energy supply management system is configured to:
determine an energy requirement of the at least one load unit for a predetermined driving maneuver (Electric demand is determined for consumers that involve vehicle functions (i.e. driving maneuver), see Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz), determine an energy that is able to be provided by the at least one energy supply unit to cover the energy requirement (Determining an estimate of power supply for the electric consumers, see Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz), and adapt the predetermined scope of functions of the load unit, the predetermined driving maneuver and/or the energy supply system, when the energy that is able to be provided by the at least one energy supply unit to cover the energy requirement does not cover the energy requirement (Where the available power supply is exceeded by the total determined energy demanded, the system is adapted, for example on function priorities scope, etc., see Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, 45, Fritz).
Regarding claim 19, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz further discloses wherein the energy supply management system is further configured to: adapt the predetermined driving maneuver to obtain an adapted driving maneuver at least by changing a driving destination, a route selection, and/or a speed of travel (System adaptation of a consumer can include travelling speed, see p33, Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz).
Regarding claim 20, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz further discloses wherein the energy supply management system is further configured to: reduce the predetermined scope of functions of the at least one load unit to obtain a reduced-energy scope of functions of the at least one load unit that is able to be covered for the predetermined driving maneuver or for the adapted driving maneuver by the providable energy determined for coverage of the energy requirement by the at least one energy supply unit (Scope of functions is reduced by setting priorities, where lower priority consumers will receive low or no power for higher priority consumers to be covered, see p9, p3, p21, Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz).
Regarding claim 21, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz further discloses wherein the reduced-energy scope of functions is limited to safety-related functions and/or safety-critical functions (Safety relevant core functions with a highest priority that must be maintained, with the implication that lower priority consumers can be reduced if needed, thus safety relevant can be the limited case of a reduced scope, see p22, Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz).
Regarding claim 22, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz further discloses wherein the energy supply system is configured to adapt the determination of functions of the predetermined scope of functions as safety-related functions and/or safety-critical functions on the basis of the predetermined driving maneuver, the adapted driving maneuver, an operating mode of the vehicle, and/or other active scopes of functions (Supply system adapts determined consumer functions into categories, including a scope as safety relevant functions on the basis of driving maneuvers such as steering, breaking, etc., see p12-13, Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz).
Regarding claim 23, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz further discloses wherein the energy supply management system comprises multiple load units and is configured to at least partially compensate for the reduced-energy scope of functions of at least one of the multiple load units by way of a predetermined scope of functions or by way of an adapted scope of functions of at least one other of the multiple load units (Multiple consumers where compensation occurs to reduced power by reduced scope of functions with priority of some consumers over others, see p12-17, p3, Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz).
Regarding claim 24, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz further discloses wherein the adapted scope of functions of the at least one other of the multiple load units is expanded at least based on the reduced-energy scope of functions of the at least one of the multiple load units (Functions with priority of some consumers over others is made to maintain totable available power, with at least a cooling function being able to be expanded with supply priority for compensation of a needed function, see p45-46, p12-13, Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz).
Regarding claim 25, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz further discloses wherein the energy supply management system comprises multiple load units and is configured to adapt the predetermined scope of functions, the reduced-energy scope of functions or the adapted scope of functions of at least one of the multiple load units based on the predetermined scope of functions, the reduced-energy scope of functions or the adapted scope of functions of at least one other of the multiple load units (Multiple consumers where reduced scope of functions with priority of some consumers over others, thus based on functions of other consumers, see p12-17, p3, Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz).
Regarding claim 26, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz further discloses wherein the energy supply management system is further configured to: carry out the adaptation of the predetermined scope of functions, the reduced-energy scope of functions or the adapted scope of functions according to a predetermined prioritization of functions of the respective scopes of functions and/or of load units (Scope of functions is adapted through predetermined priority categorization of consumers, see p9, p3, Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz).
Regarding claim 27, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz further discloses wherein the predetermined prioritization is able to be adapted based on a predetermined or adapted driving maneuver (An adapted prioritization category is based on predetermined driving maneuvers such as breaking or steering, see p12-13, Abs., P7, p30-35, p28-29, Fritz).
Regarding claim 32, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz further discloses wherein a central processor unit of the energy management system, the at least one load unit, the at least one energy supply system, and/or the at least one supplementary energy supply unit is/are configured to: determine the energy requirement or the providable energy, and/or adapt the scope of functions of the load unit, the predetermined or adapted driving maneuver, and/or the energy supply system (At least a monitoring processing unit central to the vehicle system, determines energy requirement demand of consumers, estimated power supply, etc., , see p36, p38, clm 1, Fritz).
Claim 33 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 18.
Claim 34 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 18.
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 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 28-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fritz, in view of W.I.P.O. Patent Publication No. WO2013034729A1 to Augst et al., (hereinafter Augst)
Regarding claim 28, Fritz discloses all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz does not explicitly teach wherein an energy supply management system comprises multiple energy supply units, an at least one load unit is connected to a predetermined energy supply unit or to a group of the multiple energy supply units, and the energy supply management system is further configured to cover an energy requirement of the at least one load unit by adapting the energy supply system by connecting at least one further energy supply unit of the multiple energy supply units.
However, Augst from the same or similar field of vehicle and energy distribution of the vehicle, teaches wherein an energy supply management system comprises multiple energy supply units (A number of energy storage devices in a vehicle, see p17, p29, Augst), an at least one load unit is connected to a predetermined energy supply unit or to a group of the multiple energy supply units (Energy storage devices in a vehicle for energy consumers, thus at least one load connected to an energy supply, see p17, Augst), and the energy supply management system is further configured to cover an energy requirement of the at least one load unit by adapting the energy supply system by connecting at least one further energy supply unit of the multiple energy supply units (Energy storage devices are adapted so that a specified supply can better meet the needed anticipated load requirements for energy and conservation, see p17, p29, p13, 6, 27, Augst).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the vehicle and energy management as described by Fritz and incorporating multiple supply units, as taught by Augst.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better tailor needed power demand to units that may have greater capability or capacity to meet a projected consumer demand as opposed to another supply unit (see p17, p29, p13, 6, 27, Augst).
Regarding claim 29, the combination of Fritz and Augst teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Augst further teaches wherein at least one connected energy supply unit is a redundant energy supply unit or an energy supply unit that is associated with at least one further load unit having a reduced- energy scope of functions or having a non-exhaustive energy requirement (Energy storage devices can be complementary for redistribution, meaning redundant to one another, or a storage device associated with a load having a reduced adapted function, see p31, p29, p17, p29, p13, 6, Augst).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the vehicle and energy management as described by Fritz and incorporating a redundant energy supply, as taught by Augst.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better tailor needed power demand to units that may have greater capability or capacity to meet a projected consumer demand as opposed to another supply unit thus providing a complementary redundant unit (see p31, p29, p17, p29, p13, 6, Augst).
Regarding claim 30, Fritz teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz does not explicitly teach wherein an energy supply management system is further configured to: determine an energy requirement of an at least one load unit for a predetermined driving maneuver or adapted driving maneuver based on one or more of: a remaining distance to a driving destination, route types, a route profile, route layouts, route disruptions, or a volume of traffic.
However, Augst from the same or similar field of vehicle and energy distribution of the vehicle, teaches wherein an energy supply management system is further configured to: determine an energy requirement of an at least one load unit for a predetermined driving maneuver or adapted driving maneuver based on one or more of: a remaining distance to a driving destination, route types, a route profile, route layouts, route disruptions, or a volume of traffic(Energy storage devices are adapted so that a specified supply can better meet the needed anticipated load requirements for energy and conservation of an anticipated driving condition, which can include consideration of level of traffic, navigation route, etc., see p35, 52, 61, p17, p29, p13, 6, 27, Augst).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the vehicle and energy management as described by Fritz and incorporating consideration of specified traffic conditions, as taught by Augst.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better consider situations that will impact a prediction of a driving state and that will influence estimated energy needed for said state (see p13, 17, p35, 52, 61, p29, p13, 6, 27, Augst).
Regarding claim 31, Fritz teaches all the limitations of the base claim as outlined above, and are analyzed as previously discussed with regard to that claim.
Fritz does not explicitly teach wherein an at least one energy supply system comprises at least one main energy supply unit and at least one supplementary energy supply unit, and an energy supply management system is further configured to: determine an energy that is able to be provided by the at least one supplementary energy supply unit to cover an energy requirement of an at least one load unit for a predetermined or adapted driving maneuver.
However, Augst from the same or similar field of vehicle and energy distribution of the vehicle, teaches wherein an at least one energy supply system comprises at least one main energy supply unit and at least one supplementary energy supply unit, and an energy supply management system is further configured to: determine an energy that is able to be provided by the at least one supplementary energy supply unit to cover an energy requirement of an at least one load unit for a predetermined or adapted driving maneuver (Energy storage device, such as a capacitor, that is supplemental to another energy storage device, is determined as energy to be provided to provide specified supply that can better meet the needed anticipated load requirements for a driving state, see pp13, 17, p29, p13, 6, 27, Augst).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the vehicle and energy management as described by Fritz and incorporating energy supply unit, supplemental supply unit, and a determined energy to be provided, as taught by Augst.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to better tailor needed power demand to units that have greater capability or capacity to meet a projected consumer demand of an anticipated driving condition over another supply unit (see p17, p29, p13, 6, 27, Augst).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Flatland, US. Patent No. 11,602,999 teaches demand associated with one or more vehicle systems that can be predicted for a planned travel path, and forming control strategies to optimize efficiency, comfort, etc.,.
Lu et al., US. Patent Publication No. 2022/0234466 teaches re-routing a travel path of a vehicle based on charging capability.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMILIO J SAAVEDRA whose telephone number is (571)270-5617. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30am-5:30pm (EST).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert E Fennema can be reached at (571) 272-2748. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/EMILIO J SAAVEDRA/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2117