DETAILED ACTON
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 papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 03/11/2025, 03/19/2025 and 07/22/2025 are acknowledged by the examiner.
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 “output”, “input” 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
Claims 3-8 are objected for minor informalities
Claim 3 recites “(+)” terminal. In line 2-3, 9-1. Instead of using the symbol “(+) “ Examiner advised applicant to sue the common terminology “positive terminal” to avoid any ambiguity in the claims.
Claim 3 recites “(-)” terminal. In line 2-3, 9-1. Instead of using the symbol “(-) Examiner advised applicant to sue the common terminology “negative terminal” to avoid any ambiguity in the claims.
Claim 3 recites “ connection unit” in line 14. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this imitation in the claim. It should written “connection part”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 4 recites “ a pack (+) terminal” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this imitation in the claim. It should written “the pack (+) terminal part”. 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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Meng et al. (US 2021/0328442), hereinafter Meng
As to claim 1. Meng discloses in figures 7-8, . a battery pack-to-pack charging control system, comprising: [see figures 7 and 8; figure 8 is reproduced below] :
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a first battery pack [see figure above; see figure 8, battery packs disclosed];
a second battery pack [see figure above]; and
a battery connector [connectors; see figure above; the switching box is connected as connectors] ]configured to: connection unit, wherein the battery connection unit connects connect the first and second battery packs in parallel [when S1 and S3 are closed the battery packs connected in parallel] the switch and cut off an output to an external system when the external system is in a standby state, and connects connect the first and second battery packs in series [S2 and closed ; the first battery pack and second battery pack series; ¶0039] and outputs output a series connection output thereof of the first and second battery packs to the external system when the external system is in an active state [the first battery pack and the second battery pack are connected each other in parallel and series; see also ¶0045] .
As to claim 2, Meng discloses in figures 7-8, wherein the battery connector comprises: connection unit is configured to comprise an input configured to receive unit that receives outputs of the first and second battery packs [the connectors receives outputs of the first battery packs and the second battery pack], an output configured to output or block unit that outputs or blocks the received outputs of the first and second battery packs input to the input unit to the external system [the switch outputs the battery power], a path connector [the electrical wires (see figure above)] configured to provide a connection unit that constitutes connection of the first and second battery packs between the input and the output of the battery connector [see ¶0045].
As to claim 3, Mend discloses in figures 7-8 (see figure above)
wherein: the input is configured to comprises [see figure above]:
a first (+) connection par [see figure above] connected to a (+) terminal of the first battery pack [noted that the first battery pack positive terminal (+) is connected to the connection part (+) terminal, see figure 8 and the switch (S1) terminals are considered as connection positive terminals; see annotated figure above],
a second (+) connection part connected to a (+) terminal of the second battery pack [noted that the second t battery pack positive terminal (+) is connected to the connection part (+) terminal, see figure 8 and the switch (S1) terminals are considered as connection positive terminals; see annotated figure above]
a first (-) connection part [see figure 8 and also the annotated figure above, the (52) switch terminals are considered (-) connection terminals] connected to a (-) terminal of the first battery pack [noted that the first battery pack negative terminal (-) is connected to the connection part (-) terminal, see figure 8 and the switch (S3) terminals are considered as connection negative terminals; see annotated figure above ].
a second (-) connection part [see figure above] connected to a (-) terminal of the second battery pack, and the path connector comprises: connection unit is configured to comprise [noted that the first battery pack negative terminal (-) is connected to the connection part (_) terminal, see figure 8 and the switch (S3) terminals are considered as connection negative terminals; see annotated figure above ].
a first path connecting the first (-) connection part and the second (-) connection part [the first path is the path connected the negative terminal of the first battery pack and the negative terminals of the second battery pack when switch S3 is closed],
a second path connecting the first (+) connection part and the second (+) connection part, a third path connecting the second (+) connection unit and a (+) output end [ the second path is the path connected the positive terminal of the first battery pack and the positive terminals of the second battery pack when switch S1 is closed],
a fourth path connecting the first (+) connection part and the second (-) connection part [the second forth path is the path connected the positive terminal of the first battery pack and the negative terminals of the second battery pack when switch S2 is closed],
a fifth path connecting the first (-) connection unit and a (-) output end [the negative terminal of the second battery pack is connected to the output negative terminal and considered as fifth pat], and first to fifth switches configured to open and close opening and closing the first to fifth paths, respectively [see ¶0039 and ¶0045].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
. For Claim 4: Primarily, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest in the claimed combination: wherein: the first and second battery packs respectively comprise first and second discharge circuits in a path connecting a (+) terminal of a cell module and a pack (+) terminal, and the first and second discharge circuits respectively comprise: a discharge FET, a discharge resistor, and a discharge precharge FET connected in series to the discharge FET; and a charge FET connected in parallel to the resistor and the discharge precharge FET connected in series to the discharge FET.
Claims 9-12 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
For Claim 9:Primarily, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest in the claimed combination:
For claim 9: primarily, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest in the claimed combination: a battery pack-to-pack charging control method for controlling charging between a plurality of battery packs, including first and second battery packs, the method comprising: a pack SOC acquisition step of acquiring state of charge (SOC} values of respective the first and second battery packs, respectively, at regular intervals in an external system;
a system standby state recognition step of recognizing determining whether the external system is in a standby state; and
a parallel connection switching step of connecting the first and second battery packs in parallel according to an SOC difference between the first and second battery packs if the external system is determined recognized as being in the standby state,
wherein the parallel connection switching step connecting of the first and second battery packs in parallel comprises: a first pack SOC difference calculation step of calculating a pack SOC difference using the acquired SOC values of the respective first and second battery packs acquired in the pack SOC acquisition step when if the external system is determined recognized as being in the standby state, and a first comparison and determination step of comparing whether the calculated pack SOC difference exceeds a predetermined reference pack SOC difference, and determining that the first and second battery packs are to be switched to a parallel connection if the calculated pack SOC difference exceeds the predetermined reference pack SOC difference.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Verbridge (US 10,770,908) disclosed battery pack with series and parallel connections.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL BERHANU whose telephone number is (571)272-8430. The examiner can normally be reached M_F.
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, Julian A. Huffman can be reached at Julian.Huffman@uspto.gov. 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 20/SAMUEL BERHANU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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