DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of 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 statement (IDS) submitted on 02/28/2024 is acknowledged by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-8 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song (US 2015/0048797) in view of Wipfler et al. (US 2014/0322569), hereinafter Wipfler .
As to claim 1, Song discloses in figures 1-6 (figure 2 is reproduced below);-
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.a semiconductor-based switch for a disconnecting of a charging-current path for a charging of a battery of a vehicle-side high voltage electrical system of a battery-electric vehicle [semiconductor switch is disclosed and a battery pack used in the vehicle also disclosed; see figure 2 and also ¶0051; see figure above], the semiconductor-based fuse comprising:
one or more semiconductor-switch elements [a charging switching elements (261) and a discharging switch (262): see figure 2 and also ¶0085] that are switchable in a charging-current path of the battery-electric vehicle to enable a charging of the battery via the charging-current path [see ¶0085 and see figure above];
a measurement sensor [measuring unit (230); see ¶0081 and also see figure 2 shown above] system that is configured to connect into the charging-current path of the battery-electric vehicle, and is configured to detect a current flowing through one or more semiconductor-switch elements [see ¶0085; see figure above]; and
a control system [controller (240); see figure 2 as shown above and also see ¶0083] that is configured to switch off the one or more semiconductor-switch elements upon reaching a threshold value of the detected current to disconnect the vehicle-side high voltage electrical system from the charging-current path [the controller controls the charging and discharging switch based on the measurement data to avoid overcurrent and overdischarge of the battery; see ¶0052, 85].
Song does not disclose explicitly, a semiconductor-based fuse [see ¶0013 and Claim 3].
Wipfler discloses a semiconductor0 based fuse [see claim ]
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to use semiconductor-based fuse switch in Song’s apparatus as taught by Wipfler in order to have cost effective semiconductor switch element with a short response time.
As to claim 2, Song discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the measurement sensor [measurement sensor (234) ] system comprises a measurement sensor connected in series with the one or more semiconductor-switch elements [see figure 2].
As to claim 3, Song discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the measurement sensor system is configured to determine a current flowing over a threshold resistance of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements [noted that the measurement sensor is a hall or a shunt sensor; see ¶0081].
As to claim 4, Song discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the measurement sensor system llis configured to determine a current flowing over a threshold resistance of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements [see ¶0081].
As to claim 5, Song discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the measurement sensor system is configured to detect a current in a charging direction in which current flows from a charging infrastructure to the vehicle-side high voltage electrical system of the battery-electric vehicle [see ¶0081], and the measurement sensor system is configured to detect a current against the charging direction in which current flows from the vehicle-side high voltage electrical system to the charging infrastructure [¶0080-0081].
As to claim 6, Song discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the control system is configured to switch off the one or more semiconductor-switch elements [turning of the semiconductor switches (261) and (262) based on charging/discharging switches; see ¶0085] upon detection of the current in the charging-current path that flows against the charging direction and reaches the threshold value [see ¶0081-0082, ¶0085] .
As to claim 7. Song discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the control system is configured to switch off the one or more semiconductor-switch elements [controlling switches (261) and (262)] unidirectionally upon detection of the current against the charging direction exceeding the threshold value [¶0081-0082].
As to claim 8, Song discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the control system is configured to switch off the one or more semiconductor-switch elements bidirectionally upon detection of the current in the charging direction or the current against the charging direction exceeding the threshold value [¶0081-0082 and ¶0085].
As to claim 10, Song discloses in figure 2, wherein the one or more semiconductor-switch elements are interconnected with one another unidirectionally[noted that the switches are connected in series in one direction; ¶0081 and ¶0085].
As to claim 11, Song discloses in figures 1-6, wherein the measurement sensor system is configured to detect the current flowing through the one or more semiconductor-switch elements based on at least one or a combination of [the measurement is based on the current that pases through the circuit elements] : a measurement of a switched-on resistance of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements; a measurement of a temperature of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements; a measurement of a forward voltage of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements; a shunt measurement at the one or more semiconductor-switch elements with a current-sensing resistor; and a measurement with a magnetic-field-based current measurement [¶0056, ¶0081, ¶0085, ¶0092].
As to claim 12, Song discloses in figure 2 (see below)
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a power section [see the annotated part above, the power system includes, the switches, the current measurement element, the controller] including the one or more semiconductor-switch elements and the measurement sensor system, wherein the measurement sensor system is further configured to determine at least one of a switched-on resistance and a forward voltage of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements; and a control section including the control system and a communications interface to a superordinate control device, and the control system is galvanically separated from the communications interface [see ¶0056, ¶0081 and ¶0085].
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song in view of Wipfler as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Matsunaga (US 2008/0278116).
As to claim 9, Song discloses all of the claim limitations except, wherein the one or more semiconductor-switch elements comprise one or more pairs of semiconductor switches connected in parallel, wherein each pair of semiconductor switches comprises two semiconductor switches interconnected against each other in parallel.
Matsunaga discloses in figure 1, wherein the one or more semiconductor-switch elements comprise one or more pairs of semiconductor switches [see figure 1; transistors switches Q11, Q21, Q12 and Q22 are connected in parallel] connected in parallel, wherein each pair of semiconductor switches comprises two semiconductor switches interconnected against each other in parallel [see ¶0048].
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to modify Song’s apparatus and use parallel semiconductor switches as taught by Matsunaga in order to provide equal voltage to the switches and also control each switch independently.
Claims 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song in view of Wipfler as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Machine Translation of JP2006296032, hereinafter 032’.
As to claim 13, Song discloses all of the claim limitations except, wherein the control system is configured to carry out a diagnostic for determining of a state of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements, and the diagnostic is based on one of: a measurement of a gate threshold voltage drift of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements; a measurement of a gate leakage current of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements; or a measurement of a supply voltage of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements.
032’ discloses in figure 1, a diagnostic for determining of a state of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements, and the diagnostic is based on one of: a measurement of a gate threshold voltage drift of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements; a measurement of a gate leakage current of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements; or a measurement of a supply voltage of the one or more semiconductor-switch elements [see ¶0038, the leakage of the transistor switch is measured by the voltage detection element].
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to detect the leakage of the transitory of Song as taught by 032’ in order to prevent possible damage and stabilize the switch performance.
As to claim 14, Song discloses in figure 2, wherein the control system is configured to switch on one or more switched-off semiconductor-switch elements in the charging-current path of the battery-electric vehicle to enable a renewed charging of the battery via the charging-current path [noted that the switching devices is on and charging restarts after charging overcurrent avoided].
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song in view of Wipfler as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Machine Translation of JPH1028500A, hereinafter 500’.
As to claim 15, Song discloses all of the claim limitations except, a cooling system that is configured to cool the one or more semiconductor-switch elements using a coolant.
500’ discloses in figure 1, a cooling system that is configured to cool the one or more semiconductor-switch elements using a coolant [the cooler (600) cooling the semiconductor switches ; see ¶0019].
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to use cooling system in Song’s apparatus as taught by 500’ in order to avoid semiconductor switches damage due to overheating.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jang et al. (US 2015/0229144) discloses Battery Managements System.
Furukawa et al. (US 2010/0127663) discloses Battery System With Relays.
Yoshikawa (US 2009/0273314 A1) Battery Pack And Control Method.
Kim (US 2009/0085521 A1) discloses Safety Circuit And Battery Pack Using The Same.
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.
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/SAMUEL BERHANU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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