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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-5, 7-15, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dou et al. USPG Pub. No.: US 2020/0358147.
Regarding Claim 1, Dou teaches a system for detecting a hazardous battery condition (see figures 1A, 2A, and [0006] in which the problem being solved, an improper amount and distribution of electrolyte in the battery, is stated to potentially result in catastrophic failure), the system comprising:
a battery case defining an internal battery compartment comprising a battery cell (see figure 2B, in which the battery cell 202 has a case);
an acoustic transmitter configured to transmit an acoustic signal (see [0071] and figures 1A-2B, in which sensors 206 of figure 2A-2B, analogous to 100 of figure 1, are comprised of a transmitter 104 and a receiver 106),
wherein the acoustic transmitter is disposed within the internal battery compartment (seen in figures 2A-2B); and
an acoustic receiver disposed within the internal battery compartment, wherein the acoustic receiver is positioned to receive the acoustic signal (see [0071] and figures 1A-2B, in which sensors 206 of figure 2A-2B, analogous to 100 of figure 1, are comprised of a transmitter 104 and a receiver 106);
wherein the hazardous battery condition is determined based on a change in a time of flight of the acoustic signal (see [0057]-[0058] in which electrolyte distribution is obtained through time of flight, and see [0006] which discusses that if this value is outside of a certain range, a hazardous condition exists; note that the determination of dry spots by measuring the electrolyte distribution also qualifies as a hazardous battery condition, as these spots can lead to thermal runaway).
Regarding Claim 12, the device as recited in claim 1 is specific to this method and thus it must perform the method. The method is intrinsic to the apparatus because the recited method steps will be performed during normal operation of the apparatus. Therefore, Claim 12 is also rejected.
Regarding Claim 20, Dou teaches a computer program product for detecting a hazardous battery condition, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising an executable portion configured to perform the functions of the apparatus of claim 1 (see [0015] stating that the apparatus functionality, as discussed in claim 1, can be performed through a non-transitory computer readable medium).
Regarding Claims 2 and 13, Dou teaches the system and method of Claims 1 and 12, wherein the time of flight of the acoustic signal is reduced due to the presence of an emitted gas from the battery cell in the internal battery compartment (see [0080]).
Regarding Claims 3 and 14, Dou teaches the system and method of Claims 2 and 13, wherein the emitted gas is hydrogen gas ([0092] discussing lithium-ion cells which are well-known to emit hydrogen gas during thermal runaway).
Regarding Claims 4 and 15, Dou teaches the system and method of Claims 1 and 12, wherein the hazardous battery condition is thermal runaway (see [0006] in which the detected condition is directly indicative of a condition of thermal runaway).
Regarding Claim 5, Dou teaches the system of Claim 1, wherein the hazardous battery condition is determined based on a rate of change of the time of flight of the acoustic signal (see [0057]-[0058]).
Regarding Claim 7, Dou teaches the system of Claim 1, further comprising: a sensing device, wherein the sensing device is positioned within the internal battery compartment to measure a physical condition of the internal battery compartment, and wherein an expected time of flight of the acoustic signal is adjusted based on the physical condition of the internal battery compartment (see figures 2A-2B, as the dielectric within the fluid changes, the time-of-flight of the measurement signal will change as a result).
Regarding Claims 8 and 18, Dou teaches the system and method of Claims 7 and 17, wherein the sensing device comprises at least one of a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor (see [0125] which implicates a temperature sensor).
Regarding Claim 9, Dou teaches the system of Claim 1, wherein the acoustic signal is an ultrasonic pulse [0056].
Regarding Claims 10 and 19, Dou teaches the system and method of Claims 1 and 12, wherein the acoustic transmitter is positioned to transmit the acoustic signal at a reflecting wall of the internal battery compartment and the acoustic receiver is positioned to receive the acoustic signal once it has reflected off one or more walls of the internal battery compartment (see [0056] and figures 2A-2B).
Regarding Claim 11, Dou teaches the system of Claim 1, further comprising: a microcontroller, wherein the microcontroller is electrically connected to the acoustic transmitter and the acoustic receiver, and wherein the microcontroller is configured to monitor the change in time of flight of the acoustic signal (see figure 1A, 110).
Regarding Claim 17, Dou teaches he method of Claim 12, further comprising: retrieving from a sensing device a measurement, indicating a physical condition of the internal battery compartment (see [0056]-[0058]); and adjusting an expected time of flight of the acoustic signal based on the physical condition of the internal battery compartment (see figure 1A, 110).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 16 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.
RE Claims 6 and 16, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest “wherein the hazardous battery condition is determined in an instance in which the rate of change of the time of flight of the acoustic signal exceeds a pre-determined max rate of velocity change threshold,” in combination with the other claim limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL A HARRISON whose telephone number is (571)272-3573. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, STEPHANIE BLOSS can be reached at (571) 272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL A HARRISON/Examiner, Art Unit 2852
