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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 9 before last line: “the set amount of time” in limitations “adding a set amount to a previously calculated amount of accumulated wear of the first contactor to generate the accumulated wear of the first contactor, the set amount of time based on the first peak current” lacks antecedent basis. For examination purposes, the claim limitations are interpreted as “adding a set amount of wear … the set amount of wear based on the first peak current” since wear can only be added to accumulated wear, not time. Clarifications are respectfully requested.
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.
Claim(s) 1-13, 15, 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Netto (US 20240421608)
Netto discloses
1. A method for an electric vehicle having a first charge inlet and a plurality of contactors electrically coupled to the first charge inlet, comprising:
responsive to initiation of a charging event at the first charge inlet (par. 3: plug), closing at least a portion of contactors of the plurality of contactors according to a first sequence, the first sequence based on a respective accumulated wear of each contactor of the plurality of contactors (Netto is silent to the first sequence of closing a portion of contactors based on accumulated wear of each contactor; however, Netto also discloses that the openings of the contactors can be controlled based on estimated wear that is caused by energized electrical arcs when there is a gap at the contactors and that the contactor with most severe wear would be opened last; par. 7, 21-22, 55-56, 58; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to extend the teachings of Netto to the closing sequence by the contactors in a similar sequence such that the closing of the contactors is in the order that they accumulate wearing, so that wear balancing can be achieved)
2.1, wherein the plurality of contactors includes a first set of contactors having a first polarity and a second set of contactors having a second polarity, all coupled in parallel between one or more batteries of the electric vehicle and the first charge inlet (Netto, par. 44, 51-52, 57).
3.2, Netto discloses that “every time the state of a contactor is changed from closed to open, or vice versa, the contactor is subject to mechanical and electrical wear in the form of contactor wear … When a contactor is closed, on the other side, the electric breakdown voltage is typically exceeded just before the contactor reaches a fully closed state, resulting in a small electric arc. [0022] Thus, the contactor wear upon opening of the contactor may be at least partly due to the formation of electric arcs. The effect of such electric arcs on the contactor wear may be estimated in an advantageous manner by the characterization model applying the system parameters. As the formation of the electric arcs may be the result of residue energy, or residue inductance, remaining in the energy storage system (e.g. on the common traction voltage bus) subsequent to a shut-down of the load, the residue energy, or residue inductance, may be included in the plurality of system parameters.”
According to Netto, the arcing generated from the arc near the time of closing or opening creates wear on the contactor.
Netto further discloses that any amount or two contactors 141, 142 of the group of three packs 131-133 can be opened prior to the third (par. 57) and the contactor with highest accumulated wear is disconnected first (par. 58).
Since Netto’s purpose is to balance the wear on all contactors by opening contactors with minimum wear first, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to extend Netto’s teachings to the closing sequence by closing the contactor determined to have highest wear first and next to highest wear to close second, and so on. This would enable the battery to be charged or discharged on demand and also achieving contactor wear balance.
Thus, claim 3 is considered obvious over Netto’s teachings.
4.3, see discussion regarding claim 3 above; it would have also been obvious that per Netto, closing and subsequently opening the contactors are based on the order of wear severity.
5.2, see discussion regarding claims above regarding the order in which the contactors are closed. The contactor with the least amount of wear is to close first then another with lesser wear, and so on. Netto is silent to four contactors. However, it is well recognized that multiplication of parts are obvious modifications; MPEP 2144.04. Thus, claim 5 is considered obvious over Netto’s teachings
6.5, Netto discloses that the control unit 117 may control the order in which the contactors 141, 142, 143 are opened in response to the estimated contactor wear, and/or predict maintenance of contactor 141, 142, 143, or contactor exchange, in response to the estimated contactor wear ... The order may e.g. comprise cycling which of the first, second and third battery packs 131, 132, 133 that is being disconnected last, and thus which of the first, second and third contactors 141, 142, 143 that is being opened last … The characterization model may thus define the contactor wear as a function of the plurality of system parameters, the system parameters comprising at least current and voltage during contactor opening and additionally a third system parameter being at least one of the following: temperature, inductance, altitude, and contactor design during contactor opening (par. 55, 61, 64). Thus, order of the opening and closing of contactors are under the control of the control unit 117, which is based on system parameters; including voltage, current, temperature, inductance, design, etc. Since the packs are parallel to each other, the polarities of the packs are the same when closing and opening (Fig. 2). Thus, claim 6 is considered obvious over Netto’s teachings.
7.1, further comprising determining the respective accumulated wear of each contactor of the plurality of contactors based on, for each contactor, a peak current of that contactor each time that contactor is opened or closed (Netto, par. 23, 25, 51-55, 59, 64, 92-93; although silent to peak current, this is an obvious extension of Netto’s teachings as the variable I would include measured max current).
8.7, wherein determining the respective accumulated wear of each contactor comprises, for a first contactor of the plurality of contactors: measuring a current of the first contactor while the first contactor is opening or closing based on signals from a current sensor associated with the first contactor (Netto, par. 49, 51); identifying a first peak current of the first contactor while the first contactor is opening or closing based on the measured current; and subtracting a set amount from a lifespan of the first contactor to generate an adjusted lifespan, the set amount based on the first peak current, wherein the accumulated wear of the first contactor is an inverse of the adjusted lifespan (Netto, par. 51-55, 59, 64, 92-93)
9.7, wherein determining the respective accumulated wear of each contactor comprises, for a first contactor of the plurality of contactors: measuring a current of the first contactor while the first contactor is opening or closing based on signals from a current sensor associated with the first contactor; identifying a first peak current of the first contactor while the first contactor is opening or closing based on the measured current; and adding a set amount to a previously calculated amount of accumulated wear of the first contactor to generate the accumulated wear of the first contactor, the set amount of time based on the first peak current (Netto, par. 51-55, 59, 64, 92-93).
10. A system for an electric vehicle, comprising:
a first charge inlet (par. 3: plug); a power distribution unit configured to distribute power from the first charge inlet to one or more batteries, the power distribution unit including a plurality of contactors (Fig. 2); and
a controller (117) storing instructions in memory executable by one or more processors of the controller to:
determine, for each contactor of the plurality of contactors, a respective accumulated wear based on a peak current through each contactor each time that contactor is opened and closed (par. 64, 93);
during initiation of a charging event, close at least a portion of the plurality of contactors according to a first sequence that is based on the respective accumulated wear of each contactor and a current demand for the charging event; and responsive to conclusion of the charging event, open the at least the portion of the plurality of contactors according to a second sequence (Netto is silent to the first sequence of closing a portion of contactors based on accumulated wear of each contactor; however, Netto also discloses that the openings of the contactors in a second sequence can be controlled based on estimated wear that is caused by energized electrical arcs when there is a gap at the contactors and that the contactor with most severe wear would be opened last; par. 7, 21-22, 55-56, 58; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to extend the teachings of Netto to the closing sequence by the contactors in a similar sequence such that the closing of the contactors is in the order that they accumulate wearing, so that wear balancing can be achieved)
Re claims 11-13, see discussion regarding claims above.
15. A method for an electric vehicle having a first charge inlet and a plurality of contactors electrically coupled to the first charge inlet, the method comprising:
determining, for each contactor of the plurality of contactors, a respective accumulated wear based on a peak current through each contactor each time that contactor is opened and closed (par. 64, 93);
detecting that a charging event is being initiated, and in response, closing at least a portion of the plurality of contactors according to a first sequence that is based on the respective accumulated wear of each contactor and a current demand for the charging event; and detecting that the charging event has concluded, and in response, opening the at least the portion of the plurality of contactors according to a second sequence that is based on the respective accumulated wear of each contactor (Netto is silent to the first sequence of closing a portion of contactors based on accumulated wear of each contactor; however, Netto also discloses that the openings of the contactors in a second sequence can be controlled based on estimated wear that is caused by energized electrical arcs when there is a gap at the contactors and that the contactor with most severe wear would be opened last; par. 7, 21-22, 55-56, 58; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to extend the teachings of Netto to the closing sequence by the contactors in a similar sequence such that the closing of the contactors is in the order that they accumulate wearing, so that wear balancing can be achieved).
Re claims 17-18, see discussion regarding claims above.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Netto (US 20240421608) in view of ABB (NPL entitled “Guidelines for Contactor inspection and maintenance)” and Kidd (US 20200031238)
Re claim 14.10, Netto is silent to wherein the respective accumulated wear of each contactor is further determined based on a voltage drop across each contactor each time that contactor is opened and closed and/or based on a breaking power of each contactor each time that contactor is opened,
ABB discloses “Voltage drop to less than 85 % of nominal voltage for 5 to 10 ms can be enough for the contactor to start opening.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of ABB to encourage close monitoring of voltage drop for possible contact failure.
Netto is silent to wherein the system further includes a second charge inlet and the power distribution unit is configured to distribute power from the second charge inlet to the one or more batteries, and wherein the current demand is determined based on which of the first charge inlet and the second charge inlet is being used for the charging event.
Kidd discloses Tesla vehicles accomplish the same objective through the J-1772 connector by switching between AC regular and DC fast charging modes depending on signals relayed from the charger specifying its nature (par. 46-47).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Kidd so that a charging level can be switch according to the needs.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Netto (US 20240421608) in view of ABB (NPL entitled “Guidelines for Contactor inspection and maintenance)”
Re claim 16.15, Netto is silent to wherein the respective accumulated wear is determined for each contactor further based on a voltage drop across that contactor each time that contactor is opened and closed.
ABB discloses “Voltage drop to less than 85 % of nominal voltage for 5 to 10 ms can be enough for the contactor to start opening.”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of ABB to encourage close monitoring of voltage drop for possible contact failure.
Netto is silent to wherein the system further includes a second charge inlet and the power distribution unit is configured to distribute power from the second charge inlet to the one or more batteries, and wherein the current demand is determined based on which of the first charge inlet and the second charge inlet is being used for the charging event.
Claim(s) 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Netto (US 20240421608) in view of ABB (NPL entitled “Guidelines for Contactor inspection and maintenance)” and Kidd (US 20200031238)
Re claim 19.15, Netto is silent to wherein the vehicle includes a second charge inlet electrically coupled to the plurality of contactors, wherein detecting that a charging event is being initiated includes detecting that a charging event with the second charge inlet is being initiated and thus the current demand is a second, higher current demand,
Kidd discloses Tesla vehicles accomplish the same objective through the J-1772 connector by switching between AC regular and DC fast charging modes depending on signals relayed from the charger specifying its nature (par. 46-47).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Kidd so that a charging level can be switch according to the needs.
With respect to the claimed opposite polarity, Netto discloses that the batteries can be in series which implies that a contactor can have an opposite polarity to an adjacent one, the opening and closing which are also under the control unit 117. Netto is silent to four contactors. However, it is well recognized that multiplication of parts are obvious modifications; MPEP 2144.04. Thus the claim is considered obvious over the prior art.
20.19, see discussion regarding claims above.
Conclusion
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/THIEN T MAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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