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 .
The information statements filed on 12/24/2024 and 12/13/2024 have been entered. Claims 1-7 are presented for examination.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Frederick et al. (Frederick et al. – 2019/0060699; herein after referred to as “Frederick”) in view of Natarajan et al. (Natarajan et al. – 2023/0305615; herein after referred as “Natarajan”).
Regarding claims 1-7, Frederick discloses vehicle battery charging apparatus connectable to a portable charger in conformance with a universal serial bus (USB) power delivery (PD) standard {via a USB Type-C cable and a USB Type-C terminal], the vehicle battery charging apparatus comprising:
a power supply and reception circuit configured to selectively perform a power input operation as a power reception side or a power output operation as a power supply side, [via the USB Type-C terminal] (Frederick; Fig. 1; 0033-0036; “[0035] The charging interface 34b may include circuitry and other hardware (for example, wiring, a transformer, etc.) needed for converting electric current generated by pedal mechanism 38 into a form suitable for charging a vehicle battery and/or charging an electronic device (for example, a cellular phone or other battery-powered device). The charging interface 34b may also include an A/C power outlet which may be electrically connected to a battery of a vehicle in which the vehicle seat assembly resides, for powering an A/C device such as a laptop computer, for example. In one or more arrangements, the charging interface 34b may have an A/C power outlet and one or more USB ports, for example”).
a charging determination circuit configured to determine whether or not a battery installed in a vehicle requires charging (Frederick; Fig. 1; “[0036] The charging interface 34b may incorporate power distribution logic configured to determine what electrical loads are electrically connected to the charging interface, and configured to allocate power generated by the pedal mechanism 38 in accordance with predetermined priorities. For example, if the power distribution logic determines that one or more electronic devices are plugged into the charging interface 34b, the logic may allocate generated power to the electronic devices until the devices are fully charged. After the electronic devices are fully charged, any additional generated power may then be directed to the vehicle battery. Other charging priority schemes are also possible”); and
a supply requesting and reception setting circuit configured to request the portable charger to operate as the power supply side and to set the power supply and reception circuit to operate as the power reception side, when the charging determination circuit determines that the charging is required (Frederick; Fig. 1; par. 0033-0036).
Although Frederick discloses the use of USB interface in power delivery, specifically charging a vehicle, he fails to mentions USB type-C interface, Type-C cable, and charging when a voltage level falls lower than a predetermined threshold.
Reference to Natarajan is cited as an evident showing the conventionality of the claimed feature. Especially, Natarajan show a battery charging system power delivery controller that is coupled to the USB Type-C adapter 110 and cable (Natarajan; Fig. 1 and 7; par. 0020-0029; “[0027] In various embodiments, platform 120—which facilitates a delivery of power to load circuit 140—comprises a hardware interface 122 to couple to Type-C adapter 110, and a PD controller 124 which is to participate in communications with the PD controller 114 of Type-C adapter 110 via the hardware interface 122. The communications are according to any of various standard PD negotiation protocols such as one which is compatible with a USB PD specification. In an embodiment, the adapter 110 provides functionality to operate in any of multiple predefined modes (“operational modes” herein)—e.g., wherein some or all such modes are each to regulate a level of a voltage and/or to regulate a level of a current. By way of illustration and not limitation, various modes of the adapter 110 are each able to support up to a 5 Amps (A) current with the voltage being at a respective one of 5 Volts (V), 9 V, 15 V, or 20 V (e.g., for up to 100 W power delivery). Additionally or alternatively, a mode of the adapter 110 is able to support up to a 3 A current with the voltage being at 20 V, for example”). Natarajan also teaches a platform 120 which determines to charge when a voltage falls below a predetermined threshold (Natarajan; Fig. 1 and 7; “[0071] By way of illustration and not limitation, after the determining of system state information at 702, method 700 performs a first evaluation (at 703) to detect for a first condition wherein the load circuit is in a low power state (e.g., a standby mode, an idle mode, or the like)—e.g., where the low power state is concurrent with the battery being below some predetermined threshold state of charge (in one example embodiment, less than 50% of the battery's charge capacity). Where the first evaluation at 703 detects the first condition, method 700 (at 710) communicates one or more signals to configure a first PD scheme wherein the bypass circuitry is in a first activation state during a first operational mode of the programmable power adapter. In the first operational mode, the programmable power adapter is to provide “constant current” (CC) regulation which prevents at least some type of change to the supply current (i.e., the level of the current which is provided on the supply bus VBUS for the supply voltage) which would otherwise take place, for example, during the operational mode at 701. The first activation state bypasses the charger circuit in providing the supply voltage more directly to a battery (e.g., battery 330) and system VR (such as VR 340). After the first PD scheme is configured at 710, method 700 performs a next instance of the determining of system state information at 702).
In view of Natarajan’s teachings, it would been obvious before the filing date of the invention to incorporate the USB Type-C interface, Type-C cable, and the platform 120 in the system as recited in Frederick. The modification would be merely the substitution of the USB interface, cable and associated control logic with the art recognized equivalent. Furthermore, the modification would be well within the skill levels and expectations of an ordinary in the art in view of Natarajan’s teachings.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THIEN MINH LE whose telephone number is (571)272-2396. The examiner can normally be reached 6:30-5:00 PM M-Th..
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/THIEN M LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
