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 certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 10-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo et al, US Pub. 2020/0254902, in view of Lee et al, EP 4016789.
Regarding claims 1, 11, and 13, Luo et al disclose a battery equalization method and system, vehicle, storage medium, and electronic device comprising: a cell group battery pack 11 including a plurality of battery cells 11 connected in series; a battery equalization circuit 13 and a controller 14, wherein the controller includes a control chip; the equalization circuits 13 performs equalization processing on cells 111 and the controller 14 controls the equalization circuit; a battery storage power supply 13, a first and second controlled power supply branch circuits 15 and 16; Luo et al teach when the vehicle is OFF and equalization remain necessary, second power supply 16 is maintained in a connected state so that storage battery 33 continues supplying operating power to the controller 14 so that the controller controls the equalization circuit 13 to perform the required equalization processing; when equalization processing ends, a second switch 162 is placed in a disconnected state to disconnect the second power supply branch 16 and power off the controller 14. (See Fig. 1-2; par. 0059-0069).
Luo et al fail to disclose that an initial activation signal turns on a switch transistor and after the controller is powered, the controller provides a maintenance signal for keeping the switch ON before subsequently causing the switch transistor to turn OFF.
Lee et al disclose a battery management apparatus comprising: a second power supply path 170; a microcontroller unit 160; a second regulator 180 on the power supply path; a second switching element 190 for selectively permitting or blocking operating power of the microcontroller unit 160; a wake up unit 110 for generating and supplying a wake up signal to the second switching element 190 to turn ON the switching element 190 for providing operating power to microcontroller unit 160; the microcontroller unit transmits o hold signal to the second switching element 190 to maintain its ON state; subsequently the microcontroller unit turs the second switching element OFF (see Fig. 6 and the corresponding description).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Luo et al selectively powered battery equalization controller using Lee et al switching arrangement (wake/hold/shutdown) such the initial wake up signal activates the controller power supply, the powered controller thereafter maintain is operating power path while battery equalization is required, and the controller subsequently terminates the power path. Such modification would have amounted to use of a known power management technique to improve the battery management device by reducing unnecessary standby power while permitting the controller to remain energized long enough to complete the required operation. Therefore, it would have been an obvious extension as taught by the prior art.
Regarding claims 2 and 14, in addition to the teachings of Luo et al in view of Lee et al above, Lee et al further teach a feedback module and associated switching circuit for controlling the power supply path; the feedback circuitry provides ON/OFF control signals to the switching element and permit the microcontroller unit to control continued power delivery. It would have been to employ these known functional control stages into Luo et al selectively powered equalization system for similar reasons stated in the rejection of claim 1 above. Therefore, Luo et al in view of Lee et al render the claim obvious.
Regarding claim 10, in addition to the rejection of claim 1 above, Luo et al teach a collection circuit 12 for collecting battery parameters such as cell voltage and temperature and transmitting the collecting information to the controller. Lee et al teach a wake-up unit 110, including a transceiver or real-time clock for receiving/determining a wake condition and providing a wake-up signal to the controlled power supply circuit. It would have been obvious to configure the battery monitoring circuit associated with Luo et al battery management system to communicate an activation/wake signal to the power management circuit as taught by Lee et al, so that the equalization controller is energized when the battery management operation is required while unnecessary standby power consumption is avoided. Therefore, Luo et al in view of Lee et al render the claim obvious.
Regarding claim 12, Luo et al in view of Lee et al include at least an energy management system. Therefore, Luo et al in view of Lee et al render the claim obvious.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 and 15-20 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: The applicant teaches that wherein the power consumption management circuit further comprises a first cell group port, a second cell group port, a first power supply port, and a second power supply port; wherein the first cell group port is connected to a first electrode end of the cell group and the second cell group port is connected to a second electrode end of the cell group; wherein the first power supply port is connected to a first end of the auxiliary source and the second power supply port is connected to a second end of the auxiliary source; wherein the first cell group port is connected to the first power supply port; wherein the activation circuit is connected to the first cell group port; wherein the first control circuit is connected between the second cell group port and the second power supply port; and wherein the second control circuit is connected between the second cell group port and the second power supply port. These limitations in conjunction with other limitations in the claims were not shown by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Asakura et al, US Patent No. 12,600,265, disclose a power supply device. Electric vehicle provided with power supply and storage.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL ST CYR whose telephone number is (571)272-2407. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 8:00-8:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pham Thomas can be reached at 571-272-3689. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DANIEL ST CYR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2876
/DANIEL ST CYR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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