DETAILED ACTION
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 period
correction of the statutory basis 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 1-4 and 6-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHOI JUNG HWAN et al. (KR 20230143889), hereinafter ‘Hwan’ in view of Ming Zhao et al. (CN 116736131), hereinafter ‘Zhao’.
With regards to Claim 1, Hwan discloses
A battery test method for testing a battery in a battery test apparatus (the battery cell diagnosis device 100, p.2; Figure 8 is a flowchart showing a method of operating a battery cell diagnosis device according to an embodiment disclosed in this document, p.6), the battery test method comprising:
generating a test pattern in which a cycle comprises:
at least one operation for a test list and a loop indicating a number of repetitions of the cycle; (The information acquisition unit 110 may acquire voltage information of the battery cell in a charge/discharge cycle section within a set number of times. For example, the information acquisition unit 110 may obtain a voltage and capacity graph of a battery cell in a charge/discharge cycle section within a set number of times. Depending on the embodiment, the number of settings may be 100. However, it is not limited to this, and the set number of times may have a natural number. Depending on the embodiment, the information acquisition unit 110 may obtain the initial voltage of the battery cell, p.2; the controller 120 provides information about the charging and discharging conditions of the battery cell, voltage information of the battery cell in a charging and discharging cycle section within a set number of times, and the capacity of the battery cell and the battery in a charging and discharging cycle section within a set number of times, p.3);
testing the battery by charging and discharging the battery according to the test pattern (the controller 120 provides information about the charging and discharging conditions of the battery cell, voltage information of the battery cell in a charging and discharging cycle section within a set number of times, and the capacity of the battery cell and the battery in a charging and discharging cycle section within a set number of times. The future state of a battery cell can be diagnosed based on dQ/dV information related to the cell's voltage information. For example, dQ/dV information may include differential information of battery cell capacity and voltage, 3, that implies testing the battery by charging and discharging, emphasis added; and
storing voltage data and current data in memory as a test result for the test pattern (the memory 1020 includes battery current, voltage, charge/discharge condition information, battery cell voltage information in a charge/discharge cycle section within a set number of times, dQ/dV information of a battery cell in a charge/discharge cycle section within a set number of times, etc. Various information can be stored, p.7).
However, Hwan is silent on setting a tag indicating a test type in the at least one operation, the test type indicating a type of test performed for testing a characteristic of the battery.
Zhao discloses setting a tag indicating a test type in the at least one operation, the test type indicating a type of test performed for testing a characteristic of the battery (constructing … the health state tag corresponding to the charging capacity, p.2; the step of constructing an input sample according to the charging capacity corresponding to the target voltage interval and the health state tag corresponding to the charging capacity, comprises: according to the current data corresponding to each charging time, determining the actual total capacity of the battery and setting it as the actual total capacity label, p.3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hwan in view of Zhao to set tags indicating a test type of the operation to track battery condition (capacity, Zhao) determined during corresponding testing as discussed above in Zhao.
Claims 2-4 and 6-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwan in view of Zhao, in further view of David Elder (CN 116736131), hereinafter ‘Elder’.
With regards to Claim 2, Hwan does not specifically disclose storing the voltage data and the current data comprises tagging information of the tag in the test result.
Elder discloses storing the voltage data and the current data comprises tagging information of the tag in the test result (The data stored can include a description tag of any failures or abnormal parameters measured by the battery with appropriate identifying tags for storage in the database [0009]; also in [0048]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder to tag include voltage and current test data into tag information as important test characteristics that need to be stored for tracking battery condition and/or further use (The sensors in the system measure battery data such as voltage, current, remaining battery capacity, remaining battery charge, resistivity, capacitance, temperature and the like and transmit the battery data to the electronics module 10 for collection. The electronics module 10 receives, processes, analyzes, and stores the battery data, Elder [0045]).
With regards to Claim 3, Hwan additionally discloses that the test type comprises a capacity of the battery (Abstract) and so does Elder, as discussed above in Claim 1.
With regards to Claim 4, Hwan additionally discloses receiving a life test command of the battery, extracting the current data and the voltage data for the cycle; and predicting the life of the battery using the current data and the voltage data (The MCU 1010 operates various programs stored in the memory 1020 (e.g., a battery pack voltage or current collection program, a relay control program included in the battery pack, a battery cell remaining life calculation program, p.7).
However, Hwan is silent with regards to tagging with the information of the tag indicating a life of the battery from the memory.
Elder discloses storing tags with voltage and current information as well as the information indicating a life of the battery [0048, 0052].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder to tag include voltage and current test data into tag information as important test characteristics that need to be stored to calculate remaining life of the battery as known in the art and discussed in Hwan.
With regards to Claim 6, Hwan additionally discloses at least one operation comprises a charge operation, a rest operation, or a discharge operation, and wherein the at least one operation further comprises an operation condition and an end condition (the information acquisition unit 110 may acquire voltage and current information when charging a battery cell and voltage and current information when discharging a battery cell, p. 2).
With regards to Claim 7, Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder discloses the claimed invention as discussed in Claims 1 and 2.
Additionally, Hwan discloses a controller (Fig. 1, Controller 120; Abstract) and a storage device (memory 1020, Fig.10).
With regards to Claim 8, Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder discloses the claimed invention as discussed in Claim 7.
However, Hwan does not specifically disclose the controller is configured to tag information of the tag in test result data, and to store the test result data that is tagged with the information of the tag.
Elder discloses creating tags with battery information [0045] including test results of remaining charge and remaining battery.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder to tag information of the tag in test result data, and to store the test result data that is tagged with the information of the tag to identify a battery and/or for future use of these data.
With regards to Claim 9, Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder discloses the claim limitations as discussed in Claims 8 and 3.
With regards to Claims 10 and 11, Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder discloses the claim limitations as discussed in Claims 8, 3, and 4.
With regrds to Claim 10, evaluation of a test type is interpreted as evaluation of a particular test result that corresponds to testing an internal resistance of the battery, a capacity of the battery, a temperature of the battery, a life of the battery, a charge and discharge rate of the battery, or a formation of the battery as discussed above with regrds to Claim 3.
Claim 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder, and further in view of Hee-Seok Jeong et al. (US 20230280403), hereinafter ‘Jeong’.
Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder discloses the invention as discussed in Claim 4.
Hwan additionally discloses calculating capacity-to-voltage differential characteristic data for the cycle using the capacity data and the voltage data; and predicting the life of the battery from the capacity-to-voltage differential characteristic data using a life prediction model (The MCU 1010 operates various programs stored in the memory 1020 (e.g., a battery pack voltage or current collection program, a relay control program included in the battery pack, a battery cell remaining life calculation program, and a battery cell capacity deterioration diagnosis program. , a battery cell resistance degradation determination program, etc.) are executed, and various information including the remaining lifespan information of the battery cell, battery cell capacity degradation information, p. 7).
However, Hwan does not specifically disclose calculating capacity data for the cycle using the current data.
Jeong discloses calculating capacity data for the cycle using the current data (the measuring unit 200 may measure a capacity of the battery cell B based on the measured current of the battery cell B and the discharge time [0130]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder, in view of Jeong to determine a battery capacity using current data (Jeong) as a needed parameter in order to predict the life of the battery.
Claim 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder, and further in view of Yuji KURAUCHI et al. (US 20240201265), hereinafter ‘Kurauchi’.
With regards to Claim 12, Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder discloses the invention as discussed in Claim 11.
Hwan additionally discloses the controller is configured to evaluate the life of the battery from the test result data (controller the controller 120 learns the charge/discharge condition information of the battery cell, voltage information of the battery cell in a charge/discharge cycle section within a set number of times, and dQ/dV information of the battery cell in a charge/discharge cycle section within a set number of times. This allows the future state of the battery cell to be diagnosed in advance. For another example, the controller 120 may diagnose at least one of the remaining life of the battery cell, capacity degradation of the battery cell, and resistance degradation of the battery cell, p.3).
However, Hwan does not specifically discloses the controller using a learned life prediction model.
Kurauchi discloses using a prediction model (The battery life predicting system in the present embodiment trains a prediction model using long-term cycle measurement data (hereinafter also referred to as “cycle measurement data for training”) of a battery regarded as a training target (hereinafter also referred to as a “training target battery”) and predicts, from initial cycle measurement data (hereinafter also referred to as “cycle measurement data for prediction”) of the battery regarded as a prediction target (hereinafter also referred to as a “prediction target battery”), a lifetime characteristic of the prediction target battery, using the prediction mode [0126]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder, in view of Kurauchi to use a learned life prediction model as known in the art to predict lifetime characteristics of a battery (Kurauchi [0182]).
With regards to Claim 13, Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder discloses the invention as discussed in Claim 7, including the at least one operation comprises a charge operation, a rest operation, or a discharge operation as discussed above.
However, Hwan does not specifically disclose wherein the at least one operation further comprises an operation condition and an end condition.
Kurauchi discloses an end condition (Additionally, a stop step may be included between the charging and discharging steps [0098]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hwan in view of Zhao, and Elder, in view of Kurauchi to include in operation an end condition as a condition corresponding to end/stop or begin/start charging or discharging as known in the art of batteries.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ji-Yoon Kwon et al. (US 20230243894) discloses charging/discharging test system includes a charging/discharging test device; and a controller to output a first control signal commanding to start a charging/discharging test for a first battery. The charging/discharging test device repeatedly performs a first charge/discharge cycle until a cumulative capacity of the first battery by the first charge/discharge cycle reaches a reference capacity in response to the first control signal.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1(7) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER SATANOVSKY whose telephone number is (571)270-5819. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 9 am-5 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Catherine Rastovski can be reached on (571) 270-0349. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER SATANOVSKY/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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