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 .
Status of claims
The following claims have been rejected or allowed for the following reasons:
Claim(s) 1, 6-7 is rejected under 35 USC § 103.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP2023-151469, filed on 9/19/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement/statements (IDS) were filed on 4/10/24. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
At the request from the applicant the examiner would like to put on the record that the drawings submitted with this application are considered and are in good standing.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over as applied to Ichikawa (US 20190160962 A1), in further view of Nakamura (US 20230150387 A1), in further view of Kinomura (US 20230051862 A1), in further view of Tsuchiya (JP 2017135926 A in further view of Kawamura (US 20190113581 A1).
Regarding claim 1 Ichikawa teaches A control device that controls a vehicle, wherein comprising: the vehicle includes a power storage device and a power supply device; a bi-directional converter in series with the power storage device, the power supply device is converter being configured to allow at least one of execute charging of the power storage device using electric power from an outside of the vehicle and discharging of electric power from the power storage device to the outside of the vehicle; (Ichikawa [0006 – 0007] reads “The present disclosure has been made to solve such a problem, and has an object to suppress a power storage device from having a decreased SOC upon use (traveling) of a vehicle configured to exchange power with a power facility provided outside the vehicle. A vehicle according to the present disclosure includes a power storage device, a power supply device, and a control device. The power supply device is configured to supply, to outside the vehicle, power stored in the power storage device. The control device is configured to control a usable range of an SOC of the power storage device in association with time, when the power supply device is connected to a power facility provided outside the vehicle.”);
and the converter a connector configured to connect between the converter and a power stand an interface configured to communicate with devices outside the vehicle (Ichikawa [0052] reads “Power stand 200 is a facility for charging or discharging vehicle 10. Power stand 200 includes power cable 214, a relay 210, a controller 230, and communication device 240. Power stand 200 is electrically connected to power switchboard 510 through HEMS 300. It should be noted that power stand 200 may be provided inside house 600.”);
and an electronic control unit including processes to be executed by the processor[[;]], (Ichikawa [0050] reads “ECU 130 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory (not shown), and controls each device of vehicle 10 based on information stored in the memory or information from each sensor. It should be noted that they can be controlled by not only a process performed by software but also a process performed by dedicated hardware (electronic circuit) constructed therefor.”);
the processorbeing configured to control the converter such that a target state of charge (SOC) of the power storage device set by a user of the vehicle is reached at a scheduled departure time (Ichikawa [0008] reads “On the other hand, during the time period during which the vehicle is used (time period during which the vehicle is highly likely to be used), the SOC usable range is increased to suppress the vehicle from having a decreased SOC upon use (traveling) of the vehicle.” And [0011] reads “The vehicle may further include a setting device configured to allow a user to set the SOC usable range.”);
Ichikawa does not teach a charging relay inserted between the power storage device and the converter and in series with the power storage device [[; and]], wherein the processor is further configured to execute following processes (i) to (viii):(i) determining whether the vehicle has departed at the scheduled departure time, (ii) maintaining the charging relay ON in response to the determination that the vehicle has not departed at the scheduled departure time, (iii) determining whether a predetermined waiting period set by the user has elapsed after the scheduled departure time, (iv) transmitting vehicle status notification indicating whether the vehicle has departed and SOC information indicating an SOC of the power storage device to a server in response to the determination that the predetermined waiting period has elapsed, (v) receiving, via the interface from the server, a controllable command or a control stop command, the controllable command indicating an execution of charging or discharging of the power storage device, the control stop command indicating a deactivation of charging or discharging of the power storage device, and the controllable command and the control stop command being selected based on the transmitted vehicle status notification and the SOC information, (vi) turning OFF the charging relay in a case where the control stop command is received, (vii) transmitting the controllable command to the power stand via the interface in a case where the controllable command is received, and (viii) causing the converter, based on the controllable command, to execute charging or discharging of the power storage device such that the SOC of the power storage device is within an SOC range between a lower limit SOC and an upper limit SOC, the lower limit SOC being equal to or less than the target SOC, and the upper limit SOC being larger than the target SOC.
Nakamura in analogous art, teaches (iv) transmitting vehicle status notification indicating whether the vehicle has departed and SOC information indicating an SOC of the power storage device to a server in response to the determination that the predetermined waiting period has elapsed, (Nakamura [0097] reads “The information management unit 501 transmits the usage history and the usage schedule of the vehicle 50 to the server 30. The information management unit 501 also obtains conditions of the vehicle 50 (e.g., a charging cable connection state, a connector locked/unlocked state, and the SOC of the battery 130), and transmits the obtained information to the server 30. The charging cable connection state is information indicating whether the connector 43 of the charging cable 42 is connected to the inlet 110.”);
(v) receiving, via the interface from the server, a controllable command or a control stop command, the controllable command indicating an execution of charging or discharging of the power storage device, the control stop command indicating a deactivation of charging or discharging of the power storage device, and the controllable command and the control stop command being selected based on the transmitted vehicle status notification and the SOC information, (vi) turning OFF the charging relay in a case where the control stop command is received, (Nakamura [0108] reads “Based on the DR request signal, the request unit 303 creates a charge and discharge command for each DR vehicle. The request unit 303 may create a charge and discharge command for the DR vehicle, taking into account the conditions of each DR vehicle. The information management unit 301 transmits the charge and discharge command created by the request unit 303 to each DR vehicle selected by the selection unit 302. The process as described above allows a charge and discharge command to be transmitted to each DR vehicle from the server 30 during a DR duration indicated by the DR request signal.” And [0053] reads “The charger-discharger 120 is disposed between the inlet 110 and the battery 130. The charger-discharger 120 includes a relay which switches a power path from the inlet 110 to the battery 130 between on and off, and a power converter circuit (e.g., a bidirectional converter), none of which are shown. The relay and the power converter circuit are each controlled by the ECU 150.”);
(vii) transmitting the controllable command to the power stand via the interface in a case where the controllable command is received, and (Nakamura [0072] reads “The communications equipment 180 mounted on the vehicle 50 communicates with the EVSE 40 via the charging cable 42. The communication scheme between the EVSE 40 and the vehicle 50 may be any, for example, a controller area network (CAN) or a power line communication (PLC). The communications equipment 180 also wirelessly communicates with the server 30 via a mobile communication network (telematics), for example. The signals exchanged between the communications equipment 180 and the server 30 may be encrypted.”);
(viii) causing the converter, based on the controllable command, to execute charging or discharging of the power storage device such that the SOC of the power storage device is within an SOC range between a lower limit SOC and an upper limit SOC, the lower limit SOC being equal to or less than the target SOC, and the upper limit SOC being larger than the target SOC. (Nakamura [0008] reads “Preferably, in the power system, the input device receives a user operation for setting at least one of an upper limit SOC indicating an upper limit of use of the SOC and a lower limit SOC indicating a lower limit of use of the SOC. The setting unit calculates and outputs to the notification device at least one of an upper limit expected value indicating an expected value of the upper limit SOC and a lower limit expected value indicating an expected value of the lower limit SOC. The notification device notifies the user of the at least one of the upper limit expected value and the lower limit expected value.” And [0009] reads “According to this, the SOC usable range is set in accordance with the user's intent, while the SOC expected range being presented to the user, thereby combining the charging and discharging control desired by the user and the desire of the power system.”);
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Ichikawa with that of Nakamura to include a method for actively and smartly controlling the discharge of electricity from an electric vehicle. This would allow for the system to limit its batter degradation while still providing the user with electricity when needed. (Nakamura [0004 – 00005] reads “According to Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2019-97334, the user can adjust electric power charged to and discharged from the power storage device. On the other hand, however, with a power system which controls charging and discharging of a power storage device in accordance with the user settings, there can be a desire to demands charge with and discharge an electric power appropriately from the power storage device, from variety of perspectives such as inhibition of deterioration of the power storage device, the electricity cost charged to the user when the power equipment charges the vehicle, and CO2 emitted during generation of electric power to be supplied from the power equipment to the vehicle. The present disclosure is made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a power system, a vehicle, and an information processor that can combine a charging and discharging control desired by a user and the desire of the power system.”);
Ichikawa/Nakamura does not teach a charging relay inserted between the power storage device and the converter and in series with the power storage device [[; and]], wherein the processor is further configured to execute following processes (i) to (viii):(i) determining whether the vehicle has departed at the scheduled departure time, (ii) maintaining the charging relay ON in response to the determination that the vehicle has not departed at the scheduled departure time, (iii) determining whether a predetermined waiting period set by the user has elapsed after the scheduled departure time,
Kinomura in analogous art, teaches a charging relay inserted between the power storage device and the converter and in series with the power storage device (Kinomura [0055] reads “The discharge relay 15 is electrically connected between the PCU 12 and the on-board inverter 16. Similarly to the SMR 14, the discharge relay 15 closes/opens in response to commands from the ECU 19. When the SMR 14 is closed and the discharge relay 15 is closed, supply of DC power is enabled from the on-board battery 13 to the on-board inverter 16.” Kinomura Figure 2 also shows that the discharge relay is onboard the vehicle and is connected in series with other electrical components on the vehicle.);
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It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Ichikawa/Nakamura with that of Kinomura to include a relay for controlling the flow of power to the electric vehicle. This would allow the electric vehicle to maintain its input voltage independently. (Kinomura [0004] reads “In order to use various indoor facilities or electronic devices, etc., there is a demand for supply of electric power that has a voltage appropriate to the working voltage of an indoor facility or the operating voltage of an electronic device. In particular, desirably, the electric power having an appropriate voltage can be supplied in an as simple configuration as possible.”);
Ichikawa/Nakamura/Kinomura does not teach [[; and]], wherein the processor is further configured to execute following processes (i) to (viii):(i) determining whether the vehicle has departed at the scheduled departure time, (ii) maintaining the charging relay ON in response to the determination that the vehicle has not departed at the scheduled departure time, (iii) determining whether a predetermined waiting period set by the user has elapsed after the scheduled departure time,
Tsuchiya in analogous art, teaches [[; and]], wherein the processor is further configured to execute following processes (i) to (viii):(i) determining whether the vehicle has departed at the scheduled departure time, (ii) maintaining the charging relay ON in response to the determination that the vehicle has not departed at the scheduled departure time, (Tsuchiya page 5 paragraph 17 reads “FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an estimation error due to each estimation map. Referring to FIG. 10, in day-by-day estimation map 610, estimated error Δtd1 is calculated according to the time difference between estimated departure time td1 calculated in step S223 and previous actual value ta1 calculated in step S224” It would be appreciated by one with ordinary skill in the art that by understanding this error between actual departure time and estimated departure time one would be able to determine if the vehicle has left at or near the scheduled time. Similarly It would be appreciated by one with ordinary skill in the art that the vehicle would continue charging until the actual departure time is detected.);
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Ichikawa/Nakamura/Kinomura with that of Tsuchiya to include a method that would allow the vehicle to better understand the intended use of its operator. This would allow for an improvement in the charging that an electric vehicle does. (Tsuchiya page 2 paragraph 6 reads “The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to determine a charging end time in order to optimize timer charging that does not require time setting input by a user. It is to estimate the next scheduled departure time with high accuracy.”);
Ichikawa/Nakamura/Kinomura/Tsuchiya does not teach (iii) determining whether a predetermined waiting period set by the user has elapsed after the scheduled departure time,
Kawamura in analogous art, teaches (iii) determining whether a predetermined waiting period set by the user has elapsed after the scheduled departure time, (Kawamura [0058] reads “While charging from the lower-limit charge state to the full charge state, the charging ECU 56 temporarily halts the charging of the high-voltage battery 2 for a predetermined waiting period (a few minutes, for example) if the estimation value of the SOC of the high-voltage battery 2 reached SOC threshold values”);
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Ichikawa/Nakamura/Kinomura/Tsuchiya with that of Kawamura to include a delay in charging. This would allow the system to maintain a better state of charge. (Kawamura [0006] reads “The present disclosure provides a battery state estimation method and a battery state estimation device that are capable of obtaining the correlation characteristic between the SOC and the OCV with high precision without creating multiple maps in advance.”).
Regarding claim 6 Ichikawa/Nakamura/Kinomura/Tsuchiya/Kawamura teaches The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the target SOC is 60%, the upper limit SOC is 90%, and the lower limit SOC is 40%. (Ichikawa [0093] reads “At time t11, in accordance with the upper limit SOC and lower limit SOC set in the setting screen shown in FIG. 2, the upper limit SOC is set to 90% and the lower limit SOC is set to 60%.” It would be appreciated by one with ordinary skill in the art that the exact limits and values for the SOC could be set to any reasonable value based on the prior art of record.);
Regarding claim 7 Ichikawa/Nakamura/Kinomura/Tsuchiya/Kawamura teaches The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: a power output device driven by the electric power discharged from the power storage device; (Ichikawa [0046] reads “Motive power output device 135 generates driving power of vehicle 10 using the electric power stored in power storage device 100. Specifically, motive power output device 135 generates driving power of vehicle 10 based on a driving command signal from ECU 130, and outputs the generated driving power to driving wheels (not shown) of vehicle 10. Moreover, when motive power output device 135 receives an electric power generation command signal from ECU 130, motive power output device 135 generates electric power and supplies the electric power to power storage device 100.”);
and a system main relay connected between the power output device and the power storage device. (Kinomura [0050] reads “FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the vehicle 1, the discharge connector 2, and the electronic device 3. In this example, the vehicle 1 is a battery electric vehicle, and includes a motor generator 11, a power control unit (PCU) 12, an on-board battery 13, a system main relay (SMR) 14, a discharge relay 15, an on-board inverter 16, the vehicle inlet 17, a communication module 18, and an electronic control unit (ECU) 19.” Kinomura figure 2 shows that a relay is connected between the battery and the drive motor/generator of the vehicle.);
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Response to arguments
Applicant argues < However, Ichikawa merely discloses a relay (210) that is provided in a power stand (200) but is not provided in the vehicle (10). The relay is outside the vehicle and there is no relay in the vehicle of Ichikawa (see Fig. 1 of Ichikawa shown below). > [page 9 second paragraph]. The examiner respectfully disagrees. Ichikawa is not used to teach the location of the charging relay as set forth in the amended claims. Kinomura clearly shows a charging relay in the claimed location. (Kinomura [0055] reads “The discharge relay 15 is electrically connected between the PCU 12 and the on-board inverter 16. Similarly to the SMR 14, the discharge relay 15 closes/opens in response to commands from the ECU 19. When the SMR 14 is closed and the discharge relay 15 is closed, supply of DC power is enabled from the on-board battery 13 to the on-board inverter 16.” Kinomura Figure 2 also shows that the discharge relay is onboard the vehicle and is connected in series with other electrical components on the vehicle.);
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Therefore, the combination teaches the claimed invention.
Applicant argues < Person skilled in the art would not modify the ECU of Ichikawa to include the claimed processor because the ECU of Ichikawa has been able to stop the charging of power storage device by turning off the relay that is outside the vehicle. That is, there is no motivation or suggestion to provide a relay for stopping the charging of power storage device inside the vehicle. > [page 10 first paragraph]. The examiner respectfully disagrees. It would be appreciated by one with ordinary skill in the art that if a computer deems it necessary and has the motivation to stop the charging of electric vehicle then it would turn the switch to do so, regardless of the location of switch itself. The primary difference being taught is the location of the charging relay. Regardless of its location the switch may be triggered by the same means. Therefore, the combination teaches the claimed invention.
Other references not Cited
Throughout examination other references were found that could read onto the prior art. Though these references were not used in this examination they could be used in future examination and could read on the contents of the current disclosure. These references are, Pollack (US 20130184886 A1); Green (US 5642270 A); Zhu (US 20190389315 A1);
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN MARTIN O'MALLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-6228. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9 am - 5 pm.
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/JOHN MARTIN O'MALLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3658
/Ramon A. Mercado/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3658