DETAILED ACTION
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 § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim(s) 8-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more (See 2019 Update: Eligibility Guidance).
Independent Claim(s) 8, 15 recites
A method for
determining an abnormality in a battery,
the method comprising:
acquiring battery information including a representative state of charge (SOC) value of the battery and a parameter value for an equivalent model circuit of the battery, at a first time point;
acquiring an OCV deviation tolerance for the battery based on the battery information;
predicting a polarization voltage deviation tolerance based on the battery information;
measuring a measured voltage deviation, at the first time point, based on the battery information;
and
determining whether the battery is abnormal based on a sum of the OCV deviation tolerance and the polarization voltage deviation, and the measured voltage deviation
[Mathematical Concepts – mathematical relationships; mathematical formulas or equations or mathematical calculation] and/or [Mental Processes - concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion)].
Independent Claim(s) 15 recites
acquire battery information of a battery including a representative state of charge (SOC) value and a parameter value for an equivalent model circuit of the battery, at a first time point;
acquire an OCV deviation tolerance for the battery based on the representative SOC value at the first time point;
predict a polarization voltage deviation tolerance for the battery based on the parameter value at the first time point;
measure a measured voltage deviation for the battery at the first time point through the sensing unit;
and
determine whether the battery is abnormal based on a sum of the OCV deviation tolerance and the polarization voltage deviation tolerance, and the measured voltage deviation
[Mathematical Concepts – mathematical relationships; mathematical formulas or equations or mathematical calculation] and/or [Mental Processes - concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion)].
In combination with Independent Claim(s) 8, 15, Claim(s) 9-14, 16-20 recite(s)
the acquiring the OCV deviation tolerance comprises:
acquiring a maximum OCV value and a minimum OCV value corresponding to a result obtained by applying a preset SOC deviation to the representative SOC value based on an SOC-OCV table;
and
determining a difference in value between the maximum OCV value and the minimum OCV value.
the predicting the polarization voltage deviation tolerance comprises:
determining a polarization voltage for the battery at the first time point based on the equivalent model circuit to which the parameter value is applied;
and
applying a preset polarization voltage deviation ratio to the polarization voltage for the battery at the first time point.
the measuring the measured voltage deviation comprises:
measuring a maximum measured voltage value and a minimum measured voltage value for the circuit at the first time point;
and
calculating a difference in value between the maximum measured voltage value and the minimum measured voltage value.
the determining whether the battery is abnormal comprises:
determining a voltage deviation tolerance at the first time point as sum of the OCV deviation tolerance at the first time point and the polarization voltage deviation tolerance at the first time point;
and
determining whether the measured voltage deviation exceeds the voltage deviation tolerance.
the acquiring the OCV deviation tolerance comprises
acquiring the OCV deviation tolerance based on a cumulative mileage value acquired from a vehicle including the battery and the representative SOC value at the first time point.
the predicting the polarization voltage deviation comprises
determining the polarization voltage deviation tolerance based on two or more of:
a cumulative mileage value acquired from a vehicle including the battery at the first time point,
a temperature value of the battery measured at the first time point,
and
the parameter value at the first time point
[Mathematical Concepts – mathematical relationships; mathematical formulas or equations or mathematical calculation] and/or [Mental Processes - concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion)].
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. Limitations that are not indicative of integration into a practical application:
Adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea (see MPEP § 2106.05(f)) (i.e. A processor comprising: an information acquisition unit configured to; an open circuit voltage (OCV) deviation determination unit configured to; a polarization voltage deviation prediction unit configured to; a measured voltage deviation measurement unit configured to; a battery state determination unit configured to; the processor is configured to connect to a storage unit, a sensing unit, and a communication unit);
Adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception (see MPEP § 2106.05(g)) (i.e. generic data acquisition); or
Generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use (MPEP § 2106.05(h)) (i.e. a battery).
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because looking at the additional elements as an ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually. There is no indication that the combination of elements improves the functioning of a computer or improves any other technology. The additional elements simply append well-understood, routine, conventional activities previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the judicial exception, e.g., a claim to an abstract idea requiring no more than a generic computer to perform generic computer functions that are well-understood, routine and conventional activities previously known to the industry, as discussed in Alice Corp., 134 S. Ct. at 2359-60, 110 USPQ2d at 1984 (see MPEP § 2106.05(d)) (i.e. See Alice Corp. and cited references for evidence of additional elements (i.e., generic computer structure)).
Examiner’s Note - 35 USC § 101
Claim 1 is patent eligible for being directed to ‘A device for determining an abnormality in a battery, the device comprising: a sensing unit configured to measure a voltage of the battery;… a measured voltage deviation measurement unit configured to measure a measured voltage deviation for the battery at the first time point through the sensing unit;’
Amending Claim(s) 8, 15 to include the structure and function of the ‘sensing unit’ of claim 1 will practically apply the identified abstract idea and cure the above rejection(s).
Allowable Subject Matter (over prior art)
Claim(s) 1-7 is/are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter over prior art:
Examiner’s closest prior art to the claimed subject matter:
ZHAO ET AL. (CN 103558556 A) teaches ‘The invention provides a lithium battery SOH estimation method. According to the lithium battery SOH estimation method, a system parameter estimation method is used for estimating the actual capacity and Ohm internal resistance of a battery; a redundancy processing method is used for processing the estimated actual capacity and Ohm internal resistance; the actual capacity and the Ohm internal resistance are used for estimating the health state of the battery respectively, and a true health state of the battery is obtained by means of weighting the relation between the actual capacity and the Ohm internal resistance; a smoothing weighting method is used for processing the health state value of the battery. By means of the lithium battery SOH estimation method, the purpose of accurately reflecting the true health state of the battery can be achieved’;
YOSHIOKA (US 20240255579 A1) teaches ‘A determination method is provided, which determines a charging reception performance and/or a discharging performance of an energy storage apparatus. The method includes: acquiring an open circuit voltage of the energy storage apparatus after electricity is supplied with an assumed electricity supply pattern based on a charging state of the energy storage apparatus at a point of time of determination; acquiring a change in voltage attributed to the assumed electricity supply pattern after electricity is supplied with the assumed electricity supply pattern based on an internal resistance, a charging state and a temperature at the point of time of determination; acquiring a change in voltage attributed to electricity supply history before the electricity is supplied with the assumed electricity supply pattern based on a polarization component before the electricity is supplied with the assumed electricity supply pattern’;
DU ET AL. (US 20200371163 A1) teaches ‘A method and apparatus for correcting a state of charge (SOC), a battery management system and a storage medium are provided. The method includes: acquiring state data of a battery cell in a case where the battery cell meets a preset standing condition; determining, according to the state data of the battery cell, a near-steady-state battery model for characterizing a change in an open circuit voltage (OCV) over time in a near-steady-state and a steady-state time period threshold for characterizing whether a standing time period is sufficient; processing the steady-state time period threshold by using the near-steady-state battery model to obtain an estimated steady-state OCV value; determining a SOC corresponding to the estimated steady-state OCV value by using a preset correspondence between steady-state OCVs and SOCs; and correcting a current SOC by using the SOC corresponding to the estimated steady-state OCV value’;
NISHIGAKI ET AL. (US 20190207271 A1) teaches ‘A power storage apparatus including a battery and a control circuit that controls the charging or discharging of the battery, wherein during a polarization elimination time period extending from the charging/discharging end time of the battery to a polarization-eliminated time at which polarization of the battery can be judged to have been eliminated, the control circuit obtains, as an amount of change, the difference between a voltage measured at a first time set according to the temperature of the battery and a voltage measured at a second time following the first time and set according to the temperature of the battery, and sums the product of the amount of change and an estimation coefficient and the voltage measured at the first or second time so as to estimate an open-circuit voltage of the battery to be provided after elimination of the polarization of the battery’;
MORI (US 8487630 B2) teaches ‘A battery pack includes: one or two or more secondary batteries; a charge control switch that turns on/off a charging current to the secondary battery; a discharge control switch that turns on/off a discharging current from the secondary battery; a current-detecting element for detecting the charging current and the discharging current; a voltage measuring part that measures the voltage of the secondary battery; a control unit that controls the charge control switch and the discharge control unit; and a storage unit that stores an initial internal resistance of the secondary battery. The control unit measures a closed circuit voltage and a charging current during charging, and a first closed circuit voltage after a first waiting time and a second closed circuit voltage after a second waiting time. The second waiting time is longer than the first waiting time’.
None of the cited prior art alone or in combination provides motivation to explicitly teach:
A device for
determining an abnormality in a battery,
the device comprising:
a sensing unit
configured to
measure a voltage of the battery;
an information acquisition unit
configured to
acquire battery information including a representative state of charge (SOC) value and a parameter value for an equivalent model circuit of the battery, at a first time point;
an open circuit voltage (OCV) deviation determination unit
configured to
acquire an OCV deviation tolerance for the battery based on the representative SOC value at the first time point;
a polarization voltage deviation prediction unit
configured to
predict a polarization voltage deviation tolerance for the battery based on the parameter value at the first time point;
a measured voltage deviation measurement unit
configured to
measure a measured voltage deviation for the battery at the first time point through the sensing unit;
and
a battery state determination unit
configured to
determine whether the battery is abnormal based on a sum of the OCV deviation tolerance and the polarization voltage deviation tolerance, and the measured voltage deviation
of claim(s) 1, 8, 15 (including dependent claim(s)).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND NIMOX whose telephone number is (469)295-9226. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 10am-8pm CT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ANDREW SCHECHTER can be reached at (571) 272-2302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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RAYMOND NIMOX
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2857
/RAYMOND L NIMOX/Primary Examiner, Art Unit
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