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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 or 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Gow et al. (US 2011/0304298).
Although Gow et al. is believed to fully anticipate many of the claims, the rejection is made under alternatively 35 USC § 102 or 35 USC § 103 out of an abundance of caution.
Re claim 1:
For the sake of clarity, the language of claim 1 is listed below, followed by a discussion in each instance of how Gow et al. teaches or renders obvious the claim limitation.
A method comprising: receiving, by a charge dispenser, a charge request from an electric machine, the charge request including a power demand;
Gow et al. teaches at para 0008:
“[0008] The method can comprise, in some instances, providing a charging system comprising a plurality of chargers and a battery management unit wherein each of the plurality of chargers is constructed and arranged to provide power up to a threshold power amount; and allocating a requested charging power amount among the plurality of chargers wherein, if the requested charging power is less than the maximum of the threshold power amounts of the plurality of chargers, one of the plurality of chargers provides the entire amount of requested charging power, and wherein, if the requested charging power is more than the maximum of the threshold power amounts of the plurality of chargers, the requested charging power is provided by at least two of the plurality of chargers.”
Above, there is reference to a “requested” charging power amount. That means that the machine requiring charging makes a request for an amount of power.
receiving, by the charge dispenser, from a plurality of charging modules, one or more metrics corresponding to a charging module of the plurality of charging modules;
See para 0036: The battery management unit communicates with each of the charging units. Each of the charging units can communicate a long list of characteristics to the BMU.
“[0036] The primary charger can be used to determine the overall charging system status. The primary charger can receive measurements of AC current, AC voltage, HV current, HV voltage, LV voltage, and/or LV current from each of the secondary chargers in the system. The primary charger can average the AC voltage measurements, HV voltage measurements, and/or LV voltage measurements to determine the average AC voltage, average HV voltage, and/or average LV voltage, respectively. In addition, the primary charger can sum the AC current measurements, HV current measurements, and/or LV current measurements to determine the total AC current, total HV current, and/or total LV current, respectively. The primary charger can then transmit any of the average AC voltage, average HV voltage, average LV voltage, total AC current, total HV current, and/or total LV current to the BMU for further processing. In some embodiments, if the default primary charger is unable to supply power, but is still able to communicate with the BMU, the default primary charger can transfer the output power responsibility to a secondary charger but continue to gather and report the total charge system status to the BMU. In some cases, if the default primary charger cannot supply power or communicate with the BMU, another charger in the system can assume the tasks of allocating the charging and reporting the total charge system status to the BMU. In some embodiments, if the total charge system status is being reported by a charger that is not the default primary charger, that charger may include a fault indication signal indicating that the status information is not being sent from the default primary charger.”
selecting, by the charge dispenser, a subset of the plurality of charging modules to satisfy the power demand, according to the one or more metrics; and
See para 0008 again:
[0008] The method can comprise, in some instances, providing a charging system comprising a plurality of chargers and a battery management unit wherein each of the plurality of chargers is constructed and arranged to provide power up to a threshold power amount; and allocating a requested charging power amount among the plurality of chargers wherein, if the requested charging power is less than the maximum of the threshold power amounts of the plurality of chargers, one of the plurality of chargers provides the entire amount of requested charging power, and wherein, if the requested charging power is more than the maximum of the threshold power amounts of the plurality of chargers, the requested charging power is provided by at least two of the plurality of chargers.
Here it is clear that the charging needs can be allocated to one or a plurality of the chargers in order to satisfy demand, and this can be a subset of the total available chargers.
supplying, by the charge dispenser, power from the subset of charging modules to the electric machine, according to the power demand.
As para 0008 and all the specification of Gow et al. make clear (see also figures 1 and 2) a unitary charge dispenser that powers the battery of a machine can use the subset of the available chargers to meet the power demand.
Re claim 2: As para 0008 and 0027 make clear, the BMU makes charging requests (for a particular amount of power) to the charging units which can then fulfill this request.
Re claim 3: See notably para 0036, where it is clear that a variety of metrics are used to judge the viability of the first charging module and then a number of further metrics are used to judge second of further charging modules if the first module is insufficient by itself.
Re claim 4: See paragraphs 0008 and 0036. A first charging module is a primary module. If that is insufficient for the charging needs a second charging module will be used.
Re claim 5: As para 0036 makes clear, the primary charging module governs the charging state and secondary charging modules as needed will follow the configuration set by the first module.
Re claim 6: See discussion re para 0008, above.
Re claim 7:
See para 0017 of Gow et al.:
“[0017] The inventors have discovered that the use of a charging system comprising more than one charger can provide one or more of the following advantages. In some embodiments, the overall life span of the charging system can be increased relative to a charging system with a single charger. The ability to distribute the charging load among multiple chargers or through a single charger can also allow one to control the total charging power of the charging system at a given time, allowing for fast or slow charging rates.”
In other words, to get more efficient, faster charging, you could use multiple charging units at the same time.
Re claims 8 and 9: See discussions above. The conditions of each of a plurality of chargers is monitored to determine which subset of the charging units is capable of meeting the charging demand.
Re claim 10:
See para 0032:
“[0032] Upon receiving the total charge command from the BMU, the primary charger can determine how to balance the total requested charging load among itself and/or the secondary charger(s). In some embodiments, if the total power requested by the BMU is equal to or less than the primary charger's output power capability, then only one charger will be activated to supply the requested power. For example, in the set of embodiments illustrated in FIG. 1, if chargers 112 and 114 are each rated to supply 3.3 kW, and the BMU requests a power output of 2 kW, then either charger 112 or charger 114 will be activated to supply the requested power. In some embodiments in which the total power requested is less than the power capabilities of the chargers, the BMU and/or the chargers can be programmed such that each of the chargers provides the requested charging power over discrete, non-overlapping periods of time. For example, in FIG. 1, BMU 116 may be programmed such that charger 112 provides 2 kW of power for a first pre-determined period of time (e.g., 30 minutes). After the first pre-determined period of time, charger 112 can be turned off, and charger 114 can provide 2 kW of power for a second pre-determined period of time (which might be the same as or different from the first pre-determined period of time). The switching of the charging load in this manner can be continued until the battery reaches a desired state of charge.”
What is seen here is that different subsets of chargers can operate at different times, as conditions change and there can be switching during charging between different subsets of chargers.
Re claim 11: It is clear throughout Gow et al. that there is continuous monitoring (for example para 0037) and that different subsets of chargers can be used so that as one gets depleted, another can take over.
Re claim 12: Operating time of charging is a factor that is tracked and can be used to switch from one set of chargers to another.
Re claim 13: In some embodiments where power demand is high, or fast charging is needed, each of the charging modules could be used.
Re claim 14: It can be the case that just one of the charging modules is sufficient to supply power. In that case, only one of them would need to be used.
Re claim 15: See discussion re claim 1 above. The limitations of the instant claim are comparable and similar those of the earlier claim.
Re claim 16: See discussion re claims 3 and 4 above. The limitations of the instant claim are comparable and similar those of the earlier claims.
Re claim 17: See discussion re claim 8 above. The limitations of the instant claim are comparable and similar those of the earlier claim.
Re claim 18: See discussion re claims 9 and 10 above. The limitations of the instant claim are comparable and similar those of the earlier claims.
Re claim 19: See discussion re claim 12 above. The limitations of the instant claim are comparable and similar those of the earlier claim.
Re claim 20: See discussion re claim 1 above. The limitations of the instant claim are comparable and similar those of the earlier claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL A HESS whose telephone number is (571)272-2392. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, from 9 AM to 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas K. Pham 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 A HESS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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