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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2-6, 11-15, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regards to the above claims, the feature “lifecycle insight system” is indefinite because it is unclear what the patentable boundaries of this limitation are. This feature is not a standard term or term of art understood by one with ordinary skill in the art while the specification does not explain the meaning of it.
For the purpose of a compact prosecution and following specification-described functions of the claimed system, the Examiner treated this feature as external battery management system.
Claims 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regards to the above claims, the feature “queuing a plurality of messages storing the data regarding health of the plurality of batteries” is indefinite because it is unclear what the messages are about: regarding storing issues or health issues.
For the purpose of a compact prosecution and following specification, the Examiner treated this feature as messages regarding health of the batteries without giving any patentable weight to the word “storing”.
DETAILED ACTION
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 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Don Karner et al. (US 20190033385), hereinafter “Karner’.
With regards to Claim 1, Karner discloses
A system for monitoring health of a plurality of batteries (A method is disclosed for determining a state of charge, a self-discharge rate, and a predicted amount of time remaining (tREMX) until the battery will self-discharge to a pre-determined minimum state-of-charge (SOCmin) under storage or transit conditions, in a disconnected battery, Abstract: In an example embodiment, a battery monitoring system is disclosed for monitoring disconnected batteries in storage or transit, the battery monitoring system comprising: a plurality of batteries, wherein each battery of the plurality of batteries: is in storage or transit; is not electrically connected to a power system [0009]), the system comprising:
a wireless communication network comprising:
a plurality of sensors, the plurality of sensors integrated with respective ones of the plurality of batteries and configured to perform measurements on the respective batteries (the battery monitoring system comprising: a plurality of batteries, wherein each battery of the plurality of batteries: is in storage or transit … a battery monitor circuit embedded into or attached onto the battery and having …a temperature sensor for sensing an instantaneous internal temperature (Tx) of the battery, and a voltage sensor for sensing an instantaneous open circuit voltage (Vx) of the battery [0009]; and
at least one wireless gateway disposed at a location (The battery monitor circuit may be configured to sense, record, and/or wired or wirelessly communicate, certain information from and/or about a battery, for example date/time, voltage and temperature information from a battery [0032]; The system 400 may comprise a local portion 410 and/or a remote portion 420 … The local portion 410 comprises components located relatively near the battery or batteries 100/200. “Relatively near,” in one exemplary embodiment, means within wireless signal range of the battery monitor circuit antenna. In another example embodiment, “relatively near” means within Bluetooth range, within the same cabinet, within the same room, and the like. The local portion 410 may comprise, for example, one or more batteries 100/200, a battery monitor circuit 120, and optionally a locally located remote device 414 located in the local portion 410. Moreover, the local portion may comprise, for example, a gateway. The gateway may be configured to receive data from each battery 100/200. The gateway may also be configured to transmit instructions to each battery 100/200. In an example embodiment, the gateway comprises an antenna for transmitting/receiving wirelessly at the gateway and/or for communicating with a locally located remote device 414 [0059]; Unit 418/Unit 420, Fig.4A) including the plurality of batteries in a non-operational state, as discussed above in the preamble,
wherein the at least one wireless gateway is configured to obtain data regarding health of the plurality of batteries by communicating with the plurality of sensors through the wireless communication network (The remote device may be configured to receive data from a plurality of batteries, with each battery equipped with a battery monitor circuit 120. For example, the remote device may receive data from individual batteries 100, each connected to a battery monitor circuit 120. And in another exemplary embodiment, the remote device may receive data from individual batteries 200, each battery 200 connected to a battery monitor circuit 120 [0058]; the battery monitor circuit 120 may be configured to communicate data directly between battery monitor circuit 120 and the locally located remote device 414. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication between the battery monitor circuit 120 and the locally located remote device 414 can be a wireless transmission, such as via Bluetooth transmission. Moreover, any suitable wireless protocol can be used. In some embodiments where battery monitor circuit 120 is external to battery 100/200, the communication can be by wire, for example by Ethernet cable, USB cable, twisted pair, and/or any other suitable wire and corresponding wired communication protocol [0061]; Systems and methods disclosed herein provide an economical means for monitoring the performance and health of batteries located anywhere in the cellular radio or Internet connected world … This aggregated remote monitoring of like and/or disparate batteries in like and/or disparate applications allows the analysis of battery performance and health (e.g., battery state-of-charge, battery reserve time, battery operating mode, adverse thermal conditions, and so forth), that heretofore was not possible. Using contemporaneous voltage and temperature data, stored voltage and temperature data, and/or battery and application specific parameters (but excluding data regarding battery 100/200 current), the short term changes in voltage and/or temperature, longer term changes in voltage and/or temperature, and thresholds for voltage and/or temperature may be used singularly or in combination to conduct exemplary analyses, such as in the battery monitor circuit 120, the locally located remote device 414, the computer 424, and/or any suitable device [0069]; he remote device can be used to quickly interrogate a pallet of batteries that are awaiting shipment to determine if any battery needs to be re-charged, how long until a particular battery will need to be re-charged, or if any state of health issues are apparent in a particular battery, all without un-packaging or otherwise touching the pallet of batteries [0077]).
With regards to Claim 2, Karner additionally discloses at least one wireless gateway is configured to communicate with a battery lifecycle insight system, wherein the battery lifecycle insight system is outside of the wireless communication network and remote from the plurality of batteries (system 400 (and/or components thereof) may be in communication with an external battery management system (BMS) coupled one or more batteries 100/200, for example over a common network such as the Internet. System 400 may communicate information regarding one or more batteries 100/200 to the BMS and the BMS may take action in response thereto, for example by controlling or modifying current into and/or out of one or more batteries 100/200, in order to protect batteries 100/200 [0084]).
With regards to Claim 10 and 17, Karner discloses the claim limitations a s discussed in Claim 1.
With regards to Claim 17, Karner additionally discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions [0099].
With regards to Claim 11 and 18, Karner discloses the claim limitations a s discussed in Claims 10 and 2 and 17 and 2, respectively.
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 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 3-9, 12-16, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Karner.
With regards to Claim 3, Karner is silent on passing a monitoring software update received from the battery lifecycle insight system to at least one of the plurality of sensors.
However, Karner discloses that a battery monitor circuit comprises various electrical components, for example a voltage sensor, a temperature sensor, a processor for executing instructions, a memory for storing data and/or instructions, an antenna, and a transmitter/receiver/transceiver [0034] including processing the monitored voltage signal and the monitored temperature signal [0035], i.e. using software, emphasis added.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Karner to pass a monitoring software update received from the battery lifecycle insight system to at least one of the plurality of sensors as known in the art of software processing.
With regards to Claim 4, Karner additionally discloses passing the data regarding health of the plurality of batteries to the BLM (“battery lifecycle insight system”) (calculating, for the battery that has been in the rest period, a state-of-charge (SOCx) based on an empirical correlation as a function of Vxave for the battery, wherein the state-of-charge represents a percentage that the battery is currently charged between 0% and 100%, inclusive; and (e) wirelessly communicating data between the battery and a remote device for displaying the SOCx on the remote device [0006]).
With regards to Claim 5, Karner additionally discloses aggregating data obtained from the plurality of sensors; and passing the data regarding health of the plurality of batteries to the battery lifecycle insight system comprises sending the aggregated data obtained from the plurality of sensors to the battery lifecycle insight system (transmit the voltage and temperature data (with their associated time) from the battery monitor circuit 120 to one or more external locations [0044]; The processor 150 may further be configured to transmit (wirelessly or by wired connection) the logged temperature/voltage data to a remote device for additional analysis, reporting, and/or action [0049]: The processor 150 may also be configured to transmit the cumulative time, temperature and voltage data from the battery monitor circuit 120 by providing the data in a signal to the transceiver 160 [0050]: This aggregated remote monitoring of like and/or disparate batteries in like and/or disparate applications allows the analysis of battery performance and health (e.g., battery state-of-charge, battery reserve time, battery operating mode, adverse thermal conditions, and so forth), that heretofore was not possible [0069],, i.e. implying aggregating sensor data in the reference, emphasis added).
With regards to Claim 6, Karner, while disclosing sending SMS notifications about health to prompt maintenance action [0074] and broadcasting messages [0113], does not specifically disclose queuing a plurality of messages storing the data regarding health of the plurality of batteries; and sending the plurality of messages to the battery lifecycle insight system when the battery lifecycle insight system becomes available.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Karner queuing a plurality of messages storing the data regarding health of the plurality of batteries; and sending the plurality of messages to the battery lifecycle insight system when the battery lifecycle insight system becomes available as an important aspect of battery maintenance routine as known in the art.
With regards to Claim 7, Karner additionally discloses the plurality of batteries comprises a first battery and a second battery (as discussed above), and wherein the at least one wireless gateway is configured to receive data regarding health of a battery via a sensor integrated with the battery (Fig. 2A, batteries 100; Fig. 4D, Fig. 5; The gateway may be configured to receive data from each battery 100/200. The gateway may also be configured to transmit instructions to each battery 100/200 [0059]; receiving data regarding heath of a battery is discussed in Claims 1, 4, and 5).
Karner also discloses receiving data from a sensor integrated with a particular (“second”) battery; these data are indicative of health of another (“first”) battery (“outside of the battery”) such as environmental temperature (the temperature sensor 140 may be configured to sense the temperature measurement at a location on or outside of the battery 100/200. The location where the temperature measurement is taken can be selected such that the temperature measurement primarily reflects the temperature of the battery 100/200 itself and only indirectly, secondarily, or less significantly is influenced by neighboring monoblocs or environmental temperature [0047]).
However, Karner does not specifically disclose receiving data regarding health of the first battery via a sensor integrated with the second 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 Karner to receive data regarding health of the first battery via a sensor integrated with the second battery such as for example, environmental temperature condition in a battery pack via sensor integrated with the second battery reflecting the temperature in the pack/housing, i.e. environmental/health conditions related to the first and/or other batteries in the pack/housing [0041, 0054] instead of integrated multiple temperature sensors outside of each battery as a more economical/practical solution.
With regards to Claim 8, Karner discloses the claim limitations as discussed in Claim 1 and 3.
With regards to Claim 9, Karner additionally discloses the location including the plurality of batteries in the non-operational state is a warehouse storing the plurality of batteries in the non-operational state (These batteries may, for example, be inactive or non-operational … these batteries may be located in a warehouse, in a storage facility [0076]).
With regards to Claims 12 and 19, Karner discloses the claim limitations as discussed in Claims 10 and 17 and Claim 3, respectively.
With regards to Claims 13 and 20, Karner discloses the claim limitations as discussed in Claims 10 and 17 and Claim 4, respectively.
With regards to Claim 14, Karner discloses the claim limitations as discussed in Claims 10 and Claim 5.
With regards to Claim 15, Karner discloses the claim limitations as discussed in Claims 10 and Claim 6.
With regards to Claim 16, Karner discloses the claim limitations as discussed in Claims 10 and Claim 7.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
James R. Wade et al. (US 9668032) discloses a Cloud Based Universal Fleet Monitoring System that monitors operation of a plurality of data sensors allows monitoring of data from industrial batteries.
Shwu-Jian Liang eta al. (US 20140201090) relates to the systems and methods to manage a process for quickly exchanging batteries and meanwhile implementing cloud-computing network connected battery health monitoring devices to transmit signals whereby continuously monitoring the health state of all the batteries in order to effectively and safely supply energy to the electrically powered vehicles.
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
Prosecution Insights