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
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, and 13-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Helling et al. (US 10,637,251 B2 hereinafter Helling).
As to claim 1, Helling discloses in Fig. 1, a multi-stack battery management device (system 10 in Fig. 1), comprising: an energy storage system (system 10 in Fig. 1) comprising one or more stacks (modules 14 in Fig. 1), wherein the one or more stacks (modules 14 in Fig. 1) comprise one or more connected stack (activated modules 14 in Fig. 1) and one or more disconnected stacks (deactivated modules 14 in Fig. 1), wherein the connected stacks (activated modules 14 in Fig. 1) are connected to a shared DC bus (bridge branch 12 in Fig. 1); a measurement module (integrated in control device 20 in Fig. 1) comprising a voltage measurement device (voltage sensing in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and a current measurement device (current sensing in control device 20 in Fig. 1), the voltage measurement device (voltage sensing in control device 20 in Fig. 1) configured to measure a measured voltage (voltage data in control device 20 in Fig. 1) associated with one of the one or more stacks (modules 14 in Fig. 1) and the current measurement device (current sensing in control device 20 in Fig. 1) configured to measure a measured current (current data in control device 20 in Fig. 1) associated with one of the one or more stacks (modules 14 in Fig. 1); a stack estimation system (part of control device 20 in Fig. 1) for receiving the measured voltage (voltage data in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and the measured current (current data in control device 20 in Fig. 1) from the measurement module (integrated in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and for generating an estimated stack open circuit voltage (estimated from charging state in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and an estimated stack resistance (internal resistance in control device 20 in Fig. 1) for one or more of the stacks (modules 14 in Fig. 1); and a multi-stack management module (control device 20 in Fig. 1) for receiving the estimated stack open circuit voltage (estimated from charging state in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and the estimated stack resistance (internal resistance in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and for determining an output signal (switch actuation commands from control device 20 in Fig. 1) based on the estimated stack open circuit voltage (estimated from charging state in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and the estimated stack resistance (internal resistance in control device 20 in Fig. 1), wherein the output signal (switch actuation commands from control device 20 in Fig. 1) is used to determine whether to connect the one or more disconnected stacks (deactivated modules 14 in Fig. 1) to the shared DC bus (bridge branch 12 in Fig. 1).
As to claims 2, 16, Helling discloses in Fig. 1, wherein the multi-stack battery management device further comprises a controller, the controller configured to receive the output signal from the multi-stack management module and connect one or more of the disconnected stacks to the shared DC bus of the energy storage system based on the output signal (control device 20 in Fig. 1); receiving, by a controller, the output signal (control device 20 in Fig. 1); and connecting, by the controller, one or more of the disconnected stacks to the shared DC bus based on the output signal (control device 20 in Fig. 1).
As to claims 3, 17, Helling discloses in Fig. 1, wherein the multi-stack battery management device further comprises a switch, the switch configured to connect one or more of the disconnected stacks to the shared DC bus of the energy storage system based on the output signal (switches 28 in Figs. 7-12); receiving, by a switch, the output signal (switches 28 in Figs. 7-12); and connecting, by the switch, one or more of the disconnected stacks to the shared DC bus based on the output signal** (switches 28 in Figs. 7-12).
As to claim 13, Helling discloses in Fig. 1, wherein the voltage measurement device configured to measure the measured voltage associated with one or more of the connected stacks and the current measurement device configured to measure the measured current of one or more of the connected stacks (for activated modules 14 in Fig. 1).
As to claim 14, Helling discloses in Fig. 1, wherein the voltage measurement device is configured to measure the measured voltage associated with one or more of the disconnected stacks (for deactivated modules 14 in Fig. 1 before activation).
As to claim 15, Helling discloses in Fig. 1, a multi-stack battery management method, comprising: measuring, by a measurement module (integrated in control device 20 in Fig. 1) comprising a voltage measurement device (voltage sensing in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and a current measurement device (current sensing in control device 20 in Fig. 1), a measured voltage (voltage data in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and a measured current (current data in control device 20 in Fig. 1) associated with a stack (module 14 in Fig. 1) of an energy storage system (system 10 in Fig. 1); wherein the energy storage system (system 10 in Fig. 1) comprises one or more stacks (modules 14 in Fig. 1); wherein the one or more stacks (modules 14 in Fig. 1) comprises one or more connected stacks (activated modules 14 in Fig. 1) and one or more disconnected stacks (deactivated modules 14 in Fig. 1); and wherein the connected stacks (activated modules 14 in Fig. 1) are connected to a shared DC bus (bridge branch 12 in Fig. 1); receiving, by a multi-stack estimation system (part of control device 20 in Fig. 1), the measured voltage (voltage data in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and the measured current (current data in control device 20 in Fig. 1) from the measurement module (integrated in control device 20 in Fig. 1); generating, by the multi-stack estimation system (part of control device 20 in Fig. 1), an estimated stack open circuit voltage (estimated from charging state in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and an estimated stack resistance (internal resistance in control device 20 in Fig. 1) for one or more of the stacks (modules 14 in Fig. 1); receiving, by a multi-stack management module (control device 20 in Fig. 1), the estimated stack open circuit voltage (estimated from charging state in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and the estimated stack resistance (internal resistance in control device 20 in Fig. 1); determining, by the multi-stack management module (control device 20 in Fig. 1), an output signal (switch actuation commands from control device 20 in Fig. 1) based on the estimated stack open circuit voltage (estimated from charging state in control device 20 in Fig. 1) and the estimated stack resistance (internal resistance in control device 20 in Fig. 1); and controlling connection of the one or more disconnected stacks (deactivated modules 14 in Fig. 1) to the shared DC bus (bridge branch 12 in Fig. 1) of the energy storage system (system 10 in Fig. 1) based on the output signal (switch actuation commands from control device 20 in Fig. 1).
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.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Helling et al. (US 10,637,251 B2 hereinafter Helling), in view of Balasingam et al. (US 10,664,562 B2 hereinafter Balasingam).
As to claim 11, Helling discloses in Fig. 1, wherein the multi-stack management module is configured determine whether to connect one or more of the disconnected stacks to the shared DC bus based on the estimated stack open circuit voltage, an estimated stack polarization voltage, and the estimated stack resistance for each of the connected stacks (equalization in control device 20 in Fig. 1).
Helling does not disclose using polarization explicitly.
However, Balasingam discloses in Figs. 1-3, using an estimated stack polarization voltage, (see the summary; full ECM including polarization in Figs. 2-3 for state decisions).
Therefore, It 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, to modify the device of Helling to include polarization in connection decisions as taught by Balasingam for safer voltage matching.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-10, 12; 18-20 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
As to claims 4-10, 12, 18-20, the prior art in alone and/or in combination does not disclose all of limitations recited in claims above.
Conclusion
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/TUNG X NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858 12/22/25