Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 05/31/2024. Claims 1-18 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to ATA 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
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.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 20130293248 (hereinafter, "Ho") in view of U.S. Pat. No. 12115967 (hereinafter, "Wu").
Regarding claim 1, Ho discloses an electric vehicle, comprising:
an electric traction motor (“The first and second torque machines 42 and 43 preferably include multi-phase electric motor/generators configured to convert stored electric energy to mechanical power when operating…” (para 0011));
a high voltage (HV) battery system including a HV bus and a HV battery configured to power the electric traction motor (“The high-voltage battery 25 stores potential electric energy and is electrically connected via the high-voltage bus 29 to the high-voltage electrical circuit” (para 0012));
an active discharge circuit configured to remove residual voltage on the HV bus (“The discharge circuit 140 includes a passive discharge element 142 and an active discharge element 145” (para 0020));
a low voltage battery system including a low voltage battery (“The control module 12 includes a low-voltage electric power supply to provide regulated electric power thereto” (para 0014));
a motor control processor (MCP) configured to control the electric traction motor (“The control module has a set of control routines executed to provide the desired functions. Routines are executed, such as by a central processing unit, and are operable to monitor inputs from sensing devices and other networked control modules, and execute control and diagnostic routines to control operation of actuators” (para 0017)); and
a powertrain control system (“The control module 12 executes control schemes to control operation of the engine 40 in coordination with the first and second electric power inverters 32 and 33 to control overall operation of the hybrid powertrain system 20 to manage transfer of mechanical power to the driveline 60 and to manage electric power flow” (para 0018)) for managing an active discharge of the HV bus during a fault event (“Active discharge of the high-voltage electrical circuit 30 may be initiated in response to detection of a system fault” (para 0021)), including a controller having one or more processors programmed to:
detect a HV shutdown event due to the fault event (“The control scheme 300 for control and monitoring of the discharge circuit is initiated when there is a command to initiate active discharge of the high-voltage electrical circuit, which may be in response to a command to discharge the voltage across the high-voltage electrical circuit (302). Active discharge of the high-voltage electrical circuit is initiated by selectively activating the controllable discharge switch 146 of the active discharge element 145. System voltages are monitored” (para 0023) and “One of an absence (316)(1) and a presence (316)(0) of a fault can be detected in the passive discharge element 142 based on the comparison of the first voltage and the second voltage after the predetermined elapsed time period” (para 0025));
disconnect the HV battery from the HV bus (“The control scheme 300 includes initially actively discharging the high-voltage electrical circuit 30, which may be initiated, for example, subsequent to an opening of the high-voltage switch 28 (i.e., decoupling of the high-voltage electrical circuit 30 from the high-voltage battery 25” (para 0021));
send an active discharge command to the MCP to remove residual voltage by the active discharge circuit (“Active discharge of the high-voltage electrical circuit is initiated by selectively activating the controllable discharge switch 146 of the active discharge element 145. System voltages are monitored, including monitoring voltage between the positive DC link 131 and the negative DC link 132 of the high-voltage electrical circuit (304). This voltage across the high-voltage electrical circuit 30 is ongoingly monitored and compared with a target voltage (306)” (para 0023));
However, Ho does not explicitly teach
determine the controller and/or the MCP have momentarily lost power after the fault event; and resend the active discharge command to the MCP.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
determine the controller and/or the MCP have momentarily lost power after the fault event (Fig. 4A, #S110); and resend the active discharge command to the MCP (Fig. 4A, #S170).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide power control method; see Wu at least at [Col. 9, lines 12-15].
Regarding claim 2, Ho discloses the electric vehicle of claim 1. Additionally, Ho discloses wherein the fault event is a vehicle impact event (“fault. Active discharge of the high-voltage electrical circuit 30 may be initiated in response to a motor vehicle crash” (para 0021)).
Regarding claim 3, Ho discloses the electric vehicle of claim 1. However, Ho does not explicitly teach wherein the active discharge circuit is configured to remove residual energy stored in one or more capacitors.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
wherein the active discharge circuit is configured to remove residual energy stored in one or more capacitors (“the controller 500 turns on the switch S1 and parts or all of the switches S31~S36, so that the HV level “VH” of the voltage-regulating capacitor C1 may be discharged through both the first discharging path P1 and the third discharging path P3” (Col. 8, lines 32-40).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to decrease the HV level of the voltage-regulating capacitor C1; see Wu at least at [Col. 8, lines 32-40].
Regarding claim 4, Ho discloses the electric vehicle of claim 1. Additionally, Ho discloses wherein the controller disconnects the HV battery from the HV bus via one or more contactors (“ for example, subsequent to an opening of the high-voltage switch 28 (i.e., decoupling of the high-voltage electrical circuit 30 from the high-voltage battery 25” (para 0021)).
Regarding claim 5, Ho discloses the electric vehicle of claim 1. However, Ho does not explicitly teach wherein the powertrain control system further includes:
an Active Discharge Occurred Determination subsystem configured to determine if the MCP received the active discharge command after the fault event and is actively discharging the residual voltage,
wherein the controller is further programmed to (i) complete the active discharge if it is determined the MCP received the active discharge command and is actively discharging the residual voltage, and (ii) subsequently disable the active discharge command to the MCP.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the powertrain control system further includes:
an Active Discharge Occurred Determination subsystem configured to determine if the MCP received the active discharge command after the fault event and is actively discharging the residual voltage (Fig. 4A, #S110),
wherein the controller is further programmed to (i) complete the active discharge if it is determined the MCP received the active discharge command and is actively discharging the residual voltage, and (ii) subsequently disable the active discharge command to the MCP (Fig. 4A, #S170).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide power control method; see Wu at least at [Col. 9, lines 12-15].
Regarding claim 6, Ho discloses the electric vehicle of claim 5. Additionally, Ho discloses wherein the powertrain control system further includes:
a HV Parameter Monitoring subsystem configured to monitor if the voltage on the HV bus is greater than a predetermined threshold (“the voltage change between the first and second voltages is compared to a threshold voltage change (316)” (para 0025)),
However, Ho does not explicitly teach
wherein the controller is configured to resend the active discharge command to the MCP if the HV Parameter Monitoring subsystem indicates the monitored voltage is greater than the predetermined threshold.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
wherein the controller is configured to resend the active discharge command to the MCP if the HV Parameter Monitoring subsystem indicates the monitored voltage is greater than the predetermined threshold (Fig. 4A, #S170-#S180).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide power control method; see Wu at least at [Col. 9, lines 12-15].
Regarding claim 7, Ho discloses the electric vehicle of claim 1. However, Ho does not explicitly teach wherein the supervisory controller and the MCP are powered by the low voltage battery system.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
wherein the supervisory controller and the MCP are powered by the low voltage battery system (“ The anode 151 of the LV battery 150 is connected to the regulating controller 190” (Col. 3, lines 45-47)).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide a DC power with a low-voltage (LV) level “VL1; see Wu at least at [Col. 3, lines 37-47].
Regarding claim 8, Ho discloses the electric vehicle of claim 7. However, Ho does not explicitly teach wherein the momentary loss of power to the controller and/or the MCP causes a loss of signal communication between the controller and the MCP.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
wherein the momentary loss of power to the controller and/or the MCP causes a loss of signal communication between the controller and the MCP (Fig. 4A, #A-#C).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide power control method; see Wu at least at [Col. 9, lines 12-15].
Regarding claim 9, Ho discloses the electric vehicle of claim 8. However, Ho does not explicitly teach wherein the momentary loss of power to the controller and/or the MCP causes the controller and/or the MCP to reset.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
wherein the momentary loss of power to the controller and/or the MCP causes the controller and/or the MCP to reset (Fig. 4A, #S150).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide power control method; see Wu at least at [Col. 9, lines 12-15].
Regarding claim 10, Ho discloses a method of operating a powertrain control system to manage an active discharge of an electric vehicle having an electric traction motor, a high voltage (HV) battery system including a HV bus and a HV battery, an active discharge circuit configured to remove residual voltage on the HV bus, and a motor control processor (MCP) configured to control the electric traction motor, the method comprising:
detecting, by a controller having one or more processors, a HV shutdown event due to a fault event (“The control scheme 300 for control and monitoring of the discharge circuit is initiated when there is a command to initiate active discharge of the high-voltage electrical circuit, which may be in response to a command to discharge the voltage across the high-voltage electrical circuit (302). Active discharge of the high-voltage electrical circuit is initiated by selectively activating the controllable discharge switch 146 of the active discharge element 145. System voltages are monitored” (para 0023) and “One of an absence (316)(1) and a presence (316)(0) of a fault can be detected in the passive discharge element 142 based on the comparison of the first voltage and the second voltage after the predetermined elapsed time period” (para 0025));
disconnecting, by the controller, the HV battery from the HV bus (“The control scheme 300 includes initially actively discharging the high-voltage electrical circuit 30, which may be initiated, for example, subsequent to an opening of the high-voltage switch 28 (i.e., decoupling of the high-voltage electrical circuit 30 from the high-voltage battery 25” (para 0021));
sending, by the controller, an active discharge command to the MCP to remove residual voltage by the active discharge circuit (“Active discharge of the high-voltage electrical circuit is initiated by selectively activating the controllable discharge switch 146 of the active discharge element 145. System voltages are monitored, including monitoring voltage between the positive DC link 131 and the negative DC link 132 of the high-voltage electrical circuit (304). This voltage across the high-voltage electrical circuit 30 is ongoingly monitored and compared with a target voltage (306)” (para 0023));
However, Ho does not explicitly teach
determining the controller and/or the MCP have momentarily lost power after the fault event; and resending, by the controller, the active discharge command to the MCP.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
determining the controller and/or the MCP have momentarily lost power after the fault event (Fig. 4A, #S110); and resending, by the controller, the active discharge command to the MCP (Fig. 4A, #S170).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide power control method; see Wu at least at [Col. 9, lines 12-15].
Regarding claim 11, Ho discloses the method of claim 10. Additionally, Ho discloses wherein the fault event is a vehicle impact event (“fault. Active discharge of the high-voltage electrical circuit 30 may be initiated in response to a motor vehicle crash” (para 0021)).
Regarding claim 12, Ho discloses the method of claim 10. However, Ho does not explicitly teach wherein the active discharge circuit is configured to remove residual energy stored in one or more capacitors.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
wherein the active discharge circuit is configured to remove residual energy stored in one or more capacitors (“the controller 500 turns on the switch S1 and parts or all of the switches S31~S36, so that the HV level “VH” of the voltage-regulating capacitor C1 may be discharged through both the first discharging path P1 and the third discharging path P3” (Col. 8, lines 32-40).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to decrease the HV level of the voltage-regulating capacitor C1; see Wu at least at [Col. 8, lines 32-40].
Regarding claim 13, Ho discloses the method of claim 10. Additionally, Ho discloses wherein the controller disconnects the HV battery from the HV bus via one or more contactors (“ for example, subsequent to an opening of the high-voltage switch 28 (i.e., decoupling of the high-voltage electrical circuit 30 from the high-voltage battery 25” (para 0021)).
Regarding claim 14, Ho discloses the method of claim 10. However, Ho does not explicitly teach wherein the electric vehicle includes a powertrain control system having an Active Discharge Occurred Determination subsystem, the method further comprising:
determining, by the Active Discharge Occurred Determination subsystem, if the MCP received the active discharge command after the fault event and is actively discharging the residual voltage;
completing the active discharge if it is determined the MCP received the active discharge command and is actively discharging the residual voltage; and
subsequently disabling, by the controller, the active discharge command to the MCP.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
wherein the electric vehicle includes a powertrain control system having an Active Discharge Occurred Determination subsystem, the method further comprising:
determining, by the Active Discharge Occurred Determination subsystem, if the MCP received the active discharge command after the fault event and is actively discharging the residual voltage (Fig. 4A, #S110);
completing the active discharge if it is determined the MCP received the active discharge command and is actively discharging the residual voltage; and subsequently disabling, by the controller, the active discharge command to the MCP (Fig. 4A, #S170).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide power control method; see Wu at least at [Col. 9, lines 12-15].
Regarding claim 15, Ho discloses the method of claim 14. Additionally, Ho discloses wherein the powertrain control system further includes a HV Parameter Monitoring subsystem, the method further comprising:
monitoring, by the HV Parameter Monitoring subsystem, if the voltage on the HV bus is greater than a predetermined threshold (“the voltage change between the first and second voltages is compared to a threshold voltage change (316)” (para 0025)); and
However, Ho does not explicitly teach
resending, by the controller, the active discharge command to the MCP if the HV Parameter Monitoring subsystem indicates the monitored voltage is greater than the predetermined threshold.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
resending, by the controller, the active discharge command to the MCP if the HV Parameter Monitoring subsystem indicates the monitored voltage is greater than the predetermined threshold (Fig. 4A, #S170-#S180).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide power control method; see Wu at least at [Col. 9, lines 12-15].
Regarding claim 16, Ho discloses the method of claim 10. However, Ho does not explicitly teach wherein the supervisory controller and the MCP are powered by the low voltage battery system.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
wherein the supervisory controller and the MCP are powered by the low voltage battery system (“ The anode 151 of the LV battery 150 is connected to the regulating controller 190” (Col. 3, lines 45-47)).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide a DC power with a low-voltage (LV) level “VL1; see Wu at least at [Col. 3, lines 37-47].
Regarding claim 17, Ho discloses the method of claim 16. However, Ho does not explicitly teach wherein the momentary loss of power to the controller and/or the MCP causes a loss of signal communication between the controller and the MCP.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
wherein the momentary loss of power to the controller and/or the MCP causes a loss of signal communication between the controller and the MCP (Fig. 4A, #A-#C).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide power control method; see Wu at least at [Col. 9, lines 12-15].
Regarding claim 18, Ho discloses the method of claim 17. However, Ho does not explicitly teach wherein the momentary loss of power to the controller and/or the MCP causes the controller and/or the MCP to reset.
Wu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
wherein the momentary loss of power to the controller and/or the MCP causes the controller and/or the MCP to reset (Fig. 4A, #S150).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the time of filing, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Ho with the teachings of Wu in order to provide power control method; see Wu at least at [Col. 9, lines 12-15].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM ALHARBI whose telephone number is (313)446-6621. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 11:00AM – 7:30PM EST.
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/ADAM M ALHARBI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3663