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 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.
Claims 1-3 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over JP 2007-124771 A (MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC IND. CO., LTD.) 17 May 2007 (2007-05-17). Hereinafter that document will be referred to as Matsushita.
The examiner notes that this art was applied in PCT/JP2022/036494. The examiner has reviewed that action and finds it to be applicable. Therefore, the examiner employs the written opinion in that action below.
Re claims 1 and 6:
Matsushita (particularly, paragraphs [0037]-[0134], fig. 1-3) describes an electric power supply device for a vehicle (corresponding to the "electric power supply device"; paragraph [0037], fig. 1-2), the electric power supply device comprising: a capacitor block 14 (corresponding to the "electric power storage circuit"; paragraphs [0041]-[0042], fig. 2) that has a first node that is connected to a generator or a battery 11 (corresponding to the "electric power supply") and a second node that is grounded (fig. 2), and is provided with a capacitor 15 between the first node and the second node, said capacitor being an electric double layer capacitor; a voltage dividing circuit 16 (corresponding to the "discharge circuit"; paragraphs [0044]-[0046], fig. 2) that is provided with a resistor (corresponding to the "discharge resistor") that is connected between the first node and the ground; and a forced discharge control circuit 20 (corresponding to the "electric power supply control unit"; paragraphs [0049], [0050], [0059], [0070]-[0072], fig. 2) that measures the voltage of the capacitor 15 (corresponding to "measuring the voltage of the first node") and controls the voltage dividing circuit 16, wherein the forced discharge control circuit 20 executes a sequence in which discharging of the capacitor 15 is initiated by the voltage dividing circuit 16 when the IG is turned off (corresponding to "when transition to a resting state is detected"), and discharging of the capacitor 15 is stopped when the voltage of the capacitor 15 becomes lower than a finish voltage Vc (corresponding to the "first reference voltage") (paragraphs [0070]-[0072]). As such, there is no difference between the invention-specifying matter of the invention as in claims 1 and 6 and the invention-specifying matter of the invention described in Matsushita.
Re claim 2:
Matsushita (paragraph [0046], fig. 2) indicates that the voltage dividing circuit 16 comprises a voltage dividing circuit switch 17 (corresponding to the "switch element").
Re claim 5:
Matsushita (paragraphs [0072]-[0073], fig. 3) indicates that: when Vc becomes 1.3 V and the IG is turned off, it is determined that forced discharging has finished and the voltage dividing circuit switch 17 is turned off; and when the voltage dividing circuit switch 17 is turned off, the path through which an electric current flows from the capacitor 15 is only a voltage regulator 23 (corresponding to the "load").
Re claim 3:
In a case in which the number of capacitor blocks 14 is one and the number of capacitors 15 is two in the invention described in Matsushita, a person skilled in the art could, as appropriate, swap the locations of the resistor and the voltage dividing circuit switch 17 in the voltage dividing circuit 16 on the ground side.
Re claims 7 and 8:
Matsushita (particularly, paragraphs [0037]-[0134], fig. 1-3) describes an electric power supply device for a vehicle (corresponding to the "electric power supply device"; paragraph [0037], fig. 1-2), the electric power supply device comprising: a capacitor block 14 (corresponding to the "electric power storage circuit"; paragraphs [0041]-[0042], fig. 2) that has a first node that is connected to a generator or a battery 11 (corresponding to the "electric power supply") and a second node that is grounded (fig. 2), and is provided with a capacitor 15, said capacitor being a plurality of electric double layer capacitors; and a charge/discharge control circuit 13, a forced discharge control circuit 20, and a balance control circuit 21 (corresponding to the "electric power supply control unit"; fig. 1-2) that control an electric power supply process from the capacitor block 14 to a load (paragraph [0036]), a discharge process of discharging from the capacitor 15 via a resistor (corresponding to the "discharge resistor") of a voltage dividing circuit 16 (paragraph [0059]), and an equalization process of the plurality of electric double layer capacitors (paragraph [0089]), wherein the forced discharge control circuit 20 executes a sequence in which discharging of the capacitor 15 is initiated by the voltage dividing circuit 16 when the IG is turned off (corresponding to "when transition to a resting state is detected"), and discharging of the capacitor 15 is stopped when the voltage of the capacitor 15 becomes lower than a finish voltage Vc (corresponding to the "first reference voltage") (paragraphs [0070]-[0072]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsushita as applied to claim 1 above, in view of WO 2012/160638 A1 (HITACHI VEHICLE ENERGY LTD.) 29 November 2012.
Hereinafter the latter two references is referred to as Hitachi.
The examiner notes that this art was applied in PCT/JP2022/036494. The examiner has reviewed that action and finds it to be applicable. Therefore, the examiner employs the written opinion in that action below.
Hitachi (paragraph [0038) indicates that when initiating discharging from a discharge target battery cell 111 using a balancing circuit that includes a bypass resistor 122 and a bypass switch 123, the discharge does not always need to be continuous and may be intermittently performed using a pulse signal, duty control, or the like. When discharging the capacitor 15 by the voltage dividing circuit 16 in the invention described in Matsushita, a person skilled in the art could easily have adopted a configuration in which, as described in Hitachi, discharging and stopping is repeated several times.
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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/DANIEL A HESS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
