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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/08/2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 05/08/2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Specification
The specification and an amendment were received on 05/08/2024. These are acceptable.
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.
Claims 3-5 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.
The term “fast” in claims 3-5 is a relative term which renders the claims indefinite. The term “fast” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 1 -7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significant more.
Claim 1 recites, a fuel cell deterioration determination device configured to determine deterioration of a catalyst including a catalyst metal and a catalyst carrier carrying the catalyst metal in a fuel cell stack, the fuel cell deterioration determination device comprising: an impedance measurer configured to apply an alternating current signal to the fuel cell stack and measure an alternating current impedance of the fuel cell stack; and a deterioration determiner configured to estimate, based on a characteristic of the measured alternating current impedance, a degree of an activation overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst metal, and also a degree of a diffusion overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst carrier, and determine, based on reference values of the activation overvoltage and the diffusion overvoltage with respect to a vehicle travel distance held in advance, progresses of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier.
Dependent claim 2 recites, the fuel cell deterioration determination device according to claim 1, wherein the deterioration determiner is configured to: calculate, based on the alternating current impedance, a Nyquist diagram; and by setting an arc radius on a high-frequency side in the calculated Nyquist diagram as the degree of the activation overvoltage, and an arc radius on a low-frequency side in the Nyquist diagram as the degree of the diffusion overvoltage, determine the progresses of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier. Claims 3-6 are rejected as dependent claims.
Independent claim 7 recites, a fuel cell deterioration determination device configured to determine deterioration of a catalyst including a catalyst metal and a catalyst carrier carrying the catalyst metal in a fuel cell stack, the fuel cell deterioration determination device comprising circuitry configured to: apply an alternating current signal to the fuel cell stack and measure an alternating current impedance of the fuel cell stack; and estimate, based on a characteristic of the measured alternating current impedance, a degree of an activation overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst metal, and also a degree of a diffusion overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst carrier, and determine, based on reference values of the activation overvoltage and the diffusion overvoltage with respect to a vehicle travel distance held in advance, progresses of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier.
The claims are drawn to an abstract idea without significantly more and thus do not comply with 35 USC 101. The following limitations in claims 1 and 2 and 7 are abstract ideas that could be performed using mental steps, pen and paper (Stap 2A, prong 1 od 101 analysis in MPEP 2106):
“measure an alternating current impedance; estimate, based on a characteristic of the measured alternating current impedance, a degree of an activation overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst metal, and a degree of a diffusion overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst carrier; determine, based on reference values of the activation overvoltage and the diffusion overvoltage with respect to a vehicle travel distance held in advance, progresses of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier.”
“calculate, based on the alternating current impedance, a Nyquist diagram; and by setting an arc radius on a high-frequency side in the calculated Nyquist diagram as the degree of the activation overvoltage, and an arc radius on a low-frequency side in the Nyquist diagram as the degree of the diffusion overvoltage, determine the progresses of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier”
“measure an alternating current impedance of the fuel cell stack; and estimate, based on a characteristic of the measured alternating current impedance, a degree of an activation overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst metal, and also a degree of a diffusion overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst carrier, and determine, based on reference values of the activation overvoltage and the diffusion overvoltage with respect to a vehicle travel distance held in advance”
The structural limitations in the claims (an impedance measurer and deterioration determiner) are routine and conventional in the art. The abstract ideas are not integrated into a particular practical application because data (impedance measurements / Nyquist plot) is merely being gathered or collected, and then a calculation is performed. No further control step with respect to the physical structure of the fuel cell system is taken using the data that was collected or the calculation that was performed. Thus, the position is taken that the abstract idea is insufficiently tied to the physical structure of the system. It is further noted that mere data gathering (impedance measurements) has been found to be an insignificant extra-solution activity, and the recited “deterioration determiner” is no more than a mere calculator to perform the judicial exception using a generic computer component. As a whole, the claims do not integrate the abstract ideas into a particular practical application (MPEP 2106.05(g)), as there is an insufficient nexus between the abstract idea and the physical structure that is tied to that idea or carries out that idea. The claims are thus patent ineligible.
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.
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.
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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Cho Sung Mun et al. (KR-20200122463-A; “Cho” hereinafter; US-2020335811-A1 is used for citations) in view of Sudhan Shanmugam et al. (US-20200185741-A1; “Sudhan” hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Cho discloses a fuel cell deterioration determination device (Cho: degradation determiner; figure 1 below) configured to determine deterioration of a catalyst including a catalyst metal and a catalyst carrier carrying the catalyst metal in a fuel cell stack (estimating an effective catalyst amount (Cho: abstract)). Cho further teaches a method of controlling a fuel cell, able to maintain optimal power distribution by determining an effective catalyst amount and thereby the irreversible deterioration of the catalyst based on the actual driving distance (Cho: [0067]) and thereby discloses determining the deterioration of the catalyst and respective characteristics with respect to a vehicle travel distance held in advance and relate the travel distance to the progress of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier by relating it to the beginning of life state representing a driving distance of 0, the middle of life state where the driving distance is close to the half the life of the fuel cell stack and the end of life stage when the driving distance almost reaches the end of life of the fuel cell stack (Cho: [0067] and [0068]). Cho fails to disclose that the fuel cell deterioration determination comprising: an impedance measurer configured to apply an alternating current signal to the fuel cell stack and measure an alternating current impedance of the fuel cell stack (a power analyzer or DC / DC converter configured to inject a testing waveform into the stack and to measure a resulting impedance response Sudhan: [0006]); and a deterioration determiner configured to estimate, based on a characteristic of the measured alternating current impedance , a degree of an activation overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst metal, and also a degree of a diffusion overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst carrier (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy “EIS” provides information on the degradation pattern of the electrochemical device, [0081]), and determine, based on reference values of the activation overvoltage and the diffusion overvoltage (By comparing the impedance response of the electrochemical device being measured to known signatures of impedance responses of electrochemical devices with known characteristics , the characteristics of the measured device may be identified, Sudhan [0081]).
Sudhan and Cho are analogous prior art to the current invention because they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely control methods for fuel cells.
Before the effective filing date of the current invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to apply the method disclosed by Cho to the fuel cell system disclosed by Sudhan as doing so would amount to nothing more than to use a known method for its intended use in a known environment to accomplish an entirely predictable result.
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Figure 1: Cho figure 1
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Cho Sung Mun et al. (US-2020335811-A1; “Cho” hereinafter) in view of Sudhan Shanmugam et al. (US-20200185741-A1; “Sudhan” hereinafter) as applied to claim 1 and as evidenced by Wu et al. (ISSN 0378-7753; “Wu” hereinafter).
Regarding claim 2, Sudhan discloses the fuel cell deterioration device as recited by claim 1 and further discloses that the deterioration determiner is configured to: calculate, based on the alternating current impedance, a Nyquist diagram; and discloses the determination of the progresses of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier (Sudhan: Results of the EIS procedure ( e.g. , the measured impedance at varying frequencies ) may be graphically represented using a Nyquist plot or Bode plot and characteristics of the electrochemical device may be determined based on the impedance response of the electrochemical device (Sudhan: [0081]). Sudhan is silent on setting an arc radius on a high-frequency side in the calculated Nyquist diagram as the degree of the activation overvoltage, and an arc radius on a low-frequency side in the Nyquist diagram as the degree of the diffusion overvoltage. The Nyquist method has been known in the art as evidenced by Wu, who discloses using the Nyquist plots and teaches that the plots are mainly consisted of two overlapping semicircles with a high frequency arc having characteristic frequencies at 100–1000 Hz that may be attributed to the activation polarization in cathode and a low frequency arc having 10–30 Hz which should correspond to the diffusion process in the anode porous electrode relating to the concentration polarization.
Regarding claim 3, modified Cho discloses a fuel cell vehicle (Cho: [0003]) comprising: the deterioration determination device according to claim 1; a fuel cell electrically connected to the deterioration determination device (Sudhan: figure 1); and a control device (system control 225 figure 2 below) configured to control driving of the fuel cell, wherein the control device is configured to in a case where it is determined that the progresses of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier are fast on a side of the activation overvoltage, suppress an upper limit voltage value of the fuel cell vehicle in accordance with the deterioration on a side of the activation overvoltage. Cho discloses that in the case that irreversible degradation occurs the maximum output (of the output voltage) may be reduced further than in a state before the irreversible degradation (Cho [0084]).
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Figure 2: Sudhan figure 4.
Claim 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Cho Sung Mun et al. (KR-20200122463-A; “Cho” hereinafter; US-2020335811-A1 is used for citations) in view of Sudhan Shanmugam et al. (US-20200185741-A1; “Sudhan” hereinafter) as applied to claim 3/2/5 and further in view of Matsusue et al. (JP-5691385-B2; “Matsusue” a machine translation is used for the citations) and Kenji et al. (JP5023374B2; “Kenji” hereinafter, US2010092819A1 is used as a translation).
Regarding claim 4, modified Cho discloses the fuel cell vehicle according to claim 3 but fails to discloses that the control device is configured to in a case where it is determined that the progresses of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier are fast on a side of the diffusion overvoltage, execute one or more of (a) decreasing a rate of change in voltage per unit time in an acceleration/deceleration operation of the fuel cell vehicle and (p) delaying a timing of introducing air to a cathode electrode at a start-up of the fuel cell as compared with a normal time. Matsusue discloses adjusting the flow rate of the air flowing through the cathode to reduce moisture and suppress a dry state and further discloses it is possible to suppress the dry state by increasing the amount of water generated by increasing the degree of catalytic reaction. As a result, power output can be ensured, and drivability can be ensured (Matsusue: [0075]).
Cho and Matsusue are analogous prior art to the current invention because they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely degradation determination for fuel cells.
In seeking a method that ensures power output and drivability before the effective filing date of the current invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to implement apply the corrective step disclosed by Matsusue to the system disclosed by modified Cho as doing so would amount to nothing more than to use a known method for its intended use in a known environment to accomplish an entirely predictable result.
Alternatively, Kenji discloses a catalyst activation process, when the fuel cell vehicle is stopped, the controller continues the supply of the fuel gas to the fuel cell stack, while stopping the supply of the oxidizing gas and linearly gradually decreasing the voltage instruction value to the DC/DC converter from the use upper limit voltage V 1 to a reduction voltage V 3 ). The reduction voltage V 3 needs to be in a voltage range where the oxidized membrane covering the platinum catalyst can be reduced to remove the oxidized membrane and is preferably set so that the voltage per cell is, for example, about 0.7 V. Kenji ([0076]).
Cho and Kenji are analogous prior art to the current invention because they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely optimization of degenerated catalysts of fuel call systems.
Before the effective filing date of the current invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to apply implement the catalyst activation step disclosed by Kenji in the system disclosed by modified Cho
as doing so would amount to nothing more than to use a known method for its intended use in a known environment to accomplish an entirely predictable result.
Regarding claim 5, modified Cho discloses a fuel cell vehicle comprising: the deterioration determination device according to claim 2; a fuel cell electrically connected to the deterioration determination device (see power analyzer 70 figure 4 above); and a control device (system controller 225) configured to control driving of the fuel cell, wherein the control device is configured to in a case where it is determined that the progresses of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier are fast on a side of the activation overvoltage, suppress an upper limit voltage value of the fuel cell vehicle in accordance with the deterioration on a side of the activation overvoltage. Cho discloses that in the case that irreversible degradation of the catalyst occurs the maximum output (of the output voltage) may be reduced further than in a state before the irreversible degradation (Cho [0084]). Kenji further discloses lowering the output voltage of the fuel cell from a use upper limit voltage to a reduction voltage to perform catalyst activation processing (Kenji abstract).
Regarding claim 6, modified Cho discloses a fuel cell vehicle according to claim 5 and discloses that the control device is configured to in a case where it is determined that the progresses of the deterioration of the catalyst metal and the deterioration of the catalyst carrier are fast on a side of the diffusion overvoltage, execute one or more of execute one or more of (a) decreasing a rate of change in voltage per unit time in an acceleration/deceleration operation of the fuel cell vehicle and (p) delaying a timing of introducing air to a cathode electrode at a start- Matsusue discloses adjusting the flow rate of the air flowing through the cathode, to reduce moisture and suppress a dry state and further discloses it is possible to suppress the dry state by increasing the amount of water generated by increasing the degree of catalytic reaction. As a result, power output can be ensured, and drivability can be ensured (Matsusue: [0075]).
Cho and Matsusue are analogous prior art to the current invention because they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely degradation determination for fuel cells.
In seeking a method that ensures power output and drivability before the effective filing date of the current invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to implement apply the corrective step disclosed by Matsusue to the system disclosed by modified Cho as doing so would amount to nothing more than to use a known method for its intended use in a known environment to accomplish an entirely predictable result.
Alternatively, Kenji discloses a catalyst activation process, when the fuel cell vehicle is stopped, the controller continues the supply of the fuel gas to the fuel cell stack, while stopping the supply of the oxidizing gas and linearly gradually decreasing the voltage instruction value to the DC/DC converter from the use upper limit voltage V 1 to a reduction voltage V 3 ). The reduction voltage V 3 needs to be in a voltage range where the oxidized membrane covering the platinum catalyst can be reduced to remove the oxidized membrane and is preferably set so that the voltage per cell is, for example, about 0.7 V. Kenji ([0076]).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Cho Sung Mun et al. (KR-20200122463-A; “Cho” hereinafter; US-2020335811-A1 is used for citations) in view of Sudhan Shanmugam et al. (US-20200185741-A1; “Sudhan” hereinafter).
Regarding claim 7, Cho discloses a fuel cell deterioration determination device (degradation determiner 80 figure 1) configured to determine deterioration of a catalyst (estimate effective catalyst amount and irreversible degradation state (Cho: abstract)). Cho discloses the estimation of the deterioration of the catalyst with respect to a vehicle travel distance by relating it to the beginning of life state representing a driving distance of 0, the middle of life state where the driving distance is close to the half the life of the fuel cell stack and the end of life stage when the driving distance almost reaches the end of life of the fuel cell stack (Cho: [0067] and [0068]). Cho is silent on the catalyst including a catalyst metal (metal catalyst Sudhan: [0027]) and a catalyst carrier (ceramic phase Sudhan: [0027]) carrying the catalyst metal in a fuel cell stack (metallic phase finely dispersed within the ceramic matrix Sudhan: [0027]) and is silent on the fuel cell deterioration device comprising circuitry. Sudhan however discloses a catalyst metal (metal catalyst Sudhan: [0027]) and a catalyst carrier (ceramic phase Sudhan: [0027]) carrying the catalyst metal in a fuel cell stack (metallic phase finely dispersed within the ceramic matrix Sudhan: [0027]) and discloses the fuel cell deterioration determination device comprising circuitry (see figure 1 above) configured to: apply an alternating current signal to the fuel cell stack and measure an alternating current impedance of the fuel cell stack (A voltage or current and resulting phase angle of the electrochemical device may be determined at each of the sampling frequencies, and using EIS converted into impedances; Sudhan: [0080]); and estimate, based on a characteristic of the measured alternating current impedance, a degree of an activation overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst metal, and also a degree of a diffusion overvoltage in the fuel cell stack as deterioration of the catalyst carrier (By comparing the impedance response of the electrochemical device to known signatures of impedance responses of electrochemical devices with known characteristics the characteristics of the measured device may be identified; Sudhan [0081]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure:
US-11054473-B2 teaches a state estimation device for fuel cells based on impedance measurement
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMANTHA LEE HANYON whose telephone number is (571)272-8881. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 7:30am-5pm.
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/S.L.H./Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/JAMES M ERWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
09/24/2026
