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 § 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) 1, 13, 14, 19, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hansen et al. (US 2011/0279124 A1 hereinafter Hansen), in view of Batson et al. (US 6,304,062 B1 hereinafter Batson), further in view of Burns (US 6,983,212 B2 hereinafter Burns).
As to claim 1, Hansen discloses in Figs. 1 and 3, a computer system (battery monitor device 300 as shown in Fig. 3) comprising processing circuitry (controller 312 with microprocessor as shown in Fig. 3) configured to:
obtain resistance data indicative of respective electrical resistances of a plurality of inter-cell connectors of a battery pack (intercell connectors 106 as shown in Fig. 1, connecting battery cells 104 in battery string 102 equivalent to a battery pack; controller 312 determines resistance R_ic of intercell connector 106 by applying test load via test load circuit 308 as shown in Fig. 3, measuring voltage drop and current, using Ohm's law R = V/I; system monitors multiple intercells 106 in the string 102, implying plurality of connectors with resistance data obtained),
obtain inter-cell voltage drops across the plurality of inter-cell connectors (voltage sense circuit 310 as shown in Fig. 3 measures voltage drops V_ic across intercell connector 106 as shown in Fig. 1; measures a plurality of voltage drops across intercell 106 while unloaded; multiple samples of voltage drops taken across the connector(s)),
determine inter-cell currents based on the resistance data and associated inter-cell voltage drops (computes current measures for each voltage drop using Ohm's law I = V/R, with computations by controller 312 as shown in Fig. 3; individual currents computed from each V_ic / R_ic for intercell connector 106 as shown in Fig. 1),
determine a battery pack current estimate of a battery pack current of the battery pack based on the inter-cell currents (averages the current measures to derive float current through intercell connection 106 as shown in Fig. 1, which represents the string/pack current in the series-connected battery pack/string 102 as shown in Fig. 1; float current is the current flowing through the unloaded battery string/pack 102 as shown in Fig. 1; estimating pack current via averaging computed inter-cell currents by controller 312 as shown in Fig. 3).
Hansen does not explicitly disclose obtaining resistances and voltage drops for a plurality of inter-cell connectors, computing respective currents for each, and estimating pack current based thereon (e.g., via averaging across multiple connectors) in a detailed multi-cell context.
However, Batson discloses in Figs. 1-3, a shunt resistance device (shunt resistance device 10 as shown in Fig. 1) for monitoring battery state of charge in a battery pack with multiple cells (battery 14 with multiple cells as shown in Fig. 1), where a low-resistance shunt (analogous to an inter-cell connector or busbar) is integrated into the battery pack for current measurement via voltage drops (measures voltage drop across shunt resistance device 10 as shown in Fig. 1 to determine charge/discharge currents; multiple shunts can be used in multi-cell packs for accurate monitoring; aggregating measurements from multiple points/shunts as shown in Figs. 1-3 for overall pack current estimation).
Furthermore, Burns discloses in Figs. 1-3, a battery management system for multi-cell battery packs (battery pack 10 with series strings of cells 12 and inter-cell connectors as shown in Fig. 1), using a sense resistor (1 Ohm sense resistor 62 as shown in Fig. 3) to measure current via voltage drops and infer cell status with Ohm's law (I = V/R), including monitoring inter-cell terminals and connectors for resistance variations (selector 52 as shown in Fig. 2 accesses individual cells 12 and inter-cell terminals as shown in Fig. 1; detects electrochemical issues in inter-cell connections via current/voltage data processed by microcontroller 50 as shown in Fig. 2).
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 system of Hansen to explicitly include obtaining resistances and voltage drops for a plurality of inter-cell connectors 106 as shown in Fig. 1, computing respective inter-cell currents for each, and estimating the pack current based on the computed inter-cell currents (e.g., by averaging), as taught by Batson with multiple shunts (shunt resistance device 10 as shown in Fig. 1) and Burns with sense resistor 62 as shown in Fig. 3, for improving accuracy and redundancy in current estimation by averaging across multiple connectors in battery management systems.
As to claim 13, Hansen as modified by Batson and Burns discloses in Figs. 1 and 3 of Hansen, a vehicle (battery systems for uninterruptible power supplies, which can include vehicle applications; battery 14 as shown in Fig. 1 of Batson for electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles; battery management for vehicular UPS or propulsion systems with battery pack 10 as shown in Fig. 1 of Burns) comprising:
an electric propulsion source (implied in vehicular applications with battery pack powering propulsion, as in battery 14 as shown in Fig. 1 of Batson),
a battery pack (battery string/pack 102 as shown in Fig. 1 of Hansen, or battery 14 as shown in Fig. 1 of Batson, or battery pack 10 as shown in Fig. 1 of Burns) operatively connected to the computer system of claim 1 (battery monitor device 300 as shown in Fig. 3 of Hansen connected to pack 102 as shown in Fig. 1) and configured to provide power to the electric propulsion source (as in battery 14 as shown in Fig. 1 of Batson for vehicular applications),
preferably, the vehicle is a heavy-duty vehicle (optional limitation, but applicable to vehicular power systems, including heavy-duty via scaling with pack 10 as shown in Fig. 1 of Burns).
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 incorporate the system into a vehicle, as taught by Batson and Burns, for monitoring battery current in electric vehicle applications with battery packs 14/10 as shown in Figs. 1 of Batson and Burns, motivated by the need for reliable current estimation in vehicular battery packs to ensure safety and efficiency.
As to claim 14, Hansen as modified by Batson and Burns discloses in Figs. 1 and 3 of Hansen, a computer implemented method (method executed by controller 312 as shown in Fig. 3; flow chart of method) comprising:
obtaining, by a processing circuitry of a computer system, resistance data of a plurality of inter-cell connectors of a battery pack comprising a plurality of battery cells (as above for claim 1, with resistance R_ic for intercell connectors 106 as shown in Fig. 1, obtained by controller 312 as shown in Fig. 3),
obtaining, by the processing circuitry of the computer system, inter-cell voltage drops across the plurality of inter-cell connectors (as above for claim 1, with voltage drops V_ic measured by voltage sense circuit 310 as shown in Fig. 3 across intercell 106 as shown in Fig. 1),
determining, by the processing circuitry of the computer system, inter-cell currents based on the resistance data and associated inter-cell voltage drops (as above for claim 1, with currents I = V/R computed by controller 312 as shown in Fig. 3),
determining, by the processing circuitry of the computer system, a battery pack current estimate of a battery pack current of the battery pack based on the inter-cell currents (as above for claim 1, with pack current estimate via averaging by controller 312 as shown in Fig. 3 for pack 102 as shown in Fig. 1).
The modification with Batson and Burns applies similarly for the reasons stated above.
As to claim 19, Hansen as modified by Batson and Burns discloses a computer program product comprising program code for performing, when executed by a processing circuitry, the method of claim 14 (controller 312 as shown in Fig. 3 of Hansen includes memory with program code/instructions for executing the method; flow chart of method implies software implementation; microcontroller 50 as shown in Fig. 2 of Burns executes program code for battery management methods).
The modification with Batson and Burns applies similarly for the reasons stated above.
As to claim 20, Hansen as modified by Batson and Burns discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform the method of claim 14 (memory of controller 312 as shown in Fig. 3 of Hansen is a non-transitory medium storing instructions for the method; microcontroller 50 as shown in Fig. 2 of Burns includes non-transitory storage for executable instructions).
The modification with Batson and Burns applies similarly for the reasons stated above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-12, 15-18 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 the claims 2-12, 15-18, the prior art alone and/or in combination does disclose the limitations recited in claims above.
Conclusion
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/TUNG X NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858 2/21/2026