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 § 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-14 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.
Claim 1 recites:
A redundant electrical ground supply system comprising:
a common electrical ground output configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from a first electrical ground input and/or a second electrical ground input; a first resistor configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from the first electrical ground input and/or a battery voltage; and
a second resistor configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from the second electrical ground input and/or a battery voltage.
Regarding the language “configured to …” in connection with each of the common electrical ground output, the first resistor and the second resistor, this language fails to provide a clear cut indication of the scope of the subject matter covered by the claim, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not know from the claim terms what structure or steps are encompassed by the claim. For example, with respect to the common electrical ground output, does this language mean that the common electrical ground output is configured for connection/disconnection by virtue of its own properties/characteristics (e.g., by having a connection terminal), or does this language mean that the output is connected with other presently unclaimed structures (e.g. switches) that enable the connection/disconnection functionality? Clarification is required so that the scope of the claim is clear. Claims 2-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) by virtue of their dependence from claim 1.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2021/0122311 to Feucht et al. (Feucht).
Regarding claim 1, Feucht discloses a redundant electrical ground supply system comprising:
a common electrical ground output configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from a first electrical ground input and/or a second electrical ground input (Feucht, e.g., Figs. 2-4 and paragraphs 31-60; note that Figs. 3-4 are each exemplary embodiments of Fig. 2; with reference to Fig. 4 and paragraphs 58-60, for example, common electrical ground output in the form of neutral point 114 configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from a first electrical ground input in the form of first connection 110 and/or a second electrical ground input in the form of second electrical connection 112; also see paragraphs 43-45 in connection with the general purpose of Figs. 2-4, two independent power supply paths (redundancy) are provided for the negative (GND) branch; as a result of the defective GND input in the form of one of the connections 110, 112 being isolated from the internal ground potential which is applied to the neutral point 114, the control unit 102 still remains diagnosable and can communicate the fault state to other further systems in the vehicle; this ensures the functional reliability);
a first resistor configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from the first electrical ground input and/or a battery voltage (Feucht, e.g., Figs. 2-4 and paragraphs 31-60; note that Figs. 3-4 are each exemplary embodiments of Fig. 2; with reference to Fig. 4 and paragraphs 58-60, for example, first resistor in the form of resistor 254 that is connected to first electrical ground input in the form of first connection 110 when the associated power supply path is intact (see, e.g., paragraph 42) and that is disconnected from the first connection 110 when the ground input is defective (see, e.g., paragraph 45)); and
a second resistor configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from the second electrical ground input and/or a battery voltage (Feucht, e.g., Figs. 2-4 and paragraphs 31-60; note that Figs. 3-4 are each exemplary embodiments of Fig. 2; with reference to Fig. 4 and paragraphs 58-60, for example, second resistor in the form of resistor 256 that is connected to second electrical ground input in the form of second connection 112 when the associated power supply path is intact (see, e.g., paragraph 42) and that is disconnected from the second connection 112 when the ground input is defective (see, e.g., paragraph 45)).
Regarding claim 2, Feucht discloses:
a first switching element configured to electrically connect or disconnect the common ground output to or from the first electrical ground input (Feucht, e.g., Figs. 2-4 and paragraphs 31-60; note that Figs. 3-4 are each exemplary embodiments of Fig. 2; with reference to Fig. 4 and paragraphs 58-60, for example, first switching element in the form of first switch 116 disposed between neutral point 114 and first connection 110); and
a second switching element configured to electrically connect or disconnect the common ground output to or from the second electrical ground input (Feucht, e.g., Figs. 2-4 and paragraphs 31-60; note that Figs. 3-4 are each exemplary embodiments of Fig. 2; with reference to Fig. 4 and paragraphs 58-60, for example, second switching element in the form of second switch 118 disposed between neutral point 114 and first connection 112).
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by applicant-cited US 2023/0068600 to Al et al. (Al).
Regarding claim 1, Al discloses a redundant electrical ground supply system comprising:
a common electrical ground output configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from a first electrical ground input and/or a second electrical ground input (Al, e.g., Fig. 3, common electrical ground output in the form of ground connection to the right of second ground member 62, with the common electrical ground output being configured to be electrically connected/disconnected to/from first electrical ground input in the form of first ground member 61, and with the common electrical ground output being configured to be electrically connected/disconnected to/from second electrical ground input in the form of second ground member 62);
a first resistor configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from the first electrical ground input and/or a battery voltage (Al, e.g., Fig. 3, first resistor in the form of resistor 51 configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from first ground member 61 and/or positive terminal 11 of energy storage system 11); and
a second resistor configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from the second electrical ground input and/or a battery voltage (Al, e.g., Fig. 3, second resistor in the form of resistor 53 configured to be electrically connected to or disconnected from second ground member 62 and/or negative terminal 12 of energy storage system 11).
Regarding claim 2, Al discloses:
a first switching element configured to electrically connect or disconnect the common ground output to or from the first electrical ground input (Al, e.g., Fig. 3, first switching element in the form of switch element 42); and
a second switching element configured to electrically connect or disconnect the common ground output to or from the second electrical ground input (Al, e.g., Fig. 3, second switching element in the form of switch element 44).
Regarding claim 3, Al discloses:
a third switching element configured to electrically connect or disconnect the first resistor to or from the first electrical ground input or the battery voltage (Al, e.g., Fig. 3, third switching element in the form of switch element 41 that connects/disconnects resistor 51 to positive terminal 11 of energy storage system 11); and
a fourth switching element configured to electrically connect or disconnect the second resistor to or from the second electrical ground input or the battery voltage (Al, e.g., Fig. 3, fourth switching element in the form of switch element 43 that connects/disconnects resistor 53 to negative terminal 12 of energy storage system 11).
Regarding claim 4, Al discloses:
a third resistor in series with the first resistor and the third switching element to form a voltage divider with the first resistor (Al, e.g., Fig. 3, third resistor in the form of resistor directly below resistor 51 that is in series with resistor 51 and switch element 41); and
a fourth resistor in series with the second resistor and the fourth switching element to form a voltage divider with the second resistor (Al, e.g., Fig. 3, fourth resistor in the form of resistor directly below resistor 53 that is in series with resistor 53 and switch element 43).
Regarding claim 5, Al discloses a control unit configured to control states of the first switching element, the second switching element, the third switching element, and the fourth switching element (Al, e.g., Fig. 3, switches 41-44 are electronically controllable switches; it is therefore implicit that Al’s arrangement of Fig. 3 includes control circuitry, e.g., control unit 80 as discussed in paragraphs 60-61, for controlling operation of these switches).
Regarding claim 6, Al discloses wherein the control unit is further configured to measure an electrical potential of the battery voltage at one end of the first resistor and at one end of the second resistor (Al, e.g., paragraph 64, control unit 80 continuously monitors the current and/or the voltage of the isolation monitoring unit 30 and/or the ground fault monitoring system 100; also note in Fig. 3 the connection of respective voltage monitors at ends of resistors 51, 53).
Regarding claim 7, Al discloses wherein the control unit is configured to output a signal and/or to alter a content of a portion of a non-volatile memory in response to measuring an electrical potential that deviates from an expected electrical potential by a predetermined threshold after setting the states of the first, second, third and fourth switching elements to a predetermined configuration (Al, e.g., paragraphs 64-65; note that in case the control unit 80 is not able to control the asymmetry due to an isolation failure and/or a leakage current, the control unit 80 stops charging the energy storage system 10 by opening the first main switch 14 and the second main switch 15, which implicitly requires at least outputting a signal in response to determining that voltage/current measurements deviate from expected values by a predetermined threshold amount; further note that Al’s switches 41-44 are necessarily set in a predetermined configuration by the control circuitry prior to this determination).
Claim 15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Machine-readable medium and data (Medium), available 3/9/2023 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine-readable_medium_and_data.
Claim 15 recites a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions including:
disconnecting a common electrical ground output from a first electrical ground input;
connecting the common electrical ground output to a second electrical ground input;
disconnecting a first resistor from the first electrical ground input and/or from a battery voltage;
disconnecting a second resistor from the second electrical ground input and/or from the battery voltage; and
measuring an electrical potential between the battery voltage and the common ground output and/or measuring the electrical potential at the first resistor.
The broadest reasonable interpretation of claim 15 is a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions. To be given patentable weight, printed matter and associated product must be in a functional relationship (see, e.g., MPEP 2111.05). A functional relationship can be found where the printed matter performs some function with respect to the product to which it is associated (see, e.g., MPEP 2111.05). In the case of machine-readable media, where the programming performs some function with respect to the computer with which it is associated, a functional relationship will be found (see, e.g., MPEP 2111.05). However, where the claim as a whole is directed to conveying a message or meaning to a human reader independent of the intended computer system, and/or the computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists (see, e.g., MPEP 2111.05). Claim 15 does not presently specify that the instructions perform some function with respect to the computer with which it is associated (e.g., by reciting that the instructions, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the recited steps/actions. Accordingly, the printed matter corresponding to the stored instructions does not carry patentable weight (see, e.g., MPEP 2111.05). Medium discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium and therefore anticipates claim 15. The examiner notes that even if claim 15 is amended to specify the missing functional relationship, it would appear that structures in addition to a computer for performing at least the connecting/disconnecting functions (e.g. switches) would be necessary.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2009/0322156 to Gscheidle relates to a redundant current supply having a diagnostic capability and a suppressor for improving the availability of such safety-relevant systems; see, e.g., Fig. 2; also see paragraph 59, it is possible to obtain a redundancy of the same type in the ground leads according to the same principle as described above.
US 2021/0255253 to Kim et al. relates to a multi ground line disconnection inspection device and method, and an electronic control device including the same; see, e.g., Fig. 3.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL R MILLER whose telephone number is (571)270-1964. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lee Rodak, can be reached at 571-270-5628. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL R MILLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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