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) was submitted on August 26, 2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Status of the Claims
This Office Action is in response to the claims filed on August 26, 2024.
Claims 8-13 have been presented for examination.
Claims 8-13 are currently rejected.
Claims 8-9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujita (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2019/0077392) in view of Hussain et al. (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2015/0089943).
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujita (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2019/0077392) in view of Hussain et al. (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2015/0089943), further in view of Okamoto et al. (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2015/0105957).
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.
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 8-9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujita (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2019/0077392) in view of Hussain et al. (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2015/0089943).
Regarding claim 8, Fujita discloses the method for controlling a hybrid vehicle, wherein the hybrid vehicle comprises:
an internal combustion engine for power generation; (Fujita ¶ 35 discloses that engine 10 of vehicle system 1 “is an internal combustion engine that outputs power by combusting fuel such as gasoline”)
a first cooling path in which a first refrigerant which is capable of cooling the internal combustion engine is circulated; (Fujita ¶ 68 discloses a cooling unit U1 that includes a “heat exhaust-side cooling circuit L3-1” and a “heat exhaust-side cooling circuit L3-2”)
a battery for charging and discharging electric power; (Fujita ¶ 47 discloses “The battery controller 75 calculates an amount of electric power (for example, a state of charge) of the battery 60 according to an output of a battery sensor 62 attached to the battery 60 and outputs the calculated amount of electric power to the hybrid controller 71.”)
a second cooling path in which a second refrigerant which is capable of cooling the battery is circulated; (Fujita ¶ 68 discloses a “battery-side cooling circuit L4-1” and a “battery-side cooling circuit L4-2,” wherein “the temperature of the coolant in the battery-side cooling circuit L4-2 becomes lower than that before the heat exchange has been performed, and thus cooling of the battery 60 is promoted”)
a heat exchanger for performing heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant; and (Fujita ¶ 88 discloses “The heat exchange between the heat of the coolant in the heat exhaust-side cooling circuit L3-1 and the heat of the coolant in the battery-side cooling circuit L4-1 is continuously performed.”)
a control valve provided in the first cooling path (Fujita ¶ 59 discloses “the valve 105 is controlled by the controller 155,” also see Fig. 2), and configured to supply the first refrigerant to the heat exchanger in a valve opening state (Fujita ¶ 59 discloses that the valve is “in an open state” when the “temperature of a coolant in the engine-side cooling circuit L1-1 is equal to or higher than a first threshold”) and to stop supplying the first refrigerant to the heat exchanger in a valve closing state, (Fujita ¶ 71 discloses that “The valve 115 is controlled such that it is in an open state by the controller 155 when the temperature of a coolant in the heat exhaust-side cooling circuit L3-1 is equal to or higher than a second threshold value.” One having ordinary skill in the art would recognize that controlling the valve to be in an open state when a temperature is equal to or higher than a threshold indicates that the valve is otherwise in a closed state, which includes closing, or stopping supply of, the coolant controlled by the valve as discussed in ¶ 71.)
the hybrid vehicle control method comprising: starting the internal combustion engine and (Fujita ¶ 101 “the engine 10 operates to charge the battery 60 with the electric power generated by the operation from point P1 to point P2,” wherein one having ordinary skill in the art would recognize that operating the engine includes starting the engine)
opening the control valve to perform the heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant ... (Fujita ¶ 59 discloses controlling valve 105 by controller 155 to be in an “open state,” at a predetermined temperature, such that “the controller 155 exchanges heat of the coolant in the heat exhaust-side cooling circuit L3-1 and heat of the coolant in the battery-side cooling circuit L4-1 (Step S106),” see ¶ 87)
calculating a requested heat amount requested for warm-up of the battery from a temperature of the battery and a heat capacity of the battery; and (Fujita ¶ 109 discloses that “The heat exchange plan creator 220 estimates [i.e., calculates] whether the temperature of the second motor 18 or the temperature of the battery 60 becomes equal to or higher than a threshold value” including an “increasing trend of the temperature of the battery 60,” see ¶ 109. Also see Fig. 6 depicting the warming up of the battery with correlating heat amounts.)
controlling a rotation speed, a load and a drive time of the internal combustion engine according to the requested heat amount. (Fujita ¶ 44 discloses “The engine controller 72 may calculate an engine rotation speed according to an output of a crank angle sensor attached to the crank shaft and output the calculated engine rotation speed to the hybrid controller 71,” such that “The heat exchange plan creator 220 creates a heat exchange plan which is a plan in which heat exchange is performed using the first heat exchanger 106 or the second heat exchanger 120 according to at least the operation plan for the engine 10,” see ¶ 104)
Fujita does not expressly disclose:
[perform heat exchange] when the battery reaches at a preset predetermined SOC and an output of the battery is lower than a preset predetermined first threshold value, when the internal combustion engine has been stopped;
However, Hussain discloses:
[perform heat exchange] when the battery reaches at a preset predetermined SOC and an output of the battery is lower than a preset predetermined first threshold value, when the internal combustion engine has been stopped; (Hussain ¶ 47 discloses that “method 400 judges whether or not battery state of charge is greater than (G.T.) a first threshold state of charge,” such that “The battery state of charge begins to decrease as the motor provides torque to the driveline,” and “At time T5, the battery SOC is reduced to less than threshold 506,” see ¶ 73, wherein as the battery SOC is reduced, the “The engine coolant temperature begins to transition to a lower level after the engine is stopped,” see ¶ 71)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have combined the heat exchange of Fujita to perform the heat exchange when the battery reaches at a preset predetermined SOC and an output of the battery is lower than a preset predetermined first threshold value, when the internal combustion engine has been stopped, as disclosed by Hussain, with reasonable expectation of success, to allow the engine to warm-up sooner so that engine fuel economy may be increased and so that engine emissions may be reduced (Hussain ¶ 36), rendering the limitation to be an obvious modification.
Regarding claim 9, Fujita in combination with Hussain discloses the method for controlling the hybrid vehicle according to claim 8, wherein:
the control valve is opened and closed according to the temperature of the battery and a temperature of the second refrigerant, so as to perform the heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant. (Fujita ¶ 59 discloses “The valve 105 is disposed between a position at which the engine-side cooling circuit L1-1 is connected to the communication circuit L1-3 and the first heat exchanger 106. When the temperature of a coolant in the engine-side cooling circuit L1-1 is equal to or higher than a first threshold value, the valve 105 is controlled by the controller 155 such that it is in an open state. An open state refers to a state in which a coolant flows into the first heat exchanger 106,” such that the valve is “switched to an open state at a predetermined temperature”)
Regarding claim 13, Fujita in combination with Hussain discloses the parallel limitations contained in parent claim 8 for the reasons discussed above.
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujita (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2019/0077392) in view of Hussain et al. (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2015/0089943), further in view of Okamoto et al. (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2015/0105957).
Regarding claim 10, Fujita in combination with Hussain does not expressly disclose the method for controlling the hybrid vehicle according to claim 9, wherein:
by using a heat capacity of the first cooling path and a heat capacity of the second cooling path before the opening of the control valve, an equilibrium temperature between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant and the temperature of the battery are estimated, and
when the equilibrium temperature and the temperature of the battery reach a predetermined standard temperature or lower, the heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant is performed.
However, Okamoto discloses:
by using a heat capacity of the first cooling path and a heat capacity of the second cooling path before the opening of the control valve, an equilibrium temperature between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant and the temperature of the battery are estimated, and (Okamoto ¶ 67 discloses that “When the coolant temperature is ... equal to the warming-up complete temperature Wg, the warming-up is completed”)
when the equilibrium temperature and the temperature of the battery reach a predetermined standard temperature or lower, the heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant is performed. (Okamoto ¶ 60 discloses “As shown in FIG. 6, a relationship between the coolant temperature and the warming-up start temperature threshold Wth is indicated in a case where the SOC is B1, B2, or B3. In this case, B1 is less than B2, and B2 is less than B3,” such that “The interior heat exchanger 32 executes a heat exchange between the heated refrigerant discharged by the electric compressor 31 and a blowing air sent from the blower fan 40 toward the interior of the vehicle 90,” see ¶ 42.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have combined the temperature of refrigerant of Fujita, of the combination of Fujita and Hussain, with an equilibrium temperature between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant and the temperature of the battery, as disclosed by Okamoto, with reasonable expectation of success, to reduce an output of the blower fan so as to prevent cold air flowing toward passengers (Okamoto ¶ 66) and to improve fuel consumption of the engine (Okamoto ¶ 8), rendering the limitation to be an obvious modification.
Regarding claim 11, Fujita in combination with Hussain and Okamoto discloses the method for controlling the hybrid vehicle according to claim 10, wherein:
when the temperature of the second refrigerant and the temperature of the battery reach the predetermined standard temperature, the heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant is stopped. (Okamoto ¶¶ 60-62 discloses “a map indicating a relationship between a heating start temperature threshold Wth corresponding to the coolant temperature of when the heating is started, the SOC, and the coolant temperature is established,” such that “When the coolant temperature is greater than or equal to the heating start temperature threshold Wth, the heating is started”)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have combined the temperature of refrigerant of Fujita, of the combination of Fujita and Hussain, with stopping the heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant when the temperature of the second refrigerant and the temperature of the battery reach the predetermined standard temperature, as disclosed by Okamoto, with reasonable expectation of success, to prevent the heat from being radiated to the outer air (Okamoto ¶ 71), rendering the limitation to be an obvious modification.
Regarding claim 12, Fujita in combination with Hussain and Okamoto discloses the method for controlling the hybrid vehicle according to claim 11, wherein:
when the heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant is being performed even if the temperature of the battery is higher than the standard temperature and becomes a value obtained by subtracting a self-heating temperature of the battery from an allowable temperature of the battery, the heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant is stopped. (Okamoto ¶ 64 discloses that “When the hybrid control device 50 determines that the heating start timing has come (109: Yes), the hybrid control device 50 proceeds to 110” wherein “the hybrid control device 50 turns on the heating device 20” to control the flow rate. Further, “When the coolant temperature is greater than or equal to the warming-up complete temperature Wg, the warming-up is completed,” see ¶ 67. Also see ¶ 96 disclosing that “a temperature measuring period tw that the coolant temperature reaches the warming-up completer temperature Wg, and a difference between the SOC measuring period ts and the temperature measuring period tw as a measuring-period difference.” One having ordinary skill in the art would recognize that under the broadest reasonable interpretation of “stopped,” when the when the heat exchange is completed as disclosed by Okamoto, the heat exchange may be considered stopped. See Merriam-Webster “stop.”)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have combined the temperature of refrigerant of Fujita, of the combination of Fujita and Hussain, with stopping the heat exchange between the first refrigerant and the second refrigerant when the temperature of the second refrigerant and the temperature of the battery reach the predetermined standard temperature, as disclosed by Okamoto, with reasonable expectation of success, to prevent the heat from being radiated to the outer air (Okamoto ¶ 71), rendering the limitation to be an obvious modification.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Koishi (U.S. Patent Publication Number 2024/0317211) discloses an internal combustion engine of a series hybrid vehicle that starts generating power when a catalyst temperature or a coolant temperature has decreased to an activation temperature or a lower limit water temperature, and stops generating power when the catalyst temperature or the coolant temperature reaches an operation end temperature.
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/STEPHANIE T SU/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3662