DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1 – 7 are pending.
Claims 1 and 7 are independent.
This office action is Non-Final.
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
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 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 – 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0305926 A1, hereinafter “Kim”).
As per claim 1, Kim teaches a power supply device comprising:
a battery module [fig.1, 200];
a charge-discharge switching element [fig.1, charging/discharging switch 150] connected in series to the battery module, the charge-discharge switching element being configured to charging and discharging the battery module;
an analog circuit [fig. 1, AFE 120] configured to controlling turning on and off of the charge-discharge switching element;
a digital circuit [fig.1, microcontroller 130, 0025, 0031] configured to control the analog circuit;
an analog-side communication terminal configured to receive, from the digital circuit by communication, an instruction controlling the turning on and off of the charge-discharge switching element [0029: The analog front-end 120 receives a command signal Scom from the microcontroller 130, and applies a charge control signal Sc or a discharge control signal Sd to the charging/discharging switch 150 according to the command signal Scom to control an On/Off state of the charging/discharging switch 150.];
a switch-OFF terminal [status input terminal P1, 0030] configured to turn off the charge-discharge switching element, the switch-OFF terminal being different from the analog-side communication terminal [0030: If the failure determination processor 123 determines that the microcontroller 130 is malfunctioning, the switch controller 124 transmits the charge control signal Sc or the discharge control signal Sd to the charging/discharging switch 150 to turn off the charging/discharging switch 150. ]; and
a switch-OFF circuit [fig. 1, status indicator circuit 140, 0025] configured to output an OFF signal to turn off the charge-discharge switching element to the switch-OFF terminal in response to a non-operating state of the digital circuit, wherein the digital circuit includes a digital-side power feeding terminal configured to receive, from outside, driving power to power the digital circuit, and the switch-OFF circuit is configured to output the OFF signal to the switch-OFF terminal in response to a state in which the digital circuit does not receive the power from the digital-side power feeding terminal [microcontroller needs power in to produce Sos signal as output, 0030 - 0034: The analog front-end 120 may include a failure determination processor 123 and a switch controller 124. The failure determination processor 123 receives a signal output from the status indicator circuit 140 via a status input terminal P1, and determines that the microcontroller 130 is malfunctioning, if the magnitude of the received signal falls within predetermined conditions… If the failure determination processor 123 determines that the microcontroller 130 is malfunctioning, the switch controller 124 transmits the charge control signal Sc or the discharge control signal Sd to the charging/discharging switch 150 to turn off the charging/discharging switch 150. ].
As per claim 2, Kim teaches the power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the digital circuit further includes a non-operating terminal configured to have a state changed from an operating state to a non-operating state in response to a non-operating of the digital circuit [terminal P2, 0033: The microcontroller 130 outputs an operation status signal Sos to the status indicator circuit 140 via a terminal P2 for the analog front-end 120 to sense a failure or a malfunction of the microcontroller 130.].
As per claim 3, Kim teaches the power supply device according to claim 2, wherein the switch-OFF circuit includes a forced OFF switching element configured to output, to the switch-OFF terminal, an OFF signal turning off the charge-discharge switching element in response to the non-operating state of the non-operating terminal [0033, 0037 – 0047: when microcontroller is malfunctioning, switching element is powered off].
As per claim 4, Kim teaches the power supply device according to claim 3, wherein the non-operating terminal is configured to be in a floating state as the non-operating state of the digital circuit, and the forced OFF switching element comprises a p-channel FET or a PNP transistor configured to output a HIGH signal to the switch-OFF terminal in response to the floating of the non-operating terminal [FET transistors, 0035, 0037 - 0047].
As per claim 5, Kim teaches the power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the analog circuit includes an analog-side power supply terminal connected to the switch-OFF circuit, and the switch-OFF circuit is configured to output the OFF signal to the switch-OFF terminal by a voltage output from the analog-side power supply terminal in response to the non-operating state of the digital circuit [Vcc is the power supply input for the switch-OFF circuit 140, which is derived from the battery 200 via analog front end circuit, since the circuit is usually connected to all the battery cells].
As per claim 6, Kim teaches the power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the analog circuit includes an analog front end [analog front end 120, 0025], and the digital circuit includes a microcomputer [microcontroller/processor 130, 0025].
As per claim 7, Kim teaches apower supply control circuit [fig. 1] configured to operate with a power supply device including a battery module and a charge-discharge switching element connected in series to the battery module, the charge-discharge switching element being configured to charge and discharge the battery module, the power supply control circuit being configured to turn off the charge-discharge switching element when an abnormality occurs, the power supply control circuit comprising:
an analog circuit configured to control turning on and off of the charge-discharge switching element [fig. 1, AFE 120, 0025];
a digital circuit [fig.1, microcontroller 130, 0025, 0031] configured to control the analog circuit; and
a switch-OFF circuit [fig. 1, status indicator circuit 140, 0025] configured to control the charge-discharge switching element, wherein the analog circuit includes: an analog-side communication terminal configured to control the turning on and off of the charge-discharge switching element in response to an instruction from the digital circuit [0029: The analog front-end 120 receives a command signal Scom from the microcontroller 130, and applies a charge control signal Sc or a discharge control signal Sd to the charging/discharging switch 150 according to the command signal Scom to control an On/Off state of the charging/discharging switch 150.];;
a switch-OFF terminal [status input terminal P1, 0030] configured to turn off the charge-discharge switching element, the switch-OFF terminal being different from the analog-side communication terminal, and the switch-OFF circuit is configured to input, to the switch-OFF terminal, an OFF signal turning off the charge-discharge switching element in response to a non-operating state of the digital circuit [microcontroller needs power in to produce Sos signal as output, 0030 - 0034: The analog front-end 120 may include a failure determination processor 123 and a switch controller 124. The failure determination processor 123 receives a signal output from the status indicator circuit 140 via a status input terminal P1, and determines that the microcontroller 130 is malfunctioning, if the magnitude of the received signal falls within predetermined conditions… If the failure determination processor 123 determines that the microcontroller 130 is malfunctioning, the switch controller 124 transmits the charge control signal Sc or the discharge control signal Sd to the charging/discharging switch 150 to turn off the charging/discharging switch 150. ].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wang; Shun-Hsing (US Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0001456 A1) “Apparatus and Method for Managing a Plurality of Secondary Batteries” is cited to teach series-parallel switches and method of connecting a plurality of batteries in series, parallel, or both dynamically by controlling the series-parallel switches to form an electrically connected battery pack. A monitor processing unit monitors unbalance among batteries and selectively changes the states of series-parallel switches to balance the voltage different among batteries.
Kamioka; Nozomu et al. (US Patent No. 10,017,138 B2) “Power supply management system and power supply management method” is cited to teach a second switch is provided between a first power supply circuit including a first capacitor connected in series with a first switch and a second power supply circuit including a second capacitor. In a case where a predetermined condition that necessitates supply of electric power from one power supply circuit to the other power supply circuit is established, the first switch is opened to disconnect the first capacitor in the first power supply circuit, and then the second switch is closed to connect between the first power supply circuit and the second power supply circuit.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERRELL S JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)270-3485. The examiner can normally be reached 10AM-7PM EST M-F.
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/TERRELL S JOHNSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2176