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.
Claims 1, 6, 10, 12, 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 2024/0278689) in view of Wang (US 2023/0163378)
As to claim 1 Li discloses a method performed by a control arrangement, for heating a powertrain and/or a subsystem of a vehicle,
said vehicle comprising an electrical machine configured to provide propulsion power to one or more drive wheels of the vehicle and/or power a power take-off load (Paragraph 35 “Furthermore, if the temperature of the high-voltage battery is too low: the allowed charging power of the high-voltage battery will be low so that the high-voltage battery cannot be charged, which in turn causes the failure of high-voltage battery to supply power to the hybrid vehicle. As a result, the hybrid vehicle cannot move. Accordingly, the disclosure provides a high-voltage battery control scheme for hybrid vehicles. With it, the high-voltage battery can be heated and started when the power of the high-voltage battery and the allowed charging power are low, thereby supplying power to the hybrid vehicle for its normal running.”),
the method comprising:
when the electrical machine is disconnected from said one or more drive wheels of the vehicle and/or said power take-off load, controlling the electrical machine so as to oscillate between a first rotational speed and a second rotational speed to thereby generate heat (Paragraph 52-54 “] After the high-voltage battery receives the high-voltage disconnection instruction, the main positive relay and the main negative relay of the high-voltage battery are disconnected. Since the high-voltage battery is in a high-voltage disconnection state, the hybrid vehicle is not powered up through the high-voltage battery……In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the controlling the driving motor so that the rotating speed of the driving motor reaches the second idle speed can be implemented through the following: sending to the engine a second idle speed instruction indicating that the target rotating speed is the second idle speed, and controlling the rotating speed of the engine to reach the second idle speed, during which the engine drives the driving motor to reach the second idle speed.”).
Li does not explicitly disclose altering the direction of the rotation of the electrical machine.
Wang teaches altering the direction of the rotation of the electrical machine (Paragraph 48 “Concurrently, the controller 30a or 30b receives a torque request from the ECU 44. A torque request of zero or no torque request would mean the vehicle is stopped and possibly charging. In a regenerative braking mode of operation, the controller 30a or 30b receives a torque command that is negative to the motor rotation direction as well as a heat command. The controller 30a or 30b then computes the Id & Iq command the same way as shown in FIG. 2.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to modify Li to include the teachings of oscillating between a first and second rotational speed for the purpose of heating the battery and other vehicle components.
As to claim 6 Li discloses a method further comprising using heat generated by the electrical machine to heat the subsystem of the vehicle(Paragraph 11).
As to claim 10 the claim is interpreted and rejected as in claim 1.
As to claim 12 the claim is interpreted and rejected as in claim 1.
As to claim 14 Ling teaches a control arrangement wherein the first rotational speed is a positive rotational speed, and the second rotational speed is a negative rotational speed or vice versa Ling.
As to claim 15 the claim is interpreted and rejected as in claim 1.
Claims 2-4, 7-9,13,16,17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 2024/0278689) in view of Li (US 2024/0278689) in view of Wang (US 2023/0163378) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Ling (US 2023/0344375)
As to claim 2 Ling teaches a method wherein controlling the electrical machine so as to oscillate between a first rotational speed and a second rotational speed comprises controlling the electrical machine to oscillate between a first rotational speed and a second rotational speed of a power-speed curve of the electrical machine(Paragraph 20, 66). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to modify Li to include the teachings of oscillating between a first and second rotational speed for the purpose of heating the battery and other vehicle components.
As to claim 3 Ling teaches a method wherein the first and second rotational speeds of the power-speed curve are arranged on opposite sides of a rotational speed corresponding to a peak of the power-speed curve of the electrical machine(Paragraph 56).
As to claim 4 Ling teaches a method wherein at least one of said first and second rotational speeds is within a plateau of the power-speed curve of the electrical machine(Paragraph 56).
As to claim 7 Ling teaches a method wherein the method is performed while the vehicle is in motion(Paragraph 62).
As to claim 8 Li a method wherein the method is performed during coasting (Paragraph 44).
As to claim 9 Li discloses a method wherein the vehicle comprises:
a first powertrain comprising the electrical machine (Paragraph 29), and
a second powertrain being separate from the first powertrain(Paragraph 29), and
wherein the method is performed while the vehicle is propelled by the second powertrain(Paragraph 29).
As to claim 13 the claim is interpreted and rejected as in claim 2.
As to claim 16 Ling teaches a method wherein controlling the electrical machine so as to oscillate between a first rotational speed and a second rotational speed comprises controlling the electrical machine to oscillate between a first rotational speed and a second rotational speed of a power-speed curve of the electrical machine, wherein the power-speed curve is a maximum power-speed curve of the electrical machine (Paragraph 20,66).
As to claim 17 the claim is interpreted and rejected as in claim 16.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-4,6-10, 12-17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IMRAN K MUSTAFA whose telephone number is (571)270-1471. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James J Lee can be reached at 571-270-5965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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IMRAN K. MUSTAFA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3668
/IMRAN K MUSTAFA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3668
06/13/2026
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