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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on (9/26/24 10/9/25 12/19/25 1/16/26) are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 9-10 are objected to because of the following informalities: They depend from claim 8 and refer to the limitation in claim 8 “and/or for setting a function”. However, the limitation following “and/or” does not require examination e.g. the “setting a function” where a prior limitation was examined before “and/or”. Claim 11 is objected to as it depends from claim 10. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
1. Claims 1, 4-11, 13-14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Duan et al. (US PG PUB NO 2015/0360578).
[CLAIM 1] Regarding claim 1, Duan discloses a road construction machine (The vehicle 100 will transport workers and materials for road construction) comprising an electric drive (Duan, FIG 1, EM 104), a rechargeable battery (114 and 120) for supplying the electric drive with electric current (Duan, FIG 1), a charging device (122 and 124) for connecting the rechargeable battery to an external current source (126) and for charging the rechargeable battery (Duan, FIG 1, illustrates the current distribution for receiving and providing current), and a display device (Displays 130 and 406) for displaying information indicative of a charge state of the rechargeable battery (Duan, paragraph [0046] discloses the display providing state of charge and temperature data) and/or information indicative of a charging process of the rechargeable battery (Duan, paragraph [0038] discloses charging and discharging of the battery based on user settings which are determined based on the displayed state of the battery).
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[CLAIM 4] Regarding claim 4, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the information indicative of the charge state of the rechargeable battery comprises at least one of an absolute charge level of the rechargeable battery, a relative charge level of the rechargeable battery, or an actual energy content in relation to a target maximum energy content of the rechargeable battery (Duan, paragraph [0033] discloses “PCM 128 may control charging of battery pack114 to achieve a target battery state of charge (SOC) at a targeted time.” which would require the current or actual energy content of the battery to determine a target charge level and target completion time).
[CLAIM 5] Regarding claim 5, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the information indicative of the charging process of the rechargeable battery comprises at least one of an information about a start of the charging process (Duan, paragraph [0033] discloses “The user can set SOC and time of start charge to the PCM 128 through vehicle interfaces or through remote electrical communication devices.”), a complete completion of the charging process, or an error during the charging process.
[CLAIM 6] Regarding claim 6, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 5, wherein the display device (Displays 130 and 406) is adapted to output the information indicative of the charging process of the rechargeable battery in an alphanumeric format (Duan, FIG 4 illustrates an exemplary alphanumeric input including a touch screen).
[CLAIM 7] Regarding claim 7, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the information indicative of the charging process of the rechargeable battery comprises at least one of a charging efficiency, a battery temperature, an estimated charging time, a battery status, a connection status, or a charging current (Duan paragraph [0036] discloses “The BCM 208 may monitor several battery pack level characteristics such as pack current measured by a current sensor 206, pack voltage 210 and pack temperature 212.”
[CLAIM 8] Regarding claim 8, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the road construction machine comprises an input device for allowing interaction of an operator with the display device and/or for setting a function of the machine (Duan, paragraph [0035] discloses “The display 130 can be an interactive display that presents a graphical user interface to allow the user to input instructions into the vehicle systems.”).
[CLAIM 9] Regarding claim 9, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 8, wherein the function comprises a time control of the charging process (Duan, provides several battery charge functions and paragraphs [0054-55] disclose use/charge time and target state of charge) and/or a charging mode and/or a target charge state of the rechargeable battery process (Duan, provides several battery charge functions and paragraphs [0054-55] disclose use/charge time and target state of charge).
[CLAIM 10] Regarding claim 10, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 8, wherein the function comprises an operating mode of a working component of the machine during the charging process (Duan, paragraph [0035] discloses the display showing the user data relative to the battery state and allows the user to input instructions into the “vehicle systems” which include all of the moving components used to operate the vehicle such as engine, motor and transmission).
[CLAIM 11] Regarding claim 11, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 10, further comprising a control unit (128) for controlling the working component depending on the set operating mode (Duan, FIG 1 illustrates a schematic communication to the working or moving components in the vehicle including the engine, motor and transmission from the control system and the vehicle allows input from a user for work functions such as acceleration, braking and battery charging).
[CLAIM 13] Regarding claim 13, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the machine further comprises an internal combustion engine (108).
[CLAIM 14] Regarding claim 14, Duan discloses a method for monitoring and/or controlling a road construction machine (The vehicle 100 will transport workers and materials for road construction), wherein the road construction machine comprises an electric drive (104), a rechargeable battery (Batteries 114 and 120) for supplying the electric drive with electric current, a charging device (122 and 124) for connecting the rechargeable battery to an external current source (126) and for charging the rechargeable battery, and a display device (Display 130 and 406) for displaying information indicative of a charge state of the rechargeable battery (Duan paragraph [0052] discloses battery charge state determination relative to a driver’s predicted use) and/or information indicative of a charging process of the rechargeable battery, the method comprising displaying the information indicative of the charge state (Duan, the abstract discloses at least one display image presenting information related to battery status) and/or the charging process on the display device.
[CLAIM 16] Regarding claim 16, Duan discloses the method according to claim 14, further comprising controlling a working component of the road construction machine depending on an operating mode of the working component set via an input device during the charging process (Duan, FIG 1 illustrates a schematic communication to the working or moving components in the vehicle including the engine, motor and transmission from the control system and the vehicle allows input from a user for work functions such as acceleration, braking and battery charging).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
1. Claims 2-3 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan et al. (US PG PUB NO 2015/0360578).
[CLAIM 2] Regarding claim 2, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 1.
-However, it fails to disclose wherein the display device is arranged at a distance of at most 1 meter from a connection of the charging device for connecting the rechargeable battery to the external current source.
-Nevertheless, Duan illustrates exemplary component schematics without predetermined relative distances and can be rearranged to meet desired distances. Regarding a movement/rearrangement of parts, see In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have modified Ferrel with a reasonable expectation of success in order to optimize packaging and driver ergonomics).
[CLAIM 3] Regarding claim 3, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 2.
-However, it fails to disclose wherein the display device is arranged at a distance of at most 0.5 meter from a connection of the charging device for connecting the rechargeable battery to the external current source.
-Nevertheless, Duan illustrates exemplary component schematics without predetermined relative distances and can be rearranged to meet desired distances. Regarding a movement/rearrangement of parts, see In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have modified Ferrel with a reasonable expectation of success in order to optimize packaging and driver ergonomics).
-However, it fails to disclose wherein the display device is arranged at a distance of at most 1 meter from a connection of the charging device for connecting the rechargeable battery to the external current source.
-Nevertheless, Duan illustrates exemplary component schematics without predetermined relative distances and can be rearranged to meet desired distances. Regarding a movement/rearrangement of parts, see In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have modified Ferrel with a reasonable expectation of success in order to optimize packaging and driver ergonomics).
[CLAIM 15] Regarding claim 15, Duan discloses the method according to claim 14.
-However, it fails to disclose wherein the display device is arranged at a distance of at most 1 meter from a connection of the charging device for connecting the rechargeable battery to the external current source.
-Nevertheless, Duan illustrates exemplary component schematics without predetermined relative distances and can be rearranged to meet desired distances. Regarding a movement/rearrangement of parts, see In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have modified Ferrel with a reasonable expectation of success in order to optimize packaging and driver ergonomics).
2. Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan et al. (US PG PUB NO 2015/0360578) in view of Knopp (US 2024/0337076).
[CLAIM 12] Regarding claim 12, Duan discloses the road construction machine according to claim 1.
-However, it fails to disclose wherein the machine is a road paver or a feeder vehicle.
-Nevertheless, Knopp discloses a modular edge compaction wheel for road finishing. Paragraph [0015] discloses a plurality of possible vehicle applications and is suitable for use with any desired land vehicle.
-Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have modified Duan for use with road work as taught by Knopp with a reasonable expectation of success in order to increase vehicle utility.
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and can be found on the attached Notice of References Cited.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marc Jimenez can be reached on (571)272-.4530. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES J TRIGGS/Examiner, Art Unit 3615
/MARC BURGESS/ Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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