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 10/22/2024 and 09/09/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 8 appears to include a repeat limitation – see claim 8, lines 6 and 7, which appear to have a repeat of the limitation “determining that a motor temperature is within a preset temperature range”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 13 is 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 13 recites the limitation "the abnormal disabling condition for the heating function" in line 2 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The limitation appears to be introduced in claim 12, line 6, however, claim 13 is dependent on claim 11 instead of claim 12, such that there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5-10, 12, 14-15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yin, et al., hereinafter Yin (Chinese Patent No. 103560304) in view of Wang, et al., hereinafter Wang (European Patent Application Pub. No. 3 758 127).
Regarding Claim 1, Yin teaches: A method for controlling heating of a battery (Yin, Para. 0009 – “a heating control method for electric vehicle power battery packs”), comprising:
determining a driving heating mode (Yin, Para. 0013-0019 – wherein the “method for heating control of the power battery” includes determining “whether the power battery heating is complete”; i.e. when a “power battery heating end flag F” is equal to 0, the “power battery heating is not completed” and “power battery heating control will continue”, such that there is a heating mode and a “normal motor control” mode without heating);
acquiring first operating parameters of the battery (Yin, Para. 0019-0026 – collecting battery parameters, including “current power battery voltage U”, “current power battery temperature t”, “allowable discharge current I” from a “power battery management system”) and second operating parameters of a motor in a charging and discharging circuit of the battery during a driving process of a mobile electrical apparatus (Yin, Fig. 3 and Para. 0011, 0056-0057, 0085, 0098-0106 – “a motor” connected “in series with the power battery circuit” through “a switch combination”, which is illustrated in Fig. 3, where the motor is part of the electric vehicle’s “electric drive system”; wherein parameters for the motor are collected, including “electromagnetic torque Te” and “rotation frequency”, as well as the state of the motor, such as a “natural stall state” or a “normal motor control” state);
determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters (Yin, Para. 0013-0026, 0085 – where the “specific control steps for heating the power battery” includes determining if the battery parameters meet specific thresholds, such as “whether the current power battery voltage U is not lower than the rated voltage Ue”, whether “current temperature t of the power battery” is greater than or equal to “the lowest temperature T”, etc. and proceeding or ending battery heating accordingly) and the second operating parameters; and
enabling the corresponding battery heating function based on the driving heating mode (Yin, Para. 0013-0019 – wherein when “power battery heating is not completed”, such that the “power battery heating end flag F” is equal to 0, “i.e. F=0”, “the power battery heating control” proceeds to raise, or heat, the temperature of the power battery).
While Yin teaches second operating parameters of a motor, Yin does not explicitly teach determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters.
However, Wang teaches determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0041-0045, 0051-0052, 0066-0068 – wherein the “the control system for the battery pack heating system can also control the heating safety of the battery pack heating system during the heating process” including checking both battery, or first operating, parameters and motor, or second operating, parameters through a “battery management system” and “motor controller”; for example checking the “a temperature of the battery pack” to confirm a “preset heating condition” and checking if “a temperature of the motor” to exceeds “a preset over-temperature condition”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of Yin to include determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters, as taught by Wang, in order to take into account second operating parameters related to the motors when performing heating of a battery to reduce stress on the motors and prevent damage.
In regards to Claim 5, Yin in view of Wang teaches the method of Claim 1, and Yin in view of Wang further teaches wherein the acquiring first operating parameters of the battery (Yin, Para. 0019-0026, 0073-0077 – collecting battery parameters, including “current power battery voltage U”, “current power battery temperature t”, “allowable discharge current I” from a “power battery management system”) and second operating parameters of a motor of the electrical apparatus (Yin, Fig. 3 and Para. 0011, 0056-0057, 0085, 0098-0106 – “a motor” which is part of the electric vehicle’s “electric drive system”; wherein parameters for the motor are collected, including “electromagnetic torque Te” and “rotation frequency”, as well as the state of the motor, such as a “normal motor control” state) comprises:
acquiring first operating parameters of the battery, the first operating parameters comprising a corresponding cell temperature value (Yin, Para. 0076 – “current power battery temperature t”), battery current value (Yin, Para. 0076, 0092 – “allowable discharge current I”), battery voltage value (Yin, Para. 0076 – “power battery bus voltage”), and remaining capacity value of the battery (Wang, Para. 0042 – “a state of charge (State of Charge, SOC) of the battery pack”); and
acquiring second operating parameters of the motor, the second operating parameters comprising the corresponding motor temperature value (Wang, Para. 0068 – “a temperature of the motor”), motor current value (Wang, Para. 0169 – a “busbar current” and “phase currents between individual energy storage modules in the motor”) and motor voltage value of the motor (Wang, Para. 0093 – the “motor controller” monitors a “busbar voltage”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include the first operating parameters comprising a remaining capacity value of the battery and second operating parameters comprising the corresponding motor temperature value, motor current value, and motor voltage value of the motor, as taught by Wang, in order to monitor various parameters of the battery and motor to prevent extraneous heating and prevent stress and damage on the battery and motor.
In regards to Claim 6, Yin in view of Wang teaches the method of Claim 1, and Yin in view of Wang further teaches wherein the determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters (Yin, Para. 0013-0026, 0085 – where the “specific control steps for heating the power battery” includes determining if the battery parameters meet specific thresholds, such as whether “current temperature t of the power battery” is greater than or equal to “the lowest temperature T”, etc.) and the second operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0041-0045, 0051-0052, 0066-0068 – wherein the “the control system for the battery pack heating system can also control the heating safety of the battery pack heating system during the heating process” including checking both battery, or first operating, parameters and motor, or second operating, parameters through a “battery management system” and “motor controller” to see if the parameters meet certain “condition[s]”) comprises:
determining that operating indices of the battery meet a heating function enabling condition (Yin, Para. 0013-0026, 0085 – where the “specific control steps for heating the power battery” includes determining if the battery parameters meet specific thresholds, such as “whether the current power battery voltage U is not lower than the rated voltage Ue”, whether “current temperature t of the power battery” is greater than or equal to “the lowest temperature T”, etc. and proceeding or ending battery heating accordingly) and that the battery is in a fault-free state based on the first operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0057, 0060, 0074-0079 0085 – verifying if “the state of the battery management system” is in a “normal operating state” based on “feedback information” and further “monitor whether the target state data of the battery pack is abnormal”);
determining that the motor is in a fault-free state based on the second operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0062, 0068, 0137, 0153-0154 – verifying if the “motor controller” is in a “normal operating state” or “fault state”, checking if “the temperature of the motor” meets a “preset over-temperature condition” associated with “over-temperature risk”, checking the operating state, for example “non-operating state”, of the motor); and
determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets the battery heating condition (Wang, Para. 0006, 0059, 0065 – confirming whether the “vehicle controller”, or mobile electrical apparatus, “is in a normal operating state”; where the “vehicle controller” further receives signals confirming “a preset heating condition” of the battery pack and a “non-operating state” of the motor, and sending signals to commence heating of the battery pack if so).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include wherein the determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters comprises: determining that the battery is in a fault-free state based on the first operating parameters; determining that the motor is in a fault-free state based on the second operating parameters; and determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets the battery heating condition, as taught by Wang, in order to improve safety and prevent damages to the battery, motor, and/or mobile electrical apparatus when performing heating (Wang, Para. 0073, 0112).
In regards to Claim 7, Yin in view of Wang teaches the method of Claim 6, and Yin in view of Wang further teaches wherein the determining that the operating indices of the battery meet a heating function enabling condition (Yin, Para. 0013-0026, 0085 – determining if the battery parameters meet specific thresholds, such as “whether the current power battery voltage U is not lower than the rated voltage Ue”, whether “current temperature t of the power battery” is greater than or equal to “the lowest temperature T”, etc. and proceeding or ending battery heating accordingly) and that the battery is in a fault-free state based on the first operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0057, 0060, 0074-0079 0085 – monitoring to determine “whether the target state data of the battery pack is abnormal” or not) comprises:
determining that a cell temperature value of the battery is lower than a first preset temperature value (Yin, Para. 0024 – determining if “the current temperature t of the power battery is lower than the minimum temperature T”), and the remaining capacity value of the battery is greater than a first preset capacity threshold based on the cell temperature value and the remaining capacity value comprised in the first operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0047 – “the preset heating condition includes that the SOC of the battery pack P1 is higher than a SOC threshold” where the “SOC threshold characterizes the SOC expected to be consumed by the heating” and is based on “an expected heating temperature, a current temperature”, etc.);
determining that the operating indices of the battery meet the heating function enabling condition (Yin, Para. 0024 – if “the current temperature t of the power battery is lower than the minimum temperature T”, then the “the power battery is heated”; Wang, Para. 0041-0048 – determining whether the battery pack meets “a preset heating condition” including both “the temperature of the battery pack P1 is lower than an expected temperature threshold” and “the SOC of the battery pack P1 is higher than a SOC threshold”); and
determining that a battery current value is within a first preset current threshold range (Wang, Para. 0042, 0087, 0100, 0106 – determining if “a current parameter of the battery pack heating system” is within or exceeds “a preset desired current threshold range” to prevent “voltage and current overshoot during the heating”), and a battery voltage value is within a first preset voltage threshold range based on the battery current value and the battery voltage value comprised in the first operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0042, 0087, 0096-0098 – monitoring the voltage to ensure a “safe voltage range”, and prevent “voltage and current overshoot during the heating”);
determining that the battery is in a fault-free state (Wang, Para. 0042, 0057, 0060, 0074-0079 0085 – monitoring battery parameters to determine “whether the target state data of the battery pack is abnormal” or not).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include determining the remaining capacity value of the battery is greater than a first preset capacity threshold based on the cell temperature value and the remaining capacity value comprised in the first operating parameters, determining that the operating indices of the battery meet the heating function enabling condition; and determining that a battery current value is within a first preset current threshold range and a battery voltage value is within a first preset voltage threshold range based on the battery current value and the battery voltage value comprised in the first operating parameters; determining that the battery is in a fault-free state, as taught by Wang, in order to prevent voltage and current overshoot during the heating, overheating of the battery pack, and improve the overall safety of the battery heating method (Wang, Para. 0087, 0106).
In regards to Claim 8, Yin in view of Wang teaches the method of Claim 6, and Yin in view of Wang further teaches wherein the determining that the motor is in a fault-free state based on the second operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0062, 0068, 0137, 0153-0154 – verifying if the “motor controller” is in a “normal operating state” or “fault state”, checking if “the temperature of the motor” meets a “preset over-temperature condition” associated with “over-temperature risk”, checking the operating state, for example “non-operating state”, of the motor) comprises:
determining that a motor current value of the motor is within a second preset current threshold range (Wang, Para. 0099-0106, 0169 – determining a “current parameter” and “report abnormal current information” when “the current parameter exceeds a preset desired current threshold range”; where the “current parameter” may be “currents between individual energy storage modules in the motor”), and a motor voltage value of the motor is within a second preset voltage threshold range based on the motor current value and the motor voltage value comprised in the second operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0093 – the “motor controller” monitors a “busbar voltage”, where the busbar voltage is indicative of the voltage from the battery to the motor, and determining whether the voltage is within “a safe voltage range”); determining that a motor temperature value is within a preset temperature range; determining that the motor temperature value is within a preset temperature range (Wang, Para. 0153 – monitoring the “temperature of the motor” and checking if it exceeds a “preset over-temperature condition” or not); and
determining that the motor is in a fault-free state (Wang, Para. 0062, 0068, 0137, 0153-0154 – verifying if the “motor controller” is in a “normal operating state” or “fault state”, if the motor meets “meets a preset over-temperature condition”, such that there is “over-temperature risk”, etc.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include wherein the determining that the motor is in a fault-free state based on the second operating parameters comprises: determining that a motor current value of the motor is within a second preset current threshold range, and a motor voltage value of the motor is within a second preset voltage threshold range based on the motor current value and the motor voltage value comprised in the second operating parameters; determining that a motor temperature value is within a preset temperature range; determining that the motor temperature value is within a preset temperature range; and determining that the motor is in a fault-free state, as taught by Wang, in order to prevent overheating risk and improve safety within the battery heating system.
In regards to Claim 9, Yin in view of Wang teaches the method of Claim 1, and Yin further teaches wherein after the enabling the battery heating function (Yin, Para. 0086 – initializing the “power battery heating” and proceeding with the “specific control method” for heating), the method further comprises: determining whether the battery meets a heating function disabling condition based on the first operating parameters (Yin, Para. 0086-0093 – checking a “power battery heating end flag F”, where F is either 0 or 1 based on if battery parameters meet specific thresholds/conditions; for example if “the current temperature t of the power battery has recovered to the lowest temperature T”, i.e. “t≥T”, then “the power battery heating flag F = 1”, where if F = 1, then “power battery heating”) and the second operating parameters; and if the battery meets the heating function disabling condition, disabling the battery heating function (Yin, Para. 0086-0093 – where if the “power battery heating end flag F” satisfies the condition F=1 based on battery parameters, such as temperature, then “power battery heating is complete” and the control method switches to “normal motor control” and heating ends).
Yin does not teach determining whether the battery meets a heating function disabling condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters.
However, Wang teaches determining whether the battery meets a heating function disabling condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0041-0045, 0051-0053, 0066-0068, 0153-0159 – checking both battery, or first operating, parameters and motor, or second operating, parameters for conditions that may trigger a “stop signal” for stopping heating; for example “once it is determined that the temperature of the battery pack P1 is heated to the expected temperature threshold, the heating of the battery pack P1 may be stopped in time”, “the motor P3 is in an operating state, the motor controller P42 may report, to the vehicle controller P43, information indicating that the motor P3 is in the operating state, so that the vehicle controller P43 can stop controlling the battery pack heating system to heat the battery pack P1”, when “the temperature of the motor P3 meets a preset over-temperature condition”, switching modules to an off state to stop heating, etc.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include determining whether the battery meets a heating function disabling condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters, as taught by Wang, in order to take into account second operating parameters related to the motors when performing heating of a battery to reduce stress on the motors and prevent damage.
In regards to Claim 10, Yin in view of Wang teaches the method of Claim 9, and Yin in view of Wang further teaches wherein the determining whether the battery meets a heating function disabling condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters (Yin, Para. 0086-0093 – checking a “power battery heating end flag F”, where F is either 0 or 1 based on if battery parameters meet specific thresholds/conditions; Wang, Para. 0041-0045, 0051-0053, 0066-0068, 0082-0084, 0153-0159 – checking both battery, or first operating, parameters and motor, or second operating, parameters for conditions that may trigger a “stop signal” for stopping heating) comprises: determining that the battery meets the heating function disabling condition if it is detected that a cell temperature value of the battery is greater than or equal to a second preset temperature value (Yin, Para. 0086-0093 – checking a “power battery heating end flag F”, where F is either 0 or 1 based on if battery parameters meet specific thresholds/conditions; for example if “the current temperature t of the power battery has recovered to the lowest temperature T”, i.e. “t≥T”, then “the power battery heating flag F = 1”, where if F = 1, then “power battery heating”).
In regards to Claim 12, Yin in view of Wang teaches the method of Claim 9, and Yin in view of Wang further teaches wherein the determining whether the battery meets a heating function disabling condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters (Yin, Para. 0086-0093 – checking a “power battery heating end flag F”, where F is either 0 or 1 based on if battery parameters meet specific thresholds/conditions; Wang, Para. 0041-0045, 0051-0053, 0066-0068, 0082-0084, 0153-0159 – checking both battery, or first operating, parameters and motor, or second operating, parameters for conditions that may trigger a “stop signal” for stopping heating) comprises: if it is detected that the remaining capacity value of the battery is less than or equal to a second preset capacity threshold (Wang, Para. 0047, 0078 – determining if “the SOC of the battery pack P1 is higher than a SOC threshold” including a “lower limit value” of a “safety range”, corresponding to “expected remaining consumption of the current heating”), and/or the mobile electrical apparatus corresponds to a fault state (Wang, Para. 0006, 0059, 0065 – confirming whether the “vehicle controller”, or mobile electrical apparatus, “is in a normal operating state” or an “abnormal state”); determining that the battery meets an abnormal disabling condition for the heating function (Wang, Para. 0047-0048, 0059 – if “the SOC of the battery pack P1 is lower than or equal to the SOC threshold”, then “the battery pack cannot be heated due to the low SOC”; if the “vehicle controller” is in an “abnormal state”, then “stop execution of any operation command”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include wherein the determining whether the battery meets a heating function disabling condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters comprises: if it is detected that the remaining capacity value of the battery is less than or equal to a second preset capacity threshold, and/or the mobile electrical apparatus corresponds to a fault state; determining that the battery meets an abnormal disabling condition for the heating function, as taught by Wang, in order to improve safety and prevent damage to the batteries and the mobile electrical apparatus.
Regarding Claim 14, Yin teaches: An apparatus for controlling heating of a battery (Yin, Para. 0009, 0075 – a which sends and receives signals from a “motor control system” which “heats the power battery” through “a heating control method for electric vehicle power battery packs”), comprising:
a receiving module, configured to determine a driving heating mode (Yin, Para. 0013-0019, 0073-0081, 0086-0088 – determining “whether the power battery heating is complete”; i.e. when a “power battery heating end flag F” is equal to 0, the “power battery heating is not completed” and “power battery heating control will continue”, such that there is a heating mode and a “normal motor control” mode without heating; wherein “vehicle control unit 2 receives the status of the power battery heating device via CAN communication”);
an acquiring module, configured to acquire first operating parameters of the battery (Yin, Para. 0019-0026, 0073-0077 – collecting battery parameters, including “current power battery voltage U”, “current power battery temperature t”, “allowable discharge current I” from a “power battery management system”) and second operating parameters of a motor in a charging and discharging circuit of the battery during a driving process of a mobile electrical apparatus (Yin, Fig. 3 and Para. 0011, 0056-0057, 0073-0077, 0085, 0098-0106 – “a motor” connected “in series with the power battery circuit” through “a switch combination”, which is illustrated in Fig. 3, where the motor is part of the electric vehicle’s “electric drive system”; wherein parameters for the motor are collected, including “electromagnetic torque Te” and “rotation frequency”, as well as the state of the motor, such as a “natural stall state” or a “normal motor control” state, from a “motor control system”);
a determining module, configured to determine that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters (Yin, Para. 0013-0026, 0085 – where the “specific control steps for heating the power battery” includes determining if the battery parameters meet specific thresholds, such as “whether the current power battery voltage U is not lower than the rated voltage Ue”, whether “current temperature t of the power battery” is greater than or equal to “the lowest temperature T”, etc. and proceeding or ending battery heating accordingly) and the second operating parameters; and
an enabling module, configured to enable the corresponding battery heating function based on the driving heating mode (Yin, Para. 0013-0019 – wherein when “power battery heating is not completed”, such that the “power battery heating end flag F” is equal to 0, “i.e. F=0”, “the power battery heating control” proceeds to raise, or heat, the temperature of the power battery, by the “motor control system”).
While Yin teaches second operating parameters of a motor, Yin does not explicitly teach determine that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters.
However, Wang teaches determine that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0041-0045, 0051-0052, 0066-0068 – wherein the “the control system for the battery pack heating system can also control the heating safety of the battery pack heating system during the heating process” including checking both battery, or first operating, parameters and motor, or second operating, parameters through a “battery management system” and “motor controller”; for example checking the “a temperature of the battery pack” to confirm a “preset heating condition” and checking if “a temperature of the motor” to exceeds “a preset over-temperature condition”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the apparatus of Yin to include determine that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters, as taught by Wang, in order to take into account second operating parameters related to the motors when performing heating of a battery to reduce stress on the motors and prevent damage.
Regarding Claim 15, Yin teaches: A mobile electrical apparatus (Yin, Para. 0009 – an “electric vehicle”), comprising:
determining a driving heating mode (Yin, Para. 0013-0019 – wherein the “method for heating control of the power battery” includes determining “whether the power battery heating is complete”; i.e. when a “power battery heating end flag F” is equal to 0, the “power battery heating is not completed” and “power battery heating control will continue”, such that there is a heating mode and a “normal motor control” mode without heating);
acquiring first operating parameters of the battery (Yin, Para. 0019-0026 – collecting battery parameters, including “current power battery voltage U”, “current power battery temperature t”, “allowable discharge current I” from a “power battery management system”) and second operating parameters of a motor in a charging and discharging circuit of the battery during a driving process of a mobile electrical apparatus (Yin, Fig. 3 and Para. 0011, 0056-0057, 0085, 0098-0106 – “a motor” connected “in series with the power battery circuit” through “a switch combination”, which is illustrated in Fig. 3, where the motor is part of the electric vehicle’s “electric drive system”; wherein parameters for the motor are collected, including “electromagnetic torque Te” and “rotation frequency”, as well as the state of the motor, such as a “natural stall state” or a “normal motor control” state);
determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters (Yin, Para. 0013-0026, 0085 – where the “specific control steps for heating the power battery” includes determining if the battery parameters meet specific thresholds, such as “whether the current power battery voltage U is not lower than the rated voltage Ue”, whether “current temperature t of the power battery” is greater than or equal to “the lowest temperature T”, etc. and proceeding or ending battery heating accordingly) and the second operating parameters; and
enabling the corresponding battery heating function based on the driving heating mode (Yin, Para. 0013-0019 – wherein when “power battery heating is not completed”, such that the “power battery heating end flag F” is equal to 0, “i.e. F=0”, “the power battery heating control” proceeds to raise, or heat, the temperature of the power battery).
While Yin teaches second operating parameters of a motor, Yin does not explicitly teach determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters. Additionally, Yin does not teach a memory, configured to store executable instructions; and a processor, configured to execute the executable instructions stored in the memory.
However, Wang teaches a memory, configured to store executable instructions; and a processor, configured to execute the executable instructions stored in the memory (Wang, Para. 0184 – “programs or code segments”, or instructions, “can be stored in a machine readable medium”, and wherein the method are executed by various “controllers” which are implemented through hardware, for example “an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)”); determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0041-0045, 0051-0052, 0066-0068 – wherein the “the control system for the battery pack heating system can also control the heating safety of the battery pack heating system during the heating process” including checking both battery, or first operating, parameters and motor, or second operating, parameters through a “battery management system” and “motor controller”; for example checking the “a temperature of the battery pack” to confirm a “preset heating condition” and checking if “a temperature of the motor” to exceeds “a preset over-temperature condition”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the mobile electrical apparatus of Yin to include a memory, configured to store executable instructions; and a processor, configured to execute the executable instructions stored in the memory; determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters, as taught by Wang, in order to take into account second operating parameters related to the motors when performing heating of a battery to reduce stress on the motors and prevent damage, as well as to provide a medium and structure to store and execute the instructions of the specific control steps for heating a power battery.
Regarding Claim 17, Yin in view of Wang teaches: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having computer-readable instructions stored therein (Wang, Para. 0184 – “programs or code segments”, or instructions, “can be stored in a machine readable medium”), wherein the instructions, when executed, implement the operations of the method for controlling heating of a battery (Yin, Para. 0009 – “a heating control method for electric vehicle power battery packs”; Wang, Para. 0005 and 0184 – “programs or code segments” for “a control system and method for a battery pack heating system”) according to claim 1 (See Claim 1 citations of Yin and Wang).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of Yin to include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having computer-readable instructions stored therein wherein the instructions, when executed, implement the operations of the method for controlling heating of a battery, as taught by Wang, in order to provide a medium to store the instructions of the specific control steps for heating a power battery of Yin so that the method can be carried out.
Claim(s) 2-4, 16, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yin in view of Wang, and further in view of Vallender, et al., hereinafter Vallender (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2020/0055406).
In regards to Claim 2, Yin in view of Wang teaches the method of Claim 1, and Yin in view of Wang further teaches wherein the driving heating mode comprises an automatic heating mode (Yin, Para. 0011-0019 – wherein “before the vehicle starts”, the “motor control system” detects parameters and proceeds with “power battery heating control” if conditions are satisfied; for example, when “power battery heating is not completed, i.e. F=0” and “power battery heating control will continue”, such that the process is automatic) and a semi-automatic heating mode (Wang, Para. 0007, 0064-0065 – wherein a vehicle may send a, “prompt message to an interactive device” to “deliver the prompt message to the driver”; wherein the “prompt message” may, for example, say “The vehicle needs to be heated, the expected heating duration is XXX” to alert the driver “that the vehicle needs to be heated” and to allow the driver to determine “whether to perform the heating operation” through driver input, such that the process is semi-automatic, in that the vehicle will automatically display the prompt message to the driver, but heating is only carried out based on the driver’s intention).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include wherein the driving heating mode comprises a semi-automatic heating mode, as taught by Wang, in order to provide the driver with information regarding the status of the battery to allow the driver to decide whether to activate the heating mode or not, thereby “improving the control accuracy” (Wang, Para. 0066).
Yin in view of Wang does not specifically teach wherein the driving heating mode comprises a manual heating mode.
However, Vallender teaches wherein the driving heating mode comprises a manual heating mode (Vallender, Para. 0042, 0056, 0072 – “the user can operate one or more vehicle-user interfaces” to “activate thermal preconditioning” to “increase the temperature of the electric battery pack”, in a “non-autonomous”, or manual, implementation, for example through a “graphical user interface (GUI)” or “application program on mobile device”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include wherein the driving heating mode comprises a manual heating mode, as taught by Vallender, in order to allow the driver of the electric vehicle to control when heating mode occurs to match the driver’s schedule and situation.
In regards to Claim 3, Yin in view of Wang and Vallender teaches the method of Claim 2, and Yin in view of Wang and Vallender further teaches wherein when the driving heating mode is the semi-automatic heating mode, before enabling the battery heating function based on the driving heating mode, the method comprises: sending a request instruction for requesting to enable the battery heating function; and enabling the battery heating function if a reply instruction allowing the heating function to be enabled is received (Wang, Para. 0007, 0064-0065 – the vehicle sends a “prompt message to an interactive device” to “deliver the prompt message to the driver”, for example, saying “The vehicle needs to be heated, the expected heating duration is XXX” to alert the driver “that the vehicle needs to be heated” and to allow the driver to determine “whether to perform the heating operation” through “a triggering operation input” by the driver to “heat the battery pack”; wherein a “vehicle controller” may “determine that the driver confirms that the battery pack needs to be heated when detecting the triggering operation input by the driver” and proceeds with battery pack heating).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang and Vallender to further include wherein when the driving heating mode is the semi-automatic heating mode, before enabling the battery heating function based on the driving heating mode, the method comprises: sending a request instruction for requesting to enable the battery heating function; and enabling the battery heating function if a reply instruction allowing the heating function to be enabled is received, as taught by Wang, in order to provide the driver with information regarding the status of the battery to better allow the driver to decide whether to activate the heating mode or not, thereby “improving the control accuracy” (Wang, Para. 0066).
In regards to Claim 4, Yin in view of Wang and Vallender teaches the method of Claim 2, and Yin in view of Wang and Vallender further teaches wherein when the driving heating mode is the manual heating mode, before a driving process of the mobile electrical apparatus is started, the method comprises: receiving a request to allow the mobile electrical apparatus to enable the heating function during the driving process (Vallender, Para. 0042, 0056, 0072 – “the user can operate one or more vehicle-user interfaces” to “activate thermal preconditioning” to “increase the temperature of the electric battery pack”, in a “non-autonomous”, or manual, implementation, for example through a “graphical user interface (GUI)” or “application program on mobile device”; where the “thermal preconditioning”, heating function during the driving process, proceeds based on the user’s input); or,
when the driving heating mode is the automatic heating mode, before a driving process of the mobile electrical apparatus is started, the method comprises: receiving a request to allow the mobile electrical apparatus to enable the heating function during a driving process within a preset time limit (Vallender, Para. 0072-0074, 0080 – an embodiment where a “precondition prompt” to initiate “thermal preconditioning”/battery warming is presented to the user, where the prompt is only displayed during a determined “time period”, or time limit, wherein “without input from the user, thermal preconditioning may not be initiated”; or an embodiment involving “automatic activation of thermal preconditioning”, wherein “thermal preconditioning may automatically occur” unless the vehicle receives “user input to the contrary” during a time period).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang and Vallender to further include wherein when the driving heating mode is the manual heating mode, before a driving process of the mobile electrical apparatus is started, the method comprises: receiving a request to allow the mobile electrical apparatus to enable the heating function during the driving process; or, when the driving heating mode is the automatic heating mode, before a driving process of the mobile electrical apparatus is started, the method comprises: receiving a request to allow the mobile electrical apparatus to enable the heating function during a driving process within a preset time limit, as taught by Vallender, in order to allow the driver of the electric vehicle to control when heating mode occurs to match the driver’s schedule and situation.
In regards to Claim 16, Yin in view of Wang teaches the mobile electrical apparatus of Claim 15, and Yin in view of Wang further teaches wherein the driving heating mode comprises an automatic heating mode (Yin, Para. 0011-0019 – wherein “before the vehicle starts”, the “motor control system” detects parameters and proceeds with “power battery heating control” if conditions are satisfied; for example, when “power battery heating is not completed, i.e. F=0” and “power battery heating control will continue”, such that the process is automatic) and a semi-automatic heating mode (Wang, Para. 0007, 0064-0065 – wherein a vehicle may send a “prompt message to an interactive device” to “deliver the prompt message to the driver”; wherein the “prompt message” may, for example, say “The vehicle needs to be heated, the expected heating duration is XXX” to alert the driver “that the vehicle needs to be heated” and to allow the driver to determine “whether to perform the heating operation” through driver input, such that the process is semi-automatic, in that the vehicle will automatically display the prompt message to the driver, but heating is only carried out based on the driver’s intention).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the mobile electrical apparatus including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include wherein the driving heating mode comprises a semi-automatic heating mode, as taught by Wang, in order to provide the driver with information regarding the status of the battery to allow the driver to decide whether to activate the heating mode or not, thereby “improving the control accuracy” (Wang, Para. 0066).
Yin in view of Wang does not specifically teach wherein the driving heating mode comprises a manual heating mode.
However, Vallender teaches wherein the driving heating mode comprises a manual heating mode (Vallender, Para. 0042, 0056, 0072 – “the user can operate one or more vehicle-user interfaces” to “activate thermal preconditioning” to “increase the temperature of the electric battery pack”, in a “non-autonomous”, or manual, implementation, for example through a “graphical user interface (GUI)” or “application program on mobile device”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the mobile electrical apparatus including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include wherein the driving heating mode comprises a manual heating mode, as taught by Vallender, in order to allow the driver of the electric vehicle to control when heating mode occurs to match the driver’s schedule and situation.
In regards to Claim 18, Yin in view of Wang teaches the computer-readable storage medium of Claim 17, and Yin in view of Wang further teaches wherein the driving heating mode comprises an automatic heating mode (Yin, Para. 0011-0019 – wherein “before the vehicle starts”, the “motor control system” detects parameters and proceeds with “power battery heating control” if conditions are satisfied; for example, when “power battery heating is not completed, i.e. F=0” and “power battery heating control will continue”, such that the process is automatic) and a semi-automatic heating mode (Wang, Para. 0007, 0064-0065 – wherein a vehicle may send a “prompt message to an interactive device” to “deliver the prompt message to the driver”; wherein the “prompt message” may, for example, say “The vehicle needs to be heated, the expected heating duration is XXX” to alert the driver “that the vehicle needs to be heated” and to allow the driver to determine “whether to perform the heating operation” through driver input, such that the process is semi-automatic, in that the vehicle will automatically display the prompt message to the driver, but heating is only carried out based on the driver’s intention).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the computer-readable storage medium including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include wherein the driving heating mode comprises a semi-automatic heating mode, as taught by Wang, in order to provide the driver with information regarding the status of the battery to allow the driver to decide whether to activate the heating mode or not, thereby “improving the control accuracy” (Wang, Para. 0066).
Yin in view of Wang does not specifically teach wherein the driving heating mode comprises a manual heating mode.
However, Vallender teaches wherein the driving heating mode comprises a manual heating mode (Vallender, Para. 0042, 0056, 0072 – “the user can operate one or more vehicle-user interfaces” to “activate thermal preconditioning” to “increase the temperature of the electric battery pack”, in a “non-autonomous”, or manual, implementation, for example through a “graphical user interface (GUI)” or “application program on mobile device”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the computer-readable storage medium including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include wherein the driving heating mode comprises a manual heating mode, as taught by Vallender, in order to allow the driver of the electric vehicle to control when heating mode occurs to match the driver’s schedule and situation.
In regards to Claim 19, Yin in view of Wang and Vallender teaches the method of Claim 2, and Yin in view of Wang and Vallender further teaches wherein when the driving heating mode is the semi-automatic heating mode, before enabling the battery heating function based on the driving heating mode, the method comprises: sending a request instruction for requesting to enable the battery heating function; and enabling the battery heating function if a reply instruction allowing the heating function to be enabled is received (Wang, Para. 0007, 0064-0065 – the vehicle sends a “prompt message to an interactive device” to “deliver the prompt message to the driver”, for example, saying “The vehicle needs to be heated, the expected heating duration is XXX” to alert the driver “that the vehicle needs to be heated” and to allow the driver to determine “whether to perform the heating operation” through “a triggering operation input” by the driver to “heat the battery pack”; wherein a “vehicle controller” may “determine that the driver confirms that the battery pack needs to be heated when detecting the triggering operation input by the driver” and proceeds with battery pack heating).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the computer-readable storage medium including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang and Vallender to further include wherein when the driving heating mode is the semi-automatic heating mode, before enabling the battery heating function based on the driving heating mode, the method comprises: sending a request instruction for requesting to enable the battery heating function; and enabling the battery heating function if a reply instruction allowing the heating function to be enabled is received, as taught by Wang, in order to provide the driver with information regarding the status of the battery to better allow the driver to decide whether to activate the heating mode or not, thereby “improving the control accuracy” (Wang, Para. 0066).
In regards to Claim 20, Yin in view of Wang and Vallender teaches the computer-readable storage medium of Claim 2, and Yin in view of Wang and Vallender further teaches wherein when the driving heating mode is the manual heating mode, before a driving process of the mobile electrical apparatus is started, the method comprises: receiving a request to allow the mobile electrical apparatus to enable the heating function during the driving process (Vallender, Para. 0042, 0056, 0072 – “the user can operate one or more vehicle-user interfaces” to “activate thermal preconditioning” to “increase the temperature of the electric battery pack”, in a “non-autonomous”, or manual, implementation, for example through a “graphical user interface (GUI)” or “application program on mobile device”; where the “thermal preconditioning”, heating function during the driving process, proceeds based on the user’s input); or,
when the driving heating mode is the automatic heating mode, before a driving process of the mobile electrical apparatus is started, the method comprises: receiving a request to allow the mobile electrical apparatus to enable the heating function during a driving process within a preset time limit (Vallender, Para. 0072-0074, 0080 – an embodiment where a “precondition prompt” to initiate “thermal preconditioning”/battery warming is presented to the user, where the prompt is only displayed during a determined “time period”, or time limit, wherein “without input from the user, thermal preconditioning may not be initiated”; or an embodiment involving “automatic activation of thermal preconditioning”, wherein “thermal preconditioning may automatically occur” unless the vehicle receives “user input to the contrary” during a time period).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the computer-readable storage medium including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang and Vallender to further include wherein when the driving heating mode is the manual heating mode, before a driving process of the mobile electrical apparatus is started, the method comprises: receiving a request to allow the mobile electrical apparatus to enable the heating function during the driving process; or, when the driving heating mode is the automatic heating mode, before a driving process of the mobile electrical apparatus is started, the method comprises: receiving a request to allow the mobile electrical apparatus to enable the heating function during a driving process within a preset time limit, as taught by Vallender, in order to allow the driver of the electric vehicle to control when heating mode occurs to match the driver’s schedule and situation.
Claim(s) 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yin in view of Wang, and further in view of Xiong (Chinese Patent Application Pub. No. 113341909 A)
In regards to Claim 11, Yin in view of Wang teaches the method of Claim 9, and Yin in view of Wang further teaches wherein “motor control system” provides “real-time feedback on the current heating status to the vehicle control unit” using sensor data, such as “temperature and voltage of the power battery”) and the second operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0042-0043, 0060-0064, 0117-0118, 0127, 0146-0148, 0176 – the “control system” receives “real-time” sensor information from a “battery management system”, first parameters, and a “motor controller”, second parameters, as “feedback information”); and enabling the battery heating function based on the driving heating mode after determining that the mobile electrical apparatus meets a battery heating condition and based on the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters (Yin, Para. 0013-0019 – where if “power battery heating end flag F” is equal to 0, “i.e. F=0”, “the power battery heating control” proceeds to raise, or heat, the temperature of the power battery; Wang, Para. 0006, 0059, 0065 – confirming whether the “vehicle controller”, or mobile electrical apparatus, “is in a normal operating state”; where the “vehicle controller” further receives signals confirming “a preset heating condition” of the battery pack and a “non-operating state” of the motor, and sending signals to commence heating of the battery pack if so).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to further include continuously acquiring the second operating parameters, as taught by Wang, in order to take into account second operating parameters related to the motors when performing heating of a battery to reduce stress on the motors and prevent damage.
Yin in view of Wang does not teach wherein after the disabling the battery heating function, the method further comprises generating a control instruction for continuously acquiring parameters; and enabling the battery heating function based on the driving heating mode.
However, Xiong teaches wherein after the disabling the battery heating function, the method further comprises generating a control instruction for continuously acquiring parameters; and enabling the battery heating function based on the driving heating mode (Xiong, Para. 0009-0023, 0044, 0055 – a method of “constant temperature thermal management” wherein a “heating/heat dissipation unit” performs “heating/heat dissipation work” based on collected “real-time temperature”; wherein “heating/heat dissipation work” includes determining in “real-time” if a “battery cell temperature has reached the preset threshold” based on the battery cell temperature, “the heating/cooling function is dynamically turned on/off”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang to include wherein after the disabling the battery heating function, the method further comprises generating a control instruction for continuously acquiring parameters; and enabling the battery heating function based on the driving heating mode, as taught by Xiong, in order to improve performance by maintaining the battery at an optimal temperature (Xiong, Para. n0014).
In regards to Claim 13, Yin in view of Wang and Xiong teaches the method of Claim 11, and Yin in view of Wang and Xiong further teaches wherein after the determining that the battery meets the abnormal disabling condition for the heating function (Wang, Para. 0047-0048, 0059 – if “the SOC of the battery pack P1 is lower than or equal to the SOC threshold”, then “the battery pack cannot be heated due to the low SOC”; if the “vehicle controller” is in an “abnormal state”, then “stop execution of any operation command”), the method further comprises: generating a control instruction to stop acquiring the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters (Wang, Para. 0041-0059, 0075-0082, 0174 – where if, for example, the “vehicle controller” is in an “abnormal state”, then “stop execution of any operation command”, where the “vehicle controller” controls requesting “feedback information”, such that stopping execution would end acquisition of the information; and further, when “a stop-heating request” or signal is received, the heating process is ended, due to a “target state parameter exceed[ing] the corresponding parameter safety range” and the battery pack heating system is turned off, where the battery pack heating system acquires state parameters).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method including the above limitations of Yin in view of Wang and Xiong to further include wherein after the determining that the battery meets the abnormal disabling condition for the heating function, the method further comprises: generating a control instruction to stop acquiring the first operating parameters and the second operating parameters, as taught by Wang, in order to end extraneous data collection when there is an abnormal disabling condition in order to direct resources towards adjusting for the abnormality or stopping the mobile electrical apparatus.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2022/0234472) teaches a drive unit controller includes a first component configured to receive heat request and vehicle status information and a second component is configured to initiate a battery heat generation mode responsive to the received heat request and the vehicle status information.
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/H.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3665
/HUNTER B LONSBERRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665