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 Objections
Claims 1, 6 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities: Appropriate correction is required.
Regarding claim 1, line 3, it appears that proceeeor should be processor.
Regarding claim 6, lines 3 and 4, it appears that thrhshold should be threshold.
Regarding claim 6, line 3, it appears that temperature should be temperature.
Regarding claim 15, lines 4 and 5, it appears that thrhshold should be threshold.
Regarding claim 6, line 4, it appears that temperature should be temperature.
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, 3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yeom (US 20250306124).
Regarding claim 1, Yeom teach a battery management portion operatively connected to the sensor portion and configured to:
determining by a processor (Note par 0067, control circuit 220 maybe a microprocessor which would inherently store) and storing a defective cell candidate based on a voltage change of each of cells forming a battery module during an ignition (IG) OFF mode period (No load state is interpreted as ignition off, par. 120) of the vehicle, (Note par. [0075] Specifically, the control circuit 220 determines a first cell voltage slope in a first time section based on the time series data for the cell voltage of each battery cell (BC.sub.i).) Examiner’s position is that each cell is inherently a defective cell candidate because each cell can possibly fail. Also note the voltage slope is interpreted as a voltage change)
increase a counter value based on a comparison result of a defective cell candidate during a recent ignition OFF mode period and a defective cell candidate during a previous ignition OFF mode period, ([0157] Subsequently, in the step S70, the control circuit 220 accumulatively stores the voltage abnormality detection time points for each battery cell (BC.sub.i*) for which a voltage abnormality is detected in the storage medium 221 and increases the voltage abnormality detection count for the corresponding battery cell (BC.sub.i*) by 1. Here, the symbol * is a symbol representing the battery cell in which a voltage abnormality is detected.) and
detect a cell abnormality based on whether a current counter value is greater than or equal to a threshold counter value. ([0164] Specifically, in the step S100, the control circuit 220 determines whether there is a battery cell (BC.sub.i.sup.#) in which the voltage abnormality detection count assigned to each battery cell (BC.sub.i) is greater than or equal to the reference value. Here, the symbol # represents a battery cell in which the voltage abnormality detection count is greater than or equal to the reference value.
[0165] If the determination of the step S100 is YES, in the step S110, the control circuit 220 outputs the diagnosis result visually or audibly through the output device 331 connected to the interface unit 330. The diagnosis result may include a warning message indicating that a battery cell exhibiting a voltage abnormality occurs within the battery pack B.)
Regarding claims 3 , Yeom et al. teach wherein the defective cell candidate is determined based on the voltage change of each of the cells and an average of voltage changes of all cells forming the battery module. ([0154] Subsequently, in the step S40, the control circuit 220 determines the average slope (r.sub.i,av) of the cell voltage in the third time section (t.sub.2 to t.sub.2+p) between the first time section (t.sub.1 to t.sub.2) and the second time section (t.sub.2+p to t.sub.2+p+1) based on the time series data (V.sub.i,k) for the cell voltage of each battery cell (BC.sub.i). The average slope (r.sub.i,av) of the cell voltage for each battery cell (BC.sub.i) is recorded in the storage medium 221.)
Regarding claims 5, Yeom teach wherein the counter value is initially set to be ‘zero’ and increases by ‘one’. ([0124] If the second time section T2 where the inequality 4 is satisfied is detected in any diagnosis cycle for the time series data for the cell voltage, the control circuit 220 records the time point at which a voltage abnormality is detected in the storage medium 221 and increases the voltage abnormality detection count by 1.)
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 4 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeom (US 20250306124) further in view of Itakura et al. (US 20250116712).
Yeom teach the instant invention except the following claim limitations.
Regarding claim 4 , Yeom does not teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine a cell whose value obtained in subtracting the average of the voltage changes of all the cells from the voltage change of each of the cells is greater than a threshold as the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change.
Itakura et al. teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine a cell whose value obtained in subtracting the average of the voltage changes of all the cells from the voltage change of each of the cells is greater than a threshold as the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change. ([0051] The difference calculator 114 calculates a difference value (judgment score) between the amount of change in voltage of each of the plurality of cells or plurality of parallel cell blocks and the representative value of the voltage change amount calculated by the representative value calculator 113. That is, the difference calculator 114 extracts an individual factor of each cell or each average cell block by subtracting the representative value of the voltage change amount from the amount of change in voltage of each to remove influence of a standard voltage change for the time between the two points in the CV charging period.
[0052] The abnormality detector 115 detects a cell or parallel cell block in an abnormal state on the basis of a relative voltage change amount among the plurality of cells or among the plurality of parallel cell blocks for the time between the two points in the CV charging period. Specifically, the abnormality detector 115 judges a cell or parallel cell block having a voltage drop amount relative to the representative value of the voltage change amount exceeding a threshold value to be a cell or parallel cell block in an abnormal state, having a high internal resistance.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yeom to include the teaching of wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine a cell whose value obtained in subtracting the average of the voltage changes of all the cells from the voltage change of each of the cells is greater than a threshold as the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change to indicate an abnormal cell. (Note Itakura et al. par. 0052)
Regarding claim 7, Yeom does not teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to transmit a warning message to a driver and is configured to control the vehicle in response that the current counter value is greater than or equal to the threshold counter value.
Itakura et al. teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to transmit a warning message to a driver and is configured to control the vehicle in response that the current counter value is greater than or equal to the threshold counter value. ([0058] In a case where the specific battery pack 41 mounted on the electric vehicle 3 includes a cell or parallel cell block in an abnormal state, the notifier 116 notifies the electric vehicle 3 or the operation management terminal device 2 of an alert via the network 5. A message prompting inspection, repair, or replacement is added to the alert notification.) and par. 0051; The Examiner interprets notifier creating a message as controlling the vehicle to output the notification . (Note Itakura et al. par. 0058)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yeom. to include the teaching of wherein the battery management portion is further configured to transmit a warning message to a driver and is configured to control the vehicle in response that the current counter value is greater than or equal to the threshold counter value to prompt the driver for repair. (Note Itakura et al. par. 0058)
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeom (US 20250306124) in view of Itakura et al. (US 20250116712) further in view of Hansen et al. (US 20210276556).
Yeom teach the instant invention except the following claim limitations.
Regarding claims 8 , Yeom does not teach upon the detecting of the cell abnormality, the battery management portion is further configured to reduce a speed of the vehicle.
Hansen et al. teach upon the detecting of the cell abnormality, the battery management portion is further configured to reduce a speed of the vehicle. (Note [0038] In an embodiment the safety related error of the BMS and/or of the battery system is a safety related error in ASIL category B, C, or D. In this embodiment, switching to the limp home mode, the degraded performance mode and the disconnect mode modes is carried out upon detection of safety related errors of the BMS and/or of the battery system only if these errors are errors in ASIL category B, C, or D.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yeom to include the teaching of upon the detecting of the cell abnormality, the battery management portion is further configured to reduce a speed of the vehicle to serve as a safety measure when an error is related to the NBS or the battery system. (Note Hansen et al. par. 0038)
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeom (US 20250306124) further in view of Stimm (US 20160111758).
Yeom teach the instant invention except the following claim limitations.
Regarding claim 6 , Yeom does not teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine and store the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change in response that a state of charge (SOC) value of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold rate, or a temperature of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold temperature.
Stimm teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine and store the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change in response that a state of charge (SOC) value of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold rate, or a temperature of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold temperature. (Note abstract)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yeom to include the teaching of wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine and store the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change in response that a state of charge (SOC) value of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold rate, or a temperature of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold temperature to provide reliable and rapid detection of a defective cell . (Note Stimm par. 0015)
Claims 10, 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (US 20220144132) in view of Yeom (US 20250306124).
Regarding claim 10, Jin et al. teach An apparatus for diagnosing abnormality in a vehicle battery, (Note abstract) the apparatus comprising:
a battery (10, Fig. 1) configured to store power energy to drive a vehicle and including a plurality of cells;
a sensor portion including a voltage sensor configured to detect voltages of the plurality of cells; (a battery management system (BMS) 20 corresponding to a controller that monitors battery-related parameters such as voltage, current and temperature of the battery 10 and determines whether the battery is abnormal based on the monitored parameters.) and
Jin et al. does not teach
a battery management portion operatively connected to the sensor portion and configured to:
determine and store a defective cell candidate based on a voltage change of each of cells forming a battery module during an ignition (IG) OFF mode period of the vehicle,
increase a counter value based on a comparison result of a defective cell candidate during a recent ignition OFF mode period and a defective cell candidate during a previous ignition OFF mode period, and
detect a cell abnormality based on whether a current counter value is greater than or equal to a threshold counter value.
Yeom teach a battery management portion (220, Fig. 1) operatively connected to the sensor portion and configured to:
determine and store a defective cell candidate based on a voltage change of each of cells forming a battery module during an ignition (IG) OFF mode period of the vehicle, (Note par. [0075] Specifically, the control circuit 220 determines a first cell voltage slope in a first time section based on the time series data for the cell voltage of each battery cell (BC.sub.i).) Examiner’s position is that each cell is inherently a defective cell candidate because each cell can possibly fail. Also note the voltage slope is interpreted as a voltage change)
increase a counter value based on a comparison result of a defective cell candidate during a recent ignition OFF mode period and a defective cell candidate during a previous ignition OFF mode period, (Note [0157] Subsequently, in the step S70, the control circuit 220 accumulatively stores the voltage abnormality detection time points for each battery cell (BC.sub.i*) for which a voltage abnormality is detected in the storage medium 221 and increases the voltage abnormality detection count for the corresponding battery cell (BC.sub.i*) by 1. Here, the symbol * is a symbol representing the battery cell in which a voltage abnormality is detected.)
detect a cell abnormality based on whether a current counter value is greater than or equal to a threshold counter value. ([0164] Specifically, in the step S100, the control circuit 220 determines whether there is a battery cell (BC.sub.i.sup.#) in which the voltage abnormality detection count assigned to each battery cell (BC.sub.i) is greater than or equal to the reference value. Here, the symbol # represents a battery cell in which the voltage abnormality detection count is greater than or equal to the reference value.
[0165] If the determination of the step S100 is YES, in the step S110, the control circuit 220 outputs the diagnosis result visually or audibly through the output device 331 connected to the interface unit 330. The diagnosis result may include a warning message indicating that a battery cell exhibiting a voltage abnormality occurs within the battery pack B.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jin et al. to include the teaching of a battery management portion operatively connected to the sensor portion and configured to:
determine and store a defective cell candidate based on a voltage change of each of cells forming a battery module during an ignition (IG) OFF mode period of the vehicle,
increase a counter value based on a comparison result of a defective cell candidate during a recent ignition OFF mode period and a defective cell candidate during a previous ignition OFF mode period, and
detect a cell abnormality based on whether a current counter value is greater than or equal to a threshold counter value to efficiently and accurately diagnose a voltage abnormality of a battery cell using a voltage change slope of the battery cell. (Note Yeom par. 0010)
Regarding claim 12, Jin et al. does not teach wherein the defective cell candidate is determined based on the voltage change of each of the cells and an average of voltage changes of all cells forming the battery module.
Yeom et al. teach wherein the defective cell candidate is determined based on the voltage change of each of the cells and an average of voltage changes of all cells forming the battery module. ([0154] Subsequently, in the step S40, the control circuit 220 determines the average slope (r.sub.i,av) of the cell voltage in the third time section (t.sub.2 to t.sub.2+p) between the first time section (t.sub.1 to t.sub.2) and the second time section (t.sub.2+p to t.sub.2+p+1) based on the time series data (V.sub.i,k) for the cell voltage of each battery cell (BC.sub.i). The average slope (r.sub.i,av) of the cell voltage for each battery cell (BC.sub.i) is recorded in the storage medium 221.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jin et al. to include the teaching of wherein the defective cell candidate is determined based on the voltage change of each of the cells and an average of voltage changes of all cells forming the battery module to help identify any outlier values.
Regarding claim 14, Jin et al. does not teach wherein the counter value is initially set to be ‘zero’ and increases by ‘one’.
Yeom teach wherein the counter value is initially set to be ‘zero’ and increases by ‘one’. ([0124] If the second time section T2 where the inequality 4 is satisfied is detected in any diagnosis cycle for the time series data for the cell voltage, the control circuit 220 records the time point at which a voltage abnormality is detected in the storage medium 221 and increases the voltage abnormality detection count by 1.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jin et al. to include the teaching of the counter value is initially set to be ‘zero’ and increases by ‘one’ to avoid confusion by starting a count that does not begin at zero.
Claims 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (US 20220144132) in view of Yeom (US 20250306124) further in view of Itakura et al. (US 20250116712).
Jin et al. teach the instant invention except the following claim limitations.
Regarding claim 13, Jin et al. does not teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine a cell whose value obtained in subtracting the average of the voltage changes of all the cells from the voltage change of each of the cells is greater than a threshold as the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change.
Itakura et al. teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine a cell whose value obtained in subtracting the average of the voltage changes of all the cells from the voltage change of each of the cells is greater than a threshold as the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change. ([0051] The difference calculator 114 calculates a difference value (judgment score) between the amount of change in voltage of each of the plurality of cells or plurality of parallel cell blocks and the representative value of the voltage change amount calculated by the representative value calculator 113. That is, the difference calculator 114 extracts an individual factor of each cell or each average cell block by subtracting the representative value of the voltage change amount from the amount of change in voltage of each to remove influence of a standard voltage change for the time between the two points in the CV charging period.
[0052] The abnormality detector 115 detects a cell or parallel cell block in an abnormal state on the basis of a relative voltage change amount among the plurality of cells or among the plurality of parallel cell blocks for the time between the two points in the CV charging period. Specifically, the abnormality detector 115 judges a cell or parallel cell block having a voltage drop amount relative to the representative value of the voltage change amount exceeding a threshold value to be a cell or parallel cell block in an abnormal state, having a high internal resistance.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jin et al. to include the teaching of wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine a cell whose value obtained in subtracting the average of the voltage changes of all the cells from the voltage change of each of the cells is greater than a threshold as the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change to indicate an abnormal cell. (Note Itakura et al. par. 0052)
Regarding claim 16, Jin et al. does not teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to transmit a warning message to a driver and is configured to control the vehicle in response that the current counter value is greater than or equal to the threshold counter value.
Itakura et al. teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to transmit a warning message to a driver and is configured to control the vehicle in response that the current counter value is greater than or equal to the threshold counter value. ([0058] In a case where the specific battery pack 41 mounted on the electric vehicle 3 includes a cell or parallel cell block in an abnormal state, the notifier 116 notifies the electric vehicle 3 or the operation management terminal device 2 of an alert via the network 5. A message prompting inspection, repair, or replacement is added to the alert notification.) and par. 0051; The Examiner interprets notifier creating a message as controlling the vehicle to output the notification . (Note Itakura et al. par. 0058)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jin et al. to include the teaching of wherein the battery management portion is further configured to transmit a warning message to a driver and is configured to control the vehicle in response that the current counter value is greater than or equal to the threshold counter value to prompt the driver for repair. (Note Itakura et al. par. 0058)
Claim 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (US 20220144132) in view of Yeom (US 20250306124) in view of Itakura et al. (US 20250116712) further in view of Hansen et al. (US 20210276556).
Jin et al. teach the instant invention except the following claim limitations.
Regarding claim 17, Jin et al. does not teach upon the detecting of the cell abnormality, the battery management portion is further configured to reduce a speed of the vehicle.
Hansen et al. teach upon the detecting of the cell abnormality, the battery management portion is further configured to reduce a speed of the vehicle. (Note [0038] In an embodiment the safety related error of the BMS and/or of the battery system is a safety related error in ASIL category B, C, or D. In this embodiment, switching to the limp home mode, the degraded performance mode and the disconnect mode modes is carried out upon detection of safety related errors of the BMS and/or of the battery system only if these errors are errors in ASIL category B, C, or D.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jin et al. to include the teaching of upon the detecting of the cell abnormality, the battery management portion is further configured to reduce a speed of the vehicle to serve as a safety measure when an error is related to the NBS or the battery system. (Note Hansen et al. par. 0038)
Claim 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (US 20220144132) in view of Yeom (US 20250306124) further in view of Stimm (US 20160111758).
Jin et al. teach the instant invention except the following claim limitations.
Regarding claim 15, Jin et al. does not teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine and store the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change in response that a state of charge (SOC) value of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold rate, or a temperature of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold temperature.
Stimm teach wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine and store the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change in response that a state of charge (SOC) value of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold rate, or a temperature of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold temperature. (Note abstract)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Jin et al. to include the teaching of wherein the battery management portion is further configured to determine and store the defective cell candidate based on the voltage change in response that a state of charge (SOC) value of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold rate, or a temperature of the battery module is greater than or equal to a threshold temperature to provide reliable and rapid detection of a defective cell . (Note Stimm par. 0015)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 9, 11 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 2, wherein the voltage change of each of the cells during the ignition OFF mode period is determined based on a difference between a voltage of each of the cells at time at which the vehicle switches from an IG ON mode to an IG OFF mode and a voltage of each of the cells at time at which the vehicle switches from the IG OFF mode to the IG ON mode.
Regarding claim 9, wherein in the increasing of the counter value, in response that the defective cell candidate during the recent ignition OFF mode period is the same as the defective cell candidate during the previous ignition OFF mode period, the counter value is increased by the processor.
Regarding claim 11, wherein the voltage change of each of the cells during the ignition OFF mode period is determined based on a difference between a voltage of each of the cells at time at which the vehicle switches from an IG ON mode to an IG OFF mode and a voltage of each of the cells at time at which the vehicle switches from the IG OFF mode to the IG ON mode.
Regarding claim 18, wherein the battery management portion is further configured to increase the counter value in response that the defective cell candidate during the recent ignition OFF mode period is the same as the defective cell candidate during the previous ignition OFF mode period.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEMETRIUS R PRETLOW whose telephone number is (571)272-3441. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 5:30-1:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lee Rodak can be reached at 571-270-5628. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEMETRIUS R PRETLOW/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/LEE E RODAK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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