DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5, 8-12, 14, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adetola et al. US 20190277647 A1 (herein, Adetola) and in view of Kwon US 20160375777 A1 (herein, Kwon).
Regarding Claim 1, and commensurate claims 9 and 10, Adetola discloses, a system for managing power supplied to a Transportation Refrigeration Unit (TRU) (FIG. 3 and [0033] – “…an energy storage device of the engineless transport refrigeration unit and sources of power recharge,…”), the system comprising:
a power supply system in communication with the TRU (¶[0023] – “… an electric energy storage device for providing power …in electronic communication with the controller through a cloud network,…”), the power supply system comprising:
at least one battery unit electrically connected to the TRU to supply power to the TRU ([0060] – “… a battery powered TRU 26…”); and
control circuitry coupled to the power supply system and the TRU (FIG. 2, #82 – controller and ¶[0015] – “… a controller configured to control operation of the transport refrigeration unit…, the control circuitry configured to:
receive information associated with an operational characteristic of at least one subcomponent of the TRU (¶[0062] – “…TRU operation determination module 394 determines TRU predicted operation 404 along each of the one or more potential routes 402 in response to at least one of the route parameters 381…”);
predict an increase or a decrease in a load associated with the at least one subcomponent of the TRU based on the received information (FIG. 4 and ¶[0063] – “The energy consumption determination module 396 determines predicted energy consumption 406 from the energy storage 62 by the TRU 26…”);
broadcast a control signal (FIG. 3 illustrates control signals) to the at least one fuel cell at a predefined time duration before the predicted increase or decrease in the load (Claim 15 – “determining whether the battery remaining discharge time period is longer than at least one of the one or more potential routes.”), wherein the control signal regulates the power supply from the at least one fuel cell to the at least one subcomponent (FIGS. 2-3 and ¶[0048] – “…the energy storage device 62 may include a battery system (e.g. a battery or bank of batteries), fuel cells, and others capable of storing and outputting electric energy that may be direct current (DC).”).
Adetola discloses the TRU, battery unit, power supply system and further discloses fuel cell (¶[0048] – “fuel cells”) does not disclose, at least one fuel cell electrically connected to the TRU and connected in parallel to the at least one battery unit;
at least one electric power converter electrically connected between the power supply system and the TRU for regulating power supply to the TRU.
However, Kwon teaches, at least one fuel cell electrically connected to the TRU and connected in parallel to the at least one battery unit (FIG. 1 and ¶[0026] – “…the power net system of
the fuel cell vehicle may include a fuel cell 11 and a high-voltage battery unit 21 connected in parallel via a main bus 12;…”);
at least one electric power converter (FIG. 1, #213 – “high voltage converter”) electrically connected between the power supply system and the TRU for regulating power supply to the TRU (¶[0016] – “… a method for controlling a power net system of a fuel cell vehicle is provided. In particular, when a preset dangerous event occurs, a controller may be configured to form electrical connection between an output terminal of a fuel cell and a load device and electrical connection between the fuel cell and a high-voltage battery unit connected in parallel to the fuel cell via a main bus…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify the power supply as disclosed by Adetola by having the fuel cell connected in parallel to the battery and the electric power converter as taught by Kwon. Doing so, improves the management of the power supply system by providing parallel connected fuel cell and battery so as to control the TRU.
Regarding Claims 2 and 11, modified Adetola further discloses, wherein the at least one subcomponent of the TRU comprises at least one of a compressor, an evaporator, and a condenser (FIG. 3 and ¶[0003] – “Refrigeration systems typically include a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve,…”).
Regarding Claims 3 and 12, modified Adetola further discloses, wherein at least one of an air moving device and an electrical drive motor is operatively coupled to the at least one subcomponent of the TRU (¶[0042] – “… air flow across the condenser 64 may be facilitated by one or more fans 88…”).
Regarding Claims 5 and 14, modified Adetola further discloses, wherein predicting the increase in the load associated with the at least one subcomponent of the TRU (¶[0007] – “…determining a predicted energy consumption from the energy storage device by the TRU along each of the one or more potential routes…”) comprises:
analysing the received information associated with the operational characteristic of the at least one subcomponent of the TRU (¶[0027] – “…analyzing each route based on predicted energy consumption of the transportation refrigeration unit…”); and
determining an increase in the operational characteristic associated with one or more of the at least one subcomponent, the air moving device, and the electrical drive motor (FIG. 6, #600 and ¶[0069] – “…The method 600 may further include: determining predicted energy device storage parameters 382 along each of the one or more potential routes 402 in response to the TRU predicted operation 404 and the energy storage device parameters…”).
Regarding Claims 8 and 17, modified Adetola further discloses, wherein the predefined time duration is set based on one or more parameters of the at least one fuel cell (¶[0065] – “…If the energy storage device 62 is a battery, then the energy storage device parameters 382 may include a state of charge of the battery system, a state of health of the battery system, and a battery remaining discharge time period.” – i.e., the fuel cell in para 48).
Claim(s) 4 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adetola et al. US 20190277647 A1 (herein, Adetola) in view of Kwon US 20160375777 A1 (herein, Kwon), and in further view of Vehr et al., US 20180001739 A1 (herein, Vehr).
Regarding Claims 4 and 13, modified Adetola discloses the operational characteristic, subcomponent, air moving device, and electric drive motor but does not disclose, wherein the operational characteristic comprises a rotational speed, an operational state, and a load current associated with one or more of the at least one subcomponent, the air moving device, and the electrical drive motor.
However, Vehr teaches, wherein the operational characteristic comprises a rotational speed, an operational state, and a load current associated with one or more of the at least one subcomponent, the air moving device, and the electrical drive motor (FIG. 6A and ¶0201] – “…wherein the operational characteristic comprises a rotational speed, an operational state, and a load current associated with one or more of the at least one subcomponent, the air moving device, and the electrical drive motor…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify the power supply as disclosed by modified Adetola by having the operational characteristic of the subcomponent (i.e. condenser) as taught by Vehr. Doing so, provides additional operational information which in turn allows for improved effectiveness in operating and maintaining the cooling system of the TRU.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 and 15-16 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS G DEL VALLE whose telephone number is (303)297-4313. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 0730 - 1630 MST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anne Antonucci can be reached at (313) 446-6519. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LUIS G DEL VALLE/Examiner, Art Unit 3666
/ANNE MARIE ANTONUCCI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666