DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to Applicant's Application filed on 11/11/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending for examination.
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 § 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.
Claims 1-20 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.
The claims are generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform with current U.S. practice. They appear to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document and are replete with grammatical and idiomatic errors.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim (US20200116516A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches A battery state of charge (SOC) prediction apparatus comprising:
a processor (Kim: Para 45 “The storage 130 stores software programmed such that the processor 170 performs a preset operation”) configured to predict a state of charge (SOC) value of a battery in response to a case where a vehicle arrives at a destination according to energy expected to be consumed while driving to the destination (Kim: Para 21 “The predicting of the battery power may include predicting a battery state in traveling on each link by use of the road information related to the link, the battery temperature, and a state of charge, and predicting available battery power before traveling on the link, based on the battery state”), and to correct the SOC value of the battery upon arrival at the destination according to an electrical load and a battery temperature by predicting the electric load and the battery temperature(Kim: Para 22 “The predicting of the battery state may include estimating the battery temperature and the state of charge in traveling on the link by predicting an average current and energy consumption in traveling based on the road information related to the link”) according to a driving time of the vehicle(Kim: Para 22 “The predicting of the battery state may include estimating the battery temperature and the state of charge in traveling on the link by predicting an average current and energy consumption in traveling based on the road information related to the link”; Para 63 “The processor 170 obtains link information related to each route searched based on real-time traffic information and map data. The link information includes road information, identification information, and location coordinates of a starting node and a destination node of each road section, that is, each link included in the searched route. In the instant case, the road information includes an average vehicle speed, a driving time, a traveling distance, a gradient, and a curvature of a road”); and
a storage configured to store algorithms and data driven by the processor(Kim: Para 90 “The processor 1100 may be a central processing unit (CPU) or a semiconductor device configured for processing instructions stored in the memory 1300 and/or the storage 1600. Each of the memory 1300 and the storage 1600 may include various types of volatile or non-volatile storage media. For example, the memory 1300 may include a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM)”).
Regarding claim 2, Kim teaches The battery SOC prediction apparatus of claim 1, further including
a communication device (Kim: Fig. 1) configured:
to receive information related to the energy expected to be consumed while driving to the destination from an in-vehicle controller(Kim: Para 22 “The predicting of the battery state may include estimating the battery temperature and the state of charge in traveling on the link by predicting an average current and energy consumption in traveling based on the road information related to the link”),
to receive information related to a time required to drive to the destination from a navigation(Kim: Para 63 “The processor 170 obtains link information related to each route searched based on real-time traffic information and map data. The link information includes road information, identification information, and location coordinates of a starting node and a destination node of each road section, that is, each link included in the searched route. In the instant case, the road information includes an average vehicle speed, a driving time, a traveling distance, a gradient, and a curvature of a road”), and
to receive information related to at least one of a battery voltage, a battery current, a battery temperature, or a combination thereof from a sensing device(Kim: Para 56 “the battery manager 160 is connected to sensors detecting the voltage, current, and temperature of the battery to provide the battery states”).
Regarding claim 18, Kim teaches A vehicle system comprising:
a battery SOC prediction apparatus (Kim: Para 45 “The storage 130 stores software programmed such that the processor 170 performs a preset operation”) configured to predict a state of charge (SOC) value of a battery in response to a case where a vehicle arrives at a destination according to energy expected to be consumed while driving to the destination (Kim: Para 21 “The predicting of the battery power may include predicting a battery state in traveling on each link by use of the road information related to the link, the battery temperature, and a state of charge, and predicting available battery power before traveling on the link, based on the battery state”), and to correct the SOC value of the battery upon arrival at the destination according to an electrical load and a battery temperature (Kim: Para 22 “The predicting of the battery state may include estimating the battery temperature and the state of charge in traveling on the link by predicting an average current and energy consumption in traveling based on the road information related to the link”) by predicting the electric load and the battery temperature according to a driving time of the vehicle (Kim: Para 22 “The predicting of the battery state may include estimating the battery temperature and the state of charge in traveling on the link by predicting an average current and energy consumption in traveling based on the road information related to the link”; Para 63 “The processor 170 obtains link information related to each route searched based on real-time traffic information and map data. The link information includes road information, identification information, and location coordinates of a starting node and a destination node of each road section, that is, each link included in the searched route. In the instant case, the road information includes an average vehicle speed, a driving time, a traveling distance, a gradient, and a curvature of a road”); and
an in-vehicle control device (Kim: Para 45 “The storage 130 stores software programmed such that the processor 170 performs a preset operation”) configured to provide energy expected to be consumed to drive to the destination to the battery SOC prediction apparatus(Kim: Para 21 “The predicting of the battery power may include predicting a battery state in traveling on each link by use of the road information related to the link, the battery temperature, and a state of charge, and predicting available battery power before traveling on the link, based on the battery state”); and
a navigation configured to provide a time required to drive to the destination to the battery SOC prediction apparatus(Kim: Para 22 “The predicting of the battery state may include estimating the battery temperature and the state of charge in traveling on the link by predicting an average current and energy consumption in traveling based on the road information related to the link”; Para 63 “The processor 170 obtains link information related to each route searched based on real-time traffic information and map data. The link information includes road information, identification information, and location coordinates of a starting node and a destination node of each road section, that is, each link included in the searched route. In the instant case, the road information includes an average vehicle speed, a driving time, a traveling distance, a gradient, and a curvature of a road”).
As per claim 19, it recites A battery SOC prediction method having limitations similar to those of claim 1 and therefore is rejected on the same basis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-17, 20 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112 and rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The features “estimating a first average voltage using an open circuit voltage (OCV) and a nominal voltage based on a current SOC value of the battery” in claim 3 and 20 when taken in the context of the claims as a whole, were not uncovered in the prior art teachings. In particular, estimating average voltage based on a combination of open circuit voltage and nominal voltage based on a current SOC value of the battery is not disclosed in the prior art.
Claims 4-17 would be allowable based on the dependence on claim 3 therefor inheriting the allowable subject matter disclosed in claim 3.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CHA (US20190123394A1) disclosed an apparatus includes a voltage measuring unit configured to measure a voltage of the LFP battery and output a voltage value indicative of the measured voltage, a current measuring unit configured to measure a current of the LFP battery and output a current value indicative of the measured current, and a control unit configured to individually receive the voltage value and the current value and determine the SOC of the LFP battery based on results of integrating the current value over time. When the control unit enters calibration mode, the control unit is configured to calculate an average voltage value of voltage values received from the voltage measuring unit for a predefined time, calculate an average current value of current values received from the current measuring unit for the predefined time, calculate an average internal resistance value of the LFP battery for the predefined time based on the average voltage value and the average current value, determine if the average internal resistance value is equal to or larger than a preset reference resistance value, and when the average internal resistance value is equal to or larger than the reference resistance value, calibrate the determined SOC to a preset reference SOC.
Araujo (US20200331452A1) disclosed The state of charge of a traction battery of a hybrid vehicle power train is managed by, during a phase of running of the vehicle to a current destination, predicting a temperature that a battery will reach, after the power train is switched off, at a time of departure to a future destination; estimating, as a function of the battery temperature previously predicted, a minimum state of charge of the battery making it possible to provide, during a phase of running to the future destination, a predefined minimum power level; and maintaining the state of charge of the battery close to the minimum state of charge.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WENYUAN YANG whose telephone number is (571)272-5455. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 9:00AM-5:00PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hitesh Patel can be reached at (571) 270-5442. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/W.Y./Examiner, Art Unit 3667
/Hitesh Patel/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3667
4/20/26
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