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
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being Anticipated by Huang et al. (CN 113386616 A).
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Regarding Claim 1, Huang discloses:
An apparatus (10) comprising means configured to:
navigate a mobile changing unit (30) to a first position beneath a vehicle (50) [0090];
determine at least one insertion apparatus (40) of the mobile changing unit, wherein the at least one insertion apparatus is configured to insert a battery module (1000) placed on the insertion apparatus into the vehicle [0005 & 0006 & 0067 & 0090]; and
cause insertion of the battery module placed on the determined at least one insertion apparatus into the vehicle [0088],
wherein the apparatus is part of the mobile changing unit (Fig. 9 & Fig. 10 & Fig. 11 & Fig. 12 & Fig. 13),
wherein the means are further configured to:
obtain vehicle information, wherein the vehicle information represents the vehicle [0007 & 0008 & 0075 & 0076 & 0078 & 0080 & 0086], and
wherein determining the at least one insertion apparatus is at least partially based on the obtained vehicle information [0005 & 0006 & 0007 & 0008 & 0067 & 0075 & 0076 & 0078 & 0080 & 0086 & 0090].
Regarding Claim 2, Huang discloses:
the mobile changing unit comprises a plurality of insertion apparatuses including the at least one insertion apparatus (Fig. 9 & Fig. 10 & Fig. 11 & Fig. 12 & Fig. 13), wherein each of the insertion apparatuses is configured to insert a battery module placed on the respective insertion apparatus [0005 & 0006 & 0067 & 0090 & 0093 & 0094 & 0095], and wherein the means of the apparatus are further configured to:
determine at least one further insertion apparatus from the plurality of insertion apparatuses [0005 & 0006 & 0067 & 0090 & 0093 & 0094 & 0095]; and
cause insertion of a further battery module placed on the determined at least one further insertion apparatus into the vehicle [0005 & 0006 & 0067 & 0090 & 0093 & 0094 & 0095 & 0100 & 0104 & 0105 & 0107].
Regarding Claim 3, Huang discloses:
the means of the apparatus are further configured to:
navigate the mobile changing unit, after the at least one battery module has been inserted into the vehicle and before the at least one further battery module is inserted into the vehicle, from the first position to a second position beneath the vehicle [0090 & 0093 & 0094 & 0095 & 0100 & 0104 & 0105 & 0107].
Regarding Claim 4, Huang discloses:
the means of the apparatus are further configured to:
cause, after the at least one battery module has been inserted, insertion of at least one further battery module placed on the determined at least one insertion apparatus into the vehicle [0090 & 0093 & 0094 & 0095 & 0100 & 0104 & 0105 & 0107].
Regarding Claim 5, Huang discloses:
the at least one insertion apparatus and/or the plurality of insertion apparatuses of the mobile changing unit are configured to insert the at least one battery module and the at least one further battery module into the vehicle in such a way that the at least one battery module and the at least one further battery module form a single battery stack inside the vehicle (Fig. 12 & Fig. 13) [0090 & 0093 & 0094 & 0095 & 0100 & 0104 & 0105 & 0107].
Regarding Claim 7, Huang discloses:
the means are further configured to:
cause removal of a battery module from the vehicle before the at least one and/or the at least one further battery module is inserted into the vehicle, wherein the mobile changing unit comprises at least one removal apparatus for removing a battery module from the vehicle [0005 & 0067 & 0090].
Regarding Claim 8, Huang discloses:
the means are further configured to:
obtain at least one battery module information, wherein the battery module information represents a battery module, and wherein determining the at least one insertion apparatus is at least partially based on the obtained battery module information [0075 & 0078 & 0086].
Regarding Claim 9, Huang discloses:
the apparatus further comprising sensor means configured to obtain the battery module information from the battery module represented by the battery module information [0005 & 0015 & 0067 & 0068 & 0072 & 0073 & 0075 & 0078 & 0095 & 0100 & 0104 & 0105 & 0107 & 0108].
Regarding Claim 10, Huang discloses:
the apparatus further comprising communication means configured to receive the battery module information from a backend server [0006 & 0074 & 0075 & 0078].
Regarding Claim 11, Huang discloses:
the apparatus further comprising communication means configured to receive the battery module information from a backend server [0006 & 0074 & 0075 & 0078].
Regarding Claim 12, Huang discloses:
the apparatus further comprises:
moving means for moving the mobile changing unit comprising a motor drive and/or a plurality of wheels (Fig. 9 & Fig. 10 & Fig. 11 & Fig. 12 & Fig. 13) [0089]; and/or
the at least one insertion apparatus (Fig. 9 & Fig. 10 & Fig. 11 & Fig. 12 & Fig. 13) [0071 & 0092 & 0095 & 0100 & 0107 & 0108]; and/or
the at least one removal apparatus (Fig. 9 & Fig. 10 & Fig. 11 & Fig. 12 & Fig. 13) [0071 & 0092 & 0095 & 0100 & 0107 & 0108]; and/or
communication means for communicating with the backend server and/or the vehicle.
Regarding Claim 13, Huang discloses:
A method, performed by an apparatus (10), which is part of a mobile changing unit, wherein the method comprises:
navigating the mobile changing unit (30) to a first position beneath a vehicle (50) [0090];
determining at least one insertion apparatus (40) of the mobile changing unit, wherein the at least one insertion apparatus is configured to insert a battery module (1000) placed on the insertion apparatus into the vehicle [0005 & 0006 & 0067 & 0090]; and
causing insertion of the battery module placed on the determined at least one insertion apparatus into the vehicle [0088],
wherein the method further comprises:
obtaining vehicle information, the vehicle information representing the vehicle [0007 & 0008 & 0075 & 0076 & 0078 & 0080 & 0086], and wherein determining the at least one insertion apparatus is at least partially based on the obtained vehicle information [0005 & 0006 & 0007 & 0008 & 0067 & 0075 & 0076 & 0078 & 0080 & 0086 & 0090].
Regarding Claim 14, Huang discloses:
A computer program, comprising commands that cause an apparatus to perform the method steps according to claim 13 [0075 & 0093].
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 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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (CN 113386616 A).
Regarding Claim 6, Huang teaches:
the at least one battery module and the at least one further battery module are arranged beneath one another and/or are electrically connected to a common vehicle (Fig. 12 & Fig. 13) [0090 & 0093 & 0094 & 0095 & 0100 & 0104 & 0105 & 0107].
Huang does not explicitly teach:
the at least one battery module and the at least one further battery module are arranged beneath one another and/or are electrically connected to one another within the battery stack.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the at least one battery module and the at least one further battery module electrically connected to one another within the battery stack in order to provide power uninterrupted power to the vehicle to which they are attached without requiring switching of the connection between the batteries and the vehicle during operation as well as uniform discharging of the battery packs thereby improving performance of the system since the Examiner takes OFFICIAL NOTICE that multiple batteries connected to the same electric vehicle simultaneously and each other in series or in parallel were well known in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Patent publications US 20160368464 A1, US 20110113609 A1, US 6094028 A, US 9016417 B2, US 12122332 B2, and US 11858328 B2 have been cited by the examiner as pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure because they teach: robotic battery exchanging systems for exchanging batteries in electric vehicles.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENDAN P TIGHE whose telephone number is 571-272-4872. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday, 7:00-5:30 EST
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SAUL RODRIGUEZ can be reached on 571-272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRENDAN P TIGHE/Examiner, Art Unit 3652
/SAUL RODRIGUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3652
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