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
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yin et al (US 2012/0326665) in view of Ohtomo (US 8,896,266). Yin discloses:
With regard to claim 1 - An electrified vehicle 27 including at least one replaceable battery 7 and an electric motor that transfers electric power to and from the battery 7, and configured to travel with power from the electric motor, the electrified vehicle comprising:
a battery case 1 including a case body having an opening through which the battery 7 is to be inserted and removed, and a lid 9 configured to open and close the opening of the case body; and
a lock device 48 configured to lock the lid 9 in such a manner that the lid is not openable.
Yin fails to explicitly disclose a notification device configured to notify that the lid is locked when the lid is locked by the lock device so as not to be openable in response to a request from the electrified vehicle.
Ohtomo teaches an electric system for a vehicle comprising a battery 13, a lid 28, a lock device 55, and a notification device 54 configured to notify that the lid is locked when the lid is locked by the lock device so as not to be openable in response to a request from the electrified vehicle (see Fig. 8, steps S3-S5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the electrified vehicle of Yin with the teaching of Ohtomo so as to include the notification device of Ohtomo in order to safely notify a vehicle user of the risk associated when a relay of the electrical system has failed.
With regard to claim 2, Ohtomo teaches wherein the notification device 54 is installed around the battery case or on the battery case so as to be identified by a user with the lid closed.
With regard to claim 3, Ohtomo teaches further comprising a power control device 41 configured to be electrically connected to the battery, wherein the battery includes a relay 32, 33 configured to electrically disconnect the battery 13 from the power control device 41, and when the relay 32, 33 has failed in a closed position, the lock device 55 locks the lid 28 in such a manner that the lid is not openable, and the notification device notifies that the lid is locked (see column 8, line 33 – column 9, line 3).
With regard to claim 4, Ohtomo teaches further comprising a failure determination device configured to, when a start switch of the electrified vehicle is turned off, determine whether the relay of the battery has failed in the closed position, with the lid locked by the lock device so as not to be openable, wherein the notification device is configured to notify that the lid is locked while the failure determination device is determining whether the relay has failed in the closed position, and is configured to, when the failure determination device determines that the relay has failed in the closed position, continuously notify for at least a predetermined time that the lid is locked. Ohtomo does not explicitly state that the process occurs when the vehicle is turned off or on. However, Ohtomo does state that “In so doing, even when electric power of the battery 13 is exhausted under a state where a weld failure occurs at either one of the relays 32 and 33 and, it is possible to charge the battery 13 and drive the electric vehicle 11 to a maintenance shop or the like, thereby improving the usability of the electric vehicle 11” (column 11, lines 45-50), Ohtomo is implying that the failure detection occurs when the vehicle is off due to battery exhaustion. It is also noted that Ohtomo is directed toward a process that occurs when the vehicle is intended to be charged, which happens when the vehicle is off.
With regard to claim 5, Ohtomo teaches wherein the notification device is configured to, when the failure determination device determines that the relay has failed in the closed position, notify that the lid is locked in a different manner 53 from when the failure determination device determines that the relay has not failed in the closed position (see Figs. 8 and 9).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY WILHELM whose telephone number is (571)272-6980. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-5:30.
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/TIMOTHY WILHELM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617 August 19, 2026
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