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 .
Claims 1-4 are pending in this application
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 01/13/25. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 01/13/25. These drawings are acceptable.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 2 line 13 - the phrase “parallel with the to the first DCDC converter” appears it should be replaced with “parallel with the
Page 2 line 12 - the phrase “connected to the auxiliary” appears it should be replaced with “connected to the auxiliary load”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 lines 7 and 9 – the acronyms “AC” and “DCDC” must be defined in their first occurrence. Every abbreviation or acronym used in patent claims should be clearly defined the first time it appears to ensure the boundaries of the invention are clear to a person skilled in the art
Claim 1 line17 – the phrase “connected to the auxiliary” appears it should be replaced with “connected to the auxiliary load”
Claim 1 line 18 – the phrase “parallel with the to the first DCDC converter” appears it should be replaced with “parallel with the
Claim 1 lines 18-20 – the phrase “capable of bi-directional outputting to sides of the high voltage end and the low voltage end” appears it should be replaced with “configured for bi-directional power conversion between the high-voltage end and the low-voltage end”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Regarding claim 1, the phrase "mounted on an electric vehicle having no auxiliary battery" renders the claim indefinite for negative limitation because it attempts to define the invention in terms of what it is not, rather than what it is, making the metes and bounds unclear. See MPEP § 2173.05(i).
For the purpose of examination, the statement is understood to mean-- A power control device, mounted on an electric vehicle, for supplying power of a high-voltage battery to a motor and an auxiliary load in the electric vehicle -- wherein the high-voltage battery is the exclusive power source for the auxiliary load.
Additionally, regarding claim 1, the phrase “a first DCDC converter, having a high voltage end connected to the high-voltage battery without passing through any relays” renders the claim indefinite for negative limitation because it attempts to define the invention in terms of what it is not, rather than what it is, making the metes and bounds unclear.
For the purpose of examination, the statement is understood to mean-- having a high voltage end connected directly to the high-voltage battery.
Claims 2-4 are rejected for their dependency on rejected claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, Yamamoto (US 9030788 B2) discloses a power control device (fig 1, control device 50), mounted on an electric vehicle (fig 1, electrically powered vehicle 5), for supplying power of a high-voltage battery to a motor (fig 1, motor M1) and an auxiliary load (fig 1, auxiliary machine load 110) in the electric vehicle, comprising: an inverter (fig 1, inverter 14 connected to motor) for converting the power from the high-voltage battery into AC power and outputting the AC power to the motor (implicit); a first DCDC converter, having a high voltage end connected to the high-voltage battery without passing through any relays (fig 1, DC/DC converter 100) and a low voltage end connected to the auxiliary load (fig 1, converter 100 connected to load 110), for stepping down the power from the high-voltage battery and outputting the stepped-down power to the auxiliary load (col 7 line 21-26); a second DCDC converter (fig 1, converter 12) and connected in parallel with the to the first DCDC converter (fig 1, see converter 12 and converter 100 connected in parallel); a first power line connecting a positive electrode terminal of the high-voltage battery and the inverter (fig 1, MPL positive bus line or PL positive line); a second power line connecting a negative electrode terminal of the high-voltage battery and the inverter (fig 1, MNL negative bus line or NL negative line); a smoothing capacitor (fig 1, smoothing capacitor C) connected to the first power line and the second power line (fig 1, smoothing capacitor C connected between MPL and MNL).
Yamamoto fails to disclose a direct connection of the first converter to the auxiliary load as currently claimed (having no aux battery), second DCDC converter capable of bi-directional outputting to sides of the high voltage end and the low voltage end and having a high voltage end connected to the high-voltage battery via relays and a low voltage end connected to the auxiliary, a system main relay including a first relay provided in the first power line, and a second relay provided in the second power line; the smoothing capacitor provided between the system main relay and the inverter; an auxiliary relay including a third relay, provided between the positive electrode terminal of the high-voltage battery and the second DCDC converter, and a fourth relay, provided between the negative electrode terminal of the high-voltage battery and the second DCDC converter; and a pre-charge relay, which is a fifth relay provided between a high-voltage end of the second DCDC converter and the smoothing capacitor.
Nozawa (US 20160144725 A1) discloses an electric vehicle power control system in an electric vehicle having a first DC/DC converter (fig 1, DDC2 30) connected to main battery directly (as currently claimed without relays) (see fig 1, DDC 30 direct connection to battery 4), second DCDC converter capable of bi-directional outputting to sides of the high voltage end and the low voltage end (fig 1, DDC1 28; par [0031] “DC-DC converter 28 is a so-called bidirectional DC-DC converter, and is a buck-boost DC-DC converter”) and having a high voltage end connected to the high-voltage battery via relays (fig 1, main electric power supply wire 10a and 10b connecting DDC1 to battery through relays 20a and 20b) and a low voltage end connected to the auxiliary load (fig 1, see connection of DDC1 to auxiliary machinery 26 via sub electric power supply wire 24 including a positive electrode wire and a negative electrode wire 24b), a system main relay including a first relay provided in the first power line, and a second relay provided in the second power line (fig 1, SMR 20 including a switch 20a that switches the positive electrode wire 10a of the main electric power supply wire 10 between conduction and non-conduction, and a switch 20b that switches the negative electrode wire 10b of the main electric power supply wire 10 between conduction and non-conduction); the smoothing capacitor provided between the system main relay and the inverter (fig 1, smoothing capacitor 14 connected between inverter 18 and SMR 20);
Nozawa fails to disclose the direct connection from the main battery to the auxiliary load (without an aux battery), an auxiliary relay including a third relay, provided between the positive electrode terminal of the high-voltage battery and the second DCDC converter, and a fourth relay, provided between the negative electrode terminal of the high-voltage battery and the second DCDC converter; and a pre-charge relay, which is a fifth relay provided between a high-voltage end of the second DCDC converter and the smoothing capacitor.
Masayoshi et al. (JP 2021145460 A) discloses a power control device capable of charging a high-voltage battery for an electric vehicle. Masayoshi discloses additional relays between inverter and the main battery as well as relays between the batter and the claimed second converter, however low-voltage battery 104 powers a low voltage load 176.
Yamamoto, Nozawa, and Masayoshi are found to be the closest prior art of reference.
However, none of the prior art, taken singly or in combination, teach “direct connection from the main battery to the auxiliary load (without an aux battery), an auxiliary relay including a third relay, provided between the positive electrode terminal of the high-voltage battery and the second DCDC converter, and a fourth relay, provided between the negative electrode terminal of the high-voltage battery and the second DCDC converter; and a pre-charge relay, which is a fifth relay provided between a high-voltage end of the second DCDC converter and the smoothing capacitor”.
Conclusion
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/LAUREN ASHLEY SHAW/Examiner, Art Unit 2838
/THIENVU V TRAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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