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 § 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 (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 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.
Claims 1, 3-5, 7-13, 15-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sun et al. (US 2022/0263324).
Regarding claim 1, Sun discloses, a method of switching a battery cell configuration for an extended-reality headset (Figs. 1-4), the method comprising:
in accordance with a determination that a battery (101, 102) of the extended-reality headset (Para. 0079 and 0116) is in a first state (Para. 0042, 0056 and Fig. 4), operating at least two cells of the battery in series using a first control switch (Para. 0036; note discloses a switching transistor) to produce a first voltage (Para. 0042 and 0056); and
in accordance with a determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a second state (Fig. 3), operating the at least two cells of the battery in parallel (Para. 0042, 0056 and Fig. 3) using a second control switch (Para. 0036; note discloses a switching transistor) to produce a second voltage (Para. 0042 and 0056), wherein the first voltage and second voltage are within an operating voltage of one or more electrical components of the extended-reality headset (Para. 0042 and 0056).
Regarding claims 3, 15 and 19, Sun discloses, the first state corresponds to a first state of charge of the battery and the second state corresponds with a second state of charge of the battery, wherein the first state of charge is different than the second state of charge (Para. 0042, 0056 and 0069).
Regarding claim 4, Sun discloses, the first state of charge is less than the second state of charge (Para. 0042, 0056 and 0069).
Regarding claim 5, Sun discloses, the first state corresponds to a first battery temperature and the second state corresponds to a second battery temperature, wherein the first battery temperature is different than the second battery temperature (Para. 0024 and 0043).
Regarding claim 7, Sun discloses, the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a first state is based on a capacity of the battery (Para. 0042, 0056 and 0069); and the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a second state is based on the capacity of the battery (Para. 0042, 0056 and 0069).
Regarding claim 8, Sun discloses, the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in the first state includes determining whether the operating voltage of the one or more electrical components of the extended-reality headset is at a first predetermined voltage (Para. 0042, 0056 and 0069); and the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in the second state includes determining whether the operating voltage of the one or more electrical components of the extended-reality headset is at a second predetermined voltage, wherein the first predetermined voltage is different from the second predetermined voltage (Para. 0042, 0056 and 0069).
Regarding claim 9, Sun discloses, the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in the first state includes determining whether the battery, in delivering voltage to an electrical component of the extended-reality headset has a first electrical resistance (Para. 0042, 0056 and 0069); and the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in the second state includes determining whether the battery in delivering voltage to an electrical component of the extended-reality headset has a second electrical resistance, wherein the first electrical resistance is different from the second electrical resistance (Para. 0042, 0056 and 0069).
Regarding claim 10, Sun discloses, at least one of the first control switch and the second control switch is a field effect transistor, a bipolar junction transistor, or an electronically- controlled (Para. 0029-0030).
Regarding claim 11, Sun discloses, the extended-reality headset is a pair of augmented- reality glasses (Para. 0079 and 0116).
Regarding claim 12, Sun discloses, the at least two cells of the battery are located within a temple arm of the pair of augmented-reality glasses (Para. 0079 and 0116).
Regarding claim 13, Sun discloses, an extended-reality system (Figs. 1-4), comprising:
a wearable device (Para. 0079 and 0116), and
an extended-reality headset (Para. 0079 and 0116) in communication with the wearable device (Para. 0079 and 0116), the extended-reality headset comprising:
at least one of the wearable device and the extended-reality headset includes a battery (101, 102) switching system (Para. 0042 and 0056) that is configured to:
in accordance with a determination that a battery (101, 102) of the extended-reality headset (Para. 0079 and 0116) is in a first state (Para. 0042, 0056 and Fig. 4), operating at least two cells of the battery in series using a first control switch (Para. 0036; note discloses a switching transistor) to produce a first voltage (Para. 0042 and 0056); and
in accordance with a determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a second state (Fig. 3), operating the at least two cells of the battery in parallel (Para. 0042, 0056 and Fig. 3) using a second control switch (Para. 0036; note discloses a switching transistor) to produce a second voltage (Para. 0042 and 0056), wherein the first voltage and second voltage are within an operating voltage of one or more electrical components of the extended-reality headset (Para. 0042 and 0056).
Regarding claims 16 and 20, Sun discloses, the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a first state is based on a capacity of the battery (Para. 0042, 0056 and 0069); and the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a second state is based on the capacity of the battery (Para. 0042, 0056 and 0069).
Regarding claim 17, Sun discloses, an extended-reality headset, comprising:
a battery (101, 102) with at least two cells;
a battery switching system (para. 0042 and 0056), wherein the battery switching system is configured to:
in accordance with a determination that a battery (101, 102) of the extended-reality headset (Para. 0079 and 0116) is in a first state (Para. 0042, 0056 and Fig. 4), operating at least two cells of the battery in series using a first control switch (Para. 0036; note discloses a switching transistor) to produce a first voltage (Para. 0042 and 0056); and
in accordance with a determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a second state (Fig. 3), operating the at least two cells of the battery in parallel (Para. 0042, 0056 and Fig. 3) using a second control switch (Para. 0036; note discloses a switching transistor) to produce a second voltage (Para. 0042 and 0056), wherein the first voltage and second voltage are within an operating voltage of one or more electrical components of the extended-reality headset (Para. 0042 and 0056).
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.
Claims 2, 14 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (US 2022/0263324) applied to claims 1, 13 and 17 above, in view of Obie et al. (US 2020/0395778).
Sun remains as applied to claims 1, 13 and 17 above.
Sun does not disclose the battery includes a third cell, and further wherein: operating the at least two cells of the battery in series also includes operating the third cell in parallel with the at least two cells of the battery; and operating the at least two cells of the battery in parallel also includes operating the third cell in series with the at least two cells of the battery.
Obie teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a method of switching a battery cell for an extended-reality headset that it would have been desirable to make the battery includes a third cell, and further wherein: operating the at least two cells of the battery in series also includes operating the third cell in parallel with the at least two cells of the battery (Para. 0030, lines 20-27); and operating the at least two cells of the battery in parallel also includes operating the third cell in series with the at least two cells of the battery (Para. 0030, lines 20-27).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the battery includes a third cell, and further wherein: operating the at least two cells of the battery in series also includes operating the third cell in parallel with the at least two cells of the battery; and operating the at least two cells of the battery in parallel also includes operating the third cell in series with the at least two cells of the battery as taught by the method of switching a battery cell for an extended-reality headset of Obie in the method of switching a battery cell for an extended-reality headset of Sun since Obie teaches it is known to include these features in a method of switching a battery cell for an extended-reality headset for the purpose of providing a method of switching a battery cell for an extended-reality headset with reduced unwanted voltage drops and power losses.
Claim 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (US 2022/0263324) applied to claim 1 above, in view of Lanier et al. (US 2017/0154464).
Sun remains as applied to claim 1 above.
Sun does not disclose the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a first state includes determining whether the battery has calendar aged and cyclically aged; and the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a second state includes determining whether the battery has calendar aged and cyclically aged.
Lanier teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a method of switching a battery cell for an extended-reality headset the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a first state includes determining whether the battery has calendar aged and cyclically aged (Para. 0120, lines 3-6); and the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a second state includes determining whether the battery has calendar aged and cyclically aged (Para. 0120, lines 3-6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a first state includes determining whether the battery has calendar aged and cyclically aged; and the determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a second state includes determining whether the battery has calendar aged and cyclically aged as taught by the method of switching a battery cell for an extended-reality headset of Lanier in the method of switching a battery cell for an extended-reality headset of Sun since Lanier teaches it is known to include these features in a method of switching a battery cell for an extended-reality headset for the purpose of providing a method of switching a battery cell for an extended-reality headset with enhanced performance that accurately predicts remaining battery life.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Fletcher et al. (US 2023/0353048) discloses a method of switching a battery cell configuration for an extended-reality headset that includes a determination that a battery of the extended-reality headset is in a first state, operating at least two cells of the battery in series using a first control switch to produce a first voltage; and in accordance with a determination that the battery of the extended-reality headset is in a second state, operating the at least two cells of the battery in parallel using a second control switch.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAWAYNE A PINKNEY whose telephone number is (571)270-1305. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached at 571-270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAWAYNE PINKNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 09/21/2026
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