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
This office action is a response to an application filed on 03/12/2025 in which claims 1-20 are pending and ready for examination.
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, 5-9, 11 and 15-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Beaufrere et al (hereinafter Beaufrere) (US 2022/0314738 A1).
As to claims 1 and 11, Beaufrere discloses a power supply system for a transport refrigeration unit (TRU) (see Fig 1, parag [0002]), wherein the power supply system comprises:
a battery (Fig 4A, 13) electrically connected to one or more components of the TRU (see parag [0017], lines 2-3);
a generator (Fig 4A, 11) electrically connected to the battery, wherein the generator is operatively coupled to an axle of a trailer of the TRU, the generator being configured to generate electrical power upon rotation of the axle according to a rotational speed of the axle (see parag [0007]); and
a controller (Fig 4A, 20) operatively coupled to the battery, the TRU, and the generator, wherein the controller is configured to:
activate the generator to generate and supply the electrical power to the battery and/or the TRU during a trip after the TRU depletes energy stored in the battery to or below a threshold state of charge (SoC) level (see Figs 4A-4C, parags [0105], [0110]).
As to claims 5 and 15, Beaufrere discloses the power supply system of claim 1, wherein when a real-time SoC of the battery is more than the threshold SoC level, the controller is configured to deactivate the generator and enable the battery to supply the energy stored therein to the one or more components of the TRU based on a real-time electrical power consumption of the TRU (see parags [0021], [0025-0026]).
As to claims 6 and 16, Beaufrere discloses the power supply system of claim 1, wherein when a real-time SoC of the battery is equal to or less than the threshold SoC level, the controller is configured to activate the generator to generate and supply the electrical power to the battery and the one or more components of the TRU concurrently, based on a real-time electrical power consumption of the TRU (see parags [0021], [0025-0027]).
As to claims 7 and 17, Beaufrere discloses the power supply system of claim 1, when the real-time SoC of the battery is equal to or less than the threshold SoC level, the controller is configured to activate the generator to generate and supply the electrical power to the TRU based on a real-time electrical power consumption of the TRU, through an electrical connection between the generator and the one or more components (see parag [0021], [0025-0027]).
As to claims 8 and 18, Beaufrere discloses the power supply system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the electrical power generated by the generator based on a power-vs-speed characteristic of the generator (see parag [0053]), and wherein the power-vs-speed characteristic is determined based on any one or more of: the rotational speed of the axle, one or more design parameters of the trailer and the generator, and one or more road attributes of a road on which the trailer is moving during the trip (see parags [0053], [0120]).
As to claims 9 and 19, Beaufrere discloses the power supply system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to determine and monitor the real-time SoC of the battery using a Battery Management System (BMS) associated with the battery (see parag [0025]).
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) 2, 4, 12 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beaufrere et al (hereinafter Beaufrere) (US 2022/0314738 A1) in view of Wenger et al (hereinafter Wenger) (US 2021/0347351 A1).
As to claims 2 and 12, Beaufrere discloses the power supply system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:
monitor a real-time SoC of the battery (see parag [0110]), the real-time SoC indicating an amount of energy stored in the battery;
monitor the rotational speed of the axle during the trip and determine the electrical power generated by the generator based on the rotational speed (see parag [0120]); and activate the generator to generate and/or supply the electrical power to the battery and/or TRU based on one or more of: the predicted electrical power consumption of the TRU, the real-time SoC of the battery, the threshold SoC level, and the electrical power generated by the generator (see Figs 4A-4C, parags [0105], [0110]).
Beaufrere does not disclose: predict electrical power consumption of the TRU for the trip, based on data pertaining to an average electrical power consumption of the TRU being monitored over a preceding time interval and in real-time.
However, Wenger discloses predict electrical power consumption of the TRU for the trip, based on data pertaining to an average electrical power consumption of the TRU being monitored over a preceding time interval and in real-time (see Fig 4, claim 1). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system of Beaufrere to include the teachings as taught by Wenger in order to provide an estimation about distance travel with the present battery state of charge.
As to claims 4 and 14, the combination of Beaufrere and Wenger discloses the power supply system of claim 1, wherein the threshold SoC level is selected based on a predicted electrical power consumption of the TRU during the trip and a power storage capacity of the battery (Wenger, see Fig 4A, parag [0112]).
Claim(s) 3, 13 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beaufrere et al (hereinafter Beaufrere) (US 2022/0314738 A1).
As to claims 3 and 13, Beaufrere does not disclose the power supply system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to adjust an activation duration of the generator during the trip based on a real-time SoC of the battery and the threshold SoC level. However, Beaufrere does disclose about coupling/decoupling the generator from the axle (see parag [0007]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system of Beaufrere to adjust an activation duration of the generator during the trip based on a real-time SoC of the battery and the threshold SoC level in order to effectively control the operation of the generator and this seems to be a straightforward solution in the technical field of electric vehicles.
As to claim 20, Beaufrere discloses a power supply control system for a transport refrigeration unit (TRU) (Fig 1, parag [0002]) equipped with a battery (Fig 4A, 13) and a generator (Fig 4A, 11) connected to an axle of TRU (see abstract), the power supply control system for a TRU comprising:
a controller (Fig 4A, 20) configured to send an electronic control signal outside of the power supply control system to the generator; and
the instructions when executed cause the system to: activate the generator, to generate and supply electrical power to the battery and/or the TRU during a trip after the TRU depletes energy stored in the battery to or below a threshold state of charge (So C) level (see Figs 4A-4C, parags [0105], [0110]).
Beaufrere does not disclose a memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor. However, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system of Beaufrere to include a memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor in order to effectively control the operation of the system, since this just involves only routine skills in the art.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beaufrere et al (hereinafter Beaufrere) (US 2022/0314738 A1) in view of Halsey (US 2020/0103950 A1).
As to claim 10, Beaufrere does not disclose the power supply system of claim 1, further comprising a power conversion unit to convert the electrical power generated by the generator into direct current (DC) power for the battery and/or into alternating current (AC) or DC power for the one or more components of the TRU.
However, Halsey discloses a power conversion unit to convert the electrical power generated by the generator into direct current (DC) power for the battery and/or into alternating current (AC) or DC power for the one or more components of the TRU (see Fig 2, parag [0032]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system of Beaufrere to include a power conversion unit as taught by Halsey in order to provide DC power for the system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC M PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-5026. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
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/DUC M PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2849 /Menatoallah Youssef/SPE, Art Unit 2849