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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/30/2025 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Paragraph 0009 and 00041 state a "boast converter" should be "boost converter".
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 objected to because of the following informalities: A "DC-DC boast converter" is not known in the art. Examiner will use "DC-DC boost converter" instead of a "DC-DC boast converter" to examine the claims. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claim 3 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as based on a disclosure which is not enabling. The disclosure does not enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention without a description of an "ion battery", a "low temperature metal battery", or a "low temperature colloid battery"., which is/are critical or essential to the practice of the invention but not included in the claim(s). See In re Mayhew, 527 F.2d 1229, 188 USPQ 356 (CCPA 1976). An "ion battery" is not known in the art. An "ion battery" could mean that it is made up of ions, which all atoms contain ions. Or it could mean that it belongs to batteries that contain the word "ion" in its name. The term "low temperature metal battery" and "low temperature colloid battery" is also not known in the art.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
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.
Claim 4 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “low temperature” in claim 4is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “low temperature” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The term low temperature does not limit the claim or describe the degree of a material. It could meant that the battery is not on fire or it could mean that it is below zero degrees Celsius.
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.
(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) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Namba (US 2021/0376345 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Namba teaches a hybrid fuel cell system, comprising:
a fuel cell adapted to supply power to a load (see Namba fig 3 element 20-21 and para 0052);
an Electrical Air Compressor (EAC) unit operatively coupled with the fuel cell (see Namba fig 3 element 33 and para 0028-0031);
an auxiliary power source connected to the EAC unit via a Direct Current to Alternative Current (DC-AC) converter (see Namba fig 3 element 96, 98, 33 and para 0052), wherein the auxiliary power source is configured to provide an input power supply to the EAC unit at least during an initialization phase of the fuel cell (see Namba para 52); and
a converter circuit (see Namba fig 3 element 98 and para 52) configured to perform at least one of:
enabling the auxiliary power source to supplement the fuel cell to provide collective power supply to a load during the initialization phase of the fuel cell (see Namba para 0052-0053);
enabling the fuel cell to provide either the input power supply or a supplement power supply to the EAC unit during an operational phase of the fuel cell (see Namba para 0051-0052); and
enabling the fuel cell to charge the auxiliary power source (see Namba para 0053).
Regarding Claim 2, Namba teaches the hybrid fuel cell system of claim 1, further comprising:
a Downstream Power Electronics (DPE) circuit connected to the fuel cell, the auxiliary power source, and the load (see Namba fig 3 element 82 and para 0049, 0055), wherein the DPE circuit is configured to generate the collective power supply for the load based on power supply received from the fuel cell and the auxiliary power source (see Namba para 0055).
Regarding Claim 3, Namba teaches the hybrid fuel cell system of claim 2, wherein the DPE circuit comprises at least one of a DC-DC boast converter, an inverter, and a single-stage boost inverter (see Namba fig 3 element 82 and para 0055).
Regarding Claim 4, Namba teaches the hybrid fuel cell system of claim 1, wherein the auxiliary power source comprises at least one of a super capacitor, an ion battery, a low temperature metal battery, and a low temperature colloid battery (see Namba fig 3 element 96 and para 53).
Regarding Claim 5, Namba teaches the hybrid fuel cell system of claim 1, comprising a controller configured to control the DC-AC converter to regulate the input power supply to the EAC unit from the auxiliary power source during the initialization phase of the fuel cell (see Namba para 0076-0078, during the warm-up operation the speed of the air compressor is controlled by the operation control unit 612).
Regarding Claim 6, Namba teaches the hybrid fuel cell system of claim 1, further comprising an air flow controller connected to the EAC, wherein the air flow controller is configured to maintain an air flow rate within the fuel cell during at least one of the initialization phase and the operational phase of the fuel cell (see Namba para 0076-0077).
Regarding Claim 7, Namba teaches a method of operating a hybrid fuel cell system comprising at least a fuel cell and an auxiliary power source (see Namba fig 3 elements 20-21 and 96, and para 0052), the method comprising:
providing an initial input power to a load via the auxiliary power source for a first timer interval during an initialization phase of the fuel cell (see Namba para 0052-0057, the battery 96 supplies power to a load when the fuel cell is in a warm-up operation or when the voltage or current changes more than a value in a period of time);
determining whether a temperature of the fuel cell reaches an operating temperature of the fuel cell (see Namba para 0056-0057); and
operating the fuel cell in an operational phase if the temperature of the fuel cell reaches the operating temperature (see Namba para 0086-0090).
Regarding Claim 8, Namba teaches the method of claim 7, wherein the initialization phase corresponds to a time period required by the fuel cell to reach an operating condition, associated with the operating temperature, from a cold temperature condition (see Namba para 0046, 0086, the time period between the warm-up and ready state).
Regarding Claim 9, Namba teaches the method of claim 7, further comprising:
during the initialization phase of the fuel cell:
selectively controlling power supply from the auxiliary power source and the fuel cell to supply collective power supply to the load for a second time interval based at least on a State of Charge (SOC) of at least one of the auxiliary power source or the fuel cell (see Namba para 0070,0082, 0103, Control device can control the amount of power produced by the fuel cells based on the voltage of the fuel cells or the battery 96 to prevent damage to the batteries by overcharging it.).
Regarding Claim 10, Namba teaches the method of claim 7, further comprising:
during the operation phase of the fuel cell:
selectively controlling power supply from the auxiliary power source and the fuel cell to power an Electrical Air Compressor (EAC) unit based at least on the SOC of at least one of the auxiliary power source or the fuel cell (see Mamba para 0076-0079, when the fuel cell is on, the speed of the air compressor is controlled by the voltage of the battery and the fuel cell to prevent damage from overcharging.).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSHUA J SWEET whose telephone number is (571)272-6776. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30 - 4:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rexford Barnie can be reached at (571) 272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSHUA JAMES SWEET/ Examiner, Art Unit 2836 /REXFORD N BARNIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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