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
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) 1-2, 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DE102020209673A1.
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 9, DE102020209673A1 discloses a method, an electric power supply system (FIG 1)( 2) intended to be installed in an electric or hybrid vehicle, the vehicle (44) comprising an electric power supply bus (HV) (52) capable of supplying power to electrical equipment installed in the vehicle, said system comprising:
a) a DC-DC voltage converter (18),
b) at least two power supply cells (upper and lower parts) each comprising:
i) a rectifier (14) capable of providing an AC voltage from a DC voltage and vice versa,
ii) a battery (32), electrically connected to the rectifier (14), capable of operating in a discharge mode in which the battery (32) is capable of providing a DC voltage and capable of operating in a charge mode in which the battery (32) is capable of recharging from a DC voltage,
iii) a switching cell (30) comprising switches capable of connecting the battery to the converter (18),
c) a first set of switches (20,28,38) capable of connecting the battery of a power supply cell to the battery of the neighboring power supply cell in order to connect the batteries in series,
d) a second set of switches (22) capable of connecting all the batteries connected in series to the electric power supply bus,
e) a control unit (40) configured to control the first set of switches, the second set of switches and each switch of each switching cell,
f) a connection module (10) capable of electrically connecting each power supply cell to an electric power supply network capable of providing an AC voltage or to an item of electrical equipment external to the vehicle capable of being supplied with power from an AC voltage.
Regarding claim 2, DE102020209673A1 discloses the electric power supply system configured to operate in a first operating mode in which:
g) the rectifier of each power supply cell is connected to an AC voltage,
h) the DC-DC converter is connected on the one hand to one of the power supply cells and on the other hand to the electric power supply bus in order to supply the power supply bus with electrical power.
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) 5-6, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE102020209673A1.
Regarding claim 5, DE102020209673A1 discloses the power supply system except wherein each power supply cell comprises a coil connected to the rectifier and intended to be connected to an AC voltage.
As known in the art, such coil connection is used in a power supply system and therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to use such components because such a modification would have been a mere substitution of art recognized equivalent components.
Regarding claim 6, DE102020209673A1 discloses the power supply system except comprising three power supply cells. As known in the art, number of cells can be added based on the desired application and therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to use number because such a modification would have been a mere substitution of art recognized equivalent scheme.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4, 7 and 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ward (US 2011/0089887) discloses a solar panel electric vehicle that charges individual batteries using a DC-DC converter .
Lee (US 2012/0133310) discloses a reconfigurable battery with an alternative configuration of switches.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Joseph Chang whose telephone number is (571)272-1759. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00- 17:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Menatoallah Youssef can be reached at 571-270-3684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH CHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2849
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