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 .
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the patent application filed on September 12, 2025.
Claims 12-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
This action is made Non-FINAL.
The examiner would like to note that this application is being handled by examiner Christine Huynh.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on September 12, 2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 12, 15, and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakao (US 20020069000 A1) in view of Shinohara et al. (US 20210162883 A1) and Hashimoto et al. (US 11312360 B2), where Nakao was provided in the IDS sent on September 12, 2025.
Regarding claims 12, 15, and 17-20:
With respect to claims 12 and 20, Nakao teaches:
including a generator driven by an internal combustion engine, (“The engine 7 is an internal-combustion engine, such as a gasoline or diesel engine, which controls an amount of generated electric power by controlling the rotation of the motor generator 6 depending on an amount of fuel supplied via a throttle 71.” [0040])
a motor for traveling, (“a travel control section for controlling driving of the electric motor based on the control signal” [0017], where the motor is used for traveling.
the battery for supplying power to the traveling motor, (“electric power from the battery is supplied to the electric motor which in turn drives the HEV” [0004]) where the battery supplies power to the motor.
wherein power generation by the internal combustion engine is performed when an SOC of the battery decreases to a predetermined SOC lower-limit target value, and the power generation by the internal combustion engine is ended when the SOC reaches a predetermined SOC upper-limit target value, (“the rechargeable battery control section comprises a charge state calculating section for calculating a charge state of a rechargeable battery at predetermined intervals, a charge state upper/lower limit determining section for determining whether the charge state is above an upper limit or below a lower limit of a charge state intermediate region, and a charge and discharge guiding section for guiding charging and discharging of the rechargeable battery so that the charge state is within the charge state intermediate region based on a determination result of the charge state upper/lower limit determining section.” [0019], “The engine 7 is an internal-combustion engine, such as a gasoline or diesel engine, which controls an amount of generated electric power by controlling the rotation of the motor generator 6 depending on an amount of fuel supplied via a throttle 71.” [0040], “The SOC upper limit C1 and the SOC lower limit C2 are respectively the upper and lower limits of a predetermined intermediate region C1 to C2 within which the charging and discharging of the battery 5 are controlled.” [0050], FIG. 2, figure numbers 117-121), where power is generated to charge the battery when the battery decreases to a SOC lower-limit value, and power would not be generated in order to discharge the battery when the SOC reaches a SOC upper-limit value.
determining whether a destination is set in a car navigation system; (“A driver of the HEV 1 switches ON the car navigation apparatus 10 to confirm the current location R, inputs the destination Q, and selects a travel route from the current location R to the destination Q as shown in FIG. 3B.” [0063]), where a destination is input into the car navigation system.
obtaining a required maximum output of the battery that is predicted on a route to the destination, when the destination is set; (“The travel assist electric power amount estimating section 122 receives, from the car navigation apparatus 10, route information (travel information) including the height information of an uphill slope U and a downhill slope D and distance information of a travel route up to a destination Q designated by a driver, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B, and successively calculates and detects a travel assist electric power amount for each travel route portion corresponding to uphill slope U information (height difference information) in a selected predetermined travel route (predetermined travel path), which is output as an estimated travel assist electric power amount as data.” [0056]), in which the travel assist electric power amount for each travel route portion is calculated for a travel route to a destination, where the travel assist electric power amount is the required maximum output of the battery necessary for the travel route.
setting the SOC lower-limit target value that satisfies the required maximum output based on the required maximum output of the battery that is predicted and a correlation between the SOC and battery output, (“The SOC upper limit C1 and the SOC lower limit C2 are respectively the upper and lower limits of a predetermined intermediate region C1 to C2 within which the charging and discharging of the battery 5 are controlled. An SOC target value C0 is designed to be an intermediate value of the predetermined intermediate region C1 to C2. The reason for providing such a predetermined intermediate region C1 to C2 is to secure a sufficient SOC of the battery 5 so as to meet a request for sufficient power assist during start or travel of a vehicle while sufficient charge space of the battery 5 is secured so as to recover energy during deceleration or braking as efficiently as possible.” [0050], FIG. 3A), where the SOC upper and lower limit are based on the regions C1 to C2 of the battery SOC, where the C2, comparable to the SOC lower limit, is set to meet a request for sufficient power assist for a travel route, where the travel assist electric power amount is the required maximum output of the battery necessary for the travel route.
Nakao does not teach, but Shinohara teaches:
wherein the SOC lower-limit target value is pre-set at a plurality of levels, and any one of these is selectively used, (“The state of charge SOC1 of the high voltage battery 50 is controlled within the range from a lower limit threshold S1min (e.g., 5%, 10%, 15%, etc.) to an upper limit threshold S1max (e.g., 90%, 95%, 100%, etc.) about a control center value S1ref (e.g., 55%, 60%, 65%, etc.) in order to keep the high voltage battery 50 in a satisfactory condition.” [0031]), where the SOC lower limit target values can be a plurality of levels.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to have combined Nakao’s controlling a battery with Shinohara’s SOC target levels because (“Such control reduces discharge of the first battery and thus reduces degradation of the first battery.” See Shinohara [0003]), which while Shinohara includes a second battery, controlling the SOC thresholds of a battery can provide control in order to prevent degradation of a battery.
Nakao does not teach, but Hashimoto teaches:
wherein the SOC upper-limit target value is set for each of the levels, and a lower a level of the SOC lower-limit target value is, a lower the SOC upper-limit target value is; (“The lower limit value includes a first lower limit value and a second lower limit value. The first lower limit value is a value of the state of charge that is set when the destination has been input and the present location is on the expressway. The second lower limit value is a value of the state of charge that is set when the destination has not been input and the present location is on the expressway. The second lower limit value is higher than the first lower limit value.” (col 2, lines 33-42), “The upper limit value includes a first upper limit value and a second upper limit value. The first upper limit value is a value of the state of charge that is set when the destination has been input and the present location is on the expressway. The second upper limit value is a value of the state of charge that is set when the destination has not been input and present location is on the expressway. The second upper limit value is higher than the first upper limit value.” (col 2, lines 59-67)), where the second lower and second upper limit are both high than the first lower and first upper limit.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to have combined Nakao’s controlling a battery with Hashimoto’s SOC limit correlation because (“the second lower limit value which is set when the destination has not been input is higher than the first lower limit value which is set when the destination has been input. Therefore, in the case where the destination has not been input, it is possible to start the restoring control earlier than the case where the destination has been input. Therefore, it is possible to restore the state of charge earlier.” See Hashimoto (col 3, lines 26-33)), so the SOC is correlated to the traveling situation if there is no destination.
With respect to claim 15, Nakao in combination with Shinohara and Hashimoto, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 12. The combination of Nakao, Shinohara, and Hashimoto teaches controlling a battery of a series hybrid vehicle of claim 12. Nakao further teaches:
wherein the required maximum output of the battery is obtained based on gradient information… on the route to the destination; (“The travel assist electric power amount estimating section 122 receives, from the car navigation apparatus 10, route information (travel information) including the height information of an uphill slope U and a downhill slope D and distance information of a travel route up to a destination Q designated by a driver, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B, and successively calculates and detects a travel assist electric power amount for each travel route portion corresponding to uphill slope U information (height difference information) in a selected predetermined travel route (predetermined travel path), which is output as an estimated travel assist electric power amount as data.” [0056]), where the slope, or gradient information of the route, is used to calculate an output as an estimated travel assist electric power amount.
Nakao does not teach required maximum output of the battery is obtained based on …vehicle speed information…, but Hashimoto teaches (“FIG. 2 is a time chart for explaining the SOC management control in the public highway. The public highway includes roads in an urban area. In the public highway, the vehicle travels at low or medium speed mainly based on the operation of the motor for driving 14 only.” (col 6, lines 21-25), “For example, considering a distance to the scheduled exit, a gradient to the scheduled exit, an average speed of the vehicle, atmospheric pressure, an engine thermal efficiency, and a generator efficiency, operating points at which the SOC_T1 is achieved with smallest fuel consumption are determined as the operating points of the engine 10.” (col 7, lines 11-16)), where the vehicle speed is used to determine the sufficient charge for a travel route.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to have combined Nakao’s controlling a battery with Hashimoto’s speed information because (“In the expressway, a steady travel at high speed is generally performed. Therefore, during the travel in the expressway, the restoring control is started earlier than that in the public highway. A threshold TH1 shown in FIG. 3 is a determination value for determining whether or not to start the restoring control. The threshold TH1 is set to a value higher than the threshold TH0 described in FIG. 2.” See Hashimoto (col 6, lines 56-67)), where vehicle speed can determine when an efficient time to restore the SOC.
With respect to claim 17, Nakao in combination with Shinohara and Hashimoto, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 12. The combination of Nakao, Shinohara, and Hashimoto teaches controlling a battery of a series hybrid vehicle of claim 12. Nakao-Shinohara does not teach, but Hashimoto further teaches:
wherein when no destination is set, the SOC lower-limit target value is set relatively higher than when the destination is set; (“The lower limit value includes a first lower limit value and a second lower limit value. The first lower limit value is a value of the state of charge that is set when the destination has been input and the present location is on the expressway. The second lower limit value is a value of the state of charge that is set when the destination has not been input and the present location is on the expressway. The second lower limit value is higher than the first lower limit value.” (col 2, lines 33-42)), where the second lower limit value is a value of the state of charge that is set when the destination has not been input and it is higher than when the destination is set.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to have combined Nakao’s controlling a battery with Hashimoto’s SOC limit correlation because (“the second lower limit value which is set when the destination has not been input is higher than the first lower limit value which is set when the destination has been input. Therefore, in the case where the destination has not been input, it is possible to start the restoring control earlier than the case where the destination has been input. Therefore, it is possible to restore the state of charge earlier.” See Hashimoto (col 3, lines 26-33)), so the SOC is correlated to the traveling situation if there is no destination.
With respect to claim 18, Nakao in combination with Shinohara and Hashimoto, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 12. The combination of Nakao, Shinohara, and Hashimoto teaches controlling a battery of a series hybrid vehicle of claim 12. Nakao-Shinohara does not teach, but Hashimoto further teaches:
wherein when no destination is set, the required maximum output of the battery is predicted within a driving range of a driver that is estimated based on learning, and based on the required maximum output of the battery that is predicted and the correlation between the battery output and the SOC, the SOC lower-limit target value that satisfies the required maximum output is set; (“judge whether or not the present location is on an expressway based on the information on the present location and map information; judge whether or not a destination has been entered into the navigation controller; if it is judged that the present location is on the expressway and the destination has been input, set a first target value as a restoring target value in case of the vehicle passing through a scheduled exit of the expressway; and if it is judged that the present location is on the expressway and the destination has not been input, set a second target value as the restoring target value in case of the vehicle passing through a next exit of the expressway.” (col 2, lines 12-26), “Furthermore, according to the SOC management control, the determination values for determining whether or not to start the restoring control (i.e., the thresholds TH0, TH1 and TH2) are changed in accordance with the type of road. Therefore, frequency of executing the restoring control becomes relatively low in the public highway whereas it becomes relatively high in the expressway.” (col 10, lines 38-44)), where the SOC level can be set using the location of the vehicle to learn the surrounding road type.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to have combined Nakao’s controlling a battery with Hashimoto’s SOC limit correlation because (“the second lower limit value which is set when the destination has not been input is higher than the first lower limit value which is set when the destination has been input. Therefore, in the case where the destination has not been input, it is possible to start the restoring control earlier than the case where the destination has been input. Therefore, it is possible to restore the state of charge earlier.” See Hashimoto (col 3, lines 26-33)), so the SOC is correlated to the traveling situation if there is no destination.
With respect to claim 19, Nakao in combination with Shinohara and Hashimoto, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 12. The combination of Nakao, Shinohara, and Hashimoto teaches controlling a battery of a series hybrid vehicle of claim 12. Nakao further teaches:
wherein when the destination is set, the SOC upper-limit target value is variably set by considering the required maximum output of the battery that is predicted on the route, based on a travel distance to the destination, a predicted regeneration amount on a downhill slope, and gradient information… on the route to the destination; (“The SOC upper limit C1 and the SOC lower limit C2 are respectively the upper and lower limits of a predetermined intermediate region C1 to C2 within which the charging and discharging of the battery 5 are controlled. An SOC target value C0 is designed to be an intermediate value of the predetermined intermediate region C1 to C2. The reason for providing such a predetermined intermediate region C1 to C2 is to secure a sufficient SOC of the battery 5 so as to meet a request for sufficient power assist during start or travel of a vehicle while sufficient charge space of the battery 5 is secured so as to recover energy during deceleration or braking as efficiently as possible.” [0050], FIG. 3A, “The travel assist electric power amount estimating section 122 receives, from the car navigation apparatus 10, route information (travel information) including the height information of an uphill slope U and a downhill slope D and distance information of a travel route up to a destination Q designated by a driver, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B, and successively calculates and detects a travel assist electric power amount for each travel route portion corresponding to uphill slope U information (height difference information) in a selected predetermined travel route (predetermined travel path), which is output as an estimated travel assist electric power amount as data.” [0056]), where the SOC upper and lower limit are based on the regions C1 to C2 of the battery SOC, where the C2, comparable to the SOC lower limit, is set to meet a request for sufficient power assist for a travel route, and where the travel assist electric power amount is the required maximum output of the battery necessary for the travel route. The slope, or gradient information of the route, and other road information is used to calculate an output as an estimated travel assist electric power amount.
Nakao does not teach required maximum output of the battery is obtained based on …vehicle speed information…, but Hashimoto teaches (“FIG. 2 is a time chart for explaining the SOC management control in the public highway. The public highway includes roads in an urban area. In the public highway, the vehicle travels at low or medium speed mainly based on the operation of the motor for driving 14 only.” (col 6, lines 21-25), “For example, considering a distance to the scheduled exit, a gradient to the scheduled exit, an average speed of the vehicle, atmospheric pressure, an engine thermal efficiency, and a generator efficiency, operating points at which the SOC_T1 is achieved with smallest fuel consumption are determined as the operating points of the engine 10.” (col 7, lines 11-16)), where the vehicle speed is used to determine the sufficient charge for a travel route.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to have combined Nakao’s controlling a battery with Hashimoto’s speed information because (“In the expressway, a steady travel at high speed is generally performed. Therefore, during the travel in the expressway, the restoring control is started earlier than that in the public highway. A threshold TH1 shown in FIG. 3 is a determination value for determining whether or not to start the restoring control. The threshold TH1 is set to a value higher than the threshold TH0 described in FIG. 2.” See Hashimoto (col 6, lines 56-67)), where vehicle speed can determine when an efficient time to restore the SOC.
Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakao (US 20020069000 A1) in view of Shinohara et al. (US 20210162883 A1), Hashimoto et al. (US 11312360 B2), and Okayama (JP 2002345165 A), where Okayama was provided in the IDS sent on September 12, 2025.
Regarding claims 13-14:
With respect to claim 13, Nakao in combination with Shinohara and Hashimoto, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 12. The combination of Nakao, Shinohara, and Hashimoto teaches controlling a battery of a series hybrid vehicle of claim 12. Nakao teaches:
wherein a battery temperature is detected or estimated, (“The battery controller 11 receives a cooling air temperature Ta as a coolant temperature, a battery temperature Tb…” [0044])
Nakao-Shinohara-Hashimoto does not teach, but Okayama teaches:
wherein the correlation between the battery output and the SOC that corresponds to the battery temperature is used; (“the output and regeneration of the battery have temperature dependency, and generally, when the temperature is low, the output or regeneration characteristic sharply decreases. Therefore, the output characteristic at low temperature is a factor that determines the battery capacity in order to supply the electric power necessary for reliably starting the engine (that is, starting the motor) in cold regions. If the battery is designed to be secured, the battery capacity becomes very large, which is disadvantageous in terms of weight or cost.” [0005]), where ethe battery temperature affects the battery output, therefore the battery output and the SOC corresponds to the detected battery temperature.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to have combined Nakao’s controlling a battery with Okayama’s battery temperature correlation in order (“to allow a battery to operate stably under various temperature conditions without increasing the battery capacity unnecessarily.” See Okayama [0008]).
With respect to claim 14, Nakao in combination with Shinohara and Hashimoto, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 12. The combination of Nakao, Shinohara, and Hashimoto teaches controlling a battery of a series hybrid vehicle of claim 12. Nakao further teaches:
wherein a battery temperature is detected or estimated, (“The battery controller 11 receives a cooling air temperature Ta as a coolant temperature, a battery temperature Tb…” [0044])
Nakao-Shinohara-Hashimoto does not teach, but Okayama teaches:
wherein at least one of the SOC lower-limit target value and the SOC upper-limit target value is corrected such that an SOC control range between the SOC upper-limit target value and the SOC lower-limit target value is relatively widened on a high-temperature side, according to the battery temperature; (“Therefore, by raising the lower limit value of the SOC when the outside air temperature is low in a high temperature range where the SOC is small (correcting the SOC upward), the engine can be reliably restarted even when the outside air temperature is low. it can. In FIG. 4, it should be noted that the lower limit lift amount (upward correction amount) is larger as the outside air temperature is lower.” [0029]), where raising the lower limit when the temperature is cold is narrowing the SOC target values, therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the SOC upper-limit target value and the SOC lower-limit target value is relatively widened on a high-temperature side when in an attempt to provide an improved system or method, as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp. In turn, because the product as claimed has the properties predicted by the prior art, it would have been obvious to make the system or product where the SOC upper-limit target value and the SOC lower-limit target value is relatively widened on a high-temperature side.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to have combined Nakao’s controlling a battery with Okayama’s battery temperature correlation in order (“to allow a battery to operate stably under various temperature conditions without increasing the battery capacity unnecessarily.” See Okayama [0008]).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakao (US 20020069000 A1) in view of Shinohara et al. (US 20210162883 A1), Hashimoto et al. (US 11312360 B2), Takahashi et al. (US 20190168737 A1),
Regarding claim 16:
With respect to claim 16, Nakao in combination with Shinohara and Hashimoto, as shown in the rejection above, discloses the limitations of claim 12. The combination of Nakao, Shinohara, and Hashimoto teaches controlling a battery of a series hybrid vehicle of claim 12. Nakao-Shinohara-Hashimoto does not teach, but Takahashi teaches:
wherein weather information on the route to the destination is acquired, and a correction related to a road condition is applied to set the SOC lower-limit target value; (“In this case, the target SOC setting unit 43 acquires the weather at present time or at the time when the vehicle is expected to arrive at the charging base based on the weather information received from an external server through the on-board communication device 53. The target SOC is set lower when the acquired weather is fine (the vehicle environment state relatively high in external charging frequency) than when the acquired wither is rainy (the vehicle environment state relatively low in external charging frequency).” [0114]), where the weather information is acquired and SOC parameters can be set based on the weather. The target SOC is the target SOC of the battery when the vehicle arrives at a charging base, which could be a destination, which the target SOC is used to calculate the switching SOC (see Takahashi [0067]), which is comparable to the lower-limit target value, as the switching SOC is used to determined the SOC level to switch to HV mode, or a mode that uses the internal combustion engine (see Takahashi [0062], FIG. 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the instant application to have combined Nakao’s controlling a battery with Takahashi’s battery and weather correlation in order (“The target SOC is set lower when the acquired weather is fine (the vehicle environment state relatively high in external charging frequency) than when the acquired wither is rainy (the vehicle environment state relatively low in external charging frequency)” see Takahashi [0114]), to determine a SOC level to improve battery efficiency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Hirata et al. (US 20240092339 A1) is pertinent because (“Based on the information input from the navigation system 21 and the event information detected by the event detection unit 20A, the energy estimation unit 20B estimates power usage, a regeneration amount, and an electric power generation amount until the vehicle reaches the destination. An estimation result is output to the target SOC calculation unit 20D.” [0031]), which pertains to obtaining a required maximum output of the battery that is predicted on a route to the destination.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christine N Huynh whose telephone number is (571)272-9980. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 4 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Aniss Chad can be reached at (571)270-3832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTINE NGUYEN HUYNH/Examiner, Art Unit 3662
/ANISS CHAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3662
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