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 .
Response to Amendment
The Applicant’s Amendment filed on 06/09/2026 in which claims 1, 6, 7, 8, 13, and 14 have been amended, claims 5 has been canceled, and entered of record.
Claims 1-4 and 6-14 are presented for examination.
Response to Argument
Applicant's arguments filed on 06/09/2026 with respect to the amended claims 1, 13 and 14 have been considered but are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that “Saucke fails to disclose using this ascertained SOC value of the high-voltage battery 2, or any other state of the high- voltage battery 2, to set the predetermined amount of energy to be supplied from the low- voltage battery 3 to the high-voltage battery 2” (see Applicant’s Remarks page 7).
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Paragraph [0009], SAUCKE discloses that the invention is to use a low voltage battery in a vehicle as a temporary storage to charge a high voltage battery. The invention is to eliminate an additional temporary store as disclosed by DE 10 2009 027 685 A1. The disclosure indicates that the state of the high voltage battery voltage battery is needed to be charged. Furthermore, in paragraphs [0012] and [0013], SAUCKE discloses amount of power to charge the high-voltage battery based on the solar system and the state of charge of the low-voltage battery. In paragraphs [0017] and [0019], SAUCKE discloses that the predetermined amount of electricity is the different between the first threshold and the amount of charge exceeded the first threshold of the low-voltage battery “If the current SOC value is greater than the first threshold value X1, the low-voltage battery 3 is deliberately discharged to the first threshold value X1”. In paragraphs [0017] and [0020], SAUCKE further discloses the control device 8 “ascertains an SOC value of the high-voltage battery 2”; and report the SOC to control device 7 “an SOC value of the high-voltage battery 2 is reported to the control device 7”. The disclosure clearly indicated that the state of charge of the high-voltage battery is necessary to make sure it is not exceeded or overcharged which is a state that it no longer needed to be charge, otherwise, it would not need to report to control device 7. Therefore, SAUCKE clearly discloses “a predetermined amount of electricity” (predetermined amount of electricity is the different between the first threshold and the amount of charge exceeded the first threshold [0019]) “in accordance with a state of the high-voltage battery” (the high-voltage in a state need to be charge). The disclosure is aligned with Applicant’s disclosure in the Abstract “[t]he processing circuit is configured to execute determining whether a stored electricity amount of the low-voltage battery is greater than a determination stored electricity amount, and controlling charging of the high-voltage battery such that the high-voltage battery is charged with a predetermined amount of electricity from the low-voltage battery on condition that the processing circuit determines that the stored electricity amount of the low-voltage battery is greater than the determination stored electricity amount”.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 6-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by SAUCKE et al., US Patent Publication 20170166079; hereinafter “SAUCKE”.
Regarding claim 1, SAUCKE discloses a battery system (Fig. 1) comprising:
a low-voltage battery (3);
a high-voltage battery (2) having a higher rated voltage than the tow-voltage battery [0009]; and
a processing circuit (7 and 8) configured to control charging of the high-voltage battery from the low-voltage battery [0020], wherein
the processing circuit is configured to execute
determining whether a stored electricity amount of the low-voltage battery is greater than a determination stored electricity amount [0020],
setting a predetermined amount of electricity in accordance with a state of the high-voltage battery [0012]-[0013], [0017], [0019]-[0020], and
controlling charging of the high-voltage battery such that the high-voltage battery is charged with the predetermined amount of electricity from the low-voltage battery on condition that the processing circuit determines that the stored electricity amount of the low-voltage battery is greater than the determination stored electricity amount [0020].
Regarding claim 2, SAUCKE discloses the battery system according to claim 1 above, SAUCKE also discloses the low-voltage battery is configured to be charged with electric power supplied from a solar power generation system (4 and 5) [0020].
Regarding claim 3, SAUCKE discloses the battery system according to claim 1 above, SAUCKE also discloses:
the battery system is mounted on a vehicle [0017]; and
the low-voltage battery and the high-voltage battery are configured to supply electric power to a component (6-8) mounted on the vehicle [0017].
Regarding claim 4, SAUCKE discloses the battery system according to claim 1 above, SAUCKE also discloses the battery system further comprising a bidirectional DC-DC converter (9), wherein the processing circuit is configured to boost a voltage of direct current electric power output from the low-voltage battery to charge the high-voltage battery from the low-voltage battery [0017].
Regarding claim 6, SAUCKE discloses the battery system according to claim 1 above, SAUCKE also discloses the state of the high-voltage battery includes at least one of a charged state and a deteriorated state of the high-voltage battery [0013] [0017] [0023] [0020] (“an SOC value of the high-voltage battery 2 is reported to the control device 7” indicates the SOC is used to ensure the high voltage battery is not over charged).
Regarding claim 7, SAUCKE discloses the battery system according to claim 1 above, SAUCKE also discloses the processing circuit is configured to set the predetermined amount of electricity based on whether a frequency of charging the high-voltage battery from the low-voltage battery satisfies a determination frequency [0019]-[0023] (“it is thus possible to set how often recharging processes between the two batteries take place”).
Regarding claim 8, SAUCKE discloses the battery system according to claim 1 above, SAUCKE also discloses
the processing circuit is configured to execute:
determining whether a capacity of the low-voltage battery is equal to or less than a determination capacity [0019]-[0023], and
making the predetermined amount of electricity smaller when the processing circuit determines that the capacity of the low-voltage battery is equal to or less than the determination capacity than when the processing circuit determines that the capacity is greater than the determination capacity [0019]-[0023].
Regarding claim 9, SAUCKE discloses the battery system according to claim 1 above, SAUCKE also discloses the processing circuit is configured to set the predetermined amount of electricity such that a voltage of the low-voltage battery does not fall below a lower limit guard [0019]-[0023].
Regarding claim 10, SAUCKE discloses the battery system according to claim 9 above, SAUCKE also discloses the processing circuit is configured to set the lower limit guard on condition that the processing circuit determines that a capacity of the low-voltage battery is equal to or less than a threshold [0019]-[0023].
Regarding claim 11, SAUCKE discloses the battery system according to claim 1 above, SAUCKE also discloses on condition that a voltage of the high-voltage battery becomes higher than a specified voltage while charging of the high-voltage battery from the low-voltage battery is being performed, the processing circuit is configured to stop the charging of the high-voltage battery [0020].
Regarding claim 12, SAUCKE discloses a vehicle (Fig. 1) [0017] comprising:
the battery system according to claim 1 above; and
a traction motor [0018] configured to be driven by electric power supplied from the high-voltage battery [0018].
Regarding claim 13, SAUCKE discloses a method of controlling a battery system (Fig. 1), the battery system including a low-voltage battery (3), and a high-voltage battery (2) having a higher rated voltage than the low-voltage battery [0009], the method comprising:
determining whether a stored electricity amount of the low-voltage battery is greater than a determination stored electricity amount [0020];
setting a predetermined amount of electricity in accordance with a state of the high-voltage battery [0012]-[0013], [0017], [0019]-[0020], and
controlling charging of the high-voltage battery such that the high-voltage battery is charged with the predetermined amount of electricity from the low-voltage battery on condition that the stored electricity amount of the low-voltage battery is greater than the determination stored electricity amount [0020].
Regarding claim 14, SAUCKE discloses a non-transitory storage medium that stores instructions, the instructions being executable by one or more processors and causing the one or more processors to execute functions ([0020] “the control device 8 goes again into sleep mode” and [0023] “parameterizable, i.e., they are, for example, functions of the battery temperature, quiescent current consumption, and/or solar radiation” are a few example to indicate the control device is a processor which required a non-transitory storage medium that stores instructions) of:
determining whether a stored electricity amount of a low-voltage battery is greater than a determination stored electricity amount [0020];
setting a predetermined amount of electricity in accordance with a state of the high-voltage battery [0012]-[0013], [0017], [0019]-[0020], and
controlling charging of a high-voltage battery having a higher rated voltage than the low-voltage battery such that the high-voltage battery is charged with the predetermined amount of electricity from the low-voltage battery on condition that the stored electricity amount of the low-voltage battery is greater than the determination stored electricity amount [0020].
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAI H TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0668. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8:30 - 5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rexford Barney 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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/THAI H TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2836
/REXFORD N BARNIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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