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 .
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)(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.
Claims 1-2, 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Morita et al. (US 2025/0362347 A1).
In regards to claim 1, Morita discloses, in figure 1, a vehicle power supply device (Fig. 1; power supply system) that supplies electric power to a plurality of auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33) that is installed in a vehicle (Par 0019-0020), the vehicle power supply device comprising: a power supply source (21); an auxiliary battery (12), including a lithium-ion battery that is chargeable by the power supply source (21) (Par 0022); a direct current (DC)-DC converter (23) that is provided between the power supply source (21) and the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33), and that controls electric power supply from the power supply source (21) to the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33) (Par 0021-0023); a switch (40) that is provided between the DC-DC converter (23) and the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33), and the auxiliary battery (12), and that switches an electrical connection state between the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33) and the auxiliary battery (12) (Par 0026-0027, 0030); and a control unit (50) that controls the DC-DC converter (23) and the switch (40) (Par 0029-0030), wherein the control unit (50) controls output voltage of the DC-DC converter (23) such that a second voltage when the switch (40) is interrupted is higher than a first voltage when the switch is conducting (Par 0037-0040; “a power output command is output to the DC-DC converter 23 so that the output voltage of the DC-DC converter 23 becomes higher than the output voltage of the second power source 12…an OFF-command is output to place the interrupt switch 40 in an OFF state for a predefined period.”).
In regards to claim 2, Morita discloses, in figure 1, the vehicle power supply device according to claim 1, wherein, when interrupting the switch (40) based on an abnormality detection of the auxiliary battery (12), the control unit temporarily limits electric power consumed by the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33) (Par 0032), and then raises the output voltage of the DC-DC converter (23) from the first voltage to the second voltage (Par 0037).
In regards to claim 6, Morita discloses, in figure 1, the vehicle power supply device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit (50) acquires information regarding the electric power consumed from the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33) (Par 0073; power requirement), and decides an auxiliary load regarding which to temporarily limit the electric power consumed among the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33), based on the information (Par 0072-0074; “the determination unit 52 changes the determination condition for determining whether the first power source 11 is in the power output state, according to the power requirements of the first and second loads 31 and 32 connected to the electrical pathway 13 on the first power source 11 side of the interrupt switch 40” thus the determination unit 52 temporarily limits the electric power consumed among the auxiliary loads based on the power requirement).
In regards to claim 7, Morita discloses, in figure 1, the vehicle power supply device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit (50) temporarily limits the electric power consumed by the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33) (Par 0073), and then releases the temporary limit regarding the electric power consumed by the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33) once rising or lowering of the output voltage of the DC-DC converter (23) is completed (Par 0072-0074, 0032).
In regards to claim 8, Morita discloses, in figure 1, the vehicle power supply device according to claim 6, wherein the control unit (50) temporarily limits the electric power consumed by the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33) (Par 0073), and then releases the temporary limit on the electric power consumed by a particular auxiliary load (31, 32) among the auxiliary loads (31, 32, 33), based on the information, once rising or lowering of the output voltage of the DC-DC converter (23) is completed (Par 0072-0074, 0032).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX WONG LAM whose telephone number is (571)272-3409. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30-5:00.
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/ALEX W LAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2842