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 § 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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (2022/0393491) and Saboury et al. (2023/0097967).
Regarding independent claims 1, 10, and 19, and dependent claim 20, Zhang teaches (Fig. 1) a portable power source, wherein the portable power source comprises:
at least two charging interfaces (below 101 and below 102),
a battery (106), and
a voltage conversion circuit comprising:
a first DCDC converter (101), wherein a first (second in claim 20) terminal of the first DCDC converter (above 101) is connected to the battery, and wherein a second (first in claim 19) terminal of the first DCDC converter is connected to a first charging interface (below 101);
a second DCDC converter (102) connected in parallel to the first DCDC converter, wherein a first (second in claim 20) terminal of the second DCDC converter is connected to the battery (above 102), wherein a second (first in claim 19) terminal of the second DCDC converter is connected to a second charging interface (below 102), and wherein the first charging interface and the second charging interface are connected to external power sources or external devices (i.e. grid and/or power generation device; [0016], [0030]); and
a microprocessor (inside 103/203) connected to the switch assembly, wherein the microprocessor is configured to enable, based on operation of the switch assembly, at least one of the first DCDC converter and the second DCDC converter to be in operation ([0077], based on number of modules deployed), wherein:
the voltage conversion circuit is electrically connected to the at least two charging interfaces (below 101 and 102) and the battery (106),
the portable power source is configured to one or more of:
receive input currents from one or more of the at least two charging interfaces through the voltage conversion circuit (Fig. 1; [0033]), or
output an output current of the battery using one or more of the at least two charging interfaces through the voltage conversion circuit (Fig. 1; [0033]).
Zhang also teaches the idea of the second terminals of the first and second DCDC converters being selectively connected to a plurality of different external power sources or device ([0030], [0033], [0042]-[0047]) and each other, and controlling which external source/device is connected to the second terminals of the first and second DCDC converters ([0038], [0039], [0049], [0050]). Zhang fails to explicitly teach the use of a switch assembly to control the selective coupling of the external sources/devices to the DCDC converters. Saboury teaches a similar battery charging system (Fig. 5) to that of Zhang. Saboury teaches plural sources (505, 510), plural charging modules (520, 525; similar to Zhang’s DCDC converters), and a switch assembly comprising three switch tubes (515A, B, C) to selectively couple the second (left) terminals of the first and second DCDC converters to each other. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement Saboury’s switch assembly into Zhang’s invention, since Zhang was silent as to how they selectively couple their DCDC converters to the plurality of external sources/devices and Saboury teaches a circuit configuration known in the art to perform the same function of selectively coupling the DCDC converters to each other and the external sources/devices.
Regarding claims 2 and 11, Saboury teaches the switch assembly comprising three switch tubes (515A, B, C) which control the connection of the plural sources with the plural charging modules. Saboury fails to explicitly teach switch tubes (A and C) being between the sources and the third switch tube (B). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the three switch tubes in the claimed manner between the plural sources and charging modules in Zhang’s invention since Zhang was silent as to how it controls the connections between the plural sources and the plural charging modules and Saboury teaches a way of doing that, and since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70. (Rearranging the switches in the claimed manner would be obvious since it’s another obvious way to control the connections between the plural sources and the plural charging modules. Also, cited prior art reference (Nguyen et al. – 10,790,680) teaches the idea of switches being directly connected at the outputs of charging interfaces.)
Regarding claims 3, 4, 12, and 13, Zhang teaches detecting parameters of the system and adjusting output voltages of the first and second DCDC converters based on the detected parameters ([0037-[0041], [0096], [0100]). Zhang fails to explicitly teach detecting current outputs at the claimed locations. Saboury teaches the idea of having current and voltage sensors throughout the system to detect the current state of the system ([0050]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement voltage and current sensors throughout Zhang’s invention to be able to determine the current operating state of the system to be able to adjust/control the operations of the system to satisfy the demands of the system.
Regarding claims 5 and 14, Zhang teaches (Fig. 7) the switch assembly further comprises a fourth switch tube (KM11),
a control terminal of the fourth switch tube is connected to the microprocessor to receive a fourth control signal (103/203 controls the contactors in the circuit),
the fourth control signal is output by the microprocessor,
a first terminal of the fourth switch tube is connected to the first terminal of the first DCDC converter (d1), and
a second terminal of the fourth switch tube is connected to the first terminal of the second DCDC converter (b1). ([0077])
Regarding claims 6 and 15, Zhang teaches monitoring battery parameters ([0096]) among others to determine how to control/adjust the operations of the system ([0077]). Saboury teaches the idea of having current and voltage sensors throughout the system to detect the current state of the system ([0050]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the third voltage and current sampling apparatus as claimed, since Zhang and Saboury teach the general idea of the claim and implementing it in the claimed way is an obvious way to do perform the teachings of Zhang and Saboury.
Regarding claims 7 and 16, Saboury teaches the voltage and current sampling apparatuses are voltage and current sensors ([0050]).
Regarding claims 8 and 17, as described above, Saboury teaches the idea of various voltage and current sensors/sampling apparatuses being connected at various points throughout the system to detect and determine the state of operation of the entire system ([0050]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the sensors/sampling apparatuses at the claimed locations so that the microprocessor can receive all the information necessary to understand the current state of operation of the system and then control/adjust the system to satisfy current demands of the various elements in the system.
Regarding claims 9 and 18, Zhang teaches either or both of the first DCDC converter or the second DCDC converter are BUCK-BOOST converters (as needed based on charge demand; [0023])
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed August 25, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Arguably, Zhang alone teaches a switch assembly that controls the connection between the external sources/devices and the second terminals of the DCDC converters. However, the Saboury reference is added to the rejection of the independent claims to more explicitly describe the claimed subject matter.
Also, to clarify the Zhang invention, starting with Figure 1, not shown are the AC and DC external sources that can be connected to the busbar between the charging modules (101 and 102) and the control module (103). As described in Zhang (at [0030], [0033], among other places), plural external sources are selectively coupled to the second terminals (below the charging modules/DCDC converters 101, 102) that supply power to the charging modules (101, 102), and then the charging modules (101, 102) output power to the batteries via first terminals of the charging modules (above 101, 102).
Regarding claims 9 and 18, Zhang teaches the DCDC converters being BUCK-BOOST converters based on the teaching (in [0023]) that states the converters control their outputs, as needed, based on the charge demand requested from the batteries (i.e. could BUCK and/or BOOST the voltage received to provide the necessary output power/voltage to the batteries to satisfy the variable charge demand of the batteries).
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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DMP
9/16/2026
/DANIEL KESSIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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