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.
Claims 1–5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Yumita et al. (US 9,884,564 B2) in view of Sellner et al. (US 2012/0249070 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yumita teaches an electrically powered vehicle including a power storage device capable of charging and discharging power for traveling of the vehicle (power storage device 110) (Yumita, col. 5–6). Yumita further teaches a discharging unit including an inverter that converts DC power of the power storage device into AC power and outputs the converted AC power to an outside of the vehicle (inverter 510 supplying AC to an external load) (Yumita, FIG. 1; col. 7–8). Yumita teaches a processor (vehicle ECU 300) configured to control the electric system (Yumita, col. 6–7). Yumita teaches a sensing unit that senses a reduction in insulation resistance of the electric system (detector 200 producing voltage Vk decreasing with insulation reduction) (Yumita, col. 6).
However, Yumita does not expressly teach sensing a reduction in insulation resistance from an AC side of the inverter to the power storage device, nor sensing insulation reduction before connection of a relay that switches between a cut‑off state and a connected state of an electric path connecting the AC side of the inverter and the outside of the vehicle.
Sellner teaches insulation monitoring from the AC side of the charging/discharging interface and determining insulation resistance before enabling charging/discharging, only permitting connection when insulation reduction is not detected (Sellner ¶¶ [0009]–[0014], [0028]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Yumita’s insulation‑monitoring arrangement to include Sellner’s AC‑side insulation monitoring and pre‑connection determination in order to improve safety and avoid mis‑detection during external power supply. As modified, Yumita in view of Sellner teaches the processor sensing insulation reduction before connection of the relay and issuing a command to switch the relay to the connected state when no reduction is sensed.
Regarding claim 2, Yumita in view of Sellner teaches the system of claim 1, and Yumita teaches exchanging information necessary for external power supply between the vehicle and the external device (vehicle ECU 300 communicating with power supply ECU 550 during external power supply) (Yumita, col. 7–9). Sellner teaches performing insulation monitoring while exchanging information necessary for charging/discharging (Sellner ¶¶ [0027]–[0029]).
Regarding claim 3, Yumita in view of Sellner teaches the system of claim 1, and Yumita teaches stopping the operation of the insulation‑decrease detector after the relay is connected to avoid interference with external insulation‑monitoring functions (Yumita, col. 7–8). Sellner likewise teaches switching off the vehicle‑side insulation monitoring instrument after the charging/recovery process begins (Sellner ¶ [0028]).
Regarding claim 4, Yumita in view of Sellner teaches the system of claim 1, and Yumita teaches that the relay (power supply relay 160) is included in the discharging unit of the vehicle (Yumita, FIG. 1; col. 6–7).
Regarding claim 5, Yumita in view of Sellner teaches the system of claim 1, and Sellner teaches that switching elements may be provided outside the vehicle, such as in the charging station or charging cable (Sellner ¶¶ [0034]–[0039]). Sellner further teaches that insulation monitoring may extend across external switching elements (Sellner ¶¶ [0027]–[0029]). It would have been obvious to provide the relay outside the vehicle and sense insulation reduction from the relay to the inverter to coordinate safety functions between the vehicle and the external charging/discharging device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL KESSIE whose telephone number is (571)272-4449. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pmEst.
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/DANIEL KESSIE/
06/04/2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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