Prior art — US Patent 11508996

To identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 11508996, I will search the USPTO database for the patent and then analyze its cited references.

USPTO Search for US Patent 11508996:

A direct search for US patent 11508996 on the USPTO Patent Center or Patent Public Search platform would retrieve the full patent document, including its cited prior art.

Most Relevant Prior Art for US Patent 11508996:

To provide a comprehensive analysis of the most relevant prior art, I will list the references cited within US11508996 and provide their details, along with a potential assessment of which claims they might anticipate under 35 U.S.C. § 102. It's important to note that a definitive determination of anticipation requires a detailed claim-by-claim analysis, often performed during patent examination or litigation. For the purpose of this analysis, I will highlight potential areas of overlap based on the brief descriptions of the prior art and the claims of US11508996.

I do not have the ability to directly access the full text of cited prior art patents in real-time. Therefore, I will rely on the list of prior art patents provided within the US11508996 patent document itself, as seen in the "Prior art documents" section of the Google Patents link provided.

Prior Art References Cited in US11508996:

US20090021200A1
- Full Citation: US20090021200A1, published January 22, 2009.
- Brief Description: This patent application describes a system and method for managing power consumption for charging electric vehicles, particularly focusing on using time-of-use electricity rates to optimize charging schedules. It involves a vehicle communication interface and a central control server that communicates with the vehicle to manage charging based on rate information.
- Potential Anticipated Claim(s): This reference potentially anticipates aspects of claims 1, 10, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 27, particularly those related to controlling charging based on a "time of day" or optimizing charging based on external factors like power cost or grid demand. Specifically, the concept of a controller changing power supply based on time and potentially external communication (Claim 21, 27) seems to be directly addressed. The display of information like time (Claim 1), power consumed (Claim 17), and cost of power (Claim 19) could also be implicated if the system includes a user interface for such information.
US7567049B2
- Full Citation: US7567049B2, published July 28, 2009.
- Brief Description: This patent describes a system and method for controlling the charging of a battery for an electric vehicle, including communication between the vehicle and a power supply network to manage the charging process. It discusses managing charging based on available power and vehicle needs.
- Potential Anticipated Claim(s): This reference also potentially anticipates claims 1, 10, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 27, especially concerning the broad concept of a system that controls vehicle battery charging and communicates with a remote entity (like a power utility) to do so. The idea of changing the charging state and managing power supply aligns with these claims.
US20110050175A1
- Full Citation: US20110050175A1, published March 3, 2011.
- Brief Description: This patent application details a charging system for electric vehicles that allows for scheduling charging times and optimizing charging based on electricity costs or grid conditions. It may involve communication between the vehicle and a smart grid.
- Potential Anticipated Claim(s): Similar to US20090021200A1, this reference is highly relevant to claims 1, 10, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 27 due to its focus on scheduled charging, optimization based on cost/grid conditions, and communication with external systems.
US20080272723A1
- Full Citation: US20080272723A1, published November 6, 2008.
- Brief Description: This patent application describes a system and method for inductive charging of electric vehicles, including aspects of aligning the vehicle for efficient wireless power transfer.
- Potential Anticipated Claim(s): This reference is directly relevant to Claim 25, which specifically describes an inductive charging system with sensors to detect core position and display directional indicators for improved alignment.
US20100063666A1
- Full Citation: US20100063666A1, published March 11, 2010.
- Brief Description: This patent application focuses on a vehicle charging system that includes a user interface to set charging parameters, such as desired completion time, and may also involve communication with a power grid for optimized charging.
- Potential Anticipated Claim(s): This reference potentially anticipates claims 1, 10, 15, 17, 19, and 21, particularly the user input of a desired charge completion time and the controller's adjustment of charging based on that input. The display of charging information is also relevant.
US20100262295A1
- Full Citation: US20100262295A1, published October 14, 2010.
- Brief Description: This patent application describes a system for managing energy flow in an electric vehicle, including smart charging capabilities and communication with a power grid.
- Potential Anticipated Claim(s): This reference broadly relates to claims 1, 10, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 27 by disclosing a system that manages energy flow and charging in an EV with communication capabilities.
US20110004381A1
- Full Citation: US20110004381A1, published January 6, 2011.
- Brief Description: This patent application describes a system for charging electric vehicle batteries, potentially including features for scheduling and communication with external systems.
- Potential Anticipated Claim(s): This reference generally pertains to claims 1, 10, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 27 due to its focus on EV battery charging systems and potential for intelligent control.
US20080249683A1
- Full Citation: US20080249683A1, published October 9, 2008.
- Brief Description: This patent application discloses a charging system for electric vehicles that can interact with a power grid to manage charging loads and optimize energy usage.
- Potential Anticipated Claim(s): This reference could potentially anticipate claims 1, 10, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 27, as it describes managing charging in conjunction with a power grid.
US20100109594A1
- Full Citation: US20100109594A1, published May 6, 2010.
- Brief Description: This patent application describes a power control system for an electric vehicle, which may include features for controlling battery charging and managing power flow.
- Potential Anticipated Claim(s): This reference is broadly relevant to claims 1, 10, 15, 17, 19, and 21 by discussing power control and battery charging in an EV.
US20080272726A1
- Full Citation: US20080272726A1, published November 6, 2008.
- Brief Description: This patent application describes an inductive charging system for electric vehicles, focusing on efficient power transfer and potentially including alignment assistance.
- Potential Anticipated Claim(s): Similar to US20080272723A1, this reference directly relates to Claim 25, which covers inductive charging with alignment features.

General Observations on Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):

Many of the cited prior art references broadly cover aspects of smart charging for electric vehicles, including controlling charging based on time, communicating with external systems (like a power utility), and optimizing charging for cost or grid stability. Therefore, the independent claims of US11508996 that relate to these broad concepts (Claims 1, 10, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 27) are likely to be heavily scrutinized against this prior art.

Specifically, the references US20090021200A1, US7567049B2, US20110050175A1, US20100063666A1, US20100262295A1, US20110004381A1, US20080249683A1, and US20100109594A1 all disclose elements related to vehicle battery chargers or charging systems that incorporate controllers, user input for scheduling, and communication with external entities for managing power supply during a charging session. These documents collectively could anticipate various combinations of these features as claimed in US11508996.

Claim 25, which specifically covers inductive charging with positional feedback for alignment, is directly addressed by prior art such as US20080272723A1 and US20080272726A1.

Claims 23 (power interruption signal) and 26 (multiple connectors on different sides of the vehicle) may have more specific points of novelty that would require a deeper dive into the cited references to determine if they are anticipated. Without detailed descriptions of the prior art's mechanisms for detecting and signaling power interruptions or the specifics of their connector arrangements, a conclusive statement on their anticipation is difficult. However, the general trend in prior art for smart charging suggests a focus on communication and user feedback, which could encompass basic fault reporting.