Appeal No. 96-0656
Application 08/099,277
disabling operation. Dey disclose the charging of automobile batteries which are an
accumulation of series connection of similar sized cells which form a larger battery cell.
Dey disclose the parallel connection of a resistor, 705, a sound signal means, 702, and a
diode, 703, to limit current flow. Related to the current flow in the reverse direction would
be a negative or reversed voltage. Dey is a teaching that a parameter in the combined
cells may be used to indicate the presence of a reverse polarity condition. In a separate
multiple cell arrangement as taught by Hodgman ('243), the sensing of voltage rather than
current flow would be desirable as
with the use of the bands. Therefore, the skilled artisan would have been motivated to
sense voltage. If a battery is reverse polarized, the voltage would be less than a reference
voltage or threshold. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the
art at the time of the invention to combine the teachings of Dey with those of Hodgman
('243) and Hodgman ('144) since the skilled artisan would have desired to have a
replacement for the sensing of the combination of the conductive band and resistive circuit
if the conductive bands were removed. The combination of
the teaching of Hodgman ('243) concerning the reference voltage for sensing the
appropriate resistance in the rechargeable battery would have similarly motivated the
skilled artisan to use the sensed voltage of the battery cells to determine polarity.
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