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 .
Status of Application
Claims 1-2, 4-18 are pending. Claim 3 is canceled. Claims 1, 6 are currently amended. Claims 10-16 are withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/03/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Arguments regarding the amended claim 1 (pg 4-6) are not found persuasive as a new reference Leng (CN106531961A) teaches the newly added limitation “the comb pattern mark having a length in the travel direction of the brush member that is greater than at least a depth or a width of the comb pattern mark”. See rejection below.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 6,7 have been considered but are not found persuasive because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/2/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 5, 8, 17, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwashita et al (US5989622A, previously cited, IDS cited 04/18/2022), in view of Pan (US-20110123866-A1, previously cited), and Leng (CN106531961A, copy/translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Iwashita teaches an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode (Fig 7), the apparatus comprising:
a supply member configured to supply a collector (“conductive sheet material 13 is driven by a travel mechanism such as a motor or the like”; Col 4, lines 26-28)
• an attachment member (i.e., masking mechanism 61; Col 8, lines 21-40) configured to attach a coating paper (i.e., masking tape 69) to a top surface of the collector supplied by the supply member at set intervals
• a first injection member (extrusion coater 20; Fig 7; Col 2, para 2-3) configured to inject an electrode active material to the top surface of the collector
Iwashita further discloses that the apparatus comprises a sensor 63 (i.e., a photosensor, a resistance sensor or the like) to detect the masking tape applied to the conductive sheet material, wherein the sensor controls the start and end positions of the coated region to be defined on the masking tape (Col 8, lines 47-55). Thus, Iwashita envisages the claimed limitation of the first injection member “forming a first coating layer when the collector passes through a first section (i.e., area between two masking tapes) and configured to stop injecting the electrode active material when the coating paper attached to the collector passes through the first section” (Col 6, lines 20-43).
Iwashita is silent to:
a brush member configured to comb a top surface of the first coating layer applied to the collector to planarize the top surface of the first coating layer and to form a comb pattern mark that extends in a traveling direction of the brush member
In this regard, Pan teaches methods and apparatuses that yield electrodes having at least one functional gradient (abstract), wherein the method involves a brush member (e.g., dimple roller 1330 [0187] or perforator 530 in Fig 31; [0184-0185]) configured to comb a top surface of the first coating layer applied to the collector to planarize (note: “planarize” interpreted as forming a plane or a surface) the top surface of the first coating layer and to form comb pattern mark (e.g., perforations 520 in Fig 31) and to form a comb pattern mark that extends in a traveling direction of the brush member. Fig 31 specifically shows where the perforations 520 form in the travelling direction of the perforation 530.
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the apparatus of Iwashita to include the brush member of Pan for improved ion and electrical conductivity, as Pan teaches that the perforations may be filled with materials having desired properties, such as an ion permeable material, an electrically conductive material [0185 Pan].
Pan further teaches in Fig 32B, wherein the comb pattern mark has a length in the travel direction of the brush member wherein the comb pattern mark has a depth greater than the length.
Thus, Pan does not disclose wherein “the comb pattern mark has a length in the travel direction of the brush member that is greater than at least a depth or a width of the comb pattern mark”, as claimed.
In this regard, Leng also teaches a lithium ion battery electrode pole piece (title) comprising a current collector 3 and active material layers having active material coating 1 uniformly coated on two sides of the collector, wherein the active material coating has groove 2 [0031-Leng] formed by rolling with a specific roller or cold pressing with a specific boss plate [0038-Leng], wherein groove 2 has a length greater than a depth of the comb pattern mark (see Fig 2 below). Leng further teaches that the electrode having such grooves maximizes the retention of electrolyte in the battery electrode sheets, maximizes the electrolyte permeability of the lithium-ion battery, and improves the overall electrical performance of the lithium-ion battery [0045-Leng].
Thus, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the comb pattern mark, such that the length is greater than the depth of the comb pattern mark, with a reasonable expectation to maximize the retention of electrolyte, electrolyte permeability, and to improve the overall electrical performance of the lithium-ion battery [0045-Leng].
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Iwashita is further silent to:
a second injection member configured to inject the electrode active material to the top surface of the first coating layer, thereby forming a second coating layer when the collector passing through the brush member passes through the second section and configured to stop injecting the electrode active material when the coating paper attached to the collector passes through the second section.
In this regard, Pan teaches a second coating injection member (i.e., second spray system 1401 in Fig 36; [0190]) configured to inject the electrode active material to the top surface of the first coating layer. It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to have added a second injection member in the apparatus of Iwashita, and form a second coating layer, as Pan teaches that the storage battery capacity is dependent on the amount of coating applied per square unit area of electrode support [0010].
Further, a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to use the sensor 63 of Iwashita, for the second coating injection member, to detect the masking tape applied to the conductive sheet material to control the start and end positions of the coated regions (Col 8, lines 47-55), such that a second coating layer is formed “when the collector passing through the brush member passes through the second section (i.e., between the masking tapes to be coated) and configured to stop injecting the electrode active material when the coating paper attached to the collector passes through the second section”, as claimed, as Pan teaches that by controlling the start and end positions to define the coating region, it is possible to significantly reduce loss of coating liquid compared with conventional techniques that coat a conductive sheet material as well as the masked portions (Col 8, lines 7-10).
Regarding claim 4, modified Iwashita teaches the apparatus of claim 1. Modified Iwashita teaches that the layers may have an average thickness selected from about 1 μm to about 300 μm [0021 Pan], wherein the first layer may have an average thickness ranging from 1 μm to about 240 μm [0053 Pan]. A person having ordinary skill in the art would envisage that such ranges encompass wherein the thickness of a second layer is less than a thickness of the first coating layer, as claimed. It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to select the encompassed range to form an electrode having at least one functional gradient (e.g., density, particle size, ion storage capacity) [0036 Pan].
Regarding claim 5, modified Iwashita teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the brush member comprises:
a rotary roller (i.e., core roller 550 in Fig 30 - Pan) provided above the collector (i.e., current collector 155 in Fig 30 - Pan); and
a comb part (i.e., pin 535 in Fig 30 - Pan) provided on the rotary roller, the comb part having a plurality of comb hairs to comb the top surface of the first coating layer applied to the collector [0184 Pan].
Regarding claim 8, modified Iwashita teaches the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the brush member further comprises an adjustment part (an axle or shaftway [0184]) to move the rotary roller in a direction toward or away from the collector to adjust a distance between the rotary roller and the collector.
Regarding claim 17 and 18, modified Iwashita teaches the apparatus of claim 1. Modified Iwashita further teaches wherein the pores formed by the perforator 530 may be patterned or not patterned, and/or may be of different depths [0186 Pan]. Thus, Pan envisages the claimed limitation of “the comb pattern mark has an irregular shape” (Claim 17). A person having ordinary skill in the art would further understand that to form pores of different depths, the comb hairs (i.e., pin of Pan) would have to “vary in size, thickness, or length” as claimed (Claim 18).
A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to modify the brush member of modified Iwashita such that “the comb pattern mark has an irregular shape” (Claim 17) and the “comb hairs of the plurality of comb hairs vary in size, thickness, or length” for improved ion and electrical conductivity, as Pan teaches that the perforations may be filled with materials having desired properties, such as an ion permeable material, an electrically conductive material [0185 Pan].
Claim(s) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwashita, in view of Pan and Leng, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lee et al (KR20120131593A, machine translation previously attached, IDS cited 04/18/2022, hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claim 2, modified Iwashita teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the coating paper (i.e., masking tape) comprises adhesive portions disposed at opposite ends in a longitudinal direction of the collector and are attached to the collector (Fig 8A-8D).
Iwashita further discloses wherein the masking tape is formed with a lead-out element for peeling in a manner to outwardly extend in a width direction of the conductive sheet material (Col 8, lines 26-30 - Iwashita), wherein the masking tape may be coated one surface thereof with an adhesive or the like (Col 8, lines 33-35 - Iwashita).
However, Iwashita does not disclose “a non-adhesive portion disposed between the adhesive portions and is not attached to the collector, wherein each of the adhesive portion has a patterned adhesive layer” as claimed.
Lee teaches an easy-to-remove adhesive tape comprising an adhesive layer (20 in Fig 2e – Lee), a fabric film (10 in Fig 2e – Lee), and a release agent layer (30 in Fig 2e – Lee), wherein the non-adhesive portions (i.e., fabric film 10 – Lee) is disposed between the adhesive portions (i.e., adhesive layer 20 and the release agent layer 30 – Lee) and the adhesive portion (the release agent layer 30 – Lee) has a patterned adhesive layer.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art, before the effective filing date, to have modified the masking tape (i.e., coating paper) of Iwashita to include the tape structure of Lee, as Lee teaches tapes with such structure significantly reduces the adhesive force between the adhesive layer and the release agent layer (on the fabric film), making it easy to unwind the tape, and eliminates any noise generated when unwinding the tape [0009-0010 – Lee].
Claim(s) 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwashita, in view of Pan and Leng, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lee et al (KR20120131593A, machine translation attached, IDS cited 04/18/2022, hereinafter Lee) and Neeper (US20080216955A1, previously cited).
Regarding claim 9, modified Iwashita teaches the apparatus of claim 2. Iwashita further discloses wherein the apparatus further comprises a removing member (i.e., masking removing mechanism or unit 62– Iwashita) configured to remove the coating paper (i.e., masking tape) attached to the collector by pinching the lead-out element (Col 8, lines 26-30 - Iwashita) but the removing member may be constructed in any suitable manner known in the art (Col 9; lines 14-16).
However, Iwashita does not disclose wherein the removing member has a rod shape configured to be inserted between the non-adhesive portion of the coating paper and the collector to lift the coating paper in a direction away from the collector, thereby removing the coating paper.
In this regard, Neeper teaches a device for removal of a film seal comprising a collection rod 28 for lifting the leading edge of the seal to gradually peel back the seal [0032 Neeper]. A person having ordinary skill in the art would modify the removing member (i.e., pinching device) taught by Iwashita such that it includes a collection rod between the non-adhesive portion of the coating paper and the collector to gradually peal and “lift the coating paper in a direction away from the collector, thereby removing the coating paper” as claimed.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwashita et al (US5989622A, previously cited, IDS cited 04/18/2022), in view of Pan (US-20110123866-A1, previously cited), and Yang (CN208777001U, copy/translation attached).
Regarding claim 6, Iwashita teaches an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode (Fig 7), the apparatus comprising:
a supply member configured to supply a collector (“conductive sheet material 13 is driven by a travel mechanism such as a motor or the like”; Col 4, lines 26-28)
• an attachment member (i.e., masking mechanism 61; Col 8, lines 21-40) configured to attach a coating paper (i.e., masking tape 69) to a top surface of the collector supplied by the supply member at set intervals
• a first injection member (extrusion coater 20; Fig 7; Col 2, para 2-3) configured to inject an electrode active material to the top surface of the collector
Iwashita further discloses that the apparatus comprises a sensor 63 (i.e., a photosensor, a resistance sensor or the like) to detect the masking tape applied to the conductive sheet material, wherein the sensor controls the start and end positions of the coated region to be defined on the masking tape (Col 8, lines 47-55). Thus, Iwashita envisages the claimed limitation of the first injection member “forming a first coating layer when the collector passes through a first section (i.e., area between two masking tapes) and configured to stop injecting the electrode active material when the coating paper attached to the collector passes through the first section” (Col 6, lines 20-43).
Iwashita is silent to:
a brush member configured to comb a top surface of the first coating layer applied to the collector to planarize the top surface of the first coating layer and to form a comb pattern mark that extends in a traveling direction of the brush member
In this regard, Pan teaches methods and apparatuses that yield electrodes having at least one functional gradient (abstract), wherein the method involves a brush member (e.g., dimple roller 1330 [0187] or perforator 530 in Fig 31 [0184-0185]) configured to comb a top surface of the first coating layer applied to the collector to planarize (interpreted as forming a plane or a surface) the top surface of the first coating layer and to form comb pattern mark (e.g., perforations 520 in Fig 31) and to form a comb pattern mark that extends in a traveling direction of the brush member. Fig 31 specifically shows where the perforations 520 form in the travelling direction of the perforation 530.
Pan further teaches that the brush member comprises:
a rotary roller (core roller 550 [0184]) provided above the collector; and
a comb part (the layer surrounding core roller 550) provided on the rotary roller, the comb part having a plurality of comb hairs (i.e., pin 535 in Fig 30) to comb the top surface of the first coating layer applied to the collector [0184].
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the apparatus of Iwashita to include the brush member of Pan, for improved ion and electrical conductivity, as Pan teaches that the perforations may be filled with materials having desired properties, such as an ion permeable material, an electrically conductive material [0185 Pan].
Iwashita is further silent to: a second injection member configured to inject the electrode active material to the top surface of the first coating layer, thereby forming a second coating layer when the collector passing through the brush member passes through the second section and configured to stop injecting the electrode active material when the coating paper attached to the collector passes through the second section.
In this regard, Pan teaches a second coating injection member (i.e., second spray system 1401 in Fig 36; [0190]) configured to inject the electrode active material to the top surface of the first coating layer. It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to have added a second injection member in the apparatus of Iwashita, and form a second coating layer, as Pan teaches that the storage battery capacity is dependent on the amount of coating applied per square unit area of electrode support [0010].
Further, a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to use the sensor 63 of Iwashita, for the second coating injection member, to detect the masking tape applied to the conductive sheet material to control the start and end positions of the coated regions (Col 8, lines 47-55), such that a second coating layer is formed “when the collector passing through the brush member passes through the second section (i.e., between the masking tapes to be coated) and configured to stop injecting the electrode active material when the coating paper attached to the collector passes through the second section”, as claimed, as Pan teaches that by controlling the start and end positions to define the coating region, it is possible to significantly reduce loss of coating liquid compared with conventional techniques that coat a conductive sheet material as well as the masked portions (Col 8, lines 7-10).
Pan teaches wherein the comb part is coupled to the rotary roller, but does not explicitly teach that the comb part is detachably coupled to a coupling groove formed in the rotary roller.
However, Examiner notes that it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the rotary roller to include a coupling groove such that comb part is separable from the rotary roller for easy repair and maintenance (see MPEP 2144.04, V, C).
Further, Yang teaches a needle roller 18 comprising groove 20, sliding plate 21, and needle 22, wherein the slide plate 21 is inside the groove and the needle 22 is embedded on the surface of the sliding plate ([0026]; see Fig 5). Yang further teaches wherein the slide plates are removable to replace the steel needles on the surface of the roller 18, thereby improving the practicality of the device [0027-0028-Yang]. As such, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified the rotary roller to include a coupling groove such that the comb part is separable for easy comb replacement and improving practicality of the device [0028-Yang].
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwashita et al (US5989622A, IDS cited 04/18/2022, hereinafter Iwashita), in view of Pan (US-20110123866-A1, previously cited), Yang (CN208777001U, copy/translation attached), and Cui (CN208772072, translation/copy attached).
Regarding claim 7, modified Iwashita teaches the apparatus of claim 6, but does not disclose an elastic part configured to elastically support the comb part coupled to the coupling groove is provided in the coupling groove. Yang also does not teach such elastic part.
In this regard, Cui teaches a brush comprising a brush shaft 3, brush plate 4, wherein the brush plate has brush bristles 41. Cui further teaches a spring steel ball 6 that slides outward separating the brush plate 4 from the brush shaft 3 so that it is not necessary to disassemble the entire brush roller, making it convenient for the operator to replace the brush and carry out maintenance [0042-Cui]. As such, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to have added an elastic part such as a spring steel ball coupled to the coupling groove, with a reasonable expectation to separate the comb part from the coupling groove so that it is not necessary to disassembly the entire brush roller during brush replacement [0042 Cui].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAEYOUNG SON whose telephone number is (703)756-1427. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5pm.
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/T.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/Haroon S. Sheikh/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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