DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/03/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
In response to the amendment received on 02/03/2026:
Claim 1 has been amended.
Claims 3-5, 8 and 9 have been canceled.
The previous and new prior art has been applied. All changes made are necessitated by the amendment.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 2, 6, 7 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2020/0153058 to Shimazaki in view of US Patent Application Publication 2020/0243817 to Kwak et al. in further view of US Patent Publication 6,087,036 to Rouillard et al. and US Patent Application Publication 2012/0258337 to Wang.
With respect to claim 1, Shimazaki teaches a battery module comprising: a first cell stack and a second cell stack each including one or more battery cells 11; a frame 14 receiving the first cell stack and the second cell stack; a spring 43 located between the first cell stack and the second cell stack; a first plate 41 located between the first cell stack and the spring 43; and a second plate 42 located between the second cell stack and the spring 43, wherein a compression direction of the spring 43 is parallel to a stack direction of the one or more battery cells 11 in the first cell stack and of the one or more battery cells 11 in the second cell stack, and wherein the first cell stack and the second cell stack are configured to be received in the frame where the spring is in a compressed state (Shimazaki: Sections [0042]-[0044]; Fig. 6).
Shimazaki does not specifically teach a busbar frame received in the mono frame together with the first cell stack and the second cell stack, wherein the busbar frame includes an upper frame located on the upper sides of the first cell stack and the second cell stack, a front surface frame located on front surfaces of the first cell stack and the second cell stack, and a rear surface frame located on rear surfaces of the first cell stack and the second cell stack, wherein the mono frame is a single plate extending continuously so as to surround the first and second cell stacks and has an opened front surface and an opened rear surface, and the first cell stack, the second cell stack, and the busbar frame are received into the opened front surface and the opened rear surface of the mono frame.
However, Kwak et al. teach a battery module comprising a busbar frame 300 received in the mono frame 400 together with the first cell stack and the second cell stack, wherein the busbar frame 300 includes an upper frame 320 located on the upper sides of the first cell stack and the second cell stack, a front surface frame 321a located on front surfaces of the first cell stack and the second cell stack, and a rear surface frame 321b located on rear surfaces of the first cell stack and the second cell stack, wherein the mono frame 400 is a single plate extending continuously so as to surround the first and second cell stacks and has an opened front surface and an opened rear surface, and the first cell stack, the second cell stack, and the busbar frame 300 are received into the opened front surface and the opened rear surface of the mono frame 400 (Lee et al.: Sections [0054]-[0058]; Figs. 4-8).
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Shimazaki with the teaching above from Kwak et al. with the motivation of having a means such both of the voltage sensing member 300 and the module case 400 hold the cell stack in place safely.
Shimazaki further teaches the battery module, wherein at least one of the first plate 41 and the second plate 42 comprises a heat transfer member 13 (Shimazaki: Sections [0042]-[0044]; Fig. 6).
Shimazaki does not specifically teach the limitation, “the spring is bonded to the first plate and the second plate by an adhesive agent.”
However, Rouillard et al. teach the Belleville springs 233 may be affixed to the thrust plate 231 by use of an adhesive, such as an epoxy adhesive (Rouillard et al.: Column 20, Line 63 to Column 21, Line 7; Figs.27G and 27H).
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Shimazaki with the teaching above from Rouillard et al. with the motivation of having a means such adhesive agent is one of the common way to keep the springs in place.
Shimazaki does not specifically teach the battery module, wherein a thermistor is located at least one of between the first cell stack and the first plate and between the second cell stack and the second plate in the stack direction.
However, Wang teaches a battery module comprising One or more thermistors (not shown) are situated between the insulative sheet 50 and the cooling plate 30 to monitor battery cell 35 temperature (Wang: Section [0025]; Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Shimazaki with the teaching above from Wang with the motivation of having a means such the thermistor would help monitor the temperature change of the battery, which would improve the safety of the battery.
With respect to claim 2, Shimazaki teaches the battery module, wherein the one or more battery cells in the first cell stack and the one or more battery cells in the second cell stack are stacked in an upright form to be parallel to opposing side surfaces of the frame (Shimazaki: Sections [0042]-[0044]; Fig. 6).
With respect to claim 6, Shimazaki teaches the battery module, wherein the spring 43 comprises two or more springs 43 (Shimazaki: Sections [0042]-[0044]; Fig. 6).
With respect to claim 7, Shimazaki teaches the battery module, wherein the spring 43 is a cylindrical spring (Shimazaki: Sections [0042]-[0044]; Fig. 6).
With respect to claim 10, Shimazaki teaches a battery pack comprising one the battery module (Shimazaki: Sections [0042]-[0044]; Fig. 6).
With respect to claim 11, Shimazaki teaches the battery module, wherein the one or more battery cells of the first cell stack includes two or more battery cells, and the one or more battery cells of the second cell stack includes two or more battery cells (Shimazaki: Sections [0042]-[0044]; Fig. 6).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 has been considered but are moot 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINGWEN R ZENG whose telephone number is (571)272-6649. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm.
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/LINGWEN R ZENG/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 3/3/2026
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