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 .
Claims 1, 3-9, and 11-21 are pending.
Claims 1 and 9 have been amended by the applicants in the latest response dated 11/10/2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended claim(s) 1, 3-9, and 11-21 have been considered and but are not persuasive.
The arguments by the applicants based upon the latest amendment concerns a compensation container between the mixing device and feeding device. The applicants focused upon the prior art references do not teach of this being intermediately between the mixing device and feeding device. The changes have been reconsidered and an updated search have been made in response.
Here, it is noted that this particular arrangement is known in the extrusion arts and seen in the HARRIS (US 2006/0006577 A1) reference, see rejection below. In this case, the arrangement for such container, or reservoir, is also known as an accumulator and the location of the accumulator. Whereby, the rejection of the claims below have incorporated the teachings of HARRIS to accommodate the changes from the latest amendment.
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, 4-9, 12-13 and 16-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DREVET (US 2011/0128666 A1, “DRE”) in view of HARRIS (US 2006/0006577 A1).
Claim 1, DRE teaches of a method for producing an electrode (see [0026]) for a rechargeable battery (see [0001], electric power storage devices), comprising:
applying an electrode compound to a carrier using an extrusion process (see first steps 10, 20), wherein, in the course of the extrusion process (see [0103]), the electrode compound is fed through an extrusion die (see die 21) by a feeding device; mixing the electrode compound in a mixing device (see extruder 11);
and the mixing device passing the electrode compound to the feeding device, see teaching of DRE, Fig. 1.
DRE does not teach of “ wherein fluctuations of a mass flow of the electrode compound passed on by the mixing device to the feeding device are compensated by storing the electrode compound intermediately between the mixing device and the feeding device in a compensating container to provide the electrode compound uniformly to the carrier and wherein the feeding device is disposed between the compensation container and extrusion die”.
The reference of HARRIS, which pertains to the relevant area of extrusion arts, teaches of a mixer (extruder 40) that moves a material towards an accumulator 100 which includes an accumulator housing 110 with reservoir 102, the material then fed to a gear pump 50 that then moves into a die 30, see Figs. 1-4. The gear pump and controller both being controlled via controller 80, see [0016-0018]. The accumulator being a container for storing excess melt when the melt is not needed and for delivering the melt when needed, see [0006]. The accumulator allows for the mixer/extruder and gear pump to operate together, and the accumulator accepts melt from the mixer/extruder when the gear pump makes an significant reduction in speed and the accumulator then releases melt to the gear pump when the gear pump increases speed, see also [0006].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modify method of DRE with an compensating container (accumulator) as taught by HARRIS to compensate the fluctuations of the gear pump speed. This is seen as combination via KSR rationales, see MPEP 2143, see combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Claim 4 (upon 1), wherein the electrode compound is applied to the carrier in the form of an uninterrupted strip, extending in a direction of application, of at least 2 m in length. See teaching of DRE of the formed extrudate 4 that can be caused over 15m, see [0100].
Claim 17 (upon 4), wherein the uninterrupted strip extends in the direction of application at least 5 m in length. See teaching of DRE of the formed extrudate 4 that can be caused over 15m, see [0100].
Claim 5 (upon 1), wherein the electrode compound is applied to the carrier in such a way that there forms on the carrier along the electrode compound a strip that is free of electrode compound, extending parallel to the direction of application of the electrode compound. See in DRE, the application upon collector film 5, see also [0093-0094], see Fig. 2.
Claim 6 (upon 1), wherein the electrode compound is kept in a flowable state between leaving the mixing device and entering the feeding device. See teaching of DRE regarding the use of an extruder.
Claim 18 (upon 6), wherein the electrode compound is kept in a flowable state between leaving the mixing device and entering the feeding device in an intermediate storage. See teaching of DRE regarding use of an extruder.
Claim 7 (upon 1), wherein the temperature of the electrode compound between leaving the mixing device and entering the feeding device is always at least 80"C. See DRE that includes teaching of around 90C for the mixing, see [0114], and teaching of heating of suspension at 75C, see [0198].
Claim 8 (upon 1), wherein the electrode compound has ethylene carbonate as a plasticizer. See DRE teaching of ethylene carbonate, [0035], being used as liquid softener (or plasticizer).
Claim 16 (upon 1), wherein the carrier is a metal foil. See DRE teaching of metallic films for the carrier, [0003, 0037, 0048-0052].
Claim 19 (upon 1), wherein the temperature of the electrode compound between leaving the mixing device and entering the feeding device is between 90°C, and 120°C. See DRE, [0198].
Claim 9, DRE teaches of an apparatus for producing an electrode (see [0026]) for a rechargeable battery (see [0001], electric power storage devices), comprising:
a mixing device that mixes an electrode compound (see step 10, extrusion process [0103]);
a feeding device that feeds the electrode compound through an extrusion die (see steps 20, and die 21, and see also extruder 11).
DRE does not teach of “an intermediary storage device having a compensation container that stores the electrode compound and is disposed between the mixing device and the feeding device to compensate for fluctuations of a mass flow of electrode compound-produced by the mixing device and passed on to the feeding device to provide the electrode compound uniformly to the carrier, wherein the feeding device is disposed between the compensation container and the extrusion die.“
The reference of HARRIS, which pertains to the relevant area of extrusion arts, teaches of a mixer (extruder 40) that moves a material towards an accumulator 100 which includes an accumulator housing 110 with reservoir 102, the material then fed to a gear pump 50 that then moves into a die 30, see Figs. 1-4. The gear pump and controller both being controlled via controller 80, see [0016-0018]. The accumulator being a container for storing excess melt when the melt is not needed and for delivering the melt when needed, see [0006]. The accumulator allows for the mixer/extruder and gear pump to operate together, and the accumulator accepts melt from the mixer/extruder when the gear pump makes an significant reduction in speed and the accumulator then releases melt to the gear pump when the gear pump increases speed, see also [0006].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modify method of DRE with a compensating container (accumulator) as taught by HARRIS to compensate the fluctuations of the gear pump speed. This is seen as combination via KSR rationales, see MPEP 2143, see combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Claim 12 (upon 9), wherein the mixing device is a multi-screw extruder. See teaching by DRE of dual screw extruder 11.
Claim 20 (upon 12), wherein the multi-screw extruder is a twin- screw extruder. See DRE teaching of dual screw extruder 11.
Claim 13 (upon 9), wherein the feeding device is a positive displacement pump. See DRE of booster pump [0118]. See teaching of return pump 32 in IWA, which are recognized as a positive displacement pump.
Claim 21 (upon 13), wherein the positive displacement pump is a gear pump. See teaching of pumps in DRE, which one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized as an equivalent alternative of a positive displacement pump.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Drevet (“DRE”) in view of HARRIS as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Wood (US 2003/0084847, “WOOD”).
Claim 15 (upon 14), further comprising: a closed-loop and/or open-loop control device that controls a metering device that meters a constituent of the electrode compound in dependence on the measured variable.
DRE does not specifically teach of the closed-loop or open-loop control device.
However, in a known analogous prior art, WOOD teaches of a closed loop control system that includes control of the speed of the pump and use of sensor, see [0027], as this is a known feature to compensate for variations.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have further modified DRE in view of HARRIS with the closed loop control system as taught by WOOD as it allows for known control system in order to compensate variations.
Claim(s) 3, 11, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DRE in view of HARRIS and as applied to claims 1 or 9 above, and further in view of IWASHITA (US 5989622, “IWA”).
Claim 3 (upon 1) The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, to compensate for the fluctuations, the electrode compound is returned to the mixing device.
The DRE reference does not specifically teach of the intermediately stored of returning the compound to the mixing device.
Regarding the compensation for the fluctuation of the material from the mixing device, see in analogous reference of IWA, Figs. 1, 3, 5, 7, Col. 5, line 25 to Col. 6, line 9. Wherein, the extrusion coater 20 (equivalent to the extrusion die) applies the extrudate upon a conductive sheet material 13 (copper foil, aluminum foil, et), see Col. 4, lines 18-20. The material feed to the extrusion die being via feed pump 25, and control valve 23 for controlling the flow of the material to the extrusion die. See Col. 4, lines 60 to Col. 5, line 24, wherein the pressure of the material is controlled and variably set, which would encompass the claimed fluctuation and compensation. See teaching by IWA of sub-tank 30, see Figs.1, 3, 5, and 7.
See in DRE of teaching regarding recycling, see Fig. 10, see [0099]. See in IWA, which teaches of the return of material from sub-tank back to the main tank 27, see combination of the references as seen in claim 2 above.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the apparatus of the modified DRE with the mass flow of the compounds that includes the control of the flow as taught by IWA as it allows for compensation for fluctuations in the system.
Claim 11 (upon 9), wherein the compensating device has a return device for returning the electrode compound to the mixing device. See teaching of IWA with the circulation line from the sub-tank back to the main tank 27, see combination of the references as seen in claim 2 above.
Claim 14 (upon 9), further comprising: a measuring device that measures a measured variable concerning the electrode compound passed on by the mixing device to the feeding device to measure a filling level of an intermediate storage device and/or for measuring a mass flow returned by the return device. The DRE reference do not specifically teach of the measuring device and filling for the storage device.
See in IWA of teaching of sensor for sub-tank and connection to controller, see Col. 4, line 60 to Col. 5, line 24, and Col. 5, line 51 to Col. 6, line 19. See also about the variably set for suitable levels due to the control and valves, see Col. 5, lines 20-24. Wherein, the modified DRE would encompass the claimed measuring device and teaching of control of the electrode compound in regards to the mass flow, particularly in regards of the filling of the intermediate storage device which is teaching of the sub-tank of IWA and of the return device via the recirculation back to the main tank.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the apparatus of the modified DRE with the mass flow of the compounds that includes the control of the flow as taught by IWA as it allows for compensation for fluctuations in the system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached PTO-892 form.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMMANUEL S LUK whose telephone number is (571)272-1134. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9 to 5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xiao S Zhao can be reached on 571-270-5343. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EMMANUEL S LUK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1744