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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/12/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-2, 4, 7-8, 10, and 12-16 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “at least a part of the support member is bent and arranged in the bending area” (line 13) but line 10 of the claim requires two bending areas. It is unclear whether the support member must be arranged in both bending areas or one bending area.
Claim 7 recites “the bending area” (lines 2, 6, and 10), but parent claim 1 requires two bending areas (line 10). It is unclear whether claim 7 refers to one or both of the bending areas.
Claims 2, 4, 8, 10, and 12-16 are rejected for depending on rejected claims.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 10, 12, and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishiie (US 2022/0045367 A1) in view of Kwon (US 2014/0242433 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Nishiie discloses an electrode assembly (20, FIG. 2, [0038]), comprising a first electrode plate (22, FIG. 2, [0038]), a second electrode plate (21, FIG. 2, [0038]), a separator (23, FIG. 2, [0038]) for isolating the first electrode plate (22) from the second electrode plate (21), and a support member (25A1, FIG. 2, [0038]), the first electrode plate (22) is a negative electrode plate ([0038]), and the second electrode plate (21) is a positive electrode plate ([0038]), the positive electrode plate (21) comprises a positive electrode current collector (21A, FIG. 2, [0041]) and a positive active substance layer (21B1/21B2, FIG. 2, [0041]) coated on a surface (21S1/21S2, FIG. 2, [0041]) of the positive electrode current collector (21A), the negative electrode plate (22) comprises a negative electrode current collector (22A, FIG. 2, [0051]) and a negative active substance layer (22B1/22B2, FIG. 2, [0051]) coated on a surface (21S1/21S2, FIG. 2, [0051]) of the negative electrode current collector (22A);
wherein the first electrode plate (22) and the second electrode plate (21) are wound in a winding direction (longitudinal direction, [0039]) to form a winding structure (FIG. 2), and
the winding structure comprises two bending areas (20B, FIG. 2, [0038]) and a straight area (20A, FIG. 2, [0038]), the two bending areas (20B) are connected to the opposite ends of the straight area (20A) respectively; and
at least a part of the support member (25A1) is bent and arranged in the bending area (20B), and the support member (25A1) is configured to provide a support force to a part of the first electrode plate (22) and/or the second electrode plate (21) located at an outer side of the support member (25A1) ([0047]);
wherein the support member (25A1) comprises a first support portion (first support portion in annotated figure 1 below) and a second support portion (second support portion in annotated figure 1 below), and at least a part of the first support portion (first support portion) is bent and arranged in one bending area (20B on right side of FIG. 2), and at least a part of the second support portion (second support portion) is bent and arranged in another bending area (20B on left side of FIG. 2),
and an electrode plate (21) located at an innermost side of the one bending area (20B on right side of FIG. 2) is supported by at least a part of the first support portion (first support portion),
and an electrode plate (21) located at the innermost side of the other bending area (20B on left side of FIG. 2) is supported by at least a part of the second support portion (second support portion),
an electrode plate (21) located at the innermost side of the one bending area (20B on right side of FIG. 2) and the electrode plate (21) located at the innermost side of the other bending area (20B on left side of FIG. 2) are both the second electrode plate (21), and
a winding start end of the separator (23) is located within and along an inner side of the first support portion (first support portion) (see annotated figure 1 below).
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In the embodiment of FIG. 2, Nishiie does not disclose wherein an electrode plate located at the innermost side of the one bending area and the electrode plate located at the innermost side of the other bending area are both the first electrode. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified Nishiie such that an electrode plate located at the innermost side of the one bending area and the electrode plate located at the innermost side of the other bending area are both the first electrode because Nishiie teaches that the electrode assembly may be modified in this manner ([0117]) and it has been held that combining two embodiments disclosed adjacent to each other in a prior art patent does not require a leap of inventiveness and involves only routine skill in the art.
Nishiie teaches wherein the support member is adhesively ([0068]) fixed to the electrode ([0070]), but does not disclose wherein the support member is fixed to the separator.
Kwon teaches an electrode assembly (FIG. 3, [0040]), comprising an electrode plate (1, FIG. 3, [0042]), a separator (5, FIG. 3, [0042]), and a support member (4, FIG. 3, [0042]), wherein the support member (4) is fixed to the separator (5). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the electrode assembly of Nishiie by fixing the support member to the separator because Kwon teaches that doing so prevents a gap from forming between the electrode and the separator ([0045]).
Regarding claim 2, Nishiie in view of Kwon teaches (see Nishiie) wherein a part of the support member (25A1) is arranged in the straight area (20A) (FIG. 2).
Regarding claim 4, Nishiie in view of Kwon teaches wherein the first support portion (first support portion) and the second support portion (second support portion) are an integral structure (see annotated figure 1 above).
Regarding claim 10, Nishiie in view of Kwon teaches wherein the second electrode plate (21) comprises a first lap (first lap in annotated figure 2 below) that is wound one lap in the winding direction from the winding start end of the second electrode plate (22), and the support member (25A1) is located in the first lap (first lap) (see annotated figure 2 below).
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Regarding claim 12, Nishiie in view of Kwon does not teach wherein a material of the support member comprises an elastic material.
However, because Kwon teaches that the support member may have elasticity, a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have use and elastic material for the support member of Nishiie in view of Kwon
Regarding claim 14, Nishiie in view of Kwon teaches (see Nishiie) a battery cell (battery of FIG. 1, [0035]) comprising a shell (10, FIG. 1, [0035]) and the electrode assembly (20, FIG. 1, [0035]) according to claim 1; and the electrode assembly (20) being accommodated in the shell (10).
Regarding claim 15, Nishiie in view of Kwon teaches (see Nishiie) a battery (120, FIG. 5, [0102]), comprising a box body (non-depicted exterior material) and the battery cell (121 in FIG. 5) according to claim 14 ([0098]); and the battery cell (121) being accommodated in the box body (non-depicted exterior material).
Regarding claim 16, Nishiie in view of Kwon teaches (see Nishiie) a power consumption device (100, FIG. 5, [0099]), comprising the battery cell (121 in FIG. 5) according to claim 14 ([0098]).
Claims 7-8 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishiie (US 2022/0045367 A1) in view of Kwon (US 2014/0242433 A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zheng (CN-109524606-A; English-language equivalent US 2020/0144624 A1 is cited below).
Regarding claim 7, Nishiie in view of Kwon teaches wherein the electrode plate (22) at the innermost side of the bending area (20B) is a first electrode plate (22, see rejection of claim 1), and the first electrode plate (22) comprises a first segment (first segment in annotated figure 3 below) and a second segment (second segment in annotated figure 3 below) bordering the first segment (first segment), the first segment (first segment) exceeds an winding start end of the second electrode plate (21) (see annotated figure 3 below), and the first segment (first segment) is wound along the winding direction from a winding start end of the first electrode plate (22) around the bending area (20B) (see annotated figure 3 below), and the second segment (second segment) is continuously arranged with the first segment (first segment) along the winding direction (see annotated figure 3 below); and the second segment (second segment) has an outer side portion (outer side portion in annotated figure 3 below) located at an outer side the first segment (first segment) and adjacent to the first segment (first segment).
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Nishiie in view of Kwon does not teach wherein the support member comprises a third support portion, and at least a part of the third support portion is bent and arranged in the bending area and located between the outer side portion and the first segment. However, Nishiie teaches an uncoated region of the second electrode plate which is bent and arranged in the bending area and located between the outer side portion and the first segment (see annotated figure 3 above).
Zheng teaches an electrode assembly (200, FIG. 8, [0060]), comprising a first electrode plate (210, FIG. 8, [0060]), a second electrode plate (230, FIG. 8, [0060]), and a support member (120, FIG. 8, [0072]), wherein a support portion (protective layer 120, FIG. 8, [0072]) is disposed on an uncoated region (229/251, FIG. 8, [0072]) of the first (210) and second (230) electrode plates.
A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would find it obvious to modify the electrode assembly of Nishiie in view of Kwon by adding a third support portion to the uncoated region of the second electrode plate, such that at least a part of the third support portion is bent and arranged in the bending area and located between the outer side portion and the first segment, because Zheng teaches that doing so improves battery safety performance ([0072]).
Regarding claim 8, Nishiie in view of Kwon and Zheng teaches wherein one end of the third support portion is attached to the winding start end of the second electrode plate (Zheng: [0072]).
Regarding claim 13, Nishiie in view of Kwon does not disclose wherein the support member is provided with at least one through holes, and wherein a porosity of the support member is 20%-90%.
Zheng teaches an electrode assembly (200, FIG. 8, [0060]), comprising a first electrode plate (210, FIG. 8, [0060]), a second electrode plate (230, FIG. 8, [0060]), and a support member (120, FIG. 8, [0072]), wherein the support member is provided with at least one through holes (pores), and wherein a porosity of the support member is 20%-90% (overlapping range of 0% to 95%, [0056]). A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have modified the electrode assembly of Nishiie in view of Kwon such that a porosity of the support member is 20%-90% because Zheng teaches an overlapping range of 0% to 95% ([0056]).
Conclusion
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/C.C.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723