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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/19/2025 has been entered.
Response to Remarks
The arguments filed on 10/08/2025 are acknowledged and were found to be persuasive over the previous prior art rejection of record. However, in light of the amendments the previous prior art was reexamined and a new grounds of rejection made rendering the previous arguments moot. See claims 1-17 rejection below.
Summary
This is a continued examination non-final office action for application 17/582,012 in response to the request for continued examination filed on 11/19/2025. Claims 1-17 are under examination.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN202110177438.7 filed on 02/09/2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS)s submitted on 03/06/2022, 09/24/2024 and 12/06/2024 are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 10 reads "wherein in each bridging piece Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-4, 6-8 and 10-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huff et al. (US20180090735A1) and further in view of Zhang et al. (CN-210517056-U). Regarding Claim 1, Huff discloses a battery connection module (see e.g. "A flexible connector" in Abstract and FIGs. 2-4) comprising:
a first busbar configured to be connected to a first plurality of batteries (see e.g. part number 106 and 111 in FIGs.1, 7 and 11 and annotated figure below);
a second busbar configured to be connected to a second plurality of batteries (see e.g. part number 106 and 111 in FIGs. 1, 7 and 11 and annotated figure below);
a circuit board (see e.g. part number 200 in FIG. 5 and paragraph [0049] and annotated figure below); and
a plurality of first bridging pieces connected between the first busbar and the circuit board (see e.g. annotated figure below) and a plurality of second bridging pieces connected between the second busbar and the circuit board (see e.g. annotated figure below), each bridging piece including one circuit board connection segment (see e.g. annotated figure below) and two busbar connection segments (see e.g. annotated figure below) which are arranged along a straight direction and are respectively connected to the circuit board and the corresponding busbar (see e.g. annotated figure below), and at least two buffering strips, wherein the buffering strips are directly coupled to the circuit board connection segment in each bridging piece (see e.g. annotated figure below) and are directly coupled to the busbar connection segment in each bridging piece (see e.g. annotated figure below), the buffering strips in each bridging piece being constructed as bilateral symmetry in a transverse direction with respect to a central line extending along the straight direction (see e.g. annotated figure below), each buffering strip having at least one curving portion between the circuit board connection segment and the busbar connection segment (see e.g. annotated figure below).
Huff does not disclose that each bridging piece includes one busbar connection segment. Zhang, however, in the same field of endeavor, battery connection modules with bridging pieces, discloses a bridging piece (see e.g. FIG. 3 of Zhang) that includes one busbar connection segment (see e.g. "a contact portion 22 electrically connected to a corresponding battery cell in the battery pack" on page 3 paragraph beginning with "Referring to" and part number 22 in FIGs. 3 and 4 of Zhang).
Zhang also teaches that connecting to the battery via the singular busbar connection segment (contact portion) allows for the battery connection module to absorb the tolerance produced when the battery core inflates or shrinks and provide a cushioning effect to the impact force that an electric automobile produced in the vibrations process, so that the battery module can stably gather the signal, and have a longer life (see e.g. paragraph beginning with "In addition" on page 8 of Zhang). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the two busbar connection segments of Huff such that there is only one busbar connection segment as taught by Zhang in order for the battery connection module to absorb the tolerance produced when the battery core inflates or shrinks and provide a cushioning effect to the impact force that an electric automobile produced in the vibrations process which allows the battery module to stably gather signal and have a longer life as suggested by Zhang.
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(Huff, figures 3, 4, 5, 7 and 11, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 2, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 1 (see e.g. claim 1 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that the at least one curving portion of the buffering strips are provided in a first plane in each bridging piece, the circuit board connection segment is provided in a plane in each bridging piece, and the busbar connection segment is provided in a plane in each bridging piece (see e.g. annotated figure below), the first plane is different than the plane of the circuit board connection segment and different than the plane of the busbar connection segment in each bridging piece (see e.g. annotated figure below), wherein each bridging piece further includes a first step connecting portion coupled to a first end of each buffering strip and the circuit board connection segment and a second step connecting portion coupled to a second end of each buffering strip and the busbar connection segment (see e.g. annotated figure below).
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466
705
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(Huff, figure 4, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 3, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 2 (see e.g. claim 2 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that each buffering strip has at least two straight direction curving portions which continuously curve reversely relative to each other in the straight direction (see e.g. annotated figure below).
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405
599
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(Huff, figure 4, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 4, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 3 (see e.g. claim 3 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that in each bridging piece, the first step connection portions are positioned at outer sides relative to the second step connecting portions, the second step connecting portions are positioned at inner sides relative to the first step connecting portions (see e.g. annotated figure below).
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477
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(Huff, figure 4, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 6, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 2 (see e.g. claim 2 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that each bridging piece further includes a plurality of first protective pieces which are integrally formed to the circuit board connection segment and protrude toward the first plane (see e.g. annotated figure below) and a plurality of second protective pieces which are integrally formed to the busbar connection segment and protrude toward the first plane (see e.g. annotated figure below).
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325
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(Huff, figure 4, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 7, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 1 (see e.g. claim 1 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that the at least one curving portion of the buffering strips are provided in a first plane in each bridging piece, the circuit board connection segment is provided in a plane in each bridging piece, and the busbar connection segment is provided in a plane in each bridging piece, the first plane and the plane of the circuit board connection segment and the plane of the busbar connection segment are the same in each bridging piece (see e.g. FIG. 2 and annotated figure below).
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377
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(Huff, figure 2, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 8, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 7 (see e.g. claim 7 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that each buffering strip has at least two straight direction curving portions which continuously curve reversely relative to each other in the straight direction (see e.g. annotated figure below).
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371
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(Huff, figure 4, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 10, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 1 (see e.g. claim 1 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that the circuit board connection segment is provided in a plane in each bridging piece, and the busbar connection segment is provided in a plane in each bridging piece, wherein in each bridging piece the at one curving portion of each buffering strip is perpendicular to the plane of the circuit board connection segment and is perpendicular to the plane of the busbar connection segment (see e.g. annotated figure below).
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417
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(Huff, figure 4, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 11, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 10 (see e.g. claim 10 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that ach buffering strip is formed with an open groove (see e.g. annotated figure below).
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(Huff, figure 4, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 12, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 1 (see e.g. claim 1 rejection above).
Huff does not disclose that each circuit board connection segment has a plate and two raising legs which are formed to the plate and are configured to be bridged onto the circuit board to raise the plate and space the plate and the circuit board apart from each other by a certain distance.
Zhang, however, discloses that each circuit board connection segment has a plate and two raising legs which are formed to the plate and are configured to be bridged onto the circuit board to raise the plate and space the plate and the circuit board apart from each other by a certain distance (see e.g. annotated figure below).
Zhang also teaches that the raising legs are formed by bending and extending the base portion so that there is a tolerance when the battery cell expands or contracts can be absorbed and a buffering effect can be provided for an impact force generated by an electric vehicle during vibration so that the battery connection module can stably collect signals (see e.g. paragraph beginning with "The fixing portion" on page 3 of Zhang). Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the circuit board connection segment of Huff such that it has a plate and two raising legs formed to the plate and is configured to be bridged onto the circuit board to raise the plate and space the plate and the circuit board apart from each other by a certain distance as taught by Zhang in order to have a buffering effect when the battery cell expands or contracts or when an impact force is generated by an electric vehicle during vibration so that the battery connection module can still stably collect signals as suggested by Zhang.
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686
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(Zhang, figures 3 and 4, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 13, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 12 (see e.g. claim 12 rejection above).
Huff does not disclose that each circuit board connection segment further has a supporting elastic piece which is formed to the plate and is configured to abut against the circuit board to raise the plate and space the plate and the circuit board apart from each other by the certain distance.
Zhang, however, discloses that each circuit board connection segment further has a supporting elastic piece (see e.g. "soldering portion" on page 7 paragraph starting with "In addition" and part number 24 of Zhang) which is formed to the plate and is configured to abut against the circuit board to raise the plate and space the plate and the circuit board apart from each other by the certain distance (see e.g. annotated figure below).
Zhang teaches that that the supporting elastic piece is formed to the plate so that there is a tolerance when the battery cell expands or contracts can be absorbed and a buffering effect can be provided for an impact force generated by an electric vehicle during vibration so that the battery connection module can stably collect signals (see e.g. paragraph beginning with "The fixing portion" on page 3 of Zhang). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the circuit board connection segment of Huff such that the circuit board connections segment further has a supporting elastic piece which is formed to the plate and configured to raise the plate and space the plate and the circuit board apart from each other by a certain distance as taught by Zhang in order to have a buffering effect when the battery cell expands or contracts or when an impact force is generated by an electric vehicle during vibration so that the battery connection module can still stably collect signals as suggested by Zhang.
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(Zhang, figures 3 and 4, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 14, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 1 (see e.g. claim 1 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that each circuit board connection segment has a plurality of welding apertures (see e.g. part number 130 in FIG. 5).
Regarding Claim 15, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 1 (see e.g. claim 1 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that the circuit board includes a plurality of welding insertion holes (see e.g. "As shown in FIG. 5, printed circuit board 200 includes first aperture 204 and second aperture 206." in paragraph [0052] and part numbers 204 and 206 in FIG. 5), and each circuit board connection segment has a welding leg insertable into one of the welding insertion holes (see e.g. " For example, in some embodiments, bolts may be inserted through first aperture 172 and second aperture 174 of third spaced pad 130 to secure third spaced pad 130 to a particular area." in paragraph [0043] and FIG.5; Huff discloses inserting a bolt (welding leg) through the circuit board connection segment and into the apertures (welding insertion holes) of the circuit board).
Regarding Claim 16, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 1 (see e.g. claim 1 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that the circuit board connection segment has an opening which configured to receive a sensor (see e.g. "In some embodiments, other separate electrical components may be secured to a pad. As shown in FIG. 5, thermistor 202 is secured to third spaced pad 130" in paragraph [0051] and part number 202 in FIG. 5).
Regarding Claim 17, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 1 (see e.g. claim 1 rejection above).
Huff further discloses that the buffering strips are provided in a plane in each bridging piece, the circuit board connection segment is provided in a plane in each bridging piece, and the busbar connection segment is provided in a plane in each bridging piece, wherein in each bridging piece the plane of the at one curving portion of the buffering strips of is parallel to the plane of the circuit board connection segment and is parallel to the plane of the busbar connection segment (see e.g. annotated figure below).
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(Huff, figure 4, annotated for illustration)
Claims 5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huff et al. (US20180090735A1) in view of Zhang et al. (CN-210517056-U) as applied to claims 3 and 7 above, and further in view of Yasuda et al. (US-20200395589-A1).
Regarding Claim 5, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 3 (see e.g. claim 3 rejection above).
Huff in view of Zhang does not disclose that each buffering strip further has at least one transverse curving portion which is spaced apart from the at least two straight direction curving portions and protrudes laterally and outwardly along the transverse direction.
Yasuda, however, in the same field of endeavor, battery connection modules, teaches protrusions (see e.g. part number 231 in FIG. 8C of Yasuda). To a person of ordinary skill in the art the buffering strips with curves and protrusions as claimed do not appear to impart any special structural or functional characteristics in comparison to the part taught by Huff in view of Zhang. Similarly, to the claim 4 rejection above, Huff in view of Zhang discloses bridging pieces with buffering segments, each buffering segment having at least one curving portion (see e.g. claim 1 rejection above), which also includes two step connection portions (see e.g. claim 2 rejection above), and that the buffering segments curve reversely relative to each other (see e.g. claim 3 rejection above). In this case Yasuda further modifies Huff to teach buffering strips that have one transverse curving portion spaced apart from the two straight direction curving portions and has lateral protrusions (see e.g. annotated figure below). With this modification the buffering strips could be oriented and aligned in a variety of ways. For example, one of the buffering strips could curve in the transverse direction or both could curve in the transverse direction. Similarly, protrusions could be formed in the lateral or medial direction inwardly or outwardly along the transverse direction. Because of this it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that there are a variety of ways to orient and align the curved portions of the buffer strips as well as the protrusions, and that this would be a matter of design choice and not affect the functionality of the apparatus.
Yasuda also teaches that when the battery assembly with this configuration extends or contracts in its stacking direction due to thermal deformation of each cell, each busbar can move in the stacking direction of the cells because the bent portion of each busbar branch strip of the circuit body is bent or stretched. Likewise, dispersion of the size of the battery assembly in its stacking direction due to an assembling allowance of each cell can be absorbed by bending or stretching of the bent portions of the busbar branch strips of the circuit body. In other words, the busbar module having this configuration can easily accommodate expansion/contraction and manufacture dispersion of the battery assembly by deformation of substantially only the busbar branch strips with no deformation of the main strip of the circuit body (see e.g. paragraph [0026] of Yasuda). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify each buffering strip of Huff in view of Zhang such that each buffering strip has a transverse curving portion protruding inwardly along the transverse direction as taught by Yasuda in order to allow for a battery module of this type to easily accommodate expansion and contraction of the battery and allow for deformation of only the busbar branch strips with no deformation of the main strip of the circuit body as suggested by Yasuda.
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(Yasuda, figure 8C, annotated for illustration)
Regarding Claim 9, Huff in view of Zhang discloses the battery connection module of claim 7 (see e.g. claim 7 rejection above).
Neither Huff in view of Zhang or Huff in view of Zhang and further in view of Yasuda disclose that each buffering strip has at least two transverse curving portions which alternately protrude inwardly or outwardly in the transverse direction.
To a person of ordinary skill in the art it would be obvious that the direction the buffer strips curve and which way they protrude do not appear to impart any special structural or functional characteristics in comparison to the part taught by Huff in view of Zhang and further in view of Yasuda. Huff in view of Zhang discloses bridging pieces with a plurality of buffering segments, each buffering segment having at least one curving portion (see e.g. claim 1 rejection above). Huff in view of Zhang further discloses a plane where the buffering segment is present and is positioned in the same plane as the circuit board connection segment and the busbar connection segment is present (see e.g. claim 7 rejection above). Yasuda further modifies Huff in view of Zhang to teach a buffer strip that has transverse curving portions and protrusions (see e.g. claim 5 rejection). With this modification the buffering strips could be oriented and aligned in a variety of ways including how and where they curve and protrude. For example, one of the buffering strips could have at least two curving portions in the transverse direction or both buffering strips could have at least two curving portions in the transverse direction. Similarly, protrusions could be formed in the lateral or medial direction inwardly or outwardly along the transverse direction as well as alternate. Because of this it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the way in which these portions of the buffering strips curve and protrude, would be a matter of design choice and not affect the functionality of the apparatus. See MPEP 2144.04.
Yasuda also teaches that when the battery assembly with this configuration extends or contracts in its stacking direction due to thermal deformation of each cell, each busbar can move in the stacking direction of the cells because the bent portion of each busbar branch strip of the circuit body is bent or stretched. Likewise, dispersion of the size of the battery assembly in its stacking direction due to an assembling allowance of each cell can be absorbed by bending or stretching of the bent portions of the busbar branch strips of the circuit body. In other words, the busbar module having this configuration can easily accommodate expansion/contraction and manufacture dispersion of the battery assembly by deformation of substantially only the busbar branch strips with no deformation of the main strip of the circuit body (see e.g. paragraph [0026] of Yasuda). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify each buffering strip of Huff in view of Zhang such that each buffering strip has a transverse curving portion protruding alternately inwardly or outwardly along the transverse direction as taught by Yasuda in order to allow for a battery module of this type to easily accommodate expansion and contraction of the battery and allow for deformation of only the busbar branch strips with no deformation of the main strip of the circuit body as suggested by Yasuda.
Conclusion
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/J.J.E./Examiner, Art Unit 1723
/TONG GUO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723