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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 contains minor grammatical errors, reciting inter alia “a first fastening hole formed at a location corresponding to a coupling hole formed a respective one of the pair of fixing portions”.
It is suggested that the emphasized portion of this limitation be amended to instead recite, as a non-limiting example, “formed at a”.
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, 3, 6, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bourke et al. (US20070087266A1) in view of He et al. (US20210175572A1, cited in Office action filed 06/17/2025).
Regarding claim 1, Bourke discloses a battery pack (“battery system”, abstract) comprising:
a plurality of battery modules (101); the endplates (104) bolted to rails (110) are recognized as the pair of fixing portions (104) provided at both longitudinal sides thereof ([0046], FIGs. 2, 6);
a tray (102, “system housing”) on which the plurality of battery modules (101) are placed (FIG. 6, [0046]);
a pair of side rails (110A) and bottom flanges (118) are provided covering widthwise sides of the tray (102) (FIG. 6, 10B, [0044-0046]), together interpreted as the pair of side covers (110A/118) configured to cover both widthwise sides of the tray (102), the locations fastened by bolts (106) to the fixing portions at battery modules (101) ([0044], FIG. 6) recognized as the first fastening hole formed at a location corresponding to a coupling hole formed a respective one of the pair of fixing portions;
and combination of center rails (110B) and support beam (119) which secures, i.e, fixes battery modules (101) which is interpreted as the module fixing bar (110B/119) positioned at a widthwise center of the tray (102) and shaped to extend across an upper surface of the tray (102) ([0044-0045], FIG. 6), the locations of the module fixing bar fastened by bolts (106) to the fixing portions (104) ([0044], FIG. 6) recognized as the second fastening hole formed at a location corresponding to the coupling hole formed in the respective fixing portion,
wherein each of the plurality of the plurality of battery modules (101, structure illustrated through battery module 400 in [0065]) has an exhaust port (1694) configured to discharge a gas generated therein to an outside, the exhaust port having a tube shape protruding toward a side cover of the pair of side covers (110A/118) ([0080], FIGs. 4C-D in Bourke supplemental drawings filed 09/01/2010, FIG. 6).
Bourke’s pair of side covers includes at least the flange (118), here interpreted as the body portion configured to extend along the longitudinal direction of the tray and provided at one widthwise side and another widthwise side of the tray ([0044-0046], FIGs. 6, 10B), provided to stabilize the battery pack to withstand mechanical vibrations ([0010]). While Bourke recognizes a need of releasing gases generated within the battery pack ([0011]), Bourke does not further disclose the use of the pair of side covers (110A/118) further including a gas exhaust portion shaped to extend inward from an inner wall surface of the body portion and having a plurality of entrances and the first fastening hole, the plurality of entrances being formed by opening a part thereof to communicate with the exhaust port respectively for this purpose.
He, directed to an analogous battery pack comprising a configuration of a tray (He [0094]) and a pair of side covers (201, 202) (“first, second frame”) configured to cover widthwise sides of the tray (FIG. 9, [0111]) similarly comprising a body portion (“outer side wall”) which strengthens the side covers ([0109-0111], see Annotated He FIG. 10 below), teaches providing side covers (201, 202) including a gas exhaust portion (222) (“exhaust channel”) shaped to extend inward from an inner wall surface of the body portion (“outer side wall”, [0109], [0139-0140], Annotated He FIG. 10) and having a plurality of entrances (221, “exhaust channel”) formed by opening a part thereof to communicate with an exhaust port (“via”) ([0139], Annotated He FIG. 10). The side covers further comprise a first fastening hole ([0137], Annotated He FIG. 10), corresponding to a coupling hole formed in a respective one of the fixing portions (207b/208b, “connection plate”) to suitably fix a cell array (400) ([0135-0137], FIG. 14, Annotated He FIG. 10)
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By providing the pair of side covers with the gas exhaust portion having a plurality of entrances corresponding to the exhaust ports, gas, flame, and smoke released by the cells can be prevented from gathering inside the battery pack, minimizing damage (He [0141]); thus, in seeking these effects, it would be obvious before the effective filing date of the instant application for one having ordinary skill in the art to modify Bourke’s pair of side covers to further include a gas exhaust portion shaped to extend inward from an inner wall surface of the body portion and having a plurality of entrance as taught by He, the plurality of entrances being formed by opening a part thereof to communicate with the exhaust port, respectively.
Additionally, a person having ordinary skill in the art would need to form Bourke’s first fastening hole within the structure of the pair of side covers in order to suitably secure the battery modules; as He demonstrates a suitability of providing the first fastening hole in the gas exhaust portion corresponding to a coupling hole for a similar purpose of fixing a battery array, it would be obvious before the effective filing date of the instant application for one having ordinary skill in the art to select the gas exhaust portion as a suitable location for providing the first fastening hole.
Such a modification of the side covers would be made with a reasonable expectation of success, as no inherent function of the battery modules or body portion is fundamentally changed or rendered unsuitable for use, and the function of the battery pack of releasing gases is improved according to methods known in the art to yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 3, modified Bourke discloses the battery pack according to claim 1 wherein an exhaust hole (“opening”) is provided in the tray (102, “system housing”) for releasing, i.e., discharging a gas to the outside (Bourke [0011]).
Regarding claim 6, modified Bourke discloses the battery pack according to claim 1. While Bourke envisions use of the of side covers’ body portions (118, “flange”) to stabilize the battery pack and allow it to withstand mechanical vibrations during use (Bourke [0010]), the structure of a flange as the body portion (118) comprising an inner space at least partly surrounded by an outer wall (Bourke FIG. 10B, see equivalent flange 1018), Bourke does not explicitly teach that the body portions comprise the structure of an inner space surrounded by an outer wall thereof, and a reinforcing rib in the inner space extending from an inner surface of the first to second side.
He, relied on to teach the structure of the gas exhaust portion in the side covers, further teaches improvement of the covers by providing a hollow cavity, i.e., an inner space surrounded by an outer wall thereof, and a reinforcing rib in an inner space extending from an inner surface of a first side to a second side (He [0109], see Annotated He FIG. 10 Showing Inner Space, below), which enhance the strength or improve the collision behavior of the frame including the side covers ([0109]).
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As such, in seeking to improve the strength and collision behavior of Bourke’s side covers, it would be obvious before the effective filing date of the instant application for one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the structure of the body portion to fully surround an inner space of the body portion with the outer wall, and provide a reinforcing rib in the inner space to extend from an inner surface of a first side to a second side thereof as taught by He, with a reasonable expectation of success as He and Bourke’s side covers are utilized for a similar purpose of strengthening and stabilizing the battery pack.
Regarding claim 10, modified Bourke discloses the battery pack according to claim 1. Burke provides multiple structures similar to a mounting portion having fastening structures such as mounting feet (138) or securing rings (107) to be coupled to an external device ([0044], [0048]); while Burke does not explicitly provide these structures on the outer side of the body portion, He teaches a suitability of providing a mounting portion on an outer side of the body portion for the same purpose of being coupled to an external device (Annotated He FIG. 10, He FIGs. 27-28, [0101]).
As such, it would be obvious to further modify Bourke through providing a mounting portion on an outer side of the body portion with at least one of the mounting feet (138) or securing rings (107) as the fastening structure to be coupled to an external device. Such a modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success, as He teaches a suitability of this configuration for the same purpose of coupling to an external device.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bourke (US20070087266A1) in view of He (US20210175572A1) as applied to claim 3, further in view of Okamura et al. (US20130342168A1, cited in Office action filed 06/17/2025).
Regarding claim 5, modified Bourke discloses the battery pack according to claim 4. While Bourke in view of He discloses a desirability of quickly removing exhaust products from the battery pack to prevent component damage (He [0141]), modified Bourke does not explicitly disclose the use of a gas exhaust portion having a gradually increasing sectional area for this purpose.
Okamura is directed to a battery pack (1) comprising housing sections (102A-F) connected by a communication path (106) allowing gas released by the batteries (20) to flow to an exhaust hole (10c,“valve”) (Okamura [0052-0053], FIG. 5); the combination of the housing sections (102A-F) and communication path (106) are broadly and reasonably interpreted as a gas exhaust portion. Okamura teaches increasing a volume of each housing section (102A-F) in a direction towards the exhaust hole (10c) (FIGs. 4, 5, [0064]) through filling some area of the housing sections further away from the exhaust hole ([0064]), thus providing the gas exhaust portion with a gradually increasing sectional area which improves the flow of exhaust gas in the direction of the exhaust hole ([0064]).
Therefore, in seeking to improve the flow of exhaust gas in the direction of the exhaust hole, it would be obvious before the effective filing date of the instant application for one having ordinary skill in the art to provide modified Bourke’s gas exhaust portion with a sectional area that gradually increases as being closer to the exhaust hole of the tray as taught by Okamura. Such a modification would be done with a reasonable expectation of success, as Bourke in view of He discloses a desirability that the battery exhaust products be quickly removed from the battery pack to prevent damage to the components.
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bourke (US20070087266A1) in view of He (US20210175572A1) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Guo et al. (CN209087962U, cited with machine translation in Office action filed 06/17/2025)
Regarding claim 7, modified Bourke discloses the battery pack according to claim 4 claim 1, further comprising a pair of cooling pipes (112, “flow channels”) configured to allow a coolant to flow therein (Bourke [0047], FIG. 1C). While Bourke provides the cooling pipes (112) on the same sides as the modules as the side covers (110/118) ([0051], FIG. 3), and envisions the use of channel clamps (131) to secure, i.e., accommodate the cooling pipes (112) ([0043]), Bourke FIG. 1C, Bourke does not explicitly specify that each side cover includes the channel clamps or is configured to surround a respective one of the pair of cooling pipes so that the respective cooling pipe is accommodated therein.
Guo, similarly directed to a battery pack (Guo [0002]) comprising hollow structural beams (1122) ([0199], FIG.23) analogous in structure to the hollow side covers of Bourke modified in view of He (He FIG. 10, [0109]), teaches providing structural beams (1122) with a pipe accommodation portion configured to surround a respective one of the pair of cooling pipes (1138, “manifold”) so that the respective cooling pipe (1138) is accommodated therein, which allows the cooling pipe (1138) to be stably clamped and positioned in the beam (1122) ([0199-0202]).
As such, in seeking to stably clamp and position Bourke’s cooling pipe, it would be obvious before the effective filing date of the instant application for one having ordinary skill in the art to modify Bourke by providing each of the side covers with a pipe accommodation portion configured to surround a respective one of the pair of cooling pipes so that the respective cooling pipe is accommodated therein as taught by Guo. Such a modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success, as Bourke’s side covers modified in view of He comprise analogous hollow portions (He FIG. 10) which are capable of surrounding and accommodating a cooling pipe as shown by Guo (Gou FIG. 23). Modifying Bourke’s cooling pipes in this way would not necessarily interfere with the function of transporting coolants or require substantial modifications to the cooling pipe layouts, as Bourke’s cooling pipes (112) are already provided adjacent to side covers (110A/118) (Bourke FIG. 6).
Regarding claim 8, modified Bourke discloses the battery pack of claim 7. It would be recognized that coolant leaked from the pair of cooling pipes (112) would necessarily flow into Bourke’s tray (102), where it would be temporarily stored until it either drains or evaporates (Bourke FIG. 6).
Regarding claim 9, modified Bourke discloses the battery pack according to claim 8. Shown through details in an equivalent embodiment, Bourke discloses a tray (1002) including:
a mounting plate (1012, “support beam”) configured to directly contact the plurality of battery modules (1001) and having a widthwise end positioned to be spaced apart from the body portion (1018) by a predetermined distance to give a gap into which the coolant flows ([0087], see Annotated Bourke FIG. 10B below); and
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a base plate, being the base of tray (1002), positioned below the mounting plate (1012) to be spaced apart therefrom. As coolant introduced through the gap would necessarily flow downward to an area of the base plate positioned below the mounting plate (1012) through gravity, this area is recognized to form the temporary storage portion in which coolant introduced through the gap is accommodated (Annotated Bourke FIG. 10B).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bourke (US20070087266A1) in view of He (US20210175572A1) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Storey (US20060092631A1 cited in Office action filed 06/17/2025).
Regarding claim 11, modified Bourke discloses the battery pack according to claim 1. While Bourke discloses venting exhaust gas from the cells in response to pressure (Bourke [0078]), the gas being a potentially flammable gas such as hydrogen ([0049]), Bourke fails to explicitly recite a battery module including a plug configured to seal the exhaust port below a predetermined temperature and to be melted and lost over the predetermined temperature to open the exhaust port.
Storey, directed to a battery module (“housing”) comprising a plug 16 (“alloy material”) configured to seal an exhaust port 10 (“eyelet”) below a predetermined temperature of the plug’s melting point, at which point the plug is melted and lost to open the exhaust port (Storey [0013], [0029], FIG. 4). Advantageously, this temperature-based plug allows batteries to be safely vented under thermal runaway conditions without requiring significant quantities of flammable or explosive gas to be released ([0008-0009]).
As such, in seeking to allow for the battery module to vent under thermal runaway conditions even if a significant quantity of gas has not been released, it would be obvious before the effective filing date of the instant application for one having ordinary skill in the art to include the plug taught by Storey configured to seal the exhaust port below a predetermined temperature and to be melted and lost over the temperature to open the exhaust port in modified Bourke’s battery module. Such a modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success, as an ordinary skilled artisan would recognize hydrogen gas as flammable and would avoid a buildup of significant quantities of the gas.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bourke (US20070087266A1) in view of He (US20210175572A1) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Inoue et al. (JP2008287939A, see attached machine translation)
Regarding claim 14, modified Bourke discloses the battery pack according to claim 1. While Bourke envisions considerations of using tortuous flow paths in the exhaust systems inside the battery modules to trap escaping electrolyte (Bourke [0079]), and of using the side cover components (e.g., the flanges) as securing and stabilizing mechanisms to reinforce the battery pack against vibrations during use ([0010]), Bourke modified in view of He provides a plurality of entrances (221) on the side surface of the side covers (202) instead of an upper surface of the gas exhaust portion (222) (Annotated He FIG. 10).
Inoue, directed to a battery pack wherein the side covers (51, “side member”) are analogously provided with an internal space functioning as a gas exhaust portion to discharge gas to an outside (Inoue [0024], [0044-0045], FIG. 2), teaches configurations where entrances (51b “connection port”) are located on a side surface of the side covers (51) (FIG. 1) and on the upper surface of the side covers (51) (FIG. 5) as being equivalents for the purpose of discharging exhaust gases (FIG. 5, [0067-0070]).
The second configuration comprises an exhaust port (41, “first exhaust tube”) extending over the upper surface of the gas exhaust portion in side covers (51) to cover a corresponding entrance (2a, “opening”) ([0070]). Furthermore, in the case of a coolant liquid flowing through the exhaust port (41), the leaked coolant can be collected in the gas exhaust portion in the side cover (51) ([0072]), this being similar in function to Bourke’s consideration of collecting escaped electrolyte liquid from exhaust gases (Bourke [0079]).
Thus, in seeking to collect liquids leaked through the exhaust port, i.e., coolants or electrolyte liquid, it would be obvious before the effective filing date of the instant application for one having ordinary skill in the art to rearrange the entrances located on a side surface of the gas exhaust portion of Bourke modified in view of He (Annotated He FIG. 10) to provide the entrances on an upper surface as taught by Inoue (Inoue FIG. 5), and to further provide Bourke’s exhaust ports extending over the upper surface of the gas exhaust portion to cover a corresponding entrance of the plurality of entrances according to Inoue’s teaching. Such a modification would be made with a reasonable expectation of success as Inoue teaches both configurations of entrances on the gas exhaust portion as being substitutable for the same purpose of exhausting gases, and because Bourke and Inoue address similar considerations of trapping liquids escaping through the exhaust port.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to rejection of amended claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 102 in view of Guo et al (CN209087962U) and 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of Guo in view of He et al. (US20210175572) (Remarks pp. 5-7) have been considered 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.
Conclusion
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 EVERETT T CHOI whose telephone number is (703)756-1331. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11:00-8:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan G Leong can be reached on (571) 270 1292. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/E.C./Examiner, Art Unit 1751
/JONATHAN G LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1751 12/16/2025
