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 .
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kubota (WO-2020066060-A1; English-language equivalent US 2021/0218082 A1 is referenced below) in view of Hitz (US 2018/0183116 A1), Sato (JP-2020119822-A), and Kakiuchi (JP-2021051894-A). Machine translations of Sato and Kakiuchi are attached and referenced below.
Regarding claim 1, Kubota discloses a power storage device (battery 100A, Fig. 6, [0063]) comprising:
a power storage module (battery module 90A, Fig. 6, [0064]) including a plurality of power storage cells (10, Figs. 6-7, [0063]) arranged side by side in one direction (thickness direction Dt, Figs. 6-7, [0063]);
a case (formed by plates 30 and side plates 70, Fig. 6, [0023]) that accommodates the power storage module (90A);
a cooler (60, Figs. 6-7, [0042]) that is provided below the case (30/70) and cools the power storage module (90A); and
a thermally conductive material (50, Figs. 6-7, [0041]) disposed between a lower surface (lower surface in annotated figure 1 below) of the power storage module (90A) and the case (30/70), wherein
the cooler (60) includes a cooling flow path (refrigerant channel, [0042]) through which a cooling medium (refrigerant, [0042]) flows,
the power storage module (90A) includes an upstream-side stack (upstream-side stack in annotated figure 1 below) including some of the power storage cells (10), a downstream-side stack (downstream-side stack in annotated figure 1 below) including power storage cells (10) other than power storage cells (10) included in the upstream-side stack (upstream-side stack) among the power storage cells (10), and an intermediate plate (30M, Fig. 7, [0064]) disposed between the upstream-side stack (upstream-side stack) and the downstream-side stack (downstream-side stack), and
the thermally conductive material (50) includes an upstream-side thermally conductive portion (upstream-side thermally conductive portion in annotated figure 1 below) disposed below the upstream-side stack (upstream-side stack), and a downstream-side thermally conductive portion (downstream-side thermally conductive portion in annotated figure 1 below) disposed below the downstream-side stack (downstream-side stack).
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Kubota teaches that the power storage device may further comprise a non-depicted housing ([0023]) and that the cooler may be a part of the housing ([0042]), but does not disclose wherein the cooler cools the power storage module through the case, wherein the coolant flows in the one direction, wherein the upstream-side stack is disposed upstream in a flow direction of the cooling flow path, the downstream-side stack is disposed downstream of the upstream-side stack in the flow direction, the case has a bottom wall disposed below the power storage module, the bottom wall has a protrusion protruding toward the intermediate plate, the upstream-side thermally conductive portion is disposed upstream of the protrusion of the intermediate plate in the flow direction and between the upstream-side stack and the bottom wall, the downstream-side thermally conductive portion is disposed downstream of the protrusion in the flow direction and between the downstream-side stack and the bottom wall, and the downstream-side thermally conductive portion is smaller in thickness than the upstream-side thermally conductive portion.
Hitz teaches a power storage device (FIG. 1, [0028]) comprising a power storage module (battery 5, FIG. 1, [0028]), a case (trough 2, FIG. 1, [0028]) that accommodates the power storage module (5), a cooler (temperature adjusting element 8, FIG. 1, [0028]) that is provided below the case (2) and cools the power storage module (5) through the case (2), wherein the case (2) has a bottom wall (base 3, FIG. 1, [0028]) disposed below the power storage module (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 power storage device of Kakiuchi by adding a bottom wall to the case and positioning the cooler below said bottom wall such that the cooler cools the power storage module through the case, the upstream-side thermally conductive portion is positioned between the upstream-side stack and the bottom wall and the downstream-side thermally conductive portion is positioned between the downstream-side stack and the bottom wall, because Hitz teaches that positioning the cooler below a bottom wall of the case simplifies assembly of the power storage device ([0012]). Further, Kubota teaches that the power storage device may be modified beyond the disclosed design ([0066]).
Sato discloses a power storage device (Figs. 1-3, [0015]) comprising a power storage module (Fig. 3) including a plurality of power storage cells (11, Fig. 3, [0017]) arranged side by side in one direction; a case (10, Fig. 1, [0016]) that accommodates the power storage module (Fig. 3); a first stack (first stack in annotated figure 2 below) including some of the power storage cells (11) and a second stack (second stack in annotated figure 2 below) including the other power storage cells (11), an intermediate portion (intermediate portion in annotated figure 2 below) disposed between the first stack (first stack) and the second stack (second stack), wherein the case has a bottom wall (13, Fig. 3, [0015]) disposed below the power storage module, and wherein the bottom wall (13) has a protrusion (15c, Fig. 3, [0016]) protruding toward the intermediate portion (intermediate portion). 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 bottom wall of the power storage device of Kubota in view of Hitz by adding a protrusion protruding toward the intermediate plate because Sato teaches that the protrusion helps position the power cells within the case ([0016]).
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Kakiuchi teaches a power storage device (Fig. 2) comprising: a plurality of power storage cells (10, Fig. 2, [0037]) arranged side by side in one direction (Le -> Ri in Fig. 2); a cooler (heat exchanger 50, FIG. 2, [0038]); a thermally conductive material (40, Fig. 2, [0041]) disposed between the power storage cells (10) and the cooler (50), wherein the cooler (50) includes a cooling flow path through which a cooling medium flows ([0008]) in the one direction (Le -> Ri), wherein some of the cells (10) are disposed upstream in a flow direction of the cooling flow path (see annotated figure 3 below) and some of the cells (10) are disposed downstream of the upstream-side cells (10) in the flow direction (see annotated figure 3 below), wherein the thermally conductive material (40) includes an upstream-side thermally conductive portion (41, Fig. 2, [0041]) disposed upstream in the flow direction and a downstream-side thermally conductive portion (42/43, Fig. 2, [0041]) disposed downstream in the flow direction, and wherein the downstream-side thermally conductive portion (42/43) is smaller in thickness than the upstream-side thermally conductive portion (41) ([0028]).
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 power storage of Kubota in view of Hitz and Sato such that the coolant flows in the one direction, wherein the upstream-side stack is disposed upstream in a flow direction of the cooling flow path, the downstream-side stack is disposed downstream of the upstream-side stack in the flow direction, and the upstream-side thermally conductive portion is disposed upstream of the protrusion of the intermediate plate in the flow direction, the downstream-side thermally conductive portion is disposed downstream of the protrusion in the flow direction, and the downstream-side thermally conductive portion is smaller in thickness than the upstream-side thermally conductive portion, because Kakiuchi teaches that this arrangement provides even cooling of the power storage module ([0014]).
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Regarding claim 2, Kubota in view of Hitz, Sato, and Kakiuchi teaches (see Kakiuchi) wherein the downstream-side thermally conductive portion (42/43) is gradually reduced in thickness toward a downstream side in the flow direction (from 42 to 43, [0028]).
Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kubota (US 2021/0218082 A1) in view of Hitz (US 2018/0183116 A1), Sato (JP-2020119822-A), and Kakiuchi (JP-2021051894-A), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamaguchi (JP-2017111913-A; a machine translation is attached and referenced below).
Regarding claim 3, Kubota in view of Hitz, Sato, and Kakiuchi does not teach wherein the power storage device further comprises a pressing member that presses the power storage module against the bottom wall, wherein the pressing member includes an upstream-side pressing portion that presses an upstream-side end portion of the upstream-side stack in the flow direction against the bottom wall, and a downstream-side pressing portion that presses a downstream-side end portion of the downstream-side stack in the flow direction against the bottom wall, and the downstream-side pressing portion presses the downstream-side end portion of the downstream-side stack against the bottom wall such that the downstream-side thermally conductive portion becomes smaller in thickness than the upstream-side thermally conductive portion.
Yamaguchi teaches a power storage device (100, Figs. 1 and 2, [0017]) comprising: a power storage module (2, Fig. 2, [0017]) including a plurality of power storage cells (10, Fig. 2, [0019]) arranged side by side in one direction (X direction in Fig. 2); a case (1, Fig. 2, [0017]) that accommodates the power storage module (100); a thermally conductive material (3, Fig. 2, [0017]) disposed between a lower surface of the power storage module (2) and the case (1), wherein the case (1) has a bottom wall (1s) disposed below the power storage module; the thermally conductive material (3) gradually changes thickness in the one direction (has a smaller thickness by second end 2b than first end 2c, see Fig. 2); wherein the power storage device (100) comprises a pressing member (4, Figs. 1 and 2, [0019]) that presses the power storage module (2) against the bottom wall (1s) ([0031]), wherein the pressing member (4) includes a first pressing portion (right side of Fig. 2) that presses a first end portion (2c) of the power storage cells (10) against the bottom wall (1s), and a second pressing portion (left side of Fig. 2) that presses a second end portion (2b) of the power storage cells (10) against the bottom wall (1s), and the second pressing portion presses the second end portion (2b) of the power storage cells (10) against the bottom wall (1s) such that the thermally conductive material (3) becomes smaller in thickness than under the second end portion (2b) than under the first end portion (2c) (Fig. 2).
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 power storage device of Kubota in view of Hitz, Sato, and Kakiuchi by adding a pressing member that presses the power storage module against the bottom wall, wherein the pressing member includes an upstream-side pressing portion that presses an upstream-side end portion of the upstream-side stack in the flow direction against the bottom wall, and a downstream-side pressing portion that presses a downstream-side end portion of the downstream-side stack in the flow direction against the bottom wall, and the downstream-side pressing portion presses the downstream-side end portion of the downstream-side stack against the bottom wall such that the downstream-side thermally conductive portion becomes smaller in thickness than the upstream-side thermally conductive portion because Yamaguchi teaches that using a pressing portion to fix the stack to the bottom wall of this housing in the manner improves the thermal contact between the thermally conductive material and the power storage cells ([0007]).
Regarding claim 4, Kubota in view of Hitz, Sato, Kakiuchi, and Yamaguchi teaches (see Yamaguchi) wherein
the upstream-side pressing portion (4 on right side of Fig. 2) includes an upstream-side bracket (4 on right side of Fig. 2) that serves to attach the upstream-side stack to the case (1) (end portion 2c of power storage module 2 in Yamaguchi corresponds to the upstream-side stack of Kubota in view of Hitz, Sato, Kakiuchi, and Yamaguchi because the thermally conductive material 3 is thicker in this portion), a first upstream-side fastening member (24, Fig. 1, [0039]) that fastens the upstream-side bracket (4) to the upstream-side stack (2c), and a second upstream-side fastening member (5, Fig. 2, [0020]) that fastens the upstream-side bracket (4) to the case (1), and
the downstream-side pressing portion (4 on left side of Fig. 2) includes a downstream-side bracket (4 on left side of Fig. 2) that serves to attach the downstream-side stack to the case (1) (end portion 2b of power storage module 2 in Yamaguchi corresponds to the upstream-side stack of Kubota in view of Hitz, Sato, Kakiuchi, and Yamaguchi because the thermally conductive material 3 is thinner in this portion), a first downstream-side fastening member (24, Fig. 1, [0039]) that fastens the downstream-side bracket (4) to the downstream-side stack (2b), and a second downstream-side fastening member (5, Fig. 2, [0020]) that fastens the downstream-side bracket (4) to the case (1).
Kubota in view of Hitz, Sato, Kakiuchi, and Yamaguchi meets wherein a dimension between the downstream-side bracket and the case is larger than a dimension between the upstream-side bracket and the case, the dimension between the downstream-side bracket and the case is a dimension in a state before the intermediate plate is placed on the protrusion, the downstream-side bracket is fixed to the downstream-side stack by the first downstream-side fastening member, and the downstream-side bracket is fixed to the case by the second downstream-side fastening member, and the dimension between the upstream-side bracket and the case is a dimension in a state before the intermediate plate is placed on the protrusion, the upstream-side bracket is fixed to the upstream-side stack by the first upstream-side fastening member, and the upstream-side bracket is fixed to the case by the second upstream-side fastening member (the prior art is capable of meeting this product-by-process limitation because either the upstream-side bracket or the downstream side bracket can be attached to the case first, see Yamaguchi [0049]).
Conclusion
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/C.C.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723