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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 3/23/2026 has been entered.
This office action addresses pending claims 1-11 and 16. Claims 1 and 10-11 were amended and claim 16 was added in the response filed 3/23/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-11 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 recites “a thin metallic layer…not required by the battery cell to generated the electric power” in lines 9-10. However, the specification does not provide support for such a limitation.
Claim 1 recites “the thin metallic layer being directly disposed on an outer circumferential surface of the battery cell” in lines 10-11. However, the specification does not provide for the thin metallic layer being directly disposed on the battery cell. Instead, the specification states “a relatively thin sheet 122…of a material, such as metal…covering the battery core that is covered by the electrical and thermal insulation layer 108” in published paragraph [0037]. That is, there is a layer of electrical and thermal insulation 108 between the battery cell and the thin metallic layer, and therefore the specification does not provide support for the thin metallic layer directly disposed on the battery cell.
Claims 2-11 and 16 are rejected for being dependent thereon.
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) 1-11 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rastegar (US 2018/0013152) in view of Rastegar (US 2017/0040919, herein referred to as Rastegar ‘619) and Meng et al. (CN 109873241, see machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Rastegar discloses a thermal battery comprising: a casing 102, a battery core (cell) 104 disposed in the casing 102, and a heat supply 112 having a pyrotechnic material 114 inside a flattened tube 116 which is separate from the battery core 104 and surrounds said battery core ([0031]-[0033], Figs 1A-2). The cell includes an anode, an electrolyte, and a cathode ([0008]).
While Rastegar does not explicitly disclose a pair of electric leads extending from the casing and electrically connected to the following, Rastegar incorporates by reference US 2017/0040619 by Rastegar ‘619. Rastegar ‘619 discloses a thermal battery comprising a case 102 with a stack of cells 108 disposed therein, and also a pair of electrical terminals 118 which extend from the top cover 104 of the case 102 and electrically connect, by way of leads 120 to each side of the stack of cells 108 ([0049], Fig 1).
As the electrical terminals and leads allow for electrical connect with the contained battery and as load, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the electrical terminals and leads of Rastegar ‘619 with the thermal battery of Rastegar for the purpose of enabling electric connection of the battery to a load.
Modified Rastegar does not explicitly disclose a thin metallic layer separate from the battery cell and not required by the battery cell to generate the electric power, the thin metallic layer being directly disposed on the an outer circumferential surface of the battery cell, and the thin metallic layer being disposed between the battery cell and portions of the outer circumferential surface of the battery cell surrounded by the heat generating pyrotechnic material for increasing a uniformity of heat distribution from the heat generating pyrotechnic material to the battery cell.
Meng discloses a thermally activated storage battery (page 2 of translation) wherein the thermal battery 13 comprises an outer shell 4 and a core including a plurality of anode sheets 9, membranes 10, and negative plates 11 (page 3-4, Figs 1-2). Between the core to the outer shell 4 is an insulating layer 1, a shell internal heat conducting layer 2 [thin metallic layer], and an insulating layer 3 (page 3-4, Figs 1-2). That is, the shell internal heat conducting layer 2 disposed on an outer circumferential surface of the core battery cell. The shell internal heat conducting layer 2 includes a thermal conductive material such as a carbon fiber felt, graphite felt, or a metal foil [metallic layer] (page 2). The shell internal heat conducting layer 2 disperses the heat from the middle of the battery and allows for uniform distribution of the heat (pages 2-3).
it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the shell internal heat conducting layer 2 of a metal foil of the thermal battery of Meng with the thermal battery of Rastegar for the purpose of dispersing heat and allowing for uniform distribution of the heat.
In addition, because Meng teaches the shell internal heat conducting layer 2 is between insulating layers 1 and 3 and is to disperse heat and allow for uniform distribution of heat (pages 2-3), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to position the shell internal heat conducting layer between the first insulating layer 108 and heat supply 112/pyrotechnic material 114 for the purpose of uniformly distributing the heat.
Regarding claim 2, modified Rastegar discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Rastegar teaches pyrotechnic material 114 (heat generating pyrotechnic material) is disposed in a flattened tube 116a having a flat cross-section where at least two sides are substantially parallel (Fig 1b), and the flattened tube being spirally wound to form a shape corresponding to a complimentary shape of at least a portion of the battery cell (Figs 1c-d, [0022]).
Regarding claim 3, modified Rastegar discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Rastegar teaches the shape is one or more of a cylindrical shape (Fig 1c) and a flat shape (Fig 1d, and see [0022]).
Regarding claim 4, modified Rastegar discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Rastegar does not explicitly disclose the material of the pyrotechnic material, and therefore does not explicitly disclose the material is selected from the group consisting of Zr/BaCRO6, Fe/KClO4 and Al/Fe2O3.
However, Rastegar ‘619 teaches the heat generating pyrotechnic material can be selected from the group consisting of Zr/BaCRO6, Fe/KClO4 and Al/Fe2O3 ([0035]).
As Rastegar incorporates by reference Rastegar ‘619 and Rastegar is silent to the particular material, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select a pyrotechnic material as taught by Rastegar ‘619 (including Zr/BaCRO6, Fe/KClO4 and Al/Fe2O3) as the pyrotechnic material of Rastegar for the purpose of obtaining the benefits of a heat generating pyrotechnic material that is suitable for use in a thermal battery.
Regarding claim 5, modified Rastegar discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Rastegar further teaches thermal insulation 106 (insulation material layer) between the heat generating pyrotechnic material 112/114/116 and the casing 102 ([0029], Fig 2).
Regarding claim 6, modified Rastegar discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Rastegar teaches a thermal insulation 106/108 on both sides of the heat supply 112 having the pyrotechnic material (Fig 2), and Meng discloses the shell internal heat conducting layer 2 [thin metallic layer] between insulating layers 1 and 3 (Figs 1-2) and teaches that insulation allows for uniformly distributing heat before transferring heat to the next layer (page 3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add insulation with both sides of the internal heat conducting layer [thin metallic layer], and thereby have insulation between the thin metallic layer and the heat generating pyrotechnic material of modified Rastegar for the purpose of allowing for uniformly distributing heat before transferring heat to the next layer.
Regarding claims 7-9, modified Rastegar discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. As seen in Figure 2 of Rastegar, a piezoelectric stack 110 may be provided as an inertial starter disposed in the case for at least activating the thermal battery ([0029]), is disposed in a recess within the battery core 104 (Fig 2), and is disposed coincident with a central axis of the battery cell (Fig 2).
Regarding claim 10, modified Rastegar discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. The battery core 104 is made of a stack of cells ([0009]), and the cells include an anode, an electrolyte, and a cathode ([0008]).
Regarding claim 11, modified Rastegar discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Meng further teaches that the metal foil can be copper or aluminum (page 2).
Regarding claim 16, modified Rastegar discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. However, modified Rastegar does not explicitly disclose wherein the thin metallic layer has a thickness of 0.254 to 0.508 mm.
However, as the size and thickness of the thin metallic layer affects the battery core volume [capacity] for a given size of a battery (within increasing thickness/size reducing the battery core volume and thereby reducing capacity), the precise thickness of a metallic layer for uniformly distributing heat would have been considered by one of ordinary skill in the art a result effective variable (see [0036] of Rastegar). As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to optimize, by routine experimentation, the thickness of the material of high thermal conductivity [thin metallic layer] (including in the range of 0.254 to 0.508 mm) of Rastegar modified by Meng to obtain the desired balance between heat uniformity and battery core volume (which relates to battery capacity).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB BUCHANAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1186. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00 PM (ET).
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/JACOB BUCHANAN/Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/NICOLE M. BUIE-HATCHER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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