DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In view of the appeal brief filed on 12/23/2025, PROSECUTION IS HEREBY REOPENED. New grounds of rejection are set forth below.
To avoid abandonment of the application, appellant must exercise one of the following two options:
(1) file a reply under 37 CFR 1.111 (if this Office action is non-final) or a reply under 37 CFR 1.113 (if this Office action is final); or,
(2) initiate a new appeal by filing a notice of appeal under 37 CFR 41.31 followed by an appeal brief under 37 CFR 41.37. The previously paid notice of appeal fee and appeal brief fee can be applied to the new appeal. If, however, the appeal fees set forth in 37 CFR 41.20 have been increased since they were previously paid, then appellant must pay the difference between the increased fees and the amount previously paid.
A Supervisory Patent Examiner (SPE) has approved of reopening prosecution by signing below:
/SUSAN D LEONG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1754
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) 1-2 and 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Foreign Publication JP2001313079A (supplied by applicant, used previously attached machine translation), hereafter Higashimoto, in view of Published Application US20050287428A1 (supplied by applicant), hereafter Cheon.
Regarding claim 1, Higashimoto discloses:
A secondary battery ([0009], Fig 8) comprising:
an electrode winding body (21) having a structure in which a strip-shaped positive electrode (22, Fig 7, [0024]) and a strip-shaped negative electrode (23, Fig 7, [0024]) are stacked with a separator (27) interposed therebetween and wound (see Fig 7), a positive electrode collector plate, and a negative electrode collector plate ([0017] Fig 8, flange portion 7 of each of positive terminal 1a and negative terminal 1b is welded and electrically connected to lead pieces 9 just as the presently claimed first negative electrode active material non-covered portion and positive electrode active material non-covered portions are joined to their respective current collector plates) are housed in a battery can (5),
the strip-shaped positive electrode having a positive electrode active material covering portion covered with a positive electrode active material layer (26) and a positive electrode active material non-covered portion (25, 9) on a strip-shaped positive electrode foil ([0011] Fig 3, mixture layer 26 coated on aluminum foil, except for uncoated side edge portion 25),
the strip-shaped negative electrode having a negative electrode active material covering portion covered with a negative electrode active material layer (26) and a first negative electrode active material non-covered portion (25, 9) on a strip-shaped negative electrode foil ([0013] Fig 3, mixture layer 26 coated on rolled copper foil except for uncoated side edge 25),
the positive electrode active material non-covered portion (9) being joined to the positive electrode current collector plate (7) at one end portion of the electrode winding body ([0017], Fig 8, lead pieces 9 welded to flange portion 7 formed on positive terminal 1a),
the first negative electrode active material non- covered portion (9) being joined to the negative electrode current collector plate (7) at an other end portion of the electrode winding body ([0017], Fig 8, lead pieces 9 welded to flange portion 7 formed on negative terminal 1b),
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the electrode winding body (21) having a flat surface (see annotated Fig 8) formed by bending any one or both of the positive electrode active material non-covered portion (9) and the first negative electrode active material non-covered portion (9) and overlapping the wound structure with both of the positive electrode active material non-covered portion (9) and the first negative electrode active material non-covered portion (9) with the electrode assembly on opposite ends (Fig 8, [0017] lead pieces 9 gathered into bundle, bent, and deformed, then brought into contact with flange portion 7),
the strip-shaped negative electrode having a second negative electrode active material non-covered portion (24) at an end portion on a winding start side in a longitudinal direction (Fig 4, [0013] uncoated portions 24 on both winding start and winding end sides), and
a portion of the negative electrode active material covered portion where a boundary line between the first negative electrode active material non-covered portion and the negative electrode active material covered portion and a boundary line between the second negative electrode active material non-covered portion and the negative electrode active material covered portion intersect having a round shape (see annotated Fig 4, corner of coating is rounded shape; Figs 1, 2 – coating edges are rounded when formed, and thus are also rounded at the corners where the edges meet).
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Higashimoto is silent on one or both of the positive and first negative electrode active material non-covered portions being bent specifically toward a central axis of the wound structure, and a groove being formed in the flat surface.
In the analogous art of secondary batteries, Cheon discloses one or both of the positive and first negative electrode active material non-covered portions being bent specifically toward a central axis of the wound structure (Fig 1, [0047] uncoated regions 22b and 23b are bent toward the center of the electrode assembly in order to minimize contact resistance between the un-coated regions and the current collecting plates), and a groove being formed in the flat surface (see annotated Fig 1, space between bent uncoated regions 22b forms a spiral groove).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention, to modify the invention of Higashimoto to bend the un-coated electrode portions toward the central axis of the wound structure in order to minimize contact resistance between the un-coated regions and the current collecting plates, as suggested by Cheon ([0047]). After modification of Higashimoto by Cheon, and since the flat surface is formed of the bent and overlapping non-coated portions of the wound electrodes, a spiral groove would also necessarily be formed in the flat surface formed by bent and overlapping non-coated portions of spirally wound electrode layers as shown in annotated figure 1 of Cheon.
Regarding claim 2, Higashimoto further discloses wherein the negative electrode further includes a third negative electrode active material non-covered portion (24) at an end portion on a winding end side in the longitudinal direction (see annotated Fig 4, [0013] uncoated portions 24 on both winding start and winding end sides of the negative electrode).
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Regarding claim 5, Higashimoto further discloses the use of the secondary battery in an electronic device ([0002] used in portable devices and electric vehicles)
Regarding claim 6, Higashimoto discloses the use of secondary batteries in portable devices ([0002]).
Higashimoto is silent on the portable device being a power tool.
Cheon discloses the use of a secondary battery in a power tool ([0063] cordless vacuum cleaners).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention, to use the secondary battery of the combination of Higashimoto and Cheon in a power tool as disclosed by Cheon, since all of the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art (MPEP 2143 (I) (A)).
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Foreign Publication JP2001313079A (supplied by applicant, used previously attached machine translation), hereafter Higashimoto, in view of Published Application US20050287428A1 (supplied by applicant), hereafter Cheon, as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Published Application US20240250311A1, hereafter Zheng.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Higashimoto and Cheon is silent on wherein the negative electrode has, on the winding end side, a region where the negative electrode active material layer is formed only on one main surface.
In the analogous art of secondary batteries, Zheng discloses wherein the negative electrode has, on the winding end side, a region where the negative electrode active material layer is formed only on one main surface ([0037] first electrode and second electrode are of opposite polarity but each can be either positive or negative; Fig 4, [0039] first electrode first surface includes uncoated region of current collector 403 covered instead with insulating layer 406 without first active material disposed at end/outside of jelly roll; Fig 4, [0056] includes 2 straight portions 407, 408 and 2 bent portions 409, 410).
Zheng further discloses that the active material formed on one surface at the winding end side of the electrode current collector with an included insulating layer enhances safety by reducing the chance of a short circuit from the penetration of the battery ([0072]). Further, one skilled in the art would have understood, as Zheng appears to, that adding the insulating layer onto the external active material layer rather than onto a bare surface of the current collector would needlessly reduce the energy density of the cell, since the covered active material would take up space in the casing but would not contribute to the cell reaction, reducing efficiency.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention, to modify the combination of Higashimoto and Cheon to include a region on the winding end side of the negative electrode where the negative electrode active material layer is formed only on one main surface with an additional insulating layer as disclosed by Zheng, in order to enhance the safety of the battery by reducing the chance of a short circuit from the penetration of the battery, as suggested by Zheng ([0037], [0072]).
Regarding claim 4, Zheng further discloses wherein the region is three-quarters or more of the circumference and five-quarters or less of the circumference of the electrode winding body ([0039] first electrode first surface includes uncoated region without first active material disposed at end of jelly roll, includes 2 straight portions 407, 408 and 2 bent portions 409, 410 representing four quarters of the jelly roll circumference (see fig 4); [0042] can further include 3rd bent portion, which corresponds to four-five quarters of the circumference of the jelly roll, which lies inside the claimed range of three-quarters to five-quarters of the circumference of the electrode winding body).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/23 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments regarding claim 1’s limitation of “a material covered portion where a boundary line between the first negative electrode active material non-covered portion and the negative electrode active material covered portion and a boundary line between the second negative electrode active material non-covered portion and the negative electrode active material covered portion intersect having a round shape” and the references of Hong and Yamaguchi are moot in view of the new rejection of claim 1, which states above that this limitation is actually covered by the primary reference, Higashimoto, shown in annotated Fig 4 above and Figs 1 and 2 which show the rounded edges of the coating.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY HEMINGWAY whose telephone number is (571)272-0235. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 6-4.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Susan Leong can be reached at (571) 270-1487. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/T.G.H./Examiner, Art Unit 1754
/SUSAN D LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1754
Prosecution Insights