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 .
Status
This Office Action is in response to the Amendments and Arguments filed 16 March 2026. As directed by Applicant, claims 1-3, 7-9, 11-13, and 15-17 are amended. Claims 4-6 and 10 are cancelled. No claims are added. This is a Final Office Action.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “quick coupling devices configured for coupling” in claim 14; “an automatic control system for checking the quality of the welding” in claim 16.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. Here, the “system” for controlling quality is only described as being done by a camera (¶0020). And the “quick coupling device is of the “plug-in” type, for coupling with external electrical power (¶0095).
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
[Examiner’s note: Strikethrough indicates that the reference does not teach that limitation.]
Claims 1, 2, 3, 7 15, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hook (U.S. Patent 4,322,597) in view of Jeong (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/ 0021780) and Jung (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0321945).
Regarding claim 1, Hook discloses an apparatus for assembling battery cells (Fig. 8, element 10) or battery modules, wherein said battery cells or battery modules each comprise electrical terminals (13 and 14), which must be subjected to a welding operation, said apparatus comprising:
-a tool (Hook, fixture 20 + guide track + guide rails, fig. 8) for engaging and holding the battery cells or battery modules to be welded,
-a welding head (Hook, welding unit 91, fig. 9), carried by said tool and arranged to perform welding operations on the electrical terminals to be welded (Hook, abstract, “passes a welding current…to affect the weld”; column 6 lines 43-68, “an electrical circuit for the passage of welding current through the terminal connection is established by the welding electrode 106, link 16, terminal 14a (or 13a), one of the conductive electrodes (electrode 34 being shown for illustrative purposes), weld plate 40 and weld electrode 105”),
-wherein said tool and said welding head are controlled in such a way that the tool carries said battery cells or said battery modules into said at least one of the configuration or position suitable for performing the welding, and said tool maintains said battery cells or said battery modules in said at least one of the configuration or position during execution of the welding (Hook, column 6 lines 47-54, “The operative next slides the entire text fixture 20 into a guided track (FIG. 8) formed by the guide rails 101, 102, 103. The track may also include a suitable stop (not shown) for positioning the cell-holding fixture for proper lateral alignment with the welding electrodes 105, 106. These electrodes are carried by the welding arms 92, 92, which are vertically movable in order to bring the electrode 105 into contact with one of the welding plates 40, 41, and the electrode 106 into contact with one of the links 16 directly over the terminal to be welded.),
-said tool being configured in such a way that the welding head can operate to perform the welding while the tool maintains said battery cells or battery modules in said at least one of the configuration or position suitable for welding (Hook, column 6 lines 54-61, the fixture aligns and then welding takes place, and afterwards disengages in preparation for the next weld),
wherein said tool for engaging and holding the battery cells or the battery modules to be welded further comprises a bending tool configured to simultaneously bend one or more of the electrical terminals preliminarily to execution of the welding (Hook, “bending means”, column 2 lines 55-67, this was part of Hook and would be incorporated into the robots of Jeong to weld the batteries) ,
wherein said bending tool comprises a terminal-pressing bar configured to simultaneously bend the electrical terminals of a plurality of the battery cells located side-by- side, before the execution of the welding of the electrical terminals (Hook, horizontal part of 64, figs. 2 and 3, plurality of electrode terminals 13/14 are being bent by bars 60)),
.
However, Hook does not teach wherein “the tool can be moved along at least two axes for carrying and maintaining one or more of the battery cells or the battery modules in at least one of a configuration or position suitable for welding the electrical terminals of said battery cells or the battery modules to at least one of respective electrical connecting elements or welding said electrical terminals to each other, nor wherein said welding head is positioned so as to emit a welding beam passing through at least one opening defined by said terminal-pressing bar, in such a way that the welding head is configured to weld said electrical terminals, after the bending of the electrical terminals by said terminal-pressing bar, while the terminal-pressing bar holds the electrical terminals in a welding position.”
However, Jeong teaches that it is conventional wherein ““the tool can be moved along at least two axes for carrying and maintaining one or more of the battery cells or the battery modules in at least one of a configuration or position suitable for welding the electrical terminals of said battery cells or the battery modules to at least one of respective electrical connecting elements or welding said electrical terminals to each other” (Jeong, Abstract, Fig. 1, “recognize a workspace for assembling components as a virtual vision coordinate system using reference pins at one side as reference coordinates by using a camera which is operated on a frame in six axial directions by multiple linear rails and multiple motors, may create position coordinates of the components, a welder, and the like in the workspace, and may ensure accurate positions of the components and the welder in the workspace recognized by the camera by converting the accurate positions of the components and the welder into numerical values, that is, position coordinates of the vision coordinate system so that multiple hanger robots and one or more welding robots may accurately perform operations of holding the components, correcting the positions, coupling the components, and performing welding and product inspection.”). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Hook in view of Jeong, to have the battery be held by a fixture (i.e. robots) in a coordinate system to be able to weld the battery all around and to be able to achieve any configuration in holding the battery cells and in holding them together, in order to have a machine more versatile in performing welding, capable of holding the workpiece or battery in any orientation that may require welding, and it would be adaptable to different batteries, requiring different components to be held together, as well as to, with the computerized coordinate system, to make sure that all similar welds are performed exactly the same, in order to achieve, for quality assurance purposes, reproducible welds in such a tool system, controlling the orientation, movement and welding heads.
And while Hook in view of Jeong teaches all the limitations above, they do not further teach “wherein said welding head is positioned so as to emit a welding beam passing through at least one opening defined by said terminal-pressing bar, in such a way that the welding head is configured to weld said electrical terminals, after the bending of the electrical terminals by said terminal-pressing bar, while the terminal-pressing bar holds the electrical terminals in a welding position.”
However, Jung teaches welding head is positioned so as to emit a welding beam passing through at least one opening defined by said terminal-pressing bar, in such a way that the welding head is configured to weld said electrical terminals. (Jung, ¶0045, fig. 9, slit in 100, and slit between plates 111, pushing down on the cell leads 20). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Hook in view of Jeong, with the teachings of Jung, to have a slit in the pressing bar to have the laser light pass through it (modifying the pressing bar 60 of Hook) , in order to effect welding right when bending, rather than having the device travel to a further welding location, in order to expedite the welding process, and to take up less space, to have all the processes, the bending and the welding in the same location for a quicker, more efficient process.
Regarding claim 2, Hook in view of Jeong and Jung teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teaches wherein said welding head carried by said tool is configured to carry out the welding while remaining positioned adjacent to the guiding bar (Hook, fig. 9, the welding unit 91, it would be adjacent in combination).
Regarding claim 3, Hook in view of Jeong and Jung teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teaches wherein said welding head is configured to be movable integrally with said tool along said at least two axes, and said welding head is configured to at least one of move and/or oscillate along at least a third axis (In the combination above, the robots may be configured to move together and so the holding and the welding can move with each other in all directions, and this would have been obvious in the combination above).
Regarding claim 7, Hook in view of Jeong and Jung teach all the limitations of claim 6, as above, but do not further teach an apparatus wherein the terminal-pressing bar carries a guiding bar, oriented perpendicular to a first horizontal direction, the guiding bar arranged in a raised position and spaced apart from said terminal-pressing bar, said welding head being movably mounted on said guiding bar along a second horizontal direction. However, Jung further teaches a guiding bar (Jung, element 140, fig. 3), oriented perpendicular to a first horizontal direction, the guiding bar arranged in a raised position and spaced apart from said terminal-pressing bar (Jung, this refers to element 110 in this combination). In this way, the guiding bar keeps the laser connected to the guiding bar, and they are both able to move in a horizontal direction (Jung, fig. 1, direction ‘A’). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Hook in view of Jeong and Jung with a further teaching of Jung, to have a guiding bar arranged to help guide the welding head, as claimed, in order to keeps the laser connected to the guiding bar, and they are both able to move in a horizontal direction (Jung, fig. 1, direction ‘A’), to effectively be able to move the press and the laser in order to effect the welding on cells adjacent to each other in an efficient manner.
Regarding claim 15, Hook in view of Jeong and Jung teaches a method for assembling at least one of battery cells or battery modules together, wherein said battery cells or battery modules each comprise electrical terminals (Hook, abstract, terminals are welded together), which must be subjected to a welding operation, said method comprising:
-providing an apparatus according to claim 1 (Hook in view of Jeong and Jung, above),
-controlling said tool for engaging and holding the battery cells or the battery modules to be welded, along said at least two axes, in order to carry and maintain one or more of the battery cells or the battery modules in at least one of a configuration or position suitable for welding the electrical terminals of said battery cells or said battery modules to respective of at least one of electrical connecting elements or said electrical terminals to each other ((Jeong, Abstract, Fig. 1, “recognize a workspace for assembling components as a virtual vision coordinate system using reference pins at one side as reference coordinates by using a camera which is operated on a frame in six axial directions by multiple linear rails and multiple motors, may create position coordinates of the components, a welder, and the like in the workspace, and may ensure accurate positions of the components and the welder in the workspace recognized by the camera by converting the accurate positions of the components and the welder into numerical values, that is, position coordinates of the vision coordinate system so that multiple hanger robots and one or more welding robots may accurately perform operations of holding the components, correcting the positions, coupling the components, and performing welding and product inspection.”; It was for this precise teaching that Jeong was combined with Hook in claim 1, and this teaching would be applied to the method here to affect the weld in any position and the robots would be able to place the terminals in welding positions in different configurations.) ; and
-welding said electrical terminals by said welding head carried by said tool (Hook, Abstract, fig. 8, column 3 lines 27-29, welding the electrodes together) .
Regarding claim 18, Hook in view of Jeong and Jung teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further teaches an apparatus wherein the tool is configured to apply a pressure on the electrical terminals to be welded during the execution of the welding (Hook, column 6 lines 53-58 & 64, “These electrodes are carried by the welding arms 92, 92, which are vertically movable in order to bring the electrode 105 into contact with one of the welding plates 40, 41, and the electrode 106 into contact with one of the links 16 directly over the terminal to be welded…Following the application of the weld current, the arms are lifted… “; the welding arms bring the electrode into contact with one of the welding plate, and this invariably is done with some sort of applied force, thus this limitation is met).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hook (U.S. Patent 4,322,597) in view of Jeong (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/ 0021780) and Jung (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0321945) and further in view of Di Giacomo (U.S. Patent 4,164,310).
Regarding claim 8 , Hook in view of Jeong and Jung teach all the limitations of claim 7, as above, but do not further teach an apparatus wherein the bending tool further comprises a frame supporting said guiding bar, wherein the frame is connected to the bending tool so as to be movable integrally with the bending tool, along said first horizontal direction and along a vertical direction. However, Di Giacomo teaches a frame supporting said guiding bar, wherein the frame is connected to the bending tool so as to be movable integrally with the bending tool, along said first horizontal direction and along a vertical direction (Giacomo, fig. 2, the welding head with torches 600 and 601 may be moved in the horizontal, F direction, or vertical, E direction, along the torch carriage frame 250, and along rails 252, column 6 lines 33-42). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Hook in view of Jeong and Jung with the further teaching of Di Giacomo, to have a frame to set up the welding and to be able to move the device vertically or horizontally, in order to more efficiently and precisely, along rails and bars, place the welding head in order to efficiently weld the battery cells and to move the head into the place that it is most effective.
Claims 9 and16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hook (U.S. Patent 4,322,597) in view of Jeong (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/ 0021780) and Jung (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0321945 and further in view of Stecker (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/ 0402481)
Regarding claim 9, Hook in view of Jeong and Jung teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, but does not further teach an apparatus comprising a system for automatically controlling a quality of the welding carried out by the welding head comprising at least one thermal camera configured to check the quality of a weld bead in a welding area However, Stecker teaches a system of automatically controlling a quality of the welding carried out by a welding head and that quality control via cameras is conventional (Stecker, ¶0060, 0062, with cameras, “real time detection may function to monitor …potential process anomalies” ) and wherein the automatic control system comprises at least one thermal camera checking the weld bead (Stecker, ¶0059, “detector may be a thermal imaging cameras”). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Hook in view of Jeong and Jung with the teachings of Stecker, to monitor and control the welding head, to make sure that the weld is proper and effective, and to use a thermal camera to monitor the weld, to make sure that the heat extends to the appropriate places in the weld (and that a proper temperature is reached) in order to efficiently weld and monitor, in real time, so that defects do not arise later.
Regarding claim 16, Hook in view of Jeong teaches a method according to claim 1 for assembling at least one of battery cells or battery modules, wherein said battery cells or battery modules each comprise electrical terminals, which must be subjected to a welding operation, said comprising:
-providing [[an]] the apparatus (Hook in view of Jeong, see rejection of claim 1)
However, Hook in view of Jeong does not teach providing an apparatus “including an automatic control system for checking a quality of the welding carried out by the welding head (10), and
-controlling said automatic control system for automatically checking the quality of the welding, so as to analyze the quality of the welding carried out by the head, in real time, while the welding head proceeds welding the electrical terminals.
However, Stecker teaches an apparatus “including an automatic control system for checking a quality of the welding carried out by the welding head, and
-controlling said automatic control system for automatically checking the quality of the welding, so as to analyze the quality of the welding carried out by the head , in real time (¶0116, substantially in real time), while the welding head proceeds welding the electrical terminals (Stecker, ¶0011 “automatically altering the processing conditions”).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Hook in view of Jeong and Jung with the teachings of Stecker, to monitor and control the welding head, to make sure that the weld is proper and effective, in order to efficiently weld and monitor, in real time, so that defects do not arise later and any problem may be fixed quickly.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hook (U.S. Patent 4,322,597) in view of Jeong (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/ 0021780) and Jung (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0321945) and further in view of Stecker (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/ 0402481) Franz (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/ 0039046).
Regarding claim 11, Hook in view of Jeong and Stecker teaches all the limitations of claim 9, as above, but does not further teach an apparatus characterized in that said at least one thermal camera is configured to provide an image wherein a value of each pixel identifies a temperature of a respective spot of the welding area, so as to estimate the quality of the welding carried out. Stecker does use pixels to indicate the condition (¶0058), but he does not precisely teach that each pixel indicates a temperature to estimate the quality of the welding. However, Franz further teaches to wherein “each pixel or sensor element of the thermal imaging camera corresponds to such a temperature dependent value” (Franz, ¶0012). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Hook in view of Jeong and Stecker, with the teachings of Franz, to have pixels of an image identify a temperature so as to estimate the quality of the welding carried out, in order to better estimate the quality of the condition by looking at every pixel, to make sure that the proper heat has penetrated to weld so that efficient welding takes place and to reduce future defects.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hook (U.S. Patent 4,322,597) in view of Jeong (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/ 0021780) and Jung (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0321945) and further in view of Alborante (U.S. Patent 5,174,488) and Dearman (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/ 0210110).
Regarding claim 14, Hook in view of Jeong teaches all the limitations of claim 1, as above, but does not further teach an apparatus comprising a service system for at least one of an electrical or fluid supply to said apparatus, said apparatus is carried and positioned above a single equipped palletized platform, and the apparatus further comprising quick coupling devices, configured for coupling with the at least one electrical or fluid supply. However, Alborante teaches a quick connect for electrical or fluid supplies (Alborante, column 4 lines 23-27, “The clamping and welding devices are connected to respective electrical and pneumatic supplies in fixed positions in the working region, by quick coupling means at the moment when a given positioning frame 13 arrives in the operative position”). And this device may be movable and capable of working with a palletized platform, such as in Dearman (Dearman, figs. 2-3 welders on platform, claim 18, the welder on platform can be moved with a pallet truck). and the quick connect would make it easily usable and versatile in its readiness and application. Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Hook in view of Jeong and Jung, with the teachings of Alborante and Dearman, to have a quick connect for a fluid or electrical supply, so that the device may be easily hooked up to power, and also to be used with a palletized platform, so that it can be easily moved easily to a location for the next welding process.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12, 13 and 17 are allowed. Claims 12 and 17 are now independent claims.
Briefly, the claims have allowable subject matter because they claim, inter alia, the use of two thermal cameras mounted, aligned and used in a ways that are not obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 16 March 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Jeong does not teach or suggest that the “claim 1 tool can be moved along two axis for positioning the electrical terminals of battery cells or battery modules to be welded or the claim 1 welding head carried by the claim 1 tool” (Remarks, p. 11/17). However, the language of claim 1, not disclosed by Hook, requires that “the tool can be moved along at least two axes for carrying and maintaining one or more of the battery cells or the battery modules in at least one of a configuration or position suitable for welding the electrical terminals of said battery cells or the battery modules to at least one of respective electrical connecting elements or welding said electrical terminals to each other.” Now, within a broad reasonable interpretation of the claim, the entire mechanism holding the batteries is the “tool”, and thus, in combination with Jeong, the entire tool may be moved or controlled in at least two axis in order to position the entire device in the location of the laser or in the position required by the next processing step. It is not specifically required that the two dimensional movement actually positions the terminals in preparation for welding. Thus, the combination of Hook in view of Jeong is not taught away from, as applicant argues (Remarks, p. 12 of 17). While Jeong does suggest the ability to replace the fixtures and rails of the prior art with its coordinate system, Jeong may also be used to enhance the versatility of the prior art systems, moving the fixtures in three dimensions, in order to move the workpiece from station to station, and thus would be obvious to combine and take advantage of the benefits of a 3-dimensional system. And because of this interpretation, the argument that the combination would render the welder inoperative for its intended function is also therefore moot as well (Remarks, p. 13/17). Designing to holding the fixture and having it be able to move from station to station would not render it inoperable. Perhaps some redesign would be necessary to incorporate the combination, but that would be within the skill of someone having ordinary skill in the art.
Noi other independent arguments are made.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see previously attached form PTO-892.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 LAWRENCE H SAMUELS whose telephone number is (571)272-2683. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM M-F.
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/LAWRENCE H SAMUELS/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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