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 .
Response to Arguments
This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed on 1/21/2026. Claims 19 is new. Claims 1-19 are pending. Applicant’s arguments have been considered and are persuasive. Claims 1-19 are finally rejected for reasons stated herein below.
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.
Claims 1-6, 9-11, 14, 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2020/0303728) in view of Maruoka (US 2011/0165445).
Regarding claims 1, 14, Kim discloses a lithium-ion battery and an electronic device, comprising a battery cell, an electrolytic solution, and a packaging film; wherein the battery cell is formed by winding a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate, the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate are separated by a separator [0088].
Regarding claim 10, a positive active material of the positive electrode plate is at least one selected from the group consisting of lithium cobalt oxide, lithium manganese oxide, lithium iron phosphate, lithium nickel oxide, lithium nickel cobalt oxide, and lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide [0066].
Regarding claim 11, the separator is at least one selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyvinylidene difluoride [0075].
Regarding claim 19, wherein the silicon-based material comprises at least one of nano-silicon, a silicon-carbon composite material, or a silicon alloy material [0054].
Regarding claim 1, the negative electrode plate comprises a silicon-based material, and, 420 mAh/cm3 < g x a < 2300 mAh/cm3 (2), wherein a is a capacity per unit volume of the negative electrode plate and wherein, 619 mAh/cm3 < a < 3620 mAh/cm3, regarding claim 2, 420 mAh/cm3 < g x a < 2000 mAh/cm3, regarding claim 3, 420 mAh/cm3 < g X a < 1500 mAh/cm3, regarding claim 4, 620 mAh/cm3 < g X a < 2300 mAh/cm3, regarding claim 5, 920 mAh/cm3 < g x a < 2000 mAh/cm3, Kim discloses a negative active material that includes: a composite including lithium, graphite and SiO through free charging lithium ions to graphite and SiO instead of forming a separate layer on a negative electrode active material layer, a movement of overall negative electrode voltage is accompanied, and a design is changed depending on a lithiation (precharge) degree, and as a result, changes in the overall performance of a cell may be made [0009]. A negative electrode active material layer is formed by coating active material slurry including graphite and silicon oxide (SiO) on a negative electrode current collector [0054]. In Example 1, active material slurry mixing an active material that mixed graphite and silicon oxide (SiO) in 70% by weight:30% by weight, a conductor (Super P), a binder (SBR BM480B) and an additive (CMC Daicel 2200). The slurry was coated on the negative electrode current collector through wet coating, and the result was dried to prepare a negative electrode active material layer having a thickness of 150 μm [0092]. After that, lithium metal was thermal evaporated on the negative electrode active material layer to a thickness of 1 μm [0093]. Capacity per unit volume: 2068 mAh/cm3 [0096]. (Applicant’s “a”)
Regarding claim 6, the silicon-based material comprises at least one of nano-silicon, oxide of silicon, a silicon-carbon composite material, or a silicon alloy material [0053].
Regarding claim 9, the oxide of silicon is SiOx, wherein 0.6 <x <2 [0053].
Regarding claim 1, Kim does not disclose the lithium-ion battery is half-charged to obtain a half-charged full battery, and the half-charged full battery is stripped of the packaging film to obtain a half-charged cell; wherein,
0.4<g< 0.96 (1), wherein w1 is a width of the half-charged full battery, w2 is a width of the half-charged cell, and g = w2/w1, it is noted that when g is less than 1, there is a gap between the battery cell and the cell packaging. Regarding claim 17, Kim does not disclose 0.4<g< 0.89. Regarding claim 18, Kim does not disclose 0.4<g< 0.89.
Maruoka teaches the use of the positive electrode controlled to have the predetermined tensile strength and tensile extension to constitute a flat electrode group allows the positive and negative electrodes to stretch together, thereby alleviating the occurrence of the buckling in the electrode group. However, stretch of the electrode group in a short side direction is limited by inner surfaces of long sides of the battery case. Therefore, the electrode group in which the stress is alleviated stretches in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, when a sufficient gap is not provided between the longitudinal ends of the electrode group and the inner surfaces of the short sides of the battery case, the expanded electrode group meets the inner surface of the battery case, and pressure may be applied to the battery case from the inside. In this case, the battery case may expand in the short side direction in which the strength of the battery case is low [0033]. Table 3 shows a relationship between the gap between the electrode group and the battery case and an amount of expansion of the battery case with the predetermined tensile strength and tensile extension [0034]. In Table 3, the term "gap in the case" indicates the size of a gap S between a longitudinal end of the electrode group 1 and an inner surface of a short side of the rectangular battery case 4 as shown in FIG. 2. The term "amount of expansion" indicates, as shown in FIG. 2, increase in thickness W of the battery case 4 in the short side direction after the charge/discharge cycles [0035].
[0039] The following relationship has found between the gap in the case and the amount of expansion. Specifically, with the tensile strength and the tensile extension of the positive electrode controlled to 15 N/cm or lower, and 3% or higher, respectively, the occurrence of the buckling in the electrode group can be alleviated even after the charge/discharge cycles, without break of the positive electrode. As a result, the electrode group stretches in the longitudinal direction. In this case, when the gap in the case is set to 0.25 mm or larger, (in Batteries 11-13), the electrode group does not meet the battery case even when the electrode group stretches in the longitudinal direction, and the battery case does not expand. However, when the gap in the case is set to 0.20 mm or smaller (Battery 14), the electrode group stretched in the longitudinal direction meet the battery case, and the battery case expands.
[0041] The phenomenon that the electrode group stretches in the longitudinal direction presumably depends on the tensile extension of the positive electrode. As an index of the expansion of the battery case due to the stretch of the electrode group, value A obtained from the following equation is determined.
[0048] When a material whose volume greatly varies due to charge/discharge is used as the negative electrode active material (e.g., silicon, a silicon-containing material, etc.), the volumetric expansion of the negative electrode active material is about twice as large as that of graphite. Therefore, in this case, the battery preferably meets the condition (iii) S>1/4(L x a).
Given the broad ranges of Applicant’s 0.4<g< 0.96 in claims 1 and 14 and 0.4<g< 0.89 in claims 17 and 18, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to leave some gap should the cell of Kim modified by Maruoka be half-charged because when there is no gap after being half-charged, the cell would risk buckling when it is fully charged. It would lead a g value of less than 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to adjust the amount of gap between the pre-lithiated electrode group and the and casing of Kim, in view of Muraoka, so that when the cell of Kim modified by Maruoka should be half-charged, the cell would be expanded in the longitudinal direction, and there would be enough room in the longitudinal direction for battery expansion to avoid buckling of the electrode group when fully charged, while reducing the expansion on the short side direction. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to avoid too large of a gap S because it would lead to inefficient void space in the battery casing that would be prone to cause the electrode group to shift upon external impact.
Given the broad range of Applicant’s 0.4<g< 0.96 in claims 1 and 14, Applicant’s range of 420 mAh/cm3 < g x a < 2300 mAh/cm3 would have been obvious in light of Muraoka.
Claims 7, 8, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2020/0303728) in view of Maruoka (US 2011/0165445) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Mah (US 2009/0169994).
Regarding claim 7, 16, Kim discloses the silicon-based material is granular [0092], but does not disclose an average particle diameter thereof is 500 nm to 30 um.
Mah teaches an anode material and a battery that includes the anode material. The anode material is obtained such that, after mixing fine Si particles; fine Si particles and carbon for electrical conductivity; or fine Si particles and carbon precursors, which are used as anode materials, with a silicon oxide precursor, composite particles for anode material are manufactured by annealing the resultant mixture, and then, the composite particles are mixed or coated with carbon; or particles that can form an alloy with lithium [0049].
If Si is only used as the anode material, mechanical failure of the anode occurs due to contraction and expansion of Si during charging and discharging, and if silicon oxide is only used as the anode material, high charge and discharge capacity cannot be obtained. The composite for anode material according to an example of the present invention has large charge and discharge capacity and has improved capacity retention [0050].
The Si particles in the silicon oxide particles may have a diameter in a range of 0.01 to 5 um. If the diameter of the Si particles is smaller than the above range, when a surface oxidation reaction of the Si particles occurs in the atmosphere, an amount of SiO.sub.2 at the surfaces of the Si particles is increased relatively with respect to Si core materials, and thus, the fraction of the active material is reduced, and also, it is difficult to distinguish the Si particles from Si particles generated during annealing silicon oxide of a SiOx group. If the diameter of the Si particles is greater than the above range, the contraction and expansion of the Si particles is increased excessively, and thus, silicon oxide can hardly resist to the contraction and expansion [0054].
The oxygen bonding in silicon oxide particles performs as a combining agent in contraction and expansion of Si, and uniformly mixed carbon particles perform as a good conductive path, and thus, the composite for anode material has high efficiency and capacity. Such composite particle for anode material may have a diameter of 0.1 to 50 .mu.m, and an electrode can be readily formed in this range of diameter [0056].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to adjust the particle size of the silicon oxide and graphite composite of Kim, as taught by Mah, for the benefit of being able to readily form an electrode.
Regarding claim 8, Kim ‘728 does not disclose the nano-silicon is granular, and an average particle diameter thereof is less than 100 nm, Mah teaches it is known that pure silicon has a theoretical capacity of as high as 4017 mAh/g [0007]. If Si is only used as the anode material, mechanical failure of the anode occurs due to contraction and expansion of Si during charging and discharging, and if silicon oxide is only used as the anode material, high charge and discharge capacity cannot be obtained. The composite for anode material according to an example of the present invention has large charge and discharge capacity and has improved capacity retention [0050].
Mah teaches the Si particles in the silicon oxide particles may have a diameter in a range of 0.01 to 5 um. If the diameter of the Si particles is smaller than the above range, when a surface oxidation reaction of the Si particles occurs in the atmosphere, an amount of SiO.sub.2 at the surfaces of the Si particles is increased relatively with respect to Si core materials, and thus, the fraction of the active material is reduced, and also, it is difficult to distinguish the Si particles from Si particles generated during annealing silicon oxide of a SiOx group. If the diameter of the Si particles is greater than the above range, the contraction and expansion of the Si particles is increased excessively, and thus, silicon oxide can hardly resist to the contraction and expansion [0054].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Si nanoparticles to the silicon and graphite composite of Kim and adjust the amount of the silicon nanoparticles, as taught by Mah, for the benefit of having high capacity.
Claims 12, 13, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2020/0303728) in view of Maruoka (US 2011/0165445) as applied to claim 1 or 14, further in view of Lee (US 2007/0264535).
Kim modified by Maruoka does not teach the limitations of claims 12, 13, and 15.
Regarding claim 12, Lee teaches the packaging film is an aluminum plastic film [0027]. Lee teaches a high-strength laminate sheet includes an outer coating layer made of polymer film, a barrier layer made of metal foil, and an inner sealant layer made of a polyolefin-based material, the metal foil of the barrier layer being aluminum alloy [0027].
[0028] In the high-strength laminate sheet, the metal foil serves to prevent the introduction or the leakage of matter and, in addition, to increase the strength of the battery case. Consequently, the metal foil provides high strength together with the outer coating layer or the resin layer additionally applied to the outer surface of the outer coating layer.
[0029] The pointed piercing force means a piercing force measured according to an FTMS 101C method. The battery case made of the conventional laminate sheet has a pointed piercing force of approximately 5.0 kgf, whereas the battery case according to the present invention has a pointed piercing force of at least 6.5 kgf, preferably 6.5 to 10.9 kgf, more preferably 7.0 to 8.5 kgf. The above-specified range of the pointed piercing force may be a range to secure the safety of the battery against the damage to the battery due to various pointed members when using the battery.
[0030] The barrier layer, which contributes to the increase of the strength, has a thickness of 20 to 150 um. When the thickness of the barrier layer is too small, it is difficult to expect the prevention of the matter from being introduced or leaking and the increase of the strength. When the thickness of the barrier layer is too large, on the other hand, the processing efficiency of the barrier layer is decreased, and the thickness of the laminate sheet is increased.
[0031] The aluminum alloy constituting the barrier layer has various different strengths depending upon components of the alloy. For example, the aluminum alloy may be, but is not limited to, alloy Nos. 8079, 1N30, 8021, 3003, 3004, 3005, 3104, and 3105. These alloys may be used individually or in a combination of two or more alloys. Preferably, alloy Nos. 8079, 1N30, 8021, and 3004 is used as the metal foil of the barrier layer.
[0032] Preferably, the polymer film of the outer coating layer has a thickness of 5 to 40 um. When the thickness of the polymer film is too small, the polymer film cannot provide desired strength. When the thickness of the polymer film is too large, on the other hand, the thickness of the laminate sheet is increased. According to the present invention, the polymer film of the outer coating layer may be made of PEN or oriented nylon film.
[0035] Preferably, the inner sealant layer is made of cast polypropylene (CPP) and has a thickness of 20 to 150 um.
[0036] The laminate sheet having the above-described structure has very excellent strength, and therefore, the laminate sheet in itself provides physical properties required for the battery pack, i.e., high tensile strength, impact strength, and durability, without using additional pack sheathing members.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to use the laminate sheet as the packaging film of Kim modified by Maruoka for the benefit of forming the battery with a strong packaging material.
Regarding claim 13, 15, the packaging film possesses a thickness of 67 to 153 um and a tensile strength of 4 to 10 N/mm, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to adjust the thickness of each layer, and hence the tensile strength of the packaging film of Lee for the benefit of providing good strength without being too thick.
Response to Arguments
Arguments filed 1/21/2026 are addressed below:
Applicant asserts the combination of Kim in view of Maruoka teaches away from the claimed range of “g”.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. It is noted that Maruoka’s value of 34 is a pre-lithiated value of the electrode group, and hence cannot be used to read on Applicant’s limitation “width of the half-charged cell”.
Further, although Kim discloses that excessive lithium injection causes significant volume expansion, Maruoka teaches that sufficient gap S provides for room longitudinally to prevent buckling of the electrode group. See [0037] and Table 3. When a sufficient gap is not provided between the longitudinal ends of the electrode group and the inner surfaces of the short sides of the battery case, the expanded electrode group meets the inner surface of the battery case, and pressure may be applied to the battery case from the inside. In this case, the battery case may expand in the short side direction in which the strength of the battery case is low [0033].
Given the broad ranges of Applicant’s 0.4<g< 0.96 in claims 1 and 14 and 0.4<g< 0.89 in claims 17 and 18, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to leave some gap should the cell of Kim modified by Maruoka be half-charged because when there is no gap after being half-charged, the cell would risk buckling when it is fully charged. It would lead a g value of less than 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to adjust the amount of gap between the pre-lithiated electrode group and the and casing of Kim, in view of Muraoka, so that when the cell of Kim modified by Maruoka should be half-charged, the cell would be expanded in the longitudinal direction, and there would be enough room in the longitudinal direction for battery expansion to avoid buckling of the electrode group when fully charged, while reducing the expansion on the short side direction. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to avoid too large of a gap S because it would lead to inefficient void space in the battery casing that would be prone to cause the electrode group to shift upon external impact.
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 CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO WALLS whose telephone number is (571)272-8699. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F until 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Leong can be reached at 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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/CYNTHIA K WALLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751