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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on January 30, 2026 was filed after the mailing date of the Advisory Action on December 18, 2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The Request for Continued Examination filed on January 30, 2026 in response to the Advisory Action mailed on December 18, 2025 have been received. Amendments filed on December 5, 2025 have been entered. Independent claims 1 and 17 have been amended. Claims 21 and 22 have been added. Claims 1-4, 6-19, 21 and 22 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Claims 1 and 17 rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schaefer, T. (US 20140014376 A1).
Applicant argues (see p. 7-8) that Schaefer fails to teach or suggest at least the aforementioned feature of claims 1 and 17 of a "super-absorbent material including silicon, oxygen and hydrogen". The remaining references fail to cure the teaching deficiencies of Schaefer.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 7 and 8, filed on December 5, 2025, with respect to independent claims 1 and 17 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejection of claims 1 and 17 has been withdrawn.
Because of the direct or indirect dependency of claims 12, 13 and 16 on claim 1, the 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejections applied to these claims have been withdrawn. Because of the direct or indirect dependency of claims 2-4, 6-11, 14 and 15 on claim 1, the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections applied to these claims have been withdrawn.
Because of the direct or indirect dependency of claims 18 and 19 on claim 17, the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections applied to these claims have been withdrawn.
Upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Schaefer, T. (US 20140014376 A1) and Taniuchi, T. and Ohta, M. (WO 2019187939 A1, see machine translation for citation).
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 non-obviousness.
Claims 1, 6, 12, 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schaefer, T. (US 20140014376 A1) and Taniuchi, T. and Ohta, M. (WO 2019187939 A1, see machine translation for citation).
Regarding claim 1, Schaefer teaches embodiments of an electrochemical energy store (electronic apparatus) designed in order to prevent and/or fight fire, particularly when it is used in vehicles transporting passengers [0001]. The electrochemical energy store (electronic apparatus) comprises electrochemical cells (2) inside a housing (1) [0047 and Fig. 1]. In a preferential embodiment is taught that water is used as the coolant, whereby the coolant flows through the coolant circuit which remains closed during the normal operation of the energy store and is designed such that the water can be released from the closed coolant circuit at specific locations in case of a fire and be mixed with an extinguishing agent additive upon exiting the coolant circuit (the feature having at least one opening permitting ingress of a liquid is inferred from this teaching) [0032 and 0047].
The electrochemical energy store (electronics apparatus) is provided with intermediate elements (protection device) between each two respective adjacent electrochemical cells (2) (electronics component) or between an electrochemical cell and a housing (1) wall, wherein said intermediate elements consist of an extinguishing agent or comprises an extinguishing agent additive. The extinguishing agent for this invention is preferentially a gelling agent based on super-absorbents and it is preferred to be used together with water (coolant), which it can absorb or contain several times its volume (absorbing the liquid upon contact) [0007, 0011, 0021, 0028 and Fig. 2].
Schaefer further teaches extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device), which can be disposed on the inner side of a housing (1) wall (7 and 8), on the base of the housing (9), between electrochemical cells (10 and 13) and at the cell edges (15-17) [0066-0068, 0071, 0073 and Fig. 7]. Gelling agents are preferential examples of extinguishing agent additives based preferably on so-called super-absorbents and preferably provided as powder or solid material or also as emulsions. Super-absorbents can often absorb many times their weight or volume in water or other carrier substance (expand) [0011, 0021 and claim 24]. From this description and because the extinguishing agent can be mixed with water or other carrier substance, as explained above, the feature “the super-absorbent material is provided in at least one absorption element having a geometric shaped body and arranged in the housing device in at least one space among spaces including a space between a housing wall and the at least one electronics component, or a space between at least two adjacent electronics components among the at least one electronics component”, is met. Because the extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device) surrounds the electrochemical cells they are able to “expand to at least partially surround the at least one electronics component when the liquid is permitted to ingress into the housing device and is absorbed by the super-absorbent material”.
In addition, electrical connections (3-6) are provided on the embodiments of Fig. 1-7, from which can be understand that the extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device) are not meant to be electrically conductive. From this description the feature about the super-absorbent material configured to absorb the liquid upon contact being “electrically insulate when wet”, can be considered met.
Schaefer does not teach where the super-absorbent material includes “silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen”.
Taniuchi teaches a solid-state battery module including a plurality of solid-state batteries and module constituent members, which can be employed on vehicles [0029 and 0108]. The plurality of solid-state batteries being arranged so as to be approximately parallel to a predetermined direction, the battery case having a recess, and the module components being arranged in the recess [0029]. On Fig. 6a-b is shown an embodiment of a solid state battery provided with an expansion material between a solid state battery cell and a battery case. According to the embodiment of the present invention, an expansion material (120) is disposed between the battery cell (102) and the battery case (103) (surrounds the cell) [0095]. The expanding material is not particularly limited but is preferably one whose volume expands due to water absorption or a chemical reaction such as polymerization, or whose volume changes due to heat [0096]. The material that expands in volume when it absorbs water is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include zeolite and silica gel (which includes silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen) [0098]. The expansion material absorbs the mixed water and expands in volume, so that the battery case and the battery cell are tightly attached to each other, surface pressure is applied to the solid-state battery and the moisture content inside the solid-state battery is reduced almost completely [0097].
If silica gel taught by Taniuchi is employed as part of the extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device) super-absorbents taught by Schaefer, the limitation where the super-absorbent material includes “silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen” is met.
Schaefer and Taniuchi are analogous art to the current invention because they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely an electronics apparatus for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one electronics component; and a housing device having at least one opening to permit ingress of a liquid into the housing device, and a protection device to absorb the liquid, the protection device integrated into the housing device and including super-absorbent material which expand to at least partially surround the at least one electronics component when the liquid is permitted to ingress into the housing device and is absorbed by the super-absorbent material.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the super-absorbent material of Schaefer to include “silicon, oxygen and hydrogen”, because Taniuchi teaches the employment of silica gel as an expandable material which is capable of absorbs the mixed water and expands in volume, so that the battery case and the battery cell are tightly attached to each other, surface pressure is applied to the solid-state battery and the moisture content inside the solid-state battery is reduced almost completely.
Regarding claim 6, Schaefer and Taniuchi teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1. Schaefer further teaches that its intermediate elements (protection devices) are preferably designed in the form of spacers or edge protection plates [0007].
Regarding claim 12, Schaefer and Taniuchi teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1. As discussed for claim 1, Schaefer teaches that its extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device) which comprises the super-absorbent material provided in a space between a housing wall and the at least one electronics component or between two electronic components [0066-0068, 0071, 0073 and Fig. 7].
Regarding claim 13, Schaefer and Taniuchi teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 12. Schaefer further teaches that its intermediate elements (protection devices) are preferably designed in the form of spacers or edge protection plates [0007].
Regarding claim 16, Schaefer and Taniuchi teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1. Schaefer teaches electrochemical energy store (electronics apparatus) embodiments designed in order to prevent and/or fight fire, particularly when the energy stores are used in vehicles transporting passengers [0001]. The electrochemical energy store (electronics apparatus) comprises a plurality of electrochemical cells (2) (electronics component) arranged in a housing (1) (battery housing). The electrochemical cells (2) (electronics component) are all part of the battery arrangement [0047].
Claims 2, 3 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schaefer, T. (US 20140014376 A1) and Taniuchi, T. and Ohta, M. (WO 2019187939 A1, see machine translation for citation) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of De Roche, J. (EP 3466494 A1, see machine translation for citation).
Regarding claims 2, 3 and 10, Schaefer and Taniuchi teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1 (claims 2, 3 and 10 depends on it), except the electronic apparatus “further comprising a monitor that monitors a temperature of the at least one electronics component and generates a control signal requesting the liquid when a specified temperature is exceeded” (claim 2) and “wherein the electronics apparatus is in a motor vehicle, and wherein a liquid storage device in the motor vehicle provides the liquid to the electronics apparatus, the liquid storage device having a reservoir holding the liquid and a provision mechanism actuated by the control signal to provide the liquid from the reservoir to the housing device via the at least one opening” (claims 3 and 10).
Regarding claim 2, De Roche teaches a battery module (1) comprising housing (3) in which a battery pack having a plurality of batteries (2) is accommodated (electronics apparatus analogous) [0015]. The battery module (1) further comprises a control unit (10) and a sensor (5) (which can be a temperature sensor) connected thereto, which is arranged in the housing (3) and monitors the battery state with respect to a possible danger situation. The control unit (10) is set up here in such a way that, in the event of a danger, it actuates a valve (9) of the extinguishing device (12) in order to allow extinguishing medium to flow into the housing (3) [0018, 0019 and Fig. 1]. The feature “generates a control signal requesting the liquid when a specified temperature is exceeded” can be inferred from the monitoring process where the selected sensor is a temperature sensor.
Regarding claims 3 and 10, De Roche further teaches that the battery housing (3) comprises an extinguishing agent connection (7), to which an extinguishing device (12) (liquid storage device) with an extinguishing agent container (8) is connected. As soon as a dangerous state has been detected (i.e., specified temperature is exceeded), the control unit (10) first controls the separating device (4), as a result of which the supply lines (11) are separated. As a result, it is prevented that energy is still supplied to the batteries (2) and still overheat it more strongly. At the same time or thereafter, the valve (9) of the extinguishing device (12) (liquid storage device) is actuated so that extinguishing agent can flow out of the extinguishing agent container (8) into the housing (3) [0015 and 0022].
The feature “a liquid storage device in the motor vehicle” is inferred from Schaefer teachings about a cooling circuit as stated for claim 1.
It is taught that with the implementation of the referenced monitoring system (comprising the features of claim 2, 3 and 10), is possible to prepare a battery module which is substantially better protected from fire when overcharging and/or overheating events occur, being capable of extinguish a fire within seconds [0001, 0002 and 0022].
De Roche is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely an electronics apparatus comprising: at least one electronics component; and a housing device having, at least one opening to permit ingress of a liquid into the housing device.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronics apparatus of Schaefer and Taniuchi to include the feature: “further comprising a monitor that monitors a temperature of the at least one electronics component and generates a control signal requesting the liquid when a specified temperature is exceeded” (claim 2) and “wherein the electronics apparatus is in a motor vehicle, and wherein a liquid storage device in the motor vehicle provides the liquid to the electronics apparatus, the liquid storage device having a reservoir holding the liquid and a provision mechanism actuated by the control signal to provide the liquid from the reservoir to the housing device via the at least one opening” (claims 3 and 10), because De Roche teaches that with the implementation of the referenced monitoring system, is possible to prepare a battery module which is substantially better protected from fire when overcharging and/or overheating events occur, being capable of extinguish a fire within seconds.
Claims 4 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schaefer T. (US 20140014376 A1) in view of Taniuchi, T. and Ohta, M. (WO 2019187939 A1, see machine translation for citation) and De Roche, J. (EP 3466494 A1, see machine translation for citation) as applied to claim 3 and 10 above, further in view of Oh et al. (US 20190097288 A1).
Regarding claims 4 and 11, Schaefer, Taniuchi and De Roche teach all the elements of the current invention in claims 3 (claim 4 depends on it) and 10 (claim 11 depends on it), except “wherein the liquid storage device holds one of windshield wiper solution provided to a windshield wiper cooling liquid provided to a cooling liquid system” (claims 4 and 11).
Oh teaches a battery cooling system for a vehicle including a battery module (300), a liquid unit supply (500) and an injection unit (700) connected to the liquid unit supply (500), which supplies liquid to the battery module (300) [0040 and Fig. 2]. The battery module (300) can comprise a plurality of batteries inside [0041]. The liquid stored on the liquid unit supply (500) may be a coolant or a washer fluid which is used for cleaning a windshield (150) [0042].
Despite the taught battery cooling system of Oh does not enters inside the battery module (300), its liquid supply unit (500) being a cooling or windshield cleaning fluid storage device can be applied to the teachings of Schaefer and Taniuchi.
Oh is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely an electronics apparatus for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one electronics component; and a housing device, which provides liquid to the battery module from a liquid storage device in the motor vehicle, which may be a cooling or a washer fluid which is used for cleaning a windshield reservoir.
It is taught that with the cooling system described by Oh, unlike the conventional system, in which the air conditioner or the cooling module is operated to cool the battery module so the consumed power is 1 to 4 kW, in the present disclosure, since the battery module can be cooled by only operating the pump, it is possible to sufficiently cool the battery module by only about 10 W consumed by the pump, whereby the mileage of the electric vehicle can be increased [0058].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronics apparatus of Schaefer, Taniuchi and De Roche to include the feature: “wherein the liquid storage device holds one of windshield wiper solution provided to a windshield wiper cooling liquid provided to a cooling liquid system (claims 4 and 11)”, because Oh teaches a battery cooling system comprising this feature and that by its cooling system it is possible to sufficiently cool the battery module employing only 10 W consumed by the pump, improving therefore the electric vehicle mileage, without adding a special reservoir for battery cooling activities .
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schaefer T. (US 20140014376 A1) in view of Taniuchi, T. and Ohta, M. (WO 2019187939 A1, see machine translation for citation) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Yen, W. (US 20170166716 A1) evidenced by Evonik (SIPERNAT® 50 S, see NPL documents for citation).
Regarding claims 7 and 8, Schaefer and Taniuchi teach all the elements of the current intention in claim 1, except wherein the geometric shaped body has one of a porous structure and a perforated structure” (claim 7) and “wherein the geometric shaped body has a plurality of flow ducts transporting the liquid in one of different layers of the geometric shaped body and completely through the geometric shaped body” (claim 8).
Regarding claim 7, Yen teaches a microporous sheet (protection device/geometric shaped body) comprising a thermoplastic polymer, a superabsorbent polymer, and a mixing agent, which may be employed as a battery separator, among other applications [0003 and 0011]. When the microporous sheet is exposed to a polar or ion-containing solvent, the superabsorbent polymer particles absorb the solvent and swell (analogous to the super-absorbent materials of claims 4-6) [0074 and Fig. 1-5]. As part of the materials used in the formation of the sheet product, silica Silica—Sipernat 50 S from Evonic is mentioned [0140]. Evonic (Evonik) evidence that Sipernat 50 S due to its high specific surface area can absorb moisture from the surrounding atmosphere [p. 2; Packaging and storage]. From the description above can be said that the microporous sheet (protection device/geometric shaped body) of Yen comprises a super-absorbent material including silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
Regarding claim 8, Yen further teaches in Fig. 1-5 a microporous sheet (protection device /geometric shaped body) comprising a thermoplastic polymer, a superabsorbent polymer, and a mixing agent, which may be employed as a battery separator, among other applications [0003 and 0011]. As part of the materials used in the formation of the sheet product, silica Silica—Sipernat 50 S from Evonic is mentioned [0140]. Evonic (Evonik) evidence that Sipernat 50 S due to its high specific surface area can absorb moisture from the surrounding atmosphere [p. 2; Packaging and storage]. From the description above can be said that the microporous sheet (protection device/geometric shaped body) of Yen comprises a super-absorbent material including silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
The microporous sheet (protection device /geometric shaped body) comprises a plurality of flow ducts capable of transporting a liquid across the material. In addition, the microporous material can be a multilayer sheet (101) comprising an inner layer (103) and a pair of outer layers (105) and (107). Inner layer (105) may be identical in composition to microporous sheet product (51). Outer layers (105) and (107) may be identical to one another and may differ from inner layer (107) only in that outer layers (105) and (107) do not include a super-absorbent polymer. Outer layers (105) and (107) may be microporous [0129]. On Example 3, is presented a triple layer porous structure, where the outer layers are the same. It is taught inner layer of the structure absorbs electrolyte readily, allowing facile diffusion through the microporous outer layers (transporting the liquid in one of different layers of the geometric shaped body and completely through the geometric shaped body).
It is taught by Yen, that microporous sheets (protection device/geometric shaped body) can be employed in a wide variety of situations where microporous structures may be utilized. Because the smaller pore sizes of the membrane create higher capillary action, it results on a higher liquid retention. The microporous sheet not only comprises small pores, but it also has the ability to absorb and to store liquid in the created interstices within the super-absorbent material (par. 0126 and 0134). These characteristics can be highly valuable for fire prevention and/or response systems applied to electric vehicle’s battery modules.
Yen is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely a protection device capable of absorb a liquid, comprising a super-absorbent material including silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device/geometric shaped body) of Schaefer and Taniuchi to include the features: “wherein the geometric shaped body has one of a porous structure and a perforated structure” (claim 7) and “wherein the geometric shaped body has a plurality of flow ducts transporting the liquid in one of different layers of the geometric shaped body and completely through the geometric shaped body” (claim 8), because Yen teaches that microporous sheets can be employed in a wide variety of situations where microporous structures may be utilized. Because the smaller pore sizes of the membrane create higher capillary action, it results on a higher liquid retention. The microporous sheet not only comprises small pores, but it also has the ability to absorb and to store liquid in the created interstices within the super-absorbent material. These characteristics can be highly valuable for fire prevention and/or response systems applied to electric vehicle’s battery modules.
Regarding claim 9, Schaefer, Taniuchi, Yen and Evonik teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 8. Schaefer teaches electrochemical energy store (electronics apparatus) embodiments designed in order to prevent and/or fight fire, particularly when the energy stores are used in vehicles transporting passengers [0001]. The electrochemical energy store (electronics apparatus) comprises a plurality of electrochemical cells (2) (electronics component) arranged in a housing (1) (battery housing). The electrochemical cells (2) (electronics component) are all part of the battery arrangement [0047].
Claims 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schaefer T. (US 20140014376 A1) in view of Taniuchi, T. and Ohta, M. (WO 2019187939 A1, see machine translation for citation) as applied to claim 12 above, further in view of Yen, W. (US 20170166716 A1) evidenced by Evonik (SIPERNAT® 50 S, see NPL documents for citation).
Regarding claims 14 and 15, Schaefer and Taniuchi teach all the elements of the current intention in claim 12, except wherein the geometric shaped body has one of a porous structure and a perforated structure” (claim 14) and “wherein the geometric shaped body has a plurality of flow ducts transporting the liquid in one of different layers of the geometric shaped body and completely through the geometric shaped body” (claim 15).
Regarding claim 14, Yen teaches a microporous sheet (protection device/geometric shaped body) comprising a thermoplastic polymer, a superabsorbent polymer, and a mixing agent, which may be employed as a battery separator, among other applications [0003 and 0011]. When the microporous sheet is exposed to a polar or ion-containing solvent, the superabsorbent polymer particles absorb the solvent and swell (analogous to the super-absorbent materials of claims 4-6) [0074 and Fig. 1-5]. As part of the materials used in the formation of the sheet product, silica Silica—Sipernat 50 S from Evonic is mentioned [0140]. Evonic (Evonik) evidence that Sipernat 50 S due to its high specific surface area can absorb moisture from the surrounding atmosphere [p. 2; Packaging and storage]. From the description above can be said that the microporous sheet (protection device/geometric shaped body) of Yen comprises a super-absorbent material including silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
Regarding claim 15, Yen further teaches in Fig. 1-5 a microporous sheet (protection device /geometric shaped body) comprising a thermoplastic polymer, a superabsorbent polymer, and a mixing agent, which may be employed as a battery separator, among other applications [0003 and 0011]. As part of the materials used in the formation of the sheet product, silica Silica—Sipernat 50 S from Evonic is mentioned [0140]. Evonic (Evonik) evidence that Sipernat 50 S due to its high specific surface area can absorb moisture from the surrounding atmosphere [p. 2; Packaging and storage]. From the description above can be said that the microporous sheet (protection device/geometric shaped body) of Yen comprises a super-absorbent material including silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
The microporous sheet (protection device /geometric shaped body) comprises a plurality of flow ducts capable of transporting a liquid across the material. In addition, the microporous material can be a multilayer sheet (101) comprising an inner layer (103) and a pair of outer layers (105) and (107). Inner layer (105) may be identical in composition to microporous sheet product (51). Outer layers (105) and (107) may be identical to one another and may differ from inner layer (107) only in that outer layers (105) and (107) do not include a super-absorbent polymer. Outer layers (105) and (107) may be microporous [0129]. On Example 3, is presented a triple layer porous structure, where the outer layers are the same. It is taught inner layer of the structure absorbs electrolyte readily, allowing facile diffusion through the microporous outer layers (transporting the liquid in one of different layers of the geometric shaped body and completely through the geometric shaped body).
It is taught by Yen, that microporous sheets (protection device/geometric shaped body) can be employed in a wide variety of situations where microporous structures may be utilized. Because the smaller pore sizes of the membrane create higher capillary action, it results on a higher liquid retention. The microporous sheet not only comprises small pores, but it also has the ability to absorb and to store liquid in the created interstices within the super-absorbent material (par. 0126 and 0134). These characteristics can be highly valuable for fire prevention and/or response systems applied to electric vehicle’s battery modules.
Yen is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely a protection device capable of absorb a liquid, comprising a super-absorbent material including silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device/geometric shaped body) of Schaefer and Taniuchi to include the features: “wherein the geometric shaped body has one of a porous structure and a perforated structure” (claim 14) and “wherein the geometric shaped body has a plurality of flow ducts transporting the liquid in one of different layers of the geometric shaped body and completely through the geometric shaped body” (claim 15), because Yen teaches that microporous sheets can be employed in a wide variety of situations where microporous structures may be utilized. Because the smaller pore sizes of the membrane create higher capillary action, it results on a higher liquid retention. The microporous sheet not only comprises small pores, but it also has the ability to absorb and to store liquid in the created interstices within the super-absorbent material. These characteristics can be highly valuable for fire prevention and/or response systems applied to electric vehicle’s battery modules.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schaefer, T. (US 20140014376 A1) and Taniuchi, T. and Ohta, M. (WO 2019187939 A1, see machine translation for citation).
Regarding claim 17, Schaefer teaches embodiments of an electrochemical energy store (electronic apparatus) designed in order to prevent and/or fight fire, particularly when it is used in vehicles transporting passengers [0001]. The electrochemical energy store (electronic apparatus) comprises electrochemical cells (2) inside a housing (1) [0047 and Fig. 1]. In a preferential embodiment is taught that water is used as the coolant, whereby the coolant flows through the coolant circuit which remains closed during the normal operation of the energy store and is designed such that the water can be released from the closed coolant circuit at specific locations in case of a fire and be mixed with an extinguishing agent additive upon exiting the coolant circuit (the feature having at least one opening permitting ingress of a liquid is inferred from this teaching) [0032 and 0047]. The feature “a motor vehicle, comprising: a liquid storage device storing a liquid” is inferred from Schaefer teachings about a cooling circuit.
The electrochemical energy store (electronics apparatus) is provided with intermediate elements (protection device) between each two respective adjacent electrochemical cells (2) (electronics component) or between an electrochemical cell and a housing (1) wall, wherein said intermediate elements consist of an extinguishing agent or comprises an extinguishing agent additive. The extinguishing agent for this invention is preferentially a gelling agent based on super-absorbents and it is preferred to be used together with water (coolant), which it can absorb or contain several times its volume (absorbing the liquid upon contact) [0007, 0011, 0021, 0028 and Fig. 2].
Schaefer further teaches extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device), which can be disposed on the inner side of a housing (1) wall (7 and 8), on the base of the housing (9), between electrochemical cells (10 and 13) and at the cell edges (15-17) [0066-0068, 0071, 0073 and Fig. 7]. Gelling agents are preferential examples of extinguishing agent additives based preferably on so-called super-absorbents and preferably provided as powder or solid material or also as emulsions. Super-absorbents can often absorb many times their weight or volume in water or other carrier substance (expand) [0011, 0021 and claim 24]. From this description and because the extinguishing agent can be mixed with water or other carrier substance, as explained above, the feature “the super-absorbent material is provided in at least one absorption element having a geometric shaped body and arranged in the housing device in at least one space among spaces including a space between a housing wall and the at least one electronics component, or a space between at least two adjacent electronics components among the at least one electronics component”, is met. Because the extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device) surrounds the electrochemical cells they are able to “expand to at least partially surround the at least one electronics component when the liquid is permitted to ingress into the housing device and is absorbed by the super-absorbent material”.
In addition, electrical connections (3-6) are provided on the embodiments of Fig. 1-7, from which can be understand that the extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device) are not meant to be electrically conductive. From this description the feature about the super-absorbent material configured to absorb the liquid upon contact being “electrically insulate when wet”, can be considered met.
Schaefer does not teach where the super-absorbent material includes “silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen”.
Taniuchi teaches a solid-state battery module including a plurality of solid-state batteries and module constituent members, which can be employed on vehicles [0029 and 0108]. The plurality of solid-state batteries being arranged so as to be approximately parallel to a predetermined direction, the battery case having a recess, and the module components being arranged in the recess [0029]. On Fig. 6a-b is shown an embodiment of a solid state battery provided with an expansion material between a solid state battery cell and a battery case. According to the embodiment of the present invention, an expansion material (120) is disposed between the battery cell (102) and the battery case (103) (surrounds the cell) [0095]. The expanding material is not particularly limited but is preferably one whose volume expands due to water absorption or a chemical reaction such as polymerization, or whose volume changes due to heat [0096]. The material that expands in volume when it absorbs water is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include zeolite and silica gel (which includes silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen) [0098]. The expansion material absorbs the mixed water and expands in volume, so that the battery case and the battery cell are tightly attached to each other, surface pressure is applied to the solid-state battery and the moisture content inside the solid-state battery is reduced almost completely [0097].
If silica gel taught by Taniuchi is employed as part of the extinguishing agents or extinguishing agent additives (7-10, 13 and 15-17) (protection device) super-absorbents taught by Schaefer, the limitation where the super-absorbent material includes “silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen” is met.
Schaefer is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely a motor vehicle comprising a liquid storage device storing a liquid; an electronics apparatus, comprising at least one electronics component; and a housing device having at least one opening to permit ingress of a liquid into the housing device, and a protection device to absorb the liquid, the protection device integrated into the housing device and including super-absorbent material which expand to at least partially surround the at least one electronics component when the liquid is permitted to ingress into the housing device and is absorbed by the super-absorbent material. In the same way Taniuchi is analogous art because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor stated above, with exception of the “liquid storage device storing a liquid”.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the super-absorbent material of Schaefer to include “silicon, oxygen and hydrogen”, because Taniuchi teaches the employment of silica gel as an expandable material which is capable of absorbs the mixed water and expands in volume, so that the battery case and the battery cell are tightly attached to each other, surface pressure is applied to the solid-state battery and the moisture content inside the solid-state battery is reduced almost completely.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schaefer, T. (US 20140014376 A1) and Taniuchi, T. and Ohta, M. (WO 2019187939 A1, see machine translation for citation) as applied to claim 17 above, further in view of De Roche, J. (EP 3466494 A1, see machine translation for citation).
Regarding claim 18, Schaefer and Taniuchi teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 17, except the electronic apparatus “further comprising a monitor that to monitor a temperature of the at least one electronics component and generate a control signal requesting the liquid to pass on via the at least one opening into the housing device when a specified temperature is exceeded, and wherein the liquid storage device has a reservoir holding to hold the liquid and a provision mechanism actuated by the control signal to provide the liquid from the reservoir to the housing device via the at least one opening”.
De Roche teaches a battery module (1) comprising housing (3) in which a battery pack having a plurality of batteries (2) is accommodated (electronics apparatus analogous) [0015]. The battery module (1) further comprises a control unit (10) and a sensor (5) (which can be a temperature sensor) connected thereto, which is arranged in the housing (3) and monitors the battery state with respect to a possible danger situation. The control unit (10) is set up here in such a way that, in the event of a danger, it actuates a valve (9) of the extinguishing device (12) in order to allow extinguishing medium to flow into the housing (3) [0018, 0019 and Fig. 1]. The feature “generates a control signal requesting the liquid when a specified temperature is exceeded” can be inferred from the monitoring process where the selected sensor is a temperature sensor.
De Roche further teaches that the battery housing (3) comprises an extinguishing agent connection (7), to which an extinguishing device (12) (liquid storage device) with an extinguishing agent container (8) is connected. As soon as a dangerous state has been detected (i.e., specified temperature is exceeded), the control unit (10) first controls the separating device (4), as a result of which the supply lines (11) are separated. As a result, it is prevented that energy is still supplied to the batteries (2) and still overheat it more strongly. At the same time or thereafter, the valve (9) of the extinguishing device (12) (liquid storage device) is actuated so that extinguishing agent can flow out of the extinguishing agent container (8) into the housing (3) [0015 and 0022].
The feature “a liquid storage device in the motor vehicle” is inferred from Schaefer teachings about a cooling circuit as stated for claim 17.
It is taught that with the implementation of the referenced monitoring system (comprising the features of claim 18), is possible to prepare a battery module which is substantially better protected from fire when overcharging and/or overheating events occur, being capable of extinguish a fire within seconds [0001, 0002 and 0022].
De Roche is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely an electronics apparatus comprising: at least one electronics component; and a housing device having, at least one opening to permit ingress of a liquid into the housing device.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronics apparatus of Schaefer and Taniuchi to include the feature: “further comprising a monitor that monitors a temperature of the at least one electronics component and generates a control signal requesting the liquid when a specified temperature is exceeded and wherein the electronics apparatus is in a motor vehicle, and wherein a liquid storage device in the motor vehicle provides the liquid to the electronics apparatus, the liquid storage device having a reservoir holding the liquid and a provision mechanism actuated by the control signal to provide the liquid from the reservoir to the housing device via the at least one opening”, because De Roche teaches that with the implementation of the referenced monitoring system, is possible to prepare a battery module which is substantially better protected from fire when overcharging and/or overheating events occur, being capable of extinguish a fire within seconds.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schaefer T. (US 20140014376 A1) in view of Taniuchi, T. and Ohta, M. (WO 2019187939 A1, see machine translation for citation) and De Roche, J. (EP 3466494 A1, see machine translation for citation) as applied to claim 18 above, further in view of Oh et al. (US 20190097288 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Schaefer, Taniuchi and De Roche teach all the elements of the current invention in claims 18, except “wherein the liquid storage device holds one of windshield wiper solution provided to a windshield wiper cooling liquid provided to a cooling liquid system”.
Oh teaches a battery cooling system for a vehicle including a battery module (300), a liquid unit supply (500) and an injection unit (700) connected to the liquid unit supply (500), which supplies liquid to the battery module (300) [0040 and Fig. 2]. The battery module (300) can comprise a plurality of batteries inside [0041]. The liquid stored on the liquid unit supply (500) may be a coolant or a washer fluid which is used for cleaning a windshield (150) [0042].
Despite the taught battery cooling system of Oh does not enters inside the battery module (300), its liquid supply unit (500) being a cooling or windshield cleaning fluid storage device can be applied to the teachings of Schaefer and Taniuchi.
Oh is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely an electronics apparatus for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one electronics component; and a housing device, which provides liquid to the battery module from a liquid storage device in the motor vehicle, which may be a cooling or a washer fluid which is used for cleaning a windshield reservoir.
It is taught that with the cooling system described by Oh, unlike the conventional system, in which the air conditioner or the cooling module is operated to cool the battery module so the consumed power is 1 to 4 kW, in the present disclosure, since the battery module can be cooled by only operating the pump, it is possible to sufficiently cool the battery module by only about 10 W consumed by the pump, whereby the mileage of the electric vehicle can be increased [0058].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronics apparatus of Schaefer, Taniuchi and De Roche to include the feature: “wherein the liquid storage device holds one of windshield wiper solution provided to a windshield wiper cooling liquid provided to a cooling liquid system”, because Oh teaches a battery cooling system comprising this feature and that by its cooling system it is possible to sufficiently cool the battery module employing only 10 W consumed by the pump, improving therefore the electric vehicle mileage, without adding a special reservoir for battery cooling activities .
Claims 21 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schaefer T. (US 20140014376 A1) in view of Taniuchi, T. and Ohta, M. (WO 2019187939 A1, see machine translation for citation) as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, evidenced by Eng-Poh, N. and Svetlana, M. (Nanoporous materials with enhanced hydrophilicity and high water sorption capacity, see NPL documents for citation).
Regarding claims 21 and 22, Schaefer teaches all the elements of the current invention in claims 1 (21 depends on it) and 17 (22 depends on it) respectively. From claims 1 and 17, silica gel was taught as part of the super-absorbent material. Eng-Poh and Svetlana evidence that silica gel is made by polymerizing silicic acid, where some of the silanol (Si–OH) groups do not react and leave some uncondensed silanol (Si–OH) contributing to the hydrophilicity of silica gels [p. 6; 4.1 Silica gels]. From this evidence, it is possible to say that silica gel is a form of form of polymerized silicic acid, from which the claimed limitations are met.
Conclusion
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/G.R./Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/JAMES M ERWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725 03/10/2026