Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/5/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed on 2/5/2026. Claim 5 has been canceled. Claim 9 is added. Claims 1, 3, 4, 6-9 are pending. Applicant’s arguments have been considered. Claims 1, 3, 4, 6-9 are non-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, 3, 4, 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koshiba (US 2016/0197376) in view of Takahashi (US 2010/0028786), Kano (US 2016/0036026), and Ogawa (US 2011/0217596).
Regarding claim 1, Koshiba discloses a secondary battery comprising:
a positive electrode including a lithium-nickel composite oxide [0077];
a negative electrode including a lithium-titanium composite oxide [0031]; and
an electrolytic solution including a dinitrile compound and a carboxylic acid ester [0024, 0059].
Regarding claim 3, a lithium titanium composite oxide represented by formula (3) [0124].
Regarding claim 4, the dinitrile compound includes at least one of succinonitrile, glutaronitrile, or adiponitrile [0029], and
the carboxylic acid ester includes ethyl propionate, propyl propionate, or both [0060].
Regarding claim 6, further comprising a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, wherein the positive electrode and the negative electrode are alternately stacked with the separator interposed therebetween.
Regarding claim 7, further comprising an outer package member having flexibility and containing the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the electrolytic solution. It is noted that any material possesses some form of flexibility.
Regarding claim 9, wherein the dinitrile compound is succinonitrile [0056] and the carboxylic acid ester is one or both of ethyl propionate and propyl propionate [0060].
Regarding claim 1, Koshiba does not disclose a ratio of a number of moles of the dinitrile compound to a number of moles of the carboxylic acid ester is greater than or equal to 1 percent and less than or equal to 4 percent, a content of the carboxylic acid ester in the solvent is greater than or equal to 50 weight percent and less than or equal to 90 weight percent. Takahashi teaches it is possible to improve the safety against overcharging by making the non-aqueous carbonate-based solvent contain a carboxylic acid ester which is more resistant to charge and discharge than the solvent [0006]. Adding a carboxylic acid ester to a non-aqueous electrolyte improves overcharge characteristics, but reduces high-temperature cycle characteristics. The inventors of the present invention have examined the decrease in the high-temperature cycle characteristics caused when the non-aqueous electrolyte contains a carboxylic acid ester. As a result, they have found that the high-temperature cycle characteristics can be improved by combining a carboxylic acid ester with a nitrile compound. They have also found, however, that adding a nitrile compound to a non-aqueous electrolyte containing a carboxylic acid ester causes a substantial decrease in the shutdown response speed of the separator and in the overcharge characteristics after many repeated cycles at high temperatures [0015]. In view of this problem, the present invention has an object of providing a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery which has excellent battery characteristics such as high-temperature cycle characteristics, while maintaining the shutdown function of the separator and the overcharge characteristics after repeated cycles at high temperatures [0016]. The non-aqueous electrolyte containing an electrolyte salt, a nitrile compound, and a non-aqueous solvent containing a carboxylic acid ester [0021]. The non-aqueous solvent may contain 5 to 80% by mass of the carboxylic acid ester [0025]. Example 1 shows an electrolyte having 50 wt% carboxylic acid ester [0047] and Example 9 having 70 wt% carboxylic ester [0069].
Example 1 shows 1 part adiponitrile (ADPN) and 50 part trimethylacetate (MTMA) [0047]. ADPN has a molecular weight of 108 g/mol. MTMA has a molecular weight of 180 g/mol. The number of moles for ADPN is 1/108=0.009 mol. The number of moles for MTMA is 50/180=0.28mol. R2 = 0.009 mol ADPN/0.28 mol MTMA = 0.03, or 3 percent.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to add carboxylic acid ester in the electrolyte of Koshiba in the amount of, for example 50 wt%, and a ratio of a number of moles of the dinitrile compound to a number of moles of the carboxylic acid ester is greater than or equal to 1 percent and less than or equal to 4 percent, as taught be Takahashi, for the benefit of forming an electrolyte with high-temperature cycle characteristics.
Regarding claim 1, Koshiba does not disclose a ratio of a capacity per unit area of the positive electrode to a capacity per unit area of the negative electrode is greater than or equal to 100 percent and less than or equal to 120 percent. Kano teaches in a non-aqueous electrolyte battery that uses a negative electrode including an oxide of titanium and a positive electrode including a nickel-cobalt-manganese composite oxide including lithium, in which a ratio p/n of a capacity p of the positive electrode to a capacity n of the negative electrode falls within a range from 1.1 to 1.8, an upper limit of an operating potential of the positive electrode may be on the order of 3.9 V (vs. Li/Li.sup.+). As the result of research, it has been found that when such a nonaqueous electrolyte battery is used in a normal operating voltage range, an adequate protective film, specifically, an adequate passive film is not formed on the positive electrode current collector, and thus an oxidative decomposition reaction of a nonaqueous electrolyte at a surface of the positive electrode current collector is likely to proceed. Furthermore, for that reason, it has been found that the potential of the positive electrode needs to be increased to approximately 4.1 V to 4.2 V (vs. Li/Li.sup.+), in order to adequately form a passive film, for example, an AlF.sub.3 passive film on the positive electrode current collector including aluminum [0018]. In the nonaqueous electrolyte battery according to the first embodiment, the positive electrode includes a passive film formed by over-charge on the positive electrode current collector. This passive film is formed by over-charge, and is able to have a more sufficient thickness than that formed when the nonaqueous electrolyte battery is used in a normal operating voltage range. The presence of such a passive film allows the nonaqueous electrolyte battery according to the first embodiment to suppress oxidative decomposition of the nonaqueous electrolyte at the surface of the positive electrode current collector including aluminum. As a result, the nonaqueous electrolyte battery according to the first embodiment can exhibit excellent lifetime characteristics [0019]. Furthermore, the nonaqueous electrolyte battery that uses the negative electrode including an oxide of titanium and the positive electrode including a nickel-cobalt-manganese composite oxide including lithium, in which the ratio p/n of the capacity p of the positive electrode to the capacity n of the negative electrode falls within the range from 1.1 to 1.8, can exhibit a sufficiently low OCV [0020]. When the ratio p/n of the capacity p of the positive electrode to the capacity n of the negative electrode is less than 1.1, it becomes difficult to exhibit a sufficiently low OCV. On the other hand, when the ratio p/n exceeds 1.8, the charging condition, in which an adequate passive film is formed, corresponds to a region of excessive over-charge for a nonaqueous electrolyte battery, and adversely affects lifetime characteristics of the nonaqueous electrolyte battery [0022]. The capacity p of the positive electrode herein refers to a positive electrode charging capacity per unit area. The capacity n of the negative electrode refers to a negative electrode charging capacity per unit area [0023].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form Koshiba’s ratio of a positive electrode capacity per unit area to a negative electrode capacity per unit area between 1.1 to 1.8, as taught by Kano, for the benefit of forming a passivating layer of the cathode.
Regarding claim 1, the lithium-nickel composite oxide includes lithium, nickel, and another element as constituent elements, the other element being at least one of elements belonging to groups 2 to 15 in the long period periodic table of elements, excluding nickel, and a ratio of a number of moles of the nickel to a sum of the number of moles of the nickel and a number of moles of the other element is 80 percent or greater, Ogawa teaches a positive electrode material capable of storing and releasing lithium, in terms of realizing higher capacity, is a high-nickel-content lithium nickel composite oxide represented by LiNixM1-xO2 (where M is at least one element selected from groups 2 to 15 excluding Ni, and 0.5.<x<1.0).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form Koshiba’s positive active material of Ogawa for the benefit of forming a positive active material with high capacity.
Regarding claim 8, Koshiba modified by Takahashi, Kano and Ogawa teaches wherein the secondary battery comprises a lithium-ion secondary battery.
Response to Arguments
Arguments dated 2/5/2026 are addressed below:
Regarding claim 1, a ratio of a number of moles of the dinitrile compound to a number of moles of the carboxylic acid ester is greater than or equal to 1 percent and less than or equal to 4 percent, a content of the carboxylic acid ester in the solvent is greater than or equal to 50 weight percent and less than or equal to 90 weight percent, refer to Takahashi in the rejection above. Takahashi teaches in Example 1 shows 1 part adiponitrile (ADPN) and 50 part trimethylacetate (MTMA) [0047]. ADPN has a molecular weight of 108 g/mol. MTMA has a molecular weight of 180 g/mol. The number of moles for ADPN is 1/108=0.009 mol. The number of moles for MTMA is 50/180=0.28mol. R2 = 0.009 mol ADPN/0.28 mol MTMA = 0.03, or 3 percent.
Conclusion
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
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