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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 8/14/2026 has been entered.
Claim Status
This Office action is responsive to the amendments filed on 8/14/2026.
Claims 1 and 16 have been amended.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending with 7-10 and 12-14 withdrawn from consideration.
Response to Amendment and Arguments
Applicant’s arguments along with the amendments, see page 5 of 11, filed 8/14/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 16 under 35 USC §103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of CN 206382729 FAN et al. in view of JP 2016002566 HIDEKI.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-3, 5-6, 11 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2016002566 (A), HIDEKI from the IDS provided dated 1/13/2023 along with a machine translation into English in view of CN 206382729 FAN et al. from the IDS provided dated 3/27/2024.
Regarding claims 1, 16 and 17. HIDEKI [0006] discloses a jig for manufacturing a rechargeable battery, which the reference calls a laser irradiation nozzle, the jig comprising:
HIDEKI [0031] discloses in the annotated figure depicted below a press, configured to press a welding part of a corresponding cylindrical rechargeable battery as reads on the limitations of claims 1 and 16;
HIDEKI [0037] discloses the jig plate including a flow path for circulation of a refrigerant as reads on the limitations of claims 1 and 16
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HIDEKI does not explicitly disclose a plurality of presses attached to the jig plate
FAN [0001] discloses An adjustable battery module welding head assembly where
FAN [0029-0030] discloses a plurality of welding heads are attached to the jig plate as depicted in the annotated figure below
FAN [0031] also discloses that by adjusting the number of welding heads it “makes it convenient for the operator to calibrate the position, but also saves a lot of time”.
The mere duplication of parts, without any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (see MPEP § 2144.04).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used a plurality of presses disclosed by FAN in an industrial setting in order to economize the production of the batteries making it easier for the operator and saving time as reads on the limitations of claims 1 and 16.
Furthermore, HIDEKI modified by FAN discloses in the annotated figure depicted below the jig wherein each of the plurality of presses includes a body part (10) and a transmission part (30) surrounded by the body part as meets the limitation of claim 16. The transmission part (30) is configured [0022] to transmit a laser beam, called a laser light to the welding part as meets the limitation that reads on claim 17.
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Regarding claim 2. HIDEKI modified by FAN discloses the jig of claim 1, further comprising [0009] a cooling device connected to the flow path to circulate the refrigerant in the jig plate. The reference discloses a flow path on the outer surface of the main body.
Regarding claim 3. HIDEKI [0018] modified by FAN discloses the jig of claim 1, wherein a material of the plurality of presses and the jig plate includes a copper alloy.
Regarding claim 5. HIDEKI modified by FAN discloses the jig of claim 1, wherein each press of the plurality of presses includes [0021] a transmission part, called a laser light source configured to transmit a laser beam to the welding part as shown in the figure depicted above.
Regarding claim 6 and 19. HIDEKI modified by FAN discloses the jig of claim 5, wherein the jig plate includes a transmission hole, called an optical system [0021] corresponding to the transmission part of each of the plurality of presses.
HIDEKI does not disclose a plurality of transmission holes corresponding to the transmission part of each of the plurality of pressing parts.
FAN [0029-0030] discloses a plurality of welding heads are attached to the jig plate
FAN [0031] also discloses that by adjusting the number of welding heads it “makes it convenient for the operator to calibrate the position, but also saves a lot of time”.
The mere duplication of parts, without any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (see MPEP § 2144.04).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used a welding heads disclosed by FAN, each press having a transmission hole thereby meeting the limitation of claim 19, in the press disclosed by HIDEKI. This person of ordinary skill would have been motivated by FAN to make it easier for the operator and saving time.
Regarding claim 11. HIDEKI modified by FAN discloses in the annotated figure depicted below the jig of claim 6, wherein the flow path (20) is u-shaped, and wherein the plurality of transmission holes is located between straight portions of the u-shaped flow path.
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Regarding claims 15, 18 and 20. HIDEKI modified by FAN discloses the jig of claim 1.
FAN discloses the plurality of presses are spaced from each other in a first direction and extend from the jig plate in a second direction in the annotated figure depicted below.
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The mere duplication of parts, without any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (see MPEP § 2144.04).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used a plurality of presses in an industrial setting in order to economize the production of the batteries as disclosed by FAN in the presses disclosed by HIDEKI. It also would have been obvious to have spaced the plurality of presses in a first direction i.e. a row, and have then extend down in the second direction, i.e., down towards the battery thereby meeting the limitation of claim 18 on a plate, or “jig plate” also meeting the limitations of claim 20 as disclosed by FAN.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2016002566 (A), HIDEKI from the IDS provided dated 1/13/2023 along with a machine translation into English in view of CN 206382729 FAN et al. from the IDS provided dated 3/27/2024 as applied to claims 1 and 3 above, and further in view of US 20170352997 A1, MARUISHI.
Regarding claim 4. HIDEKI modified by FAN discloses the jig of claim 3,
HIDEKI does not disclose the copper alloy includes beryllium copper.
MARUISHI [title and abstract] discloses A Connector and includes a plurality of contacts for batteries where,
MARUISHI [0036] discloses “the contact 22 is made of metal and can be manufactured using publicly known techniques such as press work or cutting. Examples of the material of the contact 22 include brass, beryllium copper or phosphor bronze since the contact 22 is required to have spring properties, conductivity, dimensional stability or the like.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used the beryllium copper contacts disclosed by MARUISHI in the jig disclosed by HIDEKI in order to improve the spring properties, conductivity, and dimensional stability of the contacts.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAWRENCE LA RAIA III whose telephone number is (703)756-5441. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thur 6:00am-4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Barbara Gilliam can be reached at (571) 272-1330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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LAWRENCE LA RAIA III
Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/L.L./Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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