DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
1. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. 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 Amendment
3. In response to the amendment received on 12/30/2025:
Claims 1-2, 5, and 7-13 are pending in the current application. Claims 1, 5, and 12 have been amended and Claims 3-4 and 6 are cancelled.
The previous rejection under 35 USC 112 has been overcome in light of the amendment.
The cores of the previous prior art-based rejections have been overcome in light of the amendment. All changes made to the rejection are necessitated by the amendment.
Claim Interpretation
4. All “wherein” clauses are given patentable weight unless otherwise noted. Please see MPEP 2111.04 regarding optional claim language.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. Claims 1-2, 7, and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang US PG Publication 2020/0313260 in view of Qi CN210607415.
Regarding Claims 1 and 11-12, Wang discloses a battery pack 12 (meeting Claim 11) battery disconnect unit 26 comprising a contactor 20, a busbar 18 electrically connected to the contactor 20, a heat dissipation sheet (isolation component that is highly thermally conductive, paras 0034-0035) 32 formed together with at least a part of the busbar 18 (para 0034: “the isolation component 32 may be a lamination disposed on each of the plurality of bus bars 18 such that each of the plurality of bus bars 18 is a laminated bus bar”), and a cooling plate 28 formed under and directly contactinging the heat dissipation sheet 32 (Fig 4, and para 0034: isolation component 32 disposed between and in contact with the cooling plate 28 and each of the plurality of bus bars 18, meeting Claim 12), wherein the end portion of the busbar 18 is electrically connected to the contactor 20 (See entire disclosure and especially all figs and e.g. paras 0030-0036, 0038-0039, 0041-0042, 0045). See annotated Fig 2 below.
Wang discloses wherein the cooling plate 28 comprises a cooling flow path 44 including an inlet 40 and an outlet 42 formed on at least one side surface of the cooling plate 28 (Figs. 2, 4, paras 0037, 0045) but Wang fails to specifically disclose wherein the cooling flow path’s inlet and outlet are formed on a same side surface of the cooling plate and face in the same direction. However, in the same field of endeavor of battery cooling plate design, Qi discloses wherein a battery module having liquid cooling plates (side plates) 210 on opposing sides of the battery stack have cooling channels or cooling flow paths comprising an inlet (coolant inlet connector) 30 and an outlet (coolant outlet connector) 40 formed on a same side surface of the cooling plate and face in the same direction and result in a design that improves the liquid cooling effect and assembly efficiency and further, when the inlet and outlet are at the same end, coolant can flow under its own gravity (see e.g. Figs 1-2; paras 0059-0066). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to design the battery disconnect unit of Wang such that the cooling flow path’s inlet and outlet are formed on a same side surface of the cooling plate and face in the same direction because Qi teaches that this allows coolant to flow under its own gravity and also improves liquid cooling effect and assembly efficiency.
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Regarding Claim 2, Fig. 2 of Wang shoes that the end portion of the busbar is bent in a direction parenpendular to an upper surface of the heat dissipation sheet and extends tward the contactor 20.
Regarding Claim 7, Wang discloses where in the battery disconnect unit further comprises a heat transfer pad (thermal pad) 34 located between the heat dissipation sheet 32 and the cooling plate 32 (Fig. 2, para 0034).
Regarding Claim 10, Wang discloses in para 0034 that the thermal dissipation sheet is made of Mylar, which is a plastic material.
6. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang US PG Publication 2020/0313260 in view of Qi CN210607415, as applied to Claim 1, and further in view of Shin US PG Publication 2019/0074557 (hereinafter “Shin 557”).
Regarding Claim 5, Wang modified by Qi discloses the claimed battery disconnect unit as described above in the rejection of Claim 1, which is incorporated herein in its entirety. Wang discloses that the cooling fluid can be air or coolant (paras 0037-008) but fails to specifically disclose wherein a cooling water is injected into the inlet. However, in the same field of endeavor of battery module cooling system design, Shin ‘557 discloses that cooling air or water can be used as functional equivalents in a system where busbars are in heat sinks and cooling plates, for example (see para 0039). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to use cooling water as the cooling fluid of Wang modified by Qi because Shin ‘557 discloses that cooling air or water can be used as functional equivalents in a system where busbars are in heat sinks and cooling plates. The selection of a known material, which is based upon its suitability for the intended use, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960) (see MPEP § 2144.07). The simple substitution of one known element for another is likely to be obvious when predictable results are achieved. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. __,__, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395 – 97 (2007) (see MPEP § 2143, B.). Although Shin ‘557 and Wang and Qi do not specifically call the introduction of the cooling fluid into the inlet “injection”, the introduction of the fluid (water) can be considered injection in the absence of any special definition of this term in the instant disclosure.
6. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang US PG Publication 2020/0313260 in view of Qi CN210607415, as applied to Claim 7, and further in view of Shin US PG Publication 2018/0175468 (hereinafter “Shin ‘468”).
Regarding Claim 8, Wang modified by Qi discloses the claimed battery disconnect unit as described above in the rejection of Claim 7, which is incorporated herein in its entirety. Wang in view of Qi discloses the thermal/heat transfer pad but fails to specifically disclose that it comprises silicone resin and a thermally conductive material. However, in the same field of endeavor of battery module design, Shin ‘468 teaches that a thermal/heat transfer pad beneficially includes an elastic material to improve adhesion among connecting parts and should include silicone with a thermally conductive material, exemplifying silicon polymer and thermally conductive materials (see para 0052). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to use silicone polymer (resin) and a thermally conductive material in the heat transfer pad of Wang and Qi because Shin ‘468 discloses that these materials are appropriate for such use and the selection of a known material, which is based upon its suitability for the intended use, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960) (see MPEP § 2144.07). Further, although the prior art does not specifically call the thermal pad a “plate”, there is no special definition of this term and the skilled artisan would reasonably consider the pad of Wang, which appears to be shaped like a plate, to be a plate.
7. Claims 9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang US PG Publication 2020/0313260 in view of Qi CN210607415, as applied to Claim 1, and further in view of Won US PG Publication 2020/0037436.
Regarding Claims 9 and 13, Wang modified by Qi discloses the claimed battery disconnect unit as described above in the rejection of Claim 1, which is incorporated herein in its entirety. Wang modified by Qi fails to specifically disclose wherein the busbar is embedded in the heat dissipation sheet or that the thickness of the busbar is less than a thickness of the heat dissipation sheet. However, in the same field of endeavor of battery module design, Won teaches that battery busbars connected to a cooling plate 110 (a supporting plate having heat dissipation properties) wherein the busbars are embedded or completely buried inside the plate with the benefit that the busbars can be securely fixed to the plate with efficient space usage (see e.g. Figs 2-9, paras 0034-0044). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to embed the busbar of Wang modified by Qi in the heat dissipation sheet since Won teaches that this type of arrangement provides secure attachment between the same elements with the benefit of efficient space usage. The Office notes that Won also teaches the benefit of coating bus bars with heat dissipation coating layer to supplement heat dissipation performance (para 0101) which is also considered “embedding” of the bus bar in a heat dissipation layer and renders obvious the claim in light of the advantage that this coating would provide to Wang. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to design the heat dissipation sheet (111 in Won) in which the busbar is embedded in Wang modified by Qi and Won to be thicker than the busbar itself because Won teaches this structure as a secure configuration (see Fig 9 of Won). The use of a known technique to improve similar devices (methods or products) in the same way is likely to be obvious. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. __,__, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395 – 97 (2007) (see MPEP § 2143, C.).
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Response to Arguments
8. Applicant's arguments with respect to the claims are based on the claims as amended. The amended claims have been addressed in the new rejection above.
Conclusion
9. 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LISA S PARK whose telephone number is (571)270-3597. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 5:30a to 3p Eastern Time.
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/LISA S PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729