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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 23 March 2023, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under § 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Yamada et al. (US Pat. 6,036,801).
The indicated allowability of claim 5 is withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to Yamada et al. (US Pat. 6,036,801). Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow.
Claim Rejections — 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1–5, 7, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamada et al. (US Pat. 6,036,801).
Claim 1: Yamada discloses a welding apparatus for manufacturing a secondary battery (understood as intended use), the secondary battery having a main body casing having an opening at an upper side thereof (at least analogous to outer container 151, although this feature constitutes the material or article worked upon by the apparatus and does not fully limit the claim (MPEP § 2115)) and a cover (at least analogous to inner container 152) configured to close the opening to define an accommodation space (148), the welding apparatus comprising:
a lower jig (135) configured to support the main body casing (see figs. 21–23);
an upper jig (133) configured to engage the lower jig to press the cover to the main body casing (see figs. 21–23);
a vacuum generator (142) configured to apply a negative pressure to the accommodation space defined by the main body casing and the cover (via 141 and 134b); and
a welding unit (131) configured to weld the main body casing and the cover while the upper jig, the cover, the main body casing and the lower jig overlap in a vertical direction (described col. 32, ll. 10–25).
Claim 2: Yamada discloses that a seating groove is provided in the lower jig so that the main body casing is seated in the seating groove (appreciable from figs. 21–23); and
wherein the upper jig is configured to press a rim (152a) of the cover placed on an upper surface of the lower jig to close the opening of the main body casing (the specification makes clear that the claim does not require here that the rim directly touch the upper surface of the lower jig, only that it be pressed against it; whether in this respect or not, Yamada would be capable of holding and vibration welding the portions 151a and 152a if they had flange-like extensions (particularly small ones) that would result in the rim being pressed onto the upper surface of the lower jig).
Claim 3: Yamada discloses that the main body casing includes a flange portion around a rim of the opening of the main body casing, and the flange portion is disposed on an upper surface of the lower jig where the lower jig is in contact with the upper jig (being the object worked upon, Yamada may work with a main body casing alike to 151 with a flange portion around its rim, where the lower jig would contact the upper jig via a corresponding portion at 152a; see also the rationale with the rejection of claim 2).
Claim 4: Yamada discloses that the upper jig is movable upward and downward relative to the lower jig (cf. figs. 21 and 22).
Claim 5: Yamada discloses a welding apparatus for manufacturing a secondary battery (understood as intended use), the secondary battery having a main body casing having an opening at an upper side thereof (at least analogous to outer container 151, although this feature constitutes the material or object worked upon by the apparatus and does not fully limit the claim (MPEP § 2115)) and a cover (at least analogous to inner container 152) configured to close the opening to define an accommodation space (148), the welding apparatus comprising:
a lower jig (135) configured to support the main body casing (see figs. 21–23);
an upper jig (133) configured to engage the lower jig to press the cover to the main body casing (see figs. 21–23);
a vacuum generator (142) configured to apply a negative pressure to the accommodation space defined by the main body casing and the cover (via 141 and 134b); and
a welding unit (131; other forms of welding, including laser welding, mentioned in col. X, ll. X) configured to weld the main body casing and the cover,
wherein a vacuum hole (134b) is provided in the lower jig, the vacuum hole being in communication with an electrolyte injection port provided at one side of the main body casing (Yamada does not show any such equivalent port, but zooming in on fig. 23 shows that end portion 151a protrudes above the lower jig, and this extension of material (or more especially, a longer extension of this material that corresponds to a shorter extension of the material of 152a) would be capable of having a port thereon which would communicate with the vacuum hole; even if this would not be done in practice, it does not change that the claimed apparatus is broad enough to read on what is disclosed), and the vacuum generator is configured to apply the negative pressure to the accommodation space, defined by the main body casing and the cover, through the vacuum hole (as just explained).
Claim 7: Yamada discloses that the welding unit is configured to weld along a rim of the cover (152a) which is in contact with a rim of the opening of the main body casing (151a).
Claim 9: Yamada discloses a welding method for manufacturing a secondary battery (understood as intended use), which uses the welding apparatus for manufacturing the secondary battery according to claim 1, the welding method comprising:
disposing the main body casing (151) in a seating groove (135b) of the lower jig (135);
disposing the cover (152) on an upper surface of the lower jig to close the opening of the main body casing;
moving the upper jig downward to press a rim of the cover to a flange portion around a rim of the opening of the main body casing (cf. fig. 21 and figs. 22 and 23);
applying, by the vacuum generator (142, 134b), a negative pressure to the accommodation space in the main body casing to prevent the cover from swelling; and
performing, by the welding unit, welding along the rim of the cover to close the opening (described col. 32, ll. 10–25).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 8, and 10–13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Although Yamada is non-analogous art directed to a double-walled container envisioned for use in for food or beverages, Yamada discloses the subject matter of numerous claims. Yamada uses a vibration welder that reads on the independent apparatus claims, even if not conceived of being used in the present disclosure. The subject matter of claims 6, 8, and 10–13 are not shown in, or obvious alone from, Yamada.
Although Yamada discloses its own laser beam welding (col. 35, l. 55), this laser welding would not be used in conjunction with the upper and lower jigs of the vibration welder in Yamada. Therefore, the Office recommends that Applicant amend independent claims 1 and 5 to specify that the welding unit is a laser welding unit.
The Office notes that, although some claims have been understood broadly given how the object worked upon (i.e. the battery components) are not positively recited, the object worked upon is positively recited and limiting in method claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to John J. Norton whose telephone number is (571) 272-5174. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST.
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/JOHN J NORTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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