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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/01/2026 has been entered.
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 11-14, 18-21 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR’896 (KR 2017-0066896) in view of Schaefer (US 2014/0087231).
Regarding claim 11, FIG. 2 of KR’896 discloses a battery module comprising a battery cell stack comprising a plurality of battery cells, a first sensing block, 101 and a second sensing block, 102 that cover a front surface and a rear surface of the battery cell stack.
KR’896 is silent to an elastic member. However, in the same field of endeavor of battery module design, Schaefer discloses an elastic member (clamping straps 8 and 9) to secure elements; such as, cooling plates and pressure plate to the battery cell stack and are beneficial for cooling properties of the battery module (Fig. 5 and [0009]-[0014], [0020], [0058-0074]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to provide the battery module of KR’896 with the claimed elastic member to obtain the known and expected results of securing elements to the battery cells with a cooling mechanism as disclosed by Schaefer’s clamping straps 8 and 9 of FIG. 5.
Regarding claim 12, the resulting battery module of KR’896 in view of Schaefer would satisfy the claimed limitation because Schaefer teaches the clamping straps 8 and 9 being continuous. See FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.
Regarding claims 13-14, the resulting battery module of KR’896 in view of Schaefer would satisfy the claimed limitations because FIG. 2 of KR’896 teaches electrode leads, 213 and 214 and FIG. 2 and FIG. 5 of Schaefer teaches the clamping straps 8 and 9 tightly surrounding and securing the battery module together.
Regarding claims 18-20, KR’896 teaches a voltage sensing assembly including LV connector: 140, a connection member: 115 configured to connect the LV connector and the electrode leads (i.e. bus bars 110 are connected to the PCB 160 via connecting portion 115), and a joining plane (i.e. bar cars 110) position at one end of the connection member 115 and joining to the electrode leads 213, 214 (FIG. 2, 4-5, and 7) and at least two electrode leads 213, 214 among the electrode leads are connected to each other at the front side and the rear side of the battery cell stack 200 for stable and reliable voltage sensing and minimizing space.
Regarding claims 21 and 24, KR’896 is silent to the claimed side surface pad. However, Schaefer teaches heat-conducting elements 8.20, 8.21, 8.22 having elastic properties such as cushions filled with metal-doped foam materials to ensure uniform pressing force [0063]-[0064]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the battery module of KR’896 with the claimed side surface pad because Schaefer teaches a battery module comprising clamping straps and heat-conducting cushion elements made of metal doped foam material to obtain the expected benefits of heat conduction and uniform pressing force of the clamping straps on the battery module.
Claims 15-16 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR’896 (KR 2017-0066896) in view of Schaefer (US 2014/0087231), as applied to claim 11, and further in view of Jo (US 2020/0076025).
Regarding claims 15-16 and 21, KR’896 is silent to the claimed cooling fins and side surface pads. However, Jo teaches a battery module comprising heat dissipation plates 130 between battery cells for cooling and side plates 240 for structural stability (FIG. 2, [0073], [0093], [0094]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the battery module of KR’896 with the claimed cooling fins and side surface pads to obtain the known, expected results of cooling and structural stability disclosed by Jo.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered and are moot in view of the new ground of rejection applied in this office action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENDRA LY whose telephone number is (571)270-7060. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00-5:00PM.
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/KENDRA LY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749
