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 .
2. Claims 1-15 and 32 are pending in this office action.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) or (f), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. Information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted May 22, 2023, has been received and considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
5. Claim 15 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(c) as being in improper form because a multiple dependent claim cannot depend from any other multiple dependent claim. See MPEP § 608.01(n). Accordingly, the Claim has not been further treated on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
7. 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.
8. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
9. Claims 1-15 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tomoshige et al. (US 2017/0162879 A1) in view of Cassidy et al. (US 2007/0231676 A1).
With regard to Claim 1, Tomoshige et al. disclose in Figures 1-5, an electrochemical cell assembly, called a fuel cell unit (10), comprising: a base plate, called a fixing plate (14b), and a top plate, called a fixing plate (14a), between which a stack (12) of planar cell units, called fuel cells (20a, 20b), and at least one electrical end plate, called a collector plate (16a), are disposed in compression (paragraphs 0026-0042), wherein: the electrical end plate, or collector plate (16a), comprises a two-layer construction in which a first layer, including small collector plates (161a-164a), and a second layer, called a spacer (18a), formed of different respective materials are permanently connected together to form a single conductive body (16a) (paragraphs 0031-0041), the first layer (161a-164a) of the electrical end plate (16a) is electrically connected to an external electrical terminal, called VHf conductors, of the cell assembly (10) (paragraph 0037), and the second layer (18a) of the electrical end plate (16a) has an outwardly facing side having an adhesive layer (28) bonded thereto that is in face-to-face abutment with, and in electrical contact with, an adjacent cell unit (20a, 20b) (paragraphs 0057, 0063-0064). Tomoshige et al. disclose wherein the adhesive layer is a crystallized glass (paragraphs 0063-0064), but do not specifically disclose wherein the second layer of the electrical end plate has a first electrically conductive ceramic layer bonded thereto.
Cassidy et al. disclose in Figure 1, a fuel cell stack (1) including a plurality of fuel cells (3), each of which includes an electrolyte (5) located between an anode (5) and a cathode (9), a plurality of gas separator plates (11), and wherein the stack (1) also contains a compliant cathode contact material (13) located between the gas separator plate (11) and the cathode electrode (9) (paragraphs 0012-0014). Cassidy et al. disclose wherein the complaint cathode contact material (13) can be any suitable complaint, electrically conductive material, such as an electrically conductive glass composite, a metallic felt, or a ceramic felt composite (paragraph 0009), wherein the electrically conductive ceramic material may comprise a conductive perovskite material, such as LSM (paragraphs 0031-0034). Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the electrochemical cell assembly of Tomoshige et al. to include a first electrically conductive ceramic layer bonded to the second layer of the electrical end plate, because Cassidy et al. teach that both an electrically conductive glass composite and an electrically conductive ceramic layer perform the same function of being elastic and chemically stable at the solid oxide fuel cell operating temperature and does not self-degrade or cause adverse reactions when placed in contact with electrically conductive ceramics that are used a cathode electrodes (paragraph 0009).
With regard to Claim 2, Tomoshige et al. disclose in Figures 1-5, wherein the adjacent cell unit (20a, 20b) has a second adhesive layer (28) bonded to the side which is in face-to-face abutment with the first adhesive layer (28) of the electrical end plate (16a), and the first and second adhesive layers (28) are made of the same material (paragraphs 0051-0057). Tomoshige et al. do not specifically disclose a second electrically conductive ceramic layer.
Cassidy et al. disclose in Figure 1, a fuel cell stack (1) including a plurality of fuel cells (3), each of which includes an electrolyte (5) located between an anode (5) and a cathode (9), a plurality of gas separator plates (11), and wherein the stack (1) also contains a compliant cathode contact material (13) located between the gas separator plate (11) and the cathode electrode (9) (paragraphs 0012-0014). Cassidy et al. disclose wherein the complaint cathode contact material (13) can be any suitable complaint, electrically conductive material, such as an electrically conductive glass composite, a metallic felt, or a ceramic felt composite (paragraph 0009), wherein the electrically conductive ceramic material may comprise a conductive perovskite material, such as LSM (paragraphs 0031-0034). Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the electrochemical cell assembly of Tomoshige et al. to include a second electrically conductive ceramic layer bonded to the side which is in face-to-face abutment with the first electrically conductive ceramic layer of the electrical end plate, because Cassidy et al. teach that both an electrically conductive glass composite and an electrically conductive ceramic layer perform the same function of being elastic and chemically stable at the solid oxide fuel cell operating temperature and does not self-degrade or cause adverse reactions when placed in contact with electrically conductive ceramics that are used a cathode electrodes (paragraph 0009).
With regard to Claim 3, neither Tomoshige et al. not Cassidy et al. disclose wherein the first electrically conductive ceramic layer of the electrical end plate has a thickness selected such that the spacing between the at least one electrical end plate and the adjacent cell unit is the same as the spacing between the remaining cell units of the stack. Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to manufacture the first electrically conductive ceramic layer of the electrical end plate to have a thickness selected such that the spacing between the at least one electrical end plate and the adjacent cell unit is the same as the spacing between the remaining cell units of the stack, since such a modification would only involve a mere change in the size and/or shape of a component. A change in size and/or shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04(IV).
With regard to Claim 4, Tomoshige et al. disclose in Figures 2-3, wherein the stack (12) comprises electrochemically active cell units (20a, 20b), each of which comprise a separator plate (SP1-SP5) and a cell-supporting metal substrate plate (22) (paragraphs 0046-0047, 0057).
With regard to Claim 5, Tomoshige et al. disclose in Figures 2-3, wherein the second layer (18a) of the electrical end plate (16a) is made of the same material as the separator plate (SP1-SP5) (paragraph 0057).
With regard to Claim 6, Tomoshige et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the second layer (18a) of the electrical end plate (16a) has essentially the same configuration as the separator plate (SP1-SP5). Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to manufacture the second layer of the electrical end plate to have essentially the same configuration as the separator plate, since such a modification would only involve a mere change in the size and/or shape of a component. A change in size and/or shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04(IV).
With regard to Claim 7, Tomoshige et al. disclose in Figures 6A-6B and 7A-7B, wherein the second layer (18a) of the electrical end plate (16a) has a 3D contoured construction with a series of projections extending outwardly so as to abut the adjacent cell unit (20a, 20b) (paragraphs 0066-0067). Tomoshige et al. disclose in Figure 5, wherein an adhesive layer (28) extends over the second layer (18a), but Tomoshige et al. do not specifically disclose wherein a discontinuous layer bonded of the first electrically conductive ceramic layer extend over the projections.
Cassidy et al. disclose in Figure 1, a fuel cell stack (1) including a plurality of fuel cells (3), each of which includes an electrolyte (5) located between an anode (5) and a cathode (9), a plurality of gas separator plates (11), and wherein the stack (1) also contains a compliant cathode contact material (13) located between the gas separator plate (11) and the cathode electrode (9) (paragraphs 0012-0014). Cassidy et al. disclose wherein the complaint cathode contact material (13) can be any suitable complaint, electrically conductive material, such as an electrically conductive glass composite, a metallic felt, or a ceramic felt composite (paragraph 0009), wherein the electrically conductive ceramic material may comprise a conductive perovskite material, such as LSM (paragraphs 0031-0034). Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the electrochemical cell assembly of Tomoshige et al. to include a discontinuous layer of the first electrically conductive ceramic layer extend over the projections, because Cassidy et al. teach that both an electrically conductive glass composite and an electrically conductive ceramic layer perform the same function of being elastic and chemically stable at the solid oxide fuel cell operating temperature and does not self-degrade or cause adverse reactions when placed in contact with electrically conductive ceramics that are used a cathode electrodes (paragraph 0009).
With regard to Claim 8, Tomoshige et al. disclose in Figure 5, wherein the first adhesive layer (28), modified by the electrically conductive ceramic layer of Cassidy et al., is made of the same material as a second electrically conductive ceramic layer, called a conductive material (26) (paragraphs 0043, 0053-0057, 0061-0062), bonded to a metal substrate plate, called a metallic plate (22), of the adjacent cell unit (20a, 20b) that is in face-to-face abutment with the first adhesive layer (28), modified by the first electrically conductive ceramic layer of Cassidy et al..
With regard to Claim 9, Tomoshige et al. disclose in Figures 3 and 5, wherein the adjacent cell unit (20a, 20b) is electrochemically active, and the second electrically conductive ceramic layer (26) comprises an outermost electrode layer, called an air electrode layer (122), of an electrochemically active cell layer (121) bonded to the metal substrate plate (22) of the adjacent cell unit (20a, 20b) (paragraphs 0046-0047, 0057-0062).
With regard to Claim 10, Tomoshige et al. disclose wherein the second electrically conductive ceramic layer (26) is an electrode material layer including LaSrMnO3, LaCoO3, LaClO3, MnCoO3, or the like as conductive ceramics, or is preferably Ag, Pd, Au, Pt, Rh, Ru or an alloy including at least two of these as noble metals (paragraph 0061), that is bonded to the metal substrate plate (22) of the adjacent cell unit (20a, 20b). Tomoshige et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the adjacent cell unit is electrochemically inactive, however, the any electrochemical cell is fully capable of being an electrochemically inactive cell if it’s structural integrity fails, preventing the conversion of chemical energy into electricity.
With regard to Claim 11, Tomoshige et al. disclose wherein the second layer (18a) of the electrical end plate (16a) is made of 3YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) and the cell-supporting metal substrate plate is made of ferritic stainless steel (paragraph 0057). Tomoshige et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the second layer of the electrical end plate and the cell-supporting metal substrate plate are made of the same material. Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to manufacture the second layer of the electrical end plate and the cell-supporting metal substrate plate of the same material, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.05.
With regard to Claim 12, Tomoshige et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the second layer (18a) of the electrical end plate (16a) has essentially the same configuration as the cell-supporting metal substrate plate (22). Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to manufacture the second layer of the electrical end plate to have essentially the same configuration as the cell-supporting metal substrate plate, since such a modification would only involve a mere change in the size and/or shape of a component. A change in size and/or shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04(IV).
With regard to Claim 13, Tomoshige et al. disclose in Figure 5, wherein the second layer (18a) of the electrical end plate (16a) has a flat outwardly facing side with the adhesive layer (28), modified by the first electrically conductive ceramic layer of Cassidy et al., comprising a continuous layer bonded thereto (paragraphs 0054, 0063).
With regard to Claim 14, Tomoshige et al. disclose wherein the first adhesive layer (28), modified by Cassidy et al. to be the first electrically conductive ceramic layer comprising a conductive perovskite material, such as LSM (Cassidy et al. - paragraphs 0031-0034), is made of the same material as a second electrically conductive ceramic layer (26) (Tomoshige et al. - paragraph 0061) bonded to a separator plate (SP1-SP5) of the adjacent cell unit (20a, 20b) that is in face-to-face abutment with the first adhesive layer (28), modified by Cassidy et al. to be the first electrically conductive ceramic layer comprising a conductive perovskite material, such as LSM (Cassidy et al. -paragraphs 0031-0034).
With regard to Claim 15, Tomoshige et al. disclose in Figure 5, both a first electrical end plate (16a) at one end of the stack (12), as noted above, and a second electrical end plate (16b) at the other end of the stack (12) , as noted above (paragraph 0032).
With regard to Claim 32, Tomoshige et al. disclose wherein the electrochemical cells comprise planar, solid oxide fuel cells (paragraph 0026).
Conclusion
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KARIE O APICELLA whose telephone number is (571)272-8614. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 5:00PM EST.
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/KARIE O'NEILL APICELLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725