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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/20/23 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the phrase "optionally" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 1 recites “with respect to the weight of the electrode slurry”, which is indefinite. Examiner suggests “with respect to a total weight of the electrode slurry”.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "said fluoropolymer" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Examiner suggests “one or more fluoropolymer are”. See also claim 3 that recites “the fluoropolymer”.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the comonomer" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Examiner suggests “the at least one comonomer”.
Claim 5 recites “AI” in the second formula of line 3, which is indefinite. Examiner suggests “Al” to represent aluminum. In addition, the third formula of line 3 contains a comma in the middle that requires removal and the formula is indefinite as being incomplete for lacking an negatively charged species such as oxygen. Claim 5 further recites “a different element-substituted Li Mn spinel”, which is confusing and unclear. Is the different element M or another element other than M. Furthermore, the claim ends with “, and”. The claim further lacks a period.
Claim 7 recites “2S5” in line 3 which is indefinite. The formula appears incomplete.
Claim 8 recites “said dispersant has either polyurethane or polyester functionality”, which is indefinite. It is unclear what encompasses polyurethane or polyester functionality.
Claim 9 recites multiple antecedent basis issues wherein “the” should be replaced by “a”. In addition, the claim recites the limitation "the solvent". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Examiner suggests “the non-polar solvent”.
Claim 9 recites “the ratio of the solid content of the electrode slurry to the amount of the solvent ranges from 30% to 80% by mass”, which is indefinite. The claim doesn’t appear to recite an actual ratio. Furthermore, it is unclear what element “by mass” is referencing.
Claim 11 recites “or” in line 2. Examiner suggests “and” to recite proper Markush group language.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "an electrode" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Examiner suggests “the electrode”.
Claim 14 recites the limitation "at least one electrode" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Examiner suggests “at least one of the positive electrode or the negative electrode”.
Claim 15 recites “wherein the solid electrolyte layer is prepared using the method according to claim 1”, which is indefinite. It is unclear how the method for preparing an electrode slurry, as recited by claim 1, is used to prepare the solid electrolyte layer, as recited by claim 15.
To the extent the claims are understood in view of the 35 USC 112 rejections above, note the following prior art rejections.
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.
Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Makino et al., US 2019/0088949 A1 in view of Yoshida et al., WO 2012/026581 A1.
Makino teaches a solid electrolyte composition containing an inorganic solid electrolyte, a binder, and a dispersion medium (C) containing a dispersion medium (C1) and a dispersion medium (C2) at a specific mass ratio. Makino teaches an electrode sheet for an all-solid state secondary battery having an active material layer, a primer layer, and a collector which are formed of the solid electrolyte composition. Makino teaches methods for manufacturing an electrode sheet for the all-solid state secondary battery and the all-solid state secondary battery (abstract). See also Figure 1.
The solid electrolyte composition may contain a dispersant. The addition of the dispersant enables the suppression of the agglomeration of the electrode active material and the inorganic solid electrolyte even in a case in which the concentration of any of the electrode active material and the inorganic solid electrolyte is high or a case in which the particle diameters are small and the surface area increases and the formation of a uniform active material layer and a uniform solid electrolyte layer. As the dispersant, a dispersant that is generally used for an all-solid state secondary battery can be appropriately selected and used. Generally, a compound intended for particle adsorption and steric repulsion and/or electrostatic repulsion is preferably used. [0142]. The solid electrolyte composition may contain a conductive agent [0162]. The solid electrolyte may contain active materials such as positive electrode active materials including transition metal oxides and negative electrode active materials including metal oxides [0165-0188].
The solid electrolyte composition of Makino is prepared by dispersing the inorganic solid electrolyte (A) in the presence of the dispersion medium (C) to produce a slurry. The slurry is produced by mixing the inorganic solid electrolyte and the dispersion medium using a variety of mixers. The mixing device is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a ball mill, a beads mill, a planetary mixer, a blade mixer, a roll mill, a kneader, and a disc mill. The mixing conditions are not particularly limited; however, in the case of using a ball mill, the inorganic solid electrolyte and the dispersion medium are preferably mixed together at 150 to 700 rpm (rotation per minute) for one hour to 24 hours. The binder (B1) may be added and mixed at the same time as a dispersion step of the inorganic solid electrolyte (A) or may be separately added and mixed. In addition, in the case of preparing a solid electrolyte composition additionally containing components such as an active material and a particle dispersant, the components may be added and mixed at the same time as a dispersion step of the inorganic solid electrolyte (A) or may be separately added and mixed [0197-0200].
The method for applying the solid electrolyte composition is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected. Examples thereof include coating (preferably wet-type coating), spray coating, spin coating, dip coating, slit coating, stripe coating, and bar coating. The solid electrolyte composition may be dried [0264-0265]. The binder may be a fluorine-containing resins including polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyvinylene difluoride (PVdF), and copolymers of polyvinylene difluoride and hexafluoropropylene (PVdF-HFP) [0078]. The dispersion medium C1 may be decane [0112-0114] and the dispersion medium C2 may be toluene or xylene [0120-0123]. Examples of the inorganic solid electrolyte include sulfide-based inorganic solid electrolytes including Li2-P2S5 [0060-0062].
The content of the positive electrode active material in the solid electrolyte composition is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10% to 95% by mass, more preferably 30% to 90% by mass, still more preferably 50% to 85% by mass, and particularly preferably 55% to 80% by mass with respect to a solid content of 100% by mass [0180]. The content of the negative electrode active material in the solid electrolyte composition is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10% to 80% by mass and more preferably 20% to 80% by mass with respect to a solid content of 100% by mass [0193]. An active material layer and/or a solid electrolyte layer formed of the solid electrolyte composition of the present invention preferably have the same kinds and content ratios of components as those of the solid content of the solid electrolyte composition [0215]. The kinds and the content ratio of the components of the active material layers and/or the solid electrolyte layer formed of the solid electrolyte composition are preferably identical to those in the solid content of the solid electrolyte composition [0220]. The collector material may be a metal foil, a net-shaped collector or a punched collector [0235-0240].
Makino is silent regarding the amount of dispersant in the slurry. However, Yoshida teaches a slurry composition for a solid electrolyte layer may contain, in addition to the disclosed components, components having functions of a dispersant, a leveling agent, and an antifoaming agent as other components added as necessary. These components are not particularly limited as long as they do not affect the battery reaction. Examples of the dispersant include an anionic compound, a cationic compound, a nonionic compound, and a polymer compound. A dispersing agent is selected according to the solid electrolyte to be used. Yoshida teaches the content of the dispersant in the slurry composition for the solid electrolyte layer is preferably within a range that does not affect the battery characteristics. Specifically, the content is 10 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the solid electrolyte. Therefore, the invention as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention because one of skill would have been motivated to use the dispersant of Makino in an amount of 10 parts by mass or less in order to not affect the battery characteristics, as taught by Yoshida.
Conclusion
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/TRACY M DOVE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725