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 .
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-6, and 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the machine translation of Son (KR20080016049A) and further in view of Hughett (WO 9601504 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Son discloses a secondary battery comprising:
a can having a cylindrical shape with one end open (Fig. 2, the top portion has an open end, which can be closed with a cap);
an electrode assembly accommodated in the can (Fig. 2, item 10, [electrode assembly]) and comprising a first electrode plate (Fig. 2, item 12, [negative electrode plate]), a separator (Fig. 2, item 13, [separator]), and a second electrode plate (Fig. 2, item 11, [positive electrode plate) that are stacked and wound in a cylindrical shape (Fig. 2 shows that the electrodes are stacked and wound),
wherein a first electrode non-coating portion of the first electrode plate protrudes at one end of the electrode assembly in a longitudinal direction (Fig. 2, item 12 protrudes at one end in a longitudinal direction)
and a second electrode non-coating portion of the second electrode plate protrudes at another end of the electrode assembly in the longitudinal direction (Fig. 2, item 11 protrudes at one end in a longitudinal direction)
a cap assembly closing the open one end of the can in a state in which the electrode assembly is accommodated in the can (Fig. 2, item 30 cap assembly)(Fig. 2 – )(Examiner notes that the cap assembly [30] is composed of items 33, 32, and 32a);
a first electrode current collecting plate at the one end of the electrode assembly in the longitudinal direction (Fig. 2, item 50)
the first electrode current collecting plate comprising:
a plate surface facing the electrode assembly (Fig. 2, item 50 has a surface facing the electrode assembly)
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a can connection part electrically connected to the can (see Fig. 2 below – analogous to instant),
and a second electrode current collecting plate at the other end of the electrode assembly in the longitudinal direction (Fig. 2, item 40 [positive electrode current collector plate]),
and the second electrode current collecting plate comprising:
a plate surface facing the electrode assembly (Fig. 2, item 40 has a surface facing the electrode assembly),
a can connection part (Fig. 2, item 35, [lead wire]) electrically connected to the cap assembly (Fig. 2, item 35 is connected to item 33 which is a part of the cap assembly- item 30 as explained above),
Son does not teach:
the first electrode current collecting plate comprising:
a plurality of substrate current collecting parts protruding toward the electrode assembly from the plate surface
the substrate current collecting parts being directly connected to and electrically connected to the first electrode non-coating portion,
and a second electrode current collecting plate at the other end of the electrode assembly in the longitudinal direction, and the second electrode current collecting plate comprising:
a plurality of substrate current collecting parts protruding toward the electrode assembly from the plate surface,
the substrate current collecting parts being directly connected to and electrically connected to the second electrode non-coating portion,
that the can connection part is spaced apart from the substrate current collecting parts
and an elastic part elastically deformed in the longitudinal direction of the electrode assembly
Hughett, in the same field of endeavor, batteries, teaches:
a current collecting plate (Hughett, Fig. 1, item 26) comprising:
a plurality of substrate current collecting parts (Fig. 1, item 30a and 30n) protruding toward the electrode assembly from the plate surface (Fig. 1, items 30a and 30n protrude toward the electrode assembly item 14)
and an elastic part elastically deformed in the longitudinal direction of the electrode assembly (Fig. 1, item 32)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have exchanged Son’s first and second current collecting plate for Hughett’s current collector plate, in order to provide an alternative method to join the collector plate to the electrode assembly surface by fitting or aligning the collector plate (Hughett, para. 29, [a circular and essentially planar positive current collector aligns in intimate contact to the upper surface of the electrode assembly to physically and electrically contact the positive electrode at a plurality of contact areas as illustrated in FIG. 2. A plurality of downwardly extending V-grooves contact the wound positive electrode along and about the top edge of the upper surface 28]).
Therefore, modified Son teaches:
a can connection part spaced apart from the substrate current collecting parts (Hughett, Fig. 1 below, shows spacing between the can connection and the substrate current collecting parts)
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the first electrode current collecting plate comprising:
the substrate current collecting parts being directly connected to and electrically connected to the first electrode non-coating portion (Modified Son, item 50 makes contact with item 12c (uncoated portion of electrode))(Examiner notes that item 50 has been modified to include substrate current collecting parts.)
the second electrode current collecting plate comprising:
the substrate current collecting parts being directly connected to and electrically connected to the second electrode non-coating portion (Modified Son, item 40 makes contact with item 11c (uncoated portion of electrode))
Regarding claim 2, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 1, and further teaches wherein the first electrode current collecting plate (Modified Son, Hughett, item 26) and the second electrode current collecting plate (Modified Son, Hughett, item 26) have the same shape and are disposed symmetrically with each other (Modified Son, Hughett, item 26, when exchanged for Son’s items 40 and 50 have the same shape and are disposed symmetrically with each other as shown in the figure).
Regarding claim 3, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the elastic parts are formed integrally with the respective plate surfaces of the first electrode current collecting plate and the second electrode current collecting plate (Hughett, Fig. 1, item 32 is integral with the current collecting plate [26]).
Regarding claim 5, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 3, wherein the first electrode current collecting plate and the second electrode current collecting plate have a disc shape (Hughett, Fig. 1, item 26 has a disk shape and fits within the cylindrical case), and the plurality of substrate current collecting parts protrude in a radial direction (Hughett, Fig. 1, items 30a and 30n are formed in a radial direction).
Regarding claim 6, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 5, wherein each of the elastic parts has a concave-convex shape (Hughett, Fig. 1, item 32, has a concave-convex shape) spaced apart from the substrate current collecting parts (Hughett, Fig. 1, item 32 is spaced apart from items 30a and 30n).
Regarding claim 10, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 4, and further teaches wherein the elastic part comprises a disc-shaped plate spring (Hughett, Fig.1, elastic part comprises a disc-shaped spring item 36, which is analogous to the instant) having a diameter equal to or less than those of the first electrode current collecting plate and the second electrode current collecting plate (Based on Hughett Fig. 1, the diameter of the disc-shaped plate spring has to be either equal to or less than the electrode current collecting plate [Hughett, item 26]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have added a spring to Son’s current collector plate, as taught by Hughett, in order to force the positive current collector into physical and electrical contact with the positive electrode in the spiral wound electrode assembly (Hughett, para. 29).
Regarding claim 11, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 10, and further teaches wherein one end of the elastic part is physically and electrically connected to the first electrode current collecting plate (Hughett, item 36 is physically and electrically connected to item 26) and the other end thereof is physically and electrically connected to the cap assembly (Hughett, the other end of item 36 is physically and electrically connected to the cap assembly).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have added a spring to Son’s current collector plate that has an end connected to the cap assembly, as taught by Hughett, in order to force the positive current collector into physical and electrical contact with the positive electrode in the spiral wound electrode assembly (Hughett, para. 29).
Regarding claim 12, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 11, and further teaches wherein the elastic part comprises a conductive material (Hughett, item 26, the spring allows for physical and electrical connection between the current collecting plate and the cap assembly, and therefore must be comprised of a conductive material).
Regarding claim 13, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 1, and further teaches wherein a protruding direction of the substrate current collecting parts of the first electrode current collecting plate is oriented toward the first electrode non-coating portion (Hughett, Fig. 1, 30a and 30n protrude towards the electrode assembly [14]), and a protruding direction of the substrate current collecting parts of the second electrode current collecting plate is oriented toward the second electrode non-coating portion (Hughett, Fig. 1, 30a and 30n protrude towards the electrode assembly [14]).
Regarding claim 14, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 13, and further teaches wherein each of the substrate current collecting parts of the first electrode current collecting plate and second electrode current collecting plate comprises a welding surface (Son, bolded words on pg. 4, [teaches welding of the electrode collector plate to the electrode uncoated portion, and therefore teaches a welding surface on the current collecting plate) (Modified Son and Hughett teach that the v-grooves are in contact with the wound electrode and therefore the weld/contact surface would be on the v-groove which are the substrate collecting parts).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the machine translation Son (KR20080016049A) and further in view of the machine translation of Hughett (WO 9601504 A1) and Wiepen (US 20030104274 A1).
Regarding claim 4, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 1.
Modified Son does not teach wherein the elastic parts are formed separately and coupled to the respective plate surfaces of the first electrode current collecting plate and the second electrode current collecting plate.
Wiepen, in the same field of endeavor, batteries, teaches wherein the elastic parts are formed separately and coupled to the respective plate surfaces of the first electrode current collecting plate and the second electrode current collecting plate (para. 0021, [which leaves space for the attachment of the last spring element [item 3]. After this, the spring elements are fitted to the mount]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have attached Son’s elastic part separately, as taught by Wiepen, in order to appropriately space out additional springs or components that may be added to the current collector, as taught by Wiepen (Wiepen, para. 0021, [which leaves space for the attachment of the last spring element]).
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the machine translation of Son (KR20080016049A) and further in view of Hughett (WO 9601504 A1), with evidence by Merrian Wpebster Dictionary (Integral Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster).
Regarding claim 7, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 5, wherein each of the elastic parts has more than one bend and a free end (See Hughett Fig. 1 below), the free end comprising the can connection part (Hughett, Fig. 1), and wherein a portion of each of the substrate current collecting parts is in a straight line (Hughett, Fig. 1, items 30a and 30n are in a straight line) and the elastics parts are integral with at least one of their respective substrate current collecting parts (Hughett, Fig. 1, item 32 and items 30a and 30n are integral with the plate, and therefore are integral to each other). Examiner notes that the definition of integral is “formed as a unit with another part”.
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Regarding claim 8, modified Wiepen teaches the secondary battery of claim 5, and further teaches wherein the elastic part has a concave-convex shape (See Hughett Fig. 1 below) and a free end (See Hughett Fig. 1 below), the free end comprising the can connection part (See Hughett Fig. 1 below), and wherein a portion of each of the substrate current collecting parts is arranged in a straight line (Hughett, Fig. 1, items 30a and 30n are in a straight line).
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Regarding claim 9, modified Son teaches the secondary battery of claim 7, wherein each of the substrate current collecting parts has a width greater than that of the elastic part (Hughett, Fig. 1, although the figure is not drawn to scale, the substrate collecting parts [30a and 30n] are wider than the elastic part [item 32]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have made the current collecting plate to have substrate current collecting parts that are wider than the elastic part, as shown in Hughett Fig. 1, based on the proportions shown in the drawing.
Other Pertinent References
US 7867655 B2
US 2009/0280406 A1
US 2011/0086252 A1
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
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/V.G./ Examiner, Art Unit 1721
/ALLISON BOURKE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1721
Prosecution Insights