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 with respect to claim(s) 1 and 3-8 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.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 4-5 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 is objected to base on the phrasing “the plurality of crests and troughs at least partially positioned”, based on grammatically incorrectness. A suggested rephrasing to overcome this objection is “the plurality of crests and troughs are at least partially positioned”.
Claim 4 is objected to based on the phrasing “wherein each strip of is integrated into…”, due to an extra “of” being present. A suggested rephrasing to overcome this objection is “wherein each strip is integrated into…”
Claim 5 is objected to due to the phrasing “wherein each pressure release mechanism of the plurality pressure release mechanisms”, due to grammatical incorrectness. A suggested rephrasing to overcome this objection is “wherein each pressure release mechanism of the plurality of pressure release mechanisms”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 4-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim US 20210074970 A1.
Regarding Claim 1, Kim is an analogous art to the instant application, being directed towards the art of battery cell ventilation (Abstract, “An energy storage module includes: a plurality of battery cells arranged in a length direction, each of the battery cells including a vent;”). Kim discloses a system for battery cell ventilation comprising a plurality of battery cells integrated together as a battery module (Abstract, “An energy storage module includes: a plurality of battery cells arranged in a length direction,”), a corrugated battery module lid 160 integrated above the battery cell module (Paragraph 0064, “and a top cover 160.”), with alternating ridges and grooves shown in Kim’s figure 3 thereby representing corrugation, the battery module lid 160 including a plurality of crests and troughs to form one of more gas diffusion channels, where gas is diffused out of gas discharge openings 161 (Paragraph 0069, “the top cover 160 may include discharge openings (e.g., discharge holes) 161.”) which are located in troughs that act as gas emission channels.
Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein the plurality of crests and troughs are at least partially positioned to encompass at least one of the plurality of battery cells to form a plurality of enclosures associated with the one or more battery cells, as shown in figure 3, where the crests and troughs encompass the battery cells along the length of the battery module, thereby overlapping extinguisher sheets 150 and ducts 141 (Paragraph 0067, “The top plate 140 includes a plurality of ducts 141 located to respectively correspond to vents”; Paragraph 0068, “Accordingly, the extinguisher sheet 150 may be positioned such that the openings 151 therein are respectively aligned with the ducts 141 of the top plate 140. In addition, the extinguisher sheet 150 may be coupled to a bottom surface 160b of the top cover 160.”), where the vents being covered with the module lid 160 are the plurality of enclosures associated with one or more battery cells as required by the claim. Additionally, the plurality of enclosures accumulate a maximum amount of gas pressure from a gas emitted by one of the plurality of battery cells, where the enclosures connect with the top covers of the battery cells, which have rupture members that accumulate a maximum amount of gas pressure emitted from one of the plurality of battery cells (Paragraph 0084, “As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6D, if the vent 124a of the battery cell 120 ruptures, the gas moves upwardly along the duct 141, as indicated by the arrows.”).
Additionally, Kim’s vents 124a are a plurality of pressure release mechanisms that are associated with the plurality of enclosures and are integrated with the corrugated battery module lid, as shown in figure 9A (Paragraph 0069, “Accordingly, the gases discharged from a vent 124a of a battery cell 120 when the vent 124a ruptures may be discharged to the exterior through the corresponding duct 141 of the top plate 140,”). As depicted in figures 9A and 5, each pressure release mechanism comprises at least one ventilation hole, which is arranged to create a gas emission channel.
Additionally, the system further comprises a plurality of strips constructed of a thermal barrier material, wherein each strip of the plurality of strips covers the at least one ventilation hole of said enclosures, where the vent 124a comprises a strip which covers said vent, as shown in figure 24B, which is constructed of a thermal barrier material, being able to contain gas at a temperature of up to 170 degrees Celsius (Paragraph 0085, “In an embodiment, when the vent 124a of the battery cell 120 ruptures, combustible gas having a relatively low temperature of about 170° C. is primarily generated at an initial stage,”), where the strips cover a bottom end of at least one ventilation hole of said enclosures, shown in figure 9A.
Additionally, Kim discloses structure where the plurality of strips are arranged to at least partially separate from the at elast one ventilation hole of a corresponding enclosure to permit single directional gas flow through the one or more gas emission channels in response to that the enclosure has accumulated a gas pressure exceeding the maximum amount of gas pressure (Paragraph 0084, “As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6D, if the vent 124a of the battery cell 120 ruptures, the gas moves upwardly along the duct 141, as indicated by the arrows.”), as depicted in Kim’s figure 7.
Additionally, Kim discloses structure where in response to the enclosure exceeding the maximum amount of gas pressure, the enclosure automatically releases the accumulated gas through the plurality of pressure release mechanisms, wherein the gas is directed through one or more gas emission channels between the plurality of crests (Paragraph 0084, “As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6D, if the vent 124a of the battery cell 120 ruptures, the gas moves upwardly along the duct 141, as indicated by the arrows.”), as depicted in Kim’s figure 7.
Regarding Claim 4, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein each strip is integrated into a ventilation hole of each of the plurality of battery cells to release the accumulated gas into one or more gas emission channels, where the gas emission channel structure is shown in figure 7, and the integration into the holes of battery cells is shown in figure 24B, and the combined structure is shown in figures 20 and 21.
Regarding Claim 5, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein each pressure release mechanism includes an elongated slit across the corrugated module lid, here the slit in the rupture portion of the vent 124a shown in figure 5, which extends across the width of the corrugated battery module lid. As discussed above, the rupture portions of the vents 124a rupture and are deformed along the elongated slit to release the gas pressure. Here, where the vents 124a are repair able, they are considered to be temporarily deformed, as “temporarily deformed” is interpreted to require that the deformed part can be capable of being returned to a normal state via replacement or repair, as the instant claim does not necessarily require that a reformation to the original state occurs by an automatic means.
Regarding Claim 6, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 5. Additionally, Kim discloses structure wherein as the temporary deformation of the vent occurs, which is connected to and therefore a part of the corrugated battery module lid, separated between the elongated slit, a pressure resulting from the deformation provides additional sealing pressure on a corresponding pressure release mechanism of the plurality of pressure release mechanisms of a neighboring cell, as the pressure released from a ruptured battery cell introduces additional gas into the environment, the pressure within the environment is applied onto the rupture portions of other adjacent cells from the enclosure increases. Therefore, the pressure resulting from the deformation, that being the pressure of the gas released as a result of the deformation, provides additional sealing pressure on the vent plates which are the pressure release mechanisms of neighboring cells.
Regarding Claim 7, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 5. Additionally as depicted in their figures 5 and 3, the elongated slits extend across a width of at least one of the plurality of troughs.
Regarding Claim 8, Kim anticipates the invention of Claim 5. Additionally as depicted in their figures 5 and 3, the elongated slits extend across a width of the corrugated battery module between the plurality of crests, being placed between the crests, and between the plurality of troughs, as the slits are located inside a trough, they are therefore located between an end of a trough, and a beginning of another trough.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Persson (US 20210288374 A1).
Regarding Claim 3, Kim discloses all the claim limitation as set forth above. Additionally, in regards to the limitation of the instant claim which requires structure wherein the thermal barrier material is constructed of mica, Kim is silent in regards to the material of their thermal barrier. Therefore, we look to Persson, which is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing a cover for a battery module which comprises vent ports (Abstract, “A cover for a battery module is disclosed. The cover includes a planar member and vent ports.”).
Here, Persson discloses that their battery’s vent module is constructed of mica, where said mica allows for both electrical isolation of battery cells, as well as insulating the surrounding cells from heat and fire propagation, while allowing for the venting of gasses released by the battery cells in a controlled manner (Paragraph 0029, “Referring now specifically to FIG. 2, again, the cover 14 may be manufactured from a ceramic or glass fiber material, such as mica, and is adapted to electrically isolate the battery cells 16 (FIG. 1) enclosed in the battery module 10 (FIG. 1), insulate surrounding structures from heat and fire propagation during a battery cell failure, and vent any gases released by the battery cells 16 in a controlled manner.”). Here, where mica is specifically indicated as promoting electrical isolation of battery cells from other cells positioned nearby, this feature is an improvement over the metal vent structure of Naito (Paragraph 0041, “Thus, the present disclosure provides an improved cover for a battery module. The planar member is integrally manufactured from a ceramic or glass fiber material, such as mica with vent ports therein that allow any gases/heat/fire vented during a battery cell thermal runaway event to be vented, which insulates surrounding structures from the hot pressurized gases and allows the heat and pressure to be released from the battery cells protecting the integrity of the battery module, and in particular the integrity of the cover, while maintaining electrical isolation of the battery cells enclosed thereby, and in particular, maintains isolation of the busbars connecting to the battery cell”). Accordingly, it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use of the mica material of Persson in the invention of Kim, thereby reading upon and making obvious the scope of the instant claim.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN W ESTES whose telephone number is (571)272-4820. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 - 5:30.
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/J.W.E./ Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/BASIA A RIDLEY/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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