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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 8-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Claims 1-7, in the reply filed on 01/29/2026 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings received on 01/17/2023 were reviewed and are acceptable.
Specification
The specification filed on 01/17/2023 was reviewed and is acceptable.
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) 1-5 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rajmohan et al. (WO 2020044275 A1, hereinafter Rajmohan), in view of Kawasaki et al. (JP 2012009485 A, hereinafter Kawasaki).
Regarding Claim 1, Rajmohan discloses the limitations regarding a battery assembly (Rajmohan, battery pack, Abstract) comprising:
a battery cell (Rajmohan, plurality of battery cells, Abstract); and
a circuit board (Rajmohan, metal core printed circuit board (MCPCB), Abstract), the circuit board comprising:
a first dielectric layer (Rajmohan, The MCPCB includes a base layer, a thermally conductive dielectric layer, Abstract),
a bus bar located on a surface of the first dielectric layer facing away from the second dielectric layer (Rajmohan, the one or more bus-bars can be connected to specific exposed regions of circuit layer, Page 13, lines 29-31),
a first copper block (Rajmohan, the circuit layer may be made of copper, Page 17, Lines 23-30) located on the surface of the first dielectric layer facing away from the second dielectric layer (Rajmohan, a circuit layer bonded to the thermally conductive electric layer, Claim 12);
the battery cell is accommodated in the holding groove and is electrically coupled to the circuit board through the bus bar (Rajmohan, the one or more bus-bars (85) or cables electrically connect the parallel-series combined battery cells to the battery management system through the circuit layer of the MCPCB, Page 13, Lines 25-31).
Rajmohan is silent regarding a second dielectric layer, an adhesive film located between the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer and comprising a plurality of cavities spaced from each other, a second copper block located on the surface of the second dielectric layer facing away from the first dielectric layer; a fuse located on a surface of the second dielectric layer facing away from the first dielectric layer, the circuit board is divided into a plurality of heat dissipation areas and a plurality of bending areas which are connected in turn and are alternately arranged, the plurality of heat dissipation areas and the plurality of bending areas enclose a holding groove; the bus bar, the first copper block, the fuse, and the second copper block are arranged on the plurality of heat dissipation areas, the bus bar and the first block copper are accommodated in the holding groove
Kawasaki discloses a circuit board (Kawasaki, printed wiring board comprising a first circuit board, and a second circuit board are laminated with the interlayer adhesive layer interposed therebetween, [0010]) comprising:
a second dielectric layer (Kawasaki, the base material may be a polyimide resin, [0028]), an adhesive film located between the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer and comprising a plurality of cavities spaced from each other (Kawasaki, an interlayer adhesive layer interposed between the first and second circuit board, wherein an air gap is provided in the interlayer adhesive layer, [0018]),
a second copper block located on the surface of the second dielectric layer facing away from the first dielectric layer (Kawasaki, the second metal-foil is laminated on one surface side of the second based material, wherein the metal-foil may be copper, [0030, 0041]).
Kawasaki teaches that the printed wiring board favorably controls the characteristic impedance of a signal transmission path (Kawasaki, [0009]). Rajmohan and Kawasaki are analogous to the current invention as they are all directed towards a circuit board.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the circuit board structure of Kawasaki in the battery pack of Rajmohan, in order to favorably control the characteristic impedance of a signal transmission path.
Modified Rajmohan discloses the limitations regarding a fuse located on a surface of the second dielectric layer facing away from the first dielectric layer (Rajmohan, one electrical safety fuse element designed as tapered sections in the circuit layer of MCPCB, wherein the tapered section is configured to blow open and provide protection to battery cells during an overload or short circuit condition, Claim 21), and
the circuit board is divided into a plurality of heat dissipation areas (Rajmohan, thermal barriers providing a means for thermal management and heat dissipation from the terminals of the plurality of battery cells to the MCPCB, Page 14, Lines 13-20) and a plurality of bending areas which are connected in turn and are alternately arranged (Kawasaki, since the flexible portion is not adhesively bonded to the printed wiring board 100, the flexibility of the printed wiring board is favorably maintained by the flexible portion, [0031]),
the plurality of heat dissipation areas and the plurality of bending areas enclose a holding groove; the bus bar, the first copper block, the fuse, and the second copper block are arranged on the plurality of heat dissipation areas, the bus bar and the first block copper are accommodated in the holding groove (Rajmohan, one or more through-holes located within each of the corresponding plurality of circuit layer sections. Each of the one or more through-holes is configured to facilitate welding of the plurality of interconnect tabs to the battery terminals of the corresponding plurality of battery cells using the at least one welding method, Page 5, lines 25-29),
Regarding Claim 2, modified Rajmohan discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Modified Rajmohan discloses the limitations regarding a battery assembly (Rajmohan, battery pack, Abstract), further comprising a first thermally conductive sheet (Kawasaki, first conductor portion, [0049]) and a second thermally conductive sheet (Kawasaki, second conductor portion, [0049]), wherein the first thermally conductive sheet is arranged on a surface of the first dielectric layer facing the plurality of cavities, the second thermally conductive sheet is arranged on a surface of the second dielectric layer facing the plurality of cavities (Kawasaki, first and second conductor portions are formed on the surface side of the first and second base material, respectively, [0039]).
Regarding Claim 3, modified Rajmohan discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Modified Rajmohan discloses the limitations regarding a battery assembly (Rajmohan, battery pack, Abstract), further comprising a first thermally conductive adhesive and a second thermally conductive adhesive (Kawasaki, first and second covering layers comprising of a first and second adhesive agents, [0049]), wherein the first thermally conductive adhesive is sandwiched between the first copper block and the first thermally conductive sheet, the second thermally conductive adhesive is sandwiched between the second copper block and the second thermally conductive sheet (Kawasaki, the first and second covering layers cover the conductor portion surfaces, [0049]).
Regarding Claim 4, modified Rajmohan discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Modified Rajmohan discloses the limitations regarding a battery assembly (Rajmohan, battery pack, Abstract), wherein the first copper block is coupled to the battery cell through an adhesive layer (Rajmohan, electrically conductive adhesives, are used to provide electrical and thermal pathways and connect to the terminals of battery cells, Page 3, Lines 27-30).
Regarding Claim 5, modified Rajmohan discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Modified Rajmohan discloses the limitations regarding a battery assembly (Rajmohan, battery pack, Abstract), further comprising a monitoring element coupled to the fuse (Rajmohan, a battery management system connected to the plurality of battery cells, which are coupled to temperature sensors, and the circuit layer via sense lines and bus-bars, wherein the battery management system is configured to control and monitor the charging and discharge of the battery pack, and a fuse element designed as tapered sections in the circuit layer of MCPCB, Claims 7-8, and 10).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Rajmohan discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Modified Rajmohan discloses the limitations regarding a battery assembly (Rajmohan, battery pack, Abstract), wherein the plurality of cavities (Kawasaki, air gap is provided in the interlayer adhesive layer, [0018]) are filled with liquid (Rajmohan, direct forced convection cooling with air or dielectric liquid, Page 3, Lines 9-11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to fill the gaps with dielectric liquid because dielectric liquid would be an obvious substitute for air in providing cooling for the battery pack.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rajmohan et al. (WO 2020044275 A1, hereinafter Rajmohan), in view of Kawasaki et al. (JP 2012009485 A, hereinafter Kawasaki), as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of Jenner-Braunschmied et al. (US 20190165351 A1, hereinafter Jenner-Braunschmied).
Regarding Claim 6, modified Rajmohan discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above. Modified Rajmohan discloses the limitations regarding a battery assembly (Rajmohan, battery pack, Abstract). Modified Rajmohan is silent regarding the battery assembly further comprising a connecting sheet connecting the bus bar and the battery cell.
Jenner-Braunschmied discloses a battery assembly (Jenner-Braunschmied, battery module, Abstract) further comprising a connecting sheet connecting the bus bar and the battery cell (Jenner-Braunschmied, a bus bar therefor for connecting battery cells are disclosed, said bus bar having an electrically conductive metal sheet and at least one sheet metal connector for electrically connecting to a pole of the battery cell, Abstract).
Modified Rajmohan and Jenner-Braunschmied are analogous to the current invention as they are all directed towards a battery assembly comprising a bus bar.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention for the bus bar of modified Rajmohan to comprise of an electrically conductive metal sheet of Jenner-Braunschmied, in order to electrically connect the bus bar to the battery cells.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 9661743 B1 discloses a flexile circuit board comprising a first flexible insulating layer and a second flexible insulating layer comprising of polyimide, one or more adhesive layers, and an interconnect layer comprising of a copper foil (Claims 1, 7, and 9);
US 20150037634 A1 discloses a system including a cell interconnect board including a printed circuit board disposed proximate a power assembly having a plurality of pouch battery cells (Abstract).
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/K.N./Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/OSEI K AMPONSAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752