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 .
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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/11/26 has been entered.
Claims 1 and 3-18 are pending, wherein claims 9-17 remain withdrawn. Claim 18 was newly added.
Claim Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: in claim 18 line 3, a period --.-- Should be added at the end of the claim. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei (CN 211986738 U, cited in IDS filed 8/15/24, hereinafter Wei’CN738) in view of Huang (CN 208908248 U, cited in IDS filed 8/15/24, hereinafter Huang’CN248)
Regarding claim 1, Wei’CN738 teaches a battery module (figs 1-7, energy storage box), comprising:
a case (battery box 1, paragraph [0039]), comprising a top cover (top cover 12, paragraph [0039]) and a case body (housing 11, paragraph [0039]), wherein the top cover is connected with the case body to form an accommodating cavity (paragraph [0034], interior of battery box 1, paragraph [0039], figs 6-7);
a plurality of electric cores (paragraph [0039], battery pack, note that a battery pack implies a plurality of batteries), which are spaced apart and arranged in the accommodating cavity (paragraph [0039], battery pack accommodated in the receiving cavity of the housing); and
a fire-fighting spray nozzle (nozzle 321), which is fitted on the case and is configured to spray fire- fighting agent to the plurality of electric cores (paragraph [0034-0035], nozzle 321 is directly connected to the inside of the battery box 1, so that the fire suppression medium can be accurately injected into the burning battery box 1).
Wei’CN738 is quiet to wherein the battery module further comprises an air-cooling device, and the air-cooling device is oppositely arranged with the fire-fighting spray nozzle to allow a flow direction of the fire-fighting agent to be consistent with an air direction of the air-cooling device.
Huang’CN248 teaches a thermal runaway handling system for power batteries (paragraph [0008]), the cooling unit includes a spray cooling unit, which includes a spray nozzle for spraying onto the battery pack, a liquid supply line for supplying liquid to the spray nozzle, and a suction line for drawing out the gas formed by the heated liquid mist (paragraph [0009]). The cooling response speed is fast and it can effectively deal with thermal runaway problems in a timely manner (paragraph [0010]). Huang’CN248 teaches the use of an exhaust fan (fig 1, exhaust fan 32) to draw air from the inner cavity of the housing to perform forced air cooling on each battery pack (paragraph [0038]). Huang’CN248 teaches that there are many obvious variations in the specific structure of the battery pack, liquid supply pipeline, arrangement and structure of the nozzles, and the number and arrangement of the fans, and that it is not limited to the specific structure (paragraph [0067]).
In view of the teachings of Huang’CN248, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Wei’CN738 to provide an air-cooling device, such as an exhaust fan, oppositely arranged with the fire-fighting spray nozzle to allow a flow direction of the fire-fighting agent to be consistent with an air direction of the air-cooling device, as Huang’CN248 teaches that providing a suction line for drawing out gas can increase the cooling response speed and effectively deal with thermal runaway problems in a timely manner, and that the number and arrangement of nozzles and fans is not limited.
Regarding claim 3, the combination teaches wherein the case body is enclosed by a front panel (Wei’CN738, figs 6-7, see front panel where the pipeline is located), a rear panel (Wei’CN738, figs 6-7, rear panel opposite front) and side plates (Wei’CN738, figs 6-7, note side plates), and at least one of the front panel and the rear panel is fitted with the fire-fighting spray nozzle (Wei’CN738, figs 6-7, paragraph [0040], nozzle passes through notch of the side wall (front) of housing in figure 7).
Regarding claim 5, the combination teaches a battery cluster (Wei’CN738, figs 1-5), comprising a battery rack (figs 2-4, frame 2) and a plurality of battery modules according to claim 1 (see combination, Wei’CN738 teaches plural battery boxes 1), wherein the battery rack is formed with a plurality of fitting cavities, and each fitting cavity is configured to fix one battery module (Wei’CN738, figs 2-4, paragraph [0039], drawer-type structure, when one of the battery boxes 1 needs to be replaced, it can be simply pulled out and replaced).
Regarding claim 7, the combination teaches wherein the case body is enclosed by a front panel (Wei’CN738, figs 6-7, see front panel where the pipeline is located), a rear panel (Wei’CN738, figs 6-7, rear panel opposite front) and side plates (Wei’CN738, figs 6-7, note side plates), and at least one of the front panel and the rear panel is fitted with the fire-fighting spray nozzle (Wei’CN738, figs 6-7, paragraph [0040], nozzle passes through notch of the side wall (front) of housing in figure 7).
Claim(s) 4, 6, 8, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei’CN738 as modified by Huang’CN248 as applied to claims 1 and 5 above, and further in view of Huang (US 2022/0093995, previously cited, hereinafter Huang’US995).
Regarding claims 4 and 8, the combination is quiet to a plug is plugged at the fire-fighting spray nozzle, and the plug is made of low-melting-point heat-sensitive material.
Huang’US995 teaches a battery pack and control method for alleviating thermal runaway spreading of a battery pack (abstract). The housing of the secondary battery includes a weakened portion so that a heat flow resulting from thermal runaway of the secondary battery is able to break through the weakened portion to be discharged (abstract). The spray pipeline is corresponding to weakened portions of the batteries, and has a breakthrough region which is able to form an opening under an action of heat flow so as to spray the spray medium via the opening (abstract). The breakthrough region of the spray pipeline includes a hot melt part (paragraph [0022]) with a melting part between 200°C to 500°C (paragraph [0023]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination so as to include a hot melt part plugging the spray nozzle, as Huang’US995 teaches that since it is the heat flow discharged upon thermal runaway of the battery that triggers the spray pipeline to spray, the battery pack responds quickly and accurately to thermal runaway, and that monitoring devices and control devices may be dispensed with, simplifying the structure, and reducing weight and volume (paragraph [0059]).
Regarding claims 6 and 18, the combination teaches wherein each electric core comprises an explosion-proof valve (note that the structure is known, shown in Huang’US995 as the weakened portion 11), the explosion-proof valve is arranged toward the top cover (Huang’US995, fig 2, note weakened portion 11), and the fire-fighting spray nozzle is fitted on the top cover (Wei’CN738, paragraph [0041], nozzle 321 configured to pass through the top cover 12) to align the fire-fighting spray nozzle with the explosion-proof valve (note combination, Wei’CN738 discloses the nozzle passes through the top cover, and Huang’US995 shows the spray pipeline corresponding to the weakened portion of the batteries).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Nakanishi (JP 2014-192028 A) teaches a battery system including a liquid spraying device (10) and nozzle (15) that sprays water into the housing case in a cooling gas flow path F (fig 7).
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/JACKY YUEN/
Examiner
Art Unit 1735
/KEITH WALKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735
