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.
1. Claim(s) 1-2,4-5,8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Otohata (US20140182119) in view of Okushita et al. (JP2001291497).
As to claim 1, Otohata et al. discloses a line forming unit comprising: a first pressing surface (figure 7 number 7) and a second pressing surface (bottom 7) that compress a pouch wing extending from a pouch body in which an electrode assembly (5) is accommodated from both sides; a protruding portion (7a) formed on the first pressing surface (7) and protruding from the first pressing surface toward the second pressing surface (bottom 7), and extending to be elongated in the length direction of the pouch wing wherein the line forming unit is configured to form a pre-folding line recessed at a predetermined depth along a length direction of the pouch wing on the pouch wing (figure 7).
Otohata et al. fail to disclose an avoiding portion formed on the second pressing surface and depressed inward so as to correspond to the protruding portion of the first pressing surface.
Okushita et al. teaches an avoiding portion formed on the second pressing surface and depressed inward so as to correspond to the protruding portion of the first pressing surface for the purpose of providing folding line in order to perform folding without applying excessive stress (paragraph 0008-0009).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time applicant's invention was made to provide Otohata et al. with an avoiding portion formed on the second pressing surface and depressed inward so as to correspond to the protruding portion of the first pressing surface for the purpose of providing folding line in order to perform folding without applying excessive stress (paragraph 0008-0009).
As to claim 2, Otohata et al. discloses wherein the line forming unit includes a pre-heating press heat-pressing the pouch wing in order to soften the pouch wing, and a line forming press including the first pressing surface and second pressing surface, and pressing the pouch wing softened by the pre-heating press to form the pre-folding line (figure 7 paragraph 0050).
As to claim 4, Otohata et al. discloses wherein the line forming unit includes a heating press including the first pressing surface and second pressing surface, and for forming the pre-folding line simultaneously with softening the pouch wing by heat-pressing the pouch wing (figure 7 paragraph 0050).
As to claim 5, Otohata et al. discloses wherein the line forming unit includes a first heating press forming a first pre-folding line on the pouch wing and a second heating press forming a second pre-folding line on the pouch wing on which the first pre-folding line is formed (figure 7 paragraph 0050).
As to claim 8, Otohata et al. discloses, wherein the first heating press forms the first pre-folding line on the pouch wing before the first folding unit folds the pouch wing by 90°, and the second heating press forms the second pre-folding line on the pouch wing folded by 180 after the second folding unit folds the pouch wing by 180 and before the third folding unit additionally folds the pouch wing folded by 180 by 90° (figure 19 number 46a,46b paragraph 0069).
As to claim 9, Otohata et al. discloses wherein the second heating press includes a first folded portion pressing surface and a second folded portion pressing surface that compress a 1800 folded portion of the pouch wing formed by folding the pouch wing by 1800the first folded portion pressing surface is formed at a position higher than the first pressing surface, and the second folded portion pressing surface is formed on the same line as the second pressing surface (figure 19 number 46a,46b).
As to claim 10, Otohata et al. discloses wherein the heating press simultaneously forms a first pre-folding line and a second pre-folding line on the pouch wings (figure 7 and paragraph 0050).
2. Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Otohata et al. in view of Okushita et al. and in further view of Park et al. (KR101245282).
Otohata et al. and Okushita et al. discloses the line forming unit described above. Otohata et al. fail to disclose wherein the first heating press forms the first pre-folding line on a sealing surface of the pouch wing, and the second heating press forms the second pre-folding line on a non-sealing surface of the pouch wing.
Park et al. teaches the second pre-folding line is formed on a non-sealing surface
of the pouch wing for the purpose of minimizing the damage to the sealing surface of
the pouch (paragraph 0043).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at
the time applicant's invention was filed to provide Otohata et al. with the second pre-
folding line is formed on a non-sealing surface of the pouch wing for the purpose of
minimizing the damage to the sealing surface of the pouch (paragraph 0043, 0047).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3,7 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art fail to teach or suggest wherein the line forming press includes an upper knife, a lower knife, a stripper, and an elastic part, and is configured to form the pre-folding line on the softened pouch wing at the same time as the stripper descends when the pouch wing is finally cut. Applicant teaches that the folding device of the present invention can reduce the risk of meandering occurring during folding by softening the sealing portion of the pouch wing and forming a pre-folding line after vision alignment of the battery cell. The prior art fail to teach or suggest wherein a heat and a pressure applied to the pouch wing by the second heating press in order to form the second pre-folding line are lower than a heat and a pressure applied to the pouch wing by the first heating press in order to form the first pre-folding line. Applicant teaches that since the first pre-folding line PFL1 is formed on the sealing surface formed by melting a polypropylene (PP) layer in the pouch, even though a high temperature or a high pressure is applied to the pouch wing w, a probability that a defect of an insulation resistance will occur is low, while since the second pre-folding line PFL2 is formed on the non-sealing surface, in a case where a high temperature or a high pressure is applied to the pouch wing, the PP layer in the pouch is melted, such that a probability that a defect of an insulation resistance will occur is high, and as compared with the first pre-folding line PFL1, the second pre-folding line PFL2 is positioned closer to a body direction, that is, the pouch body m in which the electrode assembly is accommodated, and thus receives a greater insulation influence. Therefore, it is preferable to ease the conditions for forming the second pre- folding line PFL2 as compared with the conditions for forming the first pre-folding line PFL1.