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.
Specification
The specification and drawings have been reviewed and no clear informalities or objections have been noted.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Guo (CN 211980691 U with references made to the machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Guo discloses a sandwich type support structure contacting one surface of a battery module to offset surface pressure, the sandwich type support structure comprising:
a plate-shaped inner skin part of which one surface is in contact with one surface of the battery module (see annotated Fig. 1 below which illustrates an inner skin that is in contact with the battery module); and
a plate-shaped outer skin part of which one surface is in contact with a surface of the inner skin part that is not in contact with the battery module (see annotated Fig. 1 below which illustrates an outer skin that is not in contact with the battery module),
wherein the outer skin part includes a reinforcing portion bent to protrude in an opposite direction of the battery module (see Fig. 1 where plate shaped outer skin is bent outward away from the module to create a cavity between the inner and outer skins).
PNG
media_image1.png
716
646
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Annotated Fig. 1
Regarding claim 2, Guo further discloses a reinforcing frame inserted between the inner skin part and the outer skin part, wherein the reinforcing portion includes an accommodating portion bent to protrude to a height equal to a thickness of the reinforcing frame (see annotated Fig. 1 above which illustrates that the accommodating portion comprises a bent structure that is equal in thickness to the thickness of the frame).
Regarding claim 3, Guo further discloses the reinforcing frame is disposed parallel to one edge of the battery module (see annotated Fig. 1 above which illustrates that the reinforcing frame is parallel to the battery module).
Regarding claim 4, Guo further discloses the reinforcing frame is disposed to form an angle greater than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees with one edge of the battery module (see annotated Fig. below).
PNG
media_image2.png
172
332
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Claim(s) 1-3, 5 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ito (US 2020/0106065).
Regarding claim 1, Ito discloses a sandwich type support structure contacting one surface of a battery module to offset surface pressure, the sandwich type support structure comprising:
a plate-shaped inner skin part (41) of which one surface is in contact with one surface of the battery module (as depicted in Fig. 3); and
a plate-shaped outer skin part (43) of which one surface is in contact with a surface of the inner skin part that is not in contact with the battery module (as depicted in Fig. 3 where the outer skin 43 does not touch the battery module),
wherein the outer skin part includes a reinforcing portion bent to protrude in an opposite direction of the battery module (see Fig. 4 which illustrates a plate 43 that is bent outwardly to extend away from the battery module).
Regarding claim 2, Ito further discloses a reinforcing frame (42) inserted between the inner skin part and the outer skin part (as depicted in Fig. 4), wherein the reinforcing portion (43) includes an accommodating portion bent to protrude to a height equal to a thickness of the reinforcing frame (see Fig. 4 where reinforcing portion accommodates the frame 43).
Regarding claim 3, Ito further discloses the reinforcing frame is disposed parallel to one edge of the battery module (as depicted in Fig. 3 where the reinforcing frame 42 is parallel to the battery module).
Regarding claim 5, Ito further discloses the reinforcing frame has a “u”-shaped cross section in a thickness direction thereof (see the U-shape of frame 42 in Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 8, Ito further discloses the reinforcing portion further includes an outer support portion (44) bent from at least one of upper and lower ends of the outer skin part in the opposite direction of the battery module (see Fig. 14 which illustrates bent portions 44 that extend away from the battery module and are located at an upper portion as well as a lower portion of outer skin 43) .
Claim(s) 1, 2, 6, 7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rowlette (US 5,114,807).
Regarding claim 1, Rowlette discloses a sandwich type support structure contacting one surface of a battery module to offset surface pressure, the sandwich type support structure comprising:
a plate-shaped inner skin part (16a) of which one surface is in contact with one surface of the battery module (as depicted in Fig. 3 where inner skin 16a is in contact with battery module 12); and
a plate-shaped outer skin part (22) of which one surface is in contact with a surface of the inner skin part that is not in contact with the battery module (as depicted in annotated Fig. 3 below where the outer skin 22 does not touch the battery module),
wherein the outer skin part includes a reinforcing portion bent to protrude in an opposite direction of the battery module (see Fig. 3 which illustrates a plate member 22 that is bent outwardly to extend away from the battery module and create a space in between the plate 22 and the battery module 12).
PNG
media_image3.png
878
1222
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Annotated Fig. 3
Regarding claim 2, Rowlette further discloses a reinforcing frame (21) inserted between the inner skin part and the outer skin part (as depicted in Fig. 3), wherein the reinforcing portion (gap between the outer skin 22 and inner skin 16a) includes an accommodating portion bent to protrude to a height equal to a thickness of the reinforcing frame (see Fig. 3 where reinforcing portion accommodates the frame 21).
Regarding claim 6, Rowlette further discloses the reinforcing frame has a rectangular-shaped cross section in a thickness direction thereof with a hollow inside (see Fig. 3 which illustrates a rectangular cross section of frame 21 along with hollow interior 30).
Regarding claim 7, Rowlette further discloses the reinforcing frame further includes additional reinforcing portions at both ends in a thickness direction thereof, and the additional reinforcing portions extend in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction (see annotated Fig. 3 above which illustrates the additional reinforcing portions which have a thickness in the thickness direction as well as a width in a direction perpendicular to the thickness).
Regarding claim 9, Rowlette further discloses the inner skin part (16a) includes a seating portion (36, as depicted in Fig. 4f) bent to protrude in the opposite direction of the battery module (seating portion 36 bends away from the battery module) and formed in a shape corresponding to an outer edge of a surface of the reinforcing frame contacting the inner skin part (see Fig. 3 which illustrates the reinforcing frame 20 accommodating the protrusion 18 that corresponds to seating portion 36).
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.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rowette (US 5,114,807) in view of Lu (CN 208111582 U with references made to the machine translation).
Regarding claim 10, Rowette teaches encasing the battery module with the outer skin (22) and does not teach the inner skin having a portion that bends to contact two or more edges of the battery module.
Lu also discloses a battery casing structure (see abstract).
Lu, like Rowette, teaches an inner skin (4) and an outer skin (1) that make up an end plate of a battery module. Lu goes on to teach that the inner skin contains bent portions/flanges (41) that project inward toward the battery module and provide a surface to encase the battery module on more than one side (see Fig. 2 which illustrates the inward facing peripheral edges of inner skin 4) and teaches such a configuration in order to cover the electric core and provide safety and insulation of the core (see lines 88-97).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to add the inward facing flanges/bent portions of Lu to the inner skin of Rowette in order to cover the electric core and provide safety and insulation of the core.
Relevant Prior Art
CN 209312858 U – Discloses an end plate that has an inner and outer plate along with a structure in between the inner and outer plate, but this structure does not extend the height of the gap between the plates.
US 2018/0212212 – Discloses an end plate with interior bracing structure but is silent regarding the outer skin/plate being bent.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW J MERKLING whose telephone number is (571)272-9813. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8am-6pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Basia Ridley can be reached at 571-272-1453. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MATTHEW J MERKLING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/BASIA A RIDLEY/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1725