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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (WO Publication 2022-211299, U.S. Patent Publication 2023/0343982 will be used as an English translation) in view of Lin (U.S. Patent Publication 2020/0091520) and Child (U.S. Patent Publication 2022/0199968).
Regarding claims 1, 2, 4 and 10, Jeong discloses a process of forming a mono-cell comprising: supplying a first separator 110, supplying a negative electrode 210 on the surface of the first separator, supplying a second separator 310 on the negative electrode, supplying a positive electrode 410 on the second separator, pressing the layers together to form a stack, and cutting the stack to prepare a mono-cell, wherein the layers are supplied by feeding them with a roller apparatus, and wherein the negative electrode and positive electrode comprise active material layers on a current collector (Paragraphs 0038, 0046, 0052, 0063, Figs. 2 and 3). As to claim 3, Jeong teaches that the pressing step provides for a lamination process (Paragraph 0054). Regarding claim 6, Jeong shows in Figs. 2 and 3 that the cutter is at the upper surface of the stack, which would mean that the positive electrode would be cut first down to the first separator being cut last. As to claim 8, Jeong teaches that the separators can be made of materials, such as polypropylene or polyethylene (Paragraphs 0040, 0050), which are known plastics.
Jeong fails to disclose that the current collectors comprise a plastic substrate and a metal coating, that the cutting is performed by a laser that vaporizes the metal coatings and melts the plastic substrate to cover the cut sides of the electrodes, that a plastic auxiliary joining material is also formed on the cut edges and additionally covers the edges of the separator, that the metal coatings can be copper, nickel or aluminum, that the plastic substrate has a thickness of 5-50 µm and the metal coatings have a thickness of 1-5 µm, and that the plastic substrate is a thermoplastic substrate.
As to claims 1, 2 and 10, Lin discloses a current collector that works well with laser cutting comprising: a support layer and conductive layers on either side of the support layer (Paragraph 0018), wherein the current collector can be used in both a positive and a negative electrode (Paragraph 0064). Regarding claims 11 and 12, Lin teaches that the conductive material can be a metal, such as aluminum, copper, nickel, etc. (Paragraphs 0048-0049). As to claims 13 and 14, Lin states that a thickness of the support layer is 1-30 µm and the thickness of the conductive layers is 30 nm to 3 µm (Paragraphs 0038 and 0060). Regarding claim 15, Lin discloses that the material of the support layer can be polymers, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, etc. (Paragraph 0026).
Regarding claims 1, 2, 5 and 10, Child discloses a method of cutting an electrode with a laser comprising: forming an electroactive material on both sides of a current collector, applying a laser to the electroactive layer, penetrating the three layers so as to cut the three layers, wherein the cutting chemically and/or physically alters the electroactive material along the laser-cut edge to form a second material on the edge (Paragraphs 0031, 0033, 0034 and Figs. 1E-1G). Regarding claims 7 and 9, Child teaches a method of laser cutting a stack comprising two separators on each side of the electrode stack, wherein the cutting causes the separators to melt and cover the edges of the entire stack (Paragraph 0068 and Figs. 5A and 5B), the melted separators acting as the auxiliary joining material.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention that the current collectors of Jeong could comprise a plastic substrate and a metal coating because Lin teaches that this reduces the weight of the battery and increases energy density. It also would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the composite current collector could comprise a thermoplastic base layer and copper, nickel or aluminum metal coatings because Lin teaches that these materials are processed by laser cutting efficiently and are common materials used in current collectors for anodes and cathodes. Additionally, the thicknesses of these layers taught in Lin result in efficient laser cutting. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the cutting of Jeong can be performed by a laser that vaporizes the metal coatings and melts the plastic substrate to cover the cut sides of the electrodes because Child teaches that the laser efficiently cuts the layers so that parts of the active material or separator melt and cover the cut ends of the electrodes and separators to prevent permeation of materials in and out. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that if the current collector of Lin was used in Jeong with a laser cutting technique of Child, the base material of the current collector would melt to cover the sides of the electrodes and separators since the base material is the same as the separator material. Additionally, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the separator would melt with the base material of the current collector and act as an auxiliary joining material.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRITTANY L RAYMOND whose telephone number is (571)272-6545. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9 am-6 pm.
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BRITTANY L. RAYMOND
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1722
/BRITTANY L RAYMOND/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722