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 .
Summary
This is the response to the Response to Election/Restriction filed on 04/01/2026.
Claims 1-20 remain pending in the application with claims 1-5 are withdrawn from consideration in light of the Applicants’ election of claims 6-20 for examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Invention II, claims 6-20, in the reply filed on 04/01/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the third groove" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 18 recites the limitation “the third groove” in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 6-8, 11-13 and 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (CN214254642 with provided machine English translation).
Addressing claim 6, Liu discloses a current collecting assembly for electric connection to an electrode terminal, comprising:
a first current collecting member (235 that corresponds to the electrode terminal 232 on the right side in fig. 7), comprising a first protrusion 2352, an end surface of the first protrusion is provided with a first welding portion, the first protrusion is embedded in a first groove of a columnar portion (annotated fig. 8); and
a second current collecting member (235 that corresponds to the electrode terminal 232 on the left side in fig. 7), the first current collecting member is insulated from the second current collecting member (via the intervening insulating structures);
wherein the electrode terminal comprises the columnar portion and a first extension portion (annotated fig. 8), an end surface of the columnar portion is concave inwards to form the first groove (fig. 8), an electric connection portion (the upper surface of the terminal 232) is formed at an end of the columnar portion away from the first groove; the first extension portion extends outwards along a circumferential direction of the end surface of the columnar portion formed with the first groove (annotated fig. 8 below).
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Addressing claim 7, the annotated first groove is also the structural equivalence to the claimed third groove because the claim does not recite any particular structure regarding the third groove to structurally differentiate the claimed third groove from that of the prior art.
Addressing claim 8, fig. 7 shows that the first and second current collecting members are arranged separately.
Addressing claim 11, Liu discloses a cylindrical battery [n0089] battery, comprising:
a current collecting assembly and the electrode terminal both according to claim 6;
a housing 21 and a cell 22, the cell comprises a main body portion as well as a first tab unit (positive tab) and a second tab unit (negative tab) respectively arranged on the main body portion and opposite in polarity [n0012], and the cell is accommodated in the housing (fig. 4); and
the first current collecting member 235 is electrically connected to the first tab unit, and the second current collecting member 235 is electrically connected to the second tab unit [n0112-n0113].
Addressing claim 12, fig. 4 shows the housing comprises a bottom wall and a side wall arranged on the edge of the bottom wall, the cylindrical battery further comprises a top cover 23 covering the housing, the top cover is provided with an electrode lead-out hole 2311 [n0120], and the electrode terminal passes through the electrode lead-out hole (fig. 6) and is fixed to the top cover in an insulated manner by a sealing part 233 (paragraph [n0165] discloses the structure 233 is insulative).
Addressing claim 13, paragraphs [n0040 and n0113] disclose the first and second collecting members are welded to the corresponding first and second tab units.
Addressing claims 16-17, annotated fig. 6 shows the claimed third groove in the claimed manner.
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Addressing claim 18, fig. 7 shows that the first and second current collecting members are arranged separately.
Claim(s) 6-8, 11-12 and 15-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xu et al. (US 2024/0178493 or ‘493).
Addressing claim 6, Xu discloses a current collecting assembly for electric connection to an electrode terminal, comprising:
a first current collecting member 223, comprising a first protrusion (annotated fig. 5), an end surface (abutment surface 243) of the first protrusion is provided with a first welding portion [0091], the first protrusion is embedded in a first groove of a columnar portion (annotated fig. 5), and the first protrusion and the first groove are welded at the first welding portion [0091]; and
a second current collecting member 222, the first current collecting member 223 is insulated from the second current collecting member (via the intervening insulating structures, such as the spacing between the current collecting members and the insulating member 25);
wherein the electrode terminal comprises the columnar portion (fig. 5) and a first extension portion (annotated fig. 5), an end surface of the columnar portion is concave inwards to form the first groove (annotated fig. 5 shows the groove that is formed by the side surface of the insulating member 25 and the bottom surface of the terminal 24 is inwardly concaved to receive the annotated protrusion section), an electric connection portion (the upper surface of the electrode terminal) is formed at an end of the columnar portion away from the first groove (fig. 5); the first extension portion extends outwards along a circumferential direction of an end surface of the columnar portion formed with the first groove (annotated fig. 5).
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Addressing claim 7, the annotated first groove is also the structural equivalence to the claimed third groove because the claim does not recite any particular structure regarding the third groove to structurally differentiate the claimed third groove from that of the prior art.
Addressing claim 8, fig. 5 shows the first and second current connecting members are arranged separately.
Addressing claim 11, Xu discloses in fig. 3 the cylindrical battery, comprising:
the current collecting assembly and the electrode terminal both according to claim 6;
a housing 21 and a cell 22, the cell comprises a main body portion as well as a first tab unit 223 and a second tab unit 222 respectively arranged on the main body portion and opposite in polarity [0082], and the cell is accommodated in the housing; and
the first current collecting member is electrically connected to the first tab unit and the second current collecting member is electrically connected to the second tab unit (fig. 5, the first tab unit and the first current collecting member and the second tab unit and the second current collecting member are the same structures; therefore, they are electrically connected).
Addressing claim 12, figs. 3-4 show the housing comprises a bottom wall and a side wall arranged on the edge of the bottom wall, the cylindrical battery further comprises atop cover 23 covering the housing, the top cover is provided with an electrode lead-out hole (fig. 4, the hole through which the terminal 24 extend), and the electrode terminal passes through the electrode lead-out hole and is fixed to the top cover in an insulated manner by a sealing part 25.
Addressing claim 15, in fig. 5, the second concave 233 corresponds to the claimed fourth groove formed on a side of the top cover 23 away from the cell and the fourth groove is configured to be welded to the second current collecting member 222 [0091].
Addressing claim 16, fig. 5 shows the claimed second groove in the side surface of the columnar portion of the electrode terminal for receiving the stop part 232 and a third groove 241 formed in a surface of the columnar portion of the electrode terminal away from the first groove.
Addressing claim 17, figs. 3 and 5 show the third groove is arranged around the electric connection portion of the electrode terminal and is an annular continuous groove.
Addressing claim 18, fig. 5 shows the first and second current collecting members are separately arranged.
Claim(s) 6-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xu (US 2024/0250283 or ‘283).
Addressing claim 6, Xu ‘283 discloses a current collecting assembly for electric connection to an electrode terminal 1022A, comprising:
a first current collecting member 1022B, comprising a first protrusion (the annotated upper portion of the collecting member 1022B in fig. 8), an end surface of the first protrusion is provided with a first welding portion [0209], the first protrusion is embedded in a first groove of a columnar portion (annotated fig. 8), and the first protrusion and the first groove are welded at the first welding portion [0209]; and
a second current collecting member 1021, the first current collecting member 1022B is insulated from the second current collecting member (via the insulating member 1022C, [0155]);
wherein the electrode terminal comprises the columnar portion (annotated fig. 8) and a first extension portion (annotated fig. 8), an end surface of the columnar portion is concave inwards to form the first groove (annotated fig. 8), an electric connection portion (upper surface of layer 1022A) is formed at an end of the columnar portion away from the first groove; the first extension portion extends outwards along a circumferential direction of the end surface of the columnar portion formed with the first groove (fig. 8).
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Addressing claim 7, the annotated first groove is also the structural equivalence to the claimed third groove within which the first welding portion is located because the claim does not recite any particular structure regarding the third groove to structurally differentiate the claimed third groove from that of the prior art.
Addressing claim 8, fig. 8 shows the first current collecting member 1022B and the second current collecting member 1021 are arranged separately.
Addressing claim 9, fig. 8 shows the current collecting assembly further comprises an insulating part 1022C, the insulating part is configured for insulating connection with the first current collecting member and the second current collecting member (the insulating part positioned between the first and second current collecting members as shown in fig. 8), and the insulating part 1022C, the first current collecting member 1022B and the second current collecting member 1021 are integrally molded (the first insulating part, the first current collecting member and the second current collecting member are integrally formed that corresponds to the being integrally molded).
Addressing claim 10, fig. 8 shows the insulating part 1022C is provided with a through hole (the opening through which the portion 1022B extend) and an opening area (the area outside of the aforementioned opening as shown in annotated fig. 8 below), the first current collecting member 1022B is installed in the insulating part (fig. 8), the first protrusion passes through the through hole (fig. 8), the opening area is at least arranged on one side away from the first protrusion (fig. 8 below shows the area below the annotated through-hole as the claimed opening area), at least a part of one side of the first current collecting member away from the first protrusion is exposed in the opening area (fig. 8, the side away from the protrusion is exposed in the opening area in order to establish electrical connection with the tab 12), and the first current collecting member 1022B and the second current collecting member 1021 form a welding area on one side away from the first protrusion (W1 and W2 collectively form the claimed welding away on one side away from the first protrusion).
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Addressing claim 11, figs. 3-4 show a cylindrical battery 100, comprising:
the current collecting assembly and the electrode terminal both according to claim 6;
a housing 101 and a cell 10, the cell comprises a main body portion as well as a first tab unit 12 and a second tab unit 22 respectively arranged on the main body portion and opposite in polarity, and the cell is accommodated in the housing (fig. 3); and
the first current collecting member is electrically connected to the first tab unit 12 and the second current collecting member is electrically connected to the second tab unit 22 (fig. 8).
Addressing claim 12, figs. 3-4 and 8 show the housing comprises a bottom wall and a side wall arranged on the edge of the bottom wall, the cylindrical battery further comprises a top cover (fig. 4), the top cover is provided with an electrode lead-out hole 1011, and the electrode terminal passes through the electrode lead out hole and is fixed to the top cover in an insulted manner by a sealing part (103+105+106+109).
Addressing claim 13, fig. 8 shows the first current collecting member 1022B is welded to the first tab unit 12 at welding area W1, and the second current collecting member 1021 is welded to the second tab unit 22 at welding area W2.
Addressing claim 14, figs. 5-6 show the first tab unit 12 and the second tab unit 22 are lead out from the same end of the main body portion, the first current collecting member 1022B is connected to the second current collecting member 1021 in a combined manner by an insulating part 1022C, and the top cover is welded to the second current collecting member.
Addressing claim 15, fig. 8 shows 1021’ as the claimed fourth groove formed in a side of the top cover away from the cell, and the fourth groove is configured to be welded to the second current collecting member.
Addressing claim 16, annotated fig. 8 below shows the claimed second groove and third groove.
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Addressing claim 17, annotated fig. 8 above shows the third groove is arranged around the electric connection portion 1022A and is an annular continuous groove.
Addressing claim 18, fig. 8 shows the first welding portion [0209] is located in the groove (as discussed in the rejection of claim 6 above) that corresponds to the claimed third groove; and/or the first and second current collecting members are arranged separately.
Addressing claim 19, fig. 8 shows the current collecting assembly further comprises an insulating part 1022C, the insulating part is configured for insulating connection with the first and second current collecting members, and the insulating part 1022C, the first current collecting member 1022B and the second current collecting member 1021 are integrally molded (the first insulating part, the first current collecting member and the second current collecting member are integrally formed that corresponds to the being integrally molded).
Addressing claim 20, fig. 8 shows the insulating part 1022C is provided with a through hole (the opening through which the portion 1022B extend) and an opening area (the area outside of the aforementioned opening as shown in annotated fig. 8 below), the first current collecting member 1022B is installed in the insulating part (fig. 8), the first protrusion passes through the through hole (fig. 8), the opening area is at least arranged on one side away from the first protrusion (fig. 8 below shows the area below the annotated through-hole as the claimed opening area), at least a part of one side of the first current collecting member away from the first protrusion is exposed in the opening area (fig. 8, the side away from the protrusion is exposed in the opening area in order to establish electrical connection with the tab 12), and the first current collecting member 1022B and the second current collecting member 1021 form a welding area on one side away from the first protrusion (W1 and W2 collectively form the claimed welding away on one side away from the first protrusion).
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BACH T DINH whose telephone number is (571)270-5118. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday 8:00 - 4:30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Barton can be reached at (571)-272-1307. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BACH T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726 05/27/2026
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