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 .
Status of the Claims
The claims submitted 06/27/2023 have been entered and fully considered. Claims 1-4 are pending and examined herein.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 06/27/2023 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered. Specifically, a copy of WO 2019/069659 A1 has not been provided. It is noted that a copy of the document JP WO2019/069659 A was provided in the parent application 16/855,116 and is listed on the attached PTO-892.
Drawings
Figures 6 and 7 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2018/0158623 A1 (“Kishi”) in view of US 2022/0037750 A1 (“Harima”).
Regarding claim 1, Kishi discloses a lithium ion secondary battery 1 (Abstract; Figs. 1a, 1b; [0032]) comprising an electrode assembly 17 (“electrode body”) including a terminal connecting part constituted by a plurality of stacked positive electrode current collectors 9 (“collector foils”) (Fig. 7); a flexible film 6 (“exterior body”) made of a laminate film for accommodating the electrode assembly; and a positive electrode terminal 7 (“first electrode terminal”) and a metal piece 13 (“second electrode terminal”) to be connected with the positive electrode current collectors ([0034]).
As shown in Figs. 1b and 7, the positive electrode terminal 7 is joined to a lower surface of the terminal connecting part and partially exposed to an outside of the flexible film 6; and the metal piece 13 is joined to an upper surface of the terminal connecting part.
Kishi discloses the metal piece 13, positive electrode current collectors 9, and positive electrode terminal 7 are connected to one another by ultrasonic welding ([0034], [0046]) but does not expressly disclose a first welding mark including a plurality of recesses and projections is formed in at least some region in a depth direction of a lower surface of the first terminal, and a width dimension W3 of the first welding mark is longer than a width dimension W2 of the second terminal, a second welding mark including a plurality of recesses and projections is formed from a first end to a second end in a width direction of the second terminal in at least some region in a depth direction of an upper surface of the second terminal, and a height dimension HC at a central part in the width direction of the second terminal, and a height dimension HE at an end in the width direction of the second terminal satisfy a relationship of HC ≥ HE.
Harima discloses a secondary battery having current collection terminal member 24, 26 ultrasonically welded to current collection terminal members 30, 32 (analogous to first electrode terminal). As shown in a width of the weld area (W3) at the current collection terminal members 30, 32 is larger than a largest width (W2) of the current collection terminal member 24, 26 where they are joined. The portions of the joined current collection terminal members 24, 26 at an end side row 71 have a greater height than that at joined portions 71 (i.e. HC ≥ HE). The configuration taught by Harima reliably prevents breakage of the current collection tabs ([0013], [0045]-[0049]). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the welding configuration taught by Harima to reliably prevent breakage of the current collection tabs.
In Kishi, the meal piece 13 is no wider than the portion of positive electrode current collectors 9 which are joined. Therefore, in the combination taught above, the relationship W3 > W2 exists in a first welding mark of positive electrode terminal 7 of Kishi. As shown in Harima, a joined area 70 (“second welding mark”) having a plurality of protrusions and recesses (formed by multiple joined portions 71) are formed from a first end to a second end in the width direction in a depth direction. In the combination taught above, the joined area 70 (from Harima) is formed on metal piece 13 of Kishi. Therefore, the metal piece 13 has the second welding mark as claimed.
Regarding claim 2, modified Kishi discloses the secondary battery of claim 1. As shown in Fig. 10 of Harima, joined portions 71, 72 (“recessed part”) are formed at each opposite end of the second welding mark.
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2018/0158623 A1 (“Kishi”) in view of US 2022/0037750 A1 (“Harima”) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of JP 2014-179435 A (“Ando” – machine translation in parent application 16/855,116 dated 09/19/2022 cited herein).
Regarding claims 3-4, modified Kishi discloses the secondary battery of claim 2. Modified Ando does not expressly disclose a tilt angle θ3 of the recessed part formed at each opposite end of the second welding mark is smaller than a tilt angle θ4 of a recessed part formed at the central part in the width direction [claim 3] or a depth D1 of the recessed part formed at each opposite end of the second welding mark is shallower than a depth D2 of the recessed part formed at the central part in the width direction [claim 4].
Ando discloses an ultrasonic bonding apparatus 70 with a bonding surface 13 provided with two types of protrusions: protrusions 14 and protrusions 23 (Abstract; Fig. 10; [0046]-[0048]). Protrusions 23 are formed at the ends of the bonding surface 13 in the width direction and have a height less than the height of protrusions 14 (Fig. 10; [0047]). In the welding mark formed by the use of ultrasonic bonding apparatus 70, this results in tilt angle θ3, θ4, D1, and D2 as indicated in the annotated Fig. 10(a) below. This configuration suppresses peeling and simplifies manufacturing ([0048]). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the configuration having protrusions and recesses as taught by Ando to suppress peeling and simplify manufacturing.
PNG
media_image1.png
349
430
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert Scott Carrico whose telephone number is (571)270-5504. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:15AM-6PM ET.
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, Barbara Gilliam can be reached at 571-272-1330. 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.
Robert Scott Carrico
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/Robert S Carrico/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727