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. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Drawings The drawings are objected to because fig. 2 has reference characters 130 and 150 on the right side of the image not provided with lead lines. See 37 C.F.R. 1.84(q). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). 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. Specification Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure. A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art. If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives. Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps. Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts. Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details. The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided. The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it uses phrases which can be implied (“This utility model relates to ”), and because it features extensive mechanical and design details (rather than a narrative description of the improvement). A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b). The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: In ¶ 7 of the submitted specification, “ at least one first lateral pressing blocks" should be amended to recite "at least one first lateral pressing block. ” 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. Claims 4–6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Claim 4 recites “the second lateral pressing block” (l. 4). The limitation renders the claim indefinite because, earlier, the claim introduces “at least two second lateral pressing blocks” (ll. 1–2). It’s unclear if this latter-mentioned “lateral pressing block” is meant to refer to only one of the at least two blocks, or is shorthand for referring to both or all second lateral pressing blocks. Claim 6 also recites “the second lateral pressing block” (l. 3), and is indefinite for much the same reason as claim 4. Claim 5 is rejected due to dependency upon a rejected claim. 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. 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. Claim s 1–5, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai et al. (CN 216903146 U , cited by Applicant, translation provided by the Office ) in view of Xiao et al. (CN 215731834 U , cited by Applicant, translation provided by the Office ). Claim 1: Bai discloses a welding positioning clamp (“ aluminium shell spot welding fixture especially relates to a power battery for fixture ”) , characterized by comprising: a first lateral press (3) to position a workpiece along a first direction, wherein the first direction is a thickness direction of the workpiece (clearly evident from fig. 1) ; a base (1) and an installation plate (102) , wherein the installation plate is movably provided at the base along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction (“ the spring base 110 is provided with a spring guide rod 112, a spring 113 and a floating block 111, used for making the clamping fixture mounting plate 102 floating ”; perpendicularity evident from the way 111 moves in 110 as depicted in fig. 2) , and the first lateral press is provided on the installation plate (appreciable from figs. 1 and 2) ; and a positioning structure (2) to position the workpiece along a third direction (“ upper reference fixture assembly 2 ”) , wherein the third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction separately (evident from the two previous directions having a horizontal aspect) , and the positioning structure is slidably provided on the installation plate along the first direction and covers a top of the first lateral press; Bai does not seem to explicitly disclose that its positioning structure is slidably provided along the first direction. Instead, it only explicitly discloses “second linear guide rail 208,” which, based on fig. 3, clearly provides movement along the second direction. However, fig. 2 clearly shows at least one structure 105 upon which positioning structure 2 sits, and clearly shows a rail associated therewith at four similar structure positions. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to understand that positioning structure 2 moved in the first direction via this structure. Bai does not disclose that its first lateral press has a movable side and a reference side that are opposite each other along the first direction, the first lateral press comprises a first lateral pressing block and a first reference block that are provided at the reference side, and a second lateral pressing block provided at the movable side, both the second lateral pressing block and the first lateral pressing block are capable of moving along the first direction, and the first reference block is at a fixed position along the first direction. However, Xiao discloses a similar apparatus wherein a first lateral press ( 10) has a movable side (15) and a reference side (13) that are opposite each other along the first direction (appreciable from fig. 1) , the first lateral press comprises a first lateral pressing block (173) and a first reference block (131) that are provided at the reference side, and a second lateral pressing block (153) provided at the movable side, both the second lateral pressing block and the first lateral pressing block are capable of moving along the first direction (evident from figs. 1–3) , and the first reference block is at a fixed position along the first direction ( ibid. ) . Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement the movable and reference features of the first lateral press of Xiao into Bai to effectively provide feedback to ensure proper clamping. Claim 2: Modified as per claim 1 above, Xiao discloses that at least two first reference blocks (fig. 2 shows the type of 115 piece at each end) are provided on the reference side along the second direction, and at least one first lateral pressing block is provided between two outermost first reference blocks along the second direction (the lateral pressing blocks 173 are provided between these pieces 115 in fig. 2) . Comment: Claim 2 references “two outermost first reference blocks” after introducing “at least two first reference blocks.” It’s clear from the overall disclosure that the latter passage is merely defining that at least two of the aforementioned first reference blocks have an outermost character to them. Claim 3: Modified as per claim 1 above, Xiao discloses that at least two first lateral pressing blocks are provided between the two outermost first reference blocks along the second direction (continuing from claim 2, this is evident from 115 and 173 in fig. 2) , the first lateral press further comprises a first driver (171) provided corresponding to the first lateral pressing block, and the first driver is configured to drive the first lateral pressing block to move along the first direction ( “ the second driving member 171 can drive the second movable member 173 towards the workpiece 200 direction or away from the workpiece 200 direction ”) . Claim 4: Modified as per claim 1 above, Xiao discloses that at least two second lateral pressing blocks are provided on the movable side along the second direction (fig. 3 shows four second lateral pressing blocks) , the first lateral press further comprises a second driver (151) provided corresponding to the second lateral pressing block, and the second driver is configured to drive the second lateral pressing block to move along the first direction (“ the first movable piece 153 connected with the first driving piece 151 drives the first movable piece 153 towards the workpiece 200 direction or away from the workpiece 200 direction ”) . Claim 5: Modified as per claim 1 above, Xiao discloses that a drive force of the second driver is smaller than that of the first driver (“ the first driving member 151 can be compared with the second movable assembly 17 in the second driving member 171 of the driving force power is larger, so that the first movable assembly 15 can provide more clamping force than the second movable assembly 17 ”) . Claim 7: Bai discloses that the welding positioning clamp further comprises a second lateral press (108) to position the workpiece along the second direction (“ a thin cylinder 108 for providing power for clamping the short edge of the battery ”) . Claim 8: Bai discloses that the second lateral press comprises a second reference block (104) and a third lateral pressing block ( the “thin cylinder” of 108, as distinct from the actuating part) that are opposite each other along the second direction (see 104 and 108 in fig. 2) , the third lateral pressing block is capable of moving along the second direction (“ the short side clamping cylinder seat 107 is provided with a thin cylinder 108 for providing power for clamping the short edge of the battery ”) , and the second reference block is at a fixed position along the second direction (naturally as a “short side reference pressing block”) . Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai in view of Xiao as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Su et al. (CN 207930224 U , cited by Applicant, translation provided by the Office ). Bai does not disclose that the welding positioning clamp further comprises a lifter to drive the workpiece to move along the third direction. However, Su discloses a similar apparatus with a welding positioner clamp (see abstract, “power battery locating fixture,” “clamping mechanism”) that comprises a lifter (5) to drive a workpiece to move along the third direction (“ a lifting mechanism 5 lifting the power battery 6 to the upper locating plate 4217 below the contact location ”) . Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to join the lifter of Su with the welding positioner clamp of Bai modified by Xiao to provide a means to put the battery to be welded into position (Bai’s apparatus necessarily works by having the battery be raised into position since its top would reach the positioning structure upon upward movement). Allowable Subject Matter Claim 6 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Bai does not disclose any detector. Xiao discloses a detector (133) in conjunction with a controller (“ the detecting piece 133 can be a pressure sensor, the pressure sensor can detect the reference piece 131 of the pressure, and can be the detected pressure value sent to the locating clamping device 100 of the controller ”) , where further, “ the controller compares the detected pressure value with the preset pressure value, and judging whether the detected pressure value is less than the preset pressure value, if the detected pressure value is less than the preset pressure value, judging as locating failure, sending the locating failure signal to the alarm, the alarm sends alarm to prompt the operator . ” However, Xiao’s detector is provided on its first lateral pressing block, joined with the first reference block 131. One of ordinary skill in the art would not readily see any reason to shift the position of the detector from the first lateral pressing block to the second lateral pressing block, or to add another detector, particularly since the reference piece 131 to which it is joined seems well-suited for working with the detector given its feedback-responsive functionality. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. Liu et al. (CN 111390467 A) , Shikada et al. (JP 2020-171930 A) , and Meng et al. (US Pub. 2025/0214182) are similar battery welding clamping prior art. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT John J. Norton whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-5174 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Edward (Ned) F. Landrum can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 272-8648 . 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. /JOHN J NORTON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761