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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Figures 10 and 11, claims 10-14, 16, 17, 21, 23 in the reply filed on 3/27/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 18-20, 22, and 24-31 are withdrawn from consideration.
Priority
Acknowledgement has been made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 USC 119 (a-d). The certified copy has been filed on 6/23/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed 6/23/2023 has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings received 6/23/2023 are acceptable for examination purposes.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
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 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
In claim 23, the recitation “the base unit being attached to the base unit” does not make sense.
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.
Claims 10-14, 16, 17, 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan (CN 2505692) in view of Xiong (CN 111584813).
Regarding claim 10, a method of installing a rechargeable battery unit, the method comprising: forming a hole in the ground and placing the battery unit in the hole, Fan discloses that the battery 10 is embedded underground (page 2 of translation). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form a hole in the ground and to place the battery in the hole for the benefit of embedding the battery of Fan underground. See figure 1.
Regarding claim 11, the battery unit is for powering a utility mounted on a pole and the hole is formed proximate the pole. See figure 1.
Regarding claim 12, further comprising at least partially filling the hole with drainage aggregate after the battery unit has been placed in the hole, Fan discloses that the battery is embedded underground (page 2 of translation).
Regarding claim 13, further comprising placing earth on top of the aggregate, Fan discloses that the battery is embedded underground (page 2 of translation).
Regarding claim 23, the housing of the rechargeable battery unit comprises a base unit 15 and a cover 13, the base unit being attached to the base unit to form a water-tight seal (page 2 of translation).
Regarding claim 10, Fan discloses placing the battery unit underground, but does not disclose forming a substantially cylindrical hole. Xiong teaches an underwater robot emergency module power supply having a cylindrical housing. It uses an electrode connecting strip to connect the electric core in series, parallel, or series-parallel connection mode according to the use requirement to form a plurality of output voltage, output current of the electric core group. The symmetry and sealing performance of the invention is good, meeting the use requirement of underwater robot. See Abstract. A supporting rod is provided between the first and second electric core group. The supporting rod prevents the electric core in the electric core groups from being pressed (page 5 of translation).
Regarding claim 14, Xiong teaches the rechargeable battery unit comprises a housing and a plurality of battery cells located within the housing, wherein the housing has a substantially round or oval cross-section. See figure 1.
Regarding claim 16, the housing is substantially elongate and round-cylindrical in shape. See figure 1.
Regarding claim 17, the rechargeable battery unit comprises a skeleton having a plurality of elongate members 16 running a length of the housing, the elongate members being attached to one or more circumferential members. See figure 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to use the battery module of Xiong as the rechargeable battery and the protective box of Fan and therefore, forming a substantially cylindrical hole in the ground, for the benefit of having a battery and housing with good sealing that withstands underground pressure, and customized power supply sufficient for its power requirement.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan (CN 01275416) in view of Xiong (CN 111584813) as applied to claim 10, further in view of Asano (JP 2003-229097).
Regarding claim 21, Fan modified by Xiong does not teach the rechargeable battery unit further comprises a port formed in the housing and a valve assembly connected to the port wherein the valve assembly comprises a pressure valve and a cover for covering the valve. Asano teaches a battery housing having a cap on one end. The cap part is provided with a gas exhaust port and a safety valve 12b and a cover 12a for coving the valve. See figure 1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to add a valve configuration of Asano to the battery of Lan modified by Xiong for the benefit of releasing internal pressure safely.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO WALLS whose telephone number is (571)272-8699. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F until 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Leong can be reached at 571-270-1292. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CYNTHIA K WALLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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