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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed 6/27/2023 has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings received 6/9/2023 are acceptable for examination purposes.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Cha (US 2020/0006820).
Regarding claim 1, a lithium-ion secondary battery, comprising a housing 120 and at least two battery cells 20 packaged in the housing 120, wherein at least one cooling unit 110 extending along the length direction of the housing is provided in the housing 120, a coolant channel 230 for circulation of a coolant is provided in the cooling unit, the cooling unit divides the internal space of the housing 120 into at least two accommodating cavities spaced apart from each other in the thickness direction of the housing, each accommodating cavity contains a battery cell 20, and the cooling unit 110 is in thermal conduction contact with the battery cells 20 in adjacent accommodating cavities.
Regarding claim 2, the cooling unit is a cooling plate 110.
Regarding claim 5, the number of the cooling unit 110 is at least two, and the at least two cooling units 110 within the housing 120 are spaced apart from each other in the thickness direction of the housing 120, the at least two cooling units 110 divide the internal space of the housing into at least three accommodating cavities spaced apart from each other in the thickness direction of the housing 120.
Regarding claim 6, the number of the cooling unit 110 is at least three, and the at least three cooling units 110 within the housing 120 are spaced apart from each other in the thickness direction of the housing, the two outermost cooling units are respectively attached to the opposite inner walls of the housing 120.
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.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cha (US 2020/00006820).
Regarding claim 13, an electric vehicle, comprising the lithium-ion secondary battery as claimed in claim 1, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form an electric vehicle using the battery of Cha for the benefit of providing power to the electric vehicle.
Claims 3, 14, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cha (US 2020/00006820) as applied to claim 1 or 13, in view of Newman (US 2018/0048039).
Regarding claim 3, Cha discloses there are multiple barrier walls spaced within the cooling unit, and the coolant channel is formed by dividing the internal space of the cooling unit by the barrier walls, but does not disclose the coolant channel in the cooling unit extends along the length direction of the cooling unit and is bent multiple times, each barrier wall extends along the length direction of the cooling unit, the multiple barrier walls are arranged and distributed along the height direction of the cooling unit. Newman teaches a cooling unit having a coolant channel in the cooling unit extends along the length direction of the cooling unit and is bent multiple times, each barrier wall extends along the length direction of the cooling unit, the multiple barrier walls are arranged and distributed along the height direction of the cooling unit. Figure 4.
Regarding claim 14, Newman teaches the coolant channel comprises a first passage, a second passage and a third passage, the first passage, the second passage and the third passage extend along the length direction of the cooling unit. See figure 4.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to substitute the channel pattern of Newman to the cooling plate of Cha, as taught by Newman, for the benefit of allowing the coolant fluid to flow through all the channels to cool the battery cells.
Regarding claim 14, the cooling unit is provided with a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet at the two opposite ends of the length direction of the cooling unit, the first passage and the third passage extend along the direction from the coolant inlet towards the coolant outlet, while the second passage extends along the direction from the coolant outlet towards the coolant inlet, Newman discloses the coolant inlet and a coolant outlet are located at two opposite ends of the width direction of the cooling unit. See figure 4. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to dispose the coolant inlet and the coolant outlet at the opposite ends of the length direction instead of the width direction of the cooling unit depending on the convenience of disposing the inlet and outlet for its practical purpose.
Regarding claim 15, one end of the first passage is connected to the coolant inlet, the other end of the first passage is connected to one end of the second passage, one end of the third passage is connected to the coolant outlet, the other end of the third passage is connected to the other end of the second passage, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form three passages of the coolant plate depending on the required size of the plate and the desired duration of the coolant flow within the plate.
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cha (US 2020/00006820) as applied to claim 1, in view of Hong (CN 105514318).
Cha does not disclose the elements of claims 7-9.
Regarding claim 7, Hong teaches the housing has a prismatic structure and comprises two opposite first side plates and two opposite second side plates, the two first side plates are spaced apart and parallel to each other in the thickness direction of the housing, the two second side plates are spaced apart and parallel to each other in the height direction of the housing, the two first side plates and the two second side plates are connected to each other, and the internal space of the housing is formed by the enclosure of the two first side plates and the two second side plates, the cooling unit is arranged parallel to the two first side plates in the housing.
Regarding claim 8, Hong teaches the housing has openings at two opposite ends in the length direction of the housing, and a first cover plate and a second cover plate are respectively sealed at the openings at the two opposite ends of the housing.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to add the housing of Hong to the battery module of Cha for the benefit of further protecting the battery module of Cha.
Regarding claim 9, the cooling unit is provided with a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet at the two opposite ends of the length direction of the cooling unit, one end of the coolant channel is connected to the coolant inlet, and the other end of the coolant channel is connected to the coolant outlet, Hong teaches the coolant inlet 15 and the coolant outlet 16 are disposed at the same end of the length direction of the cooling unit. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to provide with a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet at the two opposite ends of the length direction of the cooling unit depending on the inlet and outlet configuration of the coolant plate.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cha (US 2020/00006820) in view of Hong (CN 105514318) as applied to claim 9, further in view of Qi (CN 210607415).
Regarding claim 10, Cha modified by Hong does not teach the elements of claim 10. Qi teaches a cooling unit is provided with connectors at both the coolant inlet 1215 and the coolant outlet 1216, and the connectors extend outward from the two ends of the cooling unit, and a first cover plate provided with a coolant inlet port 1211 and a coolant outlet port 1212. Figures 25 and 26. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to add a connector to the coolant inlet and outlet of Cha modified by Hong, as taught by Qi, for the benefit of connecting the coolant inlet and outlet to an external line.
It is noted that Cha modified by Hong and Qi reads on Applicant’s “the first cover plate and the second cover plate are each provided with a coolant port, the connector at the coolant inlet is inserted into the coolant port on the first cover plate, and the connector at the coolant outlet is inserted into the coolant port on the second cover plate.”
Claims 11, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cha (US 2020/00006820) in view of Hong (CN 105514318) as applied to claim 8, in view of Konishi (JP 2009-004271).
Cha modified by Hong does not teach the elements of claims 11 and 12.
Regarding claim 11, the first cover plate and/or the second cover plate are provided with an explosion-proof valve, Konishi teaches a battery cover on a side surface having an explosion-proof mechanism comprising a groove part outlined with a closed curve. When the internal pressure is increased to exceed a predetermined value, the groove part is ruptured. See Abstract. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to add an explosion-proof mechanism of Konishi to the cover plates of Cha modified by Hong, as taught by Konishi, for the benefit of protecting the battery module of Cha from explosion.
Regarding claim 12, the first cover plate and the second cover plate are each provided with an electrode terminal, and the first cover plate and/or the second cover plate are provided with an explosion-proof groove, and the explosion-proof groove surrounds or is set partially around the electrode terminal, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to add an explosion-proof mechanism of Konishi at any location on the cover plates of Cha modified by Hong, as taught by Konishi, for the benefit of protecting the battery module of Cha from explosion.
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.
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/CYNTHIA K WALLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751