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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 of this title, 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(s) 1, 4-10, and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meng et al. (CN 209526168 U) in view of Einav et al. (US 20240120697 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Meng teaches:
An automatic removal system (Fig. 1) for automatically removing a tape and a resin exposed to an outside of a battery module [0007 & 0008 & 0009 & 0010 & 0011 & 0013 & 0014 & 0019 & 0024 & 0026], the system comprising:
a removal assembly (1 & 3) including a removal device (103 & 206 & 303) for removing the tape and the resin [0009 & 0010 & 0019 & 0024 & 0038 & 0043 & 0044 & 0045 & 0046 & 0051 & 0054 & 0059 & 0066 & 0067 & 0068 & 0070]; and
an automatic multi-axis robot (102) (Fig. 11 & Fig. 16 & Fig. 17) coupled to the removal assembly and configured to drive the removal assembly to remove the tape and the resin of the battery module [0046 & 0054 & 0067 & 0068];
the removal device includes a first removal device (103 & 206) the first removal device comprising at least one gripper for removing the tape and the resin attached to the tape [0046 & 0051 & 0054 & 0067 & 0068];
the removal device further includes a second removal device (303) for removing the resin remaining on the battery module left by the first removal device [0005 & 0008 & 0011 & 0013 & 0014 & 0026 & 0046 & 0060 & 0062 & 0066].
Meng does not teach:
at least one gripper attached to a distal end of the robot arm for grabbing and removing tape from the battery module; and
a scraper attached to the distal end of the robot arm for removing the resin remaining on the battery module left by the at least one gripper.
Einav teaches:
An automatic removal system for automatically removing a tape and a resin exposed to an outside of a battery module, the system comprising:
an automatic multi-axis robot, the robot comprising:
a robot arm (808);
at least one gripper (908) attached to a distal end of the robot arm (Fig. 8B & Fig. 9B) [0362] for grabbing and removing tape from the battery module [Per MPEP 2114 if the prior art applied satisfies the structural limitations of the Claim and is capable of performing the functional limitations of the Claim without structural modification then the prior art anticipates both the structural and functional limitations of the claims. Per MPEP 2115 inclusion of the material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims.]; and
a scraper (922) attached to the distal end of the robot arm (Fig. 8B & Fig. 9B) [0371 & 0372] for removing the resin remaining on the battery module left by the at least one gripper [Per MPEP 2114 if the prior art applied satisfies the structural limitations of the Claim and is capable of performing the functional limitations of the Claim without structural modification then the prior art anticipates both the structural and functional limitations of the claims. Per MPEP 2115 inclusion of the material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims.].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the automatic removal system for automatically removing a tape and a resin exposed to an outside of a battery module, having an automatic multi-axis robot with a robot arm, at least one gripper attached to a distal end of the robot arm for grabbing and removing tape from the battery module and a removal device for removing the resin remaining on the battery module left by the first removal device taught by Meng with the an automatic removal system for automatically removing coating exposed to an outside of an electric module having an automatic multi-axis robot with a robot arm supporting at least one gripper attached to a distal end of the robot arm for grabbing and removing tape from the battery module and a scraper attached to the distal end of the robot arm for removing the resin remaining on the battery module left by the at least one gripper taught by Einav in order to provide a means for removing materials from the surface of a battery with a reduced footprint thereby increasing the utility by allowing an increased number of apparatus in a given area thereby increasing throughput and a physical means for removing contaminants from the surface to ensure complete removal thereby improving performance of the apparatus.
Regarding Claim 4, Meng teaches:
a transfer module (301), wherein the transfer module grips the battery module and moves the battery module to a transfer shuttle (204 & 304) (Fig. 2 & Fig. 13 & Fig. 16).
Regarding Claim 5, Meng teaches:
the transfer shuttle includes a pair of transfer rails (305) that are adjacent to each other (Fig. 1 & Fig. 2 & Fig. 8 & Fig. 13 & Fig. 16), and wherein the battery module is loaded on the pair of transfer rails and moves to an aligner (104) positioned in a front side of the transfer rail (Fig. 13 & Fig. 16) [0021 & 0046 & 0056 & 0066 & 0067 & 0069].
Regarding Claim 6, Meng teaches:
the aligner includes a stopper, and a pair of pressers respectively installed on outer sides of the pair of transfer rails, wherein each of the pressers includes a pressing rod that enters an inside of the a respective transfer rail or retracts from the respective transfer rail [Fig. 16 & Fig. 18] [0009 & 0024 & 0046 & 0067 & 0069 & 0070], wherein the pressing rod presses a side surface or a rear surface of the battery module when the pressing rod enters the inside of the respective transfer rail, and wherein the stopper blocks a forward movement of the battery module, so that the battery module is fixed in place Fig. 16 & Fig. 18] [0009 & 0024 & 0046 & 0067 & 0069 & 0070].
Regarding Claim 7, Meng teaches:
spray nozzles arranged to spray high-pressure air, wherein compressed air discharged from the spray nozzles causes a portion of the tape to be separated from a casing of the battery module and directed in a predetermined direction, so that the at least one gripper grips the tape [0019 & 0024].
Regarding Claim 8, Meng teaches:
a cleaner configured to contact the second removal device and remove the remaining resin adhered to the second removal device [0026 & 0060 & 0062 & 0063 & 0066].
Meng does not teach:
the second removal device is a scraper.
Einav teaches:
the second removal device is a scraper (922) [0371 & 0372].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the automatic removal system for automatically removing a tape and a resin exposed to an outside of a battery module, having an automatic multi-axis robot with a robot arm, at least one gripper attached to a distal end of the robot arm for grabbing and removing tape from the battery module and a removal device for removing the resin remaining on the battery module left by the first removal device taught by Meng with the an automatic removal system for automatically removing coating exposed to an outside of an electric module having an automatic multi-axis robot with a robot arm supporting at least one gripper attached to a distal end of the robot arm for grabbing and removing tape from the battery module and a scraper attached to the distal end of the robot arm for removing the resin remaining on the battery module left by the at least one gripper taught by Einav in order to provide a means for removing materials from the surface of a battery with a reduced footprint thereby increasing the utility by allowing an increased number of apparatus in a given area thereby increasing throughput and a physical means for removing contaminants from the surface to ensure complete removal thereby improving performance of the apparatus.
Regarding Claim 9, Meng teaches:
a collector (101) configured to collect the tape attached to the at least one gripper [0009 & 0019 & 0046 & 0054 & 0059 & 0067].
Regarding Claim 10, Meng teaches:
the first removal device includes rods arranged side by side along one side of a base of the removal assembly and each of the rods extending downward, and a gripper integrally formed at a front end of each of the rods (Fig. 11 & Fig. 17) [0012 & 0015 & 0019 & 0024 & 0054 & 0059].
Regarding Claim 10, Meng teaches:
the at least one gripper includes rods arranged side by side along one side of a base attached to the robot and each of the rods extending downward, and gripper jaws integrally formed at a front end of each of the rods (Fig. 11 & Fig. 17) [0012 & 0015 & 0019 & 0024 & 0054 & 0059].
Regarding Claim 12, Meng teaches:
the second removal device includes a support bracket or block formed on a second side of the removal device opposite to a first side in which the first removal device is arranged (Fig. 1 & Fig. 2), and a knife or scraper installed on the support bracket or block to remove the resin device [0011 & 0014 & 0026 & 0060 & 0062 & 0063 & 0066].
Meng does not teach:
the second removal device is a scraper.
Einav teaches:
the second removal device is a scraper (922) [0371 & 0372];
the scraper includes a support bracket or block (926) formed on a second side of a base attached to the robot opposite to a first side in which the at least one gripper is arranged (Fig. 9D), and a knife or blade (922) installed on the support bracket or block to remove the resin [Per MPEP 2114 if the prior art applied satisfies the structural limitations of the Claim and is capable of performing the functional limitations of the Claim without structural modification then the prior art anticipates both the structural and functional limitations of the claims. Per MPEP 2115 inclusion of the material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims.].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the automatic removal system for automatically removing a tape and a resin exposed to an outside of a battery module, having an automatic multi-axis robot with a robot arm, at least one gripper attached to a distal end of the robot arm for grabbing and removing tape from the battery module and a removal device for removing the resin remaining on the battery module left by the first removal device taught by Meng with the an automatic removal system for automatically removing coating exposed to an outside of an electric module having an automatic multi-axis robot with a robot arm supporting at least one gripper attached to a distal end of the robot arm for grabbing and removing tape from the battery module and a scraper attached to the distal end of the robot arm for removing the resin remaining on the battery module left by the at least one gripper taught by Einav in order to provide a means for removing materials from the surface of a battery with a reduced footprint thereby increasing the utility by allowing an increased number of apparatus in a given area thereby increasing throughput and a physical means for removing contaminants from the surface to ensure complete removal thereby improving performance of the apparatus.
Regarding Claim 13, Meng teaches:
the automatic multi-axis robot has a multi-joint structure including a body, a first robot arm connected to the body, and a second robot arm connected to the first robot arm, wherein a pivotable drive arm and a coupling portion for being coupled to a base attached to the robot are sequentially formed at a front end of the second robot arm (Fig. 2 & Fig. 3) [0011 & 0012 & 0030 & 0061].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14 and 15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The art of record fails to render obvious the claimed combination of: “A method of automatically removing the tape and the resin exposed to the outside of the battery module using an automatic removal system for automatically removing a tape and a resin exposed to an outside of a battery module, the system comprising: an automatic multi-axis robot, the robot comprising: a robot arm; at least one gripper attached to a distal end of the robot arm for grabbing and removing tape from the battery module; and a scraper attached to the distal end of the robot arm for removing the resin remaining on the battery module left by the at least one gripper, the method comprising removing the tape and the resin attached to the tape by moving the at least one gripper along a first direction of the tape attached to the battery module.”, as recited in Claim 14 specifically:
the structural and operative relationship between the tape, resin, battery module, automatic, multi-axis robot, robot arm, at least one gripper, and scraper. Especially as it relates to the relationship between the tape, resin, battery module, automatic, multi-axis robot, robot arm, at least one gripper, and scraper.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments and related arguments, see Response to Non-Final Office Action, filed 2025/09/17, with respect to the Examiner’s Rejection of Claims 14 and 15 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The Examiner’s Rejection of Claims 14 and 15 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claims 1, 4-10, 12, and 13 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the combination of references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Patent publications US 20120061981 A1, US 20180125311 A1, US 20200385229 A1, CN 115872014 A, CN 117508826 A, and CN 218896646 U have been cited by the examiner as pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure because they teach: adhesive removal systems.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENDAN P TIGHE whose telephone number is 571-272-4872. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday, 7:00-5:30 EST
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SAUL RODRIGUEZ can be reached on 571-272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRENDAN P TIGHE/Examiner, Art Unit 3652
/SAUL RODRIGUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3652