DETAILED ACTION
Application 18/270,622, “BATTERY PACK AND DEVICE INCLUDING THE SAME”, was filed with the USPTO on 6/30/2023 and has two foreign priority documents: KR10-2021-0107933 filed on 8/17/2021 and KR10-2022-0102059 filed on 8/16/2022.
This office action is in response to communication filed on 6/30/2023.
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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copies have been filed in parent Application No.18/270,622, filed on 6/30/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 6/30/2023, 9/05/2024 and 4/21/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
For examination purposes the recitation “an elongate sliding protrusion” in claim 19 has been interpreted as “an elongate protrusion”; the recitation “an elongate sliding groove” in claim 19 has been interpreted as “an elongate groove”.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
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 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 15, the recitation “the assembly member rotates toward the venting member” is indefinite because it is not clear if the assembly member automatically rotates or is configured to rotate toward the venting member. For examination purposes the aforementioned recitation has been interpreted as “the assembly member is configured to rotate toward the venting member”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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, 9, 14 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hosokawa (JP 2014107178 A, citations see machine translation).
Regarding Claim 1, Hosokawa teaches a battery pack (vehicle battery pack, [0021]) comprising:
a battery module (5, Fig. 1) that houses battery cells (1, Fig. 1) and discharges gas generated from the battery cells (internal gas goes from 1 to 5 to outside of battery; see [0025]);
a pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1) that houses the battery module (5, Fig. 1) and
having an outlet port (11b, Fig. 1, 3A) in a first surface (11a, Fig. 1, 3A) for discharging gas discharged from the battery module (evacuating the internal gas via 11b, see [0025]); and
a venting member (31, Fig. 1, 3A) that covers the outlet port (11b, Fig. 1, 3A) at an outer surface (11a/surface of 12, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1), couples to the outer surface (11a/surface of 12, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1), and discharges gas from inside (evacuating internal gas, [0025]) the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1),
wherein the venting member (31, Fig. 3A) is detachably coupled (31 detachably coupled to 11a, see Fig. 3A; [0027]) to the outer surface (11a/surface of 12, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 2, Hosokawa teaches further comprising:
a fastener (50, Fig. 3A) that couples the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1) and the venting member (31, Fig. 1, 3A),
wherein the fastener (50, Fig. 3A) comprises a bolt (51, Fig. 3A) passing through the venting member (31, Fig. 3A) and a nut (52, Fig. 3A) into which the bolt is inserted and fastened, and
a first of the bolt or the nut (52, Fig. 3A) contacts and couples (52 contacts and couples 11a via 51, see Fig. 3A) to the first surface (11a, Fig. 3A) of the pack housing, and a second of the bolt (51, Fig. 3A) or the nut is detachably fastened to the first of the bolt or the nut (52, Fig. 3A) at an outside of the pack housing (outside of 10/20, Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 9, Hosokawa teaches wherein:
the nut (52, Fig. 3A) comprises a fixed nut (52, when fastened to bolt 51, see Fig. 3A) configured to contact and couple to an inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1), and
the bolt comprises an outer bolt (51, Fig. 3A) detachably fastened to the nut (52, Fig. 3A) at the outside of the pack housing (outside of 10/20, Fig. 1).
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Regarding Claim 14, Hosokawa teaches wherein: the venting member (31, Fig. 3A) is slidably and detachably coupled (capable of be slide off of 11a and detachably coupled to 11a, Fig. 3A) to the outer surface (11a/surface of 12, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 18, Hosokawa teaches a device (vehicle, see abstract) comprising the battery pack according to a battery pack (vehicle battery pack, [0021]) comprising:
a battery module (5, Fig. 1) that houses battery cells (1, Fig. 1) and discharges gas generated from the battery cells (internal gas goes from 1 to 5 to outside of battery; see [0025]);
a pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1) that houses the battery module (5, Fig. 1) and
having an outlet port (11b, Fig. 1, 3A) in a first surface (11a, Fig. 1, 3A) for discharging gas discharged from the battery module (evacuating the internal gas via 11b, see [0025]); and
a venting member (31, Fig. 1, 3A) that covers the outlet port (11b, Fig. 1, 3A) at an outer surface (11a/surface of 12, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1), couples to the outer surface (11a/surface of 12, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1), and discharges gas from inside (evacuating internal gas, [0025]) the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1),
wherein the venting member (31, Fig. 3A) is detachably coupled (31 detachably coupled to 11a, see Fig. 3A) to the outer surface (11a/surface of 12, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1).
Claims 1, 14-15, 17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cho et al. (KR 20150139440 A, citation see machine translate).
Regarding claim 1, Cho et al. teaches a battery pack (battery pack, see Abstract) comprising:
a battery module (battery module, [0010]) that houses battery cells (battery cell, [0010]) and discharges gas generated from the battery cells (see [0017]);
a pack housing (120, Fig. 1, 2) that houses the battery module (see [0022]) and having an outlet port (141/133, Fig. 2) in a first surface (surface of 140, Fig. 2) for discharging gas discharged from the battery module (gas goes from cell to 141/133 to 151 then to outside of battery, see Fig. 2); and
a venting member (150, Fig. 1, 2) that covers the outlet port (141/133, Fig. 2) at an outer surface (120b, Fig. 2) of the pack housing (120, Fig. 1, 2), couples to the outer surface (120b, Fig. 2) of the pack housing (120, Fig. 1, 2), and discharges gas from inside the pack housing (see [0028]),
wherein the venting member (150, Fig. 1, 2) is detachably coupled (see [0022]-[0023]) to the outer surface (120b, Fig. 2) of the pack housing (120, Fig. 1, 2).
Regarding claim 14, Cho et al. teaches wherein:
the venting member (150, Fig. 2) is slidably and detachably coupled (150 slidably and detachably inserts into 133 of 130 when 153a passes along/moves linearly toward 133a, see Fig. 2; [0036]) to the outer surface (120b, Fig. 2) of the pack housing (120, Fig. 1, 2).
Regarding claim 15, Cho et al. teaches wherein:
the pack housing (120, Fig. 1, 2) comprises an assembly member (130, Fig. 1, 2) having one end (one end of 130 fixed to one side of 120, see [0023]) fixed to the outer surface (120b, Fig. 2) of the pack housing (120, Fig. 1, 2),
an assembly groove (groove of 154a, Fig. 3) is formed in the venting member (150, Fig. 2), and an assembly protrusion (131, Fig. 3) is formed in the assembly member (130, Fig. 3), and
the assembly member (130, Fig. 1-3) rotates toward (when 150 is hold still, 120/130 can rotate toward 150, see Fig. 1-3 and 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) rejection above for interpretation) the venting member (150, Fig. 1, 2), and the assembly protrusion (131, Fig. 3) engages with the assembly groove (groove of 154a, Fig. 3), so that the assembly member (130, Fig. 1, 2) and the venting member (150, Fig. 1, 2) are coupled (see Fig. 2, 3).
Regarding claim 17, Cho et al. teaches further comprising:
a pack housing cover (120a, Fig. 2) that covers an opened upper part (see Fig. 2) of the pack housing (120, Fig. 1, 2).
Regarding claim 19, Cho et al. teaches further comprising:
an elongate sliding protrusion (131, Fig. 3 and see claim interpretation) extending from the outer surface (120b, Fig. 2) of the pack housing (120, Fig. 2); and
an elongate sliding groove (groove of 154a, Fig. 3 and see claim interpretation) formed in the venting member (150, Fig. 2), a cross sectional shape of the sliding groove corresponding to a cross sectional shape of the sliding protrusion (see Fig. 3).
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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.
Claims 3-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa (JP 2014107178 A, citations see machine translation) in view of Terauchi et al. (US 20200358127 A1).
Regarding Claim 3, Hosokawa teaches wherein:
the bolt (51, Fig. 3A) comprises a fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, see Fig. 3A) configured to contact and couple to the first surface (11a, Fig. 1, 3A) of the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1), and
the nut comprises an outer nut (52, Fig. 3A) detachably fastened to the fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, see Fig. 3A).
Hosokawa does not teach an outer nut is at the outside of the pack housing.
Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
an outer nut (6, Fig. 5) is at the outside of the pack housing (outside of 4/9, Fig. 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the bolt and the nut taught by Hosokawa by rearranging the way of coupling the bolt and the nut and placing the nut at the outside of the binding bar and the cooling plate as taught by Terauchi et al. to prevent loosening of bolts over a long period of time (see Terauchi et al. [0005]).
Regarding Claim 4, Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
a housing hole (hole in 11 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 1, 3A) is formed in the pack housing (10/20, Hosokawa Fig. 1), and
the fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) passes through the housing hole (hole in 11 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 1, 3A) while contacting and coupling to an inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing (10/20, Hosokawa Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 5, Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
the fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) comprises a head part (head part, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A-2) configured to contact and couple to the inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing (10/20, Hosokawa Fig. 1) and a screw part (screw part, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A-2) extending from the head part (head part, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A-2) and passing through the housing hole (hole in 11 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 1, 3A).
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Regarding Claim 6, Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
the fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) contacts and couples to the outer surface (11a/surface of 12, Hosokawa Fig. 1) of the pack housing (10/20, Hosokawa Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 7, Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
a through hole (hole in 31 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 3A) is formed in the venting member (31, Hosokawa Fig. 3A), and
the fixed bolt (51, when 52 fastened, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) passes through the through hole (hole in 31 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 3A) to be fastened to the outer nut (52, Hosokawa Fig. 3A).
Regarding Claim 8, Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
the fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) is coupled to the first surface (11a, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) of the pack housing (10/20, Hosokawa Fig. 1).
Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. does not teach it is by a welding junction or an adhesive.
Terauchi et al. teaches a fixed bolt (5, Fig. 5) is coupled to the first surface of the pack housing (4b, Fig. 5) by a welding (by welding, see last sentence [0053]) junction or an adhesive.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the coupling of fixed bolt coupled to the first surface of the pack housing taught by Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. by making the coupling by welding as taught by Terauchi et al. to prevent loosening of bolts over a long period of time (see Terauchi et al. [0005]).
Claims 10-12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa (JP 2014107178 A, citations see machine translation) in view of Suenaga et al. (US 20220013852 A1 ).
Regarding Claim 10, Hosokawa teaches wherein:
a housing hole (hole in 11 where 51 is located, see Fig. 1, 3A) is formed in the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1), and
the fixed nut (52, when fastened to 51, Fig. 3A) contacts and couples to the inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing.
Hosokawa does not teach the fixed nut covers the housing hole.
Suenaga et al. teaches the fixed nut (53, Fig. 8(b)) covers the housing hole (see Fig. 8(b)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Hosokawa by substituting the fixed nut with the stud nut taught by Suenaga et al. to have the battery case fixed on the vehicle body side (see Suenaga et al. [0093]).
Regarding Claim 11, Hosokawa in view of Suenaga et al. teaches wherein:
the fixed nut (53, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b)) comprises a columnar main body (53b, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b); cylindrical, Suenaga et al. [0092]) formed with screw threads (53a, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b)) on an inner surface (formed inside, Suenaga et al. [0092]), and an attachment part (53t, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b)) configured to extend from the main body (53b, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b)) and contact and couple to the inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing.
Regarding Claim 12, Hosokawa in view of Suenaga et al. teaches wherein:
a through hole (hole in 31 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 3A) is formed in the venting member (31, Hosokawa Fig. 3A), and
the outer bolt (51, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) sequentially passes through the through hole (hole in 31 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 3A) and the housing hole (hole in 11 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 1, 3A) to be fastened to the fixed nut (53, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b)).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa (JP 2014107178 A, citations see machine translation) in view of Kawaguchi (JP 2016102576 A, provided in IDS filed 6/30/2023, citation see machine translation).
Regarding Claim 13, Hosokawa teaches wherein:
the fixed nut (52, when fastened to 51, see Fig. 3A) is coupled to the inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing (10/20, Fig. 1).
Hosokawa does not teach it is by a welding junction or an adhesive.
However, Kawaguchi teaches a fixed nut (6, Fig. 1(b)) is coupled to the inner surface (23, Fig. 1(b)) of the pack housing by a welding junction or an adhesive (8, Fig. 1(b)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the connection of the fixed nut coupled to the inner surface of the pack housing taught by Hosokawa by adding the adhesive to couple the nut to the upper surface as taught by Kawaguchi to reduce the weight of the fixing portion compared to a welding bead of arc welding (see Kawaguchi [0022]).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa (JP 2014107178 A, citations see machine translation) in view of Aoyanagi et al. (JP 2013089375 A, provided on IDS filed 6/30/2023, citation see machine translation).
Regarding Claim 16, Hosokawa is silent that wherein:
the venting member comprises a venting cap in which a venting hole is formed, a support ring in contact with the pack housing and a rupture disk located between the venting cap and the support ring.
Aoyanagi et al. teaches wherein:
the venting member (1, Fig. 2) comprises a venting cap (30/40, Fig. 2) in which a venting hole (102, Fig. 2) is formed, a support ring (10, Fig. 2) in contact with the pack housing (101, Fig. 2) and a rupture disk (20, Fig. 2) located between the venting cap (30/40, Fig. 2) and the support ring (10, Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the venting member taught by Hosokawa by adding the retainer/protective plate in which the exhaust hole is formed, the gasket in contact with the battery case and the rupture plate/disc located between the retainer/protective plate and the gasket as taught by Aoyanagi et al. to have a rupture disc which partially breaks at a predetermined internal pressure and to have a protective plate protecting the rupture disc from being damaged accidentally and preventing the entry of foreign matter. (see Aoyanagi et al. [0006], [0010], [0019]).
Claims 1, 2, 9, 14, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa (JP 2014107178 A, citations see machine translation).
Regarding Claim 1, Hosokawa teaches a battery pack (vehicle battery pack, [0021]) comprising:
a battery module (5, Fig. 1) that houses battery cells (1, Fig. 1) and discharges gas generated from the battery cells (internal gas goes from 1 to 5 to outside of battery; see [0025]);
a pack housing (20, Fig. 1) that houses the battery module (5, Fig. 1) and
an outlet port (11b, Fig. 1, 3A) in a first surface (11a, Fig. 1, 3A) for discharging gas discharged from the battery module (evacuating the internal gas via 11b, see [0025]); and
a venting member (31, Fig. 1, 3A) that covers the outlet port (11b, Fig. 1, 3A) and discharges gas from inside (evacuating internal gas, [0025]) the pack housing (20, Fig. 1),
In the embodiments of Fig. 1 and Fig. 3A, Hosokawa does not teach
the pack housing having the outlet port;
the venting member is at an outer surface of the pack housing, and couples to the outer surface of the pack housing;
the venting member is detachably coupled to the outer surface of the pack housing.
In a different embodiment, Hosokawa teaches
the pack housing (20, Fig. 1) having the outlet port (11b, Fig. 1; see [0011]);
the venting member (31, Fig. 1) is at an outer surface (22, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1), and couples to the outer surface (22, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1; when 11b is on 22, 31 couples to 22, see [0011]);
the venting member (31, Fig. 1) is detachably coupled to the outer surface (22, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1, when 11b is on 22, 31 can be easily replaced, see [0027]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to modify the embodiments of Fig. 1 and 3A taught by Hosokawa by putting both the through hole (gas exhaust hole) and the closing member on the tray member as taught by Hosokawa because Hosokawa teaches that such configuration is known in the art (see Hosokawa [0011]). Further, it has been held that combining two embodiments disclosed adjacent to each other in a prior art patent does not require a leap of inventiveness and involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding Claim 2, Hosokawa teaches further comprising:
a fastener (50, Fig. 3A) that couples the pack housing (20, Fig. 1) and the venting member (31, Fig. 1, 3A),
wherein the fastener (50, Fig. 3A) comprises a bolt (51, Fig. 3A) passing through the venting member (31, Fig. 3A) and a nut (52, Fig. 3A) into which the bolt is inserted and fastened, and
a first of the bolt or the nut (52, Fig. 3A) contacts and couples (52 contacts and couples 11a via 51, see Fig. 3A) to the first surface (11a, Fig. 3A) of the pack housing, and a second of the bolt (51, Fig. 3A) or the nut is detachably fastened to the first of the bolt or the nut (52, Fig. 3A) at an outside of the pack housing (outside of 20, Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 9, Hosokawa teaches wherein:
the nut (52, Fig. 3A) comprises a fixed nut (52, when fastened to bolt 51, see Fig. 3A) configured to contact and couple to an inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1), and
the bolt comprises an outer bolt (51, Fig. 3A) detachably fastened to the nut (52, Fig. 3A) at the outside of the pack housing (outside of 20, Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 14, Hosokawa teaches wherein: the venting member (31, Fig. 3A) is slidably and detachably coupled (capable of be slide off of 11a and detachably coupled to 11a, Fig. 3A) to the outer surface (22, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 17, Hosokawa teaches further comprising:
a pack housing cover (10, Fig. 1) that covers an opened upper part of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 18, Hosokawa teaches a device (vehicle, see abstract) comprising the battery pack according to a battery pack (vehicle battery pack, [0021]) comprising:
a battery module (5, Fig. 1) that houses battery cells (1, Fig. 1) and discharges gas generated from the battery cells (internal gas goes from 1 to 5 to outside of battery; see [0025]);
a pack housing (20, Fig. 1) that houses the battery module (5, Fig. 1) and
an outlet port (11b, Fig. 1, 3A) in a first surface (11a, Fig. 1, 3A) for discharging gas discharged from the battery module (evacuating the internal gas via 11b, see [0025]); and
a venting member (31, Fig. 1, 3A) that covers the outlet port (11b, Fig. 1, 3A) and discharges gas from inside (evacuating internal gas, [0025]) the pack housing (20, Fig. 1),
In the embodiments of Fig. 1 and Fig. 3A, Hosokawa does not teach
the pack housing having the outlet port;
the venting member is at an outer surface of the pack housing, and couples to the outer surface of the pack housing;
the venting member is detachably coupled to the outer surface of the pack housing.
In a different embodiment, Hosokawa teaches
the pack housing (20, Fig. 1) having the outlet port (11b, Fig. 1; see [0011]);
the venting member (31, Fig. 1) is at an outer surface (22, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1), and couples to the outer surface (22, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1; when 11b is on 22, 31 couples to 22, see [0011]);
the venting member (31, Fig. 1) is detachably coupled to the outer surface (22, Fig. 1) of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1, when 11b is on 22, 31 can be easily replaced, see [0027]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to modify the embodiments of Fig. 1 and 3A taught by Hosokawa by putting both the through hole (gas exhaust hole) and the closing member on the tray member as taught by Hosokawa because Hosokawa teaches that such configuration is known in the art (see Hosokawa [0011]). Further, it has been held that combining two embodiments disclosed adjacent to each other in a prior art patent does not require a leap of inventiveness and involves only routine skill in the art.
Claims 3-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa (JP 2014107178 A, citations see machine translation) in view of Terauchi et al. (US 20200358127 A1).
Regarding Claim 3, Hosokawa teaches wherein:
the bolt (51, Fig. 3A) comprises a fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, see Fig. 3A) configured to contact and couple to the first surface (11a, Fig. 1, 3A) of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1), and
the nut comprises an outer nut (52, Fig. 3A) detachably fastened to the fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, see Fig. 3A).
Hosokawa does not teach an outer nut is at the outside of the pack housing.
Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
an outer nut (6, Fig. 5) is at the outside of the pack housing (outside of 4/9, Fig. 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the bolt and the nut taught by Hosokawa by rearranging the way of coupling the bolt and the nut and placing the nut at the outside of the binding bar and the cooling plate as taught by Terauchi et al. to prevent loosening of bolts over a long period of time (see Terauchi et al. [0005]).
Regarding Claim 4, Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
a housing hole (hole in 11 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 1, 3A) is formed in the pack housing (20, Hosokawa Fig. 1), and
the fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) passes through the housing hole (hole in 11 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 1, 3A) while contacting and coupling to an inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing (20, Hosokawa Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 5, Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
the fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) comprises a head part (head part, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A-2) configured to contact and couple to the inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing (20, Hosokawa Fig. 1) and a screw part (screw part, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A-2) extending from the head part (head part, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A-2) and passing through the housing hole (hole in 11 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 1, 3A).
Regarding Claim 6, Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
the fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) contacts and couples to the outer surface (22, Hosokawa Fig. 1) of the pack housing (20, Hosokawa Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 7, Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
a through hole (hole in 31 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 3A) is formed in the venting member (31, Hosokawa Fig. 3A), and
the fixed bolt (51, when 52 fastened, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) passes through the through hole (hole in 31 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 3A) to be fastened to the outer nut (52, Hosokawa Fig. 3A).
Regarding Claim 8, Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. teaches wherein:
the fixed bolt (51, when fastened to 52, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) is coupled to the first surface (11a, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) of the pack housing (20, Hosokawa Fig. 1).
Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. does not teach it is by a welding junction or an adhesive.
Terauchi et al. teaches a fixed bolt (5, Fig. 5) is coupled to the first surface of the pack housing (4b, Fig. 5) by a welding (by welding, see last sentence [0053]) junction or an adhesive.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the coupling of fixed bolt coupled to the first surface of the pack housing taught by Hosokawa in view of Terauchi et al. by making the coupling by welding as taught by Terauchi et al. to prevent loosening of bolts over a long period of time (see Terauchi et al. [0005]).
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa (JP 2014107178 A, citations see machine translation) in view of Suenaga et al. (US 20220013852 A1).
Regarding Claim 10, Hosokawa teaches wherein:
a housing hole (hole in 11 where 51 is located, see Fig. 1, 3A) is formed in the pack housing (20, Fig. 1), and
the fixed nut (52, when fastened to 51, Fig. 3A) contacts and couples to the inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing.
Hosokawa does not teach the fixed nut covers the housing hole.
Suenaga et al. teaches the fixed nut (53, Fig. 8(b)) covers the housing hole (see Fig. 8(b)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Hosokawa by substituting the fixed nut with the stud nut taught by Suenaga et al. to have the battery case fixed on the vehicle body side (see Suenaga et al. [0093]).
Regarding Claim 11, Hosokawa in view of Suenaga et al. teaches wherein:
the fixed nut (53, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b)) comprises a columnar main body (53b, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b); cylindrical, Suenaga et al. [0092]) formed with screw threads (53a, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b)) on an inner surface (formed inside, Suenaga et al. [0092]), and an attachment part (53t, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b)) configured to extend from the main body (53b, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b)) and contact and couple to the inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing.
Regarding Claim 12, Hosokawa in view of Suenaga et al. teaches wherein:
a through hole (hole in 31 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 3A) is formed in the venting member (31, Hosokawa Fig. 3A), and
the outer bolt (51, Hosokawa Fig. 3A) sequentially passes through the through hole (hole in 31 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 3A) and the housing hole (hole in 11 where 51 is located, see Hosokawa Fig. 1, 3A) to be fastened to the fixed nut (53, Suenaga et al. Fig. 8(b)).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa (JP 2014107178 A, citations see machine translation) in view of Kawaguchi (JP 2016102576 A, provided in IDS filed 6/30/2023, citation see machine translation).
Regarding Claim 13, Hosokawa teaches wherein:
the fixed nut (52, when fastened to 51, see Fig. 3A) is coupled to the inner surface (inner surface, see Examiner’s Annotated Fig. 3A) of the pack housing (20, Fig. 1).
Hosokawa does not teach it is by a welding junction or an adhesive.
However, Kawaguchi teaches a fixed nut (6, Fig. 1(b)) is coupled to the inner surface (23, Fig. 1(b)) of the pack housing by a welding junction or an adhesive (8, Fig. 1(b)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the connection of the fixed nut coupled to the inner surface of the pack housing taught by Hosokawa by adding the adhesive to couple the nut to the upper surface as taught by Kawaguchi to reduce the weight of the fixing portion compared to a welding bead of arc welding (see Kawaguchi [0022]).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa (JP 2014107178 A, citations see machine translation) in view of Aoyanagi et al. (JP 2013089375 A, provided on IDS filed 6/30/2023, citation see machine translation).
Regarding Claim 16, Hosokawa is silent that wherein:
the venting member comprises a venting cap in which a venting hole is formed, a support ring in contact with the pack housing and a rupture disk located between the venting cap and the support ring.
Aoyanagi et al. teaches wherein:
the venting member (1, Fig. 2) comprises a venting cap (30/40, Fig. 2) in which a venting hole (102, Fig. 2) is formed, a support ring (10, Fig. 2) in contact with the pack housing (101, Fig. 2) and a rupture disk (20, Fig. 2) located between the venting cap (30/40, Fig. 2) and the support ring (10, Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the venting member taught by Hosokawa by adding the retainer/protective plate in which the exhaust hole is formed, the gasket in contact with the battery case and the rupture plate/disc located between the retainer/protective plate and the gasket as taught by Aoyanagi et al. to have a rupture disc which partially breaks at a predetermined internal pressure and to have a protective plate protecting the rupture disc from being damaged accidentally and preventing the entry of foreign matter. (see Aoyanagi et al. [0006], [0010], [0019]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. (Shin) US 20230282927 A1 (venting member, Fig. 9); (Kim) US 20250038352 A1 (bolt, fig. 5).
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/NING CHEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 /TIFFANY LEGETTE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1723