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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-12, in the reply filed on 03/30/2026 is acknowledged.
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(s) 1, 4, 11, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fuhr et al (WO 2019/071184) in view of Chen et al (US 20210119298).
Regarding claim 1, Fuhr teaches a battery including a plurality of battery cell stacks, each including a plurality of battery cells. The battery is contained in a housing (0009). As shown in figure 4, the battery module 28 including battery cell stacks 50 within a cell region 52 of a battery housing 42 (0045). The cells are considered to be vertically stacked as the cell in figure 4 can be oriented in such a manner. Figures 4 and 5 show the housing comprising a base plate supporting the cell stack and a pair of side plates covering the side portions of the stack, as claimed. A bus bar frame assembly 62 (0047) is shown to cover an opening in a longitudinal direction in figure 4. Figure 5 shows the housing 42 including dividers 72 protruding from the inner surface of the side walls, as claimed. Dividers 72 are considered to be the instantly claimed spark delay portions.
Fuhr does not explicitly teach a plurality of spark delay concave portions recessed from the inner surface of the side plate.
Chen teaches a protective plate for use with a battery in case of fire (0004). The protective plate includes a guide groove to guide a flow direction of the flames ejected from the battery (0068) thus improving safety (0008). Figure 8 shows the plurality of guide grooves 221 disposed on the protective plate 2 (0068).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to utilize the guide grooves of Chen with the plate of Fuhr in order to guide the direction of the flames ejected from the battery to improve safety, as taught by Chen.
Regarding claim 4, the bus bar frame assembly 62 of Fuhr includes a bus bar frame 136 having slits and bus bars 121 (figures 9, 10, and 0061).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Fuhr and Chen, as discussed above, is considered to teach the protrusions and guide grooves extending as claimed.
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Fuhr and Chen, as discussed above, is considered to teach the protrusions and guide grooves forming from the central portion to an end portion, as claimed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, and 5-10 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 closest prior art is considered to be Fuhr et al (WO 2019/071184), as discussed above. The reference neither anticipates nor renders obvious the subject matter claimed in instant claims 2, 3, and 5-10. Regarding claim 2, Fuhr does not teach the pair of side plates comprising a spark direction changing portion formed by bending an end portion of the side plate, as claimed. Regarding claim 5, Fuhr does not teach a fire-proof sheet located between the bus bar frame and the cell stack and coupled to the bus bar frame, as claimed. Claim 3 depends from instant claim 2. Claims 6-10 depend from instant claim 5.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARAH A SLIFKA whose telephone number is (571)270-5838. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm EST.
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/SARAH A. SLIFKA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759 April 27, 2026
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