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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2021-0124705, filed on 9/17/2021.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-2 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 – the recitation, “wherein the module housing includes a housing plate (upper pressure plate 251) including a space part and disposed adjacent to the outermost battery cell” should be amended to recite: --wherein the module housing includes a housing plate including a space part disposed adjacent to the outermost battery cell--.
Claim 2 – the recitation, “a fixing part disposed at both ends each end of the pressure body and fixed to both ends each end of the housing plate” should be amended to recite: --a fixing part disposed at both ends of the pressure body and fixed to both ends of the housing plate--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fukuoka (US20180287111A1 – refer to IDS filed 11/13/2024).
Regarding Claim 1, Fukuoka discloses a battery module (battery pack 200) [pars. 0114-130; Figs. 20-23] comprising:
a battery cell stack (stacked body 100S) including a plurality of battery cells (unit cells 110) stacked and arranged in a first direction (z direction);
a module housing (constituted by upper and lower pressure plates 251,152, and side plates 153) in which the battery cell stack is housed; and
a deformation preventing structure (constituted by intermediate member 280 and elastic member 270) disposed between an outermost battery cell of the plurality of battery cells and the module housing,
wherein the module housing includes a housing plate (upper pressure plate 251) including a space part (i.e., upper pressure plate has protrusions at its ends forming a space part in which elastic member 271 of elastic member 270 is received) disposed adjacent to the outermost battery cell [Figs. 20-23],
wherein the deformation preventing structure includes:
a pressure plate fixed (intermediate plate 280) to the housing plate and supported on the battery cell stack (“When the elastic member 270 is disposed adjacent to the intermediate member 280, the elastic member 272 and the intermediate member 280 are welded at the contact point a1. Then, the elastic member 271 is welded to the adjacent upper pressure plate 251 at the time of the first joining step” [par. 0125]); and
a spring structure (elastic member 270,270a) accommodated in the space part of the housing plate and disposed between the pressure plate and the housing plate [Figs. 20-23], and
wherein the space part is a recess portion provided on one side of the housing plate facing the battery cell stack [Figs. 20-23].
Regarding Claim 5, Fukuoka discloses wherein the spring structure 270a incudes a wave-shaped spring in which a plurality of first protrusion parts supported on the housing plate and a plurality of second protrusion parts supported on the pressure plate are continuously connected [Fig. 22A]
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.
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.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukuoka, as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of WU (US20210104789A1 – refer to IDS filed 7/12/2023).
Regarding Claim 6, Fukuoka fails to disclose wherein an interval between a plurality of first protrusion parts or between a plurality of second protrusion parts decreases from a center toward a periphery of the wave-shaped spring. However, WU, from the same field of endeavor, discloses a deformation preventing structure (temperature control assembly 2) including a pressure plate (first side plat 21 having a first body 211 and/or a second side plate 22 having a second body 221) and a spring structure (thermal pad 23) disposed therein, wherein the spring structure incudes a wave-shaped spring in which a plurality of first protrusion parts (first plate sections 231A) supported on the housing plate and a plurality of second protrusion parts (second plate sections 231B) supported on the pressure plate are continuously connected, the spring structure configured to be deformed as adjacent battery generate expansion forces, wherein an interval between a plurality of first protrusion parts or between a plurality of second protrusion parts decreases from a center toward a periphery of the wave-shaped spring (i.e., the elastic thermal pad further includes compression portions 232 at is peripheral ends) such that when the spring structure is compressed (i.e., in the y direction of WU) at the center, the first and second protrusions at the peripheral ends are further compressed in the second direction (i.e., z direction of WU) [WU – pars. 0078-81,0085-88; Figs. 2-5]. Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled artisan to have modified the spring structure of Fukuoka, wherein an interval between a plurality of first protrusion parts or between a plurality of second protrusion parts decreases from a center toward a periphery of the wave-shaped spring such that when the spring structure is compressed in the first direction at the center, the first and second protrusions at the peripheral ends are further compressed in the second direction.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4and 7-11 are objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims 1 and 6, respectively, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the respective base claims and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 2, Fukuoka discloses wherein the housing plate includes a cover body (i.e., planar portion of the upper pressure plate) disposed in a second direction and including the recess portion, and wherein the pressure plate includes a pressure body (i.e., the intermediate plate 280) disposed in the second direction and supported on the outermost battery cell, but fails to teach the pressure plate further includes a fixing part disposed at both ends of the pressure body and fixed to both ends of the housing plate. In particular, Fukuoka discloses that the spring structure is welded to the pressure body of the pressure plate as well as the cover body of the housing plate at contact points a1 positioned substantially in the center of the spring structure since the resilient force becomes particularly high at these contact points [par. 0118; Fig. 21]. Fukuoka fails to teach or suggest directly fixing the pressure plate to the housing plate. The instant specification teaches that fixing the pressure plate to the housing plate by fixing parts provided to be disposed at both ends allows for a more stable fixing therebetween [PgPublication – par. 0053]. Thus, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, an ordinary skilled artisan would not have been motivated to modify the battery module of Fukuoka wherein the pressure body of the pressure plate includes a fixing part disposed at both ends of the pressure body and fixed to both ends of the housing plate.
Regarding Claim 7, neither Fukuoka nor WU teach or suggest wherein the deformation preventing structure further includes a protruded part supported on the pressure plate and protruded to an outer surface of the housing plate. The instant specification teaches that the protruded part serves to suppress the deformation of the housing plate when the battery cell stack is swollen [PgPublication – par. 0059].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAROON S SHEIKH whose telephone number is (571)270-0302. The examiner can normally be reached 9-6.
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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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HAROON S. SHEIKH
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1751
/Haroon S. Sheikh/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751