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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show "a limiting column" as described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 10 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.
The term “the protrusion” in claim 10 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “the protrusion” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear whether "the protrusion" refers to the protrusion part of the second press fit area, or the protrusion of the upper mold portion. For examination purposes, "the protrusion" will be interpreted as the protrusion of the upper mold portion.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rao (CN 107425221 A), further in view of Zhu et al. (CN 105762405 A).
Regarding claim 1, Rao teaches a battery module manufacturing device, a battery module comprising a plurality of cells, and each cell comprising a cell body and a positive lug and a negative lug which are located at two ends of the cell body. Rao fails to teach a cell hot pressing assembly, comprising first and second hot pressing parts which are oppositely disposed; wherein the first hot pressing part comprises at least one upper pressing head, and a side of each pressing head facing the second hot pressing part is provided with a piston upper pressing head; the second hot pressing part comprises at least one lower pressing head in one-to-one correspondence to the upper pressing head, a side of each lower pacing head facing the hot pressing part provided with two side parallel baffles, a limiting gap formed between the two baffles configured to limit a size of the cell body in an extension direction perpendicular to the cell body, opposite to the piston inner pressing head; the first pressing part having an initial station and a hot pressing station; and when the first hot pressing part is located at the initial station, the piston inner pressing heads, the lower pressing heads, and the two side baffles are matched to form an accommodating cavity for placing cell bodies.
However, Zhu teaches a cell hot pressing assembly (hot pressing mechanism 22) for a cell (Page 1, Par. 9; “battery cell”) comprising a cell body (Page 1, Par. 10; “battery core”) and a positive lug (cathode pole piece 12) and negative lug (anode pole piece 10), and the cell hot pressing assembly comprises a first hot pressing part (power mechanism 20, guiding mechanism 26, top hot press block 220; Fig. 4) and a second hot pressing part (bottom hot press block 222, side hot pressing block 224, second fixing plate 242; Fig. 4) which are oppositely disposed; the first hot pressing part comprises at least one upper pressing head (guide plate 260), and a side of each upper pressing head facing the second hot pressing part is provided with a piston inner pressing head (top hot press block 220); the second hot pressing part comprises at least one lower pressing head (bottom hot press block 222) in one-to-one correspondence to the upper pressing head, a side of each lower pressing head facing the first hot pressing part is provided with two parallel side baffles (two side hot pressing blocks 224), a limiting gap (hot pressing space; Page 5, Par. 6, lines 1-2) is formed between the two parallel side baffles, the limiting gap is configured to limit a size of the cell body in an extension direction perpendicular to the cell body (Page 4, par. 9; cell compressed in thickness direction), and the limiting gap is opposite to the piston inner pressing head (Page 5, par. 6; limiting space is inside the space made by the side planes); the first hot pressing part has an initial station (Page 4, par. 4-6; press is at initial station in step a, it has not yet begun pressing the cell) and a hot pressing station (Page 5, par. 8-10; press is at hot pressing station when pressing the battery as in step b); when the first hot pressing part is located at the initial station, the piston inner pressing heads, the lower pressing heads and the two side baffles are matched to encircle an accommodating cavity for placing to-be-hot pressed cell bodies (Page 5, par. 6); and when the first hot pressing part is located at the hot pressing station, the piston inner pressing heads are able to be inserted into the limiting gap between the two side baffles to perform hot pressing on the to-be-hot pressed cell bodies (Page 5, par. 9).
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 battery module manufacturing device taught by Rao by incorporating a cell hot pressing assembly, as taught by Zhu. This would be done in order to reduce the loss of volumetric energy density through cell compression, as stated in Zhu (Page 1, Par. 9).
Regarding claim 2, Zhu teaches the cell hot pressing assembly as stated above, further comprising a supporting mechanism (fixing mechanism 24), wherein the supporting mechanism comprises a base (second fixing plate 242), a pressing head bracket (power mechanism 20) and supporting columns (connecting posts 244); the base is located on one side of the lower pressing heads facing away from the first hot pressing part for supporting the lower pressing heads (Fig. 4; plate 242 supports bottom hot press block 222); the pressing head bracket is located on one sides of the upper pressing heads facing away from the second hot pressing part for driving the upper pressing heads to move (Fig. 4; power mechanism 20 drives top hot press block 220); and the supporting columns are located on the base (Fig. 4), and penetrate through the upper pressing heads and the lower pressing heads, and the upper pressing heads are able to move on the supporting columns (Page 6, par. 1; guide plate 260 moves in axial direction of connecting post 244).
Regarding claim 3, Zhu teaches the cell hot pressing assembly as stated above, wherein the accommodating cavity internally has a limiting column to limit moving positions of the piston inner pressing heads facing the lower pressing heads (fixing mechanism 24, guiding mechanism 26 limit movement of the top hot press block 220).
Regarding claim 5, Zhu teaches the cell hot pressing assembly as stated above, further comprising heating units in one-to-one correspondence to the upper pressing heads (top hot press block 220 is heated, attached to the upper pressing head: guide plate 260), and each heating unit being separately controllable (Page 4, par. 10; heating temperature can be controlled between 70-90° C).
Regarding claim 12, Zhu teaches a battery module manufacturing method, applying the battery module manufacturing device as stated above, comprising: manufacturing to-be-hot pressed cells; moving the first hot pressing part of the battery module manufacturing device to the initial station (Page 4, par. 4-6; top hot press block 220 is not yet compressing the cell), and placing the to-be-hot pressed cells into the accommodating cavity of the cell hot pressing assembly (Page 4, par. 4; step a); and controlling the first hot pressing part to move to the hot pressing station until the to-be-hot pressed cells are close to two side baffles forming the accommodating cavity in the extension direction perpendicular to the cells (Page 4, par. 8; step b), to form hot pressed shaped cells.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rao, further in view of Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co. LTD (CN 212648299 U).
Regarding claim 4, Rao fails to teach a short circuit detection mechanism, a first contact, and a second contact.
However, Wuxi teaches a short circuit detection mechanism (short-circuit detection assembly 230; Fig 2), a first contact (detection block 233) and a second contact (detection block 233); the first contact being configured to be connected with the positive lug of the cell located in the accommodating cavity (Page 7, par 7; detection block contacts the positive electrode); the second contact being configured to be connected with the negative lug of the cell located in the accommodating cavity(Page 7, par 7; detection block contacts the negative electrode); and the short circuit detection mechanism being connected between the first contact and the second contact (Page 1, par. 13; “the short-circuit detecting assembly includes a connecting member”).
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 battery manufacturing device as taught by Rao by incorporating a short circuit detection mechanism, as taught by Wuxi. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve the safety of the mechanism and inform the producer of a defective product
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu, further in view of Lei et al. (CN 207743345).
Regarding claim 6, Zhu fails to teach the material of the piston inner pressing heads, side walls of the two side baffles and the lower pressing heads to be rigid metals.
However, Zhu inherently teaches the piston inner pressing heads, side walls of the two side baffles, and the lower pressing heads comprising rigid metal materials. In a hot press assembly, the components must be able to withstand high heat, pressure, and force exerted upon each other, therefore, these components are inherently metal materials. Thus, claim 6 is rejected.
Claims 7-8 & 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rao, further in view of Yang et al. (CN 111446486 A).
Regarding claim 7, Rao fails to teach a cell assembling assembly comprising a cell placing mold and two fixed jigs located on two sides of the cell placing mold respectively; wherein the cell placing mold comprises a plurality of placing grooves, the plurality of placing grooves are arranged in a first direction, and each placing groove is configured to place a cell body, and the two fixed jigs are arranged on two sides of the cell placing mold in the first direction, each fixed jig comprising a middle area corresponding to the cell placing mold and first and second end areas located on two sides of the middle area, the first two end areas used for limiting a first flexible connecting part of the battery module, and the two second end areas used for limiting a second flexible connecting part of the battery module; in the battery module, the positive and negative lugs of at least two cells are respectively electrically connected with a positive connecting end through the first flexible connecting part and a negative connecting end through the second flexible connecting part.
However, Yang teaches a cell assembling assembly (assembling fixture 21), and the cell assembling assembly comprising a cell placing mold and two fixed jigs (assembly jigs 21) located on two sides of the cell placing mold respectively (Fig. 4); wherein the cell placing mold comprises a plurality of placing grooves (Page 3, par. 4; “The battery cell unit 4 is taken out of the hot pressing fixture 22 and placed in the groove of the assembly fixture”), the plurality of placing grooves are arranged in a first direction (Fig. 4; arranged in a stacking direction), and each placing groove is configured to place a cell body (cell units 4); and the two fixed jigs are arranged on two sides of the cell placing mold in the first direction (Fig. 4), each fixed jig comprises a middle area (Annotated Fig. 4) corresponding to the cell placing mold and a first end area (Annotated Fig. 4) and a second end area (Annotated Fig. 4) located on two sides of the middle area, the two first end areas are used for limiting a first flexible connecting part of the battery module (positive electrode flexible composite layer 7), the two second end areas are used for limiting a second flexible connecting part of the battery module (negative electrode flexible composite layer 8); in the battery module, the positive lugs of at least two cells are electrically connected with a positive connecting end (positive electrode tab 5) through the first flexible connecting part, and the negative lugs of at least two cells are electrically connected with a negative connecting end (negative electrode tab 6) through the second flexible connecting part.
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 battery module manufacturing device taught by Rao to incorporate a cell assembling assembly with flexible connecting parts connected to the positive and negative ends of the battery modules, as taught by Yang. This would be done in order to improve flexibility and energy density of the battery module, while reducing the space it takes up, as stated in Yang (Page 1, par. 8).
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Annotated Fig. 4
Regarding claim 8, Yang fails to teach a width of the middle area which is wider than that of the first and second end areas.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the shape of the middle area by increasing its width until greater than that of the end areas. Doing so would prevent the flexible composite layers from contacting over the jigs (In re Dailey, CCPA 1966).
Regarding claim 13, Rao fails to teach a manufacturing method further comprising a cell assembling assembly, after forming the hot pressed shaped cells, the method further comprising: placing cell bodies into placing grooves of placing mold, wherein positive and negative lugs of the cells are located on an outer side of the placing mold, and all positive and negative lugs are on first and second areas of fixed jigs, respectively; arranging first and second flexible connecting parts in the two fixed jigs through two first and second end areas, respectively; connecting the positive and negative lugs of the at least two hot pressed shaped cells with the first and second flexible connecting parts, respectively; connecting one end of the first flexible connecting parts with positive connecting ends and one end of the second flexible connecting parts with negative connecting ends; clipping two sides of both the first and second flexible connecting parts; and folding the first and second flexible connecting parts to be connected with the same sides of the cell bodies to form a battery body.
However, Yang teaches a manufacturing method, wherein when the battery module manufacturing device comprises a cell assembling assembly (assembling fixture 21), after forming hot pressed shaped cells, the manufacturing method further comprises: placing cell bodies of the plurality of hot pressed shaped cells into placing grooves of a cell placing mold (Page 3, par. 4; “The battery cell unit 4 is taken out of the hot pressing fixture 22 and placed in the groove of the assembly fixture”), wherein positive lugs and negative lugs of the cells are located on an outer side the cell placing mold (electrode tabs 5 and 6), all the positive lugs are located on one side where first end areas of fixed jigs are located (Annotated Fig. 4; first end area), and all the negative lugs are located on one sides where second end areas of the fixed jigs are located (Annotated Fig. 4; second end area); arranging first flexible connecting parts on the two fixed jigs through two first end areas (Page 3, par. 4, lines 1-2), and arranging second flexible connecting parts on the two fixed jigs through two second end areas (Page 3, par. 4, lines 2-3); connecting the positive lugs of the at least two hot pressed shaped cells with the first flexible connecting parts (Page 3, par. 4, line 4) and connecting the negative lugs of the at least two hot pressed shaped cells with the second flexible connecting parts (Page 3, par. 4 line 5); connecting one ends of the first flexible connecting parts with positive connecting ends, and connecting one ends of the second flexible connecting parts with negative connecting ends; clipping two sides of the first flexible connecting parts and two sides of the second flexible connecting parts (Page 1, par. 16; flexible composite layers are clipped together, side by side); and folding the first flexible connecting parts and the second flexible connecting parts to be connected with the same sides of the cell bodies to form a battery body (Page 1, par. 16; composite layers are bent to the same side of the cell and connected side by side).
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 manufacturing method taught by Rao by incorporating a cell assembling process as taught by Yang. This would be done in order to improve flexibility and energy density of the battery module, while reducing the space it takes up, as stated in Yang (Page 1, par. 8).
Claims 9-11 & 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rao, further in view of Nie (CN 109841906 A).
Regarding claim 9, Zhu fails to teach a battery module housing stamping assembly comprising a base station, a lower mold portion, and an upper mold portion, wherein the lower mold portion is located on the base station, a side of the lower mold portion having a first press fit area of a first flexible sealing part for placing a battery module housing, and the first press fit area comprising a plurality of stamping grooves; the upper mold portion is located on a side of the lower mold portion facing away from the base station, comprising a second press fit area corresponding to the first press fit area, and the second press fit area is provided with a protrusion part; the upper mold portion has a free station and a stamping station; when the upper mold portion is located at the free station, the upper mold portion is not in press fit with the lower mold portion; and when the upper mold portion is located at the stamping station, a protrusion of the upper mold portion is in alignment press fit with the first press fit area of the lower mold portion, so that the first flexible sealing part forms plastic package grooves in one-to-one correspondence to the stamping grooves, and the package grooves are configured to place the cell bodies of the cells of the battery module.
However, Nie teaches a battery module housing stamping assembly (Abstract; “battery packaging device), and the battery module housing stamping assembly comprising a base station, a lower mold portion (lower mold base 1) and an upper mold portion (upper mold base 2), wherein the lower mold portion is located on the base station, a side of the lower mold portion facing away from the base station has a first press fit area of a first flexible sealing part for placing a battery module housing (first rectangular recessed area 6), and the first press fit area comprises a plurality of stamping grooves (rectangular grooves 8, 9, 14, 15); the upper mold portion is located on a side of the lower mold portion facing away from the base station, the upper mold portion comprises a second press fit area corresponding to the first press fit area (rectangular hollowing 12), and the second press fit area is provided with a protrusion part (fifth rectangular recessed region 13; in alignment press fit with rectangular recess 7); the upper mold portion has a free station (Fig. 1; open position) and a stamping station(Page 4, par. 2; closed position); when the upper mold portion is located at the free station, the upper mold portion is not in press fit with the lower mold portion (Fig. 1); and when the upper mold portion is located at the stamping station, a protrusion of the upper mold portion is in alignment press fit with the first press fit area of the lower mold portion (Page 4, par. 2, lines 3-8), so that the first flexible sealing part forms plastic package grooves in one-to-one correspondence to the stamping grooves (Page 3, par. 10 - Page 4, par. 1; edge seals 22 formed by grooves and recesses), and the plastic package grooves are configured to place the cell bodies of the cells of the battery module (Page 4, par. 2; “the pressed package structure is matched).
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 battery module manufacturing device taught by Rao by incorporating a battery module housing stamping assembly, as taught by Nie. This would be done in order to improve package sealing and product consistency, as stated in Nie (Page 4, par. 5).
Regarding claim 10, Nie fails to teach an edge of the protrusion and an edge of each stamping groove having a chamfer structure.
However, the examiner notes that 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 shape of the protrusion and stamping groove taught by Nie by chamfering their edges. One of ordinary skill in the art could determine that chamfering the edge of the groove and protrusion is a matter of choice in the absence of evidence suggesting that the shapes of the protrusion and stamping groove are significant. (In re Dailey, CCPA 1966).
Regarding claim 11, Nie teaches the battery module stamping assembly as stated above, wherein the lower mold portion is provided with at least one guiding column (columns 10), the upper mold portion is provided with guiding holes corresponding to the guiding columns (recessed holes 16), and in a process of the upper mold portion moving to the lower mold portion, the guiding columns and the guiding holes are able to be matched for guiding (Fig. 1; holes disposed in correlation to columns).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rao and Yang, further in view of Nie.
Regarding claim 14, modified Rao fails to teach a manufacturing method, wherein the battery module manufacturing device includes a battery module housing stamping assembly after forming the battery.
However, Nie teaches a manufacturing method (Page 1, line 2), wherein when a battery module manufacturing device comprises a battery module housing stamping assembly (Abstract; “battery packaging device), after forming the battery body, the manufacturing method further comprises: placing the battery body, a first flexible sealing part and a second flexible sealing part into a first press fit area of a lower mold portion (Page 3, par. 10, lines 1-5; battery and sealing parts are placed in the mold), wherein the battery body is located between the first flexible sealing part and the second flexible sealing part (Page 3, par. 10, lines 1-5), and the second flexible sealing part is located on one side of the first flexible sealing part facing away from the lower mold portion (Page 3, par. 10, lines 2-5; rectangular hollow is formed on the upper half of the battery); and performing alignment press fit on a protrusion of an upper mold portion and a first press fit area of the lower mold portion, so as to make the first flexible sealing part in sealing fit with the second flexible sealing part mutually to package the battery body (Page 4, par. 1; halves are matched and an edge seal is formed by the protrusions as the top and bottom halves are hot pressed).
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 battery module manufacturing method taught by modified Rao by incorporating a battery module housing stamping process, as taught by Nie, in order to improve package sealing and product consistency, as stated in Nie (Page 4, par. 5).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rao, further in view of Pan et al. (US 20230068865 A1, priority to 08/03/2020).
Regarding claim 15, modified Rao fails to teach the manufacturing method as stated above, wherein after the first flexible sealing part is in sealing fit with the second flexible sealing part mutually, the method further comprises: performing battery liquid injection, battery formation, air pocket clipping and battery capacity grading processes in sequence on the packaged battery body to form a battery module.
However, Pan teaches a battery manufacturing method further comprising performing battery liquid injection (Par. 0143), battery formation (Par. 0145), air pocket clipping (Par. 0146; “air pockets are cut off”) and battery capacity grading processes (Par. 0146; “total formation and capacity grading time is 270 min”) in sequence on the packaged battery body to form a battery module (Par. 0101; battery pack is formed, including a module).
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 battery manufacturing method taught by Rao by performing the sequence taught by Pan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying this sequence to a battery module formation process would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CAMERON M BAIRD whose telephone number is (571)272-9742. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am-5pm.
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/CAMERON M BAIRD/Examiner, Art Unit 1728
/MATTHEW T MARTIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1728