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 .
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.
Claims 1, 3-5, 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morimoto et al. (US 7771885 B2, “Morimoto”) in view of Yang et al. (Yang, D.; Tan, Y.; Li, B.; Ming, P.; Xiao, Q.; Zhang, C. A Review of the Transition Region of Membrane Electrode Assembly of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: Design, Degradation, and Mitigation. Membranes 2022, 12, 306, “Yang”).
Regarding claim 1, Morimoto discloses a sealed fuel cell assembly (see title “fuel cell” & see abstract “hermetically seals”; see abstract “MEA-frame assembly”) comprising: a sealed active region comprising an electrolyte disposed between an anode electrolyte and a cathode electrode to form a membrane electrode assembly (see P24 col 8 par 1 “polymer electrolyte membrane 1a, a solid polymer material exhibiting proton conductivity, for example, a perfluorosulfonic acid membrane (Nafion membrane, manufactured by Du Pont) is generally used”; see FIG. 12B “1a polymer electrolyte membrane” between “1c cathode electrode” & “1b anode electrode” & see P23 col 6 “FIG. 12B” & “MEA-frame assembly” which describes form a membrane electrode assembly). Morimoto does not explicitly disclose ionomer electrolyte, however Morimoto does disclose “polymer electrolyte membrane” & “Nafion membrane” (see P24 col 8 par 1).
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The specification of the instant application provides evidence “ionomer material (e.g., Nafion®) on P1.
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the electrolyte disclosed by Morimoto (“Nafion membrane” on P24 col 8 par 1) would inherently be considered an ionomer electrolyte, as evidenced by the specification of the instant invention (see P1).
Morimoto discloses a sealed manifold region adjacent the sealed active area (see P26 col 11 par 2 describes FIG. 14A “fuel gas manifold hole 15a” & “elastic member 6c” in FIG 6E is adjacent to “15 MEA-frame assembly”); and an elastomeric seal comprising a first elastomeric seal bead circumscribing a periphery of the membrane electrode assembly (see FIG. 5 describes “MEA-frame assembly 15” & “inner elastic members 4b and 4c” & see P25 col 10 par 3 “inner elastic members 4b and 4c are formed on the frame 2 of the MEA-frame assembly 15 in such a manner that they are extended along the inner peripheries 2b”).
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Morimoto discloses and a second elastomeric seal bead circumscribing a periphery of a manifold port (see FIG. 14B & P25 col 10 par 1 describes “3b outer elastic member” surrounds “15a”, “15b” & “15c” & see FIG. 14 C describes “3c outer elastic member” surrounds “15a”, “15b” & “15c”).
Morimoto discloses wherein the elastomeric seal that is physically separated from the membrane electrode assembly (see abstract “frame” & see P25 col 9 par 1 “MEA-frame assembly 15” & “frame 2”; see FIG. 6A describes “frame 2” is physically separated from MEA 15 & see P27 col 13 par 1; see P26 col 12 par 2 describes elasticity of elastic resin material & see P25 col 10 par 4 “elastic members 3b, 3c, 4b, 4c, 6b, and 6c are each formed integrally using an elastic resin by injection molding”; see P25 col 12 par 4 describes “inner elastic members 4b and 4c” & “are brought into close contact with the polymer electrolyte membrane 1a by this pressure and the elasticity of the inner elastic members 4b and 4c, ensuring that the space between the both is sealed without fail”). Morimoto does not explicitly disclose reinforcing material and has a lower elasticity than the elastomeric seal.
Yang teaches ionomer electrolyte (see P8 par 2 “electrolyte membrane” & see P8 par 3 “ionomer”). Yang teaches Young’s modulus and reinforced membrane (see P9 par 3 “using a reinforced membrane could improve the mechanical durability of the membrane. Compared with the non-reinforced membranes, the enhanced membranes have better dimensional stability during hydration/dehydration and strong tear resistance”; see P17 par 1 “the concentrated stress can be effectively suppressed by applying a binder with a lower Young’s modulus on the innerside near the CCM (the second adhesive as shown in FIG 12a) and the other binder with higher Young’s modulus on the outer side (the first adhesive in FIG 12a).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate a reinforcing material and has a lower elasticity than the elastomeric seal into the sealed fuel cell of Morimoto because Yang teaches reinforced membrane (see P9 par 3) and Young’s modulus lower and higher (see P17 par 1) for the purpose of suppressing the concentrated stress, as suggested by Yang (see P17 par 1).
Regarding claim 3, Morimoto discloses the sealed fuel cell assembly of claim 1 and further discloses wherein the elastomeric seal impregnates at least a portion of the anode electrode and the cathode electrode (see P26 col 12 “inner periphery of the frame 2 are filled with the elastically deformed inner elastic members 4b and 4c respectively” & see FIG. 3B describes “cathode electrode 1c” and “anode electrode 1b” & FIG 3b describes the seal “4b” and “4c” impregnate a portion of “1b” and “1c”).
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Regarding claim 4, Morimoto discloses the sealed fuel cell assembly of claim 1 and further discloses wherein the elastomeric seal material (see P25 col 10 par 4 “the elastic members 3b, 3c, 4b, 4c, 6b, and 6c are each formed integrally using an elastic resin” & see P26 col 12 par 2 describes “thermoplastic elastomer” & “any elastic member may be used as long as it has the elasticity”). Morimoto does not explicitly disclose material is selected from the group consisting of silicon, fluorosilicone, fluoroelastomer, ethylene propylene di-methyl, and natural rubber.
Yang teaches “sealing materials used” & “are usually elastomers, including” & “silicone, fluorosilicone” (see P4 par 3).
Yang teaches silicone amongst a list of other polymers. KSR Rationale E states that it is obvious to choose "from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success".
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select silicone from the list of possible polymers taught in Yang.
Regarding claim 5, Morimoto discloses the sealed fuel cell assembly of claim 1. Morimoto does not explicitly disclose wherein the reinforcing material comprises a thermoplastic material, however Morimoto does disclose “frame 2” (see P25 col 9 par 1) & “thermoplastic elastomer” (see P26 col 12 par 2); “the outer elastic members 3b and 3c are continuously formed over the whole periphery of the frame 2” (see P26 col 11 par 3).
Yang teaches reinforcing material (see P9 par 3 “using a reinforced membrane could improve the mechanical durability of the membrane. Compared with the non-reinforced membranes, the enhanced membranes have better dimensional stability during hydration/dehydration and strong tear resistance”). Yang teaches “thermoplastic” & “are used as adhesives to bond the components in structure and transition regions” (see P14 par 3 & 5). Yang teaches “the concentrated stress can be effectively suppressed by applying a binder with a lower Young’s modulus on the innerside near the CCM (the second adhesive as shown in FIG 12a) and the other binder with higher Young’s modulus on the outer side (the first adhesive in FIG 12a)”.
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate reinforcing material comprises a thermoplastic material, suggested by Yang (see P17 par 1, P9 par 3, P14 par 3 and 5) into the sealed fuel cell of Morimoto because doing so prevents suppresses concentrated stress, as suggested by Yang (see P17 par 1).
Regarding claim 7, Morimoto discloses the sealed fuel cell assembly of claim 1 and further discloses wherein the reinforcing material comprises at least one perforation (see abstract “MEA-frame assembly is arranged in a mold for injection molding to form a first flow passage arranged so as to extend along the outer periphery of an electrode between the outer periphery of the electrode and the inner periphery of a frame”; see P22 col 4 par 2 “injecting an elastic resin into the first flow passage to fill the first flow passage with the elastic resin” which reads on perforation).
Regarding claim 8, Morimoto discloses the sealed fuel cell assembly of claim 1 and further discloses wherein the manifold port is an outlet manifold port (see FIG. 14 A & P26 col 11 par 3 describes “fuel gas manifold hole 15a and a fuel gas flow passage (gas flow passage section) 2x and where fuel gas passes in the anode electrode 1b on the frame built-up surface 9 which is the surface on the side where the anode electrode 1b of the frame 2 is positioned” & “cooling water manifold hole 15c”; see P26 col 2 “fuel gas is supplied to the anode electrode 1b side and discharged. Further, cooling water is supplied to the space between the backsides of the separators 5b and 5c of the neighboring single cells 20 which backsides are facing each other and discharged from the pair of cooling water manifold holes 15c”; see P24 col 7 par 4 “discharge ports for gas and cooling-water”).
Regarding claim 9, Morimoto discloses the sealed fuel cell assembly of claim 1 and further discloses wherein the elastomeric seal comprises a web section (see P25 col 10 par 4 “the elastic members 3b, 3c, 4b, 4c, 6b, and 6c are each formed integrally using an elastic resin” & see P26 col 12 par 2 “thermoplastic elastomer” & “any elastic member may be used as long as it has the elasticity”; see FIG. 5 & P25 col 10 par 3 describes “connecting elastic members 6b” & “rectangular section”) between the first and second elastomeric seal beads (see FIG. 16 par 308 “second gasket” which reads on seal beads & “300 frame”). Morimoto does not explicitly disclose wherein the reinforcing material is disposed in the web section.
Yang teaches reinforcing membrane and web section (see P9 par 3 “using a reinforced membrane could improve the mechanical durability of the membrane. Compared with the non-reinforced membranes, the enhanced membranes have better dimensional stability during hydration/dehydration and strong tear resistance”; “the membrane no longer directly bore the mechanical stress from the gasket”; see FIG 6b describes web section between the first and second elastomeric seal beads (gasket) & edge protection film is disposed in the web section). Yang teaches “early failures can be avoided by adding gaskets or applying protective layers” & “set of ridge sub-gaskets to reduce edge effects” & “diamond-shaped effective area design employed ribs and channels of the bipolar plate (BPP) at the edges to appear alternately, thereby avoiding local high stress. Using a reinforced membrane could improve the mechanical durability of the membrane” (see P9 par 3).
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Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the reinforcing material is disposed in the web section (see P9 par 3 and see FIG. 6b), as suggested by Yang into the sealed fuel cell assembly of Morimoto because doing so prevents failure due to high stress, as suggested by Yang (see P9 par 3).
Regarding claim 10, Morimoto discloses the sealed fuel cell assembly of claim 9 and further discloses wherein each elastomeric seal bead protrudes perpendicularly from a plane of the sealed active region (see FIG. 5 describes “3c” & “3d” elastic members protrudes perpendicularly from a plane of the sealed active region) and has a greater height than the web section (see P25 col 10 par 1 “each top (upper surface) of the outer elastic members 3b and 3c is formed such that it has a higher height than each top (upper surface of the inner elastic bodies 4b and 4c”). Morimoto does not explicitly disclose and the reinforcing material does not traverse into the first and second elastomeric seal beads.
Yang teaches reinforcing membrane does not traverse into the gaskets (see P9 par 3 “using a reinforced membrane could improve the mechanical durability of the membrane. Compared with the non-reinforced membranes, the enhanced membranes have better dimensional stability during hydration/dehydration and strong tear resistance”; “the membrane no longer directly bore the mechanical stress from the gasket”; see FIG 6b describes web section between the first and second elastomeric seal beads (gasket) & does not traverse into the gaskets). Yang teaches “the reinforcing parts could also be used as a supporting member to prevent the deformation of sub-gaskets” (see P6 par 1) & “thereby avoiding local high stress” (see P9 par 3).
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Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the reinforcing membrane as suggested by Yang (see P9 par 3 and FIG 6b) does not traverse into the first and second gaskets (which reads on elastomeric seal beads) (see FIG 6b) because doing so “prevents the deformation of sub-gaskets”, as suggested by Yang (see P6 par 1).
Regarding claim 11, Morimoto discloses the sealed fuel cell assembly of claim 1 and further discloses further comprising an inlet manifold region and an outlet manifold region (see FIG. 14 A & P26 col 11 par 3 describes “fuel gas manifold hole 15a and a fuel gas flow passage (gas flow passage section) 2x and where fuel gas passes in the anode electrode 1b on the frame built-up surface 9 which is the surface on the side where the anode electrode 1b of the frame 2 is positioned” & “cooling water manifold hole 15c”; see P26 col 2 “fuel gas is supplied to the anode electrode 1b side and discharged. Further, cooling water is supplied to the space between the backsides of the separators 5b and 5c of the neighboring single cells 20 which backsides are facing each other and discharged from the pair of cooling water manifold holes 15c”; see P24 col 7 par 4 “discharge ports for gas and cooling-water”). Morimoto does not explicitly disclose wherein the reinforcing material is incorporated in at least a portion of the elastomeric seal at the outlet manifold region, however, Morimoto does disclose “3b and 3c are inserted into the concave parts of the separator built-up surfaces 10 of the separators 5b and 5c and elastically deformed in contact with that concave parts respectively to prevent the leak of the fuel gas, oxidizer gas and cooling water on the cathode side and the anode side independently” (see P26 col 11 par 3).
Yang teaches reinforcing membrane (see P9 par 3 “using a reinforced membrane could improve the mechanical durability of the membrane. Compared with the non-reinforced membranes, the enhanced membranes have better dimensional stability during hydration/dehydration and strong tear resistance”
& “the membrane no longer directly bore the mechanical stress from the gasket”;
see P12 par 1 “there are pressure shocks at inlets and outlets of the reactant gases”;
see FIG. 5c describes at least a portion of the elastomeric seal).
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Yang teaches “reliable and durable sealing of reactant gases and coolant prohibits them from leaking into each other” (see P4 par 3).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate reinforcing membrane & durable sealing, as suggested by Yang (see P9 par 3) into the sealed fuel cell assembly of Morimoto and incorporated in at least a portion of the elastomeric seal as suggested by Yang (see FIG. 5c) because doing so provides prevents leaking as suggested by Yang (see P4 par 3).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morimoto et al. (US 7771885 B2, “Morimoto”) in view of Yang et al. (Yang, D.; Tan, Y.; Li, B.; Ming, P.; Xiao, Q.; Zhang, C. A Review of the Transition Region of Membrane Electrode Assembly of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: Design, Degradation, and Mitigation. Membranes 2022, 12, 306, “Yang”) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kobayashi et al (US 20030091885 A1, “Kobayashi”).
Regarding claim 2, Morimoto discloses the sealed fuel cell assembly of claim 1. Morimoto does not explicitly disclose wherein the membrane electrode assembly is flush-cut.
Kobayashi teaches method of manufacturing MEA (see [0131]) and “subsequently, the resultant laminated product is punched out, thereby to cut into a predetermined size” & “assembly comprising the electrolyte membrane 210” (see [0132]). Kobayashi teaches laminated product is punched out which would form the membrane electrode assembly flush-cut.
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate punched out, as suggested by Kobayashi (see [0132]) into the sealed fuel cell assembly of Morimoto because doing so manufactures the fuel cell at high productivity (see Kobayashi [0014]).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morimoto et al. (US 7771885 B2, “Morimoto”) in view of Yang et al. (Yang, D.; Tan, Y.; Li, B.; Ming, P.; Xiao, Q.; Zhang, C. A Review of the Transition Region of Membrane Electrode Assembly of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: Design, Degradation, and Mitigation. Membranes 2022, 12, 306, “Yang”) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kozu et al. (US 20110097640 A1, “Kozu”).
Regarding claim 6, Morimoto discloses the sealed fuel cell assembly of claim 1 and further discloses “the elastic members 3b, 3c, 4b, 4c, 6b, and 6c are each formed integrally using an elastic resin” (see P25 col 10 par 4) & see P26 col 12 par 2 “thermoplastic elastomer” & “any elastic member may be used as long as it has the elasticity”. Morimoto does not explicitly disclose wherein the reinforcing material has a Young’s modulus of greater than about 100 MPa.
Kozu teaches “material having a Young's modulus not smaller than 1 GPa is particularly preferred” which reads on not smaller than 1000 MPa.
Kozu teaches a range of not smaller than 1 GPa (equivalent to 1000 MPa), which overlaps with the claimed range of greater than about 100 MPa. MPEP 2144.05 I states that 'In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990)'.
Conclusion
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/S.A.A./Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/JAMES M ERWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725 12/03/2025