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 .
Summary
This is the second Office Action based on Application 18/299,193 and in response to Applicant Arguments/Remarks filed 02/25/2026.
Claims 1-20 are previously pending, of those claims, claims 1-3 and 5-20 have been amended, and claim 4 has been canceled. All amendments have been entered. Claims 1-3 and 5-20 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
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) 1-3, 5-6, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN (CN 113594583 A) in view of KWON (US 2019/0334141 A1) and XU (CN 111029683 A).
With respect to claim 1. CHEN teaches a battery pack and a thermal management system for inhibiting thermal runaway propagation (abstract). There is included a battery box and a battery module consisting of a plurality of batteries (abstract). There is a heat dissipation unit arranged between every two adjacent lithium battery bodies and comprise a first phase change material sheet, and an aerogel plate (abstract). There is the battery box 1, a first and second battery bodies 2, a phase change material sheet 4 and an aerogel plate 6 formed between the adjacent cells (page 2 lines 43-44).
CHEN does not explicitly teach a circuit arrangement with battery cell management electronics in operative connection with the cells, or compression plates, and a separation layer between the stack and circuit arrangement.
KWON teaches battery modules 10 and a connection member 30 configured to electrically connect the modules (abstract and paragraph 0065). There may be included a controller 50 configured to control the battery modules (paragraph 0069). The module may include a protective cover 200 which includes a front cover unit 210 and a rear cover unit 220 (paragraph 0074). The battery module 10 includes a first and second terminals 11 and 12 which are connected to the connection members 30 to electrically connect the modules (paragraph 0077). There may be fixed beams 300 which couples the front end cover unit 210 and the rear cover unit 220 (paragraph 0106). The front cover unit 310 may include a front plate 211 which is located on the battery submodule side, a battery management system module 214 for controlling the battery module 10, a high voltage connection member 213 for electrically connecting the bus bars (paragraph 0121). The respective BMS modules installed on each of the modules 10 may be connected to each other and then connected to the rack controller 50 (paragraph 0122). The BMS module 214 is taken to be the claimed circuit arrangement with cell management electronics, and the front plate 211 is taken to be the claimed separation layer arranged between the stack and the circuit arrangement (see Figure 8). The plates 212 and 222 are taken to be the claimed compression plates (paragraph 0125).
At the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the BMS system and end plates and beams of KWON with the battery module of CHEN as this is a simple combination of known prior art elements in order to achieve predictable results. Specifically both CHEN and KWON teaches battery modules, and then KWON teaches a battery management system for controlling the battery modules, as well as the fixing beams to support the battery modules.
CHEN teaches between adjacent battery cells is the heat dissipation unit 3 which includes the aerogel plate 6 and phase change material sheets (see Figures 1-2 and page 2 lines 42-45). However, CHEN does not explicitly teach two layers of the aerogel and the PCM layer arranged between the two layers of the aerogel.
XU teaches a battery cell which includes a temperature control material layer wrapped around the cell (paragraph 0022). The temperature control material layer includes a phase change material layer 1 and a heat insulating layer 2 which are bonded together (paragraph 0032). The heat insulating layer 2 prevents the rapid and large scale transfer of external heat to the phase change material 1, allowing the phase change material layer 1 to remain stable (paragraph 0034). Thus the phase change material 1 can absorb heat released by the energy storage device during operation, keeping the temperature within a suitable range (paragraph 0035). The insulating material layer is an aerogel (paragraph 0041). As seen in Figure 1 the flexible temperature control material layer includes two outer layers of the insulating layer 2 and an inner layer of the phase change material layer 1 (paragraph 0031).
At the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to substitute the heat dissipation layer 3 of CHEN with the temperature control material layer of XU, as this is a simple substitution of one known prior art element for another in order to achieve predictable results.
With respect to claim 2. CHEN teaches the module is composed of a plurality of lithium battery bodies (page 3 lines 3-4). In Figure 1 the battery box 1 has four battery bodies. KWON teaches a plurality of battery cells110 (paragraph 0085). Therefore the amount of batteries in the battery module would have been obvious at the time the invention was filed, as it may be determined as a matter of routine experimentation in order to have the desired number of cells. Therefore number of cells being 20 or less may be determined as a matter of routine experimentation.
With respect to claim 3. XU teaches the temperature control material layer is formed around each of the battery cells (paragraph 0032-0033) but does not explicitly teach that there is an additional aerogel layer between an outermost of the cells and compression plates.
KWON teaches each of the battery modules 10 may include elastic pads 400 between the submodules (paragraph 0106). As seen in Figure 5 this includes between the battery cells and the cover units.
Therefore the combination of the temperature control material and the modules of KWON would form the temperature control between the cells and the exterior elements.
With respect to claim 5. KWON further teaches each of the battery submodules 100 include a fixing frame 130 for fixing and supporting the plurality of battery cells 110 (paragraph 0095). The fixing frame then includes the fixed beams 300 (paragraph 0100 and 0102). The fixed beams are fixedly coupled to the front and rear covers 210, 220 (paragraph 0106). Therefore use of fixed beams of KWON to connect to the endplates, such as the cover units would have been obvious at the time the invention was filed, as this is a combination of known prior art elements in order to achieve predictable results.
With respect to claim 6. CHEN teaches the phase change material layer are formed between each of the battery cells (see Figure 1) but does not explicitly teach that there is an additional PCM layer between an outermost of the cells and the compression plates.
KWON teaches each of the battery modules 10 may include elastic pads 400 between the submodules (paragraph 0106). As seen in Figure 5 this includes between the battery cells and the cover units.
Therefore at the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to include the heat dissipation unit of CHEN to be between the battery cells and the compression units, such as the covers, as this is a combination of known prior art elements in order to achieve predictable results.
With respect to claim 17. The rejection of claim 1 in view of CHEN, KWON, and XU from above is repeated here. KWON further teaches a battery rack 1 which includes a housing and a plurality of modules 10 stacked in the housing (paragraph 0065).
Therefore the combination of CHEN with KWON would form a plurality of battery modules to form a rack as taught by KWON as this is a combination of known prior art elements in order to achieve predictable results.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN (CN 113594583 A) in view of KWON (US 2019/0334141 A1) and XU (CN 111029683 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of BEZSONOV (CN 111463517 A).
Claim 7 is dependent upon claim 1 which is rejected above under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of CHEN, KWON, and XU. KWON teaches the BMS module 214 located on the front cover unit 210 (paragraph 0121). The BMS module unit is taken to be the claimed circuit arrangement, but it is not located outside of the stack in a plane parallel to the compression direction.
BEZSONOV teaches a battery pack 1 and a method of cooling the battery pack, the battery pack including a plurality of cells arranged side by side (abstract). The battery pack 1 has a battery management system 22 which includes a protection electronic device 10 (page 7 lines 19-20). As seen in Figure 3 then battery management system 22 is formed on a side of the battery pack 1 and is located in a direction parallel to a compression direction.
At the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated form the battery management system of CHEN and KWON to be on the side of the battery module as taught by BEZSONOV, as this is a simple substitution of one known prior art element for another in order to achieve predictable results.
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN (CN 113594583 A) in view of KWON (US 2019/0334141 A1) and XU (CN 111029683 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of BEZSONOV (CN 111463517 A) and EVANS (US 11,702,346 B2).
Claim 8 is dependent upon claim 1 which is rejected above under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of CHEN, KWON, and XU. KWON teaches the BMS module 214 located on the front cover unit 210 (paragraph 0121). The BMS module unit is taken to be the claimed circuit arrangement, but does not teach a separation layer comprises a layer of thermo-mechanical insulation between the stack and the circuit arrangement.
The teaching of BEZSONOV from above with respect to claim 7 is repeated here. BEZSONOV further teaches a phase change material thermally connected with the protective electronic device of the battery pack (page 5 lines 35-36). Thus not only the electrode of the battery pack but also the protective electronic device may be connected to the phase change material (page 5 lines 35-39).
Therefore at the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the use of the phase change material layer between the protective electronic device and stack as taught by BEZSONOV for the battery management surface of CHEN and KWON, because BEZSONOV teaches that phase change material on the protective surface can be beneficial in order to protect it from overheating (see BEZSONOV page 5 lines 35-39).
BEZSONOV does not explicitly teach that the PSM layer is a layer of thermo-mechanical insulation comprising sandwiched electrically non-conductive panel.
EVANS teaches a heat control member 30 that includes a first layer of reinforced aerogel composition 32 and a second layer of reinforced aerogel composition 33 (column 36 lines 62-65). A layer of a compliant material 34 is disposed between the two aerogel compositions (column 37 lines 1-5). A first layer of a thermally conductive or capacitive material 36 is deposited between the aerogel composition (column 37 lines 4-6). The thermally conducive materials may be phase change materials (column 14 lines 45-46).
At the time the invention was field one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to form the PSM layer of BEZSONOV with the sandwiched structure of EVANS, as this is a simple substitution of one known prior art element for another in order to achieve predictable results.
Claim(s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN (CN 113594583 A) in view of KWON (US 2019/0334141 A1) and XU (CN 111029683 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of LIM (US 2022/0302539 A1).
Claim 10 is dependent upon claim 1, which is rejected above under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of CHEN, KWON, and XU. KWON teaches the front plate 211 which is taken to be the claimed separation layer (see Figure 8). However, the plate 211 of KWON does not have through holes through which cell stabs pass and connect to the circuit arrangement.
LIM teaches a battery pack which includes a connection circuit part electrically connected to the battery cells (abstract). The circuit part 100 includes a connection wiring and a heat block layer (paragraph 0051). The connection circuit part then electrically connects to the battery cells, and may be connected to a circuit board (paragraph 0052). The circuit board then includes electrode holes 111 and 121 for exposing the electrodes of the battery cells (paragraph 0094). There may be connection holes 113 for allowing connection between the connection part connecting the wiring and the bus bar, and allowing connection between the cells and the wiring (paragraph 0094). The holes then allow for connection between the connection circuit part 100 and the battery cell (paragraph 0095).
At the time the invention as filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the circuit part 100 which includes the cell holes for the terminals of the battery cells as taught by LIM for the battery pack of CHEN and KWON, as this is a combination of known prior art elements in order to achieve predictable results. In this interpretation the circuit part 100 is the separation instead of the plate 211 of KWON.
With respect to claim 11. LIM teaches the connection circuit part 100 may include a heat blocking layer 150 (paragraph 0051). This heat blocking layer is taken to be the claimed fire barrier coating (see also Figure 2).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN (CN 113594583 A) in view of KWON (US 2019/0334141 A1), XU (CN 111029683 A), and LIM (US 2022/0302539 A1) as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of BEZSONOV (CN 111463517 A).
Claim 12 is dependent upon claim 10 which is rejected above under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of CHEN, KWON, and LIM. LIM does not explicitly teach an additional PCM layer arranged on or in the separation layer in contact with the cell tabs.
BEZSONOV teaches a battery pack which includes electrodes and a cooling device (abstract). There is a phase change material connected with the electrode of the battery cell in a heat conducting manner in order to cool the battery (abstract). The battery cell then is cooled via the electrode by means of the phase change material, as the electrode is typically subjected to a thermal load (page 3 lines 23-25).
At the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the phase change material in contact with the electrode of BEZSONOV for the connection circuit p[art of LIM, as this is a combination of known prior art elements in order to achieve predictable results, as BEZSONOV teaches such PSM contacting the electrode is beneficial to uniformly cool the battery.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN (CN 113594583 A) in view of KWON (US 2019/0334141 A1), XU (CN 111029683 A), LIM (US 2022/0302539 A1) and BEZSONOV (CN 111463517 A) as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of YE (CN 107426951 B).
Claim 13 is dependent upon claim 12 (see the 112 rejection above), which is dependent upon CHEN, KWON, XU, LIM, and BEZSONOV. However, none of CHEN, KWON, LIM and BEZSONOV explicitly teaches the additional PSM layer has two phase change temperatures.
YE teaches a heat exchange mechanism for an electrical storage module (abstract). The accumulation module 10 is composed of two different phase-change material having different phase change temperatures (page 5 lines 37-38). Such a phase change material is beneficial to ensure the electronic device in a low temperature environment, and prevent the battery from too high of a temperature (abstract).
At the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to substitute the phase change material of BEZSONOV with the two phase change materials of YE as this is a simple substitution of known prior art elements in order to achieve predictable results.
Claim(s) 14-16, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN (CN 113594583 A) in view of KWON (US 2019/0334141 A1) and XU (CN 111029683 A) as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, and further in view of MENG (CN 112259861 A).
Claim 14 is dependent upon claim 1, which is rejected above under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of CHEN, KWON, and XU and claims 15-16 are dependent upon claim 14. However, neither CHEN nor KWON explicitly teaches a lid located outside of the stack, the lid having a plurality of holes, is covered with a film, and has bi-directional corrugated channels.
MENG teaches a battery module fixed in a storage cabinet (abstract). Between the modules in the cabinet are ventilation opening, and air passage support (abstract). The battery module includes a battery modules cabinet, with a cabinet body 1, and plurality of battery modules 2 (page 4 lines 8-9). The first and second cabinet frames are provided with air cabinet support 8 corresponding to a plurality of ventilation holes 8 (page 4 lines 18-20). The support includes an upper cover plate 81 and lower cover plate 82 (page 4 lines 21-24). The upper cover plate and lower cover plate have the same structure and comprise a plurality of supporting sheets connected to the outer wall (page 4 lines 25-27). The baffle 83 has a U-shape and corrugated structure of fins and inverted U shapes being staggered (page 4 lines 30-34). This provides a stable air passage support (page 5 lines 6-10).
At the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to include the air support of MENG for the battery rack of CHEN and KWON, as MENG teaches such structures allow for the quick and effective ventilation of the battery modules, improving the performance and service life of the module (MENG abstract).
Claim 18 is dependent upon claim 17 which is rejected above under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of CHEN, KWON, and XU. KWON teaches a battery rack which includes a single column and plurality of rows (figure 1). None of CHEN, KWON, and XU explicitly teaches a plurality of columns
The discussion of MENG from above is repeated here. MENG teaches the cabinet body which includes a plurality of modules 2 connected with a plurality of rows and columns (Figure 1). Further adjacent modules are separated by at least intermodule walls (see Figure 2).
At the time the invention was filed one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to form the battery rack of CHEN and KWON to have the plurality of rows and columns as taught by MENG as this is a combination of known prior art elements in order to achieve predictable results.
With respect to claim 19. MENG teaches the intermodular wall, which is taken to have an H shape (Figure 2) and the outermost of the walls are taken to include at least a U-shape (Figure 2).
With respect to claim 20. The air passage support 8 as discussed above is taken to be the claimed cooling plate arranged on at least one side of the rows and columns, and are located on the top and bottom, and are taken to be in contact with the circuit arrangement.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 8 of Applicant Arguments/Remarks, filed 02/25/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 112 rejection of claims 4 and 13 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. 112 rejection of claims 4 and 13 has been withdrawn.
Claim 4 has been canceled, and claim 13 has been amended to correct its dependency. Therefore the amendments to the claims have over come the rejection.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-11 of Applicant Arguments/Remarks, filed 02/25/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-2, 5-6, and 17 under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of CHEN and KWON have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of CHEN, KWON, and XU (CN 111029683 A).
Claim 1 has been amended to recite “wherein two layers of the compressible aerogel are located between each pair of the battery cells, and the at least one PCM layer includes a PCM layer arranged between each pair of the battery cells and located between the two layers of the compressible aerogel”. On page 9 of Applicant Arguments/Remarks Applicant argues that CHEN doe s not teach the specific amendment of an arrangement wherein two layers of compressible aerogel are located between each pair of battery cells with a PCM layer sandwiched between those two aerogel layers. In contrast Applicant argues CHEN teaches an aerogel between two PCM layers. This argument is persuasive. However, new grounds of rejection are made in view of CHEN, KWON, and XU (CN 111029683 A).
XU teaches a temperature control material layer includes a phase change material layer 1 and a heat insulating layer 2 which are bonded together (paragraph 0032). The insulating material layer is an aerogel (paragraph 0041). As seen in Figure 1 the flexible temperature control material layer includes two outer layers of the insulating layer 2 and an inner layer of the phase change material layer 1 (paragraph 0031).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN G JELSMA whose telephone number is (571)270-5127. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Niki Bakhtiari can be reached at (571)272-3433. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JONATHAN G JELSMA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
Prosecution Insights