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 .
Response to Amendment
Examiner notes the following amendments made to the claims:
Claim 1 amended to incorporate subject matter from previously presented claims 2-6
Claims 2-6 cancelled
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 04/13/2026, with respect to the rejection of claim 1 under 35 USC 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Since Sasaki does not teach each and every element found in amended claim 1, the rejection of claim has been withdrawn. However, applicant does not provide any arguments for the previously presented 103 rejections of the dependent claims. Thus, despite amending the claims to overcome the previously presented 102 rejection, the combination of Sasaki, Inoue, and Daira is still found to meet all of the limitations of amended claim 1.
Examiner will respond to applicant arguments regarding the amended claims, and how the previously applied art teaches all of the limitations:
First, applicant argues that Sasaki fails to teach “the metal wall portion includes an annular roughened surface having an uneven shape with pits and protrusions that surrounds an opening edge of the gas vent hole” and “the resin safety valve member is hermetically joined to the annular roughened surface by the annular joined portion made of part of the resin forming the safety valve member, the part of the resin forming the annular joined portion entering into the pits of the annular roughened surface.” However, applicant provides no arguments for how the additional pieces of art used to reject the previously presented dependent claims fail to teach these limitations. As described in the previous rejection, Inoue teaches the annular roughened surface around the opening edge of the gas vent hole, and the combination of Inoue with Sasaki would meet all of the amended limitations.
Second, applicant argues that amended claim 1 recites “a lower surface of the inside portion and a lower surface of the metal wall portion lie on the same plane, the bottom portion is a thinnest portion having a thinnest thickness in the inside portion, and a valve opening pressure is determined by a thickness of the thinnest portion such that, when an internal pressure of the battery caser reaches the valve opening pressure the resin safety valve member opens by breakage of the thinnest portion.” As described in the previous rejection as well as the one presented below; by modifying Sasaki with the teachings of Daira, it would be obvious to create a battery meeting all of the amended limitations of claim 1.
Since no arguments are provided about the teachings of Inoue and Daira in combination with Sasaki, the previously applied rejections of dependent claims are incorporate into claim 1, and thus all of the claims are rejected in view of the same art applied in the previous rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sasaki (US 20230395930 A1) in view of Inoue (JP 2016126989 A) and further in view of Daira (US 20240313305 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Sasaki teaches the following elements:
A sealed battery comprising: (“The housing body 110 includes a container 110A. The container 110A includes packaging materials 111 and 112. In an outer peripheral portion of the container 110A in plan view, the packaging materials 111 and 112 are heat sealed and fused together, thereby forming the peripheral sealing part 150.” Sasaki [0039]):
a battery case including a metal wall portion formed with a gas vent hole; (“The container 110A may be constituted by packaging materials 111 and 112 such as described above, but may alternatively be a metal can, for example.” Sasaki [0104]. housing body 110, valve structure 10, inlet 20A Sasaki figure 15. If there is a valve there would inherently be a hole present that the valve is sealing.);
and a safety valve member closing the gas vent hole, (“When gas is produced in the internal space S1 of the container 110A following operation of the power storage device 100, the pressure inside the internal space S1 gradually increases. When the pressure inside the internal space S1 increases excessively, the container 110A could possibly burst and the power storage device 100 could be damaged. The housing body 110 includes a valve structure 10 as a mechanism for preventing such a situation.” Sasaki [0048]),
wherein the safety valve member is a resin safety valve member made of resin, (“The materials constituting the various parts of the valve structure 10 are not particularly limited. To give a preferred example, the valve body 52 can be made of a fluorocarbon resin such as PolyTetraFluoroEthylene (PTFE),” Sasaki [0070]),
the inside portion has a bottomed tubular shape including a tubular portion and a bottom portion, (Sasaki first and second body 30 and 40, which function as the inside portion, are both tubular in shape, as can be seen in figure 10, among others. The bottom of the inside portion would function as the bottom portion of the tubular shape.)
a lower surface of the inside portion and a lower surface of the metal wall portion lie on the same plane, (seeing as the inside portion and metal wall portions are located in an overlapping area, as shown in Sasaki figures 14 and 15, there would inherently be a lower surface of the inside portion that lies in the same plane as a lower surface of the metal wall portion.)
If Sasaki were modified to incorporate the annular roughened surface of Inoue, the following limitations would be met by the teachings of Sasaki:
the metal wall portion includes an annular seal surface an annular roughened surface having an uneven shape with pits and protrusions that surrounds an opening edge of the gas vent hole, (“The valve structure 10 is a gas vent valve for adjusting the pressure inside the internal space S1, and is, for example, attached to the peripheral sealing part 150 of the container 110A.” Sasaki [0049]. In this case, the peripheral sealing part acts as the seal surface surrounding the gas vent and valve.)
the resin safety valve member includes: an annular joined portion hermetically joined to the annular roughened surface; (“As shown in FIG. 15, the peripheral sealing part 150 may have inclined sealing parts 251X and 252X that incline so as to approach a valve sealing part 253X where the valve structure 10 and the packaging materials 111 and 112 are sealed.” Sasaki [0102]. In this case, the valve sealing part 253x functions as the annular joining portion.)
and an inside portion located more inside than the annular joined portion in a radial direction, (valve first and second body 30 and 40, respectively, act as the inside portion that are more inside than the sealing/joining portion 253x. See Sasaki figure 15)
Inoue is considered to be analogous to Sasaki because they are both within the same field of sealed batteries containing safety valves made of resin, which are attached to/sealed to the lid of the casing material. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the sealed battery of Sasaki to join the safety valve and the metal wall portion by forming irregularities/roughening the surface of the metal wall portion in order to produce an effective adhesion, thus sealing the battery (“The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the pressure release valve can be easily joined to the lid body, and sufficient joint strength and sealability between the lid body and the pressure release valve can be obtained.” Inoue [0008])
Inoue teaches the following elements of claim 1:
[An annular seal surface] an annular roughened surface having an uneven shape with pits and protrusions (“The joint surface 10c of the lid body 10 with the pressure release valve 20 is a rough surface on which fine irregularities are formed as described above. Therefore, the bonding strength of the pressure release valve 20 to the lid body 10 can be sufficiently obtained.” Inoue [0030])
the resin safety valve member includes: an annular joined portion hermetically joined to the annular roughened surface; , (“As an example, FIG. 3 shows an example in which the pressure release valve 20 is joined to the outer surface 10a of the lid body 10 at the peripheral edge of the pressure release through hole 12. More specifically, in the example of FIG. 3, the pressure release valve 20 is joined only to the outer surface 10a of the lid body 10 at the peripheral edge of the pressure release through hole 12.” Inoue [0033])
the resin safety valve member is hermetically joined to the annular roughened surface by the annular joined portion made of part of the resin forming the safety valve member, (“As an example, FIG. 3 shows an example in which the pressure release valve 20 is joined to the outer surface 10a of the lid body 10 at the peripheral edge of the pressure release through hole 12. More specifically, in the example of FIG. 3, the pressure release valve 20 is joined only to the outer surface 10a of the lid body 10 at the peripheral edge of the pressure release through hole 12.” Inoue [0033])
the part of the resin forming the annular joined portion entering into the pits of the annular roughened surface, (“A pressure release valve made of resin joined to the lid body so as to close the cover, and the junction surface of the lid body with the pressure release valve has fine irregularities with an interval period of 5 nm or more and 500 μm or less providing a lid that is a roughened surface.” Inoue [0009] and “Therefore, the bonding force of the pressure release valve 20 with respect to the lid body 10 can be sufficiently secured. More specifically, the resin material constituting the pressure release valve 20 has entered the recess 16 of the joint surface 10 c of the lid body 10. Thus, the pressure release valve 20 is firmly joined to the lid body 10. Inoue [0046]. See below for a comparison of the joining method of Inoue versus the instant application)
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By combining the teachings of Sasaki and Daira, the following limitations would be met:
and the inside portion is configured to break a valve opening pressure is determined by a thickness of the thinnest portion such that, (Given that the breaker valve of Sasaki is configured to burst at a certain pressure, it would be determined by thickness of this portion. Barring a specific thickness or a specific bursting pressure claimed, this would inherently be true of the resin safety valve of Sasaki. Specification paragraph [0017] states “the breaking strength of the thinnest portion depends on the thickness of the thinnest portion. Hence, the valve opening pressure of the above-described sealed battery is determined by the thickness of the thinnest portion.” This would apply not only to the instantly claimed invention, but any other resin-based safety valve configured to break at a certain pressure as well, as the thickness/strength of the seal is a key factor in determining the pressure required to break the seal and release the valve. For an example of a similar device actively adjusting the thickness of a valve to optimize the valve opening pressure, see US 20240313305 A1, which states “A first pressure at which the sealing plate 27 as the safety valve ruptures can be adjusted, for example, with a thickness of the annular end 39 of the inclined portion 27c on the outer side in the radial direction. A second pressure at which the inversion portion 43 is inverted can be adjusted, for example, with a thickness, of the tapered portion 43a of the bottom 40, at the annular end 48 on the outer side in the radial direction.” Daira [0039]. This clearly shows that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that changing the thickness of the valve portion can be used to alter the pressure required to break/rupture the safety valve.)
when an internal pressure of the battery case reaches the valve opening pressure to open the resin safety valve member opens by breakage of the thinnest portion. (See annotated Sasaki figure 10 for the thinnest portion within the safety valve configured to break at a certain pressure. “In the second embodiment, instead of the check valve 210 or the check valve 220, a breaker valve capable of one-time venting of gas, that is, a breaker valve configured to split open when the internal pressure of the container 110A increases due to gas produced inside the container 110A may be used. In this variation, a breaker valve is preferably used instead of the check valve 220,” Sasaki [0097])
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(Given that the breaker valve of Sasaki is configured to burst at a certain pressure, it would be determined by thickness of this portion. Barring a specific thickness or a specific bursting pressure claimed, this would inherently be true of the resin safety valve of Sasaki. Specification paragraph [0017] states “the breaking strength of the thinnest portion depends on the thickness of the thinnest portion. Hence, the valve opening pressure of the above-described sealed battery is determined by the thickness of the thinnest portion.” This would apply not only to the instantly claimed invention, but any other resin-based safety valve configured to break at a certain pressure as well, as the thickness/strength of the seal is a key factor in determining the pressure required to break the seal and release the valve. For an example of a similar device actively adjusting the thickness of a valve to optimize the valve opening pressure, see US 20240313305 A1, which states “ A first pressure at which the sealing plate 27 as the safety valve ruptures can be adjusted, for example, with a thickness of the annular end 39 of the inclined portion 27c on the outer side in the radial direction. A second pressure at which the inversion portion 43 is inverted can be adjusted, for example, with a thickness, of the tapered portion 43a of the bottom 40, at the annular end 48 on the outer side in the radial direction.” Daira [0039]. This clearly shows that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that changing the thickness of the valve portion can be used to alter the pressure required to break/rupture the safety valve.)
the bottom portion is a thinnest portion having a thinnest thickness in the inside portion, (by modifying Sasaki with the teachings of Daira, this limitation would be met. Specifically, Daira mentions bottom 40 being the thinnest portion. “A second pressure at which the inversion portion 43 is inverted can be adjusted, for example, with a thickness, of the tapered portion 43a of the bottom 40, at the annular end 48 on the outer side in the radial direction.” Daira [0039]. This clearly shows that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that changing the thickness of the valve portion can be used to alter the pressure required to break/rupture the safety valve.)
Daira is considered to be analogous to Sasaki because they are both within the same field of sealed batteries containing safety valves configured to break at a certain internal pressure. Therefore, the teachings of Daira demonstrate that one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention would understand that it would be obvious to alter the thickness of the breaker valve in order to adjust the requisite internal pressure necessary for the safety valve to break. This is taught by Daira to possibly be achieved by having the bottom portion be the thinnest portion, and thus that additional limitation would also be met without requiring any further modification or motivation.
Thus, the combination of Sasaki, Inoue, and Daira is considered to meet and/or render obvious all of the limitations of amended claim 1.
Conclusion
The following references were found in an updated search and were considered to be relevant, but not used in rejection:
Li (US 20210296625 A1) –teaches a safety valve structure that looks similar in structure to that of figure 6 in instant drawings.
Sasaki (US 20220077538 A1) –teaches a valve with a similar structure to instant claims, which has intentional roughness to the valve seats which form the connection, and teaches the adjustment of the roughness
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 BENJAMIN ELI KASS-MULLET whose telephone number is (571)272-0156. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-6pm except for the first Friday of bi-week.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, NICHOLAS SMITH can be reached at (571) 272-8760. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BENJAMIN ELI KASS-MULLET/Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
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