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
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.
Claim(s) 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US 2022/0359922) in view of Ahrens (US 20230268758).
Re Claim 1; Park discloses an apparatus for discharging battery units, (300, Fig. 1): comprising:
a plurality of carrier units (330), wherein a respective battery unit is arranged on top of each of the plurality of carrier units and is configured to be electrically contacted;(Par 0080)
a conveyor system (314) configured to transport individual carrier units of the plurality of carrier units; (Par 0092)
a buffer station configured to receive and temporarily store a number of the plurality of carrier units; (the top of the device)
a discharging station (320) configured to receive the individual carrier units transported from the buffer station; (Par 0075-79)
a removal station configured to remove the individual carrier units transported from the discharging station; (the table of the floor would be considered as the removal station )
a contacting assembly configured to generate a respective electrical contact to each of the individual carrier units received in the discharging station and independently from one another so that the individual battery units arranged on the carrier units are removed from the circuit individually and independently from one another (Fig. 17, 18 and also see (Par 0075-79))
Park does not disclose
such that a series circuit of battery units is generated, which are arranged on the electrically contacted individual carrier units to discharge the series circuit of battery units and to disconnect the respective electrical contacts to each of the individual carrier units individually and.
However, Ahrens disclose a series circuit (30.1-32b.4) of battery units is generated, which are arranged on the electrically contacted individual carrier units to discharge the series circuit of battery units and to disconnect the respective electrical contacts to each of the individual carrier units individually. (Par 0016, 17, Fig. 1)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing of the invention to have couple the series circuit of Ahrens to the device of Park in order to continuously discharge the battery when needed.
Re Claim 2; the combination of Park and Ahrens discloses this claimed limitation. For instance, Park discloses wherein the contacting assembly comprises: a plurality of contact elements, each of the plurality of contact elements configured to be brought into contact with respective ones of the individual carrier units received in the discharging station and thus to be electrically contacted; (Fig. 17-18)
Ahrens discloses a switch assembly comprising a plurality of switch units configured so as to generate the series circuit of battery units arranged on the electrically contacted individual carrier units; and a discharge circuit configured so as to discharge the individual battery units of the series circuit. (See the rejection above)
Re Claim 3; Park discloses wherein: each individual carrier unit comprises respective fixed contact elements and flexible conduit connections; and the fixed contact elements are electrically connectable to the respective battery unit arranged on the carrier unit via the flexible conduction connections. (Fig. 17-18)
Re Claim 4; Park discloses further comprising: a safety station (320) configured to receive the individual carrier units from the discharging station and to impinge them using one or more safety mechanisms. (Fig. 5)
Re Claim 5; Park discloses wherein at least one of: the apparatus further comprises a loading station in which the respective battery unit is arranged on top of the individual carrier units, the conveyor system is configured to transport the individual carrier units from the loading station to the buffer station, and the buffer station is configured to receive and temporarily store the individual carrier units from the loading station; and the apparatus further comprises a withdrawal station configured to receive the individual carrier units from the removal station, and respective battery units arranged in the received individual carrier units in the withdrawal station are configured to be electrically disconnected and withdrawn from the respective carrier unit. (Fig. 5)
Re Claim 6; Park discloses wherein: the buffer station comprises at least one buffer unit, wherein each of the at least one buffer units is respectively configured to temporarily store an individual carrier unit; the discharging station comprises at least one discharging unit, wherein each of the at least one discharging units is configured to receive a respective individual carrier unit from one of the at least one buffer units of the buffer station; each of the at least one buffer units is respectively assigned to one of the at least one discharging units; and (see fig. 5)
Park does not disclose buffer units and discharging units assigned to one another are respectively coupled via a respective one of at least one conveying unit of the conveyor system.
A POSITA would have been motivated to incorporate buffer units, discharging units, and conveyor‑based coupling because Industrial automation norms Battery recycling and automated material‑handling systems routinely include: buffer units discharging/processing units
conveyor‑based coupling between stations. These are standard components in automated lines.
Re Claims 7 and 8; Park discloses wherein the removal station comprises: an emptying station configured to receive the individual carrier units from the discharging station individually and independently from one another; and a second buffer station configured to receive all of the individual carrier units received in the emptying station and to temporarily store them and wherein; the emptying station comprises at least one emptying unit; each of the at least one emptying unit is configured to receive a respective individual carrier unit from a respective one of the at least one discharging unit of the discharging station; each of the at least one discharging units is respectively assigned to one of the at least one discharging units; and buffer units, discharging units, and emptying units assigned to one another are coupled via the respective one of the at least one conveying unit of the conveyor system. (see fig. 5)
Re Claim 9; Park discloses wherein the buffer station, the discharging station, and the removal station are arranged within a protected region. (Fig. 5)
10. A method for operating an apparatus for discharging battery units, comprising: arranging a respective battery unit on individual carrier units of a plurality of carrier units and electrically contacting the individual carrier units with the respective battery unit arranged thereon; transporting the individual carrier units, on which the respective battery unit is arranged, using a conveyor system, into a buffer station and temporarily storing the individual carrier units in the buffer station; transporting the individual carrier units individually and independently from one another, using the conveyor system, from the buffer station into a discharging station; generating an electrical contact between a contacting assembly and the individual carrier units received in the discharging station and generating a series circuit of the respective battery units arranged on said electrically contacted individual carrier units; discharging the respective battery units of said series circuit using the contacting assembly; disconnecting the electrical contact between the contacting assembly and the individual carrier units received in the discharging station individually and independently from one another and removing the respective battery units arranged on said individual carrier units from the series circuit individually and independently from one another, in response to occurrence of a specified event which characterizes a sufficient discharge of the respective battery unit arranged on said individual carrier units; and transporting, using the conveying system, the individual carrier units, whose electrical contacting to the contacting assembly has been disconnected from one another individually and independently, from the discharging station into a removal station configured to remove the individual carrier units transported from the discharging station from the conveyor system. (See the rejection above)
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the buffer station comprises at least one buffer unit and the discharging station comprises at least one discharging unit, further comprising: transporting a second of the individual carrier units from a first of the at least one buffer units into a first of the at least one discharging units as soon as a first of the individual carrier units previously transported into the first of the at least one discharging units is transported by the conveyor system into the removal station. (See the rejection above)
Re Claim 12; Park discloses further comprising at least one of: determining and monitoring a voltage and a temperature of the respective battery units arranged on the contacted individual carrier units in the discharging unit; and regulating a discharging current which discharges the respective battery unit arranged on the contacted individual carrier unit in the discharging unit; and controlling a discharge rate which discharges the respective battery unit arranged on the contacted individual carrier unit. (Fig. 6, 79, 81, par 0077)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL KESSIE whose telephone number is (571)272-4449. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pmEst.
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/DANIEL KESSIE/
01/21/2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836