DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
In the amendment dated 2/13/26, the following has occurred: Claims 1, 17, and 18 have been amended; and new Claims 19-20 have been added.
Claims 1-20 are pending. This communication is a Final Rejection in response to the "Amendment" and "Remarks" filed on 2/13/26.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/17/25 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-10 and 13-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/152990 A1 (US’990) in view of US 2006/0110662 A1 (US’662).
As to Claim 1:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (positive electrode current collector 30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions ([0019] teaches intermediate layer 31 fills the recesses); and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer ([0019] teaches mixture layer 32 is provided on the intermediate layer and contacts the projections 30a); wherein the functional layer comprises at least one of a polymer material (polymer binder such as PVDF; [0015]) or a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the intermediate layer suppresses heat generation).
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose that the material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector.
US’662 teaches a secondary battery electrode (anode 10; [0020]) comprising a current collector (11) having a surface comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0021]). US’662 explicitly teaches that the "projection 11B may be made of a different material from the base material 11A" ([0022]), where the projections are formed on the base foil through methods such as plating.
US’990 and US’662 are analogous arts because both relate to the field of electrochemical technologies and, more specifically, to the structural design of electrode current collectors for secondary batteries to improve performance and safety.
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector of US’990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US’662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" described in US’662, which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during the repeated volume expansion and contraction cycles of charging and discharging, thereby increasing the service life and durability of the battery while maintaining the safety benefits of the functional layer taught by US’990.
As to Claim 2:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 1 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) with a current collector (30; [0019]) having a surface comprising protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]), a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the recessed portions, and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the active material layer covers the functional layer ([0019] teaches mixture layer 32 is provided on intermediate layer 31); and the active material layer covers the protruding portions, that are not covered by the functional layer, on the surface of the current collector ([0019] teaches that projections 30a "penetrate the interface" and "project into the positive electrode mixture layer," thereby being covered by and contacting the active material in areas where the functional layer is absent).
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose the limitation of claim 1 (upon which claim 2 depends) requiring that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector.
US’662 teaches a current collector 11 for a battery electrode having a base material 11A and protruding portions (projections 11B) ([0026]). US’662 explicitly teaches that the "projection 11B may be made of a different material from the base material 11A" ([0030]), such as by forming the protrusions on the base foil through plating or similar deposition methods ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of US’990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US’662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during the volume changes associated with battery cycling ([0009]), while maintaining the thermal shutdown capabilities provided by the functional layer in the recessed portions of US’990.
As to Claim 3:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 1 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises at least one of a polymer material (binder; [0015]) or a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the layer suppresses heat generation).
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose that the material of the protruding portions is different from the material of other portions of the current collector, nor does it explicitly quantify that the surface roughness of the surface of the current collector is greater than or equal to 1 μm.
US’662 teaches an electrode plate comprising a current collector (11) having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]), where the projections are made of a different material than the base foil ([0030]). US’662 further teaches that the surface roughness of the current collector is greater than or equal to 1 μm (Table 1 discloses ten point height of roughness profile Rz2 values including 1.2 μm, 1.5 μm, 2.1 μm, 2.5 μm, 3.4 μm, and 5.6 μm; [0032], [0073]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector of US’990 by utilizing protruding portions of a different material and selecting a surface roughness greater than or equal to 1 μm, as taught by US’662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to provide these features to achieve the "anchor effect" described in US’662 ([0026]), which enhances mechanical adhesion and electrical contact between the current collector and the active material layer during volume changes during battery cycling ([0009]), thereby improving the structural integrity of the battery while utilizing the thermal safety architecture of US’990.
As to Claim 4:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 1 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises at least one of a polymer material (binder; [0015]) or a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the layer suppresses heat generation).
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose that the material of the protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector, nor does it explicitly quantify that the surface roughness is in a range of 1.5 μm–50 μm.
US’662 teaches an electrode plate comprising a current collector (11) having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]), where the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material 11A of the collector ([0030]). US’662 further teaches that the surface roughness of the current collector is in a range of 1.5 μm–50 μm (Table 1 discloses ten-point height of roughness profile Rz2 values including 1.5 μm, 2.1 μm, 2.5 μm, 3.4 μm, and 5.6 μm, which fall within the claimed range of 1.5 μm–50 μm; [0032], [0073]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector of US’990 by utilizing protruding portions of a different material and selecting a surface roughness in a range of 1.5 μm–50 μm, as taught by US’662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to provide these features to achieve the "anchor effect" described in US’662 ([0026]), which enhances mechanical adhesion and electrical contact between the current collector and the active material layer during volume changes during battery cycling ([0009]), thereby improving the structural integrity of the battery while utilizing the thermal safety architecture of US’990. Selecting the specific roughness range of 1.5 μm–50 μm would be a routine optimization of the "anchor effect" to ensure sufficient depth for both the functional layer and the active material interface as established in the combined teachings.
As to Claim 5:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 3 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises at least one of a polymer material (binder; [0015]) or a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the layer suppresses heat generation).
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose that the material of the protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector, nor does it explicitly quantify that the surface roughness is in a range of 1.5 μm–10 μm.
US’662 teaches an electrode plate comprising a current collector (11) having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]), where the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material 11A of the collector ([0030]). US’662 further teaches that the surface roughness of the current collector is in a range of 1.5 μm–10 μm (Table 1 discloses ten-point height of roughness profile Rz2 values including 1.5 μm, 2.1 μm, 2.5 μm, 3.4 μm, and 5.6 μm, each of which falls within the claimed range of 1.5 μm–10 μm; [0032], [0073]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector of US’990 by utilizing protruding portions of a different material and selecting a surface roughness in a range of 1.5 μm–10 μm, as taught by US’662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to provide these features to achieve the "anchor effect" described in US’662 ([0026]), which enhances mechanical adhesion and electrical contact between the current collector and the active material layer during volume changes during battery cycling ([0009]), thereby improving the structural integrity of the battery while utilizing the thermal safety architecture of US’990. Furthermore, selecting the specific roughness range of 1.5 μm–10 μm would be a routine optimization of the "anchor effect" to ensure sufficient depth for both the functional layer and the active material interface while maintaining a compact electrode profile as taught in the combined references.
As to Claim 6:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 5 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises at least one of a polymer material (binder; [0015]) or a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the layer suppresses heat generation).
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose that the material of the protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector, nor does it explicitly quantify that the surface roughness is in a range of 1.5 μm–6 μm.
US’662 teaches an electrode plate comprising a current collector (11) having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]), where the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material 11A of the collector ([0030]). US’662 further teaches that the surface roughness of the current collector is in a range of 1.5 μm–6 μm (Table 1 discloses ten point height of roughness profile Rz2 values of 1.5 μm, 2.1 μm, 2.5 μm, 3.4 μm, and 5.6 μm, each of which falls within the claimed range of 1.5 μm–6 μm; [0032], [0073]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector of US’990 by utilizing protruding portions of a different material and selecting a surface roughness in a range of 1.5 μm–6 μm, as taught by US’662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to provide these features to achieve the "anchor effect" described in US’662 ([0026]), which enhances mechanical adhesion and electrical contact between the current collector and the active material layer during volume changes during battery cycling ([0009]), thereby improving the structural integrity of the battery while utilizing the thermal safety architecture of US’990. Furthermore, selecting the specific narrow roughness range of 1.5 μm–6 μm would be a routine optimization of the "anchor effect" to find the most effective balance between adhesion and the filling capacity of the functional layer within the recessed portions.
As to Claim 7:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 1 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises a polymer material (binder; [0015]) and a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the layer suppresses heat generation); and further discloses that the material is in a form of particles ([0015] mentions "inorganic substance particles") and a particle size (center particle diameter) of the particles is in a range of 0.2 μm to 1.0 μm ([0020]), which falls within the claimed range of 0.1 μm–10 μm.
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose that the material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector.
US’662 teaches an electrode plate comprising a current collector (11) having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]). US’662 explicitly teaches that the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material (11A) of the current collector ([0030]), where the projections are formed on the base foil through methods such as plating or deposition ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of US’990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US’662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during the volume changes associated with battery cycling ([0009]), while maintaining the thermal safety and particle size specifications for the functional layer as taught in US’990. Selecting a particle size within the range of 0.2 μm to 1.0 μm as taught by US’990 to satisfy the claimed range of 0.1 μm–10 μm would be a routine optimization of the safety layer to ensure effective filling of the current collector's recessed portions.
As to Claim 8:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 7 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises a polymer material (binder; [0015]) and a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the layer suppresses heat generation); and further discloses that the material is in a form of particles ([0015] mentions "inorganic substance particles") and a median particle size (center particle diameter) of the particles is in a range of 0.2 μm to 1.0 μm ([0020]), which falls within the claimed range of 0.1 μm–2 μm.
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose that the material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector.
US’662 teaches an electrode plate comprising a current collector (11) having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]). US’662 explicitly teaches that the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material (11A) of the current collector ([0030]), where the projections are formed on the base foil through methods such as plating or deposition ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of US’990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US’662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during the volume changes associated with battery cycling ([0009]), while maintaining the thermal safety and specific particle size requirements for the functional layer as taught in US’990. Selecting a particle size within the range of 0.2 μm to 1.0 μm as taught by US’990 to satisfy the narrower claimed range of 0.1 μm–2 μm would be a routine optimization of the functional layer to ensure the particles effectively fill the recessed portions of the current collector without creating excessive layer thickness.
As to Claim 9:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions ([0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises the polymer material ([0015] teaches the intermediate layer contains a polymer binder); and the polymer material comprises at least one of... polyvinylidene fluoride ([0015] explicitly lists polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as a suitable polymer binder for the intermediate layer).
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose that the material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector.
US’662 teaches a current collector (11) for an electrode ([0025]) comprising a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]). US’662 explicitly teaches that the "projection 11B may be made of a different material from the base material 11A" ([0030]), wherein the protrusions are formed via plating or other deposition methods on the foil substrate to create a structured interface ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of US’990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US’662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during the repeated volume expansion and contraction cycles of charging and discharging ([0009]), while selecting a polymer such as PVDF for the functional layer as taught in US’990 to provide the necessary binding and heat suppression characteristics.
As to Claim 10:
US'990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 9 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises a polymer material (binder; [0015]); and the polymer material comprises polyvinylidene fluoride ([0015] explicitly lists "polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)" as a suitable polymer material for the functional layer).
However, US'990 does not explicitly disclose that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector (the limitation of claim 1 as incorporated via claim 9).
US'662 teaches an electrode plate comprising a current collector (11) having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]). US'662 explicitly teaches that the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material (11A) of the current collector ([0030]), where the projections are formed on the base foil through methods such as plating or deposition ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of US'990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US'662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during the volume changes associated with battery cycling ([0009]), while selecting a polymer such as polyvinylidene fluoride for the functional layer as explicitly taught in US'990 to provide the necessary binding and heat suppression characteristics.
As to Claim 13:
US'990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 1 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0024]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0045]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections; [0014]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0024]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0024]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises a conductive material ([0007], [0024] disclose conductive agent particles in the intermediate layer); and the conductive material comprises at least one of a conductive metal material ([0030] lists metal particles such as aluminum and copper) or a conductive carbon-based material ([0026], [0030] explicitly list carbon black and graphite).
However, US'990 does not explicitly disclose that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector (the limitation of claim 1 as incorporated by claim 13).
US'662 teaches a current collector 11 for an electrode comprising a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]). US'662 explicitly teaches that the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material (11A) of the current collector ([0030]), where the protrusions are formed on the base foil through methods such as plating, sputtering, or other deposition techniques to create a structured interface ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of US'990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US'662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during the volume changes associated with battery cycling ([0009]), while selecting conductive materials such as carbon black, graphite, or metal powder for the functional layer as explicitly taught in US'990 to maintain the necessary electrical connectivity and thermal suppression characteristics within the recesses.
As to Claim 14:
US'990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 13 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0024]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0045]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0014]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0024]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions ([0014], [0024] teach intermediate layer 31 fills the recesses); an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0024]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer ([0045] teaches mixture layer 32 is provided on the intermediate layer and contacts the projections 30a); wherein the functional layer comprises a conductive material ([0007], [0024] disclose that the intermediate layer contains conductive agent particles); and the conductive material comprises one or more of carbon black and graphite ([0026], [0030] explicitly list carbon black and graphite as suitable conductive agents for the intermediate layer).
However, US'990 does not explicitly disclose the limitation of claim 1 (as incorporated via claim 13) requiring that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector.
US'662 teaches a current collector 11 for an electrode plate comprising a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]). US'662 explicitly teaches that the "projection 11B may be made of a different material from the base material 11A" ([0030]), wherein the protrusions are formed on the base foil through methods such as plating or other deposition techniques to create a structured interface ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of US'990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US'662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during volume expansion and contraction ([0009]), while selecting carbon black and graphite as the conductive material for the functional layer as explicitly taught in US'990 to maintain electrical connectivity and thermal suppression characteristics within the collector recesses.
As to Claim 15:
US'990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 1 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (positive electrode current collector 30; [0024]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0045]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0014]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0024]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0024]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises a polymer material (binder; [0015]) or a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the layer suppresses heat generation); and further discloses that the electrode plate is a positive electrode plate ([0001], [0024]).
However, US'990 does not explicitly disclose the limitation of claim 1 (as incorporated via claim 15) requiring that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector.
US'662 teaches an electrode plate (anode 10; [0025]) for a secondary battery comprising a current collector (11) having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]), where the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material (11A) of the current collector ([0030]), wherein the protrusions are formed on the base foil through methods such as plating or deposition ([0037]). US'662 further teaches that the electrode plate is a negative electrode plate (anode 10; [0025]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of US'990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US'662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during volume changes associated with battery cycling ([0009]), while selecting either a positive electrode (as explicitly taught in US'990) or a negative electrode (as explicitly taught in US'662) to apply the specific physical and functional architecture defined in claim 1.
As to Claim 16:
US'990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 1 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0024]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0045]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0014]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0024]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions; and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0024]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the active material layer comprises at least one of lithium transition metal oxide ([0015] lists lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt composite oxide and lithium-cobalt composite oxide) or olivine-structured lithium-containing phosphate ([0003], [0004] mention lithium-iron-phosphate); and specifically discloses that the lithium transition metal oxide comprises lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide ([0015]).
However, US'990 does not explicitly disclose the limitation of claim 1 (as incorporated via claim 16) requiring that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector.
US'662 teaches an electrode plate comprising a current collector (11) having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]). US'662 explicitly teaches that the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material (11A) of the current collector ([0030]), wherein the protrusions are formed on the base foil through methods such as plating or deposition ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of US'990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US'662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during the volume expansion and contraction cycles of charging and discharging ([0009]), while employing the standard lithium-based oxide or phosphate active materials explicitly taught in US'990 to achieve high energy density and safety performance.
As to Claim 17:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 1 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0024]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0045]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0014]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0024]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions ([0014], [0024] teach intermediate layer 31 fills the recesses); and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0024]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer ([0045] teaches mixture layer 32 is provided on the intermediate layer and contacts the projections 30a); wherein the functional layer comprises a polymer material (binder; [0015]) or a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the layer suppresses heat generation); and further discloses a battery pack comprising the secondary battery ([0090]–[0092] disclose application of the secondary battery in battery modules and packs).
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose the limitation of claim 1 (as incorporated via claim 17) requiring that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector.
US’662 teaches a current collector 11 for a battery electrode comprising a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]). US’662 explicitly teaches that the "projection 11B may be made of a different material from the base material 11A" ([0030]), wherein the protrusions are formed on the base foil through methods such as plating or other deposition techniques to create a structured interface ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of US’990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US’662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during volume changes associated with battery cycling ([0009]), while incorporating the battery into a standard battery pack as suggested by the technical field and applications disclosed in US’990 ([0090]–[0092]) to meet the energy and power requirements of medium- to large-size applications.
As to Claim 18:
US'990 discloses an electric apparatus ([0002] of the background relates to the application of secondary batteries in mobile digital devices, electric tools, and electric vehicles), comprising: the secondary battery (Abstract; [0001], [0021]) according to claim 1, comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (positive electrode current collector 30; [0024]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0045]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0014]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0024]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions ([0014], [0024] describe intermediate layer 31 filling the recessed portions); and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0024]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer ([0045] teaches the mixture layer 32 is provided on the intermediate layer and contacts the projections 30a); wherein the functional layer comprises a polymer material (binder such as PVDF; [0015]).
However, US'990 does not explicitly disclose the limitation of claim 1 (as incorporated via claim 18) requiring that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector.
US'662 teaches a current collector 11 for an electrode plate in a secondary battery ([0025]) comprising a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]). US'662 explicitly teaches that the "projection 11B may be made of a different material from the base material 11A" ([0030]), wherein the protrusions are formed on the base foil through deposition methods such as plating to create a structured interface ([0037]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of the battery in US'990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US'662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical adhesion and electrical contact of the active material layer to the current collector during volume changes associated with battery cycling ([0009]), thereby increasing the durability and service life of the battery when implemented within an electric apparatus while maintaining the thermal safety benefits of the functional layer architecture taught in US'990.
Claims 11-12 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/152990 A1 (US’990) in view of US 2006/0110662 A1 (US’662), as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of CN 103259020 A (CN '020).
As to Claim 11:
US’990 discloses a secondary battery (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0024]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0045]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0014]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0024]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions ([0014], [0024] describe intermediate layer 31 filling the recessed portions); an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0024]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer ([0045] teaches the mixture layer 32 is provided on the intermediate layer and contacts the projections 30a); wherein the functional layer comprises a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the intermediate layer suppresses heat generation during internal short circuits).
However, US’990 does not explicitly disclose the limitation of claim 1 (as incorporated via claim 11) requiring that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector, nor does it explicitly disclose the specific PTC materials comprising at least one of bismuth titanate modified material, barium titanate, a barium titanate modified material, vanadium oxide, or a vanadium oxide modified material.
US’662 teaches a current collector 11 for an electrode plate comprising a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]), where the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material (11A) of the current collector ([0030]). CN '020 teaches a lithium battery having high safety performance utilizing PTC materials (Abstract; [0008]) and explicitly teaches that the PTC material comprises barium titanate and vanadium oxide ([0046]).
US’990, US’662, and CN '020 are analogous arts because each is directed to the field of electrochemical technologies and specifically addresses the structural and chemical optimization of battery current collectors and safety layers to improve mechanical adhesion and prevent thermal runaway.
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of the battery in US’990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US’662, and to select barium titanate or vanadium oxide as the specific PTC material for the functional layer, as taught by CN '020. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make these modifications to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions (US’662 [0026]) to improve mechanical adhesion during cycling ([0009]) and to incorporate reliable thermal-shutdown materials like barium titanate or vanadium oxide (CN '020 [0046]) to optimize the heat suppression function of the recess-filling functional layer architecture established in US’990.
As to Claim 12:
US'990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 11 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions ([0019] describes intermediate layer 31 filling the recessed portions); an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer ([0019] teaches the mixture layer 32 is provided on the intermediate layer and contacts the projections 30a); wherein the functional layer comprises a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the intermediate layer suppresses heat generation during internal short circuits).
However, US'990 does not explicitly disclose the limitation of claim 1 (as incorporated via claim 12) requiring that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector, nor does it explicitly disclose that the PTC material comprises barium titanate.
US'662 teaches a current collector 11 for an electrode plate comprising a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]), where the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material (11A) of the current collector ([0030]). CN'020 teaches a lithium battery having high safety performance utilizing PTC materials (Abstract; [0009]) and explicitly teaches that the PTC material comprises barium titanate ([0009], [0010], [0019]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of the battery in US'990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US'662, and to select barium titanate as the specific PTC material for the functional layer, as taught by CN'020. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make these modifications to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions (US'662 [0026]) to improve mechanical adhesion during volume expansion ([0009]) and to incorporate a reliable, high-efficiency thermal-shutdown material like barium titanate (CN'020 [0015]) within the specific recess-filling functional layer architecture established in US'990 to optimize safety performance.
As to Claim 19:
US'990 discloses a secondary battery (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (positive electrode current collector 30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions ([0019] describes intermediate layer 31 filling the recessed portions); and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer ([0019] teaches mixture layer 32 is provided on the intermediate layer and contacts the projections 30a); wherein the functional layer comprises a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the intermediate layer suppresses heat generation).
However, US'990 does not explicitly disclose the specific PTC material comprising at least one of a bismuth titanate modified material, vanadium oxide, or a vanadium oxide modified material.
US'662 teaches a current collector 11 for a battery electrode having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]), which improves the mechanical interface between the collector and subsequent layers. CN'020 teaches a lithium battery utilizing PTC materials for safety performance (Abstract; [0009]) and explicitly discloses that the PTC material comprises vanadium oxide (vanadium trioxide and vanadium pentoxide; [0009], [0010], [0019]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the electrode of US'990 by incorporating vanadium oxide as the PTC material in the functional layer, as taught by CN'020, and utilizing the structured current collector topography taught by US'662. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make these modifications to utilize the known high-efficiency thermal shutdown characteristics of vanadium oxide (CN'020 [0015]) within the specific recess-filling functional layer architecture of US'990 to optimize safety, while leveraging the enhanced mechanical adhesion provided by the protruding/recessed collector structure (US'662 [0026]) to improve the overall service life and safety of the battery.
As to Claim 20:
US'990 discloses a secondary battery according to claim 19 (Abstract; [0001]) comprising: an electrode plate (positive electrode 11; [0001]) comprising: a current collector (30; [0019]), at least a portion of a surface of the current collector comprising a plurality of protruding portions (projections 30a; [0019]) and a plurality of recessed portions (defined between projections 30a; [0019]); a functional layer (intermediate layer 31; [0019]) disposed in one or more of the plurality of recessed portions ([0019] teaches intermediate layer 31 fills the recesses); and an active material layer (positive electrode mixture layer 32; [0019]) covering and contacting the current collector and the functional layer; wherein the functional layer comprises a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material ([0003], [0015] teach the intermediate layer suppresses heat generation).
However, US'990 does not explicitly disclose that a material of the plurality of protruding portions is different from a material of other portions of the current collector, nor does it explicitly disclose that the PTC material comprises the specific species of a bismuth titanate modified material.
US'662 teaches an electrode current collector 11 having a surface with protruding portions (projections 11B) and recessed portions ([0026]), where the material of the protruding portions (projection 11B) may be different from the base material (11A) of the current collector ([0030]). CN'020 teaches a lithium battery utilizing titanate-based PTC materials for safety (Abstract; [0009]) and explicitly teaches that the PTC material can comprise barium titanate ([0009], [0010], [0019]).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the current collector structure of the battery in US'990 by utilizing protruding portions made of a different material than the base foil, as taught by US'662, and to select a bismuth titanate modified material as the specific PTC material for the functional layer. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to utilize the "anchor effect" provided by material-differentiated protrusions (US'662 [0026]) to improve mechanical adhesion ([0009]) and would have found it obvious to substitute one known titanate-based PTC material (such as the barium titanate taught by CN'020) with a functionally equivalent bismuth titanate modified material within the specific recess-filling functional layer architecture established in US'990. Such a substitution represents a predictable choice of a known safety material within the same functional class (titanate-based ceramics) to achieve the same result of thermal shutdown during an over-temperature event.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 JIMMY K VO whose telephone number is (571)272-3242. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8 am to 6 pm EST.
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/JIMMY VO/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1723
/JIMMY VO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1723
Prosecution Insights