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.
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) 1-6 and 9-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishi (JP Publication 2011-192562) in view of Hojo (U.S. Patent Publication 2009/0246631).
Regarding claims 1 and 2, Ishi discloses a lithium secondary battery comprising: a negative electrode containing a negative electrode active material on both sides of a negative electrode current collector, a positive electrode containing a positive electrode active material on at least one side of a positive electrode current collector, a separator, and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein the positive and negative electrode alternative with separators in between each, and wherein on one side, the capacity per unit area of the negative electrode is larger than the capacity per unit area of the opposing positive electrode, and on the other side, the capacity per unit area of the negative electrode is smaller than the capacity per unit area of the opposing positive electrode (Paragraph 0010). Ishi also discloses that the capacity of the negative and positive electrodes can be adjusted by the thickness of the electrode layers (Paragraph 0015). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that if the capacity per unit area ratios of the negative to positive electrodes is different on each side of the negative electrode, that either the capacity per unit areas of the two negative electrode active materials are different from one another, that the capacity per unit areas of the two positive electrode active materials are different from one another, or both. Thus, the capacity per unit area of one positive electrode active material could be greater than the positive electrode active material on the opposite side of the current collector. Additionally, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the thicknesses of the positive electrode active material layers could be adjusted so that the ratio of the two layers could fall within 0.7 and 1. As to claims 3 and 4, Ishi teaches that on one side the ratio of capacity per unit area of the negative electrode to the capacity per unit area of the positive electrode is 0.6 to 1, while the ratio on the other side is 1-1.67 (Paragraph 0016). Regarding claims 9-13, Ishi discloses that the batteries can be used in various electrical devices and automobiles (Paragraph 0001). It would be well known in the art that larger electrical appliances would require battery modules which consist of a plurality of the battery cell units, and that automobiles require battery packs which consist of a plurality of battery modules.
Ishi fails to disclose that the negative electrode current collector is provided with a through hole, that the ratio of an area of the through hole to an area of the current collector is 0.2-40%, and that the pore diameter of the through hole is 5-500 µm.
Regarding claim 1, Hojo discloses an electricity storage device comprising: a positive electrode current collector, a positive electrode disposed on the positive electrode current collector, a negative electrode current collector, a negative electrode disposed on the negative current collector, and a separator, wherein the negative electrode current collector comprises a plurality of through holes (Paragraphs 0070, 0088). As to claim 5, Hojo teaches that the volume ratio of the through hole in the current collector is 30% or higher (Paragraph 0090). Regarding claim 6, Hojo states that the through hole diameter can be several times larger than the thickness of the negative electrode, such as 100 µm (Paragraph 0089, 0265, Table 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention that the negative electrode current collector of Ishi could contain a through hole with the size of Hojo because Hojo teaches that the through hole technique allow for the highest ratio of electrolyte retention, which improves charge-discharge capacity of the battery.
Claim(s) 7 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishi (JP Publication 2011-192562) in view of Hojo (U.S. Patent Publication 2009/0246631) as applied to claims 1-6 and 9-13 above, and further in view of Shi (CN Publication 105449139).
The teachings of Ishi and Hojo have been discussed in paragraph 3 above.
Ishi and Hojo fail to disclose that the compacted density of the positive electrode is 2-3.6 g/cc, and that the compacted density of the negative electrode is 0.5-2 g/cc.
Regarding claims 7 and 8, Shi discloses a battery cell comprising: a positive electrode current collector with a positive electrode active material on the surface, a negative electrode current collector with a negative electrode active material on the surface, and a separator in between, wherein the compaction density of the positive electrode is 3 g/cc, wherein the compaction density of the negative electrode is 2 g/cc, and wherein the ratio of capacity per unit area of the positive electrode to the negative electrode is 1.2:1 (Paragraphs 0026-0027).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention that the compaction densities of the electrodes of Ishi could be in the ranges taught by Shi because Shi teaches that these densities allow for a desired capacity per unit area of each electrode.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRITTANY L RAYMOND whose telephone number is (571)272-6545. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9 am-6 pm.
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BRITTANY L. RAYMOND
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1722
/BRITTANY L RAYMOND/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722