DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
2. Restriction to one of the following inventions is required under 35 U.S.C. 121:
I. Claims 1-16, drawn to a system for gas management of metal-air batteries, classified in H01M50/358.
II. Claims 17-20, drawn to a method of gas management of metal-air batteries, classified in H01M10/48.
The inventions are independent or distinct, each from the other because:
3. Inventions I and II are related as product and process of use. The inventions can be shown to be distinct if either or both of the following can be shown: (1) the process for using the product as claimed can be practiced with another materially different product or (2) the product as claimed can be used in a materially different process of using that product. See MPEP § 806.05(h). In the instant case, the product as claimed in invention I can be used in a materially different process such as being used in a process that has a verification step of receiving an additional signal indicative of hydrogen concentration from the hydrogen signals to verify that the hydrogen concentration is accurate.
4. Restriction for examination purposes as indicated is proper because all the inventions listed in this action are independent or distinct for the reasons given above and there would be a serious search and/or examination burden if restriction were not required because one or more of the following reasons apply:
Restriction for examination purposes as indicated is proper because all the inventions listed in this action are independent or distinct for the reasons given above and there would be a serious search and/or examination burden if restriction were not required because one or more of the following reasons apply:
-the inventions have acquired a separate status in the art in view of their different classification;
-the inventions have acquired a separate status in the art due to their recognized divergent subject matter; and/or
-the inventions require a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search strategies or search queries).
During a telephone conversation with John Paul Mello on March 16, 2026 a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of Group I, claims 1-16. Affirmation of this election must be made by application in replying to this Office action. Claims 17-20 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.42(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
The election of an invention may be made with or without traverse. To reserve a right to petition, the election must be made with traverse. If the reply does not distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election shall be treated as an election without traverse. Traversal must be presented at the time of election in order to be considered timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are added after the election, applicant must indicate which of these claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
5. Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
6. The examiner has required restriction between product or apparatus claims and process claims. Where applicant elects claims directed to the product/apparatus, and all product/apparatus claims are subsequently found allowable, withdrawn process claims that include all the limitations of the allowable product/apparatus claims should be considered for rejoinder. All claims directed to a nonelected process invention must include all the limitations of an allowable product/apparatus claim for that process invention to be rejoined.
In the event of rejoinder, the requirement for restriction between the product/apparatus claims and the rejoined process claims will be withdrawn, and the rejoined process claims will be fully examined for patentability in accordance with 37 CFR 1.104. Thus, to be allowable, the rejoined claims must meet all criteria for patentability including the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 101, 102, 103 and 112. Until all claims to the elected product/apparatus are found allowable, an otherwise proper restriction requirement between product/apparatus claims and process claims may be maintained. Withdrawn process claims that are not commensurate in scope with an allowable product/apparatus claim will not be rejoined. See MPEP § 821.04. Additionally, in order for rejoinder to occur, applicant is advised that the process claims should be amended during prosecution to require the limitations of the product/apparatus claims. Failure to do so may result in no rejoinder. Further, note that the prohibition against double patenting rejections of 35 U.S.C. 121 does not apply where the restriction requirement is withdrawn by the examiner before the patent issues. See MPEP § 804.01.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
7. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
8. Claims 1-3, 5, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dharmasena et al. (US-20220238972-A1).
As to claim 1, Dharmasena discloses a system for gas management of metal-air batteries (figure 10, battery system 20), the system comprising:
a plurality of electrochemical cells (figure 10, battery system 20), each one of the plurality of electrochemical cells including at least one air electrode (figure 5, cathode assembly 38), a metal electrode (figure 5, anode assembly 36), a vessel (figure 5, enclosure 22), and a liquid electrolyte (figure 5, electrolyte 40) between the at least one air electrode and the metal electrode in the vessel (figure 5, electrolyte 40, [0040]), each one of the plurality of electrochemical cells defining a respective headspace above the liquid electrolyte in the vessel (figure 5, void 57); and
a manifold (figure 10, manifold 60) including ducting defining a shared vent (figure 11, inner channel 62) and an outlet region (figure 11, coupling 65), the respective headspace of each one of the plurality of electrochemical cells fluidically coupled to the shared vent [0042] and in fluid communication with the outlet region of the ducting [0042].
As to claim 2, Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 1, and additionally discloses the system further comprising a plurality of risers (figure 2, wall port 48), wherein each one of the plurality of risers defines a respective cell vent (figure 2, wall port 48), and the respective headspace of each one of the plurality of electrochemical cells is fluidically coupled to the shared vent via at least one cell vent of the plurality of risers [0042].
As to claim 3, Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 1, and additionally discloses the system further comprising at least one fan in fluid communication with the shared vent, wherein the at least one fan is operable to move gas along the shared vent and out of the ducting via the outlet region (figure 14, first pump 86, [0058]).
As to claim 5, Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 3, and additionally discloses wherein the at least one fan is oriented relative to the shared vent (figure 14, first pump 86, [0058]) such that the at least one fan is operable to form negative pressure in the shared vent relative to ambient air pressure at the outlet region of the ducting (figure 14, first pump 86, [0058]).
As to claim 6, Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 3, and additionally discloses wherein the ducting is dead ended along the shared vent (figure 11, inner channel 62), and the at least one fan pulls gas through the shared vent in a direction away from fluidic coupling of the plurality of electrochemical cells toward the outlet region (figure 14, first pump 86, [0058]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
9. 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.
10. Claims 4 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dharmasena et al. (US-20220238972-A1) as applied to claims 1 and 3 above, and further in view of Graf et al. (US-4448858-A, provided in the IDS mailed on 25 September 2024).
As to claim 4, Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 3, however, Dharmasena does not disclose wherein the at least one fan is disposed in the shared vent.
Graf discloses metal-air batteries having a duct system for controlling airflow to the batteries, wherein at least one fan is disposed in the shared vent (figure 3, fan 70) to control the flow of air into and out of a manifold connected to the batteries to supply air to the batteries for energy production (column 5, lines 41-66).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to further require that the at least on fan is disposed in the shared vent to assist in controlling the flow of air into and out of the manifold as disclosed within Graf.
As to claim 7, Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 3, however, Dharmasena does not disclose wherein the ducting defines an inlet region, the respective headspace of each one of the plurality of electrochemical cells is in fluid communication with the shared vent along the ducting between the inlet region and the outlet region, and the at least one fan is operable to move air into the shared vent via the inlet region.
Graf discloses a metal-air battery having a duct system for controlling the airflow to the battery, wherein the ducting defines an inlet region (figure 3, inlet funnel 68), the respective headspace of each one of the plurality of electrochemical cells is in fluid communication with the shared vent along the ducting between the inlet region and the outlet region (figure 3, inlet funnel 68, air battery 50, and air outlet 75), and the at least one fan is operable to move air into the shared vent via the inlet region (figure 3, fan 70) to control the flow of air into and out of a manifold connected to the batteries to supply air to the batteries for energy production (column 5, lines 41-66).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to further require that the ducting in the manifold has an inlet such that the headspace of the batteries are disposed between the inlet and the outlet of the manifold and that the at least one fan will pull in air from the inlet region as disclosed within Graf.
As to claim 16, Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 1, however, Dharmasena does not disclose wherein the plurality of electrochemical cells includes iron-air type battery cells, zinc-air type battery cells, lithium-air battery cells, or a combination thereof.
Graf discloses a metal-air battery having a duct system for controlling the airflow to the battery, wherein the plurality of electrochemical cells include iron-air type battery cells (column 1, lines 51-65) as iron-air batteries are cheaper to construct while maintaining relatively high energy density and moderate power density.
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to further require that the plurality of batteries are iron-air batteries to lower the cost of construction of the batteries while maintaining relatively high energy density and moderate power density of the batteries as disclosed within Graf.
11. Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dharmasena et al. (US-20220238972-A1) as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Arai et al. (US-6204769-B1).
As to claim 8, Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 3, however, Dharmasena does not disclose the system further comprising a controller and a first hydrogen sensor, wherein the controller is in electrical communication with the at least one fan and the first hydrogen sensor, the first hydrogen sensor is arranged to sense hydrogen in the shared vent, and the controller is configured to receive a first signal from the first hydrogen sensor and to control speed of the at least on fan based on a first signal received from the first hydrogen sensor.
Arai discloses a battery system having a gas management system for monitoring the quantity of hydrogen produced by the batteries, further comprising a controller (figure 1, electronic control unit 15) and a first hydrogen sensor (figure 1, hydrogen sensor 13a), wherein the controller is in electrical communication with the at least one fan and the first hydrogen sensor (figure 1, fan 23, column 6 lines 16-22 and column 7 lines 12-18), the first hydrogen sensor is arranged to sense hydrogen in the shared vent (column 6 lines 16-22), and the controller is configured to receive a first signal from the first hydrogen sensor (column 6 lines 16-22) and to control speed of the at least on fan based on a first signal received from the first hydrogen sensor (column 7 lines 12-18) to detect and expel hydrogen gas within the battery to prevent a buildup of the hydrogen gas (column 5 lines 56-67 and column 6 lines 1-6).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to further require that a controller connected to a hydrogen sensor and a fan to dispel hydrogen built up within a battery system as disclosed within Arai.
As to claim 9, modified Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 8, however, Dharmasena does not disclose wherein the first hydrogen sensor is at least partially disposed in the shared vent between the outlet region of the ducting and the fluidic coupling of the respective headspace of each one of the plurality of electrochemical cells to the shared vent of the ducting.
Arai discloses a battery system having a gas management system for monitoring the quantity of hydrogen produced by the batteries, wherein the first hydrogen sensor is at least partially disposed in the shared vent (figure 7a, hydrogen sensor 13a) between the outlet region of the ducting and the fluidic coupling of the respective headspace of each one of the plurality of electrochemical cells to the shared vent of the ducting (figure 7a, hydrogen sensor 13a, outlet 10b) to detect and expel hydrogen gas within the battery to prevent a buildup of the hydrogen gas (column 5 lines 56-67 and column 6 lines 1-6).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to additionally require that the hydrogen gas sensor be disposed within a vent between the outlet and the headspaces of the batteries to detect the concentration of hydrogen gas and dispel the gas as needed as disclosed within Arai.
As to claim 10, modified Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 9, however, Dharmasena does not disclose the gas management system further comprising a second hydrogen sensor in electrical communication with the controller, therein the controller is configured to receive a second signal from the second hydrogen sensor and to control speed of the at least one fan based on the first signal and the second signal.
Arai discloses a battery system having a gas management system for monitoring the quantity of hydrogen produced by the batteries, further comprising a second hydrogen sensor (figure 7B, hydrogen sensor 13a2) in electrical communication with the controller (column 11 lines 60-63), therein the controller is configured to receive a second signal from the second hydrogen sensor (column 11 lines 60-63) and to control speed of the at least one fan (figure 7B, fan 23) based on the first signal and the second signal(column 11 lines 60-63) to detect and expel hydrogen gas within the battery to prevent a buildup of the hydrogen gas (column 5 lines 56-67 and column 6 lines 1-6).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to additionally require a second hydrogen sensor in electrical communication with a controller and a fan to detect the concentration of hydrogen gas and dispel the gas as needed as disclosed within Arai.
12. Claims 11, 12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dharmasena et al. (US-20220238972-A1) in view of Arai et al. (US-6204769-B1) as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Oda et al. (US-20020051340-A1).
As to claim 11, modified Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 9, and further discloses the system further comprising an enclosure (figure 12, housing 14) defining a chamber (figure 12), wherein the plurality of electrochemical cells and the manifold are at least partially disposed in the environment of the chamber (figure 12, battery system 20) with the respective headspace of each one of the electrochemical cells and the shared vent of the ducting fluidically isolated from the environment of the enclosure (figure 12, battery system 20). However, modified Dharmasena does not disclose wherein the enclosure further defines an intake opening and an exhaust opening, wherein the intake opening and the exhaust opening are in fluid communication with one another via an environment of the chamber, and wherein the outlet region of the ducting is in fluid communication with an ambient environment outside of the enclosure.
Oda discloses a holder-case for a plurality of batteries having a series of cooling ducts, wherein the battery enclosure further comprises an intake opening (figure 3, inlet duct 15) and an exhaust opening (figure 3, outlet duct 16), wherein the intake opening and the exhaust opening are in fluid communication with one another via an environment of the chamber (figure 3, inlet duct 15, outlet duct 16, [0012]) and the outlet region of the ducting is in fluid communication with an ambient environment outside of the enclosure [0049] so that cooling air can flow into the enclosure while hot air flows out [0012].
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to additionally require that the enclosure has an air intake and an exhaust outtake in fluid communication so that cooling air can flow into the enclosure while hot air flows out to cool the batteries within as disclosed within Oda.
As to claim 12, modified Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 11, however, Dharmasena does not disclose the system further comprising a cooling fan in fluid communication with the environment of the chamber and activatable to pull air into the environment of the chamber via the intake opening and exhaust air from the environment of the chamber via the exhaust opening.
Oda discloses a holder-case for a plurality of batteries having a series of cooling ducts, further comprising a cooling fan in fluid communication with the environment of the chamber (figure 3, fan 9) and activatable to pull air into the environment of the chamber via the intake opening (figure 3, fan 9, [0051]) and exhaust air from the environment of the chamber via the exhaust opening (figure 3, fan 9 [0052]) to assist in pulling cooling air into the enclosure while exhausting hot air out of the enclosure to cool the batteries [0012]. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to additionally require that the enclosure have cooling fan to bring in cold air and exhaust warm air to cool the batteries within the enclosure as disclosed within Oda.
As to claim 14, modified Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 11, however, Dharmasena does not disclose the system further comprising a leak sensor arranged to sense hydrogen in the environment of the chamber, wherein the controller is in electrical communication with the leak sensor and the controller is further configured to receive a third signal from the leak sensor and to activate the cooling fan based on the third signal.
Arai discloses a battery system having a gas management system for monitoring the quantity of hydrogen produced by the batteries, wherein the system is further comprising a leak sensor arranged to sense hydrogen in the environment of the chamber (figure 7A, hydrogen sensor 13a1), wherein the controller is in electrical communication with the leak sensor (column 11 lines 60-63) and the controller is further configured to receive a third signal from the leak sensor (column 11 lines 60-63) and to activate the cooling fan based on the third signal (column 11 lines 60-63) to detect and expel hydrogen gas within the battery to prevent a buildup of hydrogen gas (column 5 lines 56-67 and column 6 lines 1-6).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to additionally require an additional leak sensor to detect and expel hydrogen gas within the battery to prevent a buildup of hydrogen gas as disclosed within Arai.
13. Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dharmasena et al. (US-20220238972-A1) in view of Arai et al. (US-6204769-B1) and Oda et al. (US-20020051340-A1) as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Tsuchiya (US-20070089442-A1).
As to claim 13, modified Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 12, however, Dharmasena does not disclose the system further comprising evaporative media supported along the intake opening of the enclosure, wherein evaporation of the evaporative media cools air pulled into the environment of the chamber through activation of the cooling fan.
Tsuchiya discloses a temperature control system for a battery pack, comprising evaporative media (figure 3, evaporator 3500, [0076]) supported along the intake opening of the enclosure (figure 3, changing damper 3100, [0076]), wherein evaporation of the evaporative media cools air pulled into the environment of the chamber through activation of the cooling fan (figure 3, battery fan 3200, [0076]) to cool air pulled into the enclosure to manage the temperature of the plurality of batteries.
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to additionally require an evaporative media at the inlet of the enclosure to cool air pulled into the enclosure to manage the temperature of the plurality of batteries as disclosed within Tsuchiya.
14. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dharmasena et al. (US-20220238972-A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Phillips (US-6949310-B2, provided in the IDS mailed on 25 September 2024) and Nakayama (JP-2005322471-A, machine translation is used for the rejection below).
As to claim 15, Dharmasena discloses the system for gas management of metal-air batteries according to claim 1, however, Dharmasena does not disclose the system further comprising an event sensor including a housing, a film, and a wire, wherein the housing defines a first opening, a second opening, and a volume therebetween, the first opening is in fluid communication with the shared vent of the ducting, the film is disposed in the volume and fluidically isolates the first opening from the second opening in the volume, the wire is in electrical communication with a power source and the film to form at least a portion of a closed circuit and, at a predetermined pressure difference across the film, the film is burstable to switch the closed circuit to an open circuit.
Phillips discloses a pressure release valve for secondary batteries, wherein the batteries comprise an event sensor (figure 1, pressure release valve 10) including a housing (figure 1, wall structure 14), wherein the housing defines a first opening (figure 1, dome-like cap 22), a second opening (figure 1, outer relief vent 18), and a volume therebetween (figure 1, gas flow chamber 16), wherein the first opening is in fluid communication with the shared vent of the ducting (figure 1, dome-like cap 22, column 4 lines 11-15) so that gas within the battery will vent out when a pressure threshold is met (column 3, lines 5-9).
However neither Dharmasena or Phillips, either in combination or separate, disclose wherein the sensor further comprises a film and a wire, wherein the film is disposed in the volume and fluidically isolates the first opening from the second opening in the volume, the wire is in electrical communication with a power source and the film to form at least a portion of a closed circuit, and at a predetermined pressure difference across the film, the film is burstable to switch the closed circuit to an open circuit.
Nakayama discloses a battery system having a safety valve, wherein the housing of the safety valve (figure 3, safety valve 416) has a film (figure 3, metal foils 416a, [0044]) and a wire (figure 3, conductive wires 418a [0044]), wherein the film is disposed in the volume of the housing (figure 3, metal foils 416a, [0044]) and fluidically isolates the first opening from the second opening in the volume (figure 3, metal foils 416a, [0044]), the wire is in electrical communication with a power source and the film to form at least a portion of a closed circuit (figure 3, conductive wires 418a [0044]), and at a predetermined pressure difference across the film, the film is burstable to switch the closed circuit to an open circuit [0044] to cut off the current from the batteries [0005]-[0007] and [0015].
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system for gas management of metal-air batteries disclosed by Dharmasena to further require an event sensor as disclosed within Phillips that is designed to burst and vent gas at a pressure threshold while also interrupting the current of the batteries as disclosed within Nakayama.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB JEROME SCHULER whose telephone number is (571)272-8487. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 7:30am-5pm.
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/J.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1727
/Maria Laios/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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