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 Status
Claims 1-15 are currently pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07-14-2023 and 04-17-2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 10 AND 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or (a)(2) as being anticipated by IZAWA (US Publication 2006/0028183).
Regarding claim 1,
IZAWA teaches a sampling assembly for a battery, the battery comprising
at least two battery cells (1, 6) arranged along a first direction (see Figs 2&3), the sampling assembly comprising:
a sampling member (4) configured to transmit sample signals, the sampling member having a lead (Izawa teaches sampling member 4 and lead wires 15 connected to the thermal element 10 is insulated and passes through the inside of the heat insulating material 12, and is led out of the case 2 along the elastic arm 13);
a support base configured to provide support between two of the battery cells adjacent along the first direction(see Figs. 5 & 6; [0047] and [0049] teach a fitting portion 16A provided on the lower surface of a mount 16);
a conductive connecting piece (11), the conductive connecting piece being provided on the support base, and the lead being connected to the conductive connecting piece ([0042], Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 teach that a metal plate 11 extends from the support base 16A, 16 and also from the lead 15 wires, shown in Fig. 5); and
a bonding member (14), one end of the bonding member being for connecting to the conductive connecting piece (11), and another end of the bonding member being for connecting to the battery cell to collect sample signals of the battery cell ([0048] teaches that film 14 covers the whole surface of the thermal portion 4A. The film 14 puts the thermal portion 4A between two plastic films and “thermally welds or bonds them around the thermal portion 4A”, thereby being interpreted as corresponding to a "bonding member" as recited; at least fig. 5 illustrates that bonding member 14 connects to conductive member 11, and [0041] teaches that member 14 covers a surface of plate 11; Furthermore Fig. 6, in combination with [0047] and [0049] teach that sensor 4, having bond member 14, is provided between batteries 6).
Regarding claim 10,
Izawa teaches that the conductive connecting piece is provided with a wrapping portion for wrapping at least part of the lead ([0042] teaches that lead wires 15 are insulated so as to pass through the inside of an insulating material 12, and is led out along the elastic arm 13; any one of said wire insulation or insulating material 12 are interpreted as corresponding to "a wrapping…" as recited).
Regarding claim 13,
Izawa teaches a battery ([0032] teaches a power device), comprising:
at least two battery cells (6) arranged along a first direction(fig. 2); and the sampling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the support base (16, 16A in Fig. 5 & 6) provides support between two of the battery cells (6 in fig. 6) adjacent along the first direction, and the other end of the bonding member (14) is for connecting to the battery cell ([0048] teaches film 14 for bonding; fig. 6 shows placement between two batteries 6; Fig. 6 further teaches element 12 interposed between batteries 6).
Regarding claim 14,
Izawa teaches the electric device, comprising the battery according to claim 13 (see Figs. 2-6).
Regarding claim 15,
Izawa teaches a method for manufacturing a sampling assembly for a battery, the battery comprising at least two battery cells (1, 6) arranged along a first direction (Figs. 2, 3), comprising:
providing a sampling member (4) configured to transmit sample signals, the sampling member having a lead (Izawa teaches sampling member 4 and lead wires 15 connected to the thermal element 10 is insulated and passes through the inside of the heat insulating material 12, and is led out of the case 2 along the elastic arm 13);
providing a support base configured to provide support between two of the battery cells adjacent along the first direction(see Figs. 5 & 6; [0047] and [0049] teach a fitting portion 16A provided on the lower surface of a mount 16);
providing a conductive connecting piece, the conductive connecting piece being provided on the support base, and the lead being connected to the conductive connecting piece ([0042], Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 teach that a metal plate 11 extends from the support base 16A, 16 and also from the lead 15 wires, shown in Fig. 5); and
providing a bonding member(14), one end of the bonding member being for connecting to the conductive connecting piece(11), and another end of the bonding member being for connecting to the battery cell to collect sample signals of the battery cell ([0048] teaches that film 14 covers the whole surface of the thermal portion 4A. The film 14 puts the thermal portion 4A between two plastic films and thermally welds or bonds them around the thermal portion 4A, thus corresponding to a "bonding member" as recited; at least fig. 5 illustrates that bonding member 14 connects to conductive member 11, and [0041] teaches that member 14 covers a surface of plate 11; Furthermore [0047] and [0049] teaches that sensor 4, having bond member 14, is provided between batteries).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 2-4, 9 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over IZAWA (US Publication 2006/0028183) in view of KIM (US 2012/0169289).
Regarding claim 2,
Izawa teaches the sampling assembly according to claim 1, but fails to expressly teach that the support base comprises a positioning portion and a support portion, the positioning portion being configured to fit a profile of the battery cell, and the support portion being located between two positioning portions adjacent along the first direction.
KIM teaches a battery module comprising a support base (10 in Figs. 4-7; 200 in fig. 11 & fig. 13) comprises a positioning portion and a support portion, the positioning portion (30 in fig. 11; 41-43 in fig. 13) being configured to fit a profile of the battery cell, and the support portion being located between two positioning portions adjacent along the first direction ([0060] teaches a configuration comprising a narrow width portion 12 at the center, and a front portion 11 and a rear portion 13, which are enlarged from the narrow width portion 12 approximating a bottleneck portion so as to fit between neighboring batteries 150 - thus corresponding to the "positioning portion" of the claim. Figures 11 and 13 further teach an accompanying support 200 located between opposing narrowed/contoured portions (12 in at least fig. 6A) thus corresponding to a "support portion" ).
Regarding claim 3,
Kim teaches that the profile of the battery cell comprises a side face of the battery cell and an end face of the battery cell (see profile of the battery in Fig. 1 wherein the sampling assembly is applied).
Regarding claim 4,
Izawa teaches that the conductive connecting piece is a sheet structure (see Fig. 5) with all parts provided on the support portion (16 and 16A, as shown in Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 9,
Kim teaches that the support portion is an internally hollow trapezoidal block, stiffeners being provided in a cavity of the trapezoidal block (fig. 10A teaches that sampling circuit 15 may be integrated with support 31 having a trapezoidal configuration; [0043] and FIG. 3 teach that sampling circuit 10 includes a packing material 18, corresponding to " the support" and encapsulating the chip 15.)
Regarding claim 12,
Kim teaches that the support base is made of an insulating material ([0043] teaches that the material 18 protects the assembly 15 from an external shock thus corresponding to "an insulating material").
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 5, the prior art fails to teach the sampling assembly according to claim 2, further wherein the conductive connecting piece comprises a first section, a second section, and a third section connected in sequence, the first section and the third section not being coplanar so that the conductive connecting piece has a stepped structure, the lead being connected to the first section, and one end of the bonding member being connected to the third section.
Regarding claim 6, the prior art fails to teach the sampling assembly according to claim 5, further wherein the support base further comprises a spacer, the spacer being provided on a side of the support portion away from the battery cell, and the spacer being configured to space apart the sampling assembly and an adjacent sampling assembly arranged along a second direction.
Regarding claim 7, the prior art fails to teach the sampling assembly according to claim 6, further wherein the third section is fixed to the spacer.
Regarding claim 8, the prior art fails to teach the sampling assembly according to claim 5, further wherein: the battery cell is provided with a pole protruding from the end face of the battery cell; and in a case that the support base provides support between the two battery cells adjacent along the first direction, the bonding member has substantially same heights at two ends.
Regarding claim 11, the prior art fails to teach the sampling assembly according to claim 1, further comprising: a metal gasket, the metal gasket being provided between the conductive connecting piece and the support base.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIONNE PENDLETON whose telephone number is (571)272-7497. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9a-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davetta Goins can be reached at 571-272-2957. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DIONNE PENDLETON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689