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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wen (CN 115133202 B).
Regarding claims 1 and 10, Wen teaches a battery system comprising a base 3, constituting the claimed pressure plate, connecting rod 10 and transverse rod 9 constituting the claimed mechanical linkage, second springs 5 constituting the claimed biasing system (Fig. 1). Regarding claims 3 and 11 and further regarding claims 1 and 10, at section A of Figure 1 and as seen in Figure 5, the end of base/plate 3 comprises a wheel configured to engage a side wall of box body 1. If/when expansion forces act upon base/plate 3, said wheel would rotate along the side wall. Such a feature constitutes the claimed tilting assembly.
The limitations of claim 2 deal with an orientation of the pressure plate under operating conditions to achieve claimed second orientation, which occurs when the expansion force upon said pressure plate are non-uniform. While the actual positioning of the pressure plate is not required, as the claimed apparatus is not limited to particular operations thereof, intended or not, the claimed device must still be physically capable of such a configuration. That said, if a non-uniform expansion force were applied to the base/plate 3 of Wen, such a configuration would be expected. In other words, such a non-uniform expansion force would apply more force at one point of the base/plate 3 than others, causing the plate to exhibit more movement at the location of the force, causing an angle from the plane in the first position at which no expansion force has been exhibited.
Regarding claims 4 and 12, Wen shows springs 5, as shown above, which are considered to constitute the claimed biasing member. The springs must have a spring constant, and any force from the battery side down upon the base/plate 3 would encounter lateral resistance from springs 5.
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) 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wen (CN 115133202 B).
Regarding claim 17, Wen teaches a battery system comprising a base 3, constituting the claimed pressure plate, connecting rod 10 and transverse rod 9 constituting the claimed mechanical linkage, second springs 5 constituting the claimed biasing system (Fig. 1). Regarding claim 18 and further regarding claim 17, at section A of Figure 1 and as seen in Figure 5, the end of base/plate 3 comprises a wheel configured to engage a side wall of box body 1. If/when expansion forces act upon base/plate 3, said wheel would rotate along the side wall. Such a feature constitutes the claimed tilting assembly.
Wen does not expressly teach the use of the battery system in a vehicle. However, use of batteries in vehicles is presently considered to be conventionally known, and thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the claimed invention to utilize such a battery system, as taught by Wen, in a vehicle.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9, 13-16, 19, and 20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of Wen, as discussed above, fails to teach or suggest that springs 5, which are considered to constitute the claimed biasing member(s), should have a bias control device configured to be operated to adjust the biasing force of said springs.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to COLIN W SLIFKA whose telephone number is (571)270-5830. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM-5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ching-Yiu (Coris) Fung can be reached at 571-270-5713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Colin W. Slifka/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1732