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 Objections
Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities: claims contain typographical errors. Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the following must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s):
first extension portion.
second extension portion
first boss
second boss
first & second welding seams
first concave part or portion
second concave part or portion
third concave part or portion
No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(1) as being anticipated by CN 202123056292 U (to Wei et al.) – cited on IDS - translation attached.
With respect to claim 1, Wei teaches an outer shell (Figure 2, 10) structure for carrying an battery cell (20), comprising a cover plate (1), a bottom plate (2), and a shell body (10), and each of two opposite ends of the shell body (10) has an opening, the cover plate (1) and the bottom plate (2) cover on the two opposite sides of the shell body (10) respectively (as illustrated);
the cover plate (1), the shell body (10) and the bottom plate (2) together enclose to form an accommodation chamber for accommodating the battery cell (20);
the outer shell (10) structure comprises a conductive assembly (4, 5) disposed on the shell body (10) (as illustrated).
With respect to claim 2, Wei teaches wherein the cover plate (1) and the bottom plate (2) are welded to the two opposite sides of the shell body (10) respectively;
a surface of a side of the cover plate (1) facing away from the shell body (10) is provided with a first welding seam (page 8, last 12 lines), and/or a surface of a side of the bottom plate (2) facing away from the shell body (10) is provided with a second welding seam (page 8, last 12 lines).
With respect to claim 3, Wei teaches wherein a depth of fusion of the first welding seam is greater than a thickness of the cover plate (1), and/or a depth of fusion of the second welding seam is greater than a thickness of the bottom plate (2) (page 9, lines 3-8).
With respect to claim 4, Wei teaches wherein a projection of the shell body (10) onto the cover plate (1) coincides with a projection of the first welding seam onto the cover plate (1), and/or a projection of the shell body (10) onto the bottom plate (2) coincides with a projection of the second welding seam onto the bottom plate (2) (page 3, 4th paragraph).
With respect to claim 5, Wei teaches wherein a thickness of the cover plate (1) is between 0.03-0.2 mm, a thickness of the shell body (10) is between 0.2-0.4 mm, and a thickness of the bottom plate (2) is between 0.04-0.2 mm (page 9, 6th paragraph).
With respect to claim 6, Wei teaches wherein the shell body (10) is provided with a first through hole (31) and a second through hole (32), and the first through hole (31) and the second through hole (32) are located at a same side of the shell body (10);
the conductive assembly (4, 5) comprises a first tab conductive assembly (4) and a second tab conductive assembly (5), the first tab conductive assembly (4) is disposed outside an end face of the first through hole (31), and the second tab conductive assembly (5) is disposed outside an end face of the second through hole (32) (page 10, paragraphs 3-5).
With respect to claim 7, Wei teaches wherein the first tab conductive assembly (4) comprises a first conductive member (41) and a second conductive member (42) that are disposed on two opposite sides of the end face of the first through hole (31) respectively (page 10, paragraphs 6-7);
the first conductive member (41) is connected to the second conductive member (42) in a welding manner (page 10, paragraphs 6-7);
the second tab conductive assembly (5) comprises a third conductive member (51) and a fourth conductive member (52) that are disposed on two opposite sides of the end face of the second through hole (32) respectively (page 10, paragraphs 6-7);
the third conductive member (51) is connected to the fourth conductive member (52) in a welding manner (page 10, paragraphs 6-7).
With respect to claim 8, Wei teaches wherein the second conductive member (42) comprises a first boss formed by protruding outward and a first extension portion formed by extending outward from a surface of the first boss (as illustrated in Figure 4);
the first conductive member (41) comprises a first penetration through hole (31) corresponding to the first extension portion (as illustrated in Figure 4);
the first conductive member (41) is connected to the first boss in a welding manner, and the first extension portion penetrates in the first penetration through hole (31) (as illustrated in Figure 4);
the fourth conductive member (52) comprises a second boss formed by protruding outward and a second extension portion formed by extending outward from a surface of the second boss (as illustrated in Figure 4);
the third conductive member (51) comprises a second penetration through hole (32) corresponding to the second extension portion (as illustrated in Figure 4);
the third conductive member (51) is connected to the second boss in a welding manner, and the second extension portion penetrates in the second penetration through hole (32) (as illustrated in Figure 4).
With respect to claim 9, Wei teaches wherein the outer shell (10) structure further comprises an insulation assembly;
the insulation assembly comprises a first tab insulation assembly (6) and a second tab insulation assembly (7), the first tab insulation assembly (6) is disposed between the shell body (10) and the first tab conductive assembly (4), and the second tab insulation assembly (7) is disposed between the shell body (10) and the second tab conductive assembly (5) (page 11).
With respect to claim 10, Wei teaches wherein the first tab insulation assembly (6) comprises a first insulation member (61) and a second insulation member (62), and the first insulation member (61) is disposed between one end face of the first through hole (31) and the first tab conductive assembly (4), the second insulation member (62) is disposed between the other end face of the first through hole (31) and the first tab conductive assembly (4) (page 10, paragraphs 6-10); the first insulation member (61) and the second insulation member (62) are engaged and fixed outside the end faces of the first through hole (31) (page 10, paragraphs 6-10);
the second tab insulation assembly comprises a third insulation member (71) and a fourth insulation member (72), the third insulation member (71) is disposed between one end face of the second through hole (32) and the second tab conductive assembly (5), the fourth insulation member (72) is disposed between the other end face of the second through hole (32) and the second tab conductive assembly (5) (page 10, paragraphs 6-10); the third insulation member (71) and the fourth insulation member (72) are engaged and fixed outside the end faces of the second through hole (32) (page 10, paragraphs 6-10).
With respect to claim 11, Wei teaches further a sealing sheet (8), and the shell body (10) is provided with a third through hole, and the sealing sheet (8) is disposed outside an end face of the third through hole;
the sealing sheet (8) is provided with a plurality of explosion-proof grooves, and a depth of each of the explosion-proof grooves is less than a thickness of the sealing sheet (8) (page 12, 2nd & 3rd full paragraph).
With respect to claim 12, Wei teaches wherein each of the explosion-proof grooves comprises a first concave portion corresponding to a center of the sealing sheet (8) and a second concave portion formed by extending from the center of the sealing sheet (8) to an edge of the sealing sheet (8) (page 12, 5th full paragraph).
With respect to claim 13, Wei teaches wherein a third concave portion extending along an extending direction of the second concave portion is comprised within the second concave portion, the third concave portion is connected to the first concave portion, and a width of the third concave portion is less than a width of the second concave portion (page 12, last 10 lines).
With respect to claim 14, Wei teaches wherein each of the explosion-proof grooves has a shape of S-type, V-type, cross-type (as illustrated in Figure 5) or X-type (page 12, last 12 lines).
With respect to claim 15, Wei teaches wherein a concave depth of the first concave portion of each of the explosion-proof grooves is greater than concave depths of the second concave portion and the third concave portion of each of the explosion-proof grooves (81) (page 4, last 3 lines).
With respect to claim 16, Wei teaches wherein the first tab conductive assembly (4) is electrically connected to a first tab of the battery cell (20); and the second tab (22) conductive assembly (5) is electrically connected to a second tab (22) of the battery cell (20) (page 10, 5th paragraph).
With respect to claim 17, Wei teaches wherein the first tab insulation assembly (6) forms an integrated structure with the shell body (10) and the first tab conductive assembly (4); and the second tab insulation assembly (7) forms an integrated structure with the shell body (10) and the second tab conductive assembly (5) (page 10, 8th paragraph).
With respect to claim 18, Wei teaches wherein each of the first conductive member (41), the first insulation member (61), the second insulation member (62) and the second conductive member (42) is hollow structure to make the first tab of the battery cell (20) extend out (page 11, last 4 lines); and each of the third conductive member (51), the third insulation member (71), the fourth insulation member (72)
and the fourth conductive member (52) is hollow structure to make the second tab (22) of the battery cell (20) extend out (page 11, last 4 lines – page 12, lines 1-2).
With respect to claim 19, Wei teaches a battery, comprising a battery cell (20) and the outer shell (10) structure according to claim 1, the battery cell (20) is accommodated in the accommodation chamber, and the battery cell (20) comprises a first tab (21) and a second tab (22), the first tab (21) and the second tab (22) are located on a same side of the battery cell (20) (as illustrated in Figure 2).
With respect to claim 20, Wei teaches wherein the battery cell (20) comprises a stepped portion formed by protruding outward from a surface of a side of the battery cell (20) where the first tab (21) is located (as illustrated in Figure 2);
each of the first tab (21) and the second tab (22) comprises a bent section (as illustrated – the tabs (21 & 22) are bent);
in a length direction of the battery cell (20), a plane in which the stepped portion lies protrudes beyond a plane in which the bent sections of the first tab (21) and the second tab (22) lie (as illustrated).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAITY V CHANDLER whose telephone number is (571)272-8520. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM.
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/KAITY V CHANDLER/ 7/23/2023Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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