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.
Claim(s) 1, 2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki (US 2022/0299572) in view of Jin (US 2020/0381929)
Regarding claim 1, Aoki teaches:
An all-solid-state battery system comprising: an all-solid-state battery; and a control device that performs charge control and discharge control of the all-solid-state battery.
In particular, Aoki discloses an all-solid-state lithium-ion secondary battery system 1 including an all-solid-state battery 2, a voltage-current adjustment device 5, current and voltage sensors, an impedance measuring device 7, and a controller 8. Controller 8 controls both charging and discharging of all-solid-state battery 2. During charging, electrical power is supplied through voltage-current adjustment device 5, while during discharging, electrical power is discharged through the voltage-current adjustment device. Aoki therefore teaches the claimed all-solid-state battery, control device, charge control, and discharge control. See Aoki, FIG. 1 and ¶¶ [0023]–[0025].
Aoki further teaches detecting lithium-metal electrodeposition in the solid-electrolyte layer in real time during charging. Aoki explains that lithium dendrites resulting from electrodeposition can penetrate the electrolyte layer and cause an internal short circuit. See Aoki ¶¶ [0006] and [0010]–[0014].
Aoki further teaches:
except that Aoki expressly detects the lithium electrodeposition that may produce the internal short rather than expressly stating that an already-existing internal short circuit is detected.
More particularly, when controller 8 determines during charging that electrodeposition has occurred, controller 8 performs control upon electrodeposition detection. Aoki teaches that this control can include stopping charging and thereafter performing discharge processing for a predetermined time at a predetermined current or C-rate. Thus, Aoki expressly teaches switching from charge control to discharge control in response to detection of an abnormal condition associated with formation of an internal short circuit. See Aoki ¶¶ [0055]–[0057].
Aoki does not disclose wherein when an internal short circuit is detected during the charge control of the all-solid-state battery, the control device switches the charge control to the discharge control and discharges the all-solid-state battery,
Jin discloses wherein when an internal short circuit is detected during the charge control of the all-solid-state battery, the control device switches the charge control to the discharge control and discharges the all-solid-state battery, (Par 0037)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the battery-control art before the effective filing date to incorporate the Jin publication’s internal-short-circuit detection technique into Aoki’s controller 8 and to use the detected internal-short condition as an additional trigger for Aoki’s disclosed stop-charging-and-discharging protective operation.
Both references address detection and control of battery faults occurring during CC/CV charging. Aoki already recognizes that electrodeposited lithium dendrites can penetrate the solid-electrolyte layer and cause an internal short circuit. The Jin publication provides a known technique for directly recognizing that resulting internal short from charging-voltage and charging-current behavior. Applying that known detection technique to Aoki’s all-solid-state battery system would have predictably allowed Aoki’s controller to respond not only to the precursor electrodeposition condition, but also to the actual internal-short condition produced by the dendrite.
Re Claim 2; Jin discloses wherein when the internal short circuit is detected during the charge control of the all-solid-state battery, the control device continues the discharge control until the all-solid-state battery is over-discharged. (Par 0037)
Re Claim 5; Aoki and the Jin publication teach the all-solid-state battery system, charge and discharge controller, detection of the internal short circuit during charging, and switching from charge control to discharge control, as explained for claim 1.
The combination does not disclose the wherein the control device increases a discharge rate of the all-solid-state battery when the internal short circuit is detected during the charge control of the all-solid-state battery, compared to when the internal short circuit is not detected.
However, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art to have increases a discharge rate of the all-solid-state battery when the internal short circuit is detected during the charge control of the all-solid-state battery in order to protect the battery by Lowering energy levels: Discharging removes active lithium and energy from the cell, reducing the driving force behind the short circuit and depressurizing the cell: Relieves electrochemical and mechanical stress active during charging.
Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over Aoki in view of the Jin and further in view of Kinoshita.
Re Claim 3; Aoki and the Jin publication teach the all-solid-state battery system, charge and discharge controller, detection of the internal short circuit during charging, and switching from charge control to discharge control, as explained for claim 1.
The combination does not disclose further comprising a restraint jig for restraining the all-solid-state battery, wherein the control device increases a restraint pressure by the restraint jig when the internal short circuit is detected during the charge control of the all-solid-state battery, compared to when the internal short circuit is not detected.
Kinoshita teaches a lithium-secondary-battery module 100 including stacked battery cells 1, separators 101, end plates 102 disposed at opposite ends of the stacked cells, binding bars 103, and a lower plate 104. End plates 102 apply restraint pressure to the battery cells, and a restraint-pressure controller controls the pressure applied by the end plates. The end plates, binding bars, and lower plate collectively constitute a “restraint jig” under the broadest reasonable interpretation because they form a mechanical fixture that restrains the stacked battery cells and applies controlled compressive pressure. See Kinoshita ¶¶ [0038]–[0040] and FIG. 3.
Kinoshita further teaches detecting dendrite deposition based on battery information obtained during charging. When dendrite deposition is detected, the control advances to a high-rate discharge step, followed by a restraint-pressure-increasing step. When dendrite deposition is not detected, the detection process repeats and the increased-pressure sequence is not initiated. See Kinoshita ¶¶ [0041]–[0045] and FIG. 1.
Kinoshita expressly discloses that the pressure before the pressure-increasing operation may be approximately 0.5–1.2 MPa, whereas the pressure after the increase may be at least approximately 1.3 MPa. Kinoshita therefore teaches increasing the restraint pressure compared with the pressure present when the detected battery-fault condition has not initiated the recovery sequence. See Kinoshita ¶ [0045].
It would have been obvious to provide Aoki’s all-solid-state battery with Kinoshita’s end-plate and binding-bar restraint arrangement and associated pressure controller. All-solid-state stacked cells conventionally operate under compressive restraint, and Kinoshita expressly teaches adjusting that pressure as part of a response to lithium-dendrite deposition.
It further would have been obvious to use the internal-short signal supplied by the Jin publication as a trigger for the Kinoshita remedial sequence. Aoki teaches that lithium dendrites penetrate the solid electrolyte and cause the internal short. Thus, the dendrite condition addressed by Kinoshita and the internal-short condition detected by the Jin publication are different stages of the same recognized battery-failure mechanism.
Once an internal short has been detected, a person of ordinary skill would have had at least as much reason to initiate Kinoshita’s remedial pressure-control sequence as when only precursor dendrite deposition is detected. The predictable result would be a restrained battery stack in which the mechanical pressure can be increased after the battery is electrically de-energized to compact the dendritic or porous lithium structure.
Re Claim 4; Kinoshita discloses wherein the control device increases the restraint pressure after the discharge control of the all-solid-state battery is completed.
Kinoshita expressly teaches that the restraint-pressure-increasing step S3 is executed after the high-rate discharge step S2. During step S2, the discharge controller performs high-rate discharge to preferentially dissolve lithium from the dendrite tips. After the high-rate discharge has been performed, the restraint-pressure controller increases the restraint pressure to crush or compact the remaining dendritic porous deposits and improve their density. See Kinoshita ¶¶ [0042]–[0045] and FIG. 1.
Kinoshita also gives an express technical reason for that order. Increasing pressure while the dendrites remain elongated may cause the dendrites to penetrate or break the separator and produce a short circuit. Performing the high-rate discharge first removes or shortens the dendrite tips, reducing the risk associated with subsequently increasing the restraint pressure.
It would have been obvious to program the controller of the modified Aoki system to complete its remedial discharge before initiating Kinoshita’s pressure increase. The references identify the same lithium-deposition failure mechanism, and Kinoshita expressly teaches the claimed sequence to avoid mechanically forcing an existing dendrite through the separator or solid-electrolyte layer.
The combination would therefore predictably perform the electrical de-energization or dendrite-dissolution operation first and the mechanical compression operation second.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL KESSIE whose telephone number is (571)272-4449. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pmEst.
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/DANIEL KESSIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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