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
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)(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, 2 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jeon et al. (US 2023/0387503 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Jeon et al. discloses a vehicle battery system comprising an aluminum cooling block 120 with transverse cooling channels 121, wherein batteries 110 are placed on top of the cooling block, said cooling block further including an extruded or integral support flange extending from the cooling block, and an extruded or single-piece transverse side member 151 resting on the upper surface of the flange, as shown in figures 5 and 6.
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With respect to claim 2, said flange extends forward and rearward of the cooling block, as shown in figure 5.
With respect to claim 15, a pressing bracket 112 is secured to reinforce the side member to the battery without any movement, as shown in figure 6.
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) 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeon et al., as applied to claim 1 above.
Jeon et al. does not disclose the side member 151 as being welded to the flange. Welding aluminum in vehicle battery housing is considered conventional in the art and it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have welded the side member to the cooling block flange in order to provide a strong and clean connection without fasteners.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 5-14 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: In claims 5 and 13, the recitation of a single longitudinal member within the battery case, in combination with the rest of the recited structure defines over the prior art.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY J RESTIFO whose telephone number is (571)272-6697. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11am-8pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, J. Allen Shriver can be reached at (303) 297-4337. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JEFFREY J. RESTIFO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3613
/JEFFREY J RESTIFO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613