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.
Claims 1-3 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schmidt et al. (US 20150207186).
With respect to claim 1, Schmidt teaches a battery (Figure 4, 10) comprising: a battery cell (10), a first wall (14) of the battery cell (10) being provided with a pressure relief mechanism (16); a thermal management component (30) configured to regulate the temperature of the battery cell (10) (Abstract), the thermal management component (30) being attached to a second wall (side wall) of the battery cell (10) (as illustrated Figure 1-6), and the second wall (side wall) being different from the first wall (14); and a box body (formed by lower wall (58) and upper wall (not numbered)), the box body comprising an electrical cavity and a collection cavity (54), wherein the electrical cavity is configured to accommodate the battery cell (10) and the thermal management component (30) (as illustrated), and the collection cavity (54) is configured to collect emissions/gasses from the battery cell (10) when the pressure relief mechanism (16) is actuated (para. [0040]).
With respect to claim 2, Schmidt teaches wherein the area of the second wall (side wall) is greater than or equal to that of the first wall (14) (as illustrated).
With respect to claim 3, Schmidt teaches wherein the second wall (side wall) is the wall of the battery cell that has the largest area (as illustrated in Figure 1).
With respect to claim 20, Schmidt teaches an electrical apparatus comprising: the battery of claim 1 being configured to supply electric energy to the electrical apparatus.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 4-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schmidt et al. (US 20150207186), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of DE 102015103475 A1 (Boddakayala et al.) – translation attached and relied upon below.
With respect to claim 4, Schmidt discloses all claim limitations as set forth above but fails to teach wherein the battery comprises a plurality of rows of battery cells arranged in a first direction, and each row of battery cells of the plurality of rows of battery cells comprises at least one battery cell arranged in a second direction, the first direction being perpendicular to the second direction and the second wall.
Boddakayala teaches a battery module (Figure 10A) comprising a plurality of rows of battery cells arranged in a first direction (from left to right), and each row of battery cells of the plurality of rows of battery cells comprises at least one battery cell arranged in a second direction (front to back), the first direction being perpendicular to the second direction (as illustrated) and the second wall in order to provide the necessary number of battery cells for providing sufficient power for operating an electric vehicle.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing for the invention to have the battery of Schmidt comprise a plurality of rows of battery cells arranged in a first direction, and each row of battery cells of the plurality of rows of battery cells comprise at least one battery cell arranged in a second direction, the first direction being perpendicular to the second direction and the second wall, as taught by Boddakayala, in order to provide the necessary number of battery cells for providing sufficient power for operating an electric vehicle.
With respect to claim 5, Schmidt teaches wherein the thermal management component (30) is attached to the second wall (side wall) of the at least one battery cell (10) of at least one row of battery cells of the plurality of rows of battery cells (10) (as illustrated in Figures 1-6).
With respect to claim 6, Schmidt teaches wherein the battery cell (10) comprises two second walls oppositely arranged in the first direction, and on two sides of at least one row of battery cells (10) of the plurality of rows of battery cells (10) in the first direction, provided are the thermal management components (30) attached to the two second walls (side walls) of the at least one battery cell (10) respectively (as illustrated in Figures 1-6).
With respect to claim 7, Schmidt in view of Boddakayala would further provide wherein among the plurality of rows of battery cells (10), at least two adjacent rows of battery cells are provided therebetween with the same thermal management component (30) (as illustrated in Figure 6 of Schmidt).
With respect to claim 8, Schmidt teaches wherein the battery (10) comprises a plurality of thermal management components (30) arranged at intervals in the first direction (as illustrated in Figure 6).
With respect to claim 9, Schmidt teaches wherein the thermal management components (30) are each provided with a heat exchange channel (30) for accommodating a heat exchange medium, and the heat exchange channels (30) of the plurality of thermal management components (30) are in communication with each other (as illustrated in Figure 6) (para. [0040]).
Claims 10-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schmidt et al. (US 20150207186), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of WO 2018023050 A1 (hereinafter WO’050) – translation attached and relied upon below.
With respect to claim 10, Schmidt discloses all claim limitations as set forth above but fails to teach wherein the battery further comprises: a support member arranged in the collection cavity, the support member being configured to increase the compressive strength of the collection cavity. WO’050 teaches a battery (Figure 5A, 502) (para. [0127]) comprising: a battery cell (502 – similar to 402 in Fig. 4A), a first wall (508) of the battery cell (502) being provided with a pressure relief mechanism (518) that releases battery cell emissions into a collection cavity/(chamber underneath the battery cells) (as illustrated); and teaches a support member (522/512) (Figures 5A & 5B & 5C) arranged in the collection cavity/(chamber underneath the battery cells) (as illustrated), the support member (522/512) being configured to (would be capable of) increase the compressive strength of the collection cavity/(chamber underneath the battery cells) (para. [0128]) in order for the support member to serve as a flow guide for the released emissions.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing for the invention to have the battery of Schmidt comprise a support member arranged in the collection cavity, as taught by WO’050, the support member being configured to increase the compressive strength of the collection cavity, in order for the support member to serve as a flow guide for the released emissions.
With respect to claim 11, WO’050 further teaches wherein the support member (522/512) comprises a channel (Figure 5C, 518) configured to allow at least part of the emissions/vapor to pass through (para. [0128]).
With respect to claim 12, WO’050 further teaches wherein the channel (518) is configured to allow gases in the emissions to pass through (para. [0129]), and a region/(solid part – where there are no openings) of the support member (512) other than the channel (518) is configured to block solids in the emissions – it would be obvious that the solids would not be able to pass through the solid portions.
With respect to claim 13, WO’050 further teaches wherein the support member (522/512) is provided with an aperture/(openings (518)), the aperture (518) being configured to form the channel in the support member (522/512) (as illustrated).
With respect to claim 14, WO’050 further teaches wherein the battery further comprises: an isolation component (514) attached to the first wall (508), the isolation component (514) being configured to isolate the electrical cavity (504) from the collection cavity/(chamber underneath the battery cells which is below isolation component (514)) (as illustrated in Figure 5A).
With respect to claim 15, WO’050 further teaches wherein the isolation component (514) (Figure 5A) is provided with a pressure relief region (506 & 518), the pressure relief region (506 & 518) being configured to discharge the emissions to the collection cavity/(chamber underneath the battery cells) through the pressure relief region (506 & 518) when the pressure relief mechanism is actuated (para. [0112]).
With respect to claim 16, WO’050 further teaches wherein the support member (512/522) is arranged corresponding to a non-pressure relief region of the isolation component (514), so as to form a channel (520), through which the emissions pass, outside the support member (512/522), wherein the support member (512/522) abuts against the non-pressure relief region of the isolation component (514) (as illustrated).
With respect to claim 17, WO’050 further teaches wherein the support member (512/522) is provided with a first aperture (518), the first aperture (518) being arranged corresponding to the pressure relief region (506) such that the emissions/vapor passing through the pressure relief region (506) are discharged through the first aperture (518) wherein the first aperture (518) is in communication with the corresponding pressure relief region (506).
With respect to claim 18, WO’050 further teaches wherein the box body further comprises: a protective member (645) (Figure 6), the protective member (645) being configured to form the collection cavity with the isolation component (para. [0145]).
With respect to claim 19, WO’050 further teaches wherein the support member (512/522) abuts against the isolation component and/or the protective member (645) (para. [0145], [0161]).
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/ 6/11/2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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