DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is responsive to the reply filed 07/01/2026. Claims 1-13, 15-18 are pending. Claims 9 and 11-12 are withdrawn. Claim 14 is canceled.
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 .
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 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.
Prior Art Relied Upon
This action references the following Foreign patent documents and/or Publications:
FOREIGN
DOCUMENT NUMBER
HEREINAFTER
*WO-2022004972-A1
“CHO”
A copy of WO-2022004972-A1 is provided, but is not in English; US family member (US-20220328906-A1) is relied upon herein as a translation of ‘972 to English and therefore paragraph numbers cited with respect to ‘972 in the rejections correspond to the English translation.
This action references the following issued US Patents and/or Patent Application Publications:
US PATENT or PUBLICATION NUMBER
HEREINAFTER
US-20160043368-A1
“KIM-D”
US-20170179548-A1
“LEE”
US-20170165513-A1
“LI”
US-9153800-B2
“JUNG”
US-20070164711-A1
“KIM-K”
US-20210206971-A1
“TAO”
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.
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.
Claims 1-3, 6-8, 10, 15, 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE in view of CHO.
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Re Claim 1, LEE teaches a battery disconnect unit [400, 450] (¶¶0017-0021) comprising:
a housing [430, 470] designed to accommodate an electrical component 460 therein (Figs. 2-3);
a body 430 of the housing (Figure 2);
wherein the electrical component includes one or more relays (¶0018, 0020) that open and close an electric circuit 440 connected to a battery module [410 and/or 420] (¶¶0018, 0020). However, LEE fails to teach at least one cavity formed in a body of the housing for storing a fire extinguishing liquid, wherein the housing is configured to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid stored in the at least one cavity from being ejected to an outside of the housing under a condition below a preset temperature, and to eject the fire extinguishing liquid to the outside of the housing at the preset temperature or higher.
CHO teaches a housing [inter alia 110, 120, 130, 210 in Figs. 1-2; inter alia 110’, 120’, 210’, 260, 260’ in Fig. 8] and at least one cavity [annotated “cavity a” / “cavity b” in Image 1] formed in a body [110 in Fig. 2; 110’ in Fig. 8] of the housing for storing a fire extinguishing liquid [220 in Fig. 2; 262/262’ in Figure 8], wherein the housing is configured to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid stored in the at least one cavity from being ejected to an outside of the housing under a condition below a preset temperature, and to eject the fire extinguishing liquid to the outside of the housing at the preset temperature or higher (¶¶0062-0063, 0101; temperature is preset by material selection). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the unit wherein at least one cavity is formed in the body of the housing for storing a fire extinguishing liquid, wherein the housing is configured to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid stored in the at least one cavity from being ejected to an outside of the housing under a condition below a preset temperature, and to eject the fire extinguishing liquid to the outside of the housing at the preset temperature or higher, in order to minimize spread of flames should a large-capacity battery catches fire (¶¶ 0005, 0013, 0016).
Re Claim 2, LEE in view of CHO teaches the battery disconnect unit of Claim 1, but as discussed so far fails to teach wherein in the housing, a passage is further formed as a channel that extends from the cavity storing the fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing, and the housing further includes a cover disposed in the passage to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature.
CHO further teaches wherein in the housing, a passage [230 in Figure 2; 267/267’ in Figure 8] is further formed as a channel that extends from the cavity storing the fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing (¶¶0062-0063, 0101), and the housing further includes a cover [240 in Fig. 2; 268/268’ in Figure 8] disposed in the passage to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature (¶¶0062-0063, 0101). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the unit wherein in the housing, a passage is further formed as a channel that extends from the cavity storing the fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing, and the housing further includes a cover disposed in the passage to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature, for the reasons discussed above in Claim 1.
Re Claim 3, LEE in view of CHO teaches the battery disconnect unit of Claim 2, but as discussed so far fails to teach wherein the cover forms flow paths therein, through which the fire extinguishing liquid passes at the preset temperature or higher.
CHO further teaches wherein the cover forms flow paths therein, through which the fire extinguishing liquid passes at the preset temperature or higher (along each side upon melting; see Figure 2 & Figure 8). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the cover forms flow paths therein, through which the fire extinguishing liquid passes at the preset temperature or higher, for the reasons discussed above in Claim 1.
Re Claim 6, LEE in view of CHO teaches battery disconnect unit according to claim 2. LEE further teaches the housing includes a first housing portion [top wall of 430], and a second housing portion [bottom wall of 430 on which cells re stacked] coupled to the first housing portion (via side wall) to accommodate the electrical component (Fig. 2, ¶¶0018-0020). CHO also teaches wherein the housing includes a first housing portion [110 & 210 in Figure 2; 110’ & 260 in Figure 8], and a second housing portion [120 & 210 in Figure 2; 120’ & 260’ in Figure 8] coupled to the first housing portion (via 130) to accommodate the electrical component (See Figure 1) corresponding to the cell stacking orientation of LEE. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the unit wherein the housing includes a first housing portion, and a second housing portion coupled to the first housing portion to accommodate the electrical component, for the reasons discussed above in Claim 1.
Re Claim 7, LEE in view of CHO teaches battery disconnect unit according to claim 6, but as discussed so far fails to teach wherein the at least one cavity includes a first cavity in the first housing portion and a second cavity in the second housing portion, and wherein the fire extinguishing liquid includes: a first fire extinguishing liquid stored in the first cavity formed in the first housing portion, and a second fire extinguishing liquid stored in the second cavity.
CHO further teaches the at least one cavity includes a first cavity [annotated “cavity a” in Image 1]in the first housing portion and a second cavity [annotated “liquid b” in Image 1] in the second housing portion wherein the fire extinguishing liquid includes a first fire extinguishing liquid [annotated “liquid a” in Image 1] stored in a first cavity [annotated “cavity a” in Image 1] formed in the first housing portion, and a second fire extinguishing liquid [annotated “liquid b” in Image 1] stored in a second cavity [annotated “cavity b” in Image 1] formed in the second housing portion. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the unit such that the at least one cavity includes a first cavity in the first housing portion and a second cavity in the second housing portion, and wherein the fire extinguishing liquid includes: a first fire extinguishing liquid stored in the first cavity formed in the first housing portion, and a second fire extinguishing liquid stored in the second cavity, for the reasons discussed above in Claim 1.
Re Claim 8, LEE in view of CHO teaches a battery disconnect unit according to claim 7, but as discussed so far fails to teach wherein in the first housing portion, a first passage is formed as a channel that extends from the first cavity storing the first fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing, and in the second housing portion, a second passage is formed as a channel that extends from the second cavity storing the second fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing.
CHO further teaches wherein in the first housing portion, a first passage is formed as a channel [annotated “channel a” in Image 1] that extends from the first cavity storing the first fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing, and in the second housing portion, a second passage is formed as a channel [annotated “channel b” in Image 1] that extends from the second cavity storing the second fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing (See Image 1). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the unit such that in the first housing portion, a first passage is formed as a channel that extends from the first cavity storing the first fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing, and in the second housing portion, a second passage is formed as a channel that extends from the second cavity storing the second fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing, for the reasons discussed above in Claim 1.
Re Claim 10, LEE in view of CHO teaches a battery disconnect unit according to claim 8, but as discussed so far fails to teach wherein the first housing portion includes a first cover disposed in the first passage to prevent the first fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature, and the second housing portion includes a second cover disposed in the second passage to prevent the second fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature.
CHO further teaches wherein the first housing portion includes a first cover [annotated “cover a” in Image 1] disposed in the first passage to prevent the first fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature (See Image 1), and the second housing portion includes a second cover [annotated “cover b” in Image 1] disposed in the second passage to prevent the second fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature (See Image 1). See also ¶¶0062-0063, 0101. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the unit wherein the first housing portion includes a first cover disposed in the first passage to prevent the first fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature, and the second housing portion includes a second cover disposed in the second passage to prevent the second fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature, for the reasons discussed above in Claim 1.
Re Claim 15, LEE in view of CHO teaches the battery disconnect unit according to claim 1. LEE further teaches wherein the one or more relays comprises a plurality of relays 462, 466 (¶¶0018, 0020), and wherein the electrical component further includes a busbar connecting the plurality of relays to each other (¶¶0018, 0020, 440 may be busbar). See also Figures 2-3.
Re Claim 17, LEE teaches a battery disconnect unit [400, 450] comprising:
an electrical component 460 including one or more relays (¶¶0018, 0020) that open and close an electric circuit 440 connected to a battery module [410 and/or 420] (¶¶0018, 0020); and
a housing [430, 470]. However, LEE fails to teach the housing includes a cavity that stores a fire extinguishing liquid, and a cover that forms crevices therein at a preset temperature or higher, wherein the fire extinguishing liquid moves from the cavity toward an outside of the housing through flow paths formed along the crevices.
CHO teaches housing [inter alia 110’, 260] includes a cavity [annotated “cavity a” in Image 1 above at Figure 8] that stores a fire extinguishing liquid 262, and a cover 263 that forms crevices [crevices form in/along sealing member(s) 268 passing through 267] therein at a preset temperature or higher [melting temperature of that of 268], wherein the fire extinguishing liquid moves from the cavity toward an outside of the housing [onto battery cells 101/103] through flow paths formed along the crevices (along sides of crevices). See ¶¶0099-0101. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the unit such that the housing includes a cavity that stores a fire extinguishing liquid, and a cover that forms crevices therein at a preset temperature or higher, wherein the fire extinguishing liquid moves from the cavity toward an outside of the housing through flow paths formed along the crevices, in order to minimize spread of flames should a large-capacity battery catches fire (¶¶0005, 0013, 0016).
Re Claim 18, LEE in view of CHO teaches the battery disconnect unit of claim 1. LEE further teaches a secondary battery pack comprising the battery disconnect unit of claim 1 (Fig. 3, ¶¶0017-0020). See also CHO at ¶¶0005, 0051.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE in view of CHO as applied above further in view of KIM-D.
Re Claim 13, LEE in view of CHO teaches the battery disconnect unit according to claim 1, but as discussed so far fails to teach wherein the housing is made of any one of aluminum, a stainless steel, and an alloy.
KIM-D teaches a housing is made of any one of aluminum, a stainless steel, and an alloy (¶¶0049-0050). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the housing made of any one of aluminum, a stainless steel, and an alloy, in order to select for known material properties of the same such as toughness, hardness, weight, stress/strain, melting point, cost and so on as is well known to those of skill in the art. The selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination. In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960) and Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945). See MPEP § 2144.07.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE in view of CHO as applied above further in view of LI.
Re Claim 16, LEE in view of CHO teaches battery disconnect unit according to claim 1, but as discussed so far fails to teach wherein the preset temperature is in a range of 300 °C or higher and 400 °C or lower.
CHO teaches one example wherein the predetermined temperature is about 200 °C (¶0063). Given that about 200 °C in CHO suggests predetermined temperatures may include values above 200 °C and it is not clear what range of values approximately 300 °C in the claimed invention covers below 300 °C, it may be the case that CHO overlaps the claimed range. It has been held that a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges or amounts do not overlap with the prior art but are merely close. Titanium Metals Corp. of America v. Banner, 778 F.2d 775, 783, 227 USPQ 773, 779 (Fed. Cir. 1985). MPEP 2144.05 I.
Additionally, LI teaches the predetermined temperature is a result effective variable routinely optimized and set according to a determined fire risk for a given battery module (having given battery chemistry, operating temps, etc.). See LI ¶¶0033, 0034. In view of the above the prior art discloses the general conditions of the claim and recognizes the preset temperature as a result-effective variable that achieves desired timing to release a fire extinguishing agent based on risks associated with a battery module. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to provide the unit of CHO wherein the preset temperature is in a range of 300 °C or higher and 400 °C or lower in order to achieve recognized result of desired timing to release a fire extinguishing agent based on risks associated with a battery module occur at approximately 300 °C, since it has been held that the optimization of result effective variables by routine experimentation was an obvious extension of prior art teachings. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955) and In re Antonie, 559 F.2d 618, 195 USPQ 6 (CCPA 1977). See MPEP 2144.05 II.
Claims 1-2 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE in view of JUNG and KIM-K.
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Re Claim 1, LEE teaches a battery disconnect unit [400, 450] (¶¶0017-0021) comprising: a housing [430, 470] designed to accommodate an electrical component 460 therein (Figs. 2-3); a body 430 of the housing (Figure 2); wherein the electrical component includes one or more relays (¶0018, 0020) that open and close an electric circuit 440 connected to a battery module [410 and/or 420] (¶¶0018, 0020). However, LEE fails to teach at least one cavity formed in a body of the housing for storing a fire extinguishing liquid, wherein the housing is configured to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid stored in the at least one cavity from being ejected to an outside of the housing under a condition below a preset temperature, and to eject the fire extinguishing liquid to the outside of the housing at the preset temperature or higher.
JUNG teaches a battery disconnect unit (2:61-67) comprising: a housing [100, 130] (including integral tank 150, 3:22-34) and designed to accommodate an electrical component [battery & terminals] therein (2:61 to 3:7); and at least one cavity [cavity or cavities formed within tank 150 and/or ones of tube(s) 160] formed in a body [tank 150 and/or tube(s) 160] of the housing for storing a fire extinguishing liquid (3:22 to 4:26; note it will be appreciated the fluid can be liquid from at least 4:14-26, and 2:20-28), wherein the fire extinguishing liquid stored in the cavity is prevented from being ejected to an outside of the housing [outside of tank 150 and/or cover 130] under a condition and is ejected to the outside of the housing when the condition is longer met (3:46-54; 4:4-14). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the unit wherein the at least one cavity formed in a body of the housing for storing a fire extinguishing liquid, wherein the housing is configured to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid stored in the at least one cavity from being ejected to an outside of the housing under a condition, and to eject the fire extinguishing liquid to the outside of the housing when the condition is no longer met, in order to provide a battery cover with a fire extinguishing function (2:1-28). However, LEE in view of JUNG fails to teach the condition is one below a preset temperature, and is ejected to the outside of the housing at the preset temperature or higher.
KIM-K teaches wherein a fire extinguishing liquid stored in a cavity is prevented from being ejected to an outside of a housing under a condition below a preset temperature, and is ejected to the outside of the housing at the preset temperature or higher (¶¶0033-0034; fire extinguishing agent and material are selected such that expected increased pressure of the fire extinguishing agent will breaks cover member 220 at a desired critical temperature level). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the fire extinguishing liquid stored in the cavity is prevented from being ejected to the outside of the housing under a condition below a preset temperature, and is ejected to the outside of the housing at the preset temperature or higher, in order to respond to directly to increased temperatures indicative of fire, accurately within locations of the battery housing by a known increase in vapor pressure of a fire extinguishing agent (KIM-K ¶¶0011, 0013-0016).
Re Claim 2, LEE in view of JUNG and KIM-K teaches the battery disconnect unit according to claim 1, but as discussed so far fails to teach wherein in the housing, a passage is further formed as a channel that extends from the cavity storing the fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing, and the housing further includes a cover disposed in the passage to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature.
JUNG further teaches wherein in the housing, a passage 155 is further formed as a channel that extends from the cavity [extends from cavity of tank 150] storing the fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing (at outside cover 130; Fig. 3, 3:30-45), and the housing further includes a cover [end of filling hole 155 that projects and includes a check valve; Fig. 3, 3:38-45] disposed in the passage to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature (3:30-45). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein in the housing, a passage is further formed as a channel that extends from the cavity storing the fire extinguishing liquid to communicate with the outside of the housing, and the housing further includes a cover disposed in the passage to prevent the fire extinguishing liquid from being ejected to the outside of the housing under the condition below the preset temperature, for the reasons discussed above in Claim 1.
Re Claim 17, LEE teaches a battery disconnect unit [400, 450] comprising: an electrical component 460 including one or more relays (¶¶0018, 0020) that open and close an electric circuit 440 connected to a battery module [410 and/or 420] (¶¶0018, 0020); and a housing [430, 470]. However, LEE fails to teach the housing includes a cavity that stores a fire extinguishing liquid, and a cover that forms crevices therein at a preset temperature or higher, wherein the fire extinguishing liquid moves from the cavity toward an outside of the housing through flow paths formed along the crevices.
JUNG teaches a battery disconnect unit (2:61-67) comprising: and a housing 100, wherein the housing includes a cavity [cavity formed within tank 150] formed in a body [tank 150] that stores a fire extinguishing liquid (3:22 to 4:26; fluid can be liquid from at least 4:14-26, and 2:20-28), and a cover 130 that forms narrow passages (along tubes 160; 3:55 to 4:13) that form crevices under predetermined condition (discussed below), wherein a fire extinguishing liquid moves from the cavity toward an outside of the housing [onto battery fire] through flow paths formed along the passages (3:55 to 4:13). Notably, where some tubes 160, forming long narrow passages, break in part, as taught by JUNG at 4:4-13, they will form crevices (i.e., narrow openings). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the housing includes a cavity that stores a fire extinguishing liquid, and a cover that forms crevices therein under a predetermined condition, wherein the fire extinguishing liquid moves from the cavity toward an outside of the housing through flow paths formed along the crevices, in order to provide a battery cover with a fire extinguishing function (2:1-28). However, LEE in view of JUNG fails to teach that the crevices that are formed therein are formed at a preset temperature or higher.
KIM-K teaches wherein a fire extinguishing liquid that increased pressure so as to be ejected to the outside of the housing at the preset temperature or higher (¶¶0033-0034; fire extinguishing agent and material are selected such that expected increased pressure of the fire extinguishing agent will breaks cover member 220 at a desired critical temperature level). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the unit of JUNG such that the cover forms the crevices therein at a preset temperature or higher, wherein a fire extinguishing liquid moves from the cavity toward an outside of the housing through flow paths formed along the crevices (i.e., along the tubes of JUNG to the burst portions from the cavity), in order to respond to directly to increased temperatures indicative of fire, accurately within locations of the battery housing by a known increase in vapor pressure of a fire extinguishing agent (KIM-K ¶¶0011, 0013-0016).
Re Claim 18, LEE in view of JUNG and KIM-K teaches the battery disconnect unit of claim 1. LEE further teaches a secondary battery pack comprising the battery disconnect unit of claim 1 (Fig. 3, ¶¶0017-0020). See also JUNG 1:19-36, 4:38-41 and KIM-K ¶¶0001-0003, 0008.
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JUNG in view of KIM-K as applied above, further in view of TAO.
Re Claim 4, LEE in view of JUNG and KIM-K teaches the battery disconnect unit according to claim 2, but as discussed so far fails to teach wherein the cover is made of a fire-resistant silicone.
TAO teaches a battery cover made of a fire-resistant silicone (¶¶0012, 0038; see also ¶¶0002-0009, 0029-0032 for relevant materials). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the cover so it is made of a fire-resistant silicone, in order to provide chemical and and/or heat resistance material while being dimensionally stable (¶¶0001, 0010). The selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination. In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960) and Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945). See MPEP § 2144.07.
Re Claim 5, LEE in view of JUNG, KIM-K and TAO teaches the battery disconnect unit according to claim 4 as discussed above, but as discussed so far fails to teach wherein the fire-resistant silicone hardens while expanding at the preset temperature or higher, thereby forming crevices therein, and the fire extinguishing liquid passes through.
The recited limitation “wherein the fire-resistant silicone hardens while expanding at the preset temperature or higher, thereby forming crevices therein, and the fire extinguishing liquid passes through” is a functional recitation and is accorded little patentable weight because it does not distinguish the claimed invention in terms of structure. It has been held that “[A]pparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does.” Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990) (emphasis in original) and “While features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function.” In re Schreiber, 128 F.3d 1473, 1477-78, 44 USPQ2d 1429, 1431-32 (Fed. Cir. 1997). See MPEP § 2114.
Notably, in LEE in view of JUNG and KIN-K as discussed above, the tubes and tank expand in response to fire condition thereby forming crevices therein, and the fire extinguishing liquid passes through as discussed above in Claim 1. Since battery pressure and vapor pressure and temperature increase on both sides prior to burst, tank/tubes will also increase in firmness prior to burst. Further, as noted in TAO the silicone may expand in view of high temperatures at the preset temperature or higher (TAO ¶0036) and it is known that silicone would be expected to harden/embrittle under such high temperatures and additionally may harden/ceramize (TAO ¶¶0003-0008). Therefore, JUNG in view of KIM-K and TAO (as modified in Claim 4) is capable of the functional limitation “wherein the fire-resistant silicone hardens while expanding at the preset temperature or higher, thereby forming crevices therein, and the fire extinguishing liquid passes through” in the course of the units normal operation.
Conclusion / Pertinent Art
The additional prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Reference
Pertinence
US-20140170447-A1
Lithium ion battery having a housing containing cavity with fire extinguishing liquid in which a cover 4 permits flow of the liquid at a predetermined temperature.
US-20220045386-A1
Battery having a housing containing cavity with fire extinguishing fluid in which a cover 122 permits flow of fluid along crevices formed bya rupture part
US-20140342201-A1
Battery having a housing containing cavity with fire extinguishing liquid in which a cover 210, 220 permits flow of the liquid at a predetermined condition
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/01/2026 have been fully considered.
Applicant’s amendment overcame the previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new grounds of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103. In the new grounds of rejection, LEE teaches the battery disconnect unit [400, 450], which includes manual disconnect 450 as well contactors/relays forming disconnect switches in 460 for circuit disconnection. Therefore, it is a battery disconnect unit. LEE and CHO are analogous and both house battery cells. As to JUNG, it is noted that the tank 150 may be “integrally formed with the cover” (3:22-45), which is the embodiment relied on in the rejections; it is a body of the housing. The combined teachings of the prior art teach and/or suggest each limitation of the claims as set forth fully above in the new grounds of the rejections.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON H DUGER whose telephone number is (313) 446-6536. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30a to 6:30p EST Monday & Tuesday and is OFF Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
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JASON H DUGER
PRIMARY EXAMINER, ART UNIT 3741
PHONE (313) 446 6536
FAX (571) 270 9083
DATE
September 28, 2026
/JASON H DUGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3741
