The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
(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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or (a)(2) as being anticipated by Li et al (US 2025/0326324 or corresponding CN 217468978, both previously of record).
As noted in the prior Office action, the Chinese patent document was published on 9/20/22 and thus qualifies as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1). Further, the US document claims priority to the Chinese application filed on 5/30/22 which became the above-noted patent document, and thus qualifies as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). All passages noted in the following analysis refer to the US document.
Li shows a placement apparatus, comprising:
a placement portion 2 configured to place a battery (note: element 1 is a battery swap frame in which a plurality of batteries are held; this is not precluded by the claim language) to be attached to a vehicle (e.g., a truck, disclosed but not shown in the figures);
a positioning portion 9 disposed on or in the placement portion, the positioning portion being configured to position the battery by being engaged with a positioned portion 8 formed in or on a bottom portion of the battery; and
a guidance portion 4 including a guidance surface 41 for guiding the battery toward the positioning portion, the guidance portion being disposed to protrude from the placement portion, wherein:
the guidance portion is disposed such that the positioning portion is located at a position corresponding to the positioned portion of the battery when a contact portion 3 of the battery making contact with the guidance surface is located at a downstream end of the guidance surface in a guiding direction (see Figs. 1-4 and “Example 10”, pars. [0090] – [0092]);
the guidance portion comprises a plurality of guidance portions (i.e., four, as seen in Figs. 1 and 4) provided so as to “sandwich” the positioning portion (as broadly recited, i.e., two on either side thereof); and
the plurality of guidance portions are configured to “place the battery therebetween” (as broadly recited; i.e., depending on how many batteries are held on the battery swap frame and in what manner they are arranged thereon, at least a significant portion of at least one of the batteries would clearly be placed between the guidance portions, as readily apparent in at least Figs 1 and 4; such an interpretation is not precluded by the claim language).
Re claim 2, the guidance surface is inclined so as to be located more on the placement portion side toward the downstream end in the guiding direction.
Re claim 3, the positioning portion is disposed on or in the placement portion such that the positioning portion is engageable with the positioned portion when the contact portion is located at the downstream end.
Re claim 4, the contact portion of the battery making contact with the guidance surface is “a projection portion” (as broadly recited; see Figs. 2-3) disposed on the bottom portion of the battery, and a height of the guidance portion is smaller than a height of the projection portion (emphasis added, noting that “a height” of neither the guidance portion nor of the projection portion is defined in any way that precludes such an interpretation).
Re claim 5, Li further discloses a placement apparatus, comprising:
a placement portion 2 configured to place a battery (on swap frame 1) attachable to and detachable from a vehicle; and
a guidance portion 4 including a guidance surface 41 configured to move the battery in a first direction toward a target position on the placement portion, and to make contact with the battery to guide the battery in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, wherein:
the guidance surface is inclined to be lowered toward a center side in the target position;
an end portion of the guidance surface on the center side in the target position is located at a position corresponding to an end portion of the target position in the second direction, as described in at least the above-noted par. [0092];
the guidance portion comprises a plurality of guidance portions provided so as to sandwich the positioning portion; and
the plurality of guidance portions are configured to place the battery therebetween, in the same manner noted above with respect to claim 1.
Re claims 6-9, the guidance portion is configured to guide the battery into a range where the battery is positioned by the positioning portion on a placement surface of the placement portion, wherein the guidance portion is positioned outside the range (par. [0092]).
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.
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al in view of Swanson (US 5,301,765, previously cited).
Li discloses that the placement apparatus is disposed on the vehicle, but does not disclose that the vehicle includes a slide rail for moving the battery between an inner position and an outer position, or that the placement portion is attached to the slide rail. However, Li discloses that the batteries are swapped by “upwards hoisting or laterally forking the battery swap frame” (par. [0004]).
Swanson shows a vehicle-mounted battery swap apparatus, comprising a frame 44 for moving a battery pack 30 between a first, retracted or “inner” position (Figs. 1 and 3B) and a second, extended or “outer” position (Figs. 1A and 3A). The frame comprises telescopic sections 50, 52, 54 slidable relative to one another and as such is considered to comprise a “slide rail”, as broadly recited, and a placement portion 46 is attached to the slide rail. This allows the battery to be moved to a position in which it is readily reached by an external means of exchanging batteries, such as a forklift or hoist (col. 4:21-31).
It would have been obvious, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the apparatus of Li by attaching the placement portion to a slide rail on the vehicle that moved the battery between an inner position and an outer position, as shown by Swanson, to make it easier for an external means of exchanging batteries, such as a forklift or hoist, to access the batteries to be swapped.
Applicant's arguments filed 6/14/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Li discloses that the tapered shape of pin 4 is designed to make it easier to insert into the location hole 3 in the battery frame, and is not intended to guide the battery frame to the plug 9, and may interfere with the bottom surface of the battery frame. This is not persuasive. While it is correct that the pin is designed to guide it into the hole, in doing so it also guides the battery frame to the plug 9, as noted above in par. 3 with respect to pars. [0090] – [0092] of the reference. In particular, par. [0092] states “pin 4 is inserted into a location hole 3, so as to locate the battery frame 1 and the battery swap base 2. Thus, the plug 9 ... is aligned with the socket 8 ..., and the plug ... can be precisely inserted into the socket ... advantageously.” As such, the claim limitations are met. Nothing precludes the pin from being inserted into a hole of the battery frame while performing its guiding function.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground of rejection presented in this Office action (i.e., new claims 10-11). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James Keenan whose telephone number is (571)272-6925. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Thurs.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at 571-270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/James Keenan/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3652
8/12/26
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