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 1-8, 10, 15, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamamoto et al. (US20230223657A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yamamoto discloses a secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 below, battery 1) comprising: a case (Fig. 1, container 3 including walls 6, 7, and 11); a first electrode assembly inside the case (Fig. 1, electrode group 2A), and having a negative electrode substrate tab (Fig. 1, negative electrode current collector tab 15B) and a positive electrode substrate tab (Fig. 1, positive electrode current collector tab 15A) arranged along a longitudinal direction (See Fig. 1); a second electrode assembly inside the case (Fig. 1, electrode group 2B), and having a negative electrode substrate tab (Fig. 1, negative electrode current collector tab 15B) and a positive electrode substrate tab (Fig. 1, positive electrode current collector tab 15A) arranged along the longitudinal direction (See Fig. 1); a first current collector plate (Fig. 1, lead top plate 31) electrically connected to the negative electrode substrate tab of the first electrode assembly ([0038] lead top plate connected to electrode terminal) and the negative electrode substrate tab of the second electrode assembly ([0038] lead top plate connected to electrode terminal); and a second current collector plate (Fig. 1, lead top plate 31’) electrically connected to the positive electrode substrate tab of the first electrode assembly ([0038] lead top plate connected to electrode terminal) and the positive electrode substrate tab of the second electrode assembly ([0038] lead top plate connected to electrode terminal).
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Regarding claim 2, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first current collector plate (31) and the second current collector (31’) plate are spaced apart from each other (See Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an insulator (Fig. 1, spacer 25 and [0016] spacer integrally formed of an electrically insulating material) between the first current collector plate and the second current collector plate (See Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 4, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first electrode assembly (2A) and the second electrode assembly (2B) are spaced apart from each other (See Fig. 1 and [0079] electrode groups located apart from each other).
Regarding claim 5, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the case (See annotated Fig. 9 below, case 7. Note Fig. 9 is a different perspective view of Fig. 1) defines concave grooves (Fig 9, facing surface 66 and 67) on opposing surfaces thereof ([0054] pair of electrode group end surfaces, so there are groves on the opposing side as well).
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Regarding claim 6, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the grooves (66 and 67) are between the first electrode assembly (Fig. 9, first electrode group 2A) and the second electrode assembly (Fig. 9, second electrode group 2B).
Regarding claim 7, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an insulator (Fig. 1, spacer 25 and [0016] spacer integrally formed of an electrically insulating material) between the first electrode assembly and the second electrode assembly (See Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 8, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a cap assembly (Fig. 1, top portion of the assembly) comprising a cap plate (lid member 5) coupled to one side of the case ([0019] lid member 5 attached to peripheral wall 7), a first terminal plate (16B) on the cap plate and electrically connected ([0031]) to the first current collector plate (31), and a second terminal plate (16A) on the cap plate and electrically connected ([0031]) to the second current collector plate (31’).
Regarding claim 10, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first terminal plate (16A) and the second terminal plate (16B) are arranged in a substantially straight line with respect to each other (See Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 15, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first current collector plate (31) comprises: a first connection part (Fig. 1, negative electrode side backup lead 21B) electrically connected to the negative electrode substrate tab and to the first terminal plate of the first electrode assembly ([0031]); a second connection part (Fig. 1, lead side plate portion 32’) electrically connected to the negative electrode substrate tab of the second electrode assembly ([0039] negative electrode current collecting tabs welded to lead side plate); and a connection leg (20A) electrically connecting the first connection part and the second connection part ([0039]), and wherein the second current collector plate (31’) comprises: a first connection part (Fig. 1, positive electrode side backup lead 21A) electrically connected to the positive electrode substrate tab of the first electrode assembly ([0031]); a second connection part (Fig. 1, lead side plate portion 32’) electrically connected to the positive electrode substrate tab of the second electrode assembly ([0039] positive electrode current collecting tabs welded to lead side plate); and a connection leg (20B) electrically connecting the first connection part and the second connection part ([0039]).
Regarding claim 17, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first current collector plate (31) and the second current collector plate (31’) are symmetrical with each other (See Fig. 1) wherein the connection leg (20A) has a parallelogram shape (See Fig. 1, note that a rectangular shape necessarily is a parallelogram shape).
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 9 and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto et al. (US20230223657A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Eguchi (WO2021140838A1 English Machine Translation provided with this Office Action).
Regarding claim 9, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 8 with the first terminal plate (16B) and the second terminal plate (16A), but does not disclose wherein the first terminal plate and the second terminal plate are diagonally arranged with respect to each other.
Eguchi discloses a secondary battery with external terminals ([0056-0060]) in which the first terminal plate and the second terminal plate are diagonally arranged with respect to each other ([0063] diagonal arrangement of external output terminals). Eguchi also discloses that when the terminals have the diagonal arrangement, the dead space inside the exterior is made more effective and the capacity of the battery can be increased ([0063-0066]).
Yamamoto and Eguchi are analogous prior art to the current invention because they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely secondary batteries with external anode and cathode terminals.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the arrangement of the terminal plates in the battery of Yamamoto such that the first terminal plate and the second terminal plate are diagonally arranged with respect to each other as taught by Eguchi in order to make the dead space inside the exterior more effective and increase the capacity of the battery.
Regarding claim 11, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first current collector plate (31) comprises: a first connection part (Fig. 1, negative electrode side backup lead 21B) electrically connected to the negative electrode substrate tab of the first electrode assembly ([0031]); a second connection part (Fig. 1, lead side plate portion 32) electrically connected to the negative electrode substrate tab of the second electrode assembly ([0039] negative electrode current collecting tabs welded to lead side plate); and a third connection part (Fig. 1, negative electrode side lead 20B) electrically connecting the first connection part ([0031]) and the second connection part ([0037]), and electrically connected to the first terminal plate ([0031] electrically connected to negative terminal 16B), and wherein the second current collector plate (31’) comprises:
a connection part (Fig. 1, positive electrode side backup lead 21A) electrically connected to the positive electrode substrate tab of the first electrode assembly ([0031]); a second connection part (Fig. 1, lead side plate portion 32’) electrically connected to the positive electrode substrate tab of the second electrode assembly ([0039] positive electrode current collecting tabs welded to lead side plate); and
a third connection part (Fig. 1, positive electrode side lead 20A) electrically connecting the first connection part ([0031]) and the second connection part ([0037]) of the second current collector plate (31’), and electrically connected to the second terminal plate ([0031] electrically connected to positive terminal 16A).
Regarding claim 12, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first current collector plate (31) and the second current collector plate (31’) are symmetrical to each other (See Fig.1).
Regrading claim 13, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 12, wherein, in the first current collector plate (31) and in the second current collector plate (31’), the third connection part has a straight shape (See Fig. 1), and the first connection part and the second connection part protrude in a same direction from respective ends of the third connection part (See Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 14, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 13, wherein, in the first current collector plate (31) and the second current collector plate (31’), the third connection part (20A and 20B) is closer to the cap plate (5) than the first connection part and the second connection part (See Fig. 1).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto et al. (US20230223657A1) as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Zheng et al. (CN113571845B English Machine Translation provided with this Office Action).
Regarding claim 16, Yamamoto discloses the secondary battery (See annotated Fig. 1 above) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first current collector plate (31) and the second current collector plate (31’) are symmetrical with each other (See Fig. 1) but does not disclose wherein the connection leg has a trapezoidal shape.
Zheng discloses a battery with anode and cathode tabs ([0033]) in which the connection leg ([0258] metal strip tab 5) has a trapezoidal shape ([0259] trapezoidal). Zheng also discloses that the shape is trapezoidal in order to avoid scratching of the metal strip tab which affects the flow capacity of the tab ([0264-0266])
Yamamoto and Zheng are analogous prior art to the current invention because they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely batteries with anode and cathode tabs.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the connection leg in the battery of Yamamoto such that the connection leg has a trapezoidal shape as taught by Zheng in order to avoid scratching of the connection leg which affects the flow capacity of the connection leg.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim et al. (US20230246311A1) discloses a battery module with electrode terminals and a trapezoidal coupling portion ([0067])
Yang et al. (CN113300032A) discloses a battery with electrode tabs with a trapezoidal connecting piece.
Park et al. (US20210344033A1) discloses a battery with electrode tabs with a separator ([0029])
Wakimoto et al. (US20200251711A1) discloses a battery with electrode tab groups with an insulator ([0039])
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAN N TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0183. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 8:30am-5pm.
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/DAN NGUYEN TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 1754
/SUSAN D LEONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1754
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