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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-12, 15-16, 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 6,533,023 to Fukase et al (Fukase).
Concerning claim 1, Fukase discloses a system configured to roll a metal into a foil, the system comprising:
rollers (21, 22) spaced apart to receive the metal (12) therebetween, the rollers (21, 22) configured to press against the metal to roll the metal into the foil; and
a cooling sub-system (23) configured to cool the rollers (21, 22) with a coolant (water), thereby cooling the foil in contact with the rollers (as it is capable of being used with such material).
Concerning claims 2-3, the claims are directed to the material to be used with the roller system and thus are merely intended use. The device of Fukase is capable of being used with the metal includes at least one of lithium, indium, tin, lead, and sodium and the foil is configured as an active layer of a battery electrode.
Concerning claim 5, Fukase discloses the cooling sub-system (23) is configured to circulate the coolant within the rollers.
Concerning claim 6, Fukase discloses in figure 2 the rollers define channels (23) extending entirely through the rollers, the channels (23) configured to circulate the coolant through the rollers.
Concerning claim 7, Fukase discloses the channels (23) extend parallel to an axis of rotation of the rollers.
Concerning claim 8, Fukase discloses the channels (34, 35) extend non-linearly relative to an axis of rotation of the rollers.
Concerning claim 9, Fukase discloses the rollers each include a copper tube within the rollers configured to circulate the coolant within the rollers (see abstract).
Concerning claim 10, Fukase discloses the rollers each define channels therein configured to circulate the coolant within the channels, the channels each defining an inlet (36) and an outlet (37) at a common side of the rollers.
Concerning claim 11, Fukase discloses the rollers define porous areas (53) configured to circulate coolant within the rollers, each one of the porous areas is in fluid communication with an inlet and an outlet on opposite sides of the rollers.
Concerning claim 12, Fukase discloses a housing (38) adjacent to one of the rollers, the housing defining a receptacle configured to receive the coolant and place the coolant in contact with the rollers.
Concerning claim 15, Fukase discloses a system configured to roll a metal into a foil, the system comprising:
rollers (21, 22) spaced apart to receive the metal therebetween and configured to press against the metal to roll the metal into the foil, the rollers (21, 22) including channels (32, 33, 34) within the rollers configured to receive a coolant configured to cool the rollers; and
a cooling sub-system (23) configured to cool the coolant and circulate the coolant through the channels within the rollers, thereby cooling the rollers and the foil in contact with the rollers.
Concerning claim 16, the claims are directed to the material to be used with the roller system and thus are merely intended use. The device of Fukase is capable of being used with the metal includes at least one of lithium, indium, tin, lead, and sodium.
Concerning claim 18, Fukase discloses a system configured to roll a metal into a foil, the system comprising:
rollers (21, 22) spaced apart to receive the metal therebetween and configured to press against the metal to roll the metal into the foil;
housings (27, 28) each defining a receptacle (at 38), each one of the housings is adjacent to one of the rollers such that at least a portion of the rollers extends into the receptacles; and
a coolant (abstract) within the receptacles to cool the rollers and the foil in contact with the rollers.
Concerning claim 20, Fukase discloses the coolant is housed within a container (36, 37, 38) configured to be seated within the receptacle, the container shaped to conform to the rollers.
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/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukase in view of U.S. Patent No. 5,567,448 to Frankland (Frankland).
Concerning claim 4, Fukase does not disclose a chiller configured to cool the coolant and maintain the coolant at a sub-ambient temperature.
Frankland discloses a system comprising rollers (10) having an internal passage (80, 82, 84) to circulate the coolant within the rollers and a chiller configured to cool the coolant and maintain the coolant at a sub-ambient temperature (column 6, lines 36-43).
Because both these references are concerned with a similar problem it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to add the chiller unit of Frankland to the system of Fukase. In KSR (KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007)) the courts held that combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results. Accordingly a simple addition of the chiller unit of Frankland to the system of Fukase will obtain predictable results and is therefore obvious and proper combination of the references is made. The predictable results being a way to cool the fluid that is to be used in the internal passages.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-14, 17 and 19 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: For claims 13 and 17, the prior art does not disclose “the coolant includes at least one of dry ice, silicone oil, and liquid argon”. Instead the coolant is water. For claims 14 and 19, the prior art does not disclose “a gap defined between the housing and the roller, wherein the gap is configured to permit the coolant to seep out of the receptacle and onto an outer surface of the roller”.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Matthew Katcoff whose telephone number is (571)270-1415. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th: 8-4, Fri: Flex.
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/Matthew Katcoff/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3725
03/06/2026