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.
Claim(s) 1 – 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kumagai (WO 2021/106391 A1).
As for claim 1, Kumagai discloses a vehicle battery support structure comprising: a ladder frame including a side rail (3L) extending in a vehicle front-rear direction; a battery pack (2) disposed below the ladder frame; a battery bracket (21A,B) fixed to an outer side of the battery pack in a vehicle width direction; a suspension bracket fixed to the battery bracket and including a horizontal portion (31) extending in the vehicle width direction from an outer side of the side rail in the vehicle width direction, and an inclined portion (30) extending outward in the vehicle width direction and downward from an outer end of the horizontal portion in the vehicle width direction; and a shock absorbing component (22L) disposed on an outer side of the battery bracket in the vehicle width direction.
As for claim 2, Kumagai further discloses wherein: a bent portion (i.e., the area labelled 30b in Fig. 3) between the horizontal portion and the inclined portion; and the bent portion is provided at a height equal to or higher than an upper surface of the battery pack.
As for claim 3, Kumagai further discloses at least a part of the shock absorbing component and at least a part of the battery pack disposed at the same height; and the shock absorbing component is supported on the side rail via the battery bracket and the suspension bracket. See Fig. 3.
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 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumagai (WO 2021/106391 A1) in view of Baccouche et al. (US 2022/0134857 A1).
Kumagai meets all the limitations of the claimed invention, but does not disclose details of the vehicle body, including the cabin-supporting cab mount bracket and rocker. As for claim 4, Kumagai discloses a cabin (4). It is well-known in the art that a vehicle chassis supports a vehicle cabin. See, for example, Baccouche et al. (paragraph [0022]). While Kumagai is silent with respect to the bracket that connects the side rail to the cabin, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that such a structure would be necessary to support the cabin and would be at least indirectly fixed to the suspension bracket via the side rail.
As for claim 5, Baccouche et al. disclose a rocker (28) extending in the vehicle front-rear direction, disposed below the cabin and on an outer side of the cabin in the vehicle width direction (note that a bracket for mounting a battery 30 to a frame rail 16 is disposed below the rocker). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the vehicle of Kumagai to include the rocker of Baccouche et al. to provide structural rigidity to the vehicle body and absorb side impacts (see Fig. 9).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Katy M Ebner whose telephone number is (571)272-5830. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
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/Katy M Ebner/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613
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