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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP 2023-086799, filed on May 26, 2023.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract begins with the phrase “The power storage cell”. It is recommended that the phrase be amended to recite “A power storage cell”. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being clearly anticipated by Kim (U.S. Patent Application Publication No US 2023/0299443).
Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches a storage cell comprising:
a cell case ([0028] battery case 120), a wound electrode body ([0028] electrode assembly 110), a fixing member ([0028] fixing tape 140), and an electrolytic solution ([0028] accompanying electrolyte), wherein: the cell case houses the wound electrode body, the fixing member, and the electrolytic solution ([0028]); the wound electrode body is provided by winding electrodes and separators ([0030] electrodes 113 and separators 114 and 115); the fixing member fixes a winding end of the wound electrode body in a winding direction (Figure 1 fixing tape 140, Figure 4 fixing tape 240, and Figure 6 Fixing tape 340 showing multiple configurations of the fixing tape, each fixing the winding end in the winding direction); the fixing member includes an adhesive component ([0057] and Figure 2 adhesive layer 142; [0084] and Figure 4 adhesive layer 242; [0107] and Figure 7 adhesive layer 342 reciting and showing the adhesive layer in multiple configurations); and the adhesive component is soluble in the electrolytic solution ([0058] reciting the adhesive layer being dissolved in the electrolyte and Figures 8 and 9 showing before and after photos of the fixing member dissolving in the electrolyte).
Regarding claim 2, Kim teaches the pawer cell according to claim 1, wherein:
the fixing member further includes a base; and the base supports the adhesive component ([0057] and Figure 2 base film 141 and adhesive layer 142; [0084] and Figure 4 base layer 241 and adhesive layer 242; [0107] and Figure 7 base film 341 and adhesive layer 342 reciting and showing the base and adhesive layers in multiple configurations).
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) 3 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (U.S. Patent Application Publication No US 2023/0299443), in view of Sung (U.S. Patent Application Publication No US 2023/0420744) and Ishiguro (U.S. Patent Application Publication No US 2020/0185725).
Regarding claim 3, Kim teaches all of the limitation of the power cell according to claim 1, as described above.
Kim fails to teach the additional limitations of: at least part of the fixing member is disposed on an inner peripheral side of an outermost layer of the wound electrode body in a radial direction of the wound electrode body; and a central portion of the fixing member is positioned on an inner side of the winding end of the wound electrode body in the winding direction of the wound electrode body.
Sung does teach that at least part of the fixing member is disposed on an inner peripheral side of an outermost layer of the wound electrode body in a radial direction of the wound electrode body; and a central portion of the fixing member is positioned on an inner side of the winding end of the wound electrode body in the winding direction of the wound electrode body ([0035], [0036], and [0046] and Figures 3A and 4A swelling tape 130 reciting and showing the placement of the swelling tape on the inside of the electrode assembly).
Kim and Sung are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are both in the same field of would electrode assembly. Furthermore, Ishiguro identifies a need to eliminate the step often caused by the fixing member in a wound electrode assembly, as it leads to undue stress on the electrode assembly ([0006] describes the step difference caused by the thickness of the wrap tape leading to stress of the wound electrode body). Therefore, it would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified Kim to incorporate the teachings of Sung and place the fixing tape on the inside of the winding end of the electrode assembly. This combination of Kim and Sung would be motivated by the teachings of Ishiguro and resulted in the predictable result of a lowered stress on the electrode assembly.
Regarding claim 4, Kim teaches all of the limitations of the power cell according to claim 2, as described above.
Kim fails to teach the additional limitations of: at least part of the fixing member is disposed on an inner peripheral side of an outermost layer of the wound electrode body in a radial direction of the wound electrode body; and in the winding direction of the wound electrode body, the base of the fixing member is positioned on an inner side of the winding end of the wound electrode body, and the base of the fixing member is not positioned on an outer side of the winding end of the wound electrode body.
Sung does teach that at least part of the fixing member is disposed on an inner peripheral side of an outermost layer of the wound electrode body in a radial direction of the wound electrode body; and in the winding direction of the wound electrode body, the base of the fixing member is positioned on an inner side of the winding end of the wound electrode body, and the base of the fixing member is not positioned on an outer side of the winding end of the wound electrode body ([0035], [0036], and [0046] and Figures 3A and 4A swelling tape 130 reciting and showing the swelling tape on the inside of the electrode assembly with the base layer not positioned on an outer side of the winding end of the wound electrode body).
Kim and Sung are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are both in the same field of would electrode assembly. Furthermore, Ishiguro identifies a need to eliminate the step often caused by the fixing tape in a wound electrode assembly, as it leads to undue stress on the electrode assembly ([0006] describes the step difference caused by the thickness of the wrap tape leading to stress of the wound electrode body). Therefore, it would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have modified Kim to incorporate the teachings of Sung and place the fixing tape on the inside of the winding end of the electrode assembly. This combination of Kim and Sung would be motivated by the teachings of Ishiguro and resulted in the predictable result of a lowered stress on the electrode assembly.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sik, Foreign Patent No KR 20040042375 A, teaches a jelly-roll electrode assembly with a finishing tape able to dissolve in the electrolyte, allowing the jelly roll to be unwound in the cell case.
Tadashi, Foreign Patent No JP H11121044 A, teaches the use of an adhesive for fixing the battery element that dissolves or decomposes when in contact with the electrolyte to loosen the assembly.
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/B.G.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1744
/MICHAEL M. ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1744
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