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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/18/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s first argument is that Park does not teach a seating plate as part of the transfer carrier; however, this argument is moot. Park is not relied on to do so.
Applicant’s second argument is that the claimed invention can fix the position of the secondary battery while the transfer carrier moves by arranging the seating plate and clamp on the transfer carrier, allow the battery to move even while measuring, and implement continuous measurement while maintaining the movement of the secondary battery; however, this argument is not persuasive. As pointed out in the previous action, Park does appear to think that measuring the secondary battery continuously while moving is possible in the setup of Park (see claims 3 and 4 of Park). Further, it is well known in the art to clamp an object onto a carrier to maintain a predictable relative position and orientation while moving, as Applicant was officially notified in the previous action.
Official notice was given in the final rejection mailed 6/3/2026 that it is well known in the art to clamp an object onto a carrier to maintain a predictable relative position and orientation while moving between several steps in a multipart process, ensure that a particular part of the product is operated on), or hold the product in particular ways, citing Carter (US 3754637), Schikarski (US 5477901), and Rousseau (US 20140008927) as evidence. Applicant’s reply does not provide evidence or arguments against this official notice, the facts of which are relied on hereinbelow.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US patent document 20240372164) in view of Ryll (foreign patent document DE 102019133745 A1). See the machine translation provided with the action mailed 3/31/2025.
Regarding claim 1, Park teaches apparatus for measuring thickness of a sealing part of a secondary battery, the apparatus comprising:
a non-contact measuring part comprising a pair of sensors disposed to face each other (FIG. 4, confocal sensors 311 and 312);
a controller detecting thickness information of the sealing part of the secondary battery, the information being collected by the non-contact measuring part (FIG. 3, controller 600, described in paragraphs 75-79);
a displacement part displacing a location of the non-contact measuring part with respect to the sealing part of the secondary battery in a first direction (FIG. 4, second moving device 350, which holds the first confocal sensor 311 and moves it in a horizontal direction transverse to the direction of movement of the secondary battery); and
a transfer carrier for holding the secondary battery and moving the secondary battery between the pair of sensors in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction (FIG. 4, transfer unit 200), wherein the apparatus comprises a clamp configured to clamp or unclamp a body of the secondary battery (FIG. 5, the clamps of Park grip terrace 25, which is part of the body of the secondary battery) seated on the transfer carrier such that the sealing part of the secondary battery, which is a measurement portion, protrudes in the first direction (FIG. 5, fixing member 330 clamps the secondary battery cell 1 with terrace 25 protruding in the first direction, which is shown vertically on the page in FIG. 5),
wherein the non-contact measuring part is able to measure the thickness in a non-contact manner while interposing the sealing part of the secondary battery between the pair of sensors (FIG. 6 shows the thickness t1 being measured by measuring D1 and D2).
Park states that the configuration of the transfer unit 200 may be changed as needed but does not teach that the clamp is part of the transfer unit.
Official notice was given in the previous action (dated 6/3/2026) that it is well known in the art to clamp an object onto a carrier to maintain a predictable relative position and orientation while moving between several steps in a multipart process (such as in Carter (US 3754637)), ensure that a particular part of the product is operated on (such as in Schikarski (US 5477901)), or hold the product in particular ways (such as in Rousseau (US 20140008927)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the apparatus of Park by clamping the secondary battery while transporting it on the carrier system as a secure way to move the object to, through, and beyond the detection system.
Park shows the transfer carrier as a conveyer belt rather than comprising a seating plate configured to seat the secondary battery.
In the same field of endeavor of non-contact online production line inspection, Ryll does teach that a transfer carrier comprises a seating plate configured to seat the workpiece (paragraph 30 mentions using a plate-shaped workpiece holder (line 465), as well as using clamping elements on the workpiece holder (line 459)). By using a plate-shaped workpiece holder, Ryll is able to hold a workpiece (line 453) as part of a transfer system (line 448), such as a conveyer belt (lines 449-450).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the non-contact optical secondary battery measuring device of Park with the seating plate-style workpiece holder of Ryll to gain the predictable benefit of holding the workpiece in a fixed position arrangement, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 2, Park teaches or renders obvious the apparatus of claim 1 (as described above).
Park further teaches that the non-contact measuring part is disposed to space the pair of sensors from each other at a sensor-to-sensor distance (FIG. 6, shown as D1+t1+D2).
Regarding claim 3, Park teaches or renders obvious the apparatus of claim 1 (as described above).
Park further teaches that a sensor-to-sensor distance is preset larger than the thickness between an upper surface and a lower surface of the sealing part (FIG. 6, note that parts of the sealing member with thicknesses t1, t2, and t3 are all considerably thinner than the distance between the sensors, so as to fit between the sensors. For example, thickness t1 is less than the sensor-to-sensor distance by an amount equal to D1+D2.).
Regarding claim 4, Park teaches or renders obvious the apparatus of claim 1 (as described above).
Park further teaches that the sensors include confocal sensors (FIG. 4, confocal-sensors 311 and 312 are described as confocal sensors in paragraph 81 and elsewhere. Also see paragraph 11.).
Regarding claim 6, Park teaches or renders obvious the apparatus of claim 1 (as described above).
Park further teaches that the secondary battery is mounted to a linear motion system to be continuously moved in a direction perpendicular to an optic axis of the pair of sensors (FIG. 4, transfer unit 200. Note that paragraphs 68 and 115 make it optional to stop the operation of the transfer unit 200 during measurement, while claims 3 and 4 of Park require that the object move while it is measured).
Regarding claim 13, Park teaches or renders obvious the apparatus of claim 1 (as described above).
Park further teaches that the displacement part includes a sliding guide extending in a direction perpendicular to the travelling direction of the secondary battery, a slider coupled to the sliding guide to be slidable in a longitudinal direction of the sliding guide, and a driving means providing a sliding power to the slider (FIG. 4, elevation device 340 and second moving device 350 each move perpendicular to the travel direction of the secondary battery and driven by an actuator, such as a motor (paragraph 103)).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL D SCHNASE whose telephone number is (703)756-1691. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tarifur Chowdhury can be reached at (571) 272-2287. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL SCHNASE/Examiner, Art Unit 2877
/TARIFUR R CHOWDHURY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2877
