DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is in response to the above application filed on 08/18/2023 which claims foreign priority to Republic of Korea application 10-2022-0127725 filed on 10/06/2022. Claims 1 – 6 are examined.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “laser oscillator” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from Claim 2. No new matter should be entered. To overcome this drawing objection Applicant can add a rectangular box labeled “Laser Oscillator” at the end of the laser beam (dashed cylinder) projected into empty space from the X-axis mirror (121).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, l. 7 “configured to irradiate laser onto an outer” is believed to be in error for --configured to irradiate a laser beam onto an outer--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4, ll. 5 – 6 recites “control the laser oscillator to emit the laser in advance compared to the predetermined manner” is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention because the scope of “in advance” is unclear. Specification Paras. [0010] and [0037] basically repeat the claim limitation without any further details. The broadest reasonable interpretation of “predetermined manner” is any set manner. So it is unclear if “in advance” refers to time or location? For example, if the “predetermined manner” has the laser oscillator (source of the laser beam) turn on at a set time, then does “in advance” mean that the laser oscillator is turned on five seconds (or any fixed time interval) before the set time of the “predetermined manner”? Alternatively, if the “predetermined manner” has the laser oscillator (source of the laser beam) turn on only when the indexing table has rotated the secondary battery cell (workpiece) to a set position like 360°, then does “in advance” mean that the laser oscillator is turned on when the secondary battery cell (workpiece) is at the 350° or 355° position (the index table rotates clockwise) which is “in advance” of the 360° position?
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 1, 5, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nomaru (Japanese Patent JP5519426B2) in view of Ko Myoung Jin et al. (KR20170082233A).
Regarding Claim 1, Nomaru teaches, in Figs. 1 - 4, the invention as claimed, including an apparatus (1 – Fig. 1) [The following in the intended use of the apparatus.] for manufacturing a secondary battery, the apparatus comprising: an index table (20) configured to receive a workpiece (W – Figs. 1 and 3); a laser scanner (26, 27, 274) configured to irradiate laser onto an outer surface of the workpiece; and a controller (277 – Fig. 2) configured to variably control the laser scanner (26, 27, 274) according to an operation of the index table (20 – Figs. 1 and 2). Machine Translation Paras. [0025] and [0026] teaches, “Specifically, the operation control unit 277 controls the operation unit 275 based on the rotation angle information of the rotation support unit 21 obtained from the encoder 211 so that the focal point of the laser beam reflected from the mirror 274 is positioned at a desired position on the workpiece W.”
Nomaru is silent on the workpiece being a secondary battery cell, the secondary battery cell comprising an electrode assembly, a can accommodating the electrode assembly, and an electrode tab between the electrode assembly and the can to electrically connect the electrode assembly to the can, said laser scanner configured to irradiate laser onto an outer surface of the can to weld the electrode tab to the can.
Ko Myoung Jin teaches, in Figs. 1 and 2, a similar apparatus (Figs. 1 and 2) for manufacturing a secondary battery, the secondary battery cell (Fig. 1) comprising an electrode assembly (30), a can (20) accommodating the electrode assembly (30, when assembled), and an electrode tab (22) between the electrode assembly (30) and the can (20) to electrically connect the electrode assembly (30) to the can (20), a laser scanner (10 – Fig. 1 and 100, 130 – Fig. 2) configured to irradiate laser onto an outer surface of the electrode assembly (30) to weld the electrode tab (22) to the electrode assembly (30).
It would have been obvious, to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Nomaru with the workpiece being a secondary battery cell, the secondary battery cell comprising an electrode assembly, a can accommodating the electrode assembly, and an electrode tab between the electrode assembly and the can to electrically connect the electrode assembly to the can, said laser scanner configured to irradiate laser onto an outer surface of the electrode assembly to weld the electrode tab to the electrode assembly, taught by Ko Myoung Jin, because all the claimed elements, i.e., the apparatus comprising: an index table configured to receive a workpiece; a laser scanner configured to irradiate laser onto an outer surface of the workpiece; and a controller configured to variably control the laser scanner according to an operation of the index table, the workpiece being a secondary battery cell, the secondary battery cell comprising an electrode assembly, a can accommodating the electrode assembly, and an electrode tab between the electrode assembly and the can to electrically connect the electrode assembly to the can, said laser scanner configured to irradiate laser onto an outer surface of the electrode assembly to weld the electrode tab to the electrode assembly, were known in the art, and one skilled in the art could have substituted the secondary battery cell, taught by Ko Myoung Jin, for the workpiece of Nomaru, with no change in their respective functions, to yield predictable results, i.e., the controller would have variably controlled the laser scanner according to an operation of the index table to facilitate irradiating the laser beam onto an outer surface of the can to weld the electrode tab to the can. KSR, 550 U.S. 398 (2007), 82 USPQ2d at 1395; MPEP 2143(B).
Re Claim 5, Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin, teaches the invention as claimed and as discussed above and Nomaru further teaches, in Para. [0013], wherein the laser scanner (26, 27, 274) is configured to form a welding pattern in a linear shape, a curved shape, or a combination of the linear shape [301 – Figs. 3(a) and 3(b)] and the curved shape [rounded corners of the triangle and 302 – circles shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b)]. Nomaru teaches, in Para. [0013], “According to the present invention, a laser processing apparatus capable of performing curved machining on a workpiece at high speed and with high precision can be provided.”
Re Claim 6, Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin, teaches the invention as claimed and as discussed above and Nomaru further teaches, in Para. [0033], wherein the laser scanner (26, 27, 274) is configured to form a welding pattern (30) while the index table (20) rotates. Nomaru teaches, in Para. [0033], “Next, the holding table 20 is rotated while the focal point 40 is scanned in one axis direction, and laser processing is performed along the outer periphery 301 of the planned processing line 30 on the workpiece W. At this time, in the laser processing apparatus 1, the rotation support control means 212 controls the rotation speed of the rotation support 21, and the holding table 20 is rotated via the rotation support 21”.
Claims 2 - 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nomaru (Japanese Patent JP5519426B2) in view of Ko Myoung Jin et al. (KR20170082233A) in further view of Deberg (3,150,439).
Re Claim 2, Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin, teaches the invention as claimed and as discussed above and Nomaru further teaches, in Paras. [0015] and [0033], further comprising an encoder (211 - Para. [0033]), wherein the index table (20) comprises a table (shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4), and a motor (21 - Para. [0015]) configured to rotate the table (20), wherein the encoder (211) is configured to measure a rotation rate of the motor (21) and to input the measured rotation rate to the controller (277), wherein the laser scanner (26, 27, 274) comprises a laser oscillator (271), an X-axis mirror (272, 274) configured to reflect a laser emitted from the laser oscillator (271), a Y-axis mirror (273, 274) configured to reflect the laser reflected by the X-axis mirror (272, 274), and an objective lens (276) configured to concentrate the laser reflected by the Y-axis mirror (273, 274), and wherein the controller (277) is configured to variably control the laser scanner (26, 27, 274) according to the rotation rate of the motor (21). Nomaru teaches, in Para. [0015], “The rotation support unit 21 rotates the holding table 20 under the control of a rotation support unit control means 212 (described later).” Nomaru further teaches, in Para. [0015], “The laser irradiation unit 26 houses a laser processing means 27, which is an optical system Fig. 1(b) is composed of an oscillator 271 that emits a laser beam, a plurality of mirrors 272 to 274 that reflect the laser beam emitted from the oscillator 271, an operating unit 275 that drives the mirror 274 so that it can swing back and forth, and a condenser 276 that focuses the laser beam reflected by the mirror 274 onto a workpiece W on the holding table 20.” Nomaru teaches, in Para. [0033], “…the operation control unit 277 controls the operating unit 275 based on rotation angle information of the rotation support 21 obtained from the encoder 211.”
Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin, as discussed above, is silent on an X-axis motor configured to rotate the X-axis mirror, a Y-axis motor configured to rotate the Y-axis mirror.
Ko Myoung Jin further teaches, in Fig. 2 and Machine Translation Pg. 7 of 8, top half, a similar laser scanner (100, 130) having a laser oscillator (110), an X-axis mirror (141) configured to reflect a laser emitted from the laser oscillator (110), an X-axis motor (143) configured to rotate the X-axis mirror (141), a Y-axis mirror (142) configured to reflect the laser reflected by the X-axis mirror (141), a Y-axis motor (144) configured to rotate the Y-axis mirror (142), and an objective lens (145) configured to concentrate the laser reflected by the Y-axis mirror (142).
It would have been obvious, to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin, with the laser scanner arrangement having a laser oscillator, an X-axis mirror configured to reflect a laser emitted from the laser oscillator, an X-axis motor configured to rotate the X-axis mirror, a Y-axis mirror configured to reflect the laser reflected by the X-axis mirror, a Y-axis motor configured to rotate the Y-axis mirror, and an objective lens configured to concentrate the laser reflected by the Y-axis mirror, further taught by Ko Myoung Jin, because all the claimed elements, i.e., the apparatus comprising: an index table configured to receive a workpiece; a laser scanner configured to irradiate laser onto an outer surface of the workpiece; and a laser scanner arrangement having a laser oscillator, an X-axis mirror configured to reflect a laser emitted from the laser oscillator, an X-axis motor configured to rotate the X-axis mirror, a Y-axis mirror configured to reflect the laser reflected by the X-axis mirror, a Y-axis motor configured to rotate the Y-axis mirror, and an objective lens configured to concentrate the laser reflected by the Y-axis mirror, were known in the art, and one skilled in the art could have substituted the laser scanner arrangement, taught by Ko Myoung Jin, for the laser scanner arrangement of Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin, with no change in their respective functions, to yield predictable results, i.e., the X-axis motor would have rotated the X-axis mirror to sweep the laser beam along the X-axis outer surface of the can and the Y-axis motor would have rotated the Y-axis mirror to sweep the laser beam along the Y-axis outer surface of the can to weld the electrode tab to the can. KSR, 550 U.S. 398 (2007), 82 USPQ2d at 1395; MPEP 2143(B).
Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin, as discussed above, is silent on a jig along a circumference of the table and configured to fix the can. Ko Myoung Jin, further teaches, in Machine Translation Pg. 5 of 8, top third, “In addition, one battery cell may correspond to one jig and may be emitted once at a site for welding.”
Deberg teaches, in Fig. 1 and Col. 2, ll. 1 - 15, a similar rotating index table (10) having a plurality of jigs (20 – eight shown in Fig. 1) along a circumference of the table (10) wherein each jig (20) was configured to fix a workpiece (W).
It would have been obvious, to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin, with the rotating index table having a plurality of jigs along a circumference of the table and configured to fix a workpiece, taught by Deberg, because all the claimed elements, i.e., an apparatus comprising: an index table configured to receive a workpiece; a jig configured to fix a secondary battery cell (workpiece), and rotating index table having a plurality of jigs along a circumference of the table wherein each jig was configured to fix a workpiece, were known in the art, and one skilled in the art could have substituted the rotating index table having a plurality of jigs along a circumference of the table, taught by Deberg, for the index table of Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin, with no change in their respective functions, to yield predictable results, i.e., the rotating index table having a plurality of jigs along a circumference of the table would have facilitated fixing a secondary battery cell can in each one of the jigs for high production welding operations. In other words, the rotating index table would have facilitated sequentially positioning secondary battery cell cans under the laser scanner one after another for welding each electrode tab to a respective outer surface of the can. KSR, 550 U.S. 398 (2007), 82 USPQ2d at 1395; MPEP 2143(B).
Re Claim 3, Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin and Deberg, teaches the invention as claimed and as discussed above and Nomaru further teaches, in Para. [0029], wherein, when the rotation rate of the motor (21) is constant, the controller (277) is configured to drive the laser scanner (26, 27, 274) in a predetermined manner (any normal speed manner), and wherein, when the rotation rate of the motor (21) increases or decreases, the controller (277) is configured to drive at least one of the X-axis motor and the Y-axis motor slower than in the predetermined manner. Nomaru further teaches, in Para. [0029], “…the smaller the rotation angle per unit time of the rotation support member 21 obtained from the encoder 211, the slower the rotation speed of the holding table 20 and the slower the driving speed of the mirror 274 by the operating unit 275.” As shown in Fig. 2 the encoder (211) sent data (solid arrow line) to controller (277) which sent commands (solid arrow line) to motor (275) to slow the driving speed of the mirror (274).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, that the combination of Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin and Deberg, would have had the controller is configured to drive at least one of the X-axis motor and the Y-axis motor slower than in the predetermined manner because Nomaru teaches, in Para. [0026], “…the operation control unit 277 controls the operation unit 275 based on the rotation angle information of the rotation support unit 21 obtained from the encoder 211 so that the focal point of the laser beam reflected from the mirror 274 is positioned at a desired position on the workpiece W.”
Re Claim 4, [Refer to the 112(b) rejection above.] Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin and Deberg, teaches the invention as claimed and as discussed above and Nomaru further teaches, in Para. [0029], wherein, when the rotation rate of the motor (21) is constant, the controller (277) is configured to drive the laser scanner (26, 27, 274) in a predetermined manner (any normal speed manner).
Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin and Deberg, as discussed above, is silent on wherein, when the rotation rate of the motor increases or decreases, the controller is configured to control the laser oscillator to emit the laser in advance compared to the predetermined manner.
At the time the invention was made, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin and Deberg, to have the controller configured to control the laser oscillator to emit the laser in advance (switch laser beam ON 1 to 5 seconds before the normal start time) compared to the predetermined manner (normal start time) when the rotation rate of the motor increases or decreases, because Applicant has not disclosed that “when the rotation rate of the motor increases or decreases, the controller is configured to control the laser oscillator to emit the laser in advance compared to the predetermined manner” provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem. In fact, as discussed in the 112(b) rejection above, Specification Paras. [0010] and [0037] basically repeat the claim limitation without any further details. Therefore, the broadest reasonable meaning of “emit the laser in advance” is unclear. In the interest of compact prosecution “emit the laser in advance” is interpreted as switching the laser beam ON from 1 to 5 seconds before the normal time. Obviously, the laser oscillator (source of the laser beam) would have been switched OFF when a secondary battery cell can and electrode tab were not being welded to avoid wasting electricity and to extend the operating life of the laser oscillator. For example, after welding a first electrode tab to a first secondary battery cell can, it would have been obvious to switched OFF the laser oscillator (source of the laser beam) while the index table rotates the previously welded first electrode tab to a first secondary battery cell can out of the weld zone and rotates into the weld zone a second electrode tab and a second secondary battery cell can. When the second electrode tab and a second secondary battery cell can are in the weld zone the laser oscillator (source of the laser beam) would have been switched “ON” to weld the second electrode tab to the second secondary battery cell can. After the weld is completed the laser oscillator (source of the laser beam) would have been switched OFF and the welding cycle would have been repeated until the production run was completed. One of ordinary skill furthermore, would have expected Applicant’s invention to perform equally well with the combination of Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin and Deberg, because it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to switch the laser oscillator (source of the laser beam) ON 1 to 5 seconds before the predetermined manner (normal start time) when the rotation rate of the motor was increased (from the normal rotation rate) to reduce the weld cycle time. In other words, increasing the rotation rate of the index table motor would have reduced the time it took to rotate the previously welded first electrode tab and first secondary battery cell can out of the weld zone and reduced the time it took to rotate an un-welded second electrode tab and second secondary battery cell can into the weld zone.
Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify Nomaru, i.v., Ko Myoung Jin and Deberg, to obtain the invention as specified in Claim 4.
Correspondence
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/LORNE E MEADE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3741