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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-16, in the reply filed on 4/3/26 is acknowledged.
Claims 17-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/3/26.
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.
Claims 1-3, 7-10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over La et al (WO2019199014)(the English equivalent US20210115532 is cited throughout the rejection).
La, abstract, teaches a method for recovering an active metal of a lithium secondary battery whereby a cathode active material mixture obtained from a used cathode of a lithium secondary battery is prepared, and the cathode active material mixture is reacted in a fluidized bed reactor to form a preliminary precursor mixture. A lithium precursor is recovered from the preliminary precursor mixture.
La, paragraph 18 of the PGPUB, teaches the fluidized bed reactor may include a reactor body and an upper portion of a reactor, and the upper portion may have a cross-section or a width greater than that of the reactor body.
La, paragraph 45 of the PGPUB, teaches an average particle diameter (D50) of the cathode active material mixture may be from 5 to 100 μm. Within the above range, the lithium-transition metal oxide such as Li(NCM)O2 may be easily separated from the cathode current collector, the conductive agent and the binder contained in the cathode active material mixture.
La, paragraph 54 of the PGPUB, teaches the lithium-transition metal oxide may be reduced by the hydrogen gas so that a preliminary lithium precursor.
La, paragraph 86 of the PGPUB, teaches the Li—Ni—Co—Mn oxide was decomposed by a reductive reaction in the fluidized bed reactor, and preliminary precursors including metals such as Ni and Co, manganese oxide, lithium hydroxide (LiOH), etc., were generated.
It 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 that the mixture having an average particle diameter (D50) of the cathode active material mixture may be from 5 to 100 μm can comprise more than 1 particle diameter such as 5 microns, 50 microns and 100 microns because within this range, the lithium-transition metal oxide such as Li(NCM)O2 may be easily separated from the cathode current collector, the conductive agent and the binder contained in the cathode active material mixture.
Regarding claim 2, it 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 that the mixture having an average particle diameter (D50) of the cathode active material mixture may be from 5 to 100 μm can comprise more than 1 particle diameter such as 5 microns, 50 microns and 100 microns because within this range, the lithium-transition metal oxide such as Li(NCM)O2 may be easily separated from the cathode current collector, the conductive agent and the binder contained in the cathode active material mixture.
Further, La, Fig. 1-100, teaches a fluidized bed that can be broken up into a top first region, a middle second region and a third lower region in which the powder can be fluidized in any of the regions.
Regarding claim 3, La, Fig. 1-100, teaches a fluidized bed that can be broken up into a top first region, a middle second region and a third lower region in which the powder can be fluidized in any of the regions.
Regarding claim 8, it 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 that the mixture having an average particle diameter (D50) of the cathode active material mixture may be from 5 to 100 μm can comprise more than 1 particle diameter such as 5 microns, 50 microns and 100 microns because within this range, the lithium-transition metal oxide such as Li(NCM)O2 may be easily separated from the cathode current collector, the conductive agent and the binder contained in the cathode active material mixture.
Regarding claim 9, La, paragraph 13 of the PGPUB, teaches in the formation of the preliminary precursor mixture, a reductive reaction gas may be injected into the fluidized bed reactor.
Regarding claim 10, La, paragraph 17 of the PGPUB, teaches the injection flow rate of the reductive reaction gas may be less than or equal to a terminal velocity of the cathode active material mixture.
Regarding claim 12, La, paragraph 16 of the PGPUB, teaches the injection flow rate of the reductive reaction gas may be 10 cm/s or more.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6, 11 and 13-16 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.
Although La, paragraph 18 of the PGPUB, teaches the fluidized bed reactor may include a reactor body and an upper portion of a reactor, and the upper portion may have a cross-section or a width greater than that of the reactor body, La does not teach the cross-sectional diameter of the first region is greater than a cross-sectional diameter of the second region, and the cross-sectional diameter of the second region is greater than a cross-sectional diameter of the third region as claimed in claim 4.
There is no motivation to modify the method to obtain the reactor body as claimed in claim 4.
Although La, paragraph 17 of the PGPUB, teaches the injection flow rate of the reductive reaction gas may be less than or equal to a terminal velocity of the cathode active material mixture, La does not teach a maximum flow velocity of the reducing gas in the second region is a minimum fluidization rate or more of the second active powder and a maximum flow velocity of the reducing gas in the third region is a minimum fluidization rate or more of the third active material powder as claimed in claim 11.
There is no motivation in the reference to modify the method to obtain the method as claimed in claim 11.
Although La teaches a first, second and third region, the reference does not teach a first connection section which connects the first region and the second region, and has a cross-sectional diameter decreasing from the first region to the second region; and a second connection section which connects the second region and the third region, and has a cross-sectional diameter decreasing from the second region to the third region as claimed in claim 13.
There is no motivation in the reference to modify the method to obtain the method as claimed in claim 13.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US20130302226 teaches a method of recycling Li-ion batteries therefore includes generating a solution of aggregate battery materials from spent cells, and precipitating mixtures from the generated solution.
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/STEFANIE J COHEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1732 4/27/26
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