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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) were submitted on 09/29/2023, 07/08/2024, 04/22/2025 and 01/07/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 8-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2001/0031391 to Hironaka et al. in view of US Patent Application Publication 2002/0102460 to Nakai et al.
With respect to claims 1 and 14, Hironaka et al. teach a cylindrical secondary battery comprising: an electrode assembly comprising a first electrode plate, a separator, and a second electrode plate; a center pin extending along a winding axis of the electrode assembly, the center pin having a flange on at least one of an upper end and a lower end thereof; a case 106 accommodating the electrode assembly 105 and the center pin; a terminal 107 extending through an upper end of the case 106 and electrically connected to the first electrode plate of the electrode assembly 105; and a cap plate sealing a lower end of the case 105 (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
Hironaka et al. do not specifically teach the center pin comprising an insulating material.
However, Nakai et al. teach a battery comprising a hollow cylindrical rod core 1 made of polypropylene is used at a center of the winding (Nakai et al.: Section [0023]; Fig. 1).
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It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Hironaka et al. with the teaching above from Nakai et al. with the motivation of having a means such the insulating material would insulate the positive electrode plate from the negative electrode plate.
With respect to claim 2, Hironaka et al. teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein the center pin comprises: a cylindrical body part; a first flange part extending outwardly from an upper end of the body part along an upper surface of the electrode assembly 150; and a second flange part extending outwardly from a lower end of the body part along a lower surface of the electrode assembly 105 (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 3, Hironaka et al. do not specifically teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein the body part, the first flange part, and the second flange part are integrally formed.
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have an integrated center pin by making the body part, the first flange part, and the second flange part are formed integrally, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to make plural parts unitary as a matter of engineering design choice. In re Larson, 144 USPQ 347 (CCPA 1965); In re Lockart 90 USPQ 214 (CCPA 1951).
With respect to claim 4, Hironaka et al. teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein outer diameters of the first flange part and the second flange part are larger than an outer diameter of the body part (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 5, Hironaka et al. teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein outer diameters of the first flange part and the second flange part are in a range of 1.1 to 4.3 times an outer diameter of the body part (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 8, Hironaka et al. teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein the first flange part covers a partial region adjacent to a winding center shaft on the upper surface of the electrode assembly 150, and wherein the second flange part covers a partial region adjacent to the winding center shaft on the lower surface of the electrode assembly 150 (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 9, Hironaka et al. teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein a length of the body part in a winding shaft direction corresponds to a length of the electrode assembly 150 in the winding shaft direction (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 10, Hironaka et al. do not specifically teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein thicknesses of the body part, the first flange part, and the second flange part of the center pin are each in a range of 0.1 mm to 1 mm.
However, the thicknesses of the body part, the first flange part, and the second flange part of the center pin are result effective variables. It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have the thicknesses of the body part, the first flange part, and the second flange part of the center pin are each in a range of 0.1 mm to 1 mm, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). It has been held that discovering that general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller,105 USPQ 233. Generally, differences in ranges will not support the patentability of subject matter encompassed by the prior art unless there is evidence indicating such ranges is critical. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). In re Hoeschele, 406 F.2d 1403, 160 USPQ 809 (CCPA 1969).
With respect to claim 11, Hironaka et al. teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein the center pin has a hollow part extending through the center thereof (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 12, Hironaka et al. teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein a diameter of the hollow part is smaller than that of a lower surface of the terminal (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 13, Hironaka et al. teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein the electrode assembly 105 is directly wound around the center pin so that an outer circumferential surface of the center pin contacts and is closely adhered to an inner circumferential surface of the electrode assembly 105 (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 15, Hironaka et al. teach the cylindrical secondary battery, further comprising a first current collector plate 111 between the upper surface of the electrode assembly 105 and the case 106 and electrically connecting the positive electrode tab 108 and the terminal 107 (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 16, Hironaka et al. teach the cylindrical secondary battery, further comprising a second current collector plate 112 having a circular plate shape corresponding to the lower surface of the electrode assembly 105 and contacting and electrically connected to the negative electrode tab 109 that protrudes downwardly from the electrode assembly 105 (Hironaka et al.: Section [0125]; Fig. 2).
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2001/0031391 to Hironaka et al. in view of US Patent Application Publication 2002/0102460 to Nakai et al. in further view of US Patent Publication 6,451,473 to Saito et al.
With respect to claims 6 and 7, Hironaka et al. do not specifically teach the cylindrical secondary battery, wherein the electrode assembly further comprises: a plurality of positive electrode tabs protruding upwardly from the upper surface of the electrode assembly and bent in a direction of a winding shaft of the electrode assembly; and a plurality of negative electrode tabs protruding downwardly from the lower surface of the electrode assembly and bent in the direction of the winding shaft of the electrode assembly; wherein from among the plurality of positive electrode tabs, the positive electrode tab at a winding front-end region is above and overlaps the first flange part on a plane, and wherein from among the plurality of negative electrode tabs, the negative electrode tab at the winding front-end region is below and overlaps the second flange part on a plane.
However, Saito et al. teach a cylindrical secondary battery, wherein the electrode assembly further comprises: a plurality of positive electrode tabs 8 protruding upwardly from the upper surface of the electrode assembly 7 and bent in a direction of a winding shaft 6 of the electrode assembly 7; and a plurality of negative electrode tabs 14 protruding downwardly from the lower surface of the electrode assembly 7 and bent in the direction of the winding shaft 6 of the electrode assembly 7; wherein from among the plurality of positive electrode tabs 8, the positive electrode tab 8 at a winding front-end region is above and overlaps the first flange part 24 on a plane (Saito et al.: Column 8, Lines 9-53; Figs. 9A-9D).
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Hironaka et al. with the teaching above from Saito et al. with the motivation of having a means such the electrode tabs would be connected at the same position to increase the conductivity of the electrode tabs.
Saito et al. do not specifically teach the battery, wherein from among the plurality of negative electrode tabs 14, the negative electrode tab at the winding front-end region is below and overlaps the second flange part on a plane.
However, the position and the structure of the negative electrode tabs 14 relative to the winding shaft 6 with the first flange part 24 is very similar to the positive electrode tabs 8.
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified with the teaching of the positive electrode tabs 8, the negative electrode tab 14 at the winding front-end region is below and overlaps the second flange part 24 on a plane.
Conclusion
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/LINGWEN R ZENG/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 6/19/2026
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