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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-6, 8-15, and 17-22 are currently pending
Claims 6, 8, 13, and 15 are amended
Claims 7 and 16 have been cancelled
New claims 21 and 22 have been added
Status of Amendments
The amendment filed 18 September 2026 has been fully considered, but does not place the application in condition for allowance.
This action has been made final.
Status of Objections and Rejections of the Office Action from 18 June 2026
The 103 rejections over Ju in view of Pradella are maintained and have been modified to address the new claims.
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 1-4, 6, 9-15, 18, and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ju et al. (US 20260005403 A1), hereinafter Ju, in view of Pradella et al. (US 20240113397 A1), hereinafter Pradella.
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Ju teaches a battery array 100 (Fig. 2), comprising:
a cell stack 120;
a bus bar module 400 configured for electrically connecting a plurality of battery cells of the cell stack [0074];
a first block 420 (Fig. 8) attached to a first hook structure 420H1 of the bus bar module 420 and positioned to fill a first space between the cell stack 120 and the bus bar module 400, as can be seen in Fig. 6 with the block 420 extending further than the bus bar 410; and
a second block 920 (Fig. 17) attached to a second hook structure 920H of the bus bar module 20b and positioned to fill a second space between the 120 and the bus bar module 400, in this case the raised ridges of 920.
Ju teaches the first block 420 and second block 920 as including an electrically insulating material [0081, 0140], but is silent as to using foam as the electrically insulating material. However, Pradella teaches a busbar receiving body 6 with rib separators 9 comprising an electrically insulative [0015] plastics foam [0040]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the spacers of Ju with the plastics foam material of Pradella. The selection of a known material, in this case a plastics foam, based on its suitability for its intended use, in this case as a bus bar spacer, supported a prima facie obviousness determination in Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945). Further, doing so would have achieved a further reduction in the installation space by reducing the minimum distances between adjacent busbars, without the risk of arcing being increased or even existing at all [Pradella 0015].
Regarding claim 2, modified Ju teaches the battery array according to claim 1. Ju further teaches the bus bar module being covered by a plate member of an array housing [0170].
Regarding claims 3, 6, 9-10, 12-13, 18, and 20, modified Ju teaches the battery array according to claims 1 and 11. Ju further teaches the first hook structure 420H1 being an integral subcomponent of a bus bar module frame, in this case the portion of the spacer that the bus bar 410 makes contact with, of the bus bar module 400, as seen in Fig. 9b and required by claims 3 and 13, and being disposed at a vertically upper section of the bus bar module frame of the bus bar module 400, as seen in Fig. 9b and required by claims 10 and 12. Ju further teaches the second hook structure 920H being a part of a support fixture 920 that is clipped to the bus bar module 400, in this case clipped to the spacer 420 that is part of the bus bar module 400 [0151], as seen in Fig. 17 and required by claims 6 and 13, extending from a base of the support fixture 920, as seen in Fig. 17 and required by claims 6 and 18, including a flexible clip that engages a clip structure of a bus bar module frame of the bus bar module as the support fixture is moved into engagement with the bus bar module frame, seen in Fig. 17 and required by claims 9 and 20, and being disposed at a vertically lower section of the bus bar module frame of the bus bar module 400, as seen in Fig. 17 and required by claims 10 and 12.
Regarding claims 4 and 14-15, modified Ju teaches the battery array according to claims 1 and 11. Ju further teaches the hook structure including a base hook 420H1 and a secondary hook 420H2 that protrudes outwardly from a side of the base hook 420H1, as seen in Fig. 8 and required by claims 4 and 14, wherein the base hook includes a pair of hook legs that are at least partially separated by an indentation, in this case the upper and lower 420H1 portions separated by the indentation along 420, as seen in Fig. 8b, and wherein the secondary hook 420H2 includes a design that mimics that of the base hook, in this case one of the 420H1 portions, as seen in Fig. 8a, as required by claim 15.
Regarding claim 21, modified Ju teaches the battery array according to claim 1. Ju further teaches the foam block at least partially surrounding the hook structure. In this case, block 420 (Fig. 8) is considered to at least partially surround the base of the hook structure 420H1 and block 920 (Fig. 17) is considered to at least partially surround the base of the hook structure 920H.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 22 is allowed.
Claims 5, 8, 17, and 19 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Ju teaches a bus bar module 400 comprising alternating spacer pieces 420 and central bus bars 410. Ju teaches the spacer 420 being formed through plastic injection molding, forming one singular piece with each hook structure being integrally attached to the electrically insulating block. Over molding requires separate formation of one of the pieces followed by subsequent use of that piece to form the other piece. Although the various steps of over molding may be done using injection molding, there would be no motivation to split up the process of Ju to form the piece that is considered to read on the hook structure separately from the piece that is considered to read on the foam block and then over mold the foam block onto the previously formed hook structure.
US 20220109199 A1 and FR 3135834 A1 provide the closest examples of a foam block being attached to a separate hook structure of a bus bar module. US 20220109199 A1 is silent as to a secondary hook in addition to the base hook and there would be no motivation to include multiple hooks in place of the taught bar. FR 3135834 A1 teaches multiple hooks connecting the foam blocks 100 to the bus bar 100, but they do not protrude outwardly from a side of each other. Therefore, neither source is considered to, or could be modified to, read on the claimed limitations.
The pertinent prior art, when taken alone or in combination, cannot be reasonably construed as adequately teaching or suggesting all of the elements and features of the claimed invention as arranged, disposed, or provided in the manner as claimed by the Applicant.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 18 September 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that attachment necessarily requires two distinct things joined together, not one component referenced twice under two different claim labels. Examiner respectfully points out that the foam block and the hook structure of the present rejection are each drawn to distinct portions of the taught spacer that have unique purposes, not to the spacer as a whole, and are inherently joined together by virtue of being integral to the same overall component. Therefore, someone of ordinary skill in the art could interpret the foam block and the hook structure as being distinct things that are both formed and attached to each other at the same time during the compression molding process. However, specifying that one piece is formed first and is subsequently used to form the second piece, as required in an overmolding step, narrows the scope of the limitations past a broad attachment requirement.
Applicant argues that the substitution of the material of Ju with the material of Pradella lacks reasonable expectation of success when molding the interlocking, load-bearing snap-engage features of Ju. Examiner acknowledges that Pradella is silent as to the rigidity or compliance of the plastics foam material. However, Examiner respectfully points out that Pradella teaches curing the plastics material to produce a receiving body formed of the cured plastics foam [0030]. Someone of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that curing processes produce rigid components and would expect a cured plastics foam to be capable of forming the rigid snap-hook feature taught by Ju.
Applicant argues that the spacers 420 and 920 of Ju cannot be considered to fill a space between the cell stack and the bus bar module because they are taught as being a part of the center busbar assembly. Examiner respectfully notes that the foam block filling a space between the cell stack and the bus bar module may be broadly interpreted to mean the foam block is located in a position that is in between the cell stack and the bus bar module. In this case, while Examiner agrees that a portion of the spacer 420 forms the backbone of the center busbar assembly, the side tapered portion that is not covered by the center bus bar 410, as seen in Fig. 8a, is located in a position that is in between the cell stack and the bus bar module in the completed battery array, as seen in Fig. 25. Further, the raised ridges of spacers 920 are located below the side tapered portion of the spacer 420, as seen in Fig. 17, meaning they are also located in a position that is in between the cell stack and the bus bar module in a horizontal direction. Therefore, spacers 420 and 920 are both considered to be positioned to fill a space between the cell stack and the bus bar module.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUSTIN KENWOOD VAN KIRK whose telephone number is (703)756-4717. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Niki Bakhtiari can be reached at (571)272-3433. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DUSTIN VAN KIRK/Examiner, Art Unit 1722
/NIKI BAKHTIARI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1722
