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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 8-11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 8-11 use the term “surface-treated part”. In the specification it is disclosed that the term “surface-treated part” is a surface-treated region of a component rather than a distinct part. For consistency with the specification, amendment of “surface-treated part” to a more appropriate description is encouraged.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-3 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ichinohashi (US 2021/0359378) in view of Kadoi (US 2022/0158279).
Regarding claim 1, Ichinohashi discloses an electrical storage device (Electrical storage device (10), Figure 1, [0036]) comprising,
an electrode body comprising a first electrode and a second electrode (Electrode assembly (700), Figure 2, [0041]),
a case that accommodates the electrode body (Case (100), Figure 1, [0039]),
a first current collecting member electrically connected to the first electrode (Current collector (500) connected electrically to electrode assembly (700), Figure 2, [0043]),
a terminal member connected to the first current collecting member (Electrode terminal (200) connected to current collecting member (500), Figure 2, [0042]), and
an insulating member, which insulates the first current collecting member and the terminal member against the case (Upper gasket (300) insulates electrode terminal (200) against case (100) and lower gasket (400) insulates current collector (500) against case (100), Figures 1-2, [0044]),
wherein the case has a first wall (Case lid (120), Figure 2, [0039]),
the first wall has a first through hole (Through hole (123) of case lid (120), Figure 2, [0042]),
the first current collecting member has a first region placed along an inner surface of the first wall (Current collector (500) has a terminal connecting portion (510) that is arranged along an inner surface of the case lid (120), Figures 2-3, [0050]),
a projection part, projecting to the first wall, is provided in the first region, at least part of the projection part is placed within the first through hole (Shaft portion (201) inserted into through hole (123) of case lid (120) to terminal connecting portion (510), Figure 2, [0042] and [0048]), and
the terminal member is connected to the projection part (Electrode terminal (200) connected to shaft portion (201), Figure 2, [0042]).
Ichinohashi fails to explicitly teach that the insulating member is an integral product, having an insulated part placed between the first current collecting member and the first wall, and an insulating part placed between the first wall and the terminal member. While Ichinohashi does disclose the proper arrangement of the insulating parts in relation to the pertinent components, it does not state that the insulating member is an integral product.
Kadoi, teaching a secondary battery (abstract), discloses that the current collecting member, first wall, terminal member, and insulating member can be molded into one integral product (Figure 7, [0005] and [0050]). Kadoi teaches that integrating these parts into one piece leads to reductions in the defects experienced by battery cases during leakage and resistance testing, resulting in improved battery product yield ([0006]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Ichinohashi to incorporate the teachings of Kadoi to construct an insulating member that is integral with the parts that it is insulating to improve the integrity of the battery case. In addition to the foregoing, the examiner also notes that the courts have generally held integral versus multi-piece constructions to be matters of obvious design choice [MPEP 2144.04(V)(B)].
Regarding claim 2, Ichinohashi in view of Kadoi discloses the electrical storage device discussed above in claim 1. Ichinohashi further discloses the insulating member placed on a side of the electrode body of the projection part (Figure 2, Lower gasket (400) and upper gasket (300) are both on side of the shaft portion (201), [0042]).
Regarding claim 3, Ichinohashi in view of Kadoi discloses the electrical storage device discussed above in claim 1. Kadoi further discloses that an upper surface of the projection part and the terminal member are connected in an inner side of the first through hole (Figure 2, external terminal (43) connected with protruding portion (42c) in an inner side of the terminal mounting hole (41c), [0032]). Although Ichinohashi also discloses an upper surface of the projection part connecting to the terminal member ([0042]), the connection is not located on an inner side of the first through hole. As discussed above in claim 1, Kadoi teaches molding the current collector, insulating member, terminal member, and first wall into an integral product. It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art to modify the component arrangement of Ichinohashi with that of Kadoi to facilitate the molding of those components into one integral piece as taught by Kadoi. In addition to the foregoing, the examiner also notes that the courts have generally held the rearrangement of parts to be matters of obvious design choice [MPEP 2144.04(VI)(C)].
Regarding claims 8 and 10, Ichinohashi in view of Kadoi discloses the electrical storage device discussed above in claim 1. Kadoi also discloses a first surface-treated part is provided in a vicinity of a periphery of the first through hole on the inner surface of the first wall, and the first surface-treated part and the insulating member are in contact with each other (First surface-treated part is the area that insulating resin (44) is joined to the case lid (41b) near the terminal mounting hole (41c) that is surfaced roughened, [0043]).
Kadoi further discloses a second surface-treated part is provided on at least part of a surface of the terminal member facing the first current collecting member, and the second surface-treated part and the insulating member are in contact with each other (Second surface-treated part is the area that insulating resin (44) is joined to external terminal (43) that is surface roughened, [0043]).
Kadoi also teaches that it is beneficial to surface-treat these areas with surface roughening to increase the joining strength of the insulating member with both the first wall and the terminal member ([0043]). It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ichinohashi to include the surface-treated regions taught by Kadoi to increase the joining strength of the relevant components.
Regarding claims 9 and 11, Ichinohashi in view of Kadoi discloses the electrical storage device discussed above in claims 8 and 10. Neither Ichinohashi nor Kadoi discloses the exact claimed ratio of arithmetic mean roughness between the surface-treated parts and the corresponding non-surface-treated parts. However, Kadoi does teach the use of surface roughening on areas of the first wall and terminal member that contact the insulating member to improve the joining strength among said components ([0043]). Kadoi further teaches arithmetic mean roughness values for the roughened surfaces in contact with the insulating member ([0043]). The courts have stated “"[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." (MPEP 2144.05). It would have been obvious for someone of ordinary skill in the art to use the teachings of Kadoi and optimize the degree of surface roughening to improve the joining strength between the insulating member and the components it is in contact with. The application taught in Kadoi clearly demonstrates the reason for surface treating said parts and the routine optimizations thereof are not deemed to be a patentably distinguishing feature.
Regarding claim 12, Ichinohashi in view of Kadoi discloses the electrical storage device discussed above in claim 1. Ichinohashi further discloses an area of a surface of the terminal member facing the first current collecting member being greater than an area of an upper surface of the projection part (Figure 2, area of surface of electrode terminal (200) facing current collector (500) greater than area of the upper surface of the shaft portion (201), [0048]).
Claims 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ichinohashi (US 2021/0359378) and Kadoi (US 2022/0158279), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Li et al (US 2019/0067663).
Regarding claims 4 and 6, Ichinohashi in view of Kadoi discloses the electrical storage device discussed above in claim 1. However, neither Ichinohashi or Kadoi explicitly teaches that the first current collecting member consists of three regions and two slits, where the second region is on a transverse side of the first region,
a first slit is formed between the first region and the second region,
the second region is placed along the inner surface of the first wall,
the second region faces the first wall with the insulating member therebetween,
a third region on an opposite side of the second region with respect to the first region,
a second slit is formed between the first region and the third region,
the third region is placed along the inner surface of the first wall, and
the third region faces the first wall with the insulating member therebetween.
Li, disclosing a secondary battery, teaches a current collecting member that consists of three regions and two slits (Figure 9, wiring board (501), [125]), as seen in annotated figure 9 below.
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Annotated Figure 9
Li also discloses that the insulating member is positioned between the current collecting member and the first wall (Figure 1 and 2, insulator (40) between the cap plate (10) and wiring board (500), [126]). Li teaches that using a current collecting member in the above stated shape and configuration in a secondary battery can lead to an overall simplified structure, which results in greater assembly efficiency and lower processing costs for the secondary battery ([0123] - [0124]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Ichinohashi in view of Kadoi to incorporate the teachings of Liu to construct the claimed current collector because it would result in a simplified and more cost-effective secondary battery due to its improved assembly efficiency and reduced processing costs.
Regarding claims 5 and 7, Ichinohashi in view of Kadoi and Li disclose the electrical storage device discussed above in claims 4 and 6. However, Ichinohashi, Kadoi and Li do not explicitly disclose an insulating member being placed into the first and second slits of the current collector member. Liu does disclose a current collecting member with two slits (Figure 9, wiring board (501), [125]). Liu also discloses that the current collecting member is fitted to the surface of an insulating member (Figure 5, Main body of current collector (510) adjacent to lower insulator (40), [0122]). The courts have stated that “"[I]n considering the disclosure of a reference, it is proper to take into account not only specific teachings of the reference but also the inferences which one skilled in the art would reasonably be expected to draw therefrom." (MPEP 2144.01) Due to the insulator being adjacent to the current collector, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art to configure the insulating member to be extended and placed into the slits of the current collecting member. This would optimize the design between the two components, allowing the insulating member to match the shape of the current collecting member for improved insulation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB T LONG whose telephone number is (571)270-1723. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Orlando can be reached at (571) 270-5038. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.T.L./Examiner, Art Unit 1746
/MICHAEL N ORLANDO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1746
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