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 .
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.
Specification
The specification and drawings have been reviewed and no clear informalities or objections have been noted.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-11) in the reply filed on 6/26/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 9 and 10 are 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.
Claims 9 and 10 recite the limitation "the protrusion connecting portions". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 4-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ikeda (US 2012/0231638).
Regarding claim 1, Ikeda discloses a battery pack comprising:
a plurality of battery cells (see paragraph 2 which describes a battery assembly containing a plurality of batteries and see Fig. 1 which illustrates a structure which accommodates such a plurality of battery cells);
busbars (14) respectively connected to the plurality of battery cells (see paragraph 23 which discloses that the busbars are connected to the terminals of the batteries);
a holder (battery connection plate 12, see Fig. 1) accommodating the busbars (as depicted in Fig. 1 where the busbars 14 are situated in the battery connection plate 12);
a sensing board (21) seated on the holder, connected to the busbars (via tab 22a, see Fig. 3), and extending in a wavy manner in a first direction (see Fig. 3 where sensing board 21 has a wavy configuration with protrusions 43), the sensing board having holes in both sides thereof (holes 42); and
sensing terminals (branches 22) connecting the busbars to the sensing board (as depicted in Fig. 3) and being configured to detect state information about the plurality of battery cells (see paragraph 24 which discloses detecting voltages of each battery cell),
wherein the holder comprises protrusions (protrusions 42) respectively inserted into the holes (as depicted in Fig. 3 where protrusions 41 are placed into slightly larger holes with larger pitches/widths as described in paragraph 29), and
wherein, in response to the sensing terminals moving, the holes in the sensing board move with respect to the protrusions to stretch the sensing board (such a situation will occur in Ikeda due to the flexibility of the sensing board 21 due to the waves 43 and the configuration of the holes 42 that are wider than the projections 41 which will allow them to shift when the sensing terminals and sensing board moves).
Regarding claim 4, Ikeda further discloses sensing board connecting portions respectively connecting the sensing terminals to the sensing board, and wherein each of the sensing board connecting portions (flex portions 32) is connected to a portion of the sensing board in a direction perpendicular to the first direction (the connection portion 22 is connected in a direction perpendicular to the length of the sensing board/first direction as depicted in annotated Fig. 3-A below).
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Annotated Fig. 3-A
Regarding claim 5, Ikeda further discloses in response to displacement of the sensing terminals in the first direction, the sensing board is stretched in the first direction (due to the flexibility of the waves 43 and the accommodating feature of the protrusions 41 being smaller than the holes 42 as described above) to absorb the displacement by up to a first displacement value (the amount of flex there is in the difference between the protrusion size and the hole size or the amount of flex allowed by the waves 43), and wherein the sensing board connecting portions (32) are deformed in a direction perpendicular to a connection direction (in other words, in the same direction as the first direction since the first direction is perpendicular to the connection direction, where the flex portions 32 are flexed due to movement of the sensing board 21) between the sensing board connecting portions and the sensing terminals to absorb the displacement by up to a second displacement value (which is the same value as the first value).
Regarding claim 6, Ikeda further discloses sensing board connecting portions respectively connecting the sensing terminals to the sensing board, and wherein each of the sensing board connecting portions is connected to a portion of the sensing board in a direction parallel to the first direction (see annotated Fig. 3-B below which illustrates the first direction being parallel to the direction that the sensing board connecting portions are connected to the sensing board).
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Annotated Fig. 3-B
Regarding claim 7, Ikeda further discloses in response to displacement of the sensing terminals in the first direction, the sensing board is stretched in the first direction (due to the flexibility of the waves 43 and the accommodating feature of the protrusions 41 being smaller than the holes 42 as described above) to absorb the displacement by up to a first displacement value (the amount of flex there is in the difference between the protrusion size and the hole size or the amount of flex allowed by the waves 43), and wherein the sensing board connecting portions (32) are deformed in a direction parallel to a connection direction (in other words, in the same direction as the first direction since the first direction is perpendicular to the connection direction, where the flex portions 32 are flexed due to movement of the sensing board 21) between the sensing board connecting portions and the sensing terminals to absorb the displacement by up to a second displacement value (which is the same value as the first value).
Claim(s) 1 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takahashi (US 2022/0021083).
Regarding claim 1, Takahashi discloses a battery pack comprising:
a plurality of battery cells (150);
busbars (10) respectively connected to the plurality of battery cells (see paragraph 23 which discloses that the busbars are connected to the terminals of the batteries);
a holder (holding unit 51 as depicted in Fig. 9) accommodating the busbars (as depicted in Fig. 7 where the busbars 10 are situated on the battery holding unit 51);
a sensing board (31B) seated on the holder (see Fig. 6 were sending board/wiring board 31B is situated on the holder/holding unit 51), connected to the busbars (via tab 41, see Fig. 3), and extending in a wavy manner in a first direction (see Fig. 4 which illustrates a wavy configuration of sensing board section 32C), the sensing board having holes in both sides thereof (holes 25); and
sensing terminals (deformable portions 41) connecting the busbars to the sensing board (as depicted in Fig. 3) and being configured to detect state information about the plurality of battery cells (they are configured in such a way that a voltage can be detected for each battery due to the connection to each busbar, which is similar to the configuration of the instant invention),
wherein the holder comprises protrusions (protrusions 54) respectively inserted into the holes (as depicted in Fig. 5 where protrusions 54 are placed into slightly larger holes 25), and
wherein, in response to the sensing terminals moving, the holes in the sensing board move with respect to the protrusions to stretch the sensing board (such a situation will occur in Takahashi due to the flexibility of the sensing board 51 due to the waves 32B and the configuration of the holes 25 that are wider than the projections 54 which will allow them to shift when the sensing terminals and sensing board moves).
Regarding claim 11, Takahashi further discloses the protrusion upper portions of the protrusions respectively comprise snap-fit portions, and wherein the snap-fit portions are snap-fit to the sensing board.
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.
Claim(s) 2 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (US 2022/0021083) in view of Crowley (US 5,963,432).
Regarding claims 2 and 3, Takahashi teaches cylindrical protrusions that pass through the sensing board, but does not teach:
wherein each of the protrusions comprises: a protrusion upper portion; and a protrusion connecting portion connecting the protrusion upper portion to the holder, and wherein each of the holes has: a first hole portion having a first hole portion width corresponding to a width of the protrusion upper portion; and a second hole portion having a second hole portion width corresponding to a width of the protrusion connecting portion, and
wherein the protrusion upper portions extend through the first hole portions, respectively, and wherein, the protrusion connecting portions respectively pass through the first hole portions and/or the second hole portions.
Crowley also discloses a battery system for connecting two plates in a battery module (see abstract).
Crowley teaches a protrusion (200) that comprises:
a protrusion upper portion (20, as depicted in Fig. 1); and
a protrusion connecting portion (30, as depicted in Fig. 1). Crowley goes on to teach:
wherein each of the holes has: a first hole portion having a first hole portion width corresponding to a width of the protrusion upper portion; and a second hole portion having a second hole portion width corresponding to a width of the protrusion connecting portion (this is precisely what Crowley teaches when describing the disclosed “keyhole” in col. 2 lines 45-65).
Finally, Crowley also teaches:
wherein the protrusion upper portions extend through the first hole portions, respectively, and wherein, the protrusion connecting portions respectively pass through the first hole portions and/or the second hole portions (this is the case in a keyhole configuration where the first/upper portion of the protrusion will pass through only the larger hole and will not pass through the smaller hole). Crowley teaches such a configuration in order to secure a printed circuit board while also facilitating assembly and removal (col. 1 lines 46-60).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to add the keyhole configuration of the protrusion and the hole of Crowley to the system of Takahashi in order to Crowley teaches such a configuration in order to secure a printed circuit board while also facilitating assembly and removal.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (US 2022/0021083) in view of Nomoto (US 2014/0370343 and Japanese language equivalent JP 2014086246A).
Regarding claim 8, Takahashi teaches wiring portions for the sensing board and the sensing terminal, but does not go into detail regarding the exact wiring pathways for each sensing terminal. More specifically, Takahashi does not teach:
the sensing board has a first area forming an edge portion of the sensing board and a second area forming an inner edge portion of the sensing board,
wherein the sensing board comprises: a sensing terminal connecting portion at an end of the sensing terminal and electrically connected to the sensing board passes through the first area to be coupled to the second area of the sensing board;
a first circuit path formed in the first direction of the sensing board;
a second circuit path passing through the first area and electrically connected to the sensing terminal and another sensing terminal; and
a third circuit path electrically connected to the sensing terminal connecting portion of the sensing board in the second area, and
wherein the first circuit path, the second circuit path, and the third circuit path do not overlap each other.
Takahashi, however, does reference JP 2014086246 A as a known wiring diagram.
Nomoto (US 2014/0370343 which is the English language translation of JP 2014086246 A) teaches a known wiring diagram which includes:
the sensing board has a first area forming an edge portion of the sensing board and a second area forming an inner edge portion of the sensing board (see first and second areas in annotated Fig. 4 below, it is noted that the claim does not recite any particular shape or size to the claimed areas),
wherein the sensing board comprises:
a sensing terminal connecting portion (as depicted in annotated Fig. 4 below) at an end of the sensing terminal and electrically connected to the sensing board passes through the first area to be coupled to the second area of the sensing board (see annotated Fig. 4 below where the sensing terminal passes through the first area and couples with the second area);
a first circuit path formed in the first direction of the sensing board (as depicted in annotate Fig. 4 below);
a second circuit path passing through the first area and electrically connected to the sensing terminal and another sensing terminal (as depicted in annotate Fig. 4 below); and
a third circuit path electrically connected to the sensing terminal connecting portion of the sensing board in the second area (as depicted in annotate Fig. 4 below), and
wherein the first circuit path, the second circuit path, and the third circuit path do not overlap each other (there are not paths that overlap in Fig. 4).
Nomoto, as acknowledged by Takahashi, teaches a known, effective electrical pathway layout for the wires that are contained in the sensing board of Takahashi. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to utilize the wiring configuration of Nomoto in the sensing board of Takahashi in order to effectively wire each sensor in the sensing board such that the voltage of the cells in Takahashi can monitored.
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Annotated Fig. 4
Claim(s) 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (US 2022/0021083) in view of Inamura (US 2023/0170575).
Regarding claims 9 and 10, Takahashi teaches protrusions that extend through the sensing board to orient the sensing board in the correct place on the holder. However, Takahashi does not teach that the protrusions are connected via heat stacking method or that the protrusions have caps.
Inamura also discloses a battery configuration (see abstract).
Inamura, like Takahashi, teaches protrusions (63C, Fig. 13A) that extend from a holder (42C) and through a plate (49). Inamura goes on to teach that the protrusion is thermally staked in order to ensure a connection between the plate and the protrusion (see paragraphs 27 and 86).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to add the thermal staking configuration of Inamura, which produces a cap on the protrusion, to the protrusion of Takahashi in order to ensure a secure connection between the protrusion and the sensing plate.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (US 2022/0021083) in view of Autonetworks (US 2022/0013868).
Regarding claim 11, Takahashi teaches protrusions that are in the shape of cylinders that pass-through holes in the sensing board (as disclosed above). Takahashi, however, does not teach the protrusion upper portions of the protrusions respectively comprise snap-fit portions, and wherein the snap-fit portions are snap-fit to the sensing board.
Autonetworks also discloses a sensing board configuration (see abstract).
Autonetworks, like Takahashi, teaches protrusions (stopper pieces 47) that pass through a hole (25, as depicted in Fig. 8). Autonetworks goes on to teach that the upper portions of the protrusions have a snap-fit connection (47B) that snap into the sensing board (as depicted in Fig. 8). Autonetworks teaches such a configuration such that the sensing board (FPC member 21) is properly retained (paragraph 70).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to add the stopper piece/snap fit connection of Autonetworks to the protrusion of Takahashi in order to properly retain the sensing board when engaged with the protrusion.
Relevant Prior Art
US 2023/0050674 – Discloses a battery wiring module having busbars, sensing board held by a protector/holder and an engagement pin movable with an elongated hole, similar to that of the instant invention.
US 2022/0013867 – Teaches a battery module having busbars 10, FPC 20 and a holder 50 where the FPC/sensing board has a wavy configuration, similar to that of the instant invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW J MERKLING whose telephone number is (571)272-9813. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8am-6pm.
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/MATTHEW J MERKLING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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