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
Claim(s) 1-14 are pending in the current application and under consideration on the merits.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01 November 2023 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8, 11 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim (US 20060115720 A1, "Kim").
Regarding claim 1,
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Kim teaches a battery module (element 10, [FIG. 1], [0035] comprising: a plurality of battery cells (e.g. unit batteries, element 11, [FIGS. 1], [0035]) arranged in a first direction (shown above in FIG. 1); and an insulating member (e.g. barrier ribs, element 20 and 20’, [FIG.1-2], [0036], [0041], [0057]) provided between the plurality of battery cells ([0050],[FIG. 1]), wherein the insulating member includes a base (e.g. flat panel, element 23, [FIG. 4], [0051]) and a plurality of protrusions ( element 21, [FIG. 4], [0041], [0059]) each protruding from the base in the first direction ([FIG. 4], [0041], the plurality of protrusions being in abutment with at least one of the plurality of battery cells ([FIG. 1], [0036]), the protrusions include a first protrusion [FIG. 2 and 4 shown above], a second protrusion arranged beside the first protrusion along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction [FIG. 2], and a third protrusion arranged beside the first protrusion along a third direction that is orthogonal to the first direction and that intersects the second direction [FIG. 2], ribs (e.g. supporting bar, element 22, 22’, and 22”, [FIG. 2 and 4], [0041]) each protruding from the base in the first direction are provided between the first protrusion and the second protrusion and between the first protrusion and the third protrusion [FIG. 2-14], and in a state in which the insulating member is detached from the battery module (FIGS. 2-14]), a width of each of the ribs is smaller than a width of each of the protrusions [FIG. 2 shown above].
Regarding claim 2, Kim teaches the battery module according to claim 1, wherein the ribs are formed to connect the first protrusion and the second protrusion to each other and connect the first protrusion and the third protrusion to each other ([0041], [FIG. 2]).
Regarding claim 3, Kim teaches the battery module according to claim 1, wherein in the state in which the insulating member is detached from the battery module, a protruding height of each of the ribs is lower than a protruding height of each of the protrusions [FIG. 2-14].
Regarding claim 4, Kim teaches the battery module according to claims 1-3 as described above.
Regarding claim 5, Kim teaches the battery module according to claim 1, wherein the base has a first surface and a second surface facing each other in the first direction, the ribs include a first rib formed on the first surface and a second rib formed on the second surface, and the first rib and the second rib are formed at positions different from each other in the second direction or the third direction (e.g. mirror-image member, [0053], [0055], [FIG. 5, 8, 11, and 14].
Regarding claim 6, Kim teaches the battery module according to claims 1-2 and 5 as described above.
Regarding claim 7, Kim teaches the battery module according to claims 1, 3, and 5 as described above.
Regarding claim 8, Kim teaches the battery module according to claims 1-3 and 5 as described above.
Regarding claim 13, Kim teaches the battery module according to claim 1, wherein the width of each of the ribs becomes larger in a tapered shape from a tip of the rib toward the base between the first protrusion and the second protrusion or between the first protrusion and the third protrusion ( e.g. each supporting bar may be integrally formed with the protrusions [0048], [0046], [FIGS. 12-14]).
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.
Claim(s) 9-12 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 20060115720 A1, "Kim") in view of Oka et al. (US 20210135317, "Oka").
Kim teaches the battery module according to claims 1-3, 5, and 13 as described above.
Kim fails to teach the insulating member including a material selected from a group consisting of an ethylene propylene rubber, a urethane rubber, a silicone rubber, and a fluororubber.
Oka teaches a cell stack body (e.g. battery module, [0015]) formed by alternately disposing the plurality of secondary cells (e.g. battery cells, [0018]) and a plurality of buffer plates (e.g. insulating member, [0018]) arranged in the horizontal direction [0018]. Each buffer plate includes a deformable section [0029] configured of insulating rubber, foam, elastomer, specifically, silicone rubber, ethylene-propylene rubber, fluorine rubber and polyurethane foam [0032].
Kim and Oka each constitute prior art which is analogous to the claimed invention – a battery module. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made for the insulating member of Kim to be modified to include silicone rubber, ethylene-propylene rubber, fluorine rubber and polyurethane foam as taught in Oka to absorb the volume change in the secondary cell (Oka [0032]).
Regarding claims 11-12, Kim in view of Oka discloses the claimed invention except for “the height of the rib being twice or more as large as the width of the rib”. Kim discloses that the invention as taught is not limited to embodiments disclosed. Given that there is no criticality associated with the height to width ratio of the rib, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made for the height of the rib to be twice or more as large as the width of the rib since it has been held that the configuration was a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular configuration claimed was significant. (See MPEP 2144.04 (IV)(A) and 2144.04 (IV)(B)).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered [pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure.
Hada et al. (US 10062938 B2) teaches a battery module comprising one or more battery cells (page 10, column 3, lines 59-60), a rectangular receptable, and partitions located in the receptable (page 10, column 4, lines 61-64). The battery module also includes two long side surfaces (page 11, column 5, lines 5-6) wherein five partitions, projections, and ribs project from (page 11, column 5, lines 14-16). Ribs are arranged to connect projections and the height of the rubs is smaller than the height of the projections (page 11, column 5, lines 53-65).
Conclusion
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/SANDRA BROWN/Examiner, Art Unit 1782
/AARON AUSTIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1782
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