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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-5, 7-12, 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Independent claims 1, 8 and 15 were amended to include the limitation “wherein each fastener includes a first portion overlapping the adjacent battery cells, and a second portion extending at least partially between the adjacent battery cells”. Support has not been found for the limitation of the second portion of the fastener extending at least partially between adjacent battery cells. Support for the amendment is cited as found in Figures 2, 4A and 4B. Figure 2 does not appear to illustrate the fasteners and Figures 4A and 4B illustrate a first portion of fastener 82 that overlaps two adjacent battery cells 40a and a second portion that appears to span the entire distance between the first portion and the cold plate 80. Thus, there does not appear to be support for a second portion of the fastener that extends partially between the adjacent battery cells. Furthermore, it is not clear how a partially extending second portion of the fastener would accomplish the claimed function of securing at least one of the first plurality of battery cells and second plurality of battery cells to the cold plate. In other words, if the second portion does not extend to the cold plate, it is not clear how the fasteners could secure the battery cells to the plate.
Dependent claims are included here as they include the issue cited above.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over KR 102132704 (KR ‘704) in view of US 2023/0020708 (Renz).
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15, KR ‘704 discloses a battery for a hybrid or electric automobile (vehicle) having one or more battery modules (11, 12) each of which include a plurality of cells (13, 14). A cooling plate (18) is provided between the first battery module (11) and second battery module (12) and is considered to provide a first cell layer including a first plurality of battery cells (11) and a second cell layer including a second plurality of battery cells (12). The cold plate (18) is between the first layer and second layer of battery cells and a refrigerant flows through the cooling plate thus the plate is considered to be configured to flow a flow of coolant therethrough. KR ‘704 discloses fastening at the first and second layers of plurality of battery cells to the cold plate via a fastening mechanism comprising bolt 23 and clamping screw 29. The clamping screw 29 is the first portion that overlaps two adjacent battery cells as shown in Figure 2 and the bolt 23 is the second portion that extends at least partially between adjacent battery cells. This mechanism improves stability and brings all battery cells of the plurality of cells (13, 14) into contact with the cooling plate 18 so that the battery cells are effectively cooled. Additionally, a clamping rail that extends over the upper surfaces of cells 13 and 14 may also be considered a first portion of the fastener mechanism such that this portion also overlaps adjacent battery cells. The claim does not preclude overlap of more than just the adjacent cells. KR ‘704 does not disclose an embodiment where a plurality of fasteners are used. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to one of ordinary skill to provide multiple fasteners between adjacent cells to provide increased stability and effective cooling. As explained in MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B), In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (Claims at issue were directed to a water-tight masonry structure wherein a water seal of flexible material fills the joints which form between adjacent pours of concrete. The claimed water seal has a "web" which lies in the joint, and a plurality of "ribs" projecting outwardly from each side of the web into one of the adjacent concrete slabs. The prior art disclosed a flexible water stop for preventing passage of water between masses of concrete in the shape of a plus sign (+). Although the reference did not disclose a plurality of ribs, the court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. Thus, absent an unexpected result, one of ordinary skill would have found it obvious to use a plurality of fasteners. Additionally, KR ‘704 discloses that more one or more of the modules (11, 12) may be used and in the instance more battery modules are present, it would have been obvious to provide additional fasteners.
KR ‘704 does not address the manner in which the refrigerant (coolant) flows through the cooling plate and does not disclose a plurality of pathways. Renz discloses a device for cooling batteries where battery cells are arranged on either side of a cooling plate (Figure 1). A cooling fluid inlet is formed on a first side of the first cooling plate (14). A cooling fluid outlet is formed on a second side of the first cooling plate. The cooling fluid flows from the cooling fluid inlet into the first cooling plate on the first side of the first cooling plate and illustrates the cooling paths (Figure 6). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to provide cooling pathways such as that disclosed by Renz in the cooling plate of KR ‘704 as Renz demonstrates that this cooling plate with the coolant flow pathways successfully cools batteries above and below the plate.
Regarding claims 2, 4, 9, 11, 16, and 18, KR ‘704 discloses that the batteries are arranged such that lower surfaces (17) of the batteries in both the upper module and lower module are in contact with the cooling plate (Figure 2). If the lower surface is considered the second cell end, then the second cell end of the batteries of the first and second pluralities contact the cold plate. Furthermore, this configuration will provide an inverted relationship between the first and second pluralities of battery cells.
Regarding claims 5, 12, and 19, KR ‘704 shows that the first and second plurality of cells and the cold plate are housed by walls 15, 16 and plate shaped base body 31 forming walls at least partially surrounding the batteries and plate.
Further regarding claims 8 and 15, the vehicle of KR ‘704 must inherently have a propulsion system to move and the steps of assembling are considered met by the described structure above.
Claim(s) 3, 10, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over KR 102132704 (KR ‘704) in view of US 2023/0020708 (Renz) and further in view of US 9236590 (Aoki) (cited on the IDS filed 08/06/2024).
KR ‘704 discloses battery cells but does not expressly disclose the cells are pouch cells. Aoki discloses an electric storage module used as a power source for an electric vehicle. Aoki discloses several embodiments where a cooling plate is disposed between two layers of battery cells (10) in a configuration of an electric storage module (1) (See Figure 1 for layers of battery cells (10) on either side of cooling plate (15). The cooling plate allows passage of coolant through the cooling plate. The layers of batteries may be prismatic secondary battery cells which are considered pouch type and as shown in Figure 12. The end with external terminals 107 and 108 is considered to be the first cell end and as shown in Figure 28, end opposite the first cell end (the second cell end) is in contact with cooling plate 15. Thus, the two pluralities of cells (two layers of cells) on either side of plate 15 are inverted relative to one another. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to use pouch cells as the battery cells in KR ‘704 as they are known to be used in stacked configuration for electric vehicles as demonstrated by Aoki. One of ordinary skill would reasonably expect pouch cells to provide the desired energy needs in KR ‘704 based upon the disclosure of Aoki as used in a similar capacity.
Claim(s) 7, 14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 102132704 (KR ‘704) in view of US 2023/0020708 (Renz) and further in view of WO 2022/086101 (Yu).
KR ‘704 as modified by Renz discloses a battery module for a hybrid or electric vehicle as discussed above. KR ‘704 does not disclose that the disconnect is cooled via the flow of coolant diverted from the cold plate via one of a fluidly parallel or series connection or via direct flow to the unit. Note that claims 14 and 20 do not require a diverted flow but are treated here due to the recitation of generally being cooled by coolant flow which is not shown by KR ‘074.
Yu discloses a battery disconnect unit for a battery pack in an electric vehicle. The disconnect unit is cooled with a coolant plate (400) and a refrigerant supply pipe (500) and discharge pipe (600) may be connected to the cooling plate (400). The supply pipe and discharge pipe may communicate with a refrigerant supply main pipe (not shown) and a refrigerant discharge main pipe (not shown) for cooling secondary battery cells in a conventional battery pack. It would have been obvious to provide the disconnects of Yu in the structure disclosed by KR ‘704 and to cool these disconnects in the manner disclosed by Yu, where the coolant flow path of KR ‘704 is diverged to provide coolant to the disconnect and prevent overheating and use a single source of refrigerant for the battery cells and the disconnect unit.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over KR 102132704 (KR ‘704) in view of US 2023/0020708 (Renz) and US 2024/0243403 (Simonin).
The applied reference of Simonin has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15, KR ‘704 discloses a battery for a hybrid or electric automobile (vehicle) having one or more battery modules (11, 12) each of which include a plurality of cells (13, 14). A cooling plate (18) is provided between the first battery module (11) and second battery module (12) and is considered to provide a first cell layer including a first plurality of battery cells (11) and a second cell layer including a second plurality of battery cells (12). The cold plate (18) is between the first layer and second layer of battery cells and a refrigerant flows through the cooling plate thus the plate is considered to be configured to flow a flow of coolant therethrough. KR ‘704 discloses fastening at the first and second layers of plurality of battery cells to the cold plate via a fastening mechanism comprising bolt 23 and clamping screw 29. The clamping screw 29 is the first portion that overlaps two adjacent battery cells as shown in Figure 2 and the bolt 23 is the second portion that extends at least partially between adjacent battery cells. This mechanism improves stability and brings all battery cells of the plurality of cells (13, 14) into contact with the cooling plate 18 so that the battery cells are effectively cooled. Additionally, a clamping rail that extends over the upper surfaces of cells 13 and 14 may also be considered a first portion of the fastener mechanism such that this portion also overlaps adjacent battery cells. The claim does not preclude overlap of more than just the adjacent cells. KR ‘704 does not disclose an embodiment where a plurality of fasteners are used. Simonin discloses an energy system including multiple batteries arranged in stacks and multiple fasteners (236, 238, 240) to assemble the batteries to the cold plate and housing. The fasteners of Simonin also have a first portion that overlaps adjacent cells and a second portion that extends between the cells as shown in Figures 6 and 7. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to one of ordinary skill to provide multiple fasteners between adjacent cells to provide increased stability and effective cooling as demonstrated by Simonin and to use multiple cell stacks as in Simonin to increase energy availability. Additionally, KR ‘704 discloses that more one or more of the modules (11, 12) may be used and in the instance more battery modules are present, it would have been obvious to provide additional fasteners.
KR ‘704 does not address the manner in which the refrigerant (coolant) flows through the cooling plate and does not disclose a plurality of pathways. Renz discloses a device for cooling batteries where battery cells are arranged on either side of a cooling plate (Figure 1). A cooling fluid inlet is formed on a first side of the first cooling plate (14). A cooling fluid outlet is formed on a second side of the first cooling plate. The cooling fluid flows from the cooling fluid inlet into the first cooling plate on the first side of the first cooling plate and illustrates the cooling paths (Figure 6). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to provide cooling pathways such as that disclosed by Renz in the cooling plate of KR ‘704 as Renz demonstrates that this cooling plate with the coolant flow pathways successfully cools batteries above and below the plate.
Regarding claims 2, 4, 9, 11, 16, and 18, KR ‘704 discloses that the batteries are arranged such that lower surfaces (17) of the batteries in both the upper module and lower module are in contact with the cooling plate (Figure 2). If the lower surface is considered the second cell end, then the second cell end of the batteries of the first and second pluralities contact the cold plate. Furthermore, this configuration will provide an inverted relationship between the first and second pluralities of battery cells.
Regarding claims 5, 12, and 19, KR ‘704 shows that the first and second plurality of cells and the cold plate are housed by walls 15, 16 and plate shaped base body 31 forming walls at least partially surrounding the batteries and plate.
Further regarding claims 8 and 15, the vehicle of KR ‘704 must inherently have a propulsion system to move and the steps of assembling are considered met by the structure described above.
Claim(s) 3, 10, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over KR 102132704 (KR ‘704) in view of US 2023/0020708 (Renz) and US 2024/0243403 (Simonin) and further in view of US 9236590 (Aoki) (cited on the IDS filed 08/06/2024).
KR ‘704 discloses battery cells but does not expressly disclose the cells are pouch cells. Aoki discloses an electric storage module used as a power source for an electric vehicle. Aoki discloses several embodiments where a cooling plate is disposed between two layers of battery cells (10) in a configuration of an electric storage module (1) (See Figure 1 for layers of battery cells (10) on either side of cooling plate (15). The cooling plate allows passage of coolant through the cooling plate. The layers of batteries may be prismatic secondary battery cells which are considered pouch type and as shown in Figure 12. The end with external terminals 107 and 108 is considered to be the first cell end and as shown in Figure 28, end opposite the first cell end (the second cell end) is in contact with cooling plate 15. Thus, the two pluralities of cells (two layers of cells) on either side of plate 15 are inverted relative to one another. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to use pouch cells as the battery cells in KR ‘704 as they are known to be used in stacked configuration for electric vehicles as demonstrated by Aoki. One of ordinary skill would reasonably expect pouch cells to provide the desired energy needs in KR ‘704 based upon the disclosure of Aoki as used in a similar capacity.
Claim(s) 7, 14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 102132704 (KR ‘704) in view of US 2023/0020708 (Renz) and US 2024/0243403 (Simonin) and further in view of WO 2022/086101 (Yu).
KR ‘704 as modified by Renz and Simonin discloses a battery module for a hybrid or electric vehicle as discussed above. KR ‘704 does not disclose that the disconnect is cooled via the flow of coolant diverted from the cold plate via one of a fluidly parallel or series connection or via direct flow to the unit. Note that claims 14 and 20 do not require a diverted flow but are treated here due to the recitation of generally being cooled by coolant flow which is not shown by KR ‘074.
Yu discloses a battery disconnect unit for a battery pack in an electric vehicle. The disconnect unit is cooled with a coolant plate (400) and a refrigerant supply pipe (500) and discharge pipe (600) may be connected to the cooling plate (400). The supply pipe and discharge pipe may communicate with a refrigerant supply main pipe (not shown) and a refrigerant discharge main pipe (not shown) for cooling secondary battery cells in a conventional battery pack. It would have been obvious to provide the disconnects of Yu in the structure disclosed by KR ‘704 and to cool these disconnects in the manner disclosed by Yu, where the coolant flow path of KR ‘704 is diverged to provide coolant to the disconnect and prevent overheating and use a single source of refrigerant for the battery cells and the disconnect unit.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-5, 7-12, and 14-19 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. New reference KR ‘704 discloses the newly claimed fastener structure added to the independent claims.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 JENNIFER C MCNEIL whose telephone number is (571)272-1540. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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JENNIFER C. MCNEIL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1723
/Jennifer McNeil/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1723
