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 § 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 1-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei et al. (CN 216698613 U, see machine translation), in view of Kogami et al. (US 2022/0166086 A1), hereafter referred to simply as Wei and Kogami, respectively.
Regarding Claim 1, Wei teaches a battery module, comprising: a cell assembly comprising a plurality of cells arranged along a length direction of the battery module (“the battery module in this embodiment includes a battery cell group 10 formed by arranging several battery cells 1 side by side,” Paragraph 26, Fig. 2); a collection assembly, wherein the collection assembly is located on a side of the cell assembly along a height direction of the battery module (“a CCS assembly 5 disposed between the upper heat insulation plate 4 and the battery cell group 10,” Paragraph 26, Fig. 2), and is connected to the cell assembly (“the CCS assembly includes a bracket, a plurality of conductive plates positioned on the bracket, and connecting lines connecting the conductive plates. The conductive plates are fixed to the electrode posts of the battery cell by bolts,” Paragraph 10); a first heat insulating member, wherein the first heat insulating member is located on a side of the collection assembly away from the cell assembly along the height direction of the battery module (“an upper heat insulation plate disposed on top of the battery cell group, and a CCS assembly disposed between the upper heat insulation plate and the battery cell group,” Paragraph 6, 4 in Figs. 2-3), and is connected to the collection assembly (“the CCS component 5 includes a bracket 51,” Paragraph 35; “the upper heat insulation plate 4 is fixed on the bracket 51 by several screws,” Paragraph 37), and a second heat insulating member between two adjacent cells of the plurality of cells (“intermediate heat insulation plate disposed between two adjacent battery cells,” Paragraph 6).
Wei does not teach a heat insulation cushion assembly located between two adjacent cells of the plurality of cells, wherein the heat insulation cushion assembly comprises a second heat insulating member and two cushion members, wherein the two cushion members are located on two sides of the second heat insulating member along the length direction of the battery module, and each of the two cushion members has a first side connected to the second heat insulating member and a second side connected to one of the two adjacent cells. Though Wei does teach the second insulating member of this assembly, as discussed above, Wei does not teach including two cushion members on both sides of the second insulating member.
However, Kogami teaches a heat insulation cushion assembly located between two adjacent cells of the plurality of cells (“a separator is sandwiched between the stacked battery cells,” Page 1, line 18), wherein the heat insulation cushion assembly comprises a second heat insulating member and two cushion members, wherein the two cushion members are located on two sides of the second heat insulating member along the length direction of the battery module, and each of the two cushion members has a first side connected to the second heat insulating member and a second side connected to one of the two adjacent cells (“Separator 2 includes heat insulating sheet 5 made of a fiber sheet and silica aerogel, and rubber-like elastic sheets 6 stacked on the surface of heat insulating sheet 5,” Page 4, lines 1-3). Figure 5 shows that, the separator 2 is between two adjacent cells 1, wherein two rubber-like elastic sheets 6 are located on both sides of the heat insulating sheet 5. Each elastic sheet 6 has one side physically connected to the heat insulating sheet and the other side physically connected to one of the two adjacent cells. Kogami teaches that the benefit is to suppress surface pressure if the cells expand, reducing the likelihood of damage to the heat insulating sheet and consequent thermal runaway (page 6, lines 8-13 & 26-28).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to take the battery module taught in Wei, which includes a second heat insulating member between adjacent cells, and add the 2 cushion members in the orientation taught by Kogami in order to protect the second heat insulating member from damage.
Regarding Claim 2, Kogami further teaches that each of the two cushion members comprises two first body portions extending along the height direction of the battery module and two second body portions extending along a width direction of the battery module, and the two first body portions and the two second body portions are connected to form a frame structure (“the separator is partitioned into a stacked region where the rubber-like elastic sheets are stacked and a non-stacked region where the rubber-like elastic sheets are not stacked,“ page 6, lines- 3-5). Figs. 4 and 5 shows that the rubber-like elastic sheets 6 extend in both the height and width direction to form a frame structure, where separator portion 2a forms a frame around separator portion 2b, which does not contain cushion member material.
Regarding Claim 3, Wei further teaches that an end of each of the plurality of cells adjacent to the collection assembly is provided with an explosion-proof port (“a battery cell explosion-proof valve is disposed on the top of the battery cell,” paragraph 6, 11 in Fig. 2), the collection assembly comprises a body portion (“the CCS component 5 includes a bracket 51,” paragraph 35), the body portion is provided with a plurality of avoidance holes arranged along the length direction of the battery module, the plurality of avoidance holes are in one-to-one correspondence to the explosion-proof ports of the plurality of cells, and each of the avoidance holes is communicated with the explosion-proof port corresponding thereto (“An explosion-proof perforation 511 is also provided on the bracket 51 at a position opposite to the explosion-proof valve 11 of the battery cell,” paragraph 35, 5 in Fig. 3 and 51 and 511 in Fig 5).
Regarding Claim 4, Wei further teaches that the first heat insulating member (“the upper heat insulation plate 4,” paragraph 26) comprises a plurality of grooves arranged along the length direction of the battery module (“a pressure relief groove 41 is disposed on the side of the upper heat insulation plate 4 facing the battery cell group 10,” paragraph 26, 4 and 41 in Fig. 4), and the plurality of grooves penetrate along the height direction of the battery module and are in one-to-one correspondence to the plurality of avoidance holes (“there is a corresponding pressure relief groove 41 at the position of the battery cell explosion-proof valve 11 of each battery cell 1,” paragraph 28).
Regarding Claim 5, Wei further teaches a dimension D1 of a bottom wall of one of the grooves along the height direction of the battery module satisfies 0.1 mm≤D1≤0.2 mm (“the thickness of the upper heat insulation plate 4 at the position of the pressure relief groove 41 does not exceed 0.2mm,” paragraph 31).
Regarding Claim 6, Wei further teaches a first heat insulating member (“upper heat insulation plate”) without explicitly teaching a specific thickness. However, Wei does teach that the side heat insulation plate be 0.8 mm (paragraph 32), which is within range of a dimension D2 of the first heat insulating member along the height direction of the battery module satisfies 0.4 mm≤D2≤1 mm. As Fig. 3 shows, the upper heat insulation plate 4 and the side insulation plates 3 both serve the purpose of surrounding/insulating sides of the battery module. Therefore, the thickness of the upper heat insulation plate can be treated as similar to the that of the side heat insulation plates.
Regarding Claim 7, Wei further teaches a dimension D3 of the second heat insulating member (“middle heat insulation plate”) along the length direction of the battery module satisfies 0.5 mm≤D3≤1 mm (“the thickness of the middle heat insulation plate 2 is 0.5 mm,” paragraph 32).
Regarding Claim 8, Kogami further teaches that a dimension D4 of one of the cushion members along the length direction of the battery module satisfies 0.5 mm≤D4≤1 mm. (“the thickness of the rubber-like elastic sheet is from 0.2 mm to 2 mm inclusive,” page 11, lines 15-16).
Regarding Claim 9, Wei further teaches that the first heat insulating member is made of mica (“the upper heat insulation plate is made of mica sheet,” Paragraph 7).
Regarding Claim 10, Wei further teaches that the second heat insulating member is made of mica (“both the intermediate heat insulation plate and the side heat insulation plate are mica sheets,” Paragraph 8).
Regarding Claim 11, Kogami further teaches that each of the cushion members comprises two first body portions extending parallel to each other and two second body portions extending parallel to each other, and the two first body portions and the two second body portions are connected to define a rectangular-ring shape (“the separator is partitioned into a stacked region where the rubber-like elastic sheets are stacked and a non-stacked region where the rubber-like elastic sheets are not stacked,“ page 6, lines- 3-5). Figs. 4 and 5 shows that the rubber-like elastic sheets 6 extend on both sides in the height direction parallel to each other and both sides in the width direction parallel to each other, ultimately connecting to form a rectangular-ring shape. Separator portion 2a forms a rectangular-ring shape around separator portion 2b, which does not contain cushion member material.
Regarding Claim 12, Wei further teaches that the collection assembly is a Cells Contact System assembly (“a CCS assembly 5 disposed between the upper heat insulation plate 4 and the battery cell group 10,” Paragraph 26, Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 13, Wei further teaches that an end of each of the plurality of cells adjacent to the collection assembly is provided with an explosion-proof port (“a battery cell explosion-proof valve is disposed on the top of the battery cell,” paragraph 6, 11 in Fig. 2), the collection assembly comprises a body portion (“the CCS component 5 includes a bracket 51,” paragraph 35) provided with a plurality of avoidance holes (“An explosion-proof perforation 511 is also provided on the bracket 51,” paragraph 35, 5 in Fig. 3 and 51 and 511 in Fig 5), and the first heat insulating member comprises a plurality of grooves penetrating into but not penetrating through the first heat insulating member (“a pressure relief groove 41 is disposed on the side of the upper heat insulation plate 4 facing the battery cell group 10,” paragraph 26, 4 and 41 in Fig. 4), wherein the plurality of avoidance holes are in one-to-one correspondence to the explosion-proof ports of the plurality of cells (“An explosion-proof perforation 511 is also provided on the bracket 51 at a position opposite to the explosion-proof valve 11 of the battery cell,” paragraph 35, 5 in Fig. 3 and 51 and 511 in Fig 5), and in one-to-one correspondence to the plurality of grooves, and wherein each groove is right above the corresponding avoidance hole that is right above and communicated with corresponding explosion-proof port (“the pressure relief groove 41 is opposite to the battery cell explosion-proof valve 11,” paragraph 26). Since each explosion-proof perforation and the pressure relief groove are both opposite each corresponding explosion-proof valve, all three are necessarily also opposite each other. Finally, Fig. 3 shows that the upper heat insulation plate is right above the CCS assembly, which is right above the cell assembly.
Regarding Claim 14, Wei further teaches that the electrolyte of a thermal-runaway cell of the plurality of cells flows through its explosion-proof port (“molten material ejected from the explosion-proof valve at the top of the battery cell,” paragraph 3) and the corresponding avoidance hole of the collection assembly (“an explosion-proof perforation is also provided on the bracket at a position opposite to the explosion-proof valve of the battery cell,” paragraph 10), and then breaks through a bottom wall of the corresponding groove of the first heat insulating member (“the pressure relief groove can release the heat energy by breaking through the upper heat insulation plate at the position corresponding to the pressure relief groove after thermal runaway of the battery cell,” paragraph 5).
Regarding Claim 16, Wei further teaches that the battery module in Claim 15 further comprise two end plates, wherein the cells are arranged between the two end plates, and each of the one or more steel strips comprises two ends fixed to the two end plates respectively (“both the front end plate 7 and the rear end plate 8 are provided with cable tie positioning grooves 70 adapted to the cable tie 6,” paragraph 40, Figs. 3 and 4).
Regarding Claim 17, Wei teaches a battery pack, comprising: a housing, wherein an accommodation space is formed in the housing (“an energy storage device, including an energy storage box 100,” paragraph 45, Fig. 6); and at least one battery module located in the accommodation space (“a plurality of battery modules 200 disposed in the energy storage box 100,” paragraph 45, Fig. 6), wherein each battery module, comprising: a cell assembly comprising a plurality of cells arranged along a length direction of the battery module (“the battery module in this embodiment includes a battery cell group 10 formed by arranging several battery cells 1 side by side,” Paragraph 26, Fig. 2); a collection assembly, wherein the collection assembly is located on a side of the cell assembly along a height direction of the battery module (“a CCS assembly 5 disposed between the upper heat insulation plate 4 and the battery cell group 10,” Paragraph 26, Fig. 2), and is connected to the cell assembly (“the CCS assembly includes a bracket, a plurality of conductive plates positioned on the bracket, and connecting lines connecting the conductive plates. The conductive plates are fixed to the electrode posts of the battery cell by bolts,” Paragraph 10); a first heat insulating member, wherein the first heat insulating member is located on a side of the collection assembly away from the cell assembly along the height direction of the battery module (“an upper heat insulation plate disposed on top of the battery cell group, and a CCS assembly disposed between the upper heat insulation plate and the battery cell group,” Paragraph 6, 4 in Figs. 2-3), and is connected to the collection assembly (“the CCS component 5 includes a bracket 51,” Paragraph 35; “the upper heat insulation plate 4 is fixed on the bracket 51 by several screws,” Paragraph 37), and a second heat insulating member between two adjacent cells of the plurality of cells (“intermediate heat insulation plate disposed between two adjacent battery cells,” Paragraph 6).
Wei does not teach a heat insulation cushion assembly located between two adjacent cells of the plurality of cells, wherein the heat insulation cushion assembly comprises a second heat insulating member and two cushion members, wherein the two cushion members are located on two sides of the second heat insulating member along the length direction of the battery module, and each of the two cushion members has a first side connected to the second heat insulating member and a second side connected to one of the two adjacent cells. Though Wei does teach the second insulating member of this assembly, as discussed above, Wei does not teach including two cushion members on both sides of the second insulating member.
However, Kogami teaches a heat insulation cushion assembly located between two adjacent cells of the plurality of cells (“a separator is sandwiched between the stacked battery cells,” Page 1, line 18), wherein the heat insulation cushion assembly comprises a second heat insulating member and two cushion members, wherein the two cushion members are located on two sides of the second heat insulating member along the length direction of the battery module, and each of the two cushion members has a first side connected to the second heat insulating member and a second side connected to one of the two adjacent cells (“Separator 2 includes heat insulating sheet 5 made of a fiber sheet and silica aerogel, and rubber-like elastic sheets 6 stacked on the surface of heat insulating sheet 5,” Page 4, lines 1-3). Figure 5 shows that, the separator 2 is between two adjacent cells 1, wherein two rubber-like elastic sheets 6 are located on both sides of the heat insulating sheet 5. Each elastic sheet 6 has one side physically connected to the heat insulating sheet and the other side physically connected to one of the two adjacent cells. Kogami teaches that the benefit is to suppress surface pressure if the cells expand, reducing the likelihood of damage to the heat insulating sheet and consequent thermal runaway (page 6, lines 8-13 & 26-28).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to take the battery pack and plurality of battery modules taught in Wei, where each module includes a second heat insulating member between adjacent cells, and add the 2 cushion members in the orientation taught by Kogami in order to protect the second heat insulating member from damage.
Regarding Claim 18, Kogami further teaches that each of the two cushion members comprises two first body portions extending along the height direction of the battery module and two second body portions extending along a width direction of the battery module, and the two first body portions and the two second body portions are connected to form a frame structure (“the separator is partitioned into a stacked region where the rubber-like elastic sheets are stacked and a non-stacked region where the rubber-like elastic sheets are not stacked,“ page 6, lines- 3-5). Figs. 4 and 5 shows that the rubber-like elastic sheets 6 extend in both the height and width direction to form a frame structure, where separator portion 2a forms a frame around separator portion 2b, which does not contain a cushion member layer.
Regarding Claim 19, Wei further teaches that an end of each of the plurality of cells adjacent to the collection assembly is provided with an explosion-proof port (“a battery cell explosion-proof valve is disposed on the top of the battery cell,” paragraph 6, 11 in Fig. 2), the collection assembly comprises a body portion (“the CCS component 5 includes a bracket 51,” paragraph 35), the body portion is provided with a plurality of avoidance holes arranged along the length direction of the battery module, the plurality of avoidance holes are in one-to-one correspondence to the explosion-proof ports of the plurality of cells, and each of the avoidance holes is communicated with the explosion-proof port corresponding thereto (“An explosion-proof perforation 511 is also provided on the bracket 51 at a position opposite to the explosion-proof valve 11 of the battery cell,” paragraph 35, 5 in Fig. 3 and 51 and 511 in Fig 5).
Regarding Claim 20, Wei further teaches that the first heat insulating member (“the upper heat insulation plate 4,” paragraph 26) comprises a plurality of grooves arranged along the length direction of the battery module (“a pressure relief groove 41 is disposed on the side of the upper heat insulation plate 4 facing the battery cell group 10,” paragraph 26, 4 and 41 in Fig. 4), and the plurality of grooves penetrate along the height direction of the battery module and are in one-to-one correspondence to the plurality of avoidance holes (“there is a corresponding pressure relief groove 41 at the position of the battery cell explosion-proof valve 11 of each battery cell 1,” paragraph 28).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei in view of Kogami and in view of Shinichi et al. US5663008 (A), hereafter referred to simply as Shinichi.
Regarding Claim 15, Wei further teaches that the cells are electrically connected in series (“conductive sheets 52 are fixed to the electrode post 12 by conductive bolts to draw out the electrical energy in the battery cell 1. The connecting line 53 is finally connected to the conductive sheet 52 to transmit the electrical energy of the battery cell 1 or to transmit electrical energy into the battery cell 1”, paragraph 36, Fig. 5) and side surfaces of the cells are fixed to one or more steel strips (“The battery module also has cable ties 6 disposed outside the side heat insulation plate 3 to bundle and fix the battery cell group 10 into a group,” paragraph 39). Wei does not specify the material used for the cable ties. However, Shinichi teaches using strips made specifically of steel (“stainless steel band-like binding members 34,” col. 4, lines 57-58, Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the strips taught in Wei by making them out of steel as taught in Shinichi. See MPEP 2144.07: The selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination. Also, see In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960), Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945).
Conclusion
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/JORDAN P WILKERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 1783
/MARIA V EWALD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1783
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