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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-5 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mehta (US 5,644,282) (hereinafter referred to as ‘Mehta’).
Mehta teaches
Regarding claim 1,
a battery pack comprising:
a control circuit board (col. 5, lines 3-5),
a first cell (cell 26) having a first terminal electrically coupled to the control circuit board (see Figure 1);
a second cell (cell 26) electrically coupled to the first cell and having a second terminal (see Figure 1);
a fuse (fuse 90) electrically coupling the second terminal to the control circuit board, the fuse being positioned between the second terminal and the control circuit board (see Figures 6 and 7;
an electrically insulative strap (insulating layer 94) molded to the fuse, the strap electrically isolates the fuse from the first cell (col. 3, line 45-col. 4, line 2);
regarding claim 2, the battery pack of claim 1, wherein the fuse has a cell-side portion having a first width, a board-side portion having a second width, and a central portion between the cell-side portion and the board-side portion having a third width smaller than the first width and the second width (see Figures 4-7);
Regarding claim 3, the battery pack of claim 1, wherein the fuse has an encapsulated portion surrounded by the strap and a free portion not encapsulated by the strap (see Figure 4);
Regarding claim 5, the battery pack of claim 3, wherein the second terminal is coupled to the fuse at the free portion (see Figure 4);
Regarding claim 5, the battery pack of claim 3, wherein the fuse has a cell-side portion, a board-side portion, and a central portion between the cell-side portion and the board-side portion, the central portion being part of the free portion of the fuse spaced from the strap (see Figure 4);
Regarding claim 7, the battery pack of claim 1, further comprising a third cell with a third terminal, the third cell being electrically coupled with the first cell and the second cell, the third terminal being electrically isolated from the second terminal by the strap (see Figure 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 8-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 6, although the Mehta invention discloses a control circuit board, a first cell with a first terminal, and a second cell with a second terminal, , the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest either alone or in combination thereof:
the battery pack of claim 1, further comprising a core box having a wall with a receptacle, the receptacle receiving a tab of the strap to align the strap with the wall;
Regarding claim 8 although the Mehta invention discloses a control circuit board, a cell with a first terminal, and another cell with a second terminal, the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest either alone or in combination thereof:
A battery pack comprising:
a tap electrically coupled to the first terminal and the second terminal at the interface;
an electrically insulative wall molded to the tap, the wall secures the position of the tap; and
a trace electrically coupling the tap to the control circuit board, the trace being configured to transmit a signal indicative of at least one of a voltage and a current at the interface to the control circuit board;
Regarding claim 15 although the Mehta invention discloses a control circuit board, a first cell with a first terminal, and a second cell with a second terminal, the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest either alone or in combination thereof:
a battery pack comprising:
a core box receiving the first cell, the second cell, and the third cell therein;
a wall coupled to the core box, the wall comprising:
a first terminal hole through which the first terminal extends,
a second terminal hole through which the second terminal extends,
a third terminal hole through which the third terminal extends, and
an electrically insulative rib protruding from the wall to inhibit contact and thus electrical short circuiting between the third terminal and either of the first terminal and the second terminal, the rib electrically isolates the third terminal from the first terminal and the second terminal.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMARA ALZAIDA FRANKLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-2389. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
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September 11, 2026
/JAMARA A FRANKLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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