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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election with traverse of Group I: Claims 1-8 and 17-20 in the reply filed on July 30, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 9-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. New claims 21-22 have been added.
In response to applicant’s argument that the Office has not shown what special technical feature in claim 9 is lacking from claim 1. The examiner respectfully disagrees. As provided in 37 CFR 1.475(a), the requirement of unity of invention can only be fulfilled if there is a same or corresponding special technical feature among the linked inventions. The office has shown that there is no special technical feature in claim 1 by providing prior art that anticipates claim 1, thus, there is no common special technical feature linking claim 1 and claim 9. Therefore, the restriction requirement is maintained.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by K.V et al (US 20240014499 A1).
Claim 1: K.V teaches a cell retainer assembly (115) for a battery pack (105), the cell retainer assembly [abstract, 0037] comprising: a cell holder unit (315) disposed within a housing (110) of the battery pack (105);
wherein the battery pack housing (110) comprises a cooling plate (405) (i.e., thermal plate) coupled to the rear end (210) (i.e., bottom cover) (Figs, 2A. 4) [0045, 0049];
and the cell holder unit (315) comprises through holes (335, 365) (i.e., slots) adapted to receive and position a plurality of individual battery cells (310) therein; and grooves (350,380) formed along an internal portion of the through holes (335, 365);
wherein the grooves (350,380) are adapted to receive adhesive therein to retain each of the plurality of cells (310) within the through holes (335, 365) (Fig. 5) [0046, 0047, 0058, see claim 1].
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.
Claims 2, 6, 8, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K.V et al (US 20240014499 A1), and further in view of Zhu et al. (US 2008/0233470 Al).
Claim 2 and 8: K.V teaches the plurality of cell packs (112) are communicably coupled to a battery management unit (BMU) (120) positions within the battery pack (105) [0026]. K.V does not teach a cross brace connected to a first side panel and second side panel. However, Zhu teaches X- shaped heat collecting plates (1) (i.e., cross braces) interposed between layers of cells (4) [0052] and mounted on side frames (8) such that the cells (4) can be mounted stably between the plates without any pressure stress to prevent the cells from shifting by shock of the outside force thus enhancing the mechanical safety of the battery pack [0055].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have added a cross brace connected to the side panels of K.V’s cell retainer assembly to stabilize the battery cells and prevent them from shifting.
Claim 6: As described above, K.V teaches attaching the cells to the slots using an adhesive. K.V does not teach attaching the cells to the thermal plate with an adhesive. However, Zhu teaches the contacting surfaces between the heat collecting plate (1)(i.e., thermal plate) and the cells (4) may be coated with a heat conductive adhesive, which enhances the connection strength between the plates and the cells to improve mechanical safety of the battery pack and also conducts heat generated by the cells to the heat collecting plate to increase heat dissipating efficiency [0056].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have added a heat conducting adhesive between the bottom of the battery cells and the thermal plate to enhance the connection between the cells and the thermal plate and increase heat dissipation.
Claim 17: As described above K.V. teaches a battery pack comprising a bottom cover, a pack housing coupled to the bottom cover, the pack housing having a plurality of slots for a plurality of individual battery cells, a thermal plate positioned between the bottom cover and the pack housing, adhesive disposed in the plurality of slots, and the plurality of individual battery cells disposed respectively in the plurality of slots, in contact with the adhesive. K.V in combination with Zhu teach the plurality of individual battery cells are mechanically bonded to the thermal plate via an adhesive.
K.V further teaches the battery pack is adapted to be utilized as a source of power in electric vehicles [0024].
Claim 20: K.V further teaches the cells (310) may be electrically coupled to each other via a bus bar [0037, 0046].
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K.V et al (US 20240014499 A1), and further in view of Ma et al. (CN 109103540 A).
Claim 3: As described above, K.V teaches a cooling plate within the battery housing. K.V does not teach a cooling plate comprising a coolant channel, inlet or outlet. However, Ma teaches a water-cooled cooling plate (40) provided with a water inlet pipe joint (41) (i.e. water inlet) and a water return pipe joint (42) (i.e., water outlet) (Figs. 1 and 2) (Page 3 para 12).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have modified K.V’s battery cooling plate so that it has a water channel with an inlet and outlet because Ma teaches such is an operable and effective cooling plate.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K.V et al (US 20240014499 A1), and further in view of Giorgini et al. (US 20190259982 Al).
Claim 4: As described above, K.V teaches a plurality of battery cells disposed in individual slots. K.V does not teach an encapsulating foam surrounding the cells. However, Giorgini teaches a battery case (54) comprising a plurality of cylindrical cells (52) wherein a flame retardant foam potting compound (56) encapsulates each of the electric cells (52) and is disposed in the gaps (80) or spaces defined between the cells to ensure structural stability and contain fires or flames [0066, 0075, 0079] (Fig. 3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have added a flame retardant encapsulating foam between the cells K.V’s battery pack to provide suitable structural or mechanical support to the electric cells and fire protection.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K.V et al (US 20240014499 A1) and Zhu et al. (US 2008/0233470 Al), and further in view of Obasih et al. (US 20210167439 A1).
Claim 5: K.V teaches the battery housing (110) is made of materials which are thermally conductive to enable heat dissipation from within and thereby prevent damage to the battery pack (105) [0033]. K.V does not teach the battery housing is made of nylon. Obasih teaches a battery module housing (54) and cover made of nylon [0040] (Fig. 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have made K.V’s battery pack housing with a material such as nylon because Obasih teaches nylon is a suitable material for a battery pack housing.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K.V et al (US 20240014499 A1), and further in view of Wang et al. (US 20150270586 A1).
Claim 7: As described above, K.V teaches a plurality of cells and a thermal plate disposed in the battery housing. K.V teaches a K.V does not teach a gap between bottom surfaces of the plurality of individual battery cells and an upper surface of the thermal plate. However, Wang ‘586 teaches a traction battery wherein gaps may form between the lower surface of the battery cells and the thermal plate which may result in lower cooling efficiency of the thermal plate [0032] (Figs. 3A-C). Wang teaches the gap can be reduced by including a flexible bladder in the thermal plate assembly to improve the efficiency of the battery. This battery thermal plate assembly includes a support structure (189) defining a cavity having a hollow thermal plate (188) lining the cavity [0033], and a flexible blader (190, 199) arranged inside the thermal plate and configured to expand and contract in response to thermal fluid pressure, thereby conforming to the bottom of the surface of the battery cell array, and thus, improving the mating contact between the cell array (186) and the thermal plate (188) [0034, 0035, 0043]. In this configuration the gap between the bottom of the thermal plate (188) and the bottom of the cells is eliminated, leaving only the gap between the top edges of the thermal plate and the bottom of the cell remains (Figs. 7B and 7C).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have made K.V’s battery pack housing with a thermal management system similar to Wang’s wherein a flexible bladder disposed in a hollow thermal plate is configured to reduce gaps and optimize thermal contact between the bottom of the thermal plate and the bottom of the cells, only leaving a gap between the top edges of the thermal plate and the bottom of the cells because Wang teaches such is an efficient thermal management system that improves heat transfer between the cells and the thermal plate.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K.V et al (US 20240014499 A1) and Zhu et al. (US 2008/0233470 Al), and further in view of Giorgini et al. (US 20190259982 A1).
Claim 18: As described above in claim 4, K.V in combination with Giorgini teach an encapsulating foam disposed in expansion gaps between adjacent battery cells of the plurality of individual battery cells.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K.V et al (US 20240014499 A1) and Zhu et al. (US 2008/0233470 Al), and further in view of Wang et al. (US 20150270586 A1).
Claim 19: As described above in claim 7, K.V in combination with Wang teaches a gap between bottom surfaces of the plurality of individual battery cells and an upper surface of the thermal plate.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K.V et al (US 20240014499 A1), and further in view of Lee et al. (US 20220255145 A1).
Claim 21: As described above, K.V teaches a battery management unit. K.V does not teach a plurality of BMUs bonded to the battery tray unit. However, Lee teaches a battery module assembly comprising a battery management system including a plurality of BMSs (21) and a BMS frame (22) configured to surround and fix the plurality of BMS’s [0002, 0011, 0013, 0069] (Fig. 12-16).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have modified to have included a tray with multiple BMUs in K. V’s battery pack housing because Lee teaches such is an operable battery pack BMS system.
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K.V et al (US 20240014499 A1), and further in view of Wang et al. (CN 211629260 U) and Ma et al. (CN 109103540 A).
Claim 22: K.V teaches the battery housing comprises of a plurality of mounting ports and fasteners adapted to couple the housing (110) to the rear end (210) (i.e., bottom cover) [0053-0036]. K.V does not teach a compressible foam between the bottom cover and the thermal plate.
However, Wang ‘260 teaches a lithium-ion battery pack, comprising: a high-elasticity foam layer disposed between the box body and the liquid cooling plate. Wang ‘260 further teaches the foam layer has thermal insulation properties and, thus, effectively blocks the heat exchange between the liquid cold plate and the box, maximizes the heat exchange performance of the liquid cold plate to the battery pack, and reduces the impact of the battery pack on the external environment. Additionally, the high-elasticity foam layer, the foam can absorb the deformation of the box body, avoiding the deformation of the box body and causing damage to the liquid cooling plate (Page 2 para 11-13).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have modified to have included a compressible foam between the bottom cover and the thermal plate in K.Vs battery pack housing to block the heat exchange between the cooling plate and the bottom cover, and maximize the heat exchange performance of the cooling plate to the battery pack, and prevent damage to the cooling plate.
K.V does not teach the thermal plate and the bottom cover are bolted to each other, however, Ma teaches a cooling device for a battery comprising insulating pad (30) is disposed between the bottom plate (21) and the cooling plate (40). Ma further teaches the upper casing 10, the bottom plate 21, the insulating pad (30) and the cooling plate (40) are each provided with a plurality of bolt holes, and the plurality of fixing bolts 60 sequentially pass through the upper casing (10), the lower casing (20), and the insulation. The bolt holes on the pad (30) and the cooling plate (40) connect the above four components to each other. (Page 3 para 5-7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have modified to have fastened the compressible foam between the bottom cover and the thermal plate in K. V’s battery pack housing using bolts because Ma teaches such is an effective coupling method.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hilligoss et al. (US 20180205055 Al) teaches a battery pack that includes a plurality of electrochemical pouch cells wherein an elastomeric encapsulant encapsulating at least a portion of the electrochemical cells [0004] and is disposed between the electrochemical pouch cells. Hilligoss teaches the encapsulate flexes to accommodate the volumetric swelling of cells during cycling. [0072]. Hilligoss also teaches a battery pack comprising a battery management unit (BMU) system comprising of a plurality of BMUs [0013, 0128].
Moschet et al. (US 20160099449 A1) teaches a gap between battery cells (92) and thermal plate (90) which are filled by a sheet of thermal interface material. Moschet teaches the thermal interface material provides electrical insulation between the battery cells and the thermal plate and enhances heat transfer between the battery cells and the thermal plate.
Ju et al. (CN108075078A) teaches a plurality of battery management system (BMS) bracket plate assemblies (11) connected to the frame structure of a battery box body (abstract, Page 2 para 3, page 3 para 19, Claim 1).
Sato et al. (US 20180205055 Al) teaches a battery (10) housed in a metal housing (80) with a battery monitoring system (1) that includes a plurality of battery monitoring devices (30) arranged in a distributed manner with wire provided to allow communication with an external device [0025, 0027, 0035, 0057-0058] (Fig. 6).
Kim et al. (US 2020/0321669 A1) teaches a heat transfer pad (150B) (i.e., foam) having a thermally conductive material in a solid state and interposed between the plurality of cylindrical battery cells (110) of a secondary battery pack (100) (Fig.4) [abstract, 0085, 0093], wherein heat transfer pad (150B) has an integrated form where the protruding structures (Pl) of the curved portions (153B) respectively provided to the upper pad (151B) and the lower pad (155B) are connected to each other [0094] (i.e., i.e., the pad (foam) is encapsulating and fills the gaps between adjacent cells). Kim further teaches, in this configuration, the contact area of the heat transfer pad (150B) surrounding the outer surface of the plurality of cylindrical battery cells (110) is increased, and since the gap between the plurality of cylindrical battery cells (110) is filled with the heat transfer pad (150B), it is possible to prevent the plurality of cylindrical battery cells (110) from being locally overheated due to the heat stagnant by the air in the gap and the cooling effect of the secondary battery can be maximized [0036, 0095].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINAH RUSERE whose telephone number is (571)272-9954. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Cleveland can be reached at 571-272-1418. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LINAH NATSAI RUSERE/Examiner, Art Unit 1712
/MICHAEL B CLEVELAND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1712
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