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 .
Priority
Acknowledgement has been made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 USC 119 (a-d). The certified copy has been filed on 4/3/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed 2/26/2024 has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings received 2/26/2024 are acceptable for examination purposes.
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.
Claims 1-10, 12-17, 19, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwak (US 2019/0067664) in view of Hashimoto (US 2011/0244319).
Figure 2. Regarding claim 1, Kwak discloses a secondary battery comprising:
an electrode assembly comprising a first electrode plate and a second electrode plate alternately stacked with a separator therebetween;
a first current collector plate coupled to the first electrode plate;
a case accommodating the electrode assembly and the first current collector plate;
a cap plate 151 coupled to the case;
a first terminal 154 contacting the first current collector plate, and having an upper end penetrating the cap plate 151 to be exposed; and
Regarding claim 1, Kwak does not disclose an insulating tape covering an upper surface and a lower surface of the electrode assembly, fixing the electrode assembly, and extending along a longitudinal direction of the cap plate. Hashimoto teaches an insulating tape 10 covering an upper surface and a lower surface of the electrode assembly (depending on the orientation of Hashimoto’s battery), fixing the electrode assembly, and extending along a longitudinal direction of the cap plate. Figure 2. It is noted that the insulating tape of Hashimoto has a thickness in the z-direction, and hence reads on Applicant’s “extending along a longitudinal direction of the cap plate”.
Hashimoto teaches for the stack-type or wound-type lithium ion secondary battery, since the sheet-shaped positive electrode and negative electrode are stacked or laminated with the separator interposed therebetween, misalignment of the positive electrode and the negative electrode in the square battery can, i.e., a "a misaligned stack" may occur [0005]. The insulating tape helps to prevent misalignment, as well as deformation [0030].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to add an insulating tape of Hashimoto to the upper surface and lower surface of the electrode assembly of Kwak, as taught by Hashimoto, for the benefit of preventing deformation of the electrode assembly.
Regarding claim 2, Hashimoto teaches the insulating tape comprises:
an upper insulating tape covering the upper surface of the electrode assembly, and covering upper portions of long side surfaces of the electrode assembly adjacent to the upper surface of the electrode assembly; and
a lower insulating tape covering the lower surface of the electrode assembly, and covering lower portions of the long side surfaces adjacent to the lower surface of the electrode assembly. Hashimoto’s insulating tape 10 makes a U-shape. See figure 1 and 2.
Regarding claim 3, an exposed area of the long side surfaces is larger than an area in which the insulating tape is attached, Hashimoto teaches insulating sheets having a long part 7 and two short parts 8 to form a U-shape [0065]. The length of the short part 8 is made short to prevent the upper insulting sheet and lower insulating sheet from overlapping [0069]. The insulating tape also has a U-shape (figure 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to limit the short part of the insulating tape similar to the insulating sheet for the benefit if preventing overlap of the two insulating tapes.
Regarding claim 9, the insulating tape is a rectangular integrated tape, and covers more than 80% of the upper surface of the electrode assembly, Hashimoto teaches for the stack-type or wound-type lithium ion secondary battery, since the sheet-shaped positive electrode and negative electrode are stacked or laminated with the separator interposed therebetween, misalignment of the positive electrode and the negative electrode in the square battery can, i.e., a "a misaligned stack" may occur [0005]. The insulating tape helps to prevent misalignment, as well as deformation [0030]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form the insulating tape to cover most of the upper and lower surfaces of the electrode assembly of Kwak for the benefit of avoiding misalignment of the electrode assembly.
Regarding claim 10, the insulating tape has a thickness of about 35 µm to about 55 µm, Hashimoto teaches the insulating sheet may be a rigid insulating plate having a thickness sufficient to prevent deformation [0030]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form the insulating tape with an appropriate thickness as well for the benefit of tightly securing the electrode assembly.
Regarding claim 14, the insulating tape is attached to a central region of the upper surface of the electrode assembly, and a central region of the lower surface of the electrode assembly, to overlap the first terminal and the second terminal in a plan view, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to cover most of the upper and lower surfaces of the electrode assembly of Kwak for the benefit of avoiding misalignment of the electrode assembly. It is noted that since the first and second terminal plates 154 and 157 extend in the longitudinal direction, covering most of the upper and lower surfaces of the electrode assembly of Kwak with insulating tape would overlap with the first and second terminal in plan view.
Regarding claim 12, further comprising: a second current collector plate contacting the second electrode uncoated portion; and a second terminal contacting the second current collector plate, but does not disclose having an upper end penetrating the cap plate to be exposed. Kwak discloses the first terminal 154 contacting the first current collector plate having an upper end penetrating the cap plate to be exposed. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form the second terminal similar to the first terminal for the benefit of simplifying the manufacturing process.
Regarding claim 13, the first terminal 156 and the second terminal 157 are positioned substantially symmetrically from a longitudinal center of the cap plate. See figure 2 of Kwak.
See figure 2 of Kwak. Regarding claim 15, Kwak discloses further comprising a lower insulating member 170 between a lower surface of the cap plate 151 and the electrode assembly 110.
Regarding claim 16, the lower insulating member 170 is between the first current collector plate and the cap plate 151, and between the second current collector plate and the cap plate.
Regarding claim 17, the lower insulating member contacts the lower surface of the cap plate, and further comprises a support portion (protrusions facing upward on the insulating member 170) protruding toward the upper surface of the electrode assembly.
Regarding claim 19, the first current collector plate comprises:
a first electrode connector portion welded to the first electrode uncoated portion, and extending along one short side surface of the electrode assembly; and
a first terminal connector portion comprising one end coupled to an upper end of the first electrode connector portion, and another end coupled to the first terminal.
Regarding claim 20, the first terminal comprises:
a first terminal plate 156 on an upper side of the cap plate; and
a first terminal pillar 154 penetrating the cap plate 151, coupled to the first terminal connector portion 120, and coupled to the first terminal plate 156 on the upper side of the cap plate 151.
Regarding claim 4, Kway modified by Hashimoto teaches an upper insulating tape, but does not teach wherein the upper insulating tape defines a through hole exposing the upper surface of the electrode assembly. Regarding claim 5, Kway modified by Hashimoto does not teach the through hole is at a location corresponding to an injection hole penetrating the cap plate. Kwak teaches a battery having an insulating case 60 having inlet hole 172 for flowing electrolyte in the electrode assembly that corresponds to the electrolyte injection hole 152 [0071]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form a hole on the insulating tape, as well as on the insulating case, for the benefit of further flowing electrolyte in the electrode assembly.
Regarding claim 6, further comprising a plug 152a sealing the injection hole.
Regarding claim 7, the through hole has a diameter that is larger than a diameter of the injection hole, Kwak discloses the electrolyte injection hole 152 for injection of an electrolyte is formed in the cap plate 151. The electrolyte is injected into the case 140 through the electrolyte injection hole 152. Thereafter, the electrolyte injection hole 152 is sealed by a plug 152a [0059]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form the plug with a diameter larger than the diameter of the injection hole for the benefit of tightly sealing the injection hole.
Regarding claim 8, the through hole has a diameter of about 5 mm to about 15 mm, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form the plug with a specific diameter that is larger than the diameter of the injection hole for the benefit of tightly sealing the injection hole.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwak (US 2019/0067664) in view of Hashimoto (US 2011/0244319) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Harada (US 2008/0078594).
Regarding claim 11, Kwak discloses the electrode assembly comprises:
a first electrode uncoated portion, which is an uncoated portion of the first electrode plate, and protruding from one side [0039]; and
a second electrode uncoated portion, which is an uncoated portion of the second electrode plate, and protruding from another side [0041], and
wherein the separator extends in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the first electrode uncoated portion and the second electrode uncoated portion protrude, but does not disclose is bent into a "Z" shape. Harada teaches an electrode assembly having a separator with a zigzag pattern [0082]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to form the electrode assembly in a zigzag pattern, as taught by Hara, for the benefit of forming an electrode assembly with a simple pattern.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwak (US 2019/0067664) in view of Hashimoto (US 2011/0244319) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Seong (US 2016/0149198)
Regarding claim 18, an end of the support portion contacts the insulating tape attached to the upper surface of the electrode assembly 10, Seong teaches a battery having an insulating case 60 in direct contact with an electrode assembly 10. Figure 3.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was made to contact the lower insulating member with the electrode assembly of Kwak modified by Hashimoto, as taught by Seong, for the benefit of avoiding too much void space that could potentially allow for loose components within the battery.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CYNTHIA KYUNG SOO WALLS whose telephone number is (571)272-8699. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F until 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Leong can be reached at 571-270-1292. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CYNTHIA K WALLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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