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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 2/27/24 and 11/6/24 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 10-11 and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gunther, US 2023/0006297 A1.
Gunther teaches a battery housing having a frame, which encloses at least one battery module, and a floor which is connected to the frame. The floor takes the form of a sandwich construction and forms hollow chambers (abstract). FIG. 3 shows an enlarged section of the floor 3 shown in FIG. 2. Since the battery housing 1 is to be installed in the floor region of a motor vehicle, the floor 3 is equipped with collision protection. For this purpose, the floor 3 is designed in a sandwich construction. The sandwich construction comprises a lower sheet 6 and an upper sheet 7 spaced apart from the lower sheet 6 by a distance D. These two sheets 6,7 are flat sheets. The upper sheet 7 delimits the inside of the battery housing together with the frame 2 and the cover (which is not shown in detail). The lower sheet 6 has a greater material thickness than the upper sheet 7. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the material thickness of the lower sheet 6 is approximately three times the material thickness of the upper sheet 7. The lower sheet 6 is preferably made of aluminum. Hardened steel is also conceivable for higher strength requirements [0045].
A structural sheet 8 is connected between the two sheets 6,7. The two sheets 6,7 are spaced apart from one another by the structural sheet 8. The structural sheet 8 is connected to both sheets 6, 7 in a manner resistant to shear, pressure, and tension. The structural sheet 8 is profiled in a meandering manner by means of U-shaped sections which are open toward the other side in an alternating manner. In its cross-sectional course shown in FIG. 3, the profile is formed from a repeating sequence F comprising a first contact section 9, a first bridging section 10, a second contact section 11, and a second bridging section 12. The first contact section 9 is connected to the lower sheet 6, namely by means of an adhesive (adhesive joint) 13 in the exemplary embodiment shown. The second contact section 11 is connected to the upper sheet 7 by a soldered connection (welded joint). Both contact sections 9,11 are connected to the respective sheet 6,7 over their entire contact surface (a certain joint region), consequently over the widths B1, B2 thereof, which are discernible in the cross-section thereof, and also over the length thereof [0046]. See also Figures 2 and 3.
Thus, the claims are anticipated.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-9 and 12 are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the claims are directed towards a watertight battery lower case comprising:
a main case part applied to a lower part of a battery module to protect the battery module, and having a flat shape;
an internal bracket part disposed between one surface of the main case part and the battery module to support their joining;
a sub-assembly part having one surface in contact with and stacked on another surface of the main case part; and
a fixing part joining and fixing the main case part, the internal bracket part, and the sub-assembly part to one another,
wherein the fixing part simultaneously includes a welded joint joined by welding and an adhesive joint joined by an adhesive,
the main case part, the internal bracket part, and the sub-assembly part are joined to one another by sharing a certain joint region together, and wherein
the main case part and the internal bracket part each include welding holes at corresponding positions,
the welded joint is formed by simultaneously passing through the main case part and the internal bracket part via the welding holes,
the adhesive joint is formed by adhesively joining the main case part to the sub- assembly part by coating the adhesive therebetween, and
the sub-assembly part has an adhesive storage part engraved therein and accommodating the adhesive inside.
The prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed watertight battery lower case wherein the welded joint if formed via the welding holes, the adhesive joint is formed by coating an adhesive between the main case part and the sub-assembly part, AND the sub-assembly part has an adhesive storage part engraved therein. Gunther does not teach or suggest the claimed watertight battery lower case, specifically, Gunther does not teach or suggest the claimed welding holes. In addition, the prior art does not teach or suggest the method of claim 12, specifically, step (b2).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Silk et al (US2014/0272494 A1) teaches a battery sub-assembly may optionally include a framed spacer assembly between first and second battery cells, as shown in FIG. 3. The first and second frames may be directly coupled together. First and second frames, and the framed spacer assembly, if included, may be snapped, screwed, welded, adhered, or otherwise coupled together. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3, snap arms extend from both sides of the framed spacer assembly around the periphery of the framed spacer assembly to engage first and second frames [0022].
An et al (US2017/0309876 A1) teaches a pack case for a battery pack comprising a main case (abstract; Figure 1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACY DOVE whose telephone number is (571)272-1285. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-3:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole Buie-Hatcher can be reached at 571-270-3879. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TRACY M DOVE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
Prosecution Insights