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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the first transport member" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, this will be interpreted as “the first transport unit.”
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.
Claims 1-3 & 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (KR 101896432 B1).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches a cell supply device (electrode assembly manufacturing apparatus 1; Par. 0001) for a secondary battery (Par. 0024), comprising: a base plate (Fig. 1) on which a positive electrode material tray (second stacking trays 52a-b) on which a positive electrode material is stacked (Par. 0124; “in which second electrode members E2 composed of cathodes”) and a negative electrode material tray (first stacking trays 32a-b) on which a negative electrode material (Par. 0098; “first electrode members E1 each of which is composed of a unitary anode”) is stacked are installed; a cell supply member (electrode supply units 30, 50) on which a first turntable (electrode feeders 34, 54) installed to rotate horizontally at one side of the base plate (Fig. 1), a cell elevating unit (supply arms 34a-b, 54a-b) installed on an upper surface (Par. 0102, Fig. 1) of the first turntable to move up and down (Fig. 18; the arrows to the right of suppliers 34 and 54 indicate that the units can move up and down) so that the cells stacked on the positive electrode material tray and the negative electrode material tray are adsorbed (Par. 0104), and a cell adsorption unit (adsorption pads 34d, 54d) configured to adsorb the cells stacked on the positive electrode material tray and the negative electrode material tray (Par. 0104, 0127) by upward and downward movements of the cell elevating unit (Par. 0104; the supply arms move to grip/release the electrode members by adsorption) are installed; a first transport unit (electrode aligners 36, 56) provided with a second turntable (alignment plates 36a, 56a) installed on the base plate to rotate horizontally in the same manner as the first turntable of the cell supply member (Fig. 1, Par. 0107), a cell transport tray (alignment members 36d, 56d; Par. 0116, 0133) on which the cells moved from the second turntable are stacked, and a slider unit (alignment bars 36c-d, 56c-d) installed on a lower surface of the cell transport tray to adjust a position of the cell transport tray (Par. 0109); and a second transport member (electrode stack units 40, 60) provided with a third turntable (laminating plates 42, 62) installed to rotate in a direction perpendicular to the second turntable (Fig. 1, Par. 0113), and a cell elevating unit (electrode stacking units 44, 64) and a cell adsorption unit (vacuum adsorption pads 44a, 64a) installed on the third turntable to move the cells stacked on the cell transport tray of the first transport cell to a stack table (stacking unit 100).
Regarding claim 2, Lee teaches the cell supply device of claim 1, wherein the positive electrode material tray on which the positive electrode material is stacked and the negative electrode material tray on which the negative electrode material is stacked are installed to be spaced a predetermined distance from each other on the base plate (Fig. 16, Par. 0195; the first and second stacking trays are positioned on opposite sides of the device), the first turntable is installed to rotate horizontally at a predetermined height of the base plate (Par. 0101, Fig. 1 , 16; the electrode feeders 34 and 54 rotate horizontally around axes 34c and 54c, at a height greater than that of the alignment plates 36a and 56a), the second turntable is installed to rotate horizontally at a predetermined height of the base plate (Par. 0101, Fig. 1, 16; the alignment plates 36a and 56a rotate horizontally around axes 36j and 56j, at a height less than that of the electrode feeders 34 and 54), and the third turntable is installed to rotate in a direction perpendicular to the base plate to move the cells stacked on the cell transport tray of the second turntable (Par. 0113, Fig. 1, 16; the laminating plates 42 and 62 rotate vertically around axes 42a and 62a to transport the electrode members to be stacked).
Regarding claim 3, Lee teaches the cell supply device of claim 1, wherein a plurality of cell elevating units (supply arms 34a-b, 54a-b) are radially installed on the first turntable of the cell supply member (Fig. 16-17) and the third turntable of the second transport member so that the cell adsorption unit configured to adsorb the cells moves up and down (Fig. 18, the arrows to the right of suppliers 34 and 54 indicate that the units can move up and down; the electrode stacking units 44 and 64 of the third turntable move up and down with the rotation of the turntable), and the cell adsorption unit for adsorbing the cells is installed on the cell elevating unit (Fig. 16, adsorption pads 34d, 54d are installed on the supply arms 34a-b, 54a-b).
Regarding claim 5, Lee teaches the cell supply device of claim 1, wherein the first transport unit includes the cell transport tray radially installed on an upper surface of the second turntable (Fig. 18) so that the cells transported from the cell supply member are stacked (Par. 0108), and the slider unit configured to adjust the cell transport tray so that the cells are placed on the cell transport tray in a state of being aligned at a correct position (Par. 0109; the alignment bars 36c-d and 56c-d are movable to adjust the positioning of the alignment members 36b and 56b).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 4 of the present application would be found allowable because prior art fails to teach a cell elevating unit provided with an LM cover. A slider block, a motor inside an LM guide, a slider cover with a steel band installed between the slider block and the slider cover, vertical and horizontal plates installed on the slider cover, and an adsorption port installed on the lower plate. The closest prior art references are Lee and Jin et al. (CN 111180779 A). The references neither teach nor reasonably suggest the combination of features claimed.
Lee teaches a cell elevating unit (supply arms 34a-b, 54a-b) which moves up and down (Fig. 18; the arrows to the right of suppliers 34 and 54 indicate that the units can move up and down) and a cell adsorption unit (adsorption pads 34d, 54d).
Jin teaches an electrode fixing member 430 which is arranged on a turntable (rotating frame 420), provided with an LM guide (LM guide 435) with a cell adsorption unit (Par. 0080, vacuum adsorption).
As Lee teaches the supply arms as being on a fixed axis that move up and down with the turntable, Lee teaches no need for independently moving arms powered by a motor installed in the supply arms. Because of this, Lee also does not teach a need for the LM guide of Jin. As the remaining features of claim 4 are not taught by the prior art and Lee provides no reasoning to combine their cell elevating unit with a reference having these claimed features, the features of claim 4 are considered to be allowable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CAMERON M BAIRD whose telephone number is (571)272-9742. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm.
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/CAMERON M BAIRD/ Examiner, Art Unit 1728
/MATTHEW T MARTIN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1728
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