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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 99 (FIG 34). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 to 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being unpatentable over by WO2023030765A1.
Regarding claim 1,
Assembly set for venting unit comprising;
The device according to the invention can be referred as a... venting unit 10 [0016]
Housing
Allow ventilation of an interior of the battery housing [0016]
Base body
Base body 1 with an opening 15.
The battery housing has at least one housing wall with a pressure equalization opening [0054]
An inlet configured and comprising;
An inner protective grid is connected to the base body, which is intended to prevent foreign objects from entering the battery housing and which supports the membrane against water pressure from the outside. [0009]. The gas passage opening is covered by a membrane [0018]. The membrane can be a semipermeable membrane which prevents the passage of liquid media and/or solids [0036]. It is also possible that the membrane carrier is connected to the base body from the outside of the degassing unit [0049].
Spike element
Degassing mandrel (spike) 19 arranged on a cover body [0009]
Due to its tip 191, the emergency degassing mandrel 19 then creates a targeted weakening of the membrane 4, causing it to tear [0089].
A receptacle with counter-receptacle in the interface of the inlet body.
A membrane carrier 6 as a receptacle and the housing seal 5 as a counter-receptacle. Preferably, the membrane carrier 6 is arranged on the inside of the base body [0048].
FIG 14 and FIG 18 shows how the membrane carrier 6 is set up to complement to the housing seal 5. The housing seal 5 is formed on the membrane carrier 6, which is received in a housing seal groove 69 on the inside 61 of the membrane carrier 6. [0097]
Regarding claim 2,
Receptacle of base body and the counter-receptacle of the inlet connect through spin welding.
The membrane carrier 6 is not positively attached to the base body 1 via a snap connection, but by a welded connection 68 [0100].
WO’ 765 is silence about the receptacle and the counter-receptacle connect through spin welding. Spin welding is a specialized technic used for thermoplastic parts. WO’ 765 further teaches that the membrane carrier 6 is preferably manufactured as an injection molded part from a suitable plastic [0093], also explain that is advantageous in the manufacture of the degassing unit, since the connection, in particular welding, of the membrane to the membrane support can be carried out with significantly less equipment than direct welding into the base body [0029]. It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement the spin welding in those parts that are selected to be connected since they are made of plastic.
Regarding claim 3,
Receptacle is a circumferential ring, and the counter-receptacle is a circumferential flange with a circumferential groove.
The housing seal 5 can be designed as an axial or radial seal, i.e., in particular on an end face (in the case of an axial seal) or on a cylindrical surface (in the case of a radial seal) [0051]. The sealing contact between membrane carrier 6 and base body 1 takes place in an axially extending circumferential flange section of the base body 1, into which a corresponding counter section of the membrane carrier 6 is axially immersed [0096]. The sealing element, in particular the O-ring seal, can be arranged on the membrane carrier, for example in a sealing groove of the membrane carrier [0047]
Regarding claim 4,
Receptacle and the counter-receptacle connected by bayonet fixation portion
The membrane carrier 6 is connected to the base body 1 via a bayonet connection 63' (see Fig. 21) [0113]
A seal arranged between circumferential ring and the circumferential flange. The seal 66, which seals the membrane carrier 6 around its circumference against the base body 1 in the assembly state, is arranged in its sealing groove adjacent to the gas passage opening 15 [0122]
Regarding claim 5,
Housing attached by pass-through bushings
Reinforcing sleeves 111 (same as pass-through bushings) are provided in each of the fastening element impact areas 11, which absorb the fastening forces in order to protect the base body 1, which is usually made of plastic [0084]
Regarding claim 6,
Housing attached by bayonet fixation portion
Comprises first bayonet connecting means 631' on the base body 1 [0120]
Regarding claim 7,
The inlet comprising a support element
Fig 2 shows a membrane support device 2 arranged at the inlet body between the semipermeable membrane and the electronics housing, the support element covering the inlet opening.
Regarding claim 8,
Inlet comprises an inlet cover with a guiding portion comprising counter guiding portions.
Inlet cover 3 arranged at an outer side of the inlet body, Fig 21 shows the inlet cover comprising guiding portions and the inlet body comprising counter guiding portions connected to the guiding portions of the cover. The cover is connected to the base body and/or the membrane carrier, particularly on the outside. The connection between the cover and the base body, or Membrane support can be achieved, for example, by means of a locking element engagement. The locking element engagement can be located, for example, on the outer circumference of the base body or... However, other fastening means are also suitable for attaching the cover… [0054].
Regarding claim 9,
Inlet cover with a central cover opening for gas passage in a central region where the spike is arranged at the inlet body.
The degassing unit 10 can have a cover 3 which preferably has at least one venting opening 31 [0054].
FIG 21 shows a cover with a central cover opening for gas passage in a central region where the spike is arranged at the inlet body.
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.
Claim(s) 10 to 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2023030765 and further in view of Kellner 20240209952 and CN208298911.
Regarding claim 10, WO’ 765 teaches:
Venting unit 10 [0016] which allow ventilation of an interior of the battery housing [0016]. A base body 1 with an opening 15. Also teaches the receptacle and the counter-receptacle on the housing as explained above in claim 1.
WO’ 765 is silence about a second valve for a gas passage out. Kellner further teaches a second valve for gas passage out and a circumferential seal. The valve apparatus 35 according to the disclosure comprises a housing device 2, wherein a first pressure compensation valve or a back-pressure valve 41 and a second pressure compensation valve or a pressure relief valve 42 are arranged in the housing device 2 [0131]. The valve housing on the second fastening portion can comprise a radially circumferential sealing device 38. Combination is silence about the spring element. In the same field of endeavor, explosion-venting valve, CN’8911 teaches an elastic member (spring) 16. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify and create a venting unit that includes those parts because these features cooperate to provide a normally closed, pressure responsive gas outlet. The spring element biases the second valve toward a closed position until a predetermined internal pressure is reached, while the circumferential seal provides a reliable seal between the second valve and the inlet body under normal operating conditions. A person of ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known option within his or her technical grasp. If this leads to the anticipated success, it is likely the product not of innovation but of ordinary skill and common sense." KSR int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S.Ct. 1727,82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
The combination of familiar elements according to known methods is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results. KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S.Ct. 1727, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Regarding claim 11, WO’ 765,
A receptacle with counter-receptacle in the interface of the inlet body.
A membrane carrier 6 as a receptacle and the housing seal 5 as a counter-receptacle. Preferably, the membrane carrier 6 is arranged on the inside of the base body [0048].
FIG 14 and FIG 18 shows how the membrane carrier 6 is set up to complement to the housing seal 5. The housing seal 5 is formed on the membrane carrier 6, which is received in a housing seal groove 69 on the inside 61 of the membrane carrier 6. [0097]
Regarding claim 12, WO’ 765 teaches:
The housing seal 5 can be designed as an axial or radial seal, i.e., in particular on an end face (in the case of an axial seal) or on a cylindrical surface (in the case of a radial seal) [0051]. The sealing contact between membrane carrier 6 and base body 1 takes place in an axially extending circumferential flange section of the base body 1, into which a corresponding counter section of the membrane carrier 6 is axially immersed [0096]. The sealing element, in particular the O-ring seal, can be arranged on the membrane carrier, for example in a sealing groove of the membrane carrier [0047].
Regarding claim 13, WO’ 765 teaches:
The membrane carrier 6 is connected to the base body 1 via a bayonet connection 63' (see Fig. 21) [0113]. A seal arranged between the circumferential ring and the circumferential flange. The seal 66, which seals the membrane carrier 6 around its circumference against the base body 1 in the assembly state, is arranged in its sealing groove adjacent to the gas passage opening 15 [0122].
Regarding claim 14, WO’ 765 teaches:
Reinforcing sleeves 111 (pass-through bushings) are provided in each of the fastening element impact areas 11, which absorb the fastening forces in order to protect the base body 1, which is usually made of plastic [0084]
Regarding claim 15, WO’ 765 teaches:
Comprises first bayonet connecting means 631' on the base body 1 [0120]
Regarding claim 16, WO’ 765 teaches:
Inlet cover 3 arranged at an outer side of the inlet body, Fig 21 shows the inlet cover comprising guiding portions and the inlet body comprising counter guiding portions connected to the guiding portions of the cover. The cover is connected to the base body and/or the membrane carrier, particularly on the outside. [0054]
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to NICOLAS J ROSA BERRIOS at telephone number (571)270-1856.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alison Hindenlang can be reached on (571) 270-7001. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Nicolas Rosa/ Examiner / Art Unit 1741
7/29/2026
/ALISON L HINDENLANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1741
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