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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 3/8/24 and 5/21/24 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 4-7 and 12-20 are 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.
Claims 4, 12 and 13 recite the limitation "the heat conduction plate" in second-to-last line. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The claims positively recite “a heat-conducting plate” but do not recite “a heat conduction plate.” The limitations to “the heat conduction plate” should be “the heat-conducting plate” and will be interpreted as such. Claims 16 and 19 depend from claim 4 and are rejected for the same reason.
Claims 5 and 14-15 recite the limitation "the heat-conducting plate" in the first indented limitation. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because claims 1, 2, and 3, from which claims 5 and 14-15 depend, respectively, do not recite “a heat-conducting plate.” The claims will be interpreted as including the limitation from claim 4 to “a heat conducting plate arranged in the space and which divides the space in the second direction into a first partial space and second partial space …”, but appropriate correction is required with specific caution to avoid duplicate claims. Claim 20 depends from claim 5 and is rejected for the same reason.
Claims 6 and 17-18 recite the limitation "the heat-conducting plate" in last limitation. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims because claims 1-3, from which claims 6 and 17-18 depend, respectively, do not positively recite a heat-conducting plate. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the heat-conducting plate" in the second to last line. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because claim 1, from which claim 7 depends, does not positively recite a heat-conducting plate. Claim 7 will be interpreted as being dependent from claim 4. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1-3, 6, 8-11, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Proll (US 2023/0216106) in view of Amato et al. (US 2024/0079680) and Mascianica et al. (US 2017/0077566).
Regarding claim 1, Proll teaches a battery module (800) for a motor vehicle ([0022]) comprising:
a cell stack with a first stack side and a plurality of battery cells (80) arranged next to one another in a first direction (x), each having a first cell side which delimits the respective battery cell in a second direction (z) and on which at least one first pole terminal (81) is arranged (Figure 3);
a module housing (8) in which the cell stack is arranged, wherein the module hosing has a cooling cover, or cell cooling cover (100), through which a coolant can flow, and which is arranged opposite the first stack side, wherein a space is formed between the first stack side and the cooling cover:
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Proll further teaches an electrical insulation layer provided between the bottom plate (110) and the terminal side to prevent electrical contact but maximize thermal contact ([0089], [0113]), but Proll fails to teach specifically a heat-conducting compound arranged as claimed.
Amato teaches a battery module, or battery assembly (10), including coolant channels (38,40), analogous to the claimed cooling cover through which coolant can flow and the channels (20a,20b) of Proll, arranged opposite the first stack side having pole terminals (20,22) (Figure 1, [0055]). Amato teaches a ceramic spacer part (44), analogous to the electrical insulation layer of Proll.
Amato further teaches a heat-conducting compound, or thermal interface material (42), provided in various configurations between the coolant channels (38,40) and the pole terminals (20,22) (Figures 2-6) in order to enhance thermal conductivity to the coolant thereby facilitating heat transfer ([0030]). It is seen in Figure 2, annotated below, that the heat-conducting compound completely fills the space between the first pole terminals (20,22) and the coolant channels (38,40) but is not provided in a second partial region.
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It would have been obvious to the skilled artisan at the time of the invention to provide a heat-conductive compound such as suggested by Amato in the first partial region of the space module of Proll in order to facilitate heat transfer. Additionally, it would have been obvious to the skilled artisan to place the heat-conductive compound only between the first pole terminals and the cooling cover of Proll such as suggested by Amato.
With further regard to claim 1, Proll fails to teach a second partial region of the space adjoining the first partial region with respect to a third direction (y) (Figure 6).
Mascianica teaches a battery module, or traction battery assembly (10), comprising a cell stack (202) and cooling cover, or center bar assembly (208) (Figures 1-3 and 5a). Mascianica further teaches a second partial region of the space, or vent chamber (258), between the cooling cover and cell stack in a third direction (Figures 4 and 6). Mascianica teaches that the second partial region of the space is used to capture any gases exiting the battery cells without entering the coolant channels ([0025]).
It would have been obvious to the skilled artisan at the time of the invention to provide a second partial space in the assembly of Proll such as suggested by Mascianica in order to provide a venting chamber to capture gases exiting the battery cells.
With further regard to claim 1, to the limitation requiring that the second partial region “represents a collecting region for the heat-conducting compound,” the examiner finds that the limitation is a functional limitation which recites what the claimed apparatus is intended to do. Further, the examiner finds that the structure of Proll in view of Mascianica as discussed above would inherently perform the function of claim 1. MPEP 2114
Regarding claim 2, as is discussed above, Proll teaches that the battery cells each have a second pole terminal on their first cell side, and, as is seen in annotated Figure 6, a third partial region is located as claimed. Additionally, Proll teaches first and second terminal regions extending in a straight line in the first direction as seen in Figure 3. It is further seen in Figure 6 of Mascianica that the collection region is located between first and second terminal regions. Therefore, claim 2 is obviated over Proll in view of Amato and Mascianica.
With regard to claims 3 and 11, Proll teaches a sealing frame arranged circularly around the space along an edge region of the first stack side, specifically, a circumferential gasket ([0127]).
As for claims 6, 8, and 17-18, as discussed above, Proll teaches an electrically insulating film, i.e. a spacer, arranged on a side of the cooling cover facing the cell stack.
With regard to claim 9, Proll teaches a height tolerance compensating fastening means, or claim (170), by means of which the cooling cover (100) is fastened to a housing component (8a) of the module housing (Figure 6).
Regarding claim 10, Proll in view of Amato and Mascianica teaches the claimed structural elements as discussed above with reference to claim 1. Proll further teaches that the module is assembled by supplying the elements discussed ([0126]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5, 7, 12-16, and 19-20 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if amended to address the antecedent basis rejections and 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 prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest the claimed subject matter concerning a heat-conducting plate.
Specifically, the prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest battery module such as the module of claim 1 including a heat-conducting plate as required by, for example, claim 4, which a heat conducting plate dividing the space into first and second partial spaces arranged as claimed and seen in instant Figures 1 and 2.
As is seen at least in all of the references discussed above, the known battery modules provide the cooling channels of the cooling cover in close proximity to the terminals and do not fairly suggest additional space within the housing such as would be created by a heat-conducting plate as claimed. The examiner notes that providing such additional space would move the cooling channels farther from the elements which they are designed to cool.
Mori (US 2023/0100031) teaches a heat-conducing plate (25) provided between a module and cooling cover (16), but fails to teach or fairly suggest the arrangement of the heat-conducting plate relative to the spaces defined by the pole terminals as required by the claims.
With additional regard to claim 7, Proll teaches that the module housing has two side walls, (8a,8b), which are arranged essential perpendicular to the third direction (y) and are materially connected to the cooling cover.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALIX ECHELMEYER EGGERDING whose telephone number is (571)272-1101. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am - 4:30pm.
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/ALIX E EGGERDING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729
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