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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites "bas bar" rather than bus bar. 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 and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al.( US20200388891A1) in view of Lucchesi et al. (US20190237720A1).
Regarding claim 1, Choi discloses a battery assembly (i.e. module 100, Fig. 1), including a cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked(Fig. 2, cells 10 in cell stack 1);
an upper cooling plate(i.e. second plate 40), a lower cooling plate(lower plate 52), and a side wall extending between the upper cooling plate and the lower cooling plate(side plate 58);
a first heat conduction member disposed between the battery assemblies and the upper cooling plate(i.e. heat transfer plate 90); and
a second heat conduction member disposed between the battery assemblies and the lower cooling plate(i.e. additional heat transfer plate 90),
wherein each of the first heat conduction member and the second heat conduction member is in contact with the cell stack(Fig. 4) but does not disclose a pack housing forming an accommodation space that accommodates a plurality of battery assemblies
Lucchesi, related to battery packs, teaches a pack housing(i.e. battery enclosure system 1000) forming an accommodation space that accommodates a plurality of battery assemblies(¶[0028]-[0029]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized adding the pack housing of Lucchesi would provide assembly storage with a stiff frame and direct load path in the event of a lateral impact(¶[0056]) to house the battery assemblies of Choi.
Therefore it would have been obvious to have used the pack housing of Lucchesi with the battery assemblies of Choi to provide a stiff frame and direct load path in the event of a lateral impact.
Regarding claim 15, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 1, and Choi further discloses wherein each of the upper cooling plate and the lower cooling plate covers the plurality of battery assemblies(Fig. 2 and Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 16, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 1, and Choi further discloses wherein each of the upper cooling plate and the lower cooling plate has an area larger than a total area of the plurality of battery assemblies(see Fig. 4 where cooling plates 40 and 52 extend beyond the width of the battery assemblies.
Regarding claim 17, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 1 , and Choi further discloses wherein at least one of the upper cooling plate or the lower cooling plate includes a cooling passage through which a cooling medium flows(¶[0124], the lower or upper plate may include a cooling passage where cooling medium may flow).
Regarding claim 18, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 1, and Choi further discloses wherein each of the plurality of battery cells includes a cell body portion in which an electrode assembly is accommodated(¶[0043]), and a sealing portion that seals at least a portion of a perimeter of the cell body portion,
the sealing portion includes a first sealing portion in which an electrode lead connected to the electrode assembly is disposed(i.e. first sealing portion 2021, Fig. 3), and a second sealing portion in which the electrode lead is not disposed(2022), and
at least one of the first heat conduction member or the second heat conduction member is disposed to accommodate the second sealing portion(Fig. 4 see second sealing potion accommodated within heat transfer member 90).
Claims 2-5 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. (US20200388891A1) and Lucchesi et al. (US20190237720A1) and further in view of Hermann et al.(US20100136402A1).
Regarding claim 2, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 1, but does not disclose a sealing member disposed on at least a portion of a perimeter of the first heat conduction member below the upper cooling plate.
Hermann, related to battery enclosures, teaches a sealing member(i.e. gasket 107, Fig. 1, ¶[0013]) below housing member 105 to achieve the desired enclosure impermeability.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized adding the sealing member of Hermann below heat conducting member of Choi which covers the battery cells would have imparted enclosure impermeability.
Therefore it would have been obvious to have added the sealing member of Hermann below heat conducting member of Choi to impart enclosure impermeability.
Regarding claim 3, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 2, and Hermann further teaches wherein the sealing member has a shape surrounding a perimeter of a region in which the first heat conduction member is disposed(Fig. 1 where seal is around perimeter of upper housing).
Regarding claim 4, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 3, and Hermann further teaches wherein at least a portion of the sealing member is disposed on an upper surface of the battery assembly(Fig. 1 where seal is on upper surface of outer wall of battery assembly).
Regarding claim 5, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 2, and Choi further discloses wherein the side wall includes an outer side wall disposed along edges of the upper cooling plate and the lower cooling plate(Fig. 4 see side wall at edge of cooling plates 40 and 52) and Lucchesi further teaches an outer side wall and a partition wall disposed inside the outer side wall and partitions the accommodation space into a plurality of spaces(see outer and interior walls of lattice support structure 300, Fig. 1) and a sealing member impedes or interrupts a flow of substances between the plurality of spaces(¶[0048]).
Regarding claim 12, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 2, and wherein the sealing member is attached to a lower surface of the upper cooling plate, in this case one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the lowest cover of the battery assembly of Choi is the upper cooling plate and the seal placed on the upper edge of the battery assembly wall would then also be attached to the lower surface of the upper cooling plate.
Claims 6 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi, Lucchesi, and Hermann as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Kim et al.(US20200067040A1).
Regarding claim 6, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 2, and Choi further discloses an assembly housing covering a portion of the cell stack and including side plates disposed to face side surfaces of the cell stack(i.e. side plates 58 which cover the side surfaces of the cell stack, Fig. 2) and the battery cells 10 that are electrically connected through circuit wiring, but does not directly disclose wherein each of the plurality of battery assemblies further includes: a bus bar assembly including a bus bar electrically connected to the cell stack, and a support plate supporting the bus bar; and
Kim, related to batteries, teaches adjacent cells within a cell stack may be electrically connected via bus bars within a support plate(i.e. bus bar assembly50)(¶[0025]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a bus bar as the electrical wiring of Choi to effectively electrically connect the cells within a support plate.
The combination of familiar elements is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395 – 97 (2007) (see MPEP § 2143, A.).
Regarding claim 13, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 6, and Choi further discloses wherein upper and lower surfaces of the cell stack are exposed to an outside of the assembly housing(Fig. 2, see where the cell stack is open to the cooling plate which is consistent with the instant specification).
Regarding claim 14, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 6, and Choi further discloses and wherein the side plates include first side plates spaced apart from each other in a first direction with the cell stack interposed therebetween(see side plates 58 Fig. 2), and second side plates spaced apart from each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction with the cell stack interposed therebetween(See side plates 60, Fig. 2), and
the first side plates and the second side plates are coupled to each other(Fig. 1, see plates coupled in assembled battery pack).
Claims 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi, Lucchesi and Hermann as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Choi et al.(US20210135301A1) hereafter known as Choi2.
Regarding claim 7, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 6, but does not disclose , wherein the side plate is disposed on an outer side of the support plate and includes at least one fastening plate coupled to the side wall.
Choi2, related to battery modules, teaches a battery module with a terminal portion 200 with second fastening member 211 to improve fastening to the case(Fig. 5, ¶[0017]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized adding the fastening member taught by Choi2 to the cover of Choi would have improved fastening to the case.
Therefore it would have been obvious to have added the fastening member taught by Choi2 to the cover of Choi to improve fastening to the case.
Regarding claim 8, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 7, Hermann further teaches wherein the sealing member is disposed on an upper surface of the battery assembly(Fig. 1) where seal is on upper surface of outer wall of housing assembly which is between the fastening plate on the outer portion of the assembly and the interior cell stack thereby sealing a space between the fastening plate and the cell stack.
Regarding claim 9, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 7, wherein the sealing member includes a first portion disposed between the bus bar assembly(which is within plate 70 as discussed in the rejection of claim 6) and the upper cooling plate which is above cover 70 of Choi.
Regarding claim 10, modified Choi discloses the battery pack of claim 9, Kim further teaches wherein the bas bar assembly further includes an insulating cover that insulates the bus bar and the side plate from each other(¶[0101], and
the first portion is disposed between the upper cooling plate and at least one of the support plate or the insulating cover(the bus bar with support plate and insulating cover are disposed within the side plate (i.e. cover 70) and the sealing member is disposed between the side plate and cooling plate as discussed in the rejection of claim 9.
Conclusion
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/K.J.A./Examiner, Art Unit 1726 /RYAN S CANNON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726
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