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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-5 are currently pending.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 2, & 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Imai (US 20160064718 A1), in view of Takishita (US 20140311768 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Imai teaches a bus bar module (bus bar module 1, Fig 1,2,4) that electrically connects a first single battery having a positive electrode terminal (positive electrode 22, Fig 1) and a negative electrode terminal (negative electrodes 23, Fig 1) as a pair of terminals and a second single battery having a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal as a pair of terminals (battery assembly 2 includes a plurality of batteries 20, Fig 1, [0029]), the bus bar module comprising:
A bus bar (bus bar 3, Fig 1-4 & 6) that connects one of the pair of the terminals of the first single battery and one of the pair of the terminals of the second single battery (bus bars 3 serving as a plurality of connecting members each connecting the positive and negative electrodes 22 and 23, [0031]), the one of the pair of the terminals of the first single battery and the one of the pair of the terminals of the second single battery projecting in parallel with each other (Fig 1), and
A bus bar case (casing 7, Fig 1, 2, & 4) this includes a housing part (terminal housing portion 11B, Fig 1, 2, & 4) which houses the bus bar and a cover (cover portion 9, Fig 1, 2, 5, & 6) which is mounted to the housing part (the cover portion 9 covers the opening of the bus bar housing portion 8, [0048], Figure 1-2), wherein
The housing part (housing portion 8, Fig 1, 2, 4, & 6) includes a side wall part having a frame shape that surrounds the bus bar from a direction perpendicular to a connection direction of the terminals to the bus bar (pair of side walls 93 and 94 erected from both ends of the base wall 90, [0044] Fig 2 & 4), and a support part (bottom wall 80, Fig 6) that supports the bus bar from a side of a first opening facing the first single battery or the second single battery in the side wall part (the bus bar 3 is placed on a bottom wall 80 of the bus bar housing portion 8 [0032], and
The cover includes a cover body that covers a second opening opposite to the first opening in the side wall part (cover portion 9 provided in the casing 7 so as to cover an opening of a bus bar housing portion 8, [0032]), and a projecting part (bus bar press portion 96, Fig. 5 & 6) that projects from the cover body toward the first opening and contacts the bus bar (bus bar press portion 96 erected in a plate-like manner from the base wall 90 so as to press the bus bar 3, [0049]). (Pair of arms 95, Fig 5 & 6 also reads on projecting part as the arms contact the bus bar; Cover portion 9 further includes a pair of arms 95 serving as a protruding portion erected in a plate-like manner from the base wall 90 to the bus bar 3 so as to be locked to the locking projection 33, [0049])
Imai does not teach; a bus bar case having insulating properties. The bus bar case material is not stated in Imai.
Takishita teaches a bus bar case (case 110, Fig 1&2) having insulating properties (case made of insulative resin, Pg.8/C16). Takishita also teaches a bus bar module (busbar module 100, Fig 1&2, Pg 10/C10) that electrically connects a first single battery having a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal as a pair of terminals and a second single battery having a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal as a pair of terminals (each of the batteries 3 includes a positive electrode and a negative electrode, Figs 9-10B, Pg 2/C 9-16), the bus bar module comprising: a housing part and a cover for accommodating a busbar, wherein the busbar case has insulating properties. A bus bar case (case 110, Fig 1&2) having insulating properties (case made of insulative resin, Pg.8/C16).
The difference between the claimed bus bar module of claim 1 and the Imai prior art is the use of an insulating material. Takishita teaches an insulating material for busbar cases with the same application. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have the technological capabilities to incorporate both the structure of Imai bus bar module with the insulating material of Takishita into a combined apparatus before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. No inventive effort would have been required. “The selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination in Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945); See also In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960) (selection of a known plastic to make a container of a type made of plastics prior to the invention was held to be obvious)”. See MPEP 2144.07. Insulating resin is a known suitable material for forming a busbar case in a busbar module of a battery. Furthermore, the resulting combined apparatus would yield predictable results. The bus bar module case and cover will function as intended when insulating material is used so no new functionality would arise from the combination.
Regarding claim 2, Imai and Takishita together teach the bus bar module according to claim 1. Imai teaches the cover body includes a through hole (Fig 1,2, &6).
Regarding claim 3, Imai and Takishita together teach the bus bar module according to claim 1. Imai teaches the projecting part is provided in plurality (the bus bar press portion 96 [0049] and pair of arms 95, [0033], Fig 5 & 6), and the cover body (cover portion 9, Fig 1, 2, 5, & 6) includes a plurality of flat plate parts (The cover portion from 92B to 96 and 91B to 97 can be treated as separate plate parts separated by press portions 96 and 97, see annotated Fig. 5 below) that are arranged in a planar direction and individually support the projecting parts (cover portions support projecting parts 97 and 96, see Fig 5), and a plurality of elastic parts (The hinge and elastic projection part are integrally formed with the housing portion, P0004/L1-4. Therefor the cover is made of the same elastic material as the hinge and projecting parts.) that connect two adjacent flat plate parts of the flat plate parts (Fig 5)
The difference between the claimed bus bar module of claim 3 and the Imai prior art is the use of an insulating material and the separation of the cover into parts. The use of insulating material is a selection of a known material and taught in the Takishita prior art. It would have been an obvious variant to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention, for the cover body to include a plurality of flat plate parts connected by a plurality of elastic parts. It is an obvious engineering choice to separate our center cover piece into a plurality of elastic parts. “In re Dulberg, 289 F.2d 522, 523, 129 USPQ 348, 349 (CCPA 1961) The court held that "if it were considered desirable for any reason to obtain access to the end of [the prior art’s] holder to which the cap is applied, it would be obvious to make the cap removable for that purpose." See MPEP 2144.04. Furthermore, the resulting combined apparatus would yield predictable results. The bus bar module case and cover will function as intended when insulating material is used and the cover is separated into separate parts so no new functionality would arise from the combination.
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Figure 1: Imai (US 20160064718 A1)
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Figure 5: Imai (US 20160064718 A1)
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Figure 6: Imai (US 20160064718 A1)
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Figure 1: Takishita (US 20140311768 A1)
Claim(s) 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Imai (US 20160064718 A1), in view of Takishita (US 20140311768 A1) and Shimizu (US 20190198847 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Imai and Takishita teach the bus bar module according to claim 1, but is silent as to the placement of the locking parts on the edge walls of the cover and housing part. Shimizu teaches the cover body (bus bar cover 60, Fig 1-3, 5-10, & 12) includes a locking part at an end edge of the cover body (first locking pieces 80, [0051]), and the housing part (housing portions 32, [0033]) includes a locked part that is disposed on a side of an outer surface of the side wall part and engages with the locking part when the cover is mounted to the housing part (first lock receiving portions 81, [0051]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the locking mechanism disclosed in Shimizu as a means for securing the cover in Imai to the housing part [0058].
Regarding claim 5, Imai and Takishita together teach the bus bar module according to claim 1, but is silent as to a hinge part that is deformable. Shimizu teaches wherein the bus bar case includes a hinge part (first hinge 58, P00048 L5-6) that is deformable and has plate shape, one end of the hinge part is continuous with an outer surface of the side wall part, and the other end of the hinge part opposite to the one end is continuous with an end edge of the cover body (Fig 1).
The hinge addition of claim 5 is making integral what was previously in two pieces. In re Larson, 340 F.2d 965, 968, 144 USPQ 347, 349 (CCPA 1965) The court affirmed the rejection holding, among other reasons, "that the use of a one piece construction instead of the structure disclosed in [the prior art] would be merely a matter of obvious engineering choice." See MPEP 2144.04. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Imai to incorporate the hinge of Shimizu.
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Figure 1: Shimizu (US 20190198847 A1)
Correspondence
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/AUDREY BYRD/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
/NATHANAEL T ZEMUI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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