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 § 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 1-6 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN213313059U (Qin), which is listed in Applicant’s information disclosure statement .
Regarding claims 1-5, Qin teaches a lithium ion battery pack comprises a case (Fig. 2, 300 and [0044]), a plurality of battery cells (Fig. 1, 101), a first and a second accommodating cavity inside the case (Fig. 1, 1 and 2), wherein the high temperature products ejected from each single battery cell during thermal run away are collected in the cavity 1 ([0034] and [0036]), which meets the claimed collection assembly.
Qin further teaches that the collection cavity comprises a plurality of collection ports, each corresponds to a battery cell and collects the high temperature product ejected from the corresponding battery cell under thermal runaway([0036]), which meets the claimed collection member.
Regarding claim 6, Qin teaches the second cavity on top of the first cavity is filled with a fire extinguishing material such as dry ice ([0015] and [0033]), which meets an insulation medium, and the partition between cavity 1 and cavity 2 melts under thermal runaway to release the fire extinguishing material into cavity 1 and the collection port ( [0040]), which anticipated the presence of an insulating medium in the collection cavity 1 under thermal runaway.
Regarding claim 18, Qin teaches a vehicle comprises the battery pack ([0045]).
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.
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.
Claims 7-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qin as applied to claims 1-6 and 18 above in view of US2017/0214018A1(Sun).
The teachings of Qin are set forth above.
Regarding claim 7, while teaching the fire extinguishing material as dry ice ([0015] and [0033]), Qin does not teach an insulation medium formed by exciting and decomposing an insulation powder.
Sun teaches bicarbonates such as sodium bicarbonate powder is a preferred fire-extinguishing material to prevent fire and explosion of lithium ion battery in electric vehicle ([0003] and [0018]),
which can undergo an endothermic self-decomposition reaction when the temperature rises to a certain value and generate carbon dioxide that can inhibit combustion and prevent rapid internal temperature rise ([0018] and [0027]).
At the time the invention was made it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the bicarbonate powder of Sun as the fire-extinguishing material of Qin. The rationale to do so would have been the motivation provided by the teachings of Sun that to do so would predictably inhibit combustion and prevent rapid internal temperature rise ([0018] and [0027]).
Regarding claims 8-13, neither Qin nor Sun teaches the amount of the bicarbonates material with respect to the cross-sectional area of the explosion-proof valve, i.e., the pressure relief mechanism, or the working capacity of the battery cell, however, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to adjust the amount of the bicarbonate in order to obtain a workable product, i.e., effectively control the combustion and temperature rise as the amount of energy absorption depends on the amount of the bicarbonate and the whole thermal mass of the battery.
Regarding claims 14 and 15, Qin teaches that the collection port is arranged directly over the explosion-proof valve([0008], [0037] and Fig. 1), thus H is 0mm.
Regarding claims 16 and 17, Qin teaches that the collection port is arranged opposite to the explosion-proof valve on a cover or directly over the explosion-proof valve (Fig. 1, 102), which opens by the ejected product during thermal runaway ([0036]-[0037]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AIQUN LI whose telephone number is (571)270-7736. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am -4:00 pm.
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/AIQUN LI/Ph.D., Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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