DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
2. The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show “the projections” as described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
Specification
3. The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
(a): reference number 324 is used within paragraph [042] to describe both the welding portions and the two projections.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. 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.
5. Claim 5 is 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.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "two projections" in lines 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. Claims 1, 2, 6, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (US-10714792-B1) in view of Chen et al. (CN-211829103-U, machine translation used for rejection below).
As to claim 1, Wang discloses a li-polymer battery (figure 2), comprising
a housing (figure 2, metal sleeve 1), a li-polymer core arranged within the housing (figure 2, cell 2),
a positive terminal disposed at a top end of the li-polymer core (column 4 lines 43-53), and
a negative terminal (column 4 lines 43-53),
wherein the li-polymer battery further comprises a PCB assembly encapsulated within the housing and arranged above the li-polymer core (figure 2, circuit board 6, insulating frame 8), the PCB assembly includes a PCB board holder (figure 2, insulating frame 8) and a PCB board disposed on the PCB board holder (figure 2, circuit board 6), the PCB board has a positive connection (figure 3, conductor 5) portion capable of passing through the PCB board holder for electrically contacting the positive terminal and the positive terminal of the li-polymer core respectively (figure 3, conductor 5), and wherein the PCB board is provided with a charging/discharging interface (figure 2, charging interface 3), and the housing has an opening for accessing the charging/discharging interface (figure 2, charging port 13).
However, Wang does not disclose that the negative terminal is disposed at the top end of the li-polymer core on a side of the positive terminal or a negative connection portion.
Chen discloses a rechargeable battery, wherein the negative terminal is disposed at the top end of the li-polymer core on a side of the positive terminal (page 4 lines 16-23) and a negative connection portion (figure 2, negative conductive member 125) to electrically connect the battery to the charging interface (page 4 lines 16-23).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the secondary battery as disclosed within Wang to further include the limitations that the negative terminal is disposed at the top end of the polymer core and that the battery further comprises a negative connection portion to electrically connect the battery to the charging interface as disclosed within Chen.
As to claim 2, modified Wang discloses the secondary battery of claim 1, and Wang further discloses wherein the PCB board holder includes a base plate (figure 2, insulating frame 8) and a boss spaced apart on the base plate (figure 2, insulating frame 8, column 5 lines 57-69), the boss provided with a first through-hole extending through the base plate (figure 2, insulating frame 8, column 5 lines 57-69), and the positive connection portion passes through the first through-holes for electrically connecting the positive terminal (figure 2, insulating frame 8, column 5 lines 57-69), and wherein a first notch is formed between the bosses and provided proximate to a forward end of the base plate for facilitating mounting of the charging/discharging interface (figure 5, recess 83).
While Wang does not disclose having an additional boss to receive the negative connection portion to connect to the negative terminal, it has been held that the mere duplication of parts, without any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960) (see MPEP § 2144.04). As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the secondary battery as disclosed within Want to additionally include an additional boss to receive the negative connection portion for connection to the negative terminal.
As to claim 6, modified Wang discloses the secondary battery of claim 1, and Wang further discloses wherein the positive connection portion and the negative connection portion are configured as springs or steel pillars having elasticity (column 6 lines 11-13).
As to claim 9, modified Wang discloses the secondary battery of claim 1, and Wang further discloses wherein the charging/discharging interface is a Type-C interface (column 7 lines 24-37).
8. Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (US-10714792-B1) in view of Chen et al. (CN-211829103-U, machine translation used for rejection below) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Koh et al. (US-20090081539 A1) and Takeshita et al. (US-20110244276-A1).
As to claim 3, modified Wang discloses the secondary battery of claim 2, and Wang further discloses wherein the PCB board holder further includes four side panels disposed at front, rear, left, and right sides of the base plate (figure 2, insulating frame 8, column 5 lines 25-54, while cylindrical in the current embodiment can be square in shape) and wherein the front side panel has a second notch corresponding to the first notch (figure 2, recess 83). However, Wang does not disclose wherein the rear side plate is provided with a second through-holes in communication with the first through-hole, wherein the positive terminal and the negative terminal are flexible parts having a L-shape, or wherein the positive terminal and the negative terminal extend into the first through-holes and electrically contact the positive connection portion and the negative connection portion.
Koh discloses a battery pack, wherein the rear side plate of a PCB board holder is further provided with second through-holes in communication with the first through-hole (figure 3, insulating case 40, [0050]) and wherein the positive terminal and the negative terminal extend into the first through-holes and electrically contact the positive connection portion and the negative connection portion (figure 3, positive electrode tab 16 and negative electrode tab 17, through holes 41 and 42, [0050]) to connect with the printed circuit board [0050-0052]. However, Koh does not disclose wherein the positive terminal and the negative terminal are flexible parts having an L-shape.
Takeshita discloses a battery pack, wherein the positive terminal and the negative terminal are flexible parts having a L-shape (figure 7, negative pole tab 33, positive pole tab 45, [0044] and [0066]) to connect to the circuit board.
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the secondary battery as disclosed within Wang to additionally include the rear side plate is provided with a second through-holes in communication with the first through-hole and wherein the positive terminal and the negative terminal extend into the first through-holes and electrically contact the positive connection portion and the negative connection portion to connect with the printed circuit board as disclosed within Koh and to additionally include wherein the positive terminal and the negative terminal are flexible parts having a L-shape to connect to the circuit board as disclosed within Takeshita.
As to claim 4, modified Wang discloses the secondary battery of claim 3, and Wang further discloses wherein the housing is a rectangular body having an accommodation cavity (figure 2, metal sleeve 2, column 4 lines 13-25, while the metal sleeve is cylindrical in the present embodiment, the sleeve can take on other shapes such as rectangular). However, Wang does not disclose wherein protrusions are provided on outer surfaces of the left and right side panels of the PCB board holder, and wherein the protrusions are respectively against left and right inner walls of the accommodation cavity.
Chen discloses a rechargeable battery, wherein protrusions are provided on outer surfaces of the left and right side panels of the PCB board holder (battery support 113), and wherein the protrusions are respectively against left and right inner walls of the accommodation cavity (battery support 113) to connect the holder to the housing (page 3 lines 47-59).
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the secondary battery as disclosed within Wang to additionally include protrusions provided on outer surfaces of the left and right sides panels of the PCB board holder wherein the protrusions are respectively against left and right inner walls of the accommodation cavity to connect the holder to the housing as disclosed within Chen.
9. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (US-10714792-B1) in view of Chen et al. (CN-211829103-U, machine translation used for rejection below) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kondo et al. (US-20190021538-A1).
As claim 10, modified Wang discloses the secondary battery of claim 1, however, Wang does not disclose wherein a leading frame is provided on an outer surface of the housing and located at the opening, the leading frame has a pushing board for covering the opening, wherein the pushing board is slidably connected to the leading frame such that a height of the pushing board is adjustable, and wherein a pair of strips are connected to the leading frame on two sides, and edges of the pushing board are sandwiched between surfaces of the strips and the outer surface of the housing, and the pushing board is slidable with respect to the surfaces of the strips and the outer surface of the housing.
Kondo discloses an electrical device having a rechargeable secondary battery, wherein a leading frame is provided on an outer surface of the housing and located at the opening (figure 1, battery-mount part 41), the leading frame has a pushing board for covering the opening (figure 1, front-rear slide-type cover member 45), wherein the pushing board is slidably connected to the leading frame such that a height of the pushing board is adjustable (figure 1, front-rear slide-type cover member 45), and wherein a pair of strips are connected to the leading frame on two sides (figure 1, guide grooves 40g, [0067]), and edges of the pushing board are sandwiched between surfaces of the strips and the outer surface of the housing (figure 1, guide grooves 40g and front-rear slide-type cover member 45, [0067]), and the pushing board is slidable with respect to the surfaces of the strips and the outer surface of the housing (figure 1, guide grooves 40g and front-rear slide-type cover member 45, [0067]) to cover the charging portion of the secondary battery.
As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the secondary battery as disclosed within Wang to additionally include a leading frame is provided on an outer surface of the housing and located at the opening, the leading frame has a pushing board for covering the opening, wherein the pushing board is slidably connected to the leading frame such that a height of the pushing board is adjustable, and wherein a pair of strips are connected to the leading frame on two sides, and edges of the pushing board are sandwiched between surfaces of the strips and the outer surface of the housing, and the pushing board is slidable with respect to the surfaces of the strips and the outer surface of the housing to cover the charging portion of the battery as disclosed within Kondo.
Allowable Subject Matter
10. Claim 5 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112 (b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
11. Claim 7 and 8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
12. The prior art references does not disclose wherein inwardly bendable first connecting members are provided at top of left and right side walls of the accommodation cavity, and welding portions, on left and right sides, are provided on an upper surface of the PCB board, wherein, after the PCB board is placed in the accommodation cavity, two first connecting members are bent inwardly and welded with the welding portions, and the first connecting members are located on two projections.
Conclusion
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/J.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1727
/BARBARA L GILLIAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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