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
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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (US 2022/0209345 A1), and further in view of Yokoyama (JP 2022069854 A).
As claim 1, Sato et al. disclose a power storage device (see e.g. “FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an internal structure of a sealed battery according to an embodiment” in Par. [0020]) comprising:
a case member (see e.g. sealing plate 60 in annotated Fig. 2, and “The lid body 34 includes a sealing plate 60, a positive electrode terminal member 40, a negative electrode terminal member 50, and a sealing material 70.” in Par. [0034]) having a terminal inserting hole (See e.g. element 60C in annotated Fig. 2);
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Annotated Fig. 1 from Sato et al. (US 2022/0209345 A1).
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Annotated Fig. 2 from Sato et al. (US 2022/0209345 A1).
a current collecting terminal (see e.g. positive electrode terminal 40, and negative electrode terminal 50 in annotated Fig. 1) including:
a hole insertion portion (See e.g. element 64 in annotated Fig. 2, and “the negative electrode terminal member 50 passes through the attachment hole 64 and is exposed to the outside of the battery case 30” in Par. [0035]) inserted through the terminal inserting hole (See e.g. element 60C in annotated Fig. 2) in a case front-back direction (see e.g. “reference numeral Z indicates a height direction” in Par. [0026]) of the case member; and
an external connection portion (see e.g. negative electrode terminal 50 in annotated Fig. 2) continuous with the hole insertion portion (See e.g. element 64 in annotated Fig. 2) and placed in parallel to the case member on a case front-surface side of the case member (See e.g. sealing plate 60 in annotated Fig. 2); and
an insulating resin member integrally molded with the current collecting terminal and the case member (see e.g. “The thermoplastic resin and the inorganic filler used in the sealing material 70 are melted to prepare a resin for injection molding. A mold in which the sealing plate 60 and the negative electrode terminal member 50 can be disposed and which is formed to conform to a shape of the sealing material 70 is prepared” in Par. [0048]), in which the hole insertion portion (See e.g. element 64 in annotated Fig. 2) and the external connection portion (See e.g. element 50 in annotated Fig. 2) are connected to a hole outer edge portion and a hole surrounding portion of the terminal inserting hole (See e.g. element 60C in annotated Fig. 2) of the case member,
Sato et al. do not disclose that the insulating resin member includes a back-surface side insulating resin portion connecting a back surface of the external connection portion and the hole insertion portion of the current collecting terminal to the hole outer edge portion and the hole surrounding portion of the case member, and wherein the back-surface side insulating resin portion is formed with a recessed portion opening on a case back-surface side of the case member.
On the other hand, Yokoyama discloses a battery including a current collector, and electrode terminal, and an insulating resin member (see e.g. “the insulating member 411 is made of a resin such as PPS (polyphenylene sulfide)” in Par. [0057]). The insulating resin member includes a recessed portion (see e.g. element 411B in annotated Fig. 31, and “the recess 411B constitutes a "holding portion" for holding the insulating member 411” in Par. [0056]).
Both Sato et al. and Yokoyama are analogous in the field of batteries, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skills in the art to modify the insulating resin member of Sato et al. (see e.g. “The thermoplastic resin and the inorganic filler used in the sealing material 70 are melted to prepare a resin for injection molding” in Par. [0048] from Sato et al.) to include the recessed portion (see e.g. element 411B in annotated Fig. 31 from Yokoyama) as taught by Yokoyama to strength the insulating resin member as suggested by Yokoyama (see e.g. ““the recess 411B constitutes a "holding portion" for holding the insulating member 411” in Par. [0056]). Additionally, modifying the insulating resin member of Sato et al. to include the recessed portion from Yokoyama ensures that the insulating resin member includes a back-surface side insulating resin portion connecting a back surface of the external connection portion and the hole insertion portion of the current collecting terminal to the hole outer edge portion and the hole surrounding portion of the case member, and wherein the back-surface side insulating resin portion is formed with a recessed portion opening on a case back-surface side of the case member, because the inclusion of the recessed portion from Yokoyama would modify the structural configuration of the insulating member of Sato et al., matching the claimed invention.
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Annotated Fig. 31 from Yokoyama (JP 2022069854 A).
As claim 2, modified Sato disclose a power storage device according to claim 1, wherein
Yokoyama discloses a recessed portion has a bottom surface located on the case front-surface side (see e.g. annotated Fig. 31 from Yokoyama).
Yokoyama also discloses that the height of the recessed portion is about 2.5 mm or more and 10 mm or less (see e.g. “the height of the recess 411B is, for example, about 2.5 mm or more and 10 mm or less” in Par. [0057] from Yokoyama). Moreover, the thick region (see e.g. element 411C in annotated Fig. 31 from Yokoyama) is understood as the region between the top surface of the insulating resin member and the bottom surface of the recessed portion. Yokoyama recites that the height of the recessed portion is, but not limited to, about 2.5 mm or more and 10 mm or less (see e.g. “the height of the recess 411B is, for example, about 2.5 mm or more and 10 mm or less” in Par. [0057] from Yokoyama), and the thick portion has a thickness greater than the base portion (see e.g. “the thick portion 411C has a thickness (second thickness) larger than the thickness of the base portion (first thickness)” in Par. [0060] from Yokoyama). However, after including the current collecting terminal (see e.g. “The thick portion 411C is provided on the bus bar connecting portion 400A side along the X-axis direction” in Par. [0060] from Yokoyama), the thickness t1 can be decreased to any limit once it holds or support the insulating material (see e.g. “the recess 411B constitutes a "holding portion" for holding the insulating member 411” in Par. [0056] from Yokoyama). Therefore, It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skills in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the current invention to routinely select the disclosed insulating resin layer with a thickness range of 200 μm or more between the back surface of the external connection portion and the bottom surface of the recessed portion, for holding the insulating member.
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Annotated Fig. 29 from Yokoyama (JP 2022069854 A).
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (US 2022/0209345 A1) in view of Yokoyama (JP 2022069854 A), as applied in claim 1, and further in view of Jung et al. (KR 20230064153 A).
As claim 3, modified Sato et al. disclose a power storage device according to claim 1, wherein
Yokoyama discloses the recessed portion is formed in a rectangular shape as viewed from the case back-surface side (see e.g. element 411B in annotated Figs. 29 and 31 from Yokoyama).
Modified Sato et al. disclose that the back-surface side insulating resin portion is provided with side wall surfaces defining the recessed portion.
However modified Sato et al. do not disclose a connecting rib connecting opposing ones of the side wall surfaces to each other.
On the other hand, Jung et al. disclose a rectangular resin frame (see e.g. element 300 in annotated Fig. 2, and “at least one of the outer frame 100, the tray part 200, the inner frame 300, and the cover part 400 may be made of a composite material in which a polymer resin and a nano-carbon material are combined” in Par. [0030] from Jung et al.), for a battery case.
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Annotated Fig. 2 from Jung et al. (KR 20230064153 A).
Sato et al., Yokoyama, and Jung et al. are analogous in the field of batteries, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skills in the art to modify the resin recessed portion of modified Sato et al. to include a crossed connecting rib (see e.g. element 300 in annotated Fig. 2 from Jung et al.) as taught by Jung et al. for connecting opposing ones of the side wall surfaces to each other.
As claim 4, modified Sato disclose a power storage device according to claim 2, wherein
Yokoyama discloses the recessed portion is formed in a rectangular shape as viewed from the case back-surface side (see e.g. element 411B in annotated Figs. 29 and 31 from Yokoyama).
Modified Sato et al. disclose that the back-surface side insulating resin portion is provided with side wall surfaces defining the recessed portion.
However modified Sato et al. do not disclose a connecting rib connecting opposing ones of the side wall surfaces to each other.
On the other hand, Jung et al. disclose a rectangular resin frame (see e.g. element 300 in annotated Fig. 2, and “at least one of the outer frame 100, the tray part 200, the inner frame 300, and the cover part 400 may be made of a composite material in which a polymer resin and a nano-carbon material are combined” in Par. [0030] from Jung et al.), for a battery case.
Sato et al., Yokoyama, and Jung et al. are analogous in the field of batteries, it would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skills in the art to modify the resin recessed portion of modified Sato et al. to include a crossed connecting rib (see e.g. element 300 in annotated Fig. 2 from Jung et al.) as taught by Jung et al. for connecting opposing ones of the side wall surfaces to each other.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lee et al. (EP 4394960 A1) disclose a battery enclosing a crossed frame reinforcing portion to prevent deformation of the frame body.
Guo et al. (CN 116252523 A) disclose a battery pack comprising a reinforcing rib as one or combination of several glass fiber, basalt fiber, aramid fiber, carbon fiber; the matrix resin is one of epoxy resin, polyurethane resin, phenolic resin.
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/I.T.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1723
/ALLISON BOURKE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1721
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