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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US 2023/0087398 A1) in view of Kim (US 2010/0136388 A1).
Claim 1: Park discloses a rechargeable battery (secondary battery 100, [0046]) comprising: an electrode assembly (electrode assembly 500, [0047]); a can accommodating the electrode assembly in an internal region of the can (cylindrical case 200 accommodating the electrode assembly 500, [0046]); and a cap assembly coupled to the can to seal the can (cap assembly 300 mounted on and sealing the opening of the cylindrical case 200, [0046], [0051]), the cap assembly including a safety vent and a cap down stacked with a connecting member interposed between the safety vent and the cap down (safety vent 320 and current interrupt device 600, which constitutes the cap down, with the second portion 720 of the CID gasket 700 interposed between the safety vent 320 and the current interrupt device 600, [0054], [0057], [0061]; FIG. 3).
The safety vent of Park comprises, radially from the center outward and as annotated in FIG. 3 below: a central part joined to the cap down (the central region of the safety vent 320 joined by welding to the interrupter 620 of the current interrupt device 600, [0056], [0059]); a middle part, disposed radially outward of the central part, comprising a step portion and a notch groove (the inclined portion of the safety vent 320 that protrudes toward the upper cap constituting the step portion, and the inner of the two grooves of different depth, groove 321, constituting the notch groove, [0055]; FIG. 3); a fusion part, disposed radially outward of the middle part, in contact with the connecting member (the region of the safety vent 320 that contacts the second portion 720 of the CID gasket 700, located radially outward of the notch groove 321 and radially inward of the outer groove 322, [0057], [0061]; FIG. 3); and a wing part surrounding the fusion part (the bent peripheral edge region of the safety vent 320, disposed radially outward of and surrounding the fusion part, [0048], [0051]; FIG. 3).
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Park, FIG. 3 (annotated); mapping of the central part, middle part (step portion + notch groove), fusion part, and wing/edge part of the safety vent 320.
Park does not expressly disclose that at least three of the central part, the middle part, the fusion part, or the wing part have different thicknesses.
Park itself forms the safety vent as a thin-film structure having regions of differing thickness, the two grooves 321 and 322 being formed to different depths ([0055]), so that the vent already presents plural regions of different thickness. Kim, analogous to the cylindrical secondary battery art, teaches the general practice of deliberately forming the safety vent of a cylindrical cell with a plurality of radial regions of mutually different thickness, and of selecting the thickness of each region to set the operating pressure and
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the breaking pressure of the vent ([0084]-[0085], [0099]-[0100]; FIG. 2B).
Kim, FIG. 2B (annotated): a safety vent formed with a plurality of regions of mutually different thickness, the thickness of each region being selected to set the operating and breaking pressures.
In view of Park’s own thickness-varied vent ([0055]) and Kim’s teaching that the thickness of each region of the safety vent is selected to set the operating and breaking pressures ([0084]-[0085], [0099]-[0100]), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the safety vent of Park such that at least three of the central part, the middle part, the fusion part, and the wing part have mutually different thicknesses, in order to set the operating and breaking pressures of the safety vent to predetermined values.
Claim 8: Park discloses a rechargeable battery having all of the limitations set forth with respect to claim 1 above — including the electrode assembly, the can, and the cap assembly comprising the safety vent 320, the cap down (current interrupt device 600), the connecting member (the second portion 720 of the CID gasket 700) interposed between the safety vent and the cap down, and the safety vent’s central part, middle part (comprising the step portion and the notch groove 321), fusion part, and edge part (the wing part of claim 1 corresponding to the recited edge part), mapped as annotated in FIG. 3 above ([0046]-[0057], [0061]; FIG. 3) — and further discloses a cap-up covering the safety vent (upper cap 310 positioned on and covering the safety vent 320 and serving as the positive electrode terminal, [0048]). In view of Park’s differing-depth grooves ([0055]) and Kim’s teaching of selecting each region’s thickness to set the operating and breaking pressures ([0084]-[0085], [0099]-[0100]), and for the same reasons given for claim 1, the combination of Park and Kim renders obvious forming at least three of the central part, the middle part, the fusion part, and the edge part with mutually different thicknesses.
Claim 13: Park discloses a method of manufacturing a rechargeable battery, comprising: accommodating an electrode assembly in an internal region of a can (inserting the electrode assembly 500 into the cylindrical case 200, [0046]); and sealing the can with a cap assembly (mounting the cap assembly 300 on the opening of the cylindrical case 200 and forming the crimping unit 220 to seal, [0046], [0051]), the cap assembly including a safety vent 320 and a cap down (current interrupt device 600) stacked with a connecting member (the second portion 720 of the CID gasket 700) interposed between the safety vent and the cap down, the safety vent comprising a central part joined to the cap down ([0056], [0059]), a middle part comprising a step portion and a notch groove (groove 321) ([0055]; FIG. 3), a fusion part in contact with the connecting member ([0057], [0061]), and a wing part surrounding the fusion part ([0048], [0051]; FIG. 3), mapped as annotated in FIG. 3 above. In view of Park’s differing-depth grooves ([0055]) and Kim’s teaching that each region’s thickness is selected to set the operating and breaking pressures ([0084]-[0085], [0099]-[0100]; FIG. 2B), and for the same reasons given for claim 1, the combination of Park and Kim renders obvious forming the safety vent so that at least three of the recited parts have mutually different thicknesses, in order to set the operating and breaking pressures to predetermined values.
Claims 2 and 14: The combination of Park and Kim renders obvious the rechargeable battery of claim 1 and the method of claim 13. Park further discloses that the wing part includes a first part and a second part overlapping the first part and formed by bending the second part over the first part: as shown in FIG. 3, the peripheral edge of the safety vent 320 is bent so as to overlap itself, forming a first part and a second part that overlap and are held within the sealing gasket 400 at the crimping unit 220 ([0051]; FIG. 3). Each of the first part and the second part is a single thickness of the vent plate, so that a thickness of the wing part is a thickness of one of the first part or the second part individually (FIG. 3).
Claims 3, 9, and 15: The combination of Park and Kim renders obvious the rechargeable battery of claims 2 and 8 and the method of claim 14. As mapped above and annotated in FIG. 3, the middle part (the stepped region of the safety vent 320 bearing the notch groove 321) is disposed between the central part (the central region welded to the interrupter 620) and the fusion part (the region contacting the second portion 720, located radially outward of the notch groove 321), the fusion part being disposed radially outward of the middle part (Park, [0055], [0057], [0059], [0061]; FIG. 3). The notch groove is disposed on a first surface of the middle part, between the step portion and the fusion part, the first surface facing the cap down: in Park the notch groove 321 lies between the step portion and the fusion part and opens toward the current interrupt device 600 that constitutes the cap down (Park, [0055]; FIG. 3), and Kim likewise teaches forming the notch on the surface of the safety vent 73 that faces the cap-down 74 ([0074], [0078]; FIG. 2B).
Claims 4 and 16: The combination of Park and Kim renders obvious the rechargeable battery of claim 2 and the method of claim 14, wherein the cap assembly is coupled to the can via an insulating gasket surrounding the wing part. Park discloses that a sealing gasket 400 is positioned between the cylindrical case 200 and the cap assembly 300 and that an end of the cylindrical case 200 is bent to form the crimping unit 220, whereby the sealing gasket 400 surrounds the bent peripheral edge (wing part) of the safety vent 320 ([0051]; FIG. 3). Because the upper cap 310 of the cap assembly 300 serves as the positive electrode terminal ([0048]) while the cylindrical case 200 serves as the negative electrode terminal ([0052]), the sealing gasket 400 interposed between them electrically insulates the cap assembly from the can, and thus is an insulating gasket surrounding the wing part.
Claims 5, 10, and 17: The combination of Park and Kim renders obvious the rechargeable battery of claims 2 and 8 and the method of claim 14. As set forth for claim 1, Park itself forms the vent with regions of differing thickness ([0055]) and Kim teaches selecting the thickness of each region of the safety vent to set the operating and breaking pressures ([0084]-[0085], [0099]-[0100]). Providing the central part with a first thickness T1, the middle part with a second thickness T2, the fusion part with a third thickness T3, and the wing part (edge part) with a fourth thickness T4, such that T1 > (T2 = T3) > T4, with the central part joined to the cap down being thickest and the peripheral wing/edge part being thinnest, is an obvious configuration of the differing-thickness regions taught by the combination to obtain predetermined operating and breaking pressures.
Claims 6, 11, and 18: The combination of Park and Kim renders obvious the rechargeable battery of claims 2 and 8 and the method of claim 14. The middle part includes an inner part comprising the step portion and an outer part comprising the notch groove (Park, the inclined step portion and the notch groove 321, [0055]; FIG. 3), and, as set forth for claim 1, Kim teaches selecting the thickness of each region of the safety vent to set the operating and breaking pressures ([0084]-[0085], [0099]-[0100]). Providing the central part with a fifth thickness T5, the inner part with a sixth thickness T6, the outer part with a seventh thickness T7, the fusion part with an eighth thickness T8, and the wing part (edge part) with a ninth thickness T9, such that T5 > T6 > (T7 = T8 = T9), is an obvious configuration of the differing-thickness regions taught by the combination to obtain predetermined operating and breaking pressures.
Claims 7, 12, and 19: The combination of Park and Kim renders obvious the rechargeable battery of claims 2 and 8 and the method of claim 14. As set forth for claim 1, Park itself forms the vent with regions of differing thickness ([0055]) and Kim teaches selecting the thickness of each region of the safety vent to set the operating and breaking pressures ([0084]-[0085], [0099]-[0100]). Providing the central part with a tenth thickness T10, the middle part with an eleventh thickness T11, the fusion part with a twelfth thickness T12, and the wing part (edge part) with a thirteenth thickness T13, such that (T10 = T12) > T13 > T11, is an obvious configuration of the differing-thickness regions taught by the combination to obtain predetermined operating and breaking pressures.
Claim 20: The combination of Park and Kim renders obvious the method of claim 13. Park further discloses forming the safety vent of the cap assembly at least in part by joining the central part to the cap down (the central region of the safety vent 320 joined to the interrupter 620 of the current interrupt device 600 by welding, [0056], [0059]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ATEF A SHAT whose telephone number is (571)270-0364. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Cleveland can be reached at 5712721418. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ATEF A SHAT/Examiner, Art Unit 1712
/MICHAEL B CLEVELAND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1712
