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 Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 18 contains “unit)” – note right side bracket, which appears to be a typographical error. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 14 objected to because of the following informalities: line 3 contains “unit)” – note right side bracket, which appears to be a typographical error. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 12-20 are 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 12 includes multiple instances of insufficient antecedent basis for structures / terms within the claim. Claim 12 is annotated below with black lines under each occurrence of insufficient antecedent basis.
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636
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Chronologically from above, the underlined terms will be interpreted as follows:
a surface
the space
a surface
a front surface
a face
a rear surface
another edge
a left end
a right end
adjacent aluminum plates
an upper edge
a lower edge
an inner side
an outer side
an outer side
an outer side
upper ends
lower ends
“the ends” at lines 28-29 (3 occurrences) are interpreted as “the left end and the right end”
a tail end
a nail cap
a wall surface
a bottom
a cap of the pin
a nail cap
an outer side
Further, claims 13-20 are rejected since they depend from claim 12.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the number" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of this office action, “the number” will be interpreted as “a number”.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the surface" in lines 6-7 (3 occurrences). There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of this office action, “the surface of the current are” will be interpreted as “a surface of the current area”; “the surface of the voltage area” will be interpreted as “a surface of the voltage area”; and “the surface of the sinking area” will be interpreted as “a surface of the sinking area”.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the station" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of this office action, “the station” will be interpreted as “a station”.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the thickness" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of this office action, “the thickness” will be interpreted as “a thickness”.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the width" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of this office action, “the width” will be interpreted as “a width”.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the horizontal section" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of this office action, “the horizontal section” will be interpreted as “a horizontal section”.
Claim 19 recites the limitation "the slot opening" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of this office action, “the slot opening” will be interpreted as “a slot opening”.
Claim 19 recites the limitation "the side surface" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of this office action, “the side surface” will be interpreted as “a side surface”.
Claim 20 recites the limitation "a fixing block above its end" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim as it is unclear which “end” this structure refers to.
Claim 20 recites the limitation "the linkage blocks" in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of this office action, “the linkage blocks” will be interpreted as “linkage blocks”.
Claim 20 recites the limitation "the linkage" in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of this office action, “the linkage” will be interpreted as “a linkage”.
The term “good heat resistance” in claim 16 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “good heat resistance” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. For the purposes of this office action, “good heat resistance” will be interpreted as “heat resistance”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-20 would be allowed if the above rejections were overcome.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: After an extensive prior art search, no references were found alone or in combination that disclose or render obvious all of the intricate structural features of instant independent claim 12. Instant independent claim 12 discloses an electric connection mechanism for soft pack batteries including an airbag type formation probe, including aluminum plates arranged with respect to one another as set forth in the instant claim, hand having all of the structural features including insulating layers, clamping spaces, and edges arranged as set forth in the claim, and having upper and lower sliding blocks arranged with respect to one another as set forth in the claim, and having contact plates with associated structures and features as set forth in the claim, and having multiple airbag units as spatially arranged within the electric connection mechanism.
A number of prior art references were found that are pertinent to the above instant independent claim:
Luo et al. (CN 11864170) discloses in Figs 1-6, a device having a first air bag (ref 200) that is arranged on one side of a laminate (ref 100). An electrical connection plate (ref 300) is attached to an outer surface of the first air bag (200). The bottom end of the electrical connection plate is provided with a connection end (ref 301) for connecting to a battery power supply (Abstract). The first air bag (ref 200) ventilates and expands to push the electrical connection plate (ref 300) to move in a direction of a lug pressing mechanism for pressing the lug (Abstract). However, the intricate structure of the connection device including the battery and airbag of the instant claim is not disclosed or rendered obvious by the aforementioned reference.
Chen et al. (CN 206180002U) discloses in Figs 1-6, a power battery clamping mechanism (Fig 1), comprising a mounting frame (ref 1) and a guide pole (ref 2); the guide pole (ref 2) is orderly set with top plate (ref 3) and several clamping units (Fig 1), the clamping unit comprises a movable plate and a fixed plate (refs 5, 6), between the top plate (ref 3) and the adjacent movable plate are provided with a first expansion mechanism (depicted in Fig 2); between the fixed plate of adjacent clamping unit and the movable plate are provided with a second expansion mechanism (multiple units depicted in Fig 2), the first expansion mechanism and the second expansion mechanism expanding respectively push slide adjacent the movable plate (as depicted in Figs 1, 2). However, the intricate structure of the connection device including the battery and airbag of the instant claim is not disclosed or rendered obvious by the aforementioned reference.
Yu et al. (US 2020/0411898) discloses in Figs 1-12, a device for battery formation (Abstract) comprising a base plate (ref 1), a press plate (ref 2), a positioning block (ref 3) and a connecting assembly (ref 4). The base plate (ref 1) is fixed to an external frame by bolts ([0074]). The press plate (ref 2) is connected with the base plate (ref 1); the press plate (ref 2) is positioned below the base plate (ref 1) in an height direction Z and connected with the base plate (ref 1) by bolts ([0074]). The positioning block (ref 3) is provided as plurality in number and the plurality of positioning blocks (refs 3) are positioned between the base plate (ref 1) and the press plate (ref 2). The positioning block (ref 3) has a main portion (ref 31) and a protruding portion (ref 32). However, the intricate structure of the connection device including the battery and airbag of the instant claim is not disclosed or rendered obvious by the aforementioned reference.
Rathmann et al. (US 2020/0122301) discloses in Figs 1-5, a battery clamping system (ref 1) including a base plate (ref 3), a pressure plate (ref 4), clamping elements (refs 5), all for forming a stack (ref 2) of the battery clamping system (ref 1). The base plate (ref 3) and pressure plate (ref 4) correspond to one another in the stacking structure (Fig 2) for forming the totality of the structure. The base plate (ref 3) includes a number of structures ([0037], [0038]) for attaching to the clamping elements (refs 5) to form the structure. However, the intricate structure of the connection device including the battery and airbag of the instant claim is not disclosed or rendered obvious by the aforementioned reference.
As seen above, the aforementioned prior art references are considered to be the prior art references of record closest to the aforementioned limitations of instant independent claim 12. However, none of the references, alone or in any combination, discloses or renders obvious all of the aforementioned limitations of instant independent claim 12. Therefore, these references are considered to be the prior art references of record closest to the structure of instant independent claim 12.
Conclusion
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/KENNETH J DOUYETTE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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