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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 22 states “the bottom surface 412 and both side surfaces 414” in lines 19-20, then later states “U-shaped frames 412 and 414” in line 24.
The Examiner suggests amending the specification around line 24 to state the U-shaped frame is formed of bottom surface 412 and both side surfaces 414 rather than stating “U-shaped frames 412 and 414”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-5, 8, and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhou et al (WO2022126841A1, using the provided machine English translation from Espacenet).
Regarding claim 1, Zhou discloses a battery pack (see Fig. 1) comprising:
a plurality of cell units arranged side by side in a horizontal direction (multiple thermal runaway sealing assemblies 1 in Fig. 1; the examiner notes that while the description states “assemblies 1”, the figures use reference numeral “10” to point to said assemblies in the figures; the specification notes adjacent thermal runaway sealing assemblies 1 are electrically connected to form a module; see entire disclosure and especially P45, 50), and
a pack case which houses the plurality of the cell units therein (housing including cover 22, front plate 23, rear plate 24 in Fig. 1; see entire disclosure and especially P45, 50),
wherein each cell unit includes at least one battery cell (at least two battery cells 11 in Fig. 4) and a cell cover covering a part of the at least one battery cell (cover 13 in Fig. 4; see entire disclosure and especially P45, 50), and
wherein each cell cover has a shape in which an upper surface is inclined relative to a lower surface thereof (see Figs. 2-4 and 8; see the annotated Figs. provided below).
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Annotated Zhou Figs. 2 and 4
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Annotated Zhou Fig. 2 with Examiner’s Interpretation
Regarding claim 2, Zhou discloses wherein each cell cover has an edge that is longer in a vertical direction perpendicular to the lower surface than a central part thereof (see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Zhou Fig. 4
Regarding claim 3, Zhou discloses wherein each cell cover has a shape which is inclined upward relative to the lower surface thereof toward an end part of the cell cover in a longitudinal direction of the respective cell unit (see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Zhou Fig. 2
Regarding claim 4, Zhou discloses wherein each battery cell is vertically arranged so that one edge thereof is disposed adjacent to a bottom surface of the pack case (as see in Figs. 1 and 3-4, each of the at least two battery cells 11 in one of the covers 13 has one edge (a lower/bottom edge) disposed adjacent to a bottom surface of the housing), the cell cover covers an upper edge of each battery cell (see Fig. 4), and a lower edge of each cell cover is open (see Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 5, Zhou discloses wherein each cell cover includes a second surface and a third surface disposed parallel to one surface of the respective at least one battery cell, and a first surface extending between the second surface and the third surface, and a cross section of each cell cover has an n-shape (see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Zhou Fig. 4
Regarding claim 8, Zhou discloses wherein a cross section of the first surface of each cell cover has a shape which is inclined upward relative to the lower surface toward an end part of the cell unit in a longitudinal direction of the respective cell unit (a portion of the first surface of each cell cover (the recession portion) includes a cross section of the first surface having a shape which is inclined upward relative to the lower surface toward an end part of the cell unit in a longitudinal direction of the respective cell unit; see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Zhou Fig. 2
Regarding claim 14, Zhou discloses the pack case being housing in a separate case (the battery pack can be provided in a vehicle, therefore the separate case the pack case is housed within could be the body of a vehicle; see entire disclosure and especially P27, 66).
Regarding claim 15, Zhou discloses a device comprising the battery pack of claim 1 (a vehicle; see entire disclosure and especially P27, 66).
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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin et al (KR20210004189A1, using US 20220115737 A1 as an English equivalent) in view of Kim et al (US 20170365893 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Shin discloses a cell unit (battery module 200 in Figs. 1-2) including at least one battery cell (a plurality of secondary batteries 110 in Fig. 2) and a cell cover covering a part of the at least one battery cell (upper cover 220 in Figs. 1-2; see entire disclosure and especially P45, 47), wherein the cell cover has a shape in which an upper surface is inclined relative to a lower surface thereof (see Fig. 2; see the annotated Fig. provided below; based on the figures, recessed portions in the upper cover appear to have walls shown by extra lines that indicate the walls are formed in a tapered/curved manner rather than being formed from straight 90 degree cut-out sections (see annotated Fig. at the end of the rejection of claim 1)).
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Annotated Shin Fig. 2
Shin further discloses a plurality of the cell units arranged vertically to form a battery rack (see entire disclosure and especially P116), however, Shin does not disclose a battery pack comprising a plurality of the cell units arranged side by side in a horizontal direction wherein a pack case houses the plurality of cell units therein.
In a similar field of endeavor, Kim teaches, as a need for a large-capacity structure has increased along with the increased use as an energy storage source, a battery system having a structure in which a plurality of battery modules are connected in series or in parallel has been widely used (P5). Kim teaches an energy storage system (1 in Fig. 3a) including a plurality of battery racks (110 in Fig. 3a) housed in a housing (10 in Fig. 3a; P62-66). Kim teaches the plurality of battery racks include a plurality of battery modules and are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction in the housing (see Fig. 3a and P66). Kim teaches the housing allows for an inner space capable of accommodating other components of the energy storage system (P64).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have utilized the teaching of Kim and provided a plurality of the cell units of Shin arranged into battery racks and then provided a plurality of said battery racks arranged side by side in a horizontal direction in a housing in order to provide Shin a battery pack comprising a plurality of the cell units arranged side by side in a horizontal direction wherein a pack case houses the plurality of cell units therein, given Kim teaches this can provide a large-capacity structure to be used as an energy storage source and Kim teaches this can provide housing including a plurality of battery racks and other components. Further, the combination of familiar elements is likely to be obvious when it does no more than yield predictable results (see MPEP § 2143, A.).
Regarding the Examiner’s statement “based on the figures, recessed portions in the upper cover appear to have walls shown by extra lines that indicate the walls are formed in a tapered/curved manner rather than being formed from straight 90 degree cut-out sections”, the following annotated Fig. has been set forth below:
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Annotated Shin Fig. 2
If Applicant disagrees with Examiner’s interpretation that the walls forming the recessed portions of the cell cover of Shin are tapered/curved walls rather than 90-degree straight walls, the Examiner sets forth that changing the walls to be tapered/curved is merely a change in the form/shape of the walls, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to change the form/shape of the walls to be curved/tapered as Examiner has set forth in order to, for example, remove sharp 90-degree internal corners thereby removing the stress that is known to concentrate in such corners and allow any mechanical load filled in the recessed portions to be filled across a wider surface area due to the curves to increase the structural strength and durability at the recessed portions, because the change in form or shape, without any new or unexpected results, is an obvious engineering design. See In re Dailey, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1976) (see MPEP § 2144.04).
Regarding claim 2, modified Shin meets the limitation wherein each cell cover has an edge that is longer in a vertical direction perpendicular to the lower surface than a central part thereof (see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Shin Fig. 2
Regarding claim 3, modified Shin meets the limitation wherein each cell cover has a shape which is inclined upward relative to the lower surface thereof toward an end part of the cell cover in a longitudinal direction of the respective cell unit (see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Shin Fig. 2
Regarding claim 4, modified Shin meets the limitation wherein each battery cell is vertically arranged so that one edge thereof is disposed adjacent to a bottom surface of the pack case (looking at the cell units (battery modules) of modified Shin that would be arranged at the very bottom of each rack, thereby making the very bottom cell units (battery modules) the cell units arranged side-by-side horizontally in the housing: as seen in Fig. 1, each of the secondary batteries 110 of said bottom cell units would have one edge (a lower/bottom edge) that would be disposed adjacent to a bottom surface of the pack case), the cell cover covers an upper edge of each battery cell (see Fig. 2), and a lower edge of each cell cover is open (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 5, modified Shin meets the limitation wherein each cell cover includes a second surface and a third surface disposed parallel to one surface of the respective at least one battery cell, and a first surface extending between the second surface and the third surface, and a cross section of each cell cover has an n-shape (see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Shin Fig. 2
Regarding claim 6, Zhou discloses wherein the second surface of each cell cover includes a second central part and a second edge part, the second central part being smaller in a vertical direction perpendicular to the lower surface than the second edge part (see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Shin Fig. 2
Regarding claim 7, modified Shin meets the limitation wherein: an upper side edge of the second surface of each cell cover has a shape which is inclined upward relative to the lower surface toward an end part of the second surface in a longitudinal direction of the respective cell unit (see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Shin Fig. 2
Regarding claim 8, modified Shin meets the limitation wherein a cross section of the first surface of each cell cover has a shape which is inclined upward relative to the lower surface toward an end part of the cell unit in a longitudinal direction of the respective cell unit (a portion of the first surface of each cell cover (the recessed portion) includes a cross section of the first surface having a shape which is inclined upward relative to the lower surface toward an end part of the cell unit in a longitudinal direction of the respective cell unit; see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Shin Fig. 2
Regarding claim 9, modified Shin meets the limitation wherein each cell cover includes a fourth surface extending between the first surface, the second surface, and the third surface (see the annotated Fig. below).
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Annotated Shin Fig. 2
Regarding claim 10, modified Shin meets the limitation wherein: the fourth surface of each cell cover partially covers an open end part of the respective at least one battery cell (see Figs. 1-2 of Shin, the tabs drawn to the “fourth surface” would extend down to partially cover the flat and wide (“open end”) part of plurality of secondary batteries 110).
Claims 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin et al (KR20210004189A1, using US 20220115737 A1 as an English equivalent) in view of Kim et al (US 20170365893 A1) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Cragnotti et al (US 20170290204 A1).
Regarding claim 11, modified Shin does not meet the limitation wherein a bottom surface of the pack case has a venting hole extending therethrough and communicating with an outside of the pack case.
In a similar field of endeavor, Cragnotti teaches a battery pack (32 in Figs. 2-6) includes a battery enclosure (42 in Figs. 2-6, P27). Cragnotti teaches the battery enclosure hosts a first battery cell (68 in Figs. 2-6) and a second battery cell (70 in Figs. 2-6; P30). Cragnotti teaches one or more drainage holes can be provided along a bottom wall (124 in Figs. 2-6) of the battery enclosure to allow moisture to escape from the battery pack (P35). Cragnotti teaches the drainage holes can generally be provided below the first battery cell and the second battery cell (P35).
While Cragnotti teaches drainage holes being provided within a battery pack having a first and second battery cell rather than a plurality of battery racks, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the benefit of removing moisture from any enclosure hosting battery cells would be desirable. If a technique has been used to improve one device (provide drainage holes in a bottom wall of a battery enclosure hosting a first and second battery cell), and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way (provide drainage holes in a bottom surface of a pack case hosting a plurality of cell units/battery racks), using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill. See MPEP § 2141 (III) Rationale C, KSR v. Teleflex (Supreme Court 2007).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have utilized the teaching of Cragnotti and provided to modified Shin wherein a bottom surface of the pack case has a venting hole extending therethrough and communicating with an outside of the pack case, such as providing the bottom surface of the pack case with at least one drainage hole as taught by Cragnotti, given Cragnotti teaches this can remove moisture from an enclosure hosting batteries.
Regarding claim 12, given modified Shin teaches their cell units are provided in battery racks and a plurality of battery racks are arranged horizontally side by side in a housing (such as the plurality of battery racks being provided as seen in Kim Fig. 3a), one of the cell units provided in the battery rack adjacent to a door of the housing (see doors 11/12 in Fig. 3a of Kim) can be drawn to the claimed “an end part one of the cell units”.
While modified Shin does not explicitly meet the limitation wherein the venting hole (drainage hole) is located at a position underlying the end part one of the cell units, this is merely a rearrangement of parts of modified Shin. It would have been obvious to rearranged the parts of modified Shin as claimed in order to, for example, provide a drainage hole near the door of the housing such that moisture can be removed from the housing while also allowing for easy access to the drainage hole for maintenance/de-clogging, because the mere rearrangement of parts, without any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) (see MPEP § 2144.04).
Regarding claim 13, given Cragnotti teaches their drainage holes can be utilized underneath a first battery cell and a second battery cell, one of ordinary skill in the art would necessarily recognize to place a drainage hole (venting hole) underneath each battery rack of cell units in order to remove moisture from each battery rack in the pack case. Therefore, there would be a plurality of venting holes (drainage holes), one under each battery rack/set of cell units of modified Shin. The use of a known technique to improve similar devices (methods or products) in the same way is likely to be obvious. See KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007) (see MPEP § 2143, C.).
Therefore, modified Shin would meet the limitation wherein the venting hole is one of a plurality of venting holes, and the plurality of venting holes are located side by side in a straight line (given the battery racks housing the cell units are arranged side by side in a straight line, and a drainage hole is provided under each battery rack).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mary Harris whose telephone number is (571)272-0690. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-5 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ula Ruddock can be reached at (571)272-1481. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARY GRACE HARRIS/Examiner, Art Unit 1729
