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
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it exceeds 150 words. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 1-12 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 1 recites the limitation wherein the reinforcing material is disposed “in such a manner that it surrounds all or at least a part of a perimeter of a lateral side of the electrode portion and is in contact with the lateral side of the electrode portion with no spacing therebetween”. From the claim phrasing, it is not clear whether the “lateral side” refers to one side or both sides of the “of the electrode portion” and because of this reason is not clear what is considered “all or at least part of a perimeter of a lateral side”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 3 recites the limitation wherein the reinforcing material is disposed “in such a manner that it surrounds all of the perimeter of the lateral side of the electrode portion”. Because of the reasons presented for claim 1 above, this claim is unclear. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 4 recites the limitation “wherein the reinforcing material portion is disposed in such a manner that it has a predetermined interval in the perimeter of the lateral side of the electrode portion and surrounds only a part of the perimeter of the lateral side of the electrode portion”. Because of the reasons presented for claim 1 above, this claim is unclear. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2 and 5-12 are indefinite because of its dependency on claim 1 and because they do not clarify the “lateral side” feature of such claim. Appropriate correction is required.
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 non-obviousness.
Claims 1, 2, 4-6 and 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimizu et al. (US 20190252728 A1) in view of Xu e al. (CN 112038576 A, see machina translation for citation).
Regarding claim 1, Shimizu teaches a solid state battery comprising at least one first laminate body, at least second laminate one second laminate body, a first insulating layer connected to at least part of a side surface portion of the at least one first laminate body and a second insulating layer connected to at least part of a side surface portion of the at least one second laminate body [0011]. On a third embodiment, it is taught an all-solid battery (51) having several laminate bodies [0124 and Fig. 6]. The fourth laminate body (16) comprises a first current collecting layer (103) having a first positive electrode layer (102) laminated on it (electrode portion) [0125 and Fig. 6], and a first insulating layer (109) (reinforcing material) provided on at least part of its side surface portions (electrode plate) [0125, Fig. 2 and 6]. From the previous description the limitation wherein the first insulating layer (109) (reinforcing material) is “disposed in such a manner that it surrounds all or at least a part of a perimeter of a lateral side of the electrode portion and is in contact with the lateral side of the electrode portion with no spacing therebetween” is met. A first electrolyte layer (101) (electrolyte membrane) is laminated over the first positive electrode layer (102) [0125 and Fig. 6], from which the limitation “the electrolyte membrane is in close contact with the electrode portion and the reinforcing material portion with no spacing therebetween, while being in contact with at least a part of the active material layer” is met.
From Figure 6, the employed first insulating layer (109) (reinforcing material) for the fourth laminate body (16) correspond to the first insulating layer (109 a) shown in Figure 2. From these two figures and because the first current collecting layer (103) employed on the fourth laminate body (16) has only one first positive electrode layer (102) laminated on it (electrode portion), the thickness, on its highest part, of the first insulating layer (109) (reinforcing material) is equal to the thickness of the “electrode portion”.
Shimizu does not teach the features “a support disposed on the other surface of the electrode plate and an adhesive portion disposed at least at a part of a portion where the electrode plate and the support face each other”.
Xu teaches an electrode manufacturing method for lithium ion batteries [0002]. Its taught electrode comprises a support layer (1), made of an insulating material, and an electrode layer loaded on one sides of the support layer (1). The electrode layer is connected to the support layer (1) through an adhesive layer (2) and includes a conductive layer (3) and an electrode active material layer (4) from the inside to the outside [0036 and Fig. 1]. It is further taught that in the Xu’s invention the conductive layer (3) replaces a traditional current collector [0037]. It is taught that by having the referred support layer (1) when the battery experiences an internal short circuit under extreme conditions, the short circuit resistance will be greatly increased due to the insulation of the support layer, the heat generated by the short circuit can be greatly reduced and the safety performance of the battery can be significantly improved [0023].
Shimizu is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely an electrode composite membrane comprising an electrode plate having an electrode portion and a reinforcing material portion; an electrolyte membrane disposed on one surface of the electrode plate; wherein the electrode portion comprises a current collector and an active material layer disposed on at least one surface of the current collector, the electrolyte membrane is in close contact with the electrode portion and the reinforcing material portion with no spacing therebetween, while being in contact with at least a part of the active material layer, and the reinforcing material portion has a thickness equal to or smaller than a thickness of the electrode portion, is disposed in such a manner that it surrounds all or at least a part of a perimeter of a lateral side of the electrode portion and is in contact with the lateral side of the electrode portion with no spacing therebetween.
Xu is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely an electrode composite membrane comprising an electrode plate having an electrode portion; a support disposed on the other surface of the electrode plate; and an adhesive portion disposed at least at a part of a portion where the electrode plate and the support face each other, wherein the electrode portion comprises a current collector and an active material layer disposed on at least one surface of the current collector.
If the fourth laminate body (16) of Shimizu is modified to comprise the support layer (1) connected to its first current collecting layer (103) through an adhesive layer (2), on the surface opposite to the first positive electrode layer (102), the claimed limitations would be met.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fourth laminate body (16) of Shimizu to meet the limitation “a support disposed on the other surface of the electrode plate and an adhesive portion disposed at least at a part of a portion where the electrode plate and the support face each other”, because Xu teaches the referred features and that when the battery experiences an internal short circuit under extreme conditions, the short circuit resistance will be greatly increased due to the insulation of the support layer, the heat generated by the short circuit can be greatly reduced and the safety performance of the battery can be significantly improved.
Regarding claim 2, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1. From Shimizu Figure 6 can be observed that the first electrolyte layer (101) (electrolyte membrane) of the fourth laminate body (16) is disposed in such a manner that it covers all of the one surface of the “electrode plate”.
Regarding claim 4, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1. From claim 1 discussion, as shown on Figure 6 of Shimizu the fourth laminate body (16) has a first insulating layer (109) (reinforcing material) covering the right (lateral) side of the first current collecting layer (103) having a first positive electrode layer (102) (electrode portion). Because the left (lateral) side of such “electrode portion” is not covered the limitation where it has “a predetermined interval in the perimeter of the lateral side of the electrode portion and surrounds only a part of the perimeter of the lateral side of the electrode portion, and the perimeter in which the reinforcing material portion is disposed corresponds to 50% or more based on a total perimeter of the lateral side of the electrode portion” is met.
Regarding claim 5, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1. From claim 1 discussion, and because the support layer (1) of Xu covers the conductive layer (3) (current collector analogous) [see Xu’s Fig. 1], the modified fourth laminate body (16) of Shimizu in view of Xu meet the limitation “wherein the support is disposed in such a manner that it covers all of the other surface of the electrode plate”.
Regarding claim 6, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1. From claim 1 discussion, the modified fourth laminate body (16) of Shimizu in view of Xu meet the limitation “wherein the adhesive portion is disposed at an entire area of the portion where the electrode plate and the support face each other” [see Xu’s Fig. 1].
Regarding claim 9, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1. Shimizu further teaches that its first electrolyte layer (101) (electrolyte membrane) may comprise a solid electrolyte [0048] and because it is laminated on the first positive electrode layer (102) it meets the limitation of being “film-shaped”.
Regarding claim 10, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1. From claim 1 discussion, an all-solid battery (51) having several laminate bodies [0124 and Fig. 6] is taught. Among the laminate bodies, the modified fourth laminate body (16) is identified as a positive electrode and negative electrodes are intercalated within the stack [Fig. 6]. Shimizu further teaches that a battery pack according to a fourth embodiment includes a power source (62), which includes one or two or more solid batteries, inside of a housing (60) [0133, 0134 and Fig. 7]. The referred battery can be a solid battery according to the third embodiment of the present invention [0131].
Regarding claim 11, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 10. Shimizu further teaches in a sixth embodiment a power storage system including a power storage device (9003), including the solid battery according to the third embodiment [0155 and 0160]. The power storage device (9003) may be a lithium-ion battery [0160].
Regarding claim 12, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 10. From claim 10 discussion, the claimed limitation is met.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimizu et al. (US 20190252728 A1) in view of Xu e al. (CN 112038576 A, see machina translation for citation) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Tanaka (US 20140079992 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1, except “wherein the reinforcing material portion has a thickness smaller than the thickness of the electrode portion and is disposed in such a manner that it surrounds all of the perimeter of the lateral side of the electrode portion”.
Tanaka teaches a bipolar all solid state battery prepared by laminating several bipolar electrodes (10) [0087]. A bipolar electrode (10) comprises a current collector (11) having active material layers (12 and 13) formed on opposite surfaces of the current collector (11) [0087 and Fig. 4B]. A reinforcing layer (14) is disposed between the end of the respective active material layers (12 and 13), covering the ends of the current collector (11) [0087 and Fig. 4B]. A solid electrolyte layer (20) is formed so as to cover the active material layer (13) [0087 and Fig. 4C]. It is taught that by disposing the reinforcing layer (14) as taught above, the current collector is reinforced, durability against shear forces is provided and an all-solid-state battery short circuit due to breakage of the current collector is prevented [0088].
Tanaka is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely an electrode composite membrane comprising an electrode plate having an electrode portion and a reinforcing material portion, wherein the electrode portion comprises a current collector and an active material layer disposed on at least one surface of the current collector; an electrolyte membrane disposed on one surface of the electrode plate, the electrolyte membrane is in close contact with the electrode portion and the reinforcing material portion with no spacing therebetween, while being in contact with at least a part of the active material layer, and the reinforcing material portion has a thickness equal to or smaller than a thickness of the electrode portion, is disposed in such a manner that it surrounds all or at least a part of a perimeter of a lateral side of the electrode portion and is in contact with the lateral side of the electrode portion with no spacing therebetween.
If the fourth laminate body (16) of Shimizu and Xu is modified so that its first insulating layer (109) (reinforcing material) is disposed as the reinforcing layer (14) taught by Tanaka, the limitation “wherein the reinforcing material portion has a thickness smaller than the thickness of the electrode portion” would be met. Also, because the reinforcing layer (14) of Tanaka is placed on both ends of the current collector (11) and the active material layers (12 and 13) the limitation “wherein the reinforcing material portion is disposed in such a manner that it surrounds all of the perimeter of the lateral side of the electrode portion” would be met as well.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fourth laminate body (16) of Shimizu and Xu is modified so that its first insulating layer (109) (reinforcing material) “has a thickness smaller than the thickness of the electrode portion and is disposed in such a manner that it surrounds all of the perimeter of the lateral side of the electrode portion”, because Tanaka teaches that by this disposition the current collector is reinforced, durability against shear forces is provided and an all-solid-state battery short circuit due to breakage of the current collector is prevented.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimizu et al. (US 20190252728 A1) in view of Xu et al. (CN 112038576 A, see machine translation for citation) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Kaneko et al. (JP 2006302616 A, see machine translation for citation).
Regarding claim 7, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1, except “wherein the reinforcing material portion comprises a polyolefin-based polymer”.
Kaneko teaches a bipolar battery (1) which multiple bipolar electrodes (5), having a positive electrode active material layer (3) stacked on one side of a current collector (2) and a negative electrode active material layer (4) stacked on the other side [0011, Fig. 1 and 2]. An electrolyte layer (6) is interposed between each two bipolar electrodes (5) [0011 and Fig. 1]. An insulating layer (9) is provided around the outer periphery between the bipolar electrodes (5) to prevent short circuits or contact between electrodes [0015, 0053 and Fig. 3]. For the insulating layer, from the viewpoint of corrosion resistance, chemical resistance, film-forming properties, and cost-effectiveness, polyolefin resins are preferred [0053].
Kaneko is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely an electrode composite membrane comprising an electrode plate having an electrode portion and a reinforcing material portion; an electrolyte membrane disposed on one surface of the electrode plate wherein the electrode portion comprises a current collector and an active material layer disposed on at least one surface of the current collector, the electrolyte membrane is in close contact with the electrode portion and the reinforcing material portion with no spacing therebetween, while being in contact with at least a part of the active material layer, and the reinforcing material portion has a thickness equal to or smaller than a thickness of the electrode portion, is disposed in such a manner that it surrounds all or at least a part of a perimeter of a lateral side of the electrode portion and is in contact with the lateral side of the electrode portion with no spacing therebetween.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fourth laminate body (16) of Shimizu and Xu by employing a “polyolefin resin” as the material of the first insulating layer (109) (reinforcing material), because Kaneko teaches that it is preferable from a viewpoint of corrosion resistance, chemical resistance, film-forming properties, and cost-effectiveness.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimizu et al. (US 20190252728 A1) in view of Xu et al. (CN 112038576 A, see machine translation for citation) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Wang et al. (CN 112771692 A, see machine translation for citation).
Regarding claim 8, Shimizu and Xu teach all the elements of the current invention in claim 1, except “wherein the adhesive portion comprises a fluorine-based polymer, an acryl-based polymer, a urethane-based polymer, an epoxy-based polymer, an imide-based polymer, or a mixture of two or more thereof”.
Wang teaches a composite current collector (200) having a conductive layer (230) bonded to a polymer layer (220) (support analogous) by a hot melt adhesive layer (240) [0041 and Fig. 2]. The conductive layer (230) at least one of a metallic conductive layer (aluminum, copper, nickel, iron and titanium, among others) and a non-metallic conductive layer (graphite, carbon black and carbon nanotubes, among others), therefore being a current collector analogous [0033 and 0040]. The hot melt adhesive used in the hot melt adhesive layer (240) may be selected from at least one of the following: ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer (EAA), polyurethane (PU) and epoxy resin (EPO), among others [0039]. It is further taught that the employment of the hot melt adhesive layer (240), and its possible components by default, enhances the adhesion between the conductive layer (230) (current collector analogous) and the polymer layer (220) (support analogous), making it less likely for the conductive layer (230) (current collector analogous) to fall off [0041].
Wang is analogous art to the current invention because it is concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely a composite current collector comprising an insulating layer and a conductive layer. Wherein the insulating layer may be a composite film layer formed by stacking a polymer layer and a hot-melt adhesive layer and the conductive layer is disposed on at least one surface of the insulating layer and is bonded to the hot melt adhesive layer.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the adhesive layer (2) of the modified fourth laminate body (16) of Shimizu and Xu to comprise “an acryl-based polymer, a urethane-based polymer, an epoxy-based polymer, or a mixture of two or more thereof”, because Wang teaches the referred feature and that it enhances the adhesion between the conductive layer (current collector analogous) and the polymer layer (support analogous), making it less likely for the conductive layer (current collector analogous) to fall off.
Conclusion
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/G.R./Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/NICOLE M. BUIE-HATCHER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1725
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