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 . 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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 6-9, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lim et al. (US 2023/0178847 A1), hereinafter “Lim.”
Regarding claim 1, Lim discloses a battery module part comprising:
a body made of a synthetic resin, in this case the first and second resin filter layers (¶ [0056], Figs. 6, ref. nos. 32a & 32b); and
a mesh made of a metal and embedded in the body (¶ [0014], [0044], [0056], & [0066] Fig. 6, ref. no. 33);
wherein the body has a lower melting point than the mesh, in this case the resin filter layer is made of fluororesin, polyurethane resin, or epoxy resin (¶ [0016]), which would possess a lower melting point than the metal mesh that is made of stainless steel (¶ [0049]).
Regarding claim 2, Lim further discloses that:
the mesh is embedded in the body part by injection molding (¶ [0044]); and
at least a portion of the mesh is exposed on an inner surface of the body, in this case the edge regions are exposed (¶ [0056], Fig. 6, ref. no. 33d).
Regarding claim 3, Lim further discloses that the body forms an end plate of the battery module frame, in this case the filter is a part of the hole cover assembly (¶ [0031], Figs. 1-3, ref. no. 30) which is a port of the bottom plate (¶ [0035]), Figs. 1-3, ref. no. 11).
Regarding claim 4, Lim further discloses that an outer surface of the body includes a vulnerable portion with a lower heat resistance than a surrounding portion on the outer surface of the body, in this case the second filter layer is located below the mesh (¶ [0055]-[0056]) and is surrounded by and would have a lower heat resistance than the metal edge region (¶ [0056], Fig. 6, ref. no. 33d).
Regarding claim 6, Lim further discloses that the mesh is made of stainless steel (¶ [0046]).
Regarding claim 7, Lim further discloses that the mesh is embedded in the body part by injection molding (¶ [0044]) and the mesh is not exposed to an outside of the body (see Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 8, Lim further discloses that an inner surface of the body includes at least one vulnerable portion with a lower heat resistance than a surrounding portion of the inner surface of the body, in this case the first filter layer would have a lower heat resistance than the surrounding metal edge region (Fig. 6, ref. nos. 32a & 33d).
Regarding claim 9, Lim further discloses that a portion of an outer surface of the body includes a second vulnerable portion with lower heat resistance than a surrounding portion of the outer surface of the body, in this case the second filter layer would have a lower heat resistance than the surrounding metal edge region (Fig. 6, ref. nos. 32a & 33d).
Regarding claim 12, Lim further discloses that the second vulnerable portion includes a filter with denser dimensions than the mesh, in this case the second filter layer (¶ [0055], Fig. 6, ref. no. 32a) would be more densely packed than the mesh (¶ [0055], Fig. 6, ref. no. 33) due to the empty spaces in the mesh.
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 5 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Lim as applied to claims 4 and 9, above, and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2015/0147605 A1), hereinafter “Kim.”
Regarding claim 5, Lim does not disclose that the resin material is formed to be thinner than the outer surface of the body. However, Kim teaches forming a vent portion to be thinner than other portions in order to enable fracturing when battery internal pressure exceeds a desired limit (see ¶ [0038]). One having ordinary skill in the art would have realized that such a thinner portion would have allowed battery pressure to be relieved when it reached unsafe levels (see ¶ [0038]), thereby facilitating improved battery safety. Therefore, it would have been obvious to have made the resin material thinner than the body outer surface in order to have facilitated improved battery safety.
Regarding claim 10, Lim does not disclose that the resin material is formed to be thinner than the outer surface of the body. However, Kim teaches forming a vent portion to be thinner than other portions in order to enable fracturing when battery internal pressure exceeds a desired limit (see ¶ [0038]). One having ordinary skill in the art would have realized that such a thinner portion would have allowed battery pressure to be relieved when it reached unsafe levels (see ¶ [0038]), thereby facilitating improved battery safety. Therefore, it would have been obvious to have made the resin material thinner than the body outer surface in order to have facilitated improved battery safety.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim is 11 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: no prior art reference could be found that fairly teaches or suggests a vulnerable portion provided as a plurality of first vulnerable portions equidistant from a second vulnerable portion as recited in claim 11.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT J CHMIELECKI whose telephone number is (571)272-7641. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 am to 5 pm.
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/SCOTT J. CHMIELECKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729
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