DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/4/26 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 5/4/26. These drawings are not acceptable.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: “40b” and “32e”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The amendment filed 5/15/26 is objected to under 35 U.S.C. 132(a) because it introduces new matter into the disclosure. 35 U.S.C. 132(a) states that no amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention. The added material which is not supported by the original disclosure is as follows: while there is support for the position sensor to be at the fulcrum of the dancer arm there is no support for the position sensor to be on/on top of the dancer arm.
Applicant is required to cancel the new matter in the reply to this Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kiyoshi et al. (JP2870037 B2), of record, in view of Williams “Dancer Roll Tension Control Basics”.
Regarding claim 1, Kiyoshi teaches:
A roll press apparatus [lithium anode manufacturing apparatus; figure 1] comprising:
a main conveyer line [Cu foil roll (2)] that conveys a metal foil to be used as a substrate for a negative electrode of a lithium metal secondary battery [the underlined limitation is intended use and does not further limit the claim structurally];
a pressurizing roll [first pressure roll (4)] provided on the main conveyer line; and
a lithium conveyer line [Li foil roll (1a)] that is a conveyer line that conveys a lithium foil to be bonded to the metal foil and merges with the main conveyer line on an upstream side of the pressurizing roll [see figure 1],
wherein the pressurizing roll rolls the lithium foil on a surface of the metal foil and bonds the lithium foil to the surface of the metal foil by pressure-bonding [pages 4 and 5].
Kiyoshi does not teach:
a dancer roll installed on the lithium conveyer line that controls a tension applied to the lithium foil in a conveyance direction so that the tension applied to the lithium foil in the conveyance direction is constant;
a feed apparatus disposed at start of the lithium conveyer line that holds the lithium foil in a wound state, and feeds the lithium foil toward the dancer roll; and
a controller that controls feed speed of the feed apparatus based on an amount of deviation between a position of the dancer roll input from a position sensor and a position of the dancer roll corresponding to a target tension of the lithium foil.
However, Kiyoshi does teach tensioner (3a).
Williams teaches a dancer control system for maintaining consistent tension while transporting a web, which comprises an unwind drive, dancer arm, dancer potentiometer, and dancer controller [see figures], wherein “A dancer’s position is monitored by a sensor that detects and controls the drive’s movement. When tension increases or decreases in a web, the dancer roll changes position that activate the sensor, known as a dancer potentiometer. The sensor signals the system to either increase or decrease the torque, i.e., speed, for the dancer to return to its original position. In that sense, dancers act more as position controllers and less as tension controllers. By maintaining control of a web’s speed, dancers keep tension constant”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the William dancer control system for the Kiyoshi tensioner in order to maintain consistent tension while transporting the foil.
Concerning any claimed results, materials, and/or functions:
Since the prior art apparatus, i.e. the apparatus based on the combined prior art references above, is structurally identical to the claimed apparatus, it is the examiner’s position that the prior art apparatus is capable of achieving any claimed function with any claimed material to achieve any claimed result. This reasoning applies to any claim below where functional language, material worked upon, and/or a result is claimed.
Regarding claim 2, Kiyoshi discloses:
wherein the metal foil and the lithium foil are inserted into the pressurizing roll in a non- contact state [see figure 1].
Regarding claim 3, Kiyoshi discloses:
an angle regulation roll [the unlabeled rollers to the right of pressure roll (4)] that is provided on the lithium conveyer line and regulates an incident angle formed when the lithium foil is inserted into the pressurizing roll at a predetermined angle or greater.
Regarding claim 5, Kiyoshi discloses:
wherein the lithium conveyer line includes a second conveyer line [Li foil roll (1b)] that merges with the main conveyer line from above with respect to a conveyance direction and a third conveyer line that merges with the main conveyer line from below with respect to the conveyance direction [see figure 1],
wherein the pressurizing roll bonds the lithium foil conveyed from the second conveyer line to a surface on a front side of the metal foil by pressure-bonding and bonds the lithium foil conveyed from the third conveyer line to a surface on a back side of the metal foil by pressure- bonding [pages 4 and 5].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/4/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant's argument that “William does not describe applying the Dancer Roll Tension Control Basics to a roll press apparatus for producing a negative electrode of a lithium metal secondary battery”, a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLOS J GAMINO whose telephone number is (571)270-5826. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-6.
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/CARLOS J GAMINO/Examiner, Art Unit 1735
/KEITH WALKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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