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 .
Notice of Non-Patent Literature (NPL) Cited:
Icotek. KEL-DPU 24Â Heavy-Duty Cable Entry Plates with High Strain Relief, 2017. https://docs.galco.com/techdoc/ictk/kel-dpu24_cp.pdf (Herein, “Icotek”).
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.
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 nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 8-9 and 11-14 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over JP-2013135720-A (Herein, “Bito”), and further in view of US-20220144115-A1 (Herein, “Hermle”) and Icotek (NPL).
Regarding claim 8, Bito teaches system for cooling a traction battery of a motor vehicle, said system comprising:
a charging port (13);
a traction battery (17) comprising at least one power connector fixed on a surface of a wall of the battery (the Examiner notes that the traction battery of Bito inherently has a power connector fixed on a surface of a wall of the battery to allow connection with cable 19 on the surface of the wall of the battery as depicted in Fig. 1);
at least one electric cable (19) connecting said charging port to said power connector;
a duct (23) arranged around said electric cable
Bito teaches:
a single first cellular cavity (21) arranged around the charging port,
and in fluidic communication with said first cellular cavities (see Fig. 2 of Bito)
Bito is silent on teaching a plurality of cellular cavities.
Hemrle teaches wherein the first cavity comprises a plurality of cellular cavities (Hemrle, See Fig. 2B, Object 20).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to substitute the first cavity of Bito with the first plurality of cellular cavities of Hemrle because the substituted component was known, their functions were known in the art, and one of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known component for another and that the results of the substitution would have been predictable. See MPEP 2143 I (B).
Bito implies a second cavity arranged on a surface of a wall of a battery (see Fig. 1 of Bito which shows connection of 23 to wall of a battery).
Bito teaches wherein the second cellular cavities are arranged around said power connector and in fluidic communication with said duct (see Fig. 1 of Bito).
Bito is silent on comprising a plurality of second cavities.
Icotek teaches a product comprising a second plurality of second cables (see "KEL-DPU 24/13", holes corresponding to "10x 3.2 - 6.3 mm" cables).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to substitute the second cavity of Bito with the second plurality of cellular cavities of Icotek because the substituted component was known, their functions were known in the art, and one of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known component for another and that the results of the substitution would have been predictable. See MPEP 2143 I (B).
Bito teaches wherein the second cellular cavities are arranged around said power connector and in fluidic communication with said duct (see Fig. 1 of Bito).
Bito teaches wherein the first cavities are configured to receive coolant in the event of thermal runaway of said traction battery (Abstract, "fire extinguishing agent inlet 21 for receiving a fire extinguishing agent").
Bito teaches wherein the second cavities are configured to receive coolant in the event of thermal runaway of said traction battery (Abstract, implied, "the extinguishing agent into the battery case is provided so as to communicate with the inside of the battery case 17").
Bito teaches wherein the duct is configured to receive coolant in the event of thermal runaway of said traction battery ((0018), "the fire extinguishing liquid ... is guided to the battery pack 15 by the fire extinguishing liquid injection pipe 23").
Regarding claim 9, modified Bito teaches the system as claimed in claim 8, wherein
said first cellular cavities are closed by pre-cut membranes (Bito, 21a).
While the Examiner notes modified Bito is silent on the second cellular cavities also comprising pre-cut membranes, the Examiner notes inclusion of the pre-cut membrane of the first cavity of Bito on the second cavity of modified Bito would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective time of filling of the instant disclosure in order to prevent foreign matter from entering the battery (Bito, (0024)) when using the modified plurality of second cavities of Icotek as taught in claim 8.
Regarding claim 11, modified Bito teaches the system as claimed in claim 8, wherein
said first plurality of cellular cavities is formed in a ring (see Fig. 2B of Hemrle, 20) surrounding said charging port (13 of Bito; or, in Hemrle, 4/5).
Regarding claim 12, modified Bito teaches the system as claimed in claim 11, wherein
said first plurality of cellular cavities is uniformly distributed in said ring (see Fig. 2B of Hemrle).
Regarding claim 13, modified Bito teaches the system as claimed in claim 8, wherein
the first cellular cavities are of circular cross section (see 21 in Fig. 2 of Bito).
Additionally, Bito implies the second cellular cavities are of circular cross section (see circular cross section connection pipe 23 in Fig. 1 of Bito).
Regarding claim 14, modified Bito teaches an electric motor vehicle (Bito, (0020), "electric vehicle") comprising: the system as claimed in claim 8.
Claim 10 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over modified Bito as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of DE-10018249-A1 (Herein, “Bernd”).
Regarding claim 10, modified Bito teaches the system as claimed in claim 8.
Modified Bito is silent on the first or second cavities comprising aluminum or steel, respectively.
Hemrle teaches wherein the membranes of said first plurality of cellular cavities are made of aluminum in order to allow for enhanced heat transfer area, durability reliability, compactness, and cost-effectivity, while reducing contact resistance and thermal losses (Hemrle, (0023)).
Modification of the disclosure of modified Bito by replacing the first membranes of modified Bito with first membranes wherein the membranes of said first plurality of cellular cavities are made of aluminum, as taught by Hermle, would benefit the disclosure of modified Bito by allowing for enhanced heat transfer area, durability reliability, compactness, and cost-effectivity, while reducing contact resistance and thermal losses.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective time of filling of the instant disclosure to modify the disclosure of modified Bito by replacing the first membrane material of modified Bito with first membrane material wherein the membranes of said first plurality of cellular cavities are made of aluminum, as taught by Hermle.
Bernd teaches wherein the membranes of a cable entry plate are made of steel (Bernd, (0016)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to substitute the second membrane material of modified Bito with the steel second membrane material of Bernd because the substituted component was known, their functions were known in the art, and one of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known component for another and that the results of the substitution would have been predictable. See MPEP 2143 I (B).
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed April 30, 2024 has been entered. Claims 8-14 remain pending in the application. Claims 1-7 are cancelled in the application.
Conclusion
Additional prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure: EP-4210175-A1 (Herein, “Feneis”), see Mennekes Type 2 connection plug format with cooling lines, see Fig. 2-4; EP-4292867-A1 (Herein, “Iliffe-Moon”), See battery electrical connection plates in Fig. 2-3; US-20210036281-A1 (Herein, “Ligabue”), discloses steel casing (0005), see further electrical battery connections in Fig. 5-6.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EVAN M ABELSON whose telephone number is (571)272-9302. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM U.S. EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas A. Smith can be reached at (571) 272-8760. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/E.M.A./Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/NICHOLAS A SMITH/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
