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 .
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.
Claims 1-6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 2022-0030745 (Song hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Song teaches an electrode sheet drying system that discloses a drying structure having a transfer path along which the electrode sheet is configured to be transferred (Figure 2); and a plurality of rod-type lamps arranged parallel to each other along the transfer path and configured to radiate a certain wavelength band of electromagnetic waves to the electrode sheet being transferred along the transfer path (Rod lamps within 130 where Figure 2 shows 4 sets of the lamps), wherein the plurality of rod-type lamps comprise: a first rod-type lamp having a length extending in a width direction of the electrode sheet (Lamp 131 in Figures 6-8), so as to cover both edge portions of the electrode sheet and a central portion of the electrode sheet disposed between the both edge portions (Evident from Figures 2, 3, and 6-8); and a second rod-type lamp having a length extending in the width direction of the electrode sheet so as to cover only the central portion (Second set of 130 when the shielding 140 is moved to cover the edges of the electrode sheet such as in Figure 7).
Song is silent with respect that the length of the second rod-type lamp is less than the length of the first rod-type lamp. Song does disclose that the shields 140 are on tracks/sliders to be adjusted by the user depending on what area of the electrode need or do not need to be dried by the lamps. Song can be interpreted as having the size of each UV lamp area as being a result effective variable and therefore the relative size of the first UV lamp to the second UV lamp is a result effective variable/user design choice.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the length of the second rod-type lamp is less than the length of the first rod-type lamp, since it has been held that discovering the optimum range involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 2, Song’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where Song further discloses a shielding unit configured to shield electromagnetic waves radiating from the second rod-type lamp, so as to prevent the electromagnetic waves of the second rod-type lamp from traveling to both of the edge portions of the electrode sheet (Song Figures 3 and 6-9 with shields 140 blocking edges or selected areas of the electrode sheet).
Regarding claim 3, Song’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where Song further discloses a plurality of heating units arranged at certain intervals along the transfer path and configured to send hot air to the electrode sheet transferred along the transfer path (Heating arrays 170 in Figure 2 per “The electrode drying apparatus 100 according to the present invention may further include at least one hot air nozzle 170 for spraying hot air toward the electrode 110 in addition to the infrared heater 130 as a heat source. In this case, the infrared heater 130 and the hot air nozzle 170 may be arranged at regular intervals along the transport direction of the electrode 110 .”)
Regarding claim 4, Song’s modified teachings are described above in claim 3 where Song further discloses that both the first rod-type lamp and the second rod-type lamp are located between the plurality of heating units (Evident of Figure 2 with lamps 130 and heating arrays 170), or only one of the first rod-type lamp and the second rod-type lamp is located between the plurality of heating units (This embodiment is also shown by Figure 2 of Song).
Regarding claim 5, Song’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where Song further discloses that the plurality of rod-type lamps further comprises a third rod-type lamp (Figure 2 of Song with the third UV lamp being the third lamp 130 from the figure left hand side of Figure 2), wherein a length of the third rod-type lamp is different from the lengths of the first rod-type lamp and the second rod-type lamp (Per the 103 interpretation made above in claim 1, Song is interpreted as having the size of each UV lamp area as being a result effective variable and therefore the relative size of the first UV lamp to the second UV lamp to the third UV lamp is a result effective variable/user design choice).
Regarding claim 6, Song’s modified teachings are described above in claim 5 but are silent with respect that the plurality of rod-type lamps are arranged along the transfer path so that the lengths of the plurality of rod-type lamps gradually decrease or increase along a transfer direction extending along the path of the electrode sheet.
However, Song does make it clear that the shielding for each of the UV lamp sections 130 is adjustable to obtain a desired shape for the UV light to strike the electrode sheet. This shows that the shape of the UV lamps and their emissions are a design choice for a user. A review of the specification has shown two mentions of the gradual transition of the UV lamps in width in ¶ 12 and 83 of the filed specification.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to orientate the UV lamps from ascending or descending applying widths, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70. Please note that in the instant application Applicant has not disclosed any criticality for the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 10, Song teaches an electrode manufacturing system that discloses using the electrode drying sheet of claim 1 (Please refer to the rejection of Claim 1 above).
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 2022-0030745 (Song) in view of US 2020/0156128 (Yoo hereinafter).
Regarding claim 7, Song’s modified teachings are described above in claim 11 but are silent with respect to a controller configured to control electromagnetic wave radiation operations of the plurality of rod-type lamps, wherein the controller is configured to divide the plurality of rod-type lamps into a plurality of lamp groups based on lengths of each of the plurality of rod-type lamps and control the electromagnetic wave radiation operations according to each of the plurality of lamp groups.
However, Yoo teaches an electrode conveyor belt dryer that discloses a controller configured to control electromagnetic wave radiation operations of the plurality of rod-type lamps (Controller 640 per ¶ 52), wherein the controller is configured to divide the plurality of rod-type lamps into a plurality of lamp groups based on lengths of each of the plurality of rod-type lamps and control the electromagnetic wave radiation operations according to each of the plurality of lamp groups (In the resultant combination each section of UV lamps 130 in Song will be individually controllable and therefore the controller of Yoo will be able to control the UV lamps based on their shielded lengths).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the electrode dryer of Song with the controller of Yoo to ensure that the UV lamps are emitting the required frequency to dry the targeted surface.
Regarding claim 8, Song’s modified teachings are described above in claim 7 where the combination of Song and Yoo would further disclose a width detection sensor configured to detect a width of the electrode sheet (Yoo sensor’s 610 where a resultant width is determined per ¶ 48-51), wherein the controller is configured to determine at least one of the plurality of lamp groups whose electromagnetic wave radiation operation is to be performed or stopped according to the width of the electrode sheet detected by the width detection sensor (Resultant combination of Song and Yoo with the distance being used to control the lamps of Song as well as the shields 140 of Song).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 10-2022-0030745 (Song) in view of US 2020/0156128 (Yoo) and further in view of KR 2016-0037673 (Kyoung hereinafter).
Regarding claim 9, Song’s modified teachings are described above in claim 7 but are silent with respect to a temperature sensor configured to detect a plurality of temperatures of at least both of the edge portions of the electrode sheet to be dried, wherein the controller is configured to determine at least one of the plurality of lamp groups whose electromagnetic wave radiation operation is to be performed or stopped according to the plurality of temperatures of both of the edge portions detected by the temperature sensor.
However, Kyoung teaches an electrode drying system that discloses a temperature sensor configured to detect a plurality of temperatures of at least both of the edge portions of the electrode sheet to be dried (Kyoung “The temperature measuring unit applicable to the present invention may be any thermometer capable of measuring the surface temperature of the electrode slurry preheated by the high frequency induction heating unit and transmitting the temperature to the control unit, and may be an infrared thermometer, preferably. The infrared thermometer has an advantage of measuring the accurate temperature without directly touching the surface of the electrode slurry, which can maintain the shape of the electrode and can minimize the defect rate of the electrode” where the surface of the electrode includes the edges). The combination of Song and Kyoung would result in wherein the controller is configured to determine at least one of the plurality of lamp groups whose electromagnetic wave radiation operation is to be performed or stopped according to the plurality of temperatures of both of the edge portions detected by the temperature sensor (The temperature sensors of Kyoung will determine the operation of the UV lamps of Song and if more heating needs to take place).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the electrode sheet dryer of Song with the temperature sensor of Kyoung to ensure that the surface of the electrode sheet is within the required temperature range.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 10-2022-0030745 (Song) in view of JP 6283540 (Hosokawa hereinafter).
Regarding claim 11, Song’s modified teachings are described above in claim 10 but are silent with respect to a plurality of electrode sheet drying apparatuses, and further comprising a first transfer unit configured to, in a first operation mode of the electrode manufacturing system, transfer a first electrode sheet to a first electrode sheet drying apparatus and dry the first electrode sheet; and a second transfer unit configured to, in the first operation mode, transfer a second electrode sheet to a second electrode sheet drying apparatus and dry the second electrode sheet.
However, Hosokawa teaches an electrode sheet dryer that discloses a plurality of electrode sheet drying apparatuses (Sections 40a-c in Figure 1), and further comprising a first transfer unit configured to, in a first operation mode of the electrode manufacturing system, transfer a first electrode sheet to a first electrode sheet drying apparatus and dry the first electrode sheet (First transfer from the coating device 10 to the first drying apparatus 40a in Figure 1); and a second transfer unit configured to, in the first operation mode, transfer a second electrode sheet to a second electrode sheet drying apparatus and dry the second electrode sheet (portion of the conveyor between the first drying apparatus 40a and the second drying apparatus 40b).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the drying apparatus of Song with the plurality of drying apparatus of Hosokawa to allow for uniform drying.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 is 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.
Claim 12 recites “a third transfer unit configured to provide an electrode sheet transfer path between the first electrode sheet drying apparatus and the second electrode sheet drying apparatus, wherein, when an operation mode of the electrode manufacturing system changes from the first operation mode to a second operation mode, the first transfer unit is configured to transfer a third electrode sheet to the first electrode sheet drying apparatus and primarily dry the third electrode sheet, and the third transfer unit is configured to transfer the third electrode sheet that is primarily dried to the second electrode sheet drying apparatus and secondarily dry the third electrode sheet.” This additional structure would require extensive modifications to the presented structure of claim 11 and would not be obvious in the Examiner’s point of view.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CONNOR J. TREMARCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-2175. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 0700-1700 Eastern.
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/CONNOR J TREMARCHE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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