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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2021162244 A to Onoda, cited in Applicant’s 2/23/26 IDS.
Note: Reference is made to the attached translation of Onoda; additionally, the figures copied below are from Onoda’s family member JP 7377760 B2, since the leading lines to the reference numerals were clearer. The figures between Onoda and JP ‘760 are substantially the same.
Regarding claim 1. Onoda teaches an apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery which fires a cathode material for a secondary battery by moving the cathode material in a horizontal direction (fig. 1, copied below), the apparatus comprising:
a firing furnace (furnace body 10) including an air supply part which is placed in a lower portion and to which gas is supplied (gas supply pipes 60, which can be seen to extend to a lower portion of the furnace 10), an exhaust part which is placed in an upper portion and from which the gas is exhausted (exhaust ports 70), and a firing space which is placed between the air supply part and the exhaust part and extended in a vertical direction intersecting the horizontal direction (processing chamber 12);
a heater which heats the firing space of the firing furnace (heaters 50);
a plurality of saggers (containers T) which store the cathode material for a secondary battery and are stacked in the vertical direction in the firing space (p. 11 para. 2, “The containers T containing the objects to be processed are placed on the transport table 16 in a state of being stacked in the height direction”); and
a pusher which has the plurality of saggers settled therein and moves the plurality of saggers in the horizontal direction (pusher 30),
wherein the gas in the firing space moves in the vertical direction from a bottom to a top of the plurality of saggers (from fig. 1, the gas is understood to move in at least a partial vertical direction, e.g. to get from the bottom most supply hole 61 of the gas supply pipe 60, see fig. 6, to the exhaust ports 70) and moves in the horizontal direction on the top of the plurality of saggers (from fig. 1, the gas is understood to move in a substantially horizontal direction on top of the plurality of containers T, e.g. the exhaust ports 70 are located to the side of the area above the containers T).
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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.
Claim(s) 1, 5-8, 14-16, and 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2019107651 A1 to Park in view of Onoda.
Note: Reference is made to the attached translation of Park.
Regarding claim 1. Park teaches an apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery which fires a cathode material for a secondary battery by moving the cathode material in a horizontal direction (fig. 2, copied below), the apparatus comprising:
a firing furnace (firing furnace 20) including an air supply part which is placed in a lower portion and to which gas is supplied (supply port 64), an exhaust part which is placed in an upper portion and from which the gas is exhausted (outlet 65), and a firing space which is placed between the air supply part and the exhaust part and extended in a vertical direction intersecting the horizontal direction (p. 2 para. 5, “Fig. 2 shows the internal structure of the firing furnace 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the firing furnace 20 includes a feed roll 60 installed along the inner passage for moving the raw material” where the inner passage reads on the firing space);
a heater which heats the firing space of the firing furnace (heater 62);
a plurality of saggers which store the cathode material for a secondary battery (fig. 2 shows a plurality of containers, i.e. saggers, storing the cathode material, see also abstract and technical field sections); and
wherein the gas in the firing space moves in the vertical direction from a bottom to a top of the plurality of saggers (fig. 2, the gas flow is generally upwards in the inner passage) and moves in the horizontal direction on the top of the plurality of saggers (the gas would move at least partially horizontally at the top of the inner passage, at least since only one central outlet 65 is provided; for example, the gas in the right side of the space would be moved to the middle of the space before being exhausted).
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But fails to teach a plurality of saggers which are stacked in the vertical direction in the firing space; and
a pusher which has the plurality of saggers settled therein and moves the plurality of saggers in the horizontal direction.
Onoda teaches a plurality of saggers which are stacked in the vertical direction in the firing space (fig. 1, see stacks of containers T, and p. 8 last paragraph); and
a pusher which has the plurality of saggers settled therein and moves the plurality of saggers in the horizontal direction (fig. 1, pusher 30, described on p. 8).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the device of Park to implement a suitable pusher and stacked containers, as taught by Onoda. The suitable pusher would provide the predictable result and benefit of transporting the containers of material through the furnace, as suggested by Onoda in p. 8 para. 1, “The pusher 30 pushes a plurality of transport tables 16 connected in the transport direction (left-right direction in FIG. 1) on the plurality of free rollers 20 toward the downstream side (left side in FIG. 1) in the transport direction.” The stacked containers would allow for increased productivity, as suggested by Onoda in p. 8 last paragraph, “In the present embodiment, a plurality of stacked containers Td are placed on the transport table 16. Therefore, the amount of the object to be processed in the processing chamber 12 can be increased, and the productivity is improved.”
Regarding claim 5. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 1, wherein:
the firing space includes a temperature rising space, a temperature maintaining space, and a cooling space, which are arranged sequentially in the horizontal direction (Park figs. 1-2, as described on p. 5 para. 2, “The firing furnace 20 is divided into a heating zone 21 for raising the temperature of the raw material along the raw material advancing direction, a holding zone 22 for maintaining the temperature of the raw material, and a cooling zone 23 for cooling the raw material.”).
Regarding claim 6. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 5, wherein:
the pusher moves the plurality of saggers from the temperature rising space through the temperature maintaining space to the cooling space (when configured with the suitable pusher of Onoda, the saggers of Park would be understood to move through the furnace zones by virtue of the pusher).
Regarding claim 7. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 6, wherein:
the pusher stops the plurality of saggers for a predetermined time in each of the temperature rising space, the temperature maintaining space, and the cooling space (Onoda p. 8 para. 3, “The pusher 30 pushes the new transport table 16 along the transport paths 15L and 15R by a predetermined distance at predetermined time intervals. As a result, a plurality of transport stands 16 connected on the transport paths 15R and 15L are intermittently transported.” When implemented into the device of Park, this would result in the saggers being stopped in each of their respective zones for a predetermined time).
Regarding claim 8. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 5, wherein:
the gas includes:
a first sub-gas supplied to the temperature rising space (Park fig. 1, gas supplied to supply ports 64 of heating zone 21),
a second sub-gas supplied to the temperature maintaining space (Park fig. 1, gas supplied to supply ports 64 of holding zone 22), and
a third sub-gas supplied to the cooling space (Park fig. 1, gas supplied to supply ports 64 of cooling zone 23).
Examiner Note: The claimed first, second, and third sub gases are being interpreted as the gases supplied to their respective zones, such that after the gas is supplied and moves through the firing space to the exhaust, as required by claim 1, it is no longer considered as the claimed sub gas.
Regarding claim 14. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 1,
But fails to teach wherein:
the heater is extended in the vertical direction.
Onoda further teaches heaters extended in the vertical direction (fig. 1, heaters 50 extending in the vertical direction).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the device of Park to implement vertically extending heaters, as taught by Onoda. This would provide the predictable result and benefit of evenly applying heat to stacked containers, as suggested by Onoda in p. 11 para. 3, “Therefore, heat is likely to be applied more evenly to the objects to be processed contained in the stacked containers Td transported on the transport paths 15R and 15L in a plurality of rows.”
Regarding claim 15. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 14, wherein: the heater includes:
a first sub-heater which is placed in one side portion of the firing space (as per the modification of Onoda, suitable vertical heaters are used on the sides of the stack of containers);
a second sub-heater which is separated from the first sub-heater with the firing space interposed therebetween and placed in the other side portion of the firing space (as per the modification of Onoda, heaters would be on each side of the stack of containers);
a fourth sub-heater which is placed in a lower portion the firing space (the bottom portion of one of the heaters 50 of Onoda reads on this limitation, in particular a heater 50 other than that of the first and second sub heaters above since the heaters 50 extend from the upper to the lower portions of the firing space).
But fails to teach a third sub-heater which is placed between the first sub-heater and the second sub-heater inside the firing space.
Onoda further teaches a third sub-heater which is placed between the first sub-heater and the second sub-heater inside the firing space (when applied with two conveyance paths, there would be a third sub heater placed in between the stacks of containers, see fig. 4 50C).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the device of park to have two conveyance paths, and therefore a third sub heater, as taught by Onoda. This would provide the predictable result and benefit of increasing the amount of processed material, as suggested by Onoda in p. 3 para. 5, “Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the containers for heat treatment are stacked in a plurality of stages and further arranged in multiple rows to be introduced into the continuous firing furnace 1. As a result, the amount of processing in the continuous firing furnace 1 per unit time increases.”
Regarding claim 16. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 1, wherein:
the pusher includes:
a large plate on which the plurality of saggers are settled (Onoda fig. 4, transport table 16); and
a moving part which moves the large plate in the horizontal direction (Onoda fig. 1, pushing member 32).
Regarding claim 18. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 1, wherein:
the cathode material for a secondary battery is in a granule or briquette form (Park p. 5 second to last paragraph, “the supply section 30 of the present embodiment includes a plate 31 placed at intervals on the transfer line 10, a mold feeder (not shown) for supplying a mold 32 placed on the plate 31 A raw material loading unit 34 for loading the raw material into the mold 32 and a press 35 for pressing the raw material filled in the mold 32 and pressing the raw material.” as seen in fig. 3, where the raw material is substantially a pressed granule or briquette).
Regarding claim 19. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 1, wherein:
the plurality of saggers are stacked in 3 layers to 30 layers in the vertical direction (Onoda fig. 4, 9 layers in the vertical direction) and move in the horizontal direction (Onoda fig. 1, and Park fig. 2).
Claim(s) 2-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Onoda as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 20190252669 A1 to Park II.
Regarding claim 2. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 1,
But fails to teach wherein:
the gas moves only in the vertical direction inside the plurality of saggers.
Park II teaches a plurality of saggers (para. 70, “In addition, the number of the saggars disposed in the firing furnace may be one, or two or more. In this case, a plurality of saggars may be arranged as a single layer, or two or more saggars may be stacked in two or more layers, thereby performing firing.”) in which gas moves only in the vertical direction (para. 24, “Since a saggar according to an exemplary embodiment includes through-holes in a bottom surface, or in a bottom surface and in a lower portion of a wall surface, carbon dioxide, a reaction byproduct in a process of firing a cathode active material, may be smoothly discharged from the saggar.” Where a saggar having holes in the bottom would result in a substantially vertical flow of gas throughout).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the device of Park to implement a suitable saggar having bottom holes, as taught by Park II. This would provide the predictable result and benefit of increasing the amount of raw material that is treated, as suggested by Park II in para. 25, “In addition, by using the saggar according to an exemplary embodiment, the amount of a raw material that may be loaded in the saggar may be increased, such that an active material may be produced in a relatively large quantity.” See also para. 55.
Regarding claim 3. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 2, wherein:
each of the plurality of saggers includes:
a lower part which is positioned under the cathode material for a secondary battery and has a plurality of slits formed thereon (Park II fig. 2, through holes on bottom surface);
a wall part which is positioned by a side of the cathode material for a secondary battery and seals the cathode material for a secondary battery in the horizontal direction (Park II fig. 2, wall surface, which is solid as opposed to fig. 3); and
an opening which is formed by the wall part on the cathode material for a secondary battery and exposes the cathode material for a secondary battery (Park II fig. 2, top part would expose cathode material, see also para. 67).
Regarding claim 4. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 3, wherein:
the gas moves from the plurality of slits through the cathode material for a secondary battery to the opening (Park II para. 58, “As described above, the through-holes may facilitate a smooth flow of the atmospheric gas into the interior of the saggar, and may also allow byproducts such as carbon dioxide, water vapor and the like generated during firing to be smoothly discharged from the interior of the saggar.”).
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Onoda as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of Park II and US 20220397347 A1 to Chen.
Regarding claim 17. Modified Park teaches the apparatus for firing a cathode material of a secondary battery of claim 16, wherein:
the large plate corresponds to the plurality of saggers (Onoda fig. 1)
But fails to teach and includes a through hole communicating with the air supply part.
Park II teaches a plurality of saggers (para. 70, “In addition, the number of the saggars disposed in the firing furnace may be one, or two or more. In this case, a plurality of saggars may be arranged as a single layer, or two or more saggars may be stacked in two or more layers, thereby performing firing.”) in which gas moves only in the vertical direction (para. 24, “Since a saggar according to an exemplary embodiment includes through-holes in a bottom surface, or in a bottom surface and in a lower portion of a wall surface, carbon dioxide, a reaction byproduct in a process of firing a cathode active material, may be smoothly discharged from the saggar.” Where a saggar having holes in the bottom would result in a substantially vertical flow of gas throughout).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the device of Park to implement a suitable saggar having bottom holes, as taught by Park II. This would provide the predictable result and benefit of increasing the amount of raw material that is treated, as suggested by Park II in para. 25, “In addition, by using the saggar according to an exemplary embodiment, the amount of a raw material that may be loaded in the saggar may be increased, such that an active material may be produced in a relatively large quantity.” See also para. 55.
Additionally, it is known in the art from Chen to arrange a through hole in the bottom of a large plate (fig. 1D, through holes 140 in the bottom of shuttle 104).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the device of Park to implement suitable through holes for communicating gas in the bottom of the large plate, as taught by Chen. This would provide the predictable result and benefit of providing the suitable desired airflow of Park II, where the air flow is from the bottom of the stack, as suggested by Chen in para. 41. Please note, Chen is directed to exhaust gas offtakes, but one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that gas flow could occur in either direction through suitable holes in the large plate of Onoda, based on how the system is configured, e.g. a desired gas flow of Park II.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-13 are 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:
Regarding claim 9. Park in view of Onoda, applied to claim 8, represents the closest prior art of record to the claimed invention.
As noted in the rejection to claim 8, the claimed first, second, and third sub gases are being interpreted as the gases as supplied to their respective zones, such that after the gas is supplied and moves through the firing space to the exhaust, as required by claim 1, it is no longer considered as the claimed sub gas. Therefore, while the gas flow through the various chambers may be at least partially preheated to varying degrees before coming into contact with the heaters, the prior art fails to read on the claim since the gases would be supplied at substantially the same un-preheated temperature.
The prior art fails to teach, “each of the first sub-gas, the second sub-gas, and the third sub-gas is preheated to different temperatures from each other”, in addition to the rest of the claim.
Instead, modified Park does not disclose preheating of the sub-gases, especially at different temperatures. Furthermore, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to preheat to different temperatures, as claimed, since the heating is accomplished by Park’s heaters 62. Onoda at best further teaches supplying an atmospheric gas, “The gas supply pipe 60 is a pipe that supplies atmospheric gas into the processing chamber 12.” Which fails to read on the claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 11. Park in view of Onoda, applied to claim 8, represents the closest prior art of record to the claimed invention.
As noted in the rejection to claim 8, the claimed first, second, and third sub gases are being interpreted as the gases as supplied to their respective zones, such that after the gas is supplied and moves through the firing space to the exhaust, as required by claim 1, it is no longer considered as the claimed sub gas. Therefore, any variation in flow rate due to off gassing of the material would not read on the claim since it occurs after the gas is already supplied.
The prior art fails to teach, “each the first sub-gas, the second sub-gas, and the third sub-gas has different flow rates from each other”, in addition to the rest of the claim.
Instead, modified Park does not disclose varying the flow rate of the supplied gases. Furthermore, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to supply the sub-gases at different flow rates, as claimed. Onoda at best further teaches supplying an atmospheric gas, “The gas supply pipe 60 is a pipe that supplies atmospheric gas into the processing chamber 12.” Which fails to read on the claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 13. Park in view of Onoda, applied to claim 8, represents the closest prior art of record to the claimed invention.
As noted in the rejection to claim 8, the claimed first, second, and third sub gases are being interpreted as the gases as supplied to their respective zones, such that after the gas is supplied and moves through the firing space to the exhaust, as required by claim 1, it is no longer considered as the claimed sub gas. Therefore, any variation in the composition of the gas due to its interaction with the raw material would not read on the claim, since it occurs after the gases are supplied.
The prior art fails to teach, “each of the first sub-gas, the second sub-gas, and the third sub-gas has different compositions from each other”, in addition to the rest of the claim.
Instead, modified Park does not disclose varying the composition of the supplied gases. Furthermore, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to vary the composition of the supplied sub-gases, as claimed. Onoda at best further teaches supplying an atmospheric gas, “The gas supply pipe 60 is a pipe that supplies atmospheric gas into the processing chamber 12.” Which fails to read on the claimed limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kurt J Wolford whose telephone number is (571)272-9945. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM.
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/KURT J WOLFORD/Examiner, Art Unit 3762 /MICHAEL G HOANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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