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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/11/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 6, 8, and 10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 6 Line 3, “the rigidity” should be revised to “a rigidity” to ensure clarity in the claim.
In Claim 8 Line 2, “faces the rigid reinforcement portion is configured” should be revised to “faces the rigid reinforcement portion and is configured” to ensure proper grammar.
In Claim 10 Line 7, “the position” should be revised to “a position” to ensure clarity in the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO-2021091328-A1 to Jung et al. (“Jung”).
As to Claim 1, Jung discloses a battery rack (See #10 in Figs. 1-4) comprising:
at least one battery module (See multiple battery modules #100);
a rack frame (#200) configured to accommodate the at least one battery module (See Machine Translation of Description Paragraph 0035);
a fire extinguishing agent supplier (#300 but not including #355, See machine Translation of Description Paragraph 0034) disposed on a first side of the rack frame and connected to the at least one battery module (See Annotated Fig. 11 and Machine Translation of Description Paragraph 0042); and
a support (#400) coupled to the first side of the rack frame (See Annotated Fig. 11) and configured to support the fire extinguishing agent supplier such that the fire extinguishing agent supplier faces the at least one battery module (See Annotated Fig. 11 and Machine Translation of Description Paragraph 0053).
As to Claim 2, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 1 above, Jung further discloses wherein the fire extinguishing agent supplier comprises:
at least one nozzle (See multiple nozzles #353 in Fig. 11); and
a fire extinguishing pipe (See Annotated Fig. 11, the pipe is made up of #330, #351, and #135) coupled to the support and connected to the at least one nozzle to supply a fire extinguishing agent to the at least one nozzle (See Figs. 10-11), and
wherein the support comprises:
a pipe support portion (#410) configured to support the fire extinguishing pipe (See Fig. 11 and Machine Translation of Description Paragraph 0063); and
a frame coupling portion (#430 along with #355) extending from a side of the pipe support portion so as to face the rack frame and coupled to the first side of the rack frame (See Annotated Fig. 11 and Machine Translation of Description Paragraphs 0069-0070).
As to Claim 3, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 2 above, Jung further discloses wherein the frame coupling portion is configured to come into contact with the first side of the rack frame (See Annotated Fig. 4, Annotated Fig. 11, and Machine Translation of Description Paragraph 0059).
As to Claim 4, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 3 above, Jung further discloses wherein the frame coupling portion is formed to extend in a vertical direction and is configured such that an upper end and a lower end are coupled to the first side of the rack frame (See Annotated Fig. 4).
As to Claim 5, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 2 above, Jung further discloses wherein the pipe support portion is configured to surround at least a portion of the fire extinguishing pipe (See Figs. 10-11 and Machine Translation of Description Paragraph 0063).
As to Claim 6, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 2 above, Jung further discloses wherein the rack frame comprises a rigid reinforcement portion provided on the first side of the rack frame so as to reinforce the rigidity of the rack frame (See Annotated Fig. 4. The portion RRP of #200 helps reinforce rigidity of #200 to some level), and
wherein the fire extinguishing pipe comprises a fixing member (#135) protruding from a side surface of the fire extinguishing pipe facing the at least one battery module (See Annotated Fig. 11) and configured to fix the fire extinguishing pipe to the rigid reinforcement portion (See Annotated Fig. 11 and See Machine Translation of Description Paragraphs 0057-0058).
As to Claim 7, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 6 above, Jung further discloses wherein the frame coupling portion comprises a recessed portion partially recessed to correspond to a height of the rigid reinforcement portion (See Annotated Fig. 4 and Annotated Fig. 10. #430 of the frame coupling portion is recessed in #400 and corresponds to a height of RRP such that #400 mates with #200 as shown in Fig. 11).
As to Claim 8, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 6 above, Jung further discloses wherein the at least one nozzle faces the rigid reinforcement portion and is configured to be connected to the at least one battery module by passing through the rigid reinforcement portion (See Annotated Fig. 11 and Machine Translation of Description Paragraph 0051).
As to Claim 9, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 2 above, Jung further discloses wherein the at least one battery module is a plurality of battery modules (See Fig. 3),
wherein the at least one nozzle is a plurality of nozzles (See Fig. 11), and
wherein the plurality of nozzles are configured to respectively correspond to the plurality of battery modules (See Fig. 11).
As to Claim 10, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 1 above, Jung further discloses wherein the at least one battery module is a plurality of battery modules (See Fig. 3), and
wherein the battery rack further comprises a pipe connection member (See Annotated Fig. 10) configured to adjust the position of the fire extinguishing agent supplier so as to correspond to a height of the rack frame when the fire extinguishing agent supplier is coupled to the rack frame (See Fig. 4, the pipe connection member is capable of being moved to adjust a position of the fire extinguishing agent supplier to correspond to a height of #400 when being coupled).
As to Claim 11, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 10 above, Jung further discloses wherein the pipe connection member comprises a fire extinguishing pipe connection member configured to connect different fire extinguishing agent suppliers disposed on the first side of the rack frame (See Figs. 10-11, the pipe connection member is a portion of #400 that connects fire extinguishing pipe #300 and is capable of connecting other fire extinguishing agent suppliers on a first side of #400), and
wherein the fire extinguishing pipe connection member is bendable (See Annotated Fig. 10, the pipe connection member is made of some frame material such that it is capable of being bent at least to some extent when some amount of force is applied).
As to Claim 12, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 10 above, Jung further discloses wherein the pipe connection member further comprises:
a supply pipe connection member configured to connect a supply pipe that supplies a fire extinguishing agent to the fire extinguishing agent supplier (See Annotated Fig. 10, the supply pipe connection member is a portion of #400 that the supply pipe is supported and connected at); and
a discharge pipe connection member configured to connect a discharge pipe that receives a fire extinguishing agent from the fire extinguishing agent supplier (See Annotated Fig. 10, the discharge pipe connection member is a portion of #400 that the discharge pipe is supported and connected at), and
wherein at least one of the supply pipe connection member and the discharge pipe connection member is bendable when the fire extinguishing agent supplier is coupled to the rack frame (See Annotated Fig. 10, the supply pipe connection member and the discharge pipe connection member are both made of some frame material such that they are capable of being bent at least to some extent when some amount of force is applied).
As to Claim 13, in reference to the battery rack of Jung as applied to Claim 1 above, Jung further discloses an electric power storage system comprising at least one battery rack (See #1 in Fig. 12).
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See Notice of References Cited Form PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN E SCHWARTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-1770. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00AM - 5:00PM MST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur O Hall can be reached at (571)-270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN EDWARD SCHWARTZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3752 May 4, 2026
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