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.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN103427050.
Regarding claim 1, CN103427050 teaches a power supply device comprising a battery assembly 1 formed by connecting a plurality of batteries in series, an end plate 3, and an electrical junction box 2. The end plate is considered to be the fixed frame. The electrical junction box 2 is provided with a relay 22, a circuit 24, and an upper cover 26. The upper cover 26 is made of resin. The relay 22 and the circuit 24 may be embedded in an accommodating portion of the upper cover 26. The electrical junction box 2 is mounted on the end plate 4 via bolts. A plug terminal of the circuit 24is embedded into a socket terminal 31a, 31b of the end plate 3. The relay 22 comprises a main relay and a pair of relay terminals of the main relay are respectively connected to the overall positive electrode and the overall negative electrode of the battery assembly 1 via circuit 24. The circuit 24 comprises a pre-charging circuit and other control circuits (abstract; 0030-0051; figures 1-6).
CN103427050 does not explicitly teach the panel being detachably arranged on the electrical integration module, as claimed.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to have a detachable panel as such is a known means of allowing access for maintenance and the like and an ordinarily skilled artisan would have found it obvious to try without undue experimentation and with a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 2, CN103427050 teaches the upper cover 26 for accommodating and protecting the relay 22 and the circuit 24 is made of resin of the like. The electrical junction box 2 can include an ECU (0030-0051).
Regarding claim 3, CN103427050 teaches the electrical junction box 2 to include an ECU arranged on the side of the box 2 including a socket terminal 31a for connected the battery assembly 1 to the electrical junction box 2; and terminal 31b for connecting the voltage detection wire to the electronic control unit (0030-0051).
CN103427050 does not explicitly teach a buckle.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to utilize a buckle for connecting and holding parts together as such a customary means in the art.
Regarding claim 4, CN103427050 teaches the battery device as discussed above.
CN103427050 does not explicitly teach the safety cover plate over the control unit.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to utilize a safety cover, as claimed, as protecting the ECU of CN103427050 would be desirable to an ordinarily skilled artisan and a cover would have been considered obvious to try without undue experimentation and with a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 5, CN103427050 teaches the battery device as discussed above.
CN103427050 does not explicitly teach the grounding assembly, as claimed.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to utilize a grounding assembly insofar as a grounding assembly is well known in the art and would have been obvious to try without undue experimentation and with a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 6, CN103427050 teaches the battery device as discussed above.
CN103427050 does not explicitly teach the fire sprinkler, as claimed.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to utilize a fire sprinkler insofar as it is a well-known means of fire safety in the art and would have been obvious to try without undue experimentation and with a reasonable expectation of success.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-14 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: CN103427050, as discussed above, neither teaches nor renders obvious the structural integration of a fan and an air gap guide with the electrical integration module, as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARAH A SLIFKA whose telephone number is (571)270-5838. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm EST.
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/SARAH A. SLIFKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759 September 24, 2026
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