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 Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 2 recites “the plurality of current collector plates is aligned” in lines 2 and 5. In order to be in proper tense, the examiner suggests amending the limitations to read “the plurality of current collector plates are aligned”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (US 2019/0288266 A1) further in view of Weinberger et al. (US 2020/0136119 A1).
Regarding Claim 1:
Sato discloses an electric power storage module (battery module, 3) comprising: a plurality of electric power storage devices (battery cells, 33) arranged; and a plurality of current collector plates (electrodes, 35, bus bars, 51, and contact portions, 53) each electrically connecting the plurality of electric power storage devices (battery cells, 33) to each other (Figure 1, [0026-0027, 0032]). Sato further discloses that the plurality of electric power storage devices (battery cells, 33) are arranged in an arrangement direction orthogonal to a height direction of each of the electric power storage devices (battery cells, 33) (see Figure 1). Sato further discloses that each of the plurality of current collector plates (electrodes, 35, bus bars, 51, and contact portions, 53) includes a current collector main body (bus bars, 51) that is flat plate-shaped and is inclined with respect to the arrangement direction of the plurality of electric power storage devices (battery cells, 33) (Figure 2, [0032]). Sato further discloses that the plurality of current collector plates (electrodes, 35, bus bars, 51, and contact portions, 53) are disposed in a row (see Figure 1). Sato further discloses that the plurality of current collector plates (electrodes, 35, bus bars, 51, and contact portions, 53) includes a first current collector plate (see annotated Figure 2 below) and a second current collector plate (see annotated Figure 2 below) that are adjacent to each other (Figure 2).
Sato is deficient in disclosing that a part of the current collector main body in the first current collector plate overlaps at least a part of the current collector main body in the second current collector plate in the height direction.
Weinberger discloses an electric power storage module (battery module, 100) comprising a plurality of electric power storage devices (battery cells, 10) and a plurality of current collector plates (first set of busbars, 60, and second set of busbars, 70) electrically connecting the plurality of electric power storage devices (battery cells, 10) to each other (Figure 4, [0052-0054]). Weinberger further discloses that the plurality of current collector plates (first set of busbars, 60, and second set of busbars, 70) include a first current collector plate (first set of busbars, 60) and a second current collector plate (second set of busbars, 70) (Figure 4, [0054]). Weinberger further discloses that the first current collector plate (first set of busbars, 60) and the second current collector plate (second set of busbars, 70) partially overlap in the height direction (Figure 7A, [0061]).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the invention to modify the plurality of current collector plates of Sato to be arranged such that the main body of the first current collector plate partially overlaps with the main body of the second current collector plate, as it is known in the art that an overlapping first current collector plate and a second current collector plate in a battery module may be a suitable configuration, as taught by Weinberger. Furthermore, the selection of a known configuration based on its suitability for its intended use supports a prima facie obviousness determination (MPEP 2144.07). Upon the above modification, all of the limitations of Claim 1 are met.
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Annotated Figure 2 (Sato US 2019/0288266 A1)
Regarding Claim 2 (Dependent Upon Claim 1):
Sato as modified by Weinberger discloses the electric power storage module of Claim 1 as set forth above. Sato further discloses that in a direction in which the plurality of current collector plates (electrodes, 35, bus bars, 51, and contact portions, 53) are aligned, a second end (see annotated Figure 2 below) of the first current collector plate (see annotated Figure 2 below) is more distant from the plurality of electric power storage devices (battery cells, 33) in the height direction than a first end (see annotated Figure 2 below) of the first current collector plate (see annotated Figure 2 below) (i.e., the second end of the first current collector plate is at least more distant from the battery cell, 33, which is contacting the first end of the first end plate) (Figure 2). Sato further discloses that in a direction in which the plurality of current collector plates (electrodes, 35, bus bars, 51, and contact portions, 53) are aligned, a second end (see annotated Figure 2 below) of the second current collector plate (see annotated Figure 2 below) is more distant from the plurality of electric power storage devices (battery cells, 33) in the height direction than a first end (see annotated Figure 2 below) of the second current collector plate (see annotated Figure 2 below) (i.e., the second end of the second current collector plate is at least more distant from the battery cell, 33, which is contacting the first end of the second end plate) (Figure 2). Sato further discloses that the first end (see annotated Figure 2 below) of the second current collector plate (see annotated Figure 2 below) is disposed between the second end (see annotated Figure 2 below) of the first current collector plate (see annotated Figure 2 below) and the plurality of electric power storage devices (battery cells, 33) (Figure 2). Thus, all of the limitations of Claim 2 are met.
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Annotated Figure 2 (Sato US 2019/0288266 A1)
Regarding Claim 3 (Dependent Upon Claim 1):
Sato as modified by Weinberger discloses the electric power storage module of Claim 1 as set forth above. Sato further discloses an insulating plate (coupling portions, 9) with insulating property, inclined with respect to the arrangement direction between the part of the first current collector plate (see annotated Figure 2 above) and the at least a part of the second current collector plate (see annotated Figure 2 above) (Figure 5, [0037]). Thus, all of the limitations of Claim 3 are met.
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (US 2019/0288266 A1) as modified by Weinberger et al. (US 2020/0136119 A1), as applied to Claim 1 above, further in view of Takabayashi (US 2021/0359364 A1).
Regarding Claim 4 (Dependent Upon Claim 1):
Sato as modified by Weinberger discloses the electric power storage module of Claim 1 as set forth above. Sato further discloses that the plurality of current collector plates (electrodes, 35, bus bars, 51, and contact portions, 53) comprises an intermediate current collector plate (electrodes, 35) (Figure 1, [0027]). Sato further discloses that the intermediate current collector plate (electrodes, 35) functions for both a negative electrode connection and a positive electrode connection (Figure 1, [0027]).
Sato is deficient in disclosing that the intermediate current collector plate includes a plurality of positive electrode leads connected to positive electrodes of a plurality of first electric power storage devices included in the plurality of electric power storage devices, and a plurality of negative electrode leads connected to negative electrodes of a plurality of second electric power storage devices included in the plurality of electric power storage devices.
Takabayashi discloses an electric power storage device (secondary battery, 20) comprising current collector plates (positive-electrode terminal, 7, and negative-electrode terminal, 9) which are connected to a plurality of electrode leads (positive-electrode tabs, 40, and negative-electrode tabs, 50) (Figures 2, [0033, 0035]). Takabayashi further discloses that the plurality of electrode leads (positive-electrode tabs, 40, and negative-electrode tabs, 50) include a plurality of positive electrode leads (positive-electrode tabs, 40) connected to positive electrodes (positive electrode plates, 4) and a plurality of negative electrode leads (negative-electrode tabs, 50) connected to negative electrodes (negative electrode plates, 5) (Figures 3, 4, and 9, [0071]).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the invention to modify the intermediate current collector plate of Sato to be connected to a plurality of positive electrode leads and negative electrode leads which are connected to positive electrodes and negative electrodes, respectively, as such a configuration is known in the art as suitable as an electrical connection configuration in an electrode power storage device, as taught by Takabayashi. Furthermore, the selection of a known configuration based on its suitability for its intended use supports a prima facie obviousness determination (MPEP 2144.07). Upon the above modification, all of the limitations of Claim 4 are met.
Regarding Claim 5 (Dependent Upon Claim 4):
Sato as modified by Weinberger and Takabayashi discloses the electric power storage module of Claim 4 as set forth above.
Modified Sato is silent to the plurality of positive electrode leads including two or more of the positive electrode leads with lengths in the height direction being different, and the plurality of negative electrode leads includes two or more of the negative electrode leads with lengths in the height direction being different.
However, the examiner notes that the term “lengths” as written is a broad limitation and is subject to the broadest reasonable interpretation during the review of the prior art. Specifically, the examiner notes that the claim does not require that “lengths” be interpreted as “total lengths”. As such, the skilled artisan would appreciate that even if the total lengths of each of the plurality of positive electrode leads and the plurality of negative electrode leads are identical, the skilled artisan may consider the above limitation met. For example, for a length of one of the plurality of positive electrode leads the total length may be selected, while for a length of another one of the plurality of positive electrode leads half of the total length may be selected, in which case the lengths are different. Thus, all of the limitations of Claim 5 are met.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMILY E FREEMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-1498. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Miriam Stagg can be reached at (571)-270-5256. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/E.E.F./Examiner, Art Unit 1724 /BRIAN R OHARA/Examiner, Art Unit 1724
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