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 .
This office action is a response to the election of species filed on 4/8/2026.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A, claims 1-6 and 8-15, in the reply filed on 4/8/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim 7 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/8/2026.
Since generic claim 1 is allowable, claim 5, directed to the electrode plate conveying mechanism, previously restricted from the election of species, are now subject to bring rejoined. Claims 1-15 are hereby rejoined and fully examined for patentability under 37 CFR 1.104.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “an unwinding mechanism” as recited in line 2 and “a winding mechanism” as recited in line 3 of claim 15 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-4 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Re. claim 2: The phrase “to establish a negative pressure” as recited in lines 7-8 appears to be --to establish the negative pressure--.
Re. claim 3: The phrase “the second cylinder is sleeved with part of the first cylinder” as recited in lines 2-3 appears to be --the second cylinder is sleeved with a part of the first cylinder--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (PGPub 2021/0043980 A1) in view of Wei et al. (CN 211088438 U).
Wang et al. teach an electrode plate conveying mechanism, comprising:
a first conveying roller (20, Fig. 3) configured to convey an electrode plate (11, Fig. 3, paragraph [0038]); and a winder (equivalent with a negative pressure supply unit, Fig. 8) arranged on at least one end of the first conveying roller (i.e., The winder in this embodiment can effectively reduce the possibility of the pole tabs 12 turning outward and bending via the conveying roller 20, thereby reducing the possibility of the pole tabs 12 puncturing the isolation film in the finished cell and improving the yield of the finished cell).
However, Wang et al. silent to teach that the negative pressure supply unit arranged on at least one end of the first conveying roller, and configured to form a negative pressure around a tab of the electrode plate so as to prevent the tab from being folded. Wei et al. teach a winding device for preventing an electrode plate (such as a pole piece) from wrinkling and configured to form a negative pressure (such as a gas) around a tab of the electrode plate so as to prevent the tab from being folded (…If the tab has formed wrinkles in the laser cutting process, the wrinkles will be smoothed under the action of gas. If there are no wrinkles on the tab, the tab will be more smooth and conform to the action of the gas, effectively preventing the tab from being wound during the winding process form folds, paragraphs [0005], [0020] and [0028]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify an electrode plate conveying mechanism of Wang et al. by the negative pressure supply unit using a negative pressure as taught by Wei et al. in order to prevent the tab of the electrode plate from being folded.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. in view of Wei et al., as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhang et al. ((PGPub 2017/0170456 A1).
Wang et al., modified by Wei et al., teach an electrode plate conveying mechanism, but silent an unwinding mechanism configured to wind the electrode plate and a winding mechanism configured to wind the electrode plate. Zhang et al. teach a device including an unwinding mechanism (11, Fig. 7, paragraph [0057]) configured to wind an electrode plate (8) and a winding mechanism (12, Fig. 7, paragraph [0057]) configured to wind the electrode plate. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify an electrode plate conveying mechanism of Wang et al., modified by Wei et al., by an unwinding mechanism and a winding mechanism as taught by Zhang et al. in order to provide a rolled electrode plate effectively into the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-14 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 Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wen (PGPub 2024/0313365 A1), KOBAYASHI et al. (PGPub 2013/0326865 A1), and Yotsumoto (PGPub 2012/0115021 A1) are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to an electrode plate conveying mechanism for improving a material utilization rate and reduce a production cost of battery.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL D KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4565. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6:00 AM-2:00 PM.
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/PAUL D KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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