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
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.
Claims 1-5, 10-12, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masaki Inoue et al (Japanese Patent: 2015-013248, here after 248), further in view of Hiroyuki Miyamoto et al (U. S. Patent Application: 2016/0111708, 708), further in view of H. Fink et al (Chinese Patent: 103878101, here after 101).
Claim 1 is rejected. 248 teaches a method for coating an electrode, wherein coating the electrode slurry includes pattern-coating the electrode material such that a
non-coated part and a coated part are alternately formed along a coating direction [fig. 1] comprising:
coating an electrode material on a current collector(foil) to form a coated electrode material [page 2 lines 1-2];
measuring a thickness of the coated electrode material in real time using a
thickness measuring sensor (thickness detector, 24) [page 3 paragraph 8, fig. 1];
controlling a coated amount of the electrode material in real time based on the
thickness of the coated electrode material [abstract last sentence]; and
drying the coated electrode material (in dryer 30), wherein measuring the thickness of the coated electrode material is performed prior to drying of the coated electrode material (by 24) [page 3 paragraph 8]. 248 does not teach measuring the thickness after drying of the coated layer. 708 teaches a method for coating an electrode, comprising coating an electrode material on a current collector to form a coated electrode material [abstract, 0003, 0048]; measuring a thickness of the coated electrode material in real time using a thickness measuring sensor (thickness meter) [0055]; controlling a coated amount of the electrode material in real time based on the thickness of the coated electrode material [0055-0056]; and
drying the coated electrode material, wherein measuring the thickness of the
coated electrode material is performed prior to drying of the coated electrode material
(by 8a) and after drying of the coated electrode slurry (by 8b) [0055], so the differences between the positions of the inflection points and the actual end positions may be calculated, and the end positions may be corrected using the differences [0084]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the
invention was made to have a method of 248 and measure the thickness of coating layer with 708 method and prior and after drying, because it helps calculating differences between the positions of the inflection points and the actual end positions and the correction. 708 teaches measuring a thickness of both edge portions of the coated part along the width direction and compares the thickness thereof to a thickness of a center portion of the coated part [0061-0062], and wherein controlling the coated amount of the electrode material includes adjusting a discharge pressure of the coating die (by adjusting rotation speed of pump for pressure-feeding the coating from nozzle) or controlling a valve [0049, 0025] which in fact adjusts a flow rate of the electrode material to a material supply pipe. 248 does not teach the electrode material is slurry nor the position of the thickness measurement sensor. 101 teaches measuring thickness of an electrode coating material when the electrode coating material is in form of slurry [0005]. 101 also teaches measuring thickness of a wet coating, and teaches the measuring unit (sensor) is fixed at a central portion along a width direction of the current collector [abstract, fig. 3, 0051]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a method of 248, 708 and the electrode material is in form of slurry or paste, and measuring unit (sensor) is fixed at a central portion along a width direction of the current collector because it is suitable way to apply electrode coating material on a current collector to make battery.
Claim 2 is rejected as 708 teaches measuring the thickness of the coated
electrode material includes measuring a thickness of an edge portion of the coated
electrode material [fig. 3, 0060].
Claim 3 is rejected as 708 teaches the coated electrode material includes
measuring both a thickness of an edge portion and a thickness of a central portion of
the coated electrode material [0060, fig. 3].
Claim 4 is rejected as 708 teaches comparing the thickness of the edge
portion with the thickness of the central portion to determine a thickness difference
using the thickness measuring sensor [0061-0062].
Claim 5 is rejected as 708 teaches the thickness meter 8a and the end position
measuring apparatus 8b are connected to the controller 9 and input the measured
results into the controller [0055 lines 18-22], which in fact the comparing a thickness of
the coated electrode slurry before drying with a thickness of the coated electrode slurry
after drying. Furthermore 101 also teaches comparing a thickness of the coated
electrode slurry before drying with a thickness of the coated electrode slurry after drying
[0006].
Claim 10 is rejected as 248 [fig. 1] and 708[fig. 1, 0003] teach the electrode material is consecutively coated along a coating direction.
Claim 11 is rejected as 708 teaches measuring the thickness of the coated
electrode material includes measuring a thickness of both edge portions of the coated
electrode material by reciprocating the thickness measuring sensor along a width
direction of the current collector, where the edge portions are along the coating direction
of the current collector [0055].
Claim 12 is rejected as 248, 708, and 101 teach limitation of claim 11, and 708
teaches the thickness meter(senor) measures a weight distribution in the width direction
of the coating material while reciprocating in the width direction [0055], however does
not teach measuring along a zigzag path relative to the current collector. 101 teaches a
method of measuring thickness of a wet coating, and teaches the measuring is along a
zigzag path relative to the current collector [abstract, fig. 3, 0051]. Therefore, it would
have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was
made to have a method of 708 and measure thickness along a zigzag path, because it
is suitable way for measuring thickness of wet coatings.
Claim 15 is rejected. 248 does not teach controlling valves. 101 teaches controlling the valve includes controlling a plurality of valves [fig. 4, 0054], the supply pipe includes a plurality of basins, and each basin of the plurality of basins includes a respective valve of the plurality of valves [fig. 4]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a method of 248, 708, and 101 and control the thickness by controlling valves, because it is an alternative way to adjust discharge material.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masaki Inoue et al (Japanese Patent: 2015-013248, here after 248), H. Miyamoto
et al (U. S Patent Application: 2016/0111708, here after 708), H. Fink et al (Chinese
Patent: 103878101, here after 101), further in view of K. Tada et al (Chinese Patent:
104009201, here after 201).
Claim 6 is rejected. Neither of 248, nor 708 does not teach the thickness measuring sensor is a confocal sensor. 201 teaches measuring thickness of electrode material with confocal laser sensor [0012, 0041]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have an apparatus of 708, wherein the thickness measuring device is confocal laser sensor, because it is suitable device for measuring thickness of electrode when it is conveying.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masaki Inoue et al (Japanese Patent: 2015-013248, here after 248), H. Miyamoto
et al (U. S Patent Application: 2016/0111708, here after 708), H. Fink et al (Chinese
Patent: 103878101, here after 101), K. Tada et al (Chinese Patent: 104009201, here
after 201), further in view of Michael K. Y. Hughes et al (U. S. Patent Application:
2020/0096308, here after 308).
Claim 7 is rejected. 201 does not teach the confocal sensor is a chromatic
confocal displacement sensor. 308 teaches measuring thickness of an electrode coating
layer by laser sensor or by chromatic confocal displacement sensor [0026]. Therefore, it
would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention
was made to have a method of 248, 708,101, and 201 wherein the confocal sensor is
chromatic confocal displacement sensor, because it is suitable for measuring thickness
of electrode layer coating. chromatic confocal displacement sensor in fact configured to
disperse a light source into colors in an array according to wavelength and convert the
array into a distance (bases of working the sensor).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/17/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant argues Inoue (248) does not teach measuring thickness at both edge position of coated part along width direction and comparing it with thickness of a center portion of the coated parts. In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). while 248 teaches pattern-coating of electrode material, coated and non-coated parts and measurement of coating thickness, 708 teaches measuring thickness at both edge position of coated part along width direction and comparing it with thickness of a center portion of the coated parts. 708 also teaches measuring a thickness of both edge portions of the coated part along the width direction and compares the thickness thereof to a thickness of a center portion of the coated part and controlling the coated amount of the electrode material includes adjusting a discharge pressure of the coating die (by adjusting rotation speed of pump for pressure-feeding the coating from nozzle) or controlling a valve [0049, 0025]. 101 teach thickness measuring sensor is fixed at a central portion along a width direction of the current collector [see claim rejection above].
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TABASSOM TADAYYON ESLAMI whose telephone number is (571)270-1885. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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/TABASSOM TADAYYON ESLAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1718
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