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 .
Summary
This is the initial Office Action based on the 18/832,808 application filed on 07/24/2024.
Claims 1-9 remain pending in the application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li (CN210576089 with provided machine English translation).
Addressing claim 1, Li discloses a battery pack for an energy storage system (figs. 1-3), the battery pack comprising:
a case 1 in which a battery module 2 is placed,
a first elastic support part (rubber pad 3, [0031]; alternatively, connecting sleeves 10 as the claimed elastic support part) fixed to the inside of the case (fig. 1), allowing opposite lower ends of the battery module 2 to be supported and seated (fig. 1), and including an elastic member (10-14, with elastic member 15, fig. 2), at one side of the lower ends (fig. 1), elastically support the battery module toward another side, and a second elastic support part (6-9, fig. 1) support an upper end of the battery module 2 and including, on one side thereof, an elastic member 7 elastically supporting the battery module downward (fig. 1).
Addressing claim 2, fig. 1 shows the first elastic support part comprises a pair of first support members (10-14) each including a support part (11+14) supporting one of the lower ends of the battery module and a locking part 10 bent from the support part to restrict movement of the battery module in a horizontal direction, wherein an elastic member 15 is included on one of the locking parts.
Addressing claim 4, fig. 1 shows the second elastic support part comprises a second support member disposed on the battery module and horizontally fixed to the case, and an elastic member 9 is included under the second support member 8 to elastically support the upper part of the battery module.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shimizu et al. (US 2014/0023893).
Addressing claim 1, Shimizu discloses a battery pack 10 for an energy storage system, the battery pack comprising: a case (the four side walls 24a-24b and 26a-26b in figs. 1-2 constitute the claimed case) in which a battery module 14 is placed, a first elastic support part (the accommodation plates 20 along with the corresponding sections of the bottom wall in figs. 3-4, as annotated below) fixed to the inside of the case, allowing opposite lower ends of the batter module 30 to be supported and seated, and including an elastic member 50b, at one side of the lower ends (fig. 3 shows the elastic members 50b are positioned in regions that correspond to the lower ends of the battery module), elastically supporting the battery module toward another side, and a second elastic support part 18 [0062] supporting an upper end of the battery module and including, on one side thereof, an elastic member (bus-bars 62 or engaging claws 54 as the claimed elastic member) elastically supporting the battery module downward (the bus-bars 62 push the battery module downward; the engaging claws 54 engages with the corresponding engagement holes 46 on the side walls of the case that causes the elastic support part 18 to push the battery module downward).
PNG
media_image1.png
406
780
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Addressing claim 2, fig. 2 shows the first elastic support part comprises a pair of first support members (the accommodation sections 20 and the corresponding bottom wall sections 22 provided on opposite sides of the battery module along the thickness direction) each including a support part 22 supporting one of the lower ends of the battery module and a locking part 20 bent from the support part to restrict movement of the battery module in horizontal direction, wherein an elastic member 50b is included on one of the locking parts (fig. 3).
Addressing claim 4, figs. 3 and 6 show the second elastic support part 18 comprises a second support member 33 disposed on the battery module 30 and horizontally fixed to the case (fig. 6), and an elastic member 54 is included under the second support member to elastically support the upper part of the battery module (fig. 6).
Addressing claim 5, the arrangement of battery modules in the case shown in fig. 2 corresponds to the claimed the battery module is provided in multiple states within the case.
Addressing claim 6, fig. 3 shows the first elastic support part is fixedly provided on the elastic support part by the engagement between press springs 52 provided on the first elastic support part with the corresponding slits 56 provided on the second elastic support part as shown in fig. 7.
Addressing claim 7, figs. 3 and 14 shows the elastic member is at least one leaf spring.
Addressing claim 8, fig. 2 shows the battery module is provided in plurality (plurality of battery cells 14) overlapping in front and rear directions within the case, and between the battery modules, a middle support part (20 as shown in the annotated figure above) formed in a plate-shape is fixedly assembled to the case to fixedly support a batter module located at the front-most position, a front support part in a plate-shape 20 is assembled in the case.
Addressing claim 9, the pressure springs 50b of the middle support part 20 between the battery cells 14 correspond to the claimed elastic member of current claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BACH T DINH whose telephone number is (571)270-5118. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday 8:00 - 4:30 EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Barton can be reached at (571)-272-1307. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BACH T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726 09/29/2026
