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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on September 23, 2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
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 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Applicant cited JP Publication 2019-004087 to Amamiya (see also Applicant provided machine translation) in view of US Publication 2020/0321161 to Wada et al. (hereinafter Wada).
Claim 1
Amamiya (FIG. 1) discloses a method of manufacturing a separator for an electrolytic capacitor, the method comprising:
a first step of attaching a conductive polymer component (paragraph 26-27) to a fiber sheet (paragraph 25) to obtain a composite sheet (7); and
a second step of compressing (paragraph 28) the composite sheet (7) to obtain a separator, as recited in claim 1.
Amamiya does not expressly disclose a density of the composite sheet before compression is less than 0.60 g/cm3, as recited in claim 1 (see example embodiment of paragraph 28: 0.6 g/cm3).
Wada (paragraph 63, see also example 4 paragraph 149, example 10, paragraph 161, example 12, paragraph 165) teaches a density of a composite sheet before compression which overlaps the claimed range (as the density after compression is below the claimed value of less than 0.60 g/cm3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Wada with Amamiya to incorporate the separator density taught by Wada in the structure taught by Amamiya, as one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this with a reasonable expectation of success because such a combination and/or modification allows for improved short-circuit resistance with a reduced thickness separator without impaired resistivity, electrolyte solution impregnability, and electrolyte solution retainability.
Claim 2
Amamiya with Wada teaches the method of manufacturing a separator for an electrolytic capacitor according to claim 1, wherein the first step includes:
a step of preparing a conductive polymer dispersion liquid that contains the conductive polymer component and a dispersion medium (Amamiya paragraph 26); and
a step of applying the conductive polymer dispersion liquid to the fiber sheet or impregnating the fiber sheet with the conductive polymer dispersion liquid (paragraph 26), and then removing at least a portion of the dispersion medium (paragraph 26).
Claim 3
Amamiya with Wada teaches the method of manufacturing a separator for an electrolytic capacitor according to claim 1, wherein a density of the fiber sheet before compression is 0.58 g/cm3 or less (Wada paragraph 63, see also example 4 paragraph 149, example 10, paragraph 161, example 12, paragraph 165, the density after compression is below the claimed value of less than 0.58 g/cm3).
Claim 4
Amamiya with Wada teaches the method of manufacturing a separator for an electrolytic capacitor according to claim 1, wherein in the second step, the composite sheet is roll-pressed (Amamiya paragraph 28).
Claim 5
Amamiya with Wada teaches the method of manufacturing a separator for an electrolytic capacitor according to claim 1, wherein a ratio T1/T0 of a thickness T1 of the composite sheet after compression to a thickness T0 of the composite sheet before compression is 0.50 or more and 0.95 or less (Amamiya paragraph 28).
Claim 6
Amamiya with Wada teaches the method of manufacturing a separator for an electrolytic capacitor according to claim 1, wherein the fiber sheet contains at least a cellulose fiber (Amamiya paragraph 25, 28; Wada paragraph 66).
Claim 7
Amamiya with Wada teaches the method of manufacturing a separator for an electrolytic capacitor according to claim 6, wherein the fiber sheet contains the cellulose fiber and a synthetic fiber (Amamiya paragraph 25; Wada paragraph 66).
Claim 8
Amamiya with Wada teaches a method of manufacturing an electrolytic capacitor, the method comprising:
a step of preparing an anode foil (Amamiya FIG. 1: 5; paragraph 21-24);
a step of preparing a cathode foil (6; paragraph 21-24);
a step of obtaining a separator by the method of manufacturing a separator for an electrolytic capacitor according to claim 1 (as above, regarding claim 1); and
a step of laminating the anode foil (5) and the cathode foil (6) with the separator (7) interposed between the anode foil (5) and the cathode foil (6; paragraph 44).
Claim 9
Amamiya (FIG. 1) discloses a separator (7) for an electrolytic capacitor, comprising a composite sheet (7) that includes a fiber sheet (paragraph 25) and a conductive polymer component (paragraph 26) attached to the fiber sheet, as recited in claim 9.
Amamiya does not expressly disclose wherein the composite sheet has a density of 0.33 g/cm3 or more and less than 0.74 g/cm3, an air permeability of 0.5 sec/100 mL or more and less than 58 sec/100 mL, and a basis weight of 19.0 × 10−4 g/cm2 or more, as recited in claim 9.
Wada teaches a composite sheet has a density of 0.33 g/cm3 or more and less than 0.74 g/cm3 (paragraph 63, see also example 4 paragraph 149, example 10, paragraph 161, example 12, paragraph 165), an air permeability of 0.5 sec/100 mL or more and less than 58 sec/100 mL (paragraph 57, see also example 4 paragraph 150, example 10, paragraph 166, example 12, paragraph 166), and a basis weight of 19.0 × 10−4 g/cm2 or more (see example 4 paragraph 149, example 10, paragraph 161, example 12, paragraph 165).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Wada with Amamiya to incorporate the separator with the characteristics taught by Wada in the structure taught by Amamiya, as one having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this with a reasonable expectation of success because such a combination and/or modification allows for improved short-circuit resistance with a reduced thickness separator without impaired resistivity, electrolyte solution impregnability, and electrolyte solution retainability.
Claim 10
Amamiya with Wada teaches the separator for an electrolytic capacitor according to claim 9, wherein the composite sheet has a thickness T1 of 20 μm or more and 90 μm or less (Amamiya paragraph 28).
Claim 11
Amamiya with Wada teaches an electrolytic capacitor comprising:
an anode foil (Amamiya FIG. 1: 5; paragraph 21-24);
a cathode foil (6; paragraph 21-24); and
a separator (7) interposed between the anode foil (5) and the cathode foil (6), wherein the separator is the separator for an electrolytic capacitor according to claim 9 (as above, regarding claim 9).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US Publication 2025/0182976 (note inventorship, assignee, and filing date).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN MILAKOVICH whose telephone number is (571)270-3087. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM 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, TIMOTHY DOLE can be reached at (571)272-2229. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATHAN MILAKOVICH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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