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
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 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shigeta (JP 2024067423 A) in view of Ren et al. (WO 2020134054 A1) (hereinafter “Ren”). [Note that prior art citations below are italicized and enclosed in brackets.]
Regarding Claim 1, Shigeta teaches a vehicle comprising: a vehicle body provided with a boarding space [Shigeta Figs. 1-3; Shigeta Paragraph 0002: “There is known a battery cooling structure that cools a battery module by introducing airflow into the gap between the battery module arranged under the vehicle body floor and the vehicle body floor.”; Shigeta Abstract: “Vehicle installation of a battery pack 4 includes a floor panel 3, and a battery pack 4 arranged below the floor panel 3.”]; and the power storage device includes one or more power storage stacks [Shigeta Fig. 3, Reference Character 20 (typ)] and an accommodation case that accommodates the one or more power storage stacks [Shigeta Fig. 3, Reference Character 4], the accommodation case has a lower case in which the one or more power storage stacks are disposed [Shigeta Fig. 3, Reference Character 12], and a plurality of wall portions that partition a region in which the one or more power storage stacks are disposed [Shigeta Fig. 3, Reference Character 17], but does not teach gas being flowable inside of the wall portions.
Ren teaches a gas-discharge path through which gas discharged from the one or more power storage stacks is flowable is provided inside each of the plurality of wall portions [Ren “Summary of the Invention” Paragraph 11: “the tray body includes a bottom plate, side beams, and a plurality of partitions, the side beams are disposed around the bottom plate and jointly define a battery cell receiving space with the bottom plate, The separator is provided on the bottom plate and divides the bottom plate into several areas for placing battery cells, and gas passages are formed inside the separator, inside the side beams, and inside the bottom plate, Moreover, the gas channel inside the partition plate penetrates through the gas channel inside the side beam, the gas channel inside the side beam penetrates through the gas channel inside the bottom plate, and the air inlet hole is provided on the partition plate, the vent hole is provided on the bottom plate.”]. It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the vehicle of Shigeta to include, with a reasonable expectation of success, a gas-discharge path in view of Ren. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Shigeta and Ren because this would have achieved the desirable result of preventing flame, smoke, or gas from accumulating inside the battery pack, as recognized by Ren [Ren Page 1, Lines 23-24: “The present disclosure provides a power battery pack that can effectively prevent flame, smoke, or gas discharged from battery cells from accumulating inside the battery pack.”].
Shigeta further teaches a heat insulating member is disposed between each of the plurality of wall portions and the boarding space [Shigeta Figs. 1-4; Shigeta Paragraph 0016: “Figure 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the battery pack 4, floor panel 3, and thermal expansion insulation material 40 along the A-A cross section of Figure 2. The vehicle mounting structure of the battery pack 4 according to the embodiment further includes a thermal expansion insulation material 40 arranged between the floor panel 3 and the battery pack 4 (11, 12, 20). The thermal expansion insulation material 40 has a sheet, film, or plate shape and occupies a part of the vertical direction (UP/DN) of the space 6 formed between the floor panel 3 and the battery pack 4.” (Note that the wall portions 17 extend outward to frame 12 and that the heat insulating member 40 lies inward of frame 12, the heat insulating member 40 thereby overlapping each wall, i.e., being disposed between each of the plurality of wall portions and the boarding space.)].
Regarding Claim 3, Shigeta teaches the vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a cross member that constitutes a portion of a frame of the vehicle body is disposed between the boarding space and the accommodation case, and a portion of the heat insulating member is disposed between the cross member and the accommodation case [Shigeta Fig. 4, Reference Characters 3 (cross member/portion of a frame of the vehicle body) and 40 (portion of the heat insulating member) wherein the boarding space is the space above Reference Character 3.].
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shigeta (JP 2024067423 A) in view of Ren et al. (WO 2020134054 A1) (hereinafter “Ren”) and further in view of Yang et al. (CN 112652857 A) (hereinafter “Yang”). [Note that prior art citations below are italicized and enclosed in brackets.]
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Shigeta and Ren teaches a vehicle comprising an accommodation case and a heat insulating member but does not teach the heat insulating member being disposed between an upper member and the lower member of the accommodation case. Yang teaches the vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the accommodation case has an upper member that seals an opening of the lower case, and the heat insulating member is disposed between each of the plurality of wall portions and the upper member [Yang Figs. 1 and 2, Reference Characters 11 (upper member), 12 (lower case), and 2, comprising Reference Characters 21 and 22, (insulating member); Yang Paragraph 0038: “the fireproof assembly 2 includes a fireproof board 21 and a heat insulation layer 22 placed on the fireproof board 21 and located between the fireproof board 21 and the upper shell 11.”]. It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the vehicle of the combination of Shigeta and Ren to include, with a reasonable expectation of success, disposing the heat insulating member between each of the plurality of wall portions and the upper member in view of Yang. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Shigeta, Ren, and Yang because this would have achieved the desirable result of preventing damage when the battery module undergoes thermal runaway, as recognized by Yang [Yang Paragraph 0038: “The fireproof board 21 is a flat plate structure made of high-strength, high-temperature-resistant, and impact-resistant materials, which can withstand the high temperature and high-pressure gases released during thermal runaway of the module 13 without cracking, improving the safety of the battery pack. The heat insulation layer 22 is made of foam and can provide thermal insulation for the modules in the battery pack. At the same time, placing the heat insulation layer 22 between the fireproof board 21 and the upper shell 11 effectively prevents damage when the module undergoes thermal runaway. The fireproof assembly 2 can be detachably connected to the bottom plate 12, making it easy to install and replace.”].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 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. [Note that prior art citations below are italicized and enclosed in brackets.]
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Shigeta (JP 2024067423 A) and Ren et al. (WO 2020134054 A1) (hereinafter “Ren”) teaches a boarding space, a power storage device, and a heat insulating member [Shigeta Fig. 4, Reference Characters 3, 20, and 40] but does not teach an electrical device.
The prior art does not teach or suggest the vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an electrical device disposed between the boarding space and the power storage device, wherein the heat insulating member includes a first heat insulating member disposed between the electrical device and a portion of the plurality of wall portions located below the electrical device. The closest reference, Hong (CN 118528783 A) teaches the vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an electrical device, wherein the heat insulating member includes a first heat insulating member disposed between the electrical device and a portion of the plurality of wall portions located below the electrical device [Hong Fig. 2, Reference Characters 4 (electrical device) and 2 (heat insulating member)], but does not teach disposed between the boarding space and the power storage device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL T WALSH whose telephone number is 303-297-4351. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 5:30 pm ET.
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/MICHAEL T. WALSH/Examiner, Art Unit 3613
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