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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 13 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 13 recites the limitation “the rolling surface of the rotating roll rotates along the space between the pair of pressing blocks.” Applicant is claiming both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite (MPEP 2173.05(p)).
To overcome the clarity issue, the examiner suggests amending claim 13 as follows:
the rolling surface of the rotating roll configured to rotate along the space between the pair of pressing blocks.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 14 recites the limitation " the rotating roll" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 11, 12, 15-17, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. KR 20180044100 A in view of Lee et al. WO 2022025705 A1. KR 20180044100 A is a published patent henceforth to be referred to as the Park patent; WO 2022025705 A1 is a published patent henceforth to be referred to as the Lee patent.
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (Park – 100) comprising at least one presser that applies pressure on a plurality of battery cells (Park – C; FIG. 3), in the at least one presser, wherein the at least one presser comprises a plurality of pressing blocks (Park – 110; FIG. 3)(Park Para [0030]: and a plurality of pressurized blocks (110)) located respectively at outermost sides of the plurality of battery cells and between the plurality of battery cells (Park Para [0035]: A secondary battery (C) can be inserted between (G) these pressure blocks (110))(See Park FIG. 3), and a pressure supply section (Park – 130,140; FIG. 3) that applies pressure to the plurality of pressing blocks (Park – 110), wherein the pressing blocks include a pressing plate. Park fails to disclose wherein each pressing block includes a pressure sensor located on a first surface of the pressing plate, and wherein the pressure sensor corresponds to a first body surface of a respective battery cell of the plurality of battery cells.
Lee teaches a pressure sensor (Lee – 170; FIG. 1) located in contact with a first surface of a pressing plate, and wherein the pressure sensor (Lee – 170) corresponds to a first body surface of a respective battery cell (See Lee 170 FIG 2; See Lee Para [0043]) of the plurality of battery cells. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pressing plate disclosed in Park, to include a pressure sensor unit corresponding to the body surface of a battery cell, as taught by Lee, to allow the pressure sensor to evenly sense the entire area of the battery cell (See Lee Para [0043]).
Regarding claim 3, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 1 rejection above), further comprising a pair of side surface plates (Park – 122a,122b; FIG. 3) located respectively on the outermost sides of the plurality of battery cells (Park – C), wherein the plurality of pressing blocks (Park – 110) are located between the pair of side surface plates (Park – 122a,122b)(Park Para [0034]: a first connecting frame (122a) provided on one side of the frame (120) and a second connecting frame (122b) provided on the other side opposite to the one side.).
Regarding claim 4, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 3 rejection above), further comprising a first guide member (Park – 121,123; FIG. 3) that connects the pair of side surface plates (Park – 122a,122b) to each other at an upper part (Park – 123) and a lower part (Park – 121) of the plurality of pressing blocks (Park – 110)(Park Para [0032]).
Regarding claim 11, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 1 rejection above), further comprising at least one pair of pressure relief sections (see Park FIG. 3 below; wherein I interpret this space as a pressure relief section because there is no pressure applied in the space) located between a pair of pressing blocks (Park – 10) adjacent to each other among the plurality of pressing blocks, wherein the at least one pair of pressure relief sections are located at an upper part and a lower part of the pair of pressing blocks (Park – 10)(see Park FIG. 3 below), respectively.
Regarding claim 12, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 11 rejection above), wherein the at least one pair of pressure relief sections (see Park FIG. 2 above; wherein I interpret this space as a pressure relief section because there is no pressure applied in the space) comprise a pair of first pressure relief sections and a pair of second pressure relief sections, the pair of first pressure relief sections are located adjacent to one side surface of the pair of pressing blocks, and wherein the pair of second pressure relief sections are located adjacent to a second side surface of the pair of pressing blocks (See Park FIG. 3 below), respectively.
PNG
media_image1.png
645
591
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Park FIG. 3
Regarding claim 15, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 1 rejection above), further comprising, a chamber section (Park – 120; FIG. 3) in which the at least one presser is arranged, and a temperature adjuster that adjusts the temperature inside the chamber section (Park Para [0053]).
Regarding claim 16, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 15 rejection above), wherein in the chamber section (Park – 120), the at least one presser is arranged horizontally (See Park FIGS. 5 and 6).
Regarding claim 17, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 15 rejection above), however, Park in view of Lee does not teach wherein, in the chamber section (Park – 120), the at least one presser is arranged vertically. Park in view of Lee can be modified such that the presser is arranged vertically. MPEP 2144.04 (VI)(C) allows for rearranging position of components granted such rearrangement does not modify the operation of the device; therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the presser to be arranged vertically, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Regarding claim 19, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 1 rejection above), wherein the pressure sensor (Lee – 170) acquires pressure information on an entire body surface of a respective battery cell of the plurality of battery cells (See Lee Para [0043]).
Regarding claim 20, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 19 rejection above), wherein the pressure sensor (Lee – 170) measures a surface pressure of the respective battery cell in a grid form (See Lee FIG. 2).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. in view of Lee et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhang CN 110212127 B. CN 110212127 B is a published patent henceforth to be referred to as the Zhang patent.
Regarding claim 2, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 1 rejection above), wherein each pressing block (Park – 110) comprises a pressing plate. However, Park in view of Lee fails to disclose a protective pad attached to the first surface of the pressing plate that faces the first body surface of the respective battery cell.
Zhang teaches a protective pad unit (Zhang – 19; FIG. 1) attached to a first surface of a pressing plate (Zhang – 5; FIG. 1) that faces the first body surface of the respective battery cell (See Zhang FIG. 1). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pressing plate disclosed by Park in view of Lee, to include a protective pad attached to a first surface of the pressing plate that faces the first body surface of the respective battery cell, as taught by Zhang, wherein the protective pad provides buffering protection of the sides of the battery cell, thus reducing damage to the battery casing caused by hard friction and impact (See Zhang Para [0017], Lines 27-29).
Claims 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Lee as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Teng et al. CN 110710022 A. CN 110710022 A is a published patent application henceforth to be referred to as the Teng patent.
Regarding claim 5, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 1 rejection above), wherein the pressure supply section (Park – 130,140) comprises a pressure supply plate (Park – 130), the pressure supply plate (Park – 130) faces a pressing block (Park – 110) located at an outermost side among the plurality of pressing blocks (See Park FIG. 4). However, Park in view of Lee fails to disclose at least two pressure suppliers located on a first surface of the pressure supply plate.
Teng teaches at least two pressure suppliers (Teng – 32; FIG. 5) located on one surface of the pressure supply plate (Teng – 31; FIG. 5)(Teng Para [0057]: In the example shown in Figure 5, two cylinder devices 32 are set. The cylinder device 32 is mounted on the end plate 20 for pressing the pressing plate 31 of the battery stack 10). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pressure supply section disclosed by Park in view of Lee, to include at least two pressure suppliers located on a first surface of the pressure supply plate, as taught by Teng, wherein it is known within the art that dual pressure supply units deliver more balanced, stable, and precise performance than a single pressure unit design.
Regarding claim 6, Park in view of Lee and Teng discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 5 rejection above), wherein in the pressure supply section, at least two pressure suppliers comprise at least one selected from a servo motor (See Park Para [0036]).
Regarding claim 7, Park in view of Lee and Teng discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 5 rejection above), wherein the at least two pressure suppliers (Teng – 32) comprise a first pressure supplier and a second pressure supplier, and on the first surface of the pressure supply plate (Teng – 31), the first pressure supplier and the second pressure supplier are arranged to be spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction (See Teng FIG. 5 below).
PNG
media_image2.png
348
765
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Teng FIG. 5
Regarding claim 9, Park in view of Lee and Teng discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 5 rejection above), wherein the pressure supply section (Park – 130,140) further comprises a load cell (Park – 140) connected to a pressing block located at the outermost side among the plurality of pressing blocks (Park – 110), and wherein the a second surface of the pressure supply plate (Park – 130) is connected to the load cell (Park – 140) to apply pressure to the plurality of pressing blocks (Park – 110)(Park Para [0043]: The horizontal movement of the above-mentioned pressure block (110) can be achieved by rotating a pressure shaft (140) that moves a pressure plate (130) facing the pressure block (110) in a horizontal direction.).
Regarding claim 10, Park in view of Lee and Teng discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 9 rejection above), further comprising a second guide member that connects the pressure supply plate (Park – 130) and the plurality of pressing blocks (Park – 110) to each other at an upper part and a lower part of the load cell (See Park FIG. 4 below).
PNG
media_image3.png
356
507
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Park FIG. 4
Regarding claim 18, Park in view of Lee and Teng discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 1 rejection above), further comprising a pressure information acquirer (Teng – 40; FIG. 5) that acquires pressure information measured from the pressure sensor (Teng – 41; FIG. 5), and a pressure adjuster (Teng – 40) that adjusts pressure applied to the plurality of battery cell based on the pressure information acquired from the pressure information acquirer (Teng Para [0059]: The control unit 40 can perform at least one of the following based on the detection information of the pressure sensor 41: a first control for adjusting the applied pressure applied by the cylinder device 32).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. in view of Lee et al. and Teng et al. as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Chen et al. CN 115008808 A. CN 115008808 A is a published patent henceforth to be referred to as the Chen patent.
Regarding claim 8, Park in view of Lee and Teng discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 5 rejection above), comprised of at least two pressure supply units, wherein a first pressure supplier is located at the upper part of one surface of the pressure supply plate and a second pressure supplier is located at a lower part of the first surface of the pressure supply plate. However, Park in view of Lee and Teng fails to disclose, wherein the at least two pressure suppliers comprises a pair of first pressure supplier and a pair of second pressure suppliers, the pair of first pressure suppliers are arranged to be spaced apart from each other, and the pair of second pressure suppliers are arranged to be spaced apart from each other.
Chen teaches at least two pressure suppliers (Chen – 21; FIG. 3)(Chen Para [0046]: The feeding drive 21 is a cylinder and is located on the side of the multi-layer feeding rack 2 away from the pressing rack 1.), wherein a pair of first pressure suppliers (See Chen FIG. 3 below) are arranged to be spaced apart from each other, and a pair of second pressure suppliers (See Chen FIG. 3 below) are arranged to be spaced apart from each other. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pressure supply section disclosed by Park in view of Lee and Teng, to include at least two pressure suppliers comprised of a pair of first pressure supplier arranged to be spaced apart from each other at an upper part, and a pair of second pressure suppliers arranged to be spaced out from each other at a lower part, as taught by Chen, wherein it is known within the art that dual pressure suppliers deliver more balanced, stable, and precise performance than a single pressure supplier design.
PNG
media_image4.png
685
728
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Chen FIG. 3
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. in view of Lee et al. as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Choe KR 101793162 B1. KR 101793162 B1 is a published patent henceforth to be referred to as the Choe patent.
Regarding claim 13, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 11 rejection above), wherein each of the at least pair of pressure sections is located between a pair of pressing blocks. However, Park in view of Lee fails to disclose wherein each of the at least one pair of pressure sections comprises a rotating roll and a rotating shaft passing through a center of the rotating roll, and wherein a rolling surface of the rotating roll rotates along a space between the pair of pressing blocks.
Choe teaches a pressure cancel section comprised of a roll (Choe – 84e, 84d; FIG. 5) and a rotating shaft (Choe – 84, 84b; FIG. 1) passing through the center of the roll (Choe – 84e, 84d)(See Choe FIG. 5), wherein a surface of the rotating roll rotates (Choe – 84e; FIG. 5). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pressure section, disclosed by Park in view of Lee, to include a rotation roll and rotating shaft passing through a center of the rotating roll, as taught by Choe, wherein rotating the shaft causing the roll to slide forward and backward to cause the pressurizing plate to pressurize or release the pressurizing of the cell (See Choe Para [0015]).
Claims 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. in view of Lee et al. as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Choe.
Regarding claim 14, Park in view of Lee discloses the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus (See claim 12 rejection above), however, Park in view of Lee fails to disclose wherein a cross section of the rotating roll has an oval shape. Choe teaches a rotating roll having a oval shape cross section. It is known within the art that a offset cut of a cylindrical shaft will create an oval cross section. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pressure section, disclosed by Park in view of Lee, to include a rotation roll with an oval cross section, as taught by Choe, wherein rotating the shaft causing the roll to slide forward and backward to cause the pressurizing plate to pressurize or release the pressurizing of the cell (See Choe Para [0015]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARLINGTON N IBEKWE whose telephone number is (571)272-2474. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8am - 4:00pm.
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, Christopher Templeton can be reached at (571) 270-1477. 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.
D.N.I.
Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3725
/Christopher L Templeton/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3725
