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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS)s submitted on 06/04/2025 and 02/20/2026 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 12 and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 12, Applicant has been advised to replace “a rear surface” in line 9 to – the rear surface --; and
In claim 13, Applicant has been advised to replace “cam” in line 6 to – camera --.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 2024/0181571A1) in view of Bae (US 2021/0252646A1).
With respect to claim 1, Park teaches an electrode manufacturing apparatus (“the electrode sheet notching apparatus”, Pa [0030]) comprising:
a first roller (“110”) configured to move an electrode plate (“Each of the first roller 110 and the second roller 120 conveys the electrode sheet 10 from the first roller 110 to the second roller 120 by rotating in one direction, and conveys the electrode sheet 10 in the x direction based on the drawings.”, Pa [0035]) that includes a coated portion having an electrode active material extending in a first direction and a non-coated portion adjacent to the coating portion in a second direction intersecting the first direction (“The electrode sheet 10 may include an electrode current collector layer 11 and an electrode active material layer 12 disposed on the electrode current collector layer 11.”, Pa [0032]; “The electrode active material layer 12 may not be disposed on at least some regions of one end of the current collector layer 11, and the electrode sheet 10 may have this region as a non-holding part.”, Pa [0033]);
a second roller (“120”) that is spaced from the first roller and configured to move the electrode plate in the first direction (“Each of the first roller 110 and the second roller 120 conveys the electrode sheet 10 from the first roller 110 to the second roller 120 by rotating in one direction, and conveys the electrode sheet 10 in the x direction based on the drawings.”, Pa [0035]);
a jig unit (“200”) disposed between the first roller and the second roller (“The jig 210 is disposed between the first roller 110 and the second roller 120.”, Pa [00040]), the jig unit being configured to fix the electrode plate in a third direction intersecting the first direction (“The jig 210 supports the region of the electrode sheet 10”, Pa [0040]; “the electrode sheet 10 is fixed by the support portion 211 to prevent the electrode sheet 10 from shaking.”, Pa [0047]);
a laser cutting portion (“The processing unit 300”) that is adjacent to the jig unit and is configured to cut at least one of the coated and uncoated portions of the electrode plate fixed to the jig unit into a set shape using a laser beam (“The processing unit 300 is disposed on the other surface, which is the opposite surface of the one surface of the electrode sheet 10, and thus may face the jig unit 200 with the electrode sheet 10 interposed therebetween.”, Pa [0054]; “The processing unit 300 comprises a laser, and irradiates a laser beam on the electrode sheet 10 to perform notching.”, Pa [0055]); and
a controller that is connected to the jig unit and the laser cutting portion and is configured to control the jig unit and the laser cutting portion (“a controller for controlling the movement of the jig 210. For example, the controller may recognize the position information to be irradiated with the laser beam and transmit the recognized position information to the jig 210 to precisely control the movement of the jig 210.”, Pa [0052]).
Park teaches that the jig unit (“200”) is configured to fix the electrode plate (“the electrode sheet 10 is fixed by the support portion 211 to prevent the electrode sheet 10 from shaking.”, Pa [0047]), the controller may recognize the position information to be irradiated with the laser beam and transmit the recognized position information to the jig 210 to precisely control the movement of the jig 210 (Pa [0052]), and further teaches that the processing unit 300 comprises a laser, and irradiates a laser beam on the electrode sheet 10 to perform notching, and the processing pattern of the laser beam is not particularly limited, but roughly represents a pattern in the shape of a ribbon or bow tie and may perform processing of the electrode sheet 10 (Pa [0055]), but is silent to a controller configured to control the laser cutting portion, and a jig unit configured to press the electrode plate.
In the same field of endeavor, a laser cutting system, Bae teaches that a laser cutting system 1 may include a controller 10 for controlling overall operation of the laser cutting system 1, a processing machine 30 for performing laser cutting processing on the processing target F using a laser beam (LB) (Pa [0038]), the processing machine 30 may include a laser head 32 for laser cutting the processing target F by radiating a laser beam (LB) oscillated from the laser oscillator onto a region of the processing target F disposed at a predetermined processing position, and a conveying member 34 for moving the laser head 32 in at least one of the X and Y directions in a reciprocating manner (Pa [0043]), and the laser head 32 and the camera 82 may be conveyed by the controller 10 and the conveying member 34 so that the laser head 32 radiates a laser beam (LB) onto the processing target F along a predetermined cutting line E to form the product P from the processing target F and the camera 82 photographs the processing target F being laser-cut along a cutting line E (Pa [0045]). Bae further teaches that the laser cutting system 1 may further include fixing jigs 100 for fixing the processing target F when laser cutting is performed on the processing target F (Pa [0046]), and the fixing jigs 100 are configured so as to press, in the Z direction, the end of a region of the processing target F mounted on the mounting member 26 when laser cutting is performed on the processing target F (Pa [0047]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Park with the teachings of Bae to provide a conveying member 34 with the processing unit 300 and configure the controller to control the conveying member and processing unit in order to radiate a laser beam (LB) onto the electrode sheet along a predetermined cutting line. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Park with the teachings of Bae to provide Bae’s fixing jigs with Park’s apparatus in order to press, in the z direction, the end of a region of the electrode sheet supported on the jig unit when laser cutting is performed on the electrode sheet.
Claims 2-4 and 8-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 2024/0181571A1) in view of Bae (US 2021/0252646A1) as applied in claim 1, and further in view of Sung et al. (KR 101561445B1-of record _Machine Translation provided herewith).
With respect to claim 2, Bae as applied in the combination regarding claim 1 above further teaches that a laser cutting system 1 includes an imaging module 80 for photographing the laser processing result of the processing target F (Pa [0038]), but does not explicitly teach a vision portion that is connected to the controller and is configured to sense a misalignment value in the second direction of the electrode plate moving in the first direction.
In the same field of endeavor, an apparatus for manufacturing a plurality of unit electrodes, Sung teaches that the electrode manufacturing apparatus 100 includes a roller-like unwound unit 110 in which an electrode sheet 10 is wound; a warp correction unit 120 composed of an EPC sensor for monitoring and correcting the position of the electrode sheet 10 transferred from the winder 110; a splice unit 130 connecting new electrode sheets when all the electrode sheets 10 are unwound; a cutting unit 140 including a laser for slitting and notching the electrode sheet 10 using a galvanometer scanner (not shown); a scrap removing unit 150 located at a lower end of the cutting unit 140 and separating the scraps cut by the laser 141 and 142; a vision unit 160 for inspecting the pattern and dimensions of the cut electrode by an image sensor; a touch roll 170 in the form of a roller for retaining the pattern of the electrodes and preventing air inflow during winding; and a roller-type take-up winder 180 for rewinding the electrodes in the touch roll 170 (pg 10 li 27-36).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Park in view of Bae with the teachings of Sung to provide the winder and the warp correction unit before the first roller of Park for the purpose of monitoring and correcting the position of the electrode sheet transferred from the winder. One would have found it obvious to substitute an image sensor for the EPC sensor for the purpose of monitoring the position of the electrode sheet by images, and to connect the warp correction unit to the controller in order to allow the controller to control overall operation of the apparatus.
With respect to claim 3, the combination as applied to claim 2 above further teaches that the controller is configured to control a fixing position of the jig unit with respect to the electrode plate (Park: “there may be a controller for controlling the movement of the jig 210.”, Pa [0052]) and an irradiation position of the laser beam of the laser cutting portion (Bae: “the laser head 32 and the camera 82 may be conveyed by the controller 10 and the conveying member 34 so that the laser head 32 radiates a laser beam (LB) onto the processing target F along a predetermined cutting line E to form the product P from the processing target F”, Pa [0045]), but does not explicitly teach that these control is performed based on the misalignment value of the electrode plate in the second direction. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to perform the control based on the data obtained by the sensors for the purpose of high quality of the products.
With respect to claim 4, the combination as applied to claim 3 above further teaches that the jig unit includes:
a jig portion (Park: “the jig 210”) that includes a guide jig (“a support portion 211”) that is configured to support a front surface of the electrode plate facing the front surface of the electrode plate (“the jig 210 may comprise a support portion 211 in contact with the electrode sheet 10”, Pa [0047]) and
a pressing jig (Bae: “fixing jigs 100”) that is configured to press a rear surface of the electrode plate facing the rear surface of the electrode plate (“The fixing jigs 100 are configured so as to press, in the Z direction, the end of a region of the processing target F mounted on the mounting member 26 when laser cutting is performed on the processing target F.”, Pa [0047]), and
a jig moving portion (Park: “the jig base 220”) that is configured to move the jig portion (“the jig 210 moves on a plane coplanar with one surface of the electrode sheet 10.”, Pa [0042]; “the jig base 220 may play a role of guiding the jig 210 to move along a movement path.”, Pa [0053]).
With respect to claim 8, the combination as applied to claim 4 above further teaches that the guide jig includes a first opening (Park: “a slit”) configured to expose the front surface of the electrode plate (“The jig 210 has a slit (S) formed on a surface facing the electrode sheet 10.”, Pa [0041]), and the pressing jig (Bae: “the fixing jigs 100”) includes a second opening (the space between two fixing jigs) configured to expose the rear surface of the electrode plate corresponding to the first opening (Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 9, even though the combination as applied to claim 8 does not explicitly teach that the laser cutting portion is positioned in alignment with the guide jig and configured to irradiate the laser beam to the electrode plate through the first opening of the guide jig, one would appreciate that Park’s jig 210 and Bae’s fixing jigs 100 can cooperatively press and fix the electrode sheet, thus Bae’s fixing jigs 100 can function as the guide jig and the apparatus is configured to irradiate the laser beam to the electrode plate through the space between two fixing jigs.
With respect to claim 10, the combination as applied to claim 9 above further teaches that the controller is configured to control a fixing position of the jig unit with respect to the electrode plate (Park: “there may be a controller for controlling the movement of the jig 210.”, Pa [0052]) and an irradiation position of the laser beam through the first opening (Bae: “the laser head 32 and the camera 82 may be conveyed by the controller 10 and the conveying member 34 so that the laser head 32 radiates a laser beam (LB) onto the processing target F along a predetermined cutting line E to form the product P from the processing target F”, Pa [0045]), but does not explicitly teach that these control is performed based on the misalignment value of the electrode plate in the second direction. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to perform the control based on the data obtained by the sensors for the purpose of high quality of the products.
With respect to claim 11, the combination as applied to claim 2 above further teaches that the vision portion (Sung: the modified warp correction unit 120) is spaced from the jig unit (Park: “a jig unit 200”) with the first roller (Park: “first roller 110”) positioned therebetween (Fig. 1 of Sung teaches that the warp correction unit 120 is arranged before the cutting unit 140 in the conveying direction.).
With respect to claim 12, Sung as applied in the combination regarding claim 11 above further teaches that the vision portion includes: a first vision roller configured to support a rear surface of the electrode plate; a first camera configured to photograph a front surface of the electrode plate; and a second vision roller spaced apart from the first vision roller in the first direction and supporting the front surface of the electrode plate; and a second camera configured to photograph a rear surface of the electrode plate (See the annotated Fig. 1 below).
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With respect to claim 13, Sung as applied in the combination regarding claim 12 above does not explicitly teach that the vision portion further includes: a first vision moving portion supporting the first camera and configured to move the first camera in the second direction; and a second vision moving portion supporting the second camera and configured to move the second camera in the second direction.
Bae as applied in the combination regarding claim 12 above further teaches that the conveying member 34 may include a slider 34 a, a first conveying member 34 b for moving the slider 34 a in the Y direction in a reciprocating manner, and second conveying members 34 c for moving the first conveying member 34 b and the slider 34 a coupled to the first conveying member 34 b in the X direction in a reciprocating manner, and a camera 82 included in the imaging module 80 and responsible for photographing the processing target F may be coupled to the slider 34 a (Pa [0044]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the combination with the teachings of Bae to provide Bae’s conveying member 34 with Sung’s image sensors in order to move each sensor in X and Y direction during photographing the electrode sheet.
With respect to claim 14, Sung as applied in the combination regarding claim 13 above further teaches a meandering controller (“a warp correction unit 120”) spaced apart from the first roller with the vision portion therebetween (since Sung teaches three warp correction units 120 in the embodiment, Sung teaches a warp correction unit 120 spaced apart from the cutting unit 140 with an image sensor of other warp correction unit 120 therebetween), the meandering controller being configured to control alignment of the electrode plate (“correcting the position of the electrode sheet 10 transferred from the winder 110”, pg 10 li 29). Even though Sung is silent to controlling alignment of the electrode plate in the second direction, one would have found it obvious to control alignment of the electrode plate in the first and second directions in order to align the electrode plate on the xy plane for the accurate processing.
With respect to claim 15, Sung as applied in the combination regarding claim 14 above does not explicitly teach that the controller is connected to the meandering controller, and the controller is configured to control the meandering controller based on the misalignment value of the electrode plate in the second direction, but further teaches a controller (Claim 6), and Bae as applied in the combination regarding claim 14 above teaches a controller 10 for controlling overall operation of the system (Pa [0038]). One would have found it obvious to connect the controller to the warp correction unit 120 and configure the controller to control the warp correction unit 120 based on the misalignment value of the electrode plate in the x and y directions in order to align the electrode plate on the xy plane for the accurate processing under the control.
With respect to claim 16, Sung as applied in the combination regarding claim 14 above further teaches a tension controller (“a powder brake 200”) spaced apart from the vision portion with the meandering controller therebetween (“a powder brake 200 is positioned at a position adjacent to the winder 110”, pg 11 li 5-6)), the tension controller being configured to control tension of the electrode plate (“The powder brake 200 senses the tension of the loaded electrode sheet 10 and controls it so that it can be easily transferred to the cutting unit 140.”, pg 11 li 8-9).
With respect to claim 17, Sung as applied in the combination regarding claim 16 above further teaches that the tension controller includes a dancer roller (the rollers next to the winder 110) configured to press the electrode plate in the third direction (Figs. 2 and 3).
With respect to claim 18, Park as applied to claim 17 above further teaches that by individually controlling the rotation speed of the first roller 110 and the second roller 120, each of the tension T1 acting on the electrode sheet 10, the tension T2 acting on the electrode sheet 10 in the region between the first roller 110 and the second roller 120, and the tension T3 acting on the electrode sheet 10 in the region before reaching the second roller 120 can be individually adjusted such that the stability of notching can be improved (Pa [0036]), but does not explicitly teach that the first roller includes a load cell that is configured to sense tension on the electrode plate.
Sung as applied in the combination regarding claim 16 above further teaches that the powder brake can sense in real time the tension of the electrode sheet transferred from the winder, and can detect the tension by air pressure and control it (pg 6 li 20-22).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Park with the teachings of Sung to provide Sung’s tension sensor with the first roller in order to sense and control the tension so as to improve the stability of notching.
With respect to claim 19, Sung as applied in the combination regarding claim 14 above teaches a controller for controlling the tension (Claim 6), and Bae as applied in the combination regarding claim 14 above teaches a controller 10 for controlling overall operation of the system (Pa [0038]). One would have found it obvious to connect the controller to the first roller and the tension controller and configure the controller to control the dancer roller of the tension controller so that the tension of the electrode plate is maintained at a set tension in order to improve the stability of notching.
With respect to claim 20, the combination as applied to claim 1 above does not explicitly teach a winder that is adjacent to the second roller and is configured to wind the electrode plate.
In the same field of endeavor, an apparatus for manufacturing a plurality of unit electrodes, Sung teaches that the electrode manufacturing apparatus 100 includes a roller-like unwound unit 110 in which an electrode sheet 10 is wound; a warp correction unit 120 composed of an EPC sensor for monitoring and correcting the position of the electrode sheet 10 transferred from the winder 110; a splice unit 130 connecting new electrode sheets when all the electrode sheets 10 are unwound; a cutting unit 140 including a laser for slitting and notching the electrode sheet 10 using a galvanometer scanner (not shown); a scrap removing unit 150 located at a lower end of the cutting unit 140 and separating the scraps cut by the laser 141 and 142; a vision unit 160 for inspecting the pattern and dimensions of the cut electrode by an image sensor; a touch roll 170 in the form of a roller for retaining the pattern of the electrodes and preventing air inflow during winding; and a roller-type take-up winder 180 for rewinding the electrodes in the touch roll 170 (pg 10 li 27-36).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Park in view of Bae with the teachings of Sung to provide a roller-type take-up winder 180 for the purpose of rewinding the processed electrode plate.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 2024/0181571A1) in view of Bae (US 2021/0252646A1) and Sung et al. (KR 101561445B1-of record _Machine Translation provided herewith) as applied in claim 4, and further in view of Terada et al. (US 6,563,082B2).
With respect to claim 5, the combination as applied to claim 4 above does not explicitly teach that the jig moving portion includes: a cylinder portion configured to move the pressing jig in the third direction; a first moving portion configured to move the cylinder portion in the first direction; and a second moving portion configured to move the first moving portion in the second direction.
In the same field of endeavor, a laser cutting apparatus, Terada teaches that the panel 26 (27) to be cut is held by a work support section 48, and the position of the work support section 48 is controlled by a robot section 50 consisting of an X slide mechanism 51 and a Y slide mechanism 52, the X slide mechanism 51 is mounted with an X stage 53, a pulse motor 54, and a shaft (not shown) driven by the pulse motor 54, the outside surface of the shaft is threaded so that the shaft is threadedly engaged with a member 49 connected to the work support section 48, therefore, the work support section 48 is moved in the X direction by moving the member 49 by the rotation of the shaft, and the Y slide mechanism 52 is mounted with a Y stage 56, a pulse motor 57, and a shaft (not shown) driven by the pulse motor 57, the outside surface of the shaft is threaded so that the shaft is threadedly engaged with a member (not shown) provided on the backside of the X stage 53, therefore, the X stage 53 is moved in the Y direction by moving the member by the rotation of the shaft, by which the work support section 48 is moved in the Y direction (co 7 li 28-47, Fig. 6) such that the robot section 50 moves the work support section 48 in the X or Y direction, by which the laser beams are moved along the scribe lines 5 to cut the substrates (co 7 li 66-co 8 li 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the combination with the teachings of Terada to provide the member 49 and the robot section 50 with Bae’s fixing jigs in order to move the fixing jigs in the X or Y direction.
With respect to claim 6, Terada as applied in the combination regarding claim 5 above further teaches that in a scanning mechanism of robot section, a robot (SCARA robot) may be used which has not only a mechanism for moving in the X and Y directions but also an arm movable, for example, in both of the radial and rotational directions (co 10 li 15-19). One would have found it obvious to provide a mechanism for rotating the robot section in order to rotate the fixing jigs as well.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 2024/0181571A1) in view of Bae (US 2021/0252646A1), Sung et al. (KR 101561445B1-of record _Machine Translation provided herewith), and Terada et al. (US 6,563,082B2) as applied in claim 5, and further in view of Lee (US 2020/0266416A1).
With respect to claim 7, the combination as applied to claim 5 above does not explicitly teach that the cylinder portion includes an elastic portion supporting the pressing jig in the third direction.
In the same field of endeavor, a laser welding apparatus, Lee teaches that the pressing jig includes; a support having a fixed position and spaced apart from the pressing bar by a predetermined distance in the left-and-right direction; and an elastic member disposed between the pressing bar and the support (Pa [0015]), and the elastic member 325 may generate force in which the pressing bar 321 elastically pressurizes the electrode lead 111. In addition, the elastic member 325 may buffer the force of reaction according to the pressurizing force of the pressing bar 321 (Pa [0073]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the combination with the teachings of Lee to provide the elastic member with the fixing jigs in order to elastically pressurize the electrode sheet and buffer the force of reaction according to the pressurizing force of the fixing jigs.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YUNJU KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-1146. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-4:00 EST M-Th; Flexing Fri.
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/YUNJU KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
