Patent Application 17775110 - Battery Module Having an Improved Electrode Lead

Title: Battery Module Having an Improved Electrode Lead Connection Structure, and Battery Pack and Vehicle Including Same

Application Information

Invention Title: Battery Module Having an Improved Electrode Lead Connection Structure, and Battery Pack and Vehicle Including Same
Application Number: 17775110
Submission Date: 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
Effective Filing Date: 2022-05-06T00:00:00.000Z
Filing Date: 2022-05-06T00:00:00.000Z
National Class: 429
National Sub-Class: 158000
Examiner Employee Number: 97502
Art Unit: 1725
Tech Center: 1700

Rejection Summary

102 Rejections: 1
103 Rejections: 2

Cited Patents

No patents were cited in this rejection.

Office Action Text

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 statements (IDS) submitted on May 6, 2022, August 28, 2023, November 30, 2023, and September 11, 2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.

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.

Claims 1-12 are 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 1 recites the limitation "the pair of adjacent lead slits" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Additionally, Claims 2-12 are rejected due to indefiniteness for depending on an indefinite claim while failing to resolve said issue of indefiniteness.

Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.

Claim(s) 1-6 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Roh (US 20180229621 A1).

Regarding Claim 1, Roh is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing a battery module comprising a battery cell stack comprising a plurality of battery cells each comprising a pair of electrode leads (Abstract, “Disclosed is a battery module, which includes a battery cell assembly having a plurality of battery cells stacked on one another so that a pair of electrode leads protrudes on one side of each battery cell;”). Additionally, Roh discloses structure which comprises a fastening bar frame, here Roh’s the side and lower portions of Roh’s ICB assembly 200, depicted in their figure 7 below, which comprises a pair of lead slits 260 through which the electrode leads 115/116 pass through and extend out where the lead slots are lower gaps present in the lower region of the lower and side portions of the ICB assembly 200.
Additionally, Roh discloses structure which comprises a fastening bar, here the bus bars 251/256 (Paragraph 0049, “a plurality of first bus bars 251 and a plurality of second bus bars 256”), which comprises an insertion slit, here Roh’s lead slot 260 (Paragraph 0060, “The lead slots 260 are provided at the ICB frame 210 and may be provided in plural. The electrode leads 115 , 116 of the facing battery cells 110 may pass through the plurality of lead slots 260 in common.”) as depicted in Roh’s figures 7 and 10, where the electrode leads which pass through adjacent lead slits pass, with the fastening bar being coupled to the fastening bar frame, again depicted in Roh’s figures 7 and 10.

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Regarding Claim 2, Roh anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Roh discloses structure wherein the fastening bar is coupled to the fastening bar frame in a state where the pair of electrode leads passing through the insertion slit are wound, as depicted in Roh’s figure 13.

Regarding Claim 3, Roh anticipates the invention of Claim 2. Additionally, Roh discloses structure where the lead assembly comprising the pair of electrode leads contacts the fastening bar frame by winding using the fastening bar, here depicted in Roh’s figure 13, presented below, where the electrode leads wind over the fastening bar 251, and through the fastening bar 251 are in transitive contact with the fastening bar frame which is positioned below the fastening bar.

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Regarding Claim 4, Roh anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Roh discloses structure wherein the fastening bar frame comprises a pair of fixed portions provided on both sides on a width direction of the fastening bar frame, depicted in Roh’s figure 7, fixed portions are the portions of the lower portions of the ICB board 200 which are positioned on both sides of the fastening bar frame in the width direction. Additionally, Roh discloses structure wherein the fastening comprises second fixed portions provided on opposing end portions in a longitudinal direction of the fastening bar, depicted in Roh’s figure 5, where the fixing bars 251/256 are attached to the surrounding material via portions which are fixed portions present on opposing end portions in a longitudinal direction of the fastening bar. Additionally the second fixed portions, through attachment to the surrounding components, which contact the first fixed portion, are respectively transitively coupled to the pair of first fixed portions.

Regarding Claim 5, Roh anticipates the invention of Claim 4. Additionally, Roh discloses structure wherein the pair of first fixed portions are respectively located on opposing sides in a longitudinal direction of the pair of lead slits, where the first fixed portion extends along the full length along the longitudinal direction of the fixing bar frame, thereby being positioned on opposing sides in a longitudinal direction of the pair of lead slits

Regarding Claim 6, Roh anticipates the invention of Claim 4. Additionally, Roh discloses structure wherein the second fixed portions are respectively located on opposing sides in a longitudinal direction of the insertion slit, as depicted in their figure 5, where the fixing bars’ 251/256 second fixed portions are positioned at opposing end portions in a longitudinal end of the fastening bar, and are therefore located on opposing sides in a longitudinal direction of the insertion slit 260, where the insertion slit 260 is extends along the length of the fixing bar, sharing the positional relationship that the fixing bar has with the second fixed portions.

Regarding Claim 11, Roh anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Roh discloses a battery pack which comprises the battery module of claim 1 (Paragraph 0099, “Referring to FIG. 15, a battery pack 1 may include at least one battery module 10 as described above and a pack case 50 for packaging the at least one battery module 10.”),

Regarding Claim 12, Roh anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Roh discloses a vehicle comprising the battery module of claim 1 (Paragraph 0102, “As described above, the battery pack 1 of this embodiment and devices, instruments or facilities such as a vehicle, which have the battery pack 1 , include the battery module 10 as described above,”).

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.
Claim(s) 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roh (US 20180229621) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Jeon (US 20190386281 A1).

Regarding Claim 7, Roh anticipates the invention of Claim 4. Additionally, in regards to the limitation which requires structure wherein each of the pair of the first fixed portions comprises a first fastening hole and each of the pair of the second fixed portions comprises a second fastening hole to have a shape and a position corresponding to the first fastening hole, Roh fails to disclose said structure, where though depicting that the bus bar and surrounding fixed portions are in contact, Roh is silent in regards to the specific method of connection.
Therefore, we look to Jeon, which is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing a battery pack coupling structure (Abstract, “An embodiment of the present invention relates to a coupling structure of a battery pack, and the objective of the present invention is to provide a battery pack which can stably and easily fix a bus bar.”). Here, Jeon discloses structure wherein bolt holes are positioned and used to couple a base component 130 with a fixing part, using bolts (Paragraph 0033, “In addition, bolt holes are positioned in the base 130 to be coupled with the module fixing part 140 using bolts.”). Accordingly, where Jeon discloses a similar structure as Ros, comprising fixing structure, it would therefore be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use of bolts and associated holes through which the bolts extend to connect the first fixed portion and second fixed portion, where said structure would therefore comprise first fastening holes on the first fixed portion and second fastening holes on the second fixed portion, where the shape and position correspond so as to allow connection and fastening by means of a bolt.

Regarding Claim 8, Modified Roh makes obvious the invention of Claim 7. Additionally, as discussed above, Jeon makes obvious structure which comprises a first fastening hole on the fastening bar frame and a second fastening hole on the fastening bar, and a fixing member which passes through them (Paragraph 0033, “In addition, bolt holes are positioned in the base 130 to be coupled with the module fixing part 140 using bolts.”).

Regarding Claim 9, Modified Roh makes obvious the invention of Claim 8. Additionally, as discussed above, Jeon makes obvious structure wherein the fixing member is a bolt (Paragraph 0033, “In addition, bolt holes are positioned in the base 130 to be coupled with the module fixing part 140 using bolts.”).

Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roh (US 20180229621) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Jeon (US 20190386281 A1) and Halsey (US 20180366958 A1).

Regarding Claim 10, Roh anticipates the invention of Claim 4. Additionally, in regards to the limitation which requires structure wherein each of the pair of the first fixed portions comprises a first fastening hole and each of the pair of the second fixed portions comprises a snap-fit protrusion formed to have a position and shape corresponding to the first fastening hole, Roh fails to disclose said structure, where though depicting that the bus bar and surrounding fixed portions are in contact, Roh is silent in regards to the specific method of connection.
Therefore, we look to Jeon, which is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing a battery pack coupling structure (Abstract, “An embodiment of the present invention relates to a coupling structure of a battery pack, and the objective of the present invention is to provide a battery pack which can stably and easily fix a bus bar.”). Here, Jeon discloses structure wherein bolt holes are positioned and used to couple a base component 130 with a fixing part, using bolts (Paragraph 0033, “In addition, bolt holes are positioned in the base 130 to be coupled with the module fixing part 140 using bolts.”). Accordingly, where Jeon discloses a similar structure as Ros, comprising fixing structure, it would therefore be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use of bolts and associated holes through which the bolts extend to connect the first fixed portion and second fixed portion, where said structure would therefore comprise first fastening holes on the first fixed portion and second fastening holes on the second fixed portion, where the shape and position correspond so as to allow connection and fastening by means of a bolt.
However, even where Roh in view of Jeon makes obvious structure which comprises a bolt, said disclosure of Jeon fails to disclose structure where the bolt is a snap-fit bolt or attachment method. Therefore, we look to Halsey, which is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing a battery pack (Abstract, “A high voltage battery pack includes a set of battery bricks”) which comprises multiple housing components that are attached together (Paragraph 0032, “In an exemplary embodiment, the battery pack upper housing 84 and the battery pack lower housing 70 can be secured together by securing the upper housing flange 90 to the lower housing flange 76.”), where the components can be attached by means of a bolt or a snap-fit attachment method (Paragraph 0032, “The flanges 76, 90 can be secured to one another by any suitable attachment means, including, but not limited to, the use of a physical fastener such as a screw or a bolt, an adhesive, or a snap fit attachment method.”). Here, where Halsey discloses that bolts and snap-fit attachment are alternatives that can be applied to the same situation, where the structure of Halsey is similar to that of modified Roh, the use of snap-fit attachment methods is therefore an obvious variant to that of the use of bolt attachment methods, thereby reading on and making obvious structure wherein the second fixed portions comprise a snap-fit protrusion formed to have a position and shape corresponding to the first fastening hole.

Conclusion
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/J.W.E./ Examiner, Art Unit 1725

/BASIA A RIDLEY/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1725