Appeal No. 1996-2805
Application No. 08/103,055
as unpatentable over Hayashi.
We cannot sustain the stated rejection.
The subject matter on appeal is directed to a secondary
cell which utilizes a negative electrode which is not made of
lithium. As set forth in appealed claim 11, appellants'
negative electrode is composed of a carbon material obtained
by carbonizing a natural polymer at a temperature of from
500EC to a 1000EC and having a crystallite size LC of 10D or
less when analyzed by x-ray diffraction. As clearly set
forth in each of the appealed claims, appellants' negative
electrode is formed from materials "other than lithium metal."
More particularly, appellants have allegedly discovered that
the attainment of a desired crystal thickness for their
claimed carbonized carbon negative electrode prevents
undesired side reactions (apparently typical for prior art
lithium secondary cells) which can lead to decomposition of
the electrolytic solution in the cell. Thus, appellants'
claimed secondary cell is said to enjoy very high
charge/discharge efficiencies as contrasted to secondary cells
which use lithium for the negative electrode which suffer from
the disadvantage of inferior charge/discharge cycle
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007