DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The following is in reply to the applicants submission (e.g. amendment, remarks, etc.) filed on May 15, 2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicants arguments with respect to Claims 37 through 56 have been fully considered, but are now moot because the following new grounds of rejections do not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 37 through 43, 45, 46, 48, 50 and 51 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being U.S. Patent 7,981,359 to Masuzawa et al (hereinafter “Masuzawa”).
Claim 37: Masuzawa discloses a tooling arrangement (e.g. Figs. 8a, 8b) comprising:
a first portion (e.g. left 11, Fig. 8a);
a second portion (e.g. right 11, Fig. 8a), wherein the first and second portions define an inner diameter (e.g. for 14 or 14[, Fig. 8b); and
a variable member (e.g. 10), wherein the first portion, the second portion, and the variable member define an injection molding cavity (e.g. opening in 11 for 18, Fig. 9c, col. 3, lines 5-10), wherein the variable member is movable with respect to the first portion and the second portion such that a volume of the injection molding cavity is adjustable to define a variable length of the injection molding cavity (e.g. Figs. 9c to 9e) that is configured to form a rotor assembly (e.g. col. 3, lines 25-32) having a length dimension that corresponds to a position of the variable member within the first portion and second portion (e.g. Fig. 9e), and
wherein the injection molding cavity with the variable member maintained in the position is configured to receive a magnetic material (e.g. powder) during an injection molding operation and form the rotor assembly (e.g. col. 9, line 65 to col. 10, line 21 and col. 10, lines 22+).
Claim 38: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 37, wherein the injection molding cavity receives a polymeric material (e.g. polyester resin, col. 6, lines 60-63).
Claim 39: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 38, wherein the polymeric material defines at least a portion of a body of a motor assembly (e.g. Fig. 9e).
Claim 40: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 37, wherein the volume of the injection molding cavity is adjusted to define the volume by altering the position of the variable member with respect to the first and second portions (e.g. Figs. 9a to 9e).
Claim 41: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 40, wherein the position of the variable member correlates to the length dimension of the body of the motor assembly (e.g. Fig. 9e).
Claim 42: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 37, wherein the inner diameter of the first and second portions are maintained as a constant dimension as the position of the variable member is adjusted (e.g. inner diameter is Figs. 9c to 9e is note changed).
Claim 43: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 38, wherein the polymeric material comprises magnetic particles (e.g. powder, col. 6, lines 19+).
Claim 45: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 38, further comprising:
pocket-forming inserts (e.g. 13, Fig. 16) that are utilized to form recesses in the body.
Claim 46: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 45, wherein the recesses each receive a magnetic portion (e.g. 2) after removal of the pocket-forming inserts (e.g. Fig. 9c).
Claim 48: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 37, wherein the first portion and the second portion define a seam (e.g. opening between 14 and 14’ for 17, Figs. 9a, 9b), and wherein the variable member operates in a [vertical] direction parallel with the seam to define the injection molding cavity.
Claim 50: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 37, wherein the first portion and the second portion define a top wall (e.g. top surface of 11, and wherein the top wall opposes the variable member to define the injection molding cavity (e.g. Fig. 9c).
Claim 51: Masuzawa discloses the tooling arrangement of claim 37, wherein the magnetic material includes magnetic particles that are encased in a polymeric material (e.g. col. 6, line 8 to col. 7, line 3).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 47, 49 and 53 through 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masuzawa in view of U.S. Publication 2015/0229192 to Yoshida et al (hereinafter “Yoshida”).
Masuzawa discloses the claimed tooling arrangement as relied upon above in Claim 37.
Regarding Claim 55, Masuzawa further teaches that the first portion and second portion define a range of positions that correspond to a range of volumes of the injection molding cavity such that a volume of the injection molding cavity is adjustable to define a variable length (e.g. lengths taken from top surface of 2 to bottom surface of 2, in Figs. 9d, 9c) that corresponds to a position of the variable member within the range of positions (e.g. one position and volume of the injection molding cavity is shown in Fig. 9d, another position and volume of the injection molding cavity is shown in Fig. 9e).
Regarding Claims 54 and 56, Masuzawa further teaches that the injection molding cavity receives a polymeric material (e.g. polyester resin 18) that defines a portion (e.g. 2, Fig. 1a) of a body of the rotor assembly (e.g. Fig. 1a).
While Masuzawa teaches injection molding (e.g. col. 3, lines 5-10) of a magnetic material or particles and a polymeric material (e.g. 18), Masuzawa does not teach that either the first portion of the second portion includes an injection port configured to receive the magnetic material or particles and the polymeric material [as required in each of 47, 49, 53 and 55]. Or Masuzawa does not really mention how the magnetic and polymeric materials are supplied to the injection molding cavity.
Yoshida discloses a tooling arrangement (e.g. Fig. 11) that includes an injection molding cavity (e.g. 83). The tooling arrangement includes a first portion (left side of 81 and 82) and a second portion (right side of 81 and 82, Fig. 11), where the second portion defines an injection molding port (e.g. gate 84) configured to receive a magnetic material and polymeric material (e.g. 230, Figs. 11 to 12, ¶¶ [0055], [0072], [0088]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the second portion of the tooling arrangement of Masuzawa by adding an injection port, as taught by Yoshida, as a means to supply volumes of magnetic and polymeric materials into the injection molding cavity without interfering with other parts of the tooling arrangement.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
Regarding Claims 44 and 52, the tooling arrangement, or first and second portions, of Masuzawa, does not teach a coil. To add a structure of a coil to any portion of the tooling arrangement of Masuzawa would destroy the overall structure of Masuzawa’s tooling arrangement. Therefore, it would not have been obvious to modify the tooling arrangement of Masuzawa by adding a coil, because to do so would destroy Masuzawa’s invention.
Accordingly, Claims 44 and 52 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.
Conclusion
Applicants amendment filed as part of their submission has necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to A. DEXTER TUGBANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4570. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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/A. DEXTER TUGBANG/ Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3729
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