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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/08/2022 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, in claim 1, the “the at least contacting unit connected to the at least one transistor board in an electrically conductive manner; and wherein the at least one contacting unit is resilient in the longitudinal direction” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 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) 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Umehara (JP 2019057968) in view of Bulovic (US 20200352041).
Regarding claim 1, Umehara discloses:
An inverter (1) for an electric motor (abstract), comprising:
a capacitor board (6) including at least one capacitor (5) and at least one transistor board (4);
the capacitor board (6) and the at least one transistor board (4) aligned transversely to a longitudinal direction (Fig 9);
the capacitor board (6) and the at least one transistor board (4) electrically interconnected (paras 13, implicit in order for the machine to function as disclosed);
at least one electrically conductive contacting unit for contacting at least one electrically conductive phase terminal of the motor (paras 20,36).
Umehara does not teach the at least contacting unit connected to the at least one transistor board in an electrically conductive manner; and wherein the at least one contacting unit is resilient in the longitudinal direction.
Bulovic teaches a device with the at least contacting unit (4-6, 34, Figs 7-10) connected to the at least one transistor board (92) in an electrically conductive manner; and wherein the at least one contacting unit (4-6) is resilient in the longitudinal direction.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to modify Umehara to have the at least contacting unit connected to the at least one transistor board in an electrically conductive manner; and wherein the at least one contacting unit is resilient in the longitudinal direction, as Bulovic teaches.
The motivation to do so is that it would provide a mechanically elastic device (para 32 of Bulovic).
Regarding claim 2/1, Umehara in view of Bulovic discloses the invention as discussed above. Umehara does not teach further comprising a cooling element, wherein: the cooling element is aligned transversely to the longitudinal direction at least in some regions; and in response to an axial pressing force, the at least one contacting unit presses the at least one transistor board against the cooling element axially to facilitate a transfer of heat.
Bulovic teaches further comprising a cooling element, wherein: the cooling element is aligned transversely to the longitudinal direction at least in some regions; and in response to an axial pressing force, the at least one contacting unit presses the at least one transistor board against the cooling element axially to facilitate a transfer of heat (spring 6 pushes the contacting unit 3, 38 against the transistor and thus the transistor is being pushed against the metallic plate 72 which conducts the heat to the motor housing part 9 which is being cooled).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to modify Umehara in view of Bulovic to further comprising a cooling element, wherein: the cooling element is aligned transversely to the longitudinal direction at least in some regions; and in response to an axial pressing force, the at least one contacting unit presses the at least one transistor board against the cooling element axially to facilitate a transfer of heat, as taught by Bulovic.
The motivation to do so is that it would permit one to provide cooing as needed (para 10 of Bulovic).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-13 and 20 are allowed (pending clarification of above drawing objection).
In claim 8, Umehara discloses an electric motor (abstract), comprising: an inverter (1); a motor body (7,11), and the inverter including: a capacitor board (6) including at least one capacitor and at least one transistor board (4), the capacitor board and the at least one transistor board electrically interconnected (para 13, implicit in order for the machine to function as disclosed) and aligned transversely to a longitudinal direction (Figs 6-10); and wherein a longitudinal end of the inverter (1), which faces the motor body (7,11), is axially attached to the motor body (Fig 9); and wherein the at least one contacting unit is contacted in an electrically conductive manner with the at least one phase terminal (paras 20,36).
However, neither Umehara nor any additionally cited art of record teaches or fairly suggests, alone or in combination, inter alia, “at least one electrically conductive phase terminal extending axially towards the inverter at least in some regions; and at least one electrically conductive contacting unit connected to the at least one transistor board in an electrically conductive manner, the at least one contacting unit resilient in the longitudinal direction.”.
Claims 9-13 are allowable based on their virtue of depending on claim 8.
In claim 20, Umehara discloses an inverter for an electric motor (abstract), comprising: a capacitor board (6).
However, neither Umehara nor any additionally cited art of record teaches or fairly suggests, alone or in combination, inter alia, “a plurality of capacitors arranged symmetrically in a circle on the capacitor board; and a plurality of transistor boards electrically connected to the capacitor board, the plurality of transistor boards arranged radially outside the plurality of capacitors and distributed evenly around the plurality of capacitors in a circumferential direction; a plurality of electrically conductive contacting units each configured to contact an associated electrically conductive phase terminal of the motor, the plurality of contacting units each connected to an associated transistor board of the plurality of transistor boards in an electrically conductive manner; and wherein the plurality of contacting units are resilient in an axial direction and are configured to press against the associated transistor board when subjected to an axial pressing force.”.
Claims 3-7 and 14-19 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: In claim 3/1 inter alia, the specific limitations of “…wherein: the at least one contacting unit includes a plate-like electrically conductive contact plate and a spring element; the contact plate is aligned transversely to the longitudinal direction; and the spring element is arranged axially between the contact plate and the at least one transistor board, and resiliently connects the at least one transistor board and the contact plate to one another.”, in the combination as claimed are neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
Claims 4-7, 18,19 are also allowable for depending on claim 3.
In claim 14/1 inter alia, the specific limitations of “…wherein the at least one contacting unit includes: a plate-like electrically conductive contact plate extending transversely to the longitudinal direction; and a spring element arranged axially between the contact plate and the at least one transistor board, the spring element resiliently connecting the at least one transistor board and the contact plate to one another; the contact plate including: a central contact opening configured to receive and engage the at least one phase terminal in an electrically conductive manner; and a plurality of contact pins projecting radially into the contact opening, the plurality of contact pins angled axially away from the spring element.”, in the combination as claimed are neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
Claims 15-17 are also allowable for depending on claim 14.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see PTO-892 for details.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAISHADH N DESAI whose telephone number is (571)270-3038. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher M Koehler can be reached at 571-272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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NAISHADH N. DESAI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2834
/NAISHADH N DESAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834