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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/11/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/11/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant states that “if a person of ordinary skill in the art were to attempt to incorporate Feng’s separate detachable teeth structure into the Egami-Ogawa combination, Feng’s ring-shaped inner portion would physically occupy and block the inner part of the stator body – the very space that must remain available for the inner connection frames drawn from Ogawa.” Examiner disagrees. The ring-shaped inner portion of Feng would not block the space for the inner connection frame, as Feng also discloses an inner ring (81), which is similar to the inner connection frame of Ogawa, corresponding to the ring-shaped inner portion. The inner connection frame of Ogawa can be located axially above the ring-shaped inner portion of Feng. Thus, the argument is not persuasive.
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.
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.
Claims 1, 4, 6 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Egami et al. (US 2015/0061430 A1) in view of Ogawa et al. (US 2022/0239178 A1) and Feng et al. (US 2021/0028666 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Egami discloses a stator (3) for an electric motor (1) comprising:
a stator body (31) including a plurality of teeth (see annotation below) extending between an outer part (radially outer side in FIG. 1) and an inner part (radial inner side in FIG. 1) of the stator body (31; FIG. 1);
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a number of windings (32) forming a plurality of coils (32U, 32V, 32W) configured to be respectively wound around the plurality of teeth between the outer part and the inner part of the stator body (31; FIG. 1);
a plurality of first connection frames (41-43) disposed on the outer part of the stator body (31) that is configured to provide electrical connections between the coils (32U, 32V, 32W);
a second connection frame (44) disposed on the inner part of the stator body (31) and configured to provide electrical connections between the coils (32U, 32V, 32W);
a non-conductive wall (331, 333) separating said first connection frames (41-43) from each other, wherein a height of the non-conductive wall (331) is greater than a height of said first connection frames (41-43; FIG. 13A);
the non-conductive wall (331, 333) including a material recess (gap between 331e, 331f; 333a) in a portion protruding (411, 421, 431) from one of said first connection frames (41-43); and
the one of said first connection frames (41-43) including a connector (411, 421, 431) extending opposite the material recess (gap between 331e, 331f; 333a) such that the connector (411, 421, 431) is configured to secure a winding portion (321) located within the material recess (333a).
Egami does not disclose the first connection frame is on the inner part of the stator body, and the second connection frame is on the outer part of the stator body.
Ogawa discloses the first connection frame (10-12) is on the inner part of the stator body, and the second connection frame (20) is on the outer part of the stator body (FIG. 1; ¶ [0036]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Egami in view of Ogawa to disclose the first connection frame is on the inner part of the stator body, and the second connection frame is on the outer part of the stator body, for the advantages of a busbar assembly which is simple to make and has a low axial height (¶ [0006]).
Egami in view of Ogawa does not disclose wherein the plurality of teeth of the stator are separate detachable teeth.
Feng discloses wherein the plurality of teeth (73) of the stator (20) are separate detachable teeth (FIG. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Egami in view of Ogawa, further in view of Feng to disclose wherein the plurality of teeth of the stator are separate detachable teeth, for the advantages of simplified assembly process and efficient winding process (¶ [0027]).
Regarding claim 4/1, Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng was discussed above in claim 1. Egami further discloses wherein the one or more of the first connection frames (41-43) or the second connection frames (44) is configured to connect the coils (32U, 32V, 32W) using a standard winding (FIG. 1), in which the coils (32U, 32V, 32W) of one phase are connected parallel with each other using a full pitch winding (FIG. 1).
The instant application discloses a standard winding as “a winding in which the various coils of a phase u, v, w are disposed in parallel.” Egami in FIG. 1 discloses each the U, V, W phase windings are connected in parallel through the distributing ring.
Regarding claim 6/1, Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng was discussed above in claim 1. Egami further discloses wherein the coils (32U, 32V, 32W) are wound by starting winding (staring at 322) from the inner part of the stator body (31; FIG 7B).
Regarding claim 12/10, Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng was discussed above in claim 10. Egami further discloses wherein the electrical insulation element (33) is configured to accommodate said first connection frame and second connection frame.
Regarding claim 13/1, Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng was discussed above in claim 1. Egami further discloses wherein the electric motor (1) is a three-phase brushless motor (¶ [0073]-[0075]).
Regarding claim 14, Egami discloses a method for manufacturing a stator (3) comprising:
presenting a stator body (31) including a plurality of teeth (see annotation below) extending between an outer part (radially outer side in FIG. 1) and an inner part (radially inner side in FIG. 1) of the stator body (31);
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winding a plurality of coils (32U, 32V, 32W; ¶ [0114]) respectively around the plurality of teeth between the outer part and the inner part of the stator body (31), wherein the winding (32) is carried out starting (from winding portion 322) from a side of the inner part such that the method also includes a step of
positioning a plurality of first connection frames (41-43) on an outer part of the stator body (31) where the one of said first connection frames (41-43) is configured to provide electrical connections between the plurality of coils (32U, 32V, 32W),
positioning a second connection frame (44) disposed on an inner part of the stator body (31) wherein the second connection frame (44) is configured to provide electrical connections between the coils (32U, 32V, 32W)
providing a non-conductive wall (331, 333) separating said first connection frames (41-43) from each other, wherein a height of the non-conducive wall (331, 333) is greater than a height of said first connection frames (41-43; FIG. 13A); wherein the non-conductive wall (331, 333) includes material recess (gap between 331e, 331f; 333a) in a portion protruding from one of said first connection frames (41-43); and
including a connector (411, 421, 431) on at least one of said first connection frames (41-43) that extend opposite the material recess (gap between 331e, 331f; 333a) such that each connector (411, 421, 431) is configured to secure a winding portion (321) located within the material recess (333a).
Egami does not disclose the first connection frame is on the inner part of the stator body, and the second connection frame is on the outer part of the stator body.
Ogawa discloses the first connection frame (10-12) is on the inner part of the stator body, and the second connection frame (20) is on the outer part of the stator body (FIG. 1; ¶ [0036]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Egami in view of Ogawa to disclose the first connection frame is on the inner part of the stator body, and the second connection frame is on the outer part of the stator body, for the advantages of a busbar assembly which is simple to make and has a low axial height (¶ [0006]).
Egami in view of Ogawa does not disclose wherein the plurality of teeth of the stator are separate detachable teeth.
Feng discloses wherein the plurality of teeth (73) of the stator (20) are separate detachable teeth (FIG. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Egami in view of Ogawa, further in view of Feng to disclose wherein the plurality of teeth of the stator are separate detachable teeth, for the advantages of simplified assembly process and efficient winding process (¶ [0027]).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Egami et al. (US 2015/0061430 A1) in view of Ogawa et al. (US 2022/0239178 A1) and Feng et al. (US 2021/0028666 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Katou et al. (US 2012/0262014 A1).
Regarding claim 5/1, Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng was discussed above in claim 1. Egami in view of Ogawa does not disclose wherein at least one of said first connection frames or of the second connection frame is configured to connect some of the coils in series using a fractional pitch winding.
Katou discloses wherein at least one of said first connection frames (121, 122, 124, 125, 127, 128) or of the second connection frame is configured to connect some of the coils (U1-U4, V1-V4, W1-V4) in series using a fractional pitch winding (FIG. 17 discloses the coils in the same phase has a fractional pitch of 90 degrees).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng, further in view of Katoy to disclose wherein at least one of said first connection frames or of a plurality of second connection frames is configured to connect some of the coils in series using a fractional pitch winding, for the advantages of easier manufacturing of the bus bar assembly (¶ [0068]-[0083], [0147])
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Egami et al. (US 2015/0061430 A1) in view of Ogawa et al. (US 2022/0239178 A1) and Feng et al. (US 2021/0028666 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Iga et al. (US 2021/0135531 A1).
Regarding claim 7/1, Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng was discussed above in claim 1. Ogawa further discloses the second connection frame (20) concentrically extending over the outer part of the stator body (FIG. 3).
Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng does not disclose said first connection frames configured to connect the coils as a star or triangle arrangement and the second connection frame in triplicate to connect the coils of one phase to each other, with the second connection frames being separated from each other by non-electrically conductive walls.
Iga discloses said first connection frames (51) configured to connect the coils (43) as a star or triangle arrangement (¶ [0132]) and the second connection frame (53) in triplicate to connect the coils (43) of one phase to each other (FIG. 3), with the second connection frames (53) being separated from each other by non-electrically conductive walls (529).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng, further in view of Iga to disclose said first connection frames configured to connect the coils as a star or triangle arrangement and the second connection frame in triplicate to connect the coils of one phase to each other, with the second connection frames being separated from each other by non-electrically conductive walls., for the advantages of an easily realized motor (¶ [0132]).
Regarding claim 8/1, Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng was discussed above in claim 1. Ogawa further discloses the first connection frames (10-12) in triplicate concentrically extending over the inner part of the stator body (FIG. 3).
Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng does not disclose where the second connection frame is configured to connect the number of windings as a star or triangle arrangement and the first connection frames in triplicate to connect the coils of one phase to each other, with the three first connection frames being separated from each other by non-electrically conductive walls.
Iga discloses where the second connection frame (51) is configured to connect the number of windings as a star or triangle arrangement (¶ [0132]) and the first connection frames (53) in triplicate to connect the coils (43) of one phase to each other (FIG. 3), with the three first connection frames (53) being separated from each other by non-electrically conductive walls (241k; FIG. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng, further in view of Iga to disclose where the second connection frame is configured to connect the number of windings as a star or triangle arrangement and the first connection frames in triplicate to connect the coils of one phase to each other, with the three first connection frames being separated from each other by non-electrically conductive walls, for the advantages of an easily realized motor (¶ [0132]).
Regarding claim 9/8, Egami in view of Ogawa, Feng and Iga was discussed above in claim 8. Ogawa further discloses wherein the three first connection frames (10-12) are disposed on a module (9) configured to be positioned on the inner part of the stator body (FIG. 3).
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Egami et al. (US 2015/0061430 A1) in view of Ogawa et al. (US 2022/0239178 A1) and Feng et al. (US 2021/0028666 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Brettschneider et al. (US 2021/0013758 A1).
Regarding claim 10/1, Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng was discussed above in claim 1. Egami further discloses wherein an electrical insulation element (33) is disposed on the stator body (31) of the stator (3).
Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng does not disclose wherein said electrical insulation element comprises a winding wire retention pad.
Brettschneider discloses wherein said electrical insulation element (4) comprises a winding wire retention pad (16).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Egami in view of Ogawa and Feng, further in view of Brettschneider to disclose wherein said electrical insulation element comprises a winding wire retention pad, for the advantages of providing a support for the coil ends prior to connecting it to an interconnection unit (bus bar; ¶ [0052], [0054]).
Regarding claim 11/1, Egami in view of Ogawa, Feng and Brettschneider was discussed above in claim 1. Brettschneider further discloses wherein the retention pad (16) is a temporary pad configured to be removed when positioning said first connection frame (7; ¶ [0054]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINKI CHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-0521. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Seye Iwarere can be reached at (571) 270-5112. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MINKI CHANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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