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 .
Preliminary Amendment
The present Office action is in response to the claims filed in the preliminary amendment dated 10/21/2022.
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, the following must be shown and identified with proper reference numbers, or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
an electric motor disposed within the housing (claim 1)
an electronic speed controller coupled to the electric motor (claim 1)
the electronic speed controller including a plurality of transistors (claims 1 and 18)
an internal wall of the housing defining first and second compartments (claim 2)
the first compartment containing the electronic speed controller (claim 2)
the second compartment containing the motor (claim 2)
a motor shaft extending through the internal wall into the first compartment (claim 2)
a seal disposed between the motor shaft and the internal wall (claim 3)
the electronic speed controller includes a circuit board with plurality of transistors and a thermally conductive layer (claim 4)
a rotor and a stator of the electric motor (claim 5)
an end-cap seal (claim 6)
the first end cap with a hole (claim 6)
a conductor disposed within the hole (claim 6)
a conductor seal (claim 6)
a conductor cable having a threaded attachment end with a seal (claim 7)
a sensor mounted to the housing (claim 8)
one or more hydrofoil wings mounted to the housing (claim 10)
a movable control surface disposed on the external surface of the outer wall of the housing (claim 11)
an actuator disposed within the housing and operably coupled to the movable control surface (claim 11).
a battery disposed within the housing (claim 12)
the motor shaft extending through a second end cap (claim 14)
the electronic speed controller includes a first circuit board with transistors and a second circuit board with capacitor (claim 15)
a magnet coupled the motor shaft (claim 17)
a sensor mounted to a circuit board of the electronic speed controller (claim 17)
thermally conductive vias on the circuit board (claim 18)
a thermally conductive pad positioned adjacent the circuit board (claim 19)
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.
Statutory Double Patenting
A rejection based on double patenting of the “same invention” type finds its support in the language of 35 U.S.C. 101 which states that “whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process... may obtain a patent therefor...” (Emphasis added). Thus, the term “same invention,” in this context, means an invention drawn to identical subject matter. See Miller v. Eagle Mfg. Co., 151 U.S. 186 (1894); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Ockert, 245 F.2d 467, 114 USPQ 330 (CCPA 1957).
A statutory type (35 U.S.C. 101) double patenting rejection can be overcome by canceling or amending the claims that are directed to the same invention so they are no longer coextensive in scope. The filing of a terminal disclaimer cannot overcome a double patenting rejection based upon 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claims 1-28 of the instant application are provisionally rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as claiming the same invention as that of claim 1-28 of the copending Application No. 17/920,657 (reference application), wherein the scope of the claimed inventions is identical.
This is a provisional statutory double patenting rejection since the claims directed to the same invention have not in fact been patented.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Claim 10 sets forth one or more hydrofoil wings mounted to the housing. Claim 11 further sets forth a movable control surface disposed on the external surface of the outer wall of the housing, and an actuator disposed within the housing and operably coupled to the movable control surface (claim 11). Claim 12 additionally requires a battery disposed within the housing.
However, it is noted that the disclosure describes the hydrofoil wings 306 as being attached to a strut 304, but fails to describe any hydrofoils or movable control surfaces being mounted to the housing. Additionally, the disclosure also fails to describe how an actuator is disposed within the housing and operably coupled to the movable control surface. Further, it is not sufficiently clear as to how a battery is accommodated within the housing.
Therefore, in absence of adequate guidance in the disclosure, a person skilled in the art would not be able to make and/or use the claimed invention.
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 18, 21, 23, 25-26 and 28 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.
In claims 18, 21, 26 and 28, the limitation “The electric watercraft” lacks proper antecedent basis as a result of improperly depending from claim 16, thereby rendering the claims indefinite. Correcting the claim dependency will overcome the rejection.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6, 13-14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sewell (US 12,145,696 B2) in view of Healey (US 6,902,446 B1)
Sewell discloses a watercraft with a waterproof propulsion unit, the propulsion unit comprising: a substantially cylindrical housing [18], an electric motor [32] disposed within the housing; and an electronic speed controller [34] electrically coupled to the electric motor and configured to provide electrical power to operate the electric motor (see Fig 8). The cylindrical housing includes an outer wall having an external surface and an internal surface, and a first end cap attached at a first end of the housing, wherein the first end cap includes an attachment interface configured to be mounted with bolts to a strut [16] of the watercraft such that at least a portion of the external surface of the outer wall of the housing is configured to contact a fluid surrounding the housing when the watercraft operates within the fluid. Further, the housing includes an internal wall [35] that defines a first compartment and a second compartment within the housing, the first compartment containing the electronic speed controller and the second compartment containing the motor.
Sewell however does not provide any construction details of the electronic speed controller, and therefore fails to disclose a plurality of transistors (claim 1). Sewell also does not provide any construction details of the motor, and therefore fails to expressly disclose whether a shaft of the motor extends through the internal wall into the first compartment (claim 2).
Healey discloses a waterproof propulsion unit of a watercraft, comprising: an electric motor [24] disposed within a housing [48]; and an electronic speed controller [26] electrically coupled to the electric motor. The electronic speed controller includes a plurality of substantially circular circuit boards [70, 72, 74], and a plurality of transistors [52] positioned on the circuit boards within the housing such that the transistors are proximate the internal surface of the outer wall of the housing (see Fig 3). A shaft of the motor extends through an internal wall of the housing that defines a first compartment and a second compartment within the housing (see col. 6, lines 20-23), as set forth in claim 2. A thermally conductive layer is affixed to a side of the circuit board and is in thermal contact with the internal surface of the outer wall of the housing (see col. 6, lines 24-28), as set forth in claim 4. The circuit board including a plurality of thermally conductive vias configured to conduct heat to a second side of the circuit board and away from the plurality of transistors (see col. 6, lines 24-28), as set forth in claim 18.
Re claim 1, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to construct the electronic speed controller of Sewell with a plurality of circuit boards and transistors, as taught by Healey. Having such an arrangement would have provided a compact and efficient speed controller with low power consumption that would generate less heat.
Re claim 2, with the above modification in place, the housing of modified Sewell would include an internal wall [35] that defines a first compartment and a second compartment within the housing, the first compartment containing the electronic speed controller and the second compartment containing the motor. Further, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to construct the motor of Sewell with a portion of motor shaft extending through the internal wall into the first compartment, as taught by Healey. Having such an arrangement would have provided support to the motor shaft and enabled efficient dissipation of heat generated by the motor.
Re claim 3, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide a seal between the shaft of the motor and the internal wall to form a fluid tight barrier between the first compartment and the second compartment. Having such an arrangement would have protected the electronic speed controller if any water were to inadvertently seep into the second compartment.
Re claim 4, with the above modification in place, the electronic speed controller of Sewell would include the circuit boards [70, 72, 74] to which the plurality of transistors [52] were mounted, and a thermally conductive layer affixed to a side of the circuit board and in thermal contact with the internal surface of the outer wall of the housing.
Re claim 6, a conductor from the mast passes through a hole of the first end cap (Fig 8). Although it is not expressly disclosed by Sewell, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide seals to prevent water from entering the housing, which would have required an end-cap seal disposed between the housing and the first end cap and a conductor seal disposed within the hole of the first end cap.
Re claim 13, with the above modification in place, the plurality of transistors would be mounted at an outer edge of the substantially circular circuit board of the electronic speed controller.
Re claim 14, the electric motor includes a shaft extending through a second end cap attached at a second end of the housing. Although it is not expressly disclosed by Sewell, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide a seal disposed between the shaft and the second end cap to prevent water from entering the housing
Re claim 16, the housing of Sewell includes a first cylindrical portion and second cylindrical portion, wherein the first cylindrical portion contains the electronic speed controller and the second cylindrical portion houses the electric motor.
Claims 8-9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sewell (US 12,145,696 B2) in view of Healey (US 6,902,446 B1), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Montague et al. (US 20180072383 A1) cited by the applicant
Sewell, as modified above by Healey, shows a watercraft with a waterproof propulsion unit with a housing, but fails to disclose a sensor mounted to the housing for detecting a distance between the propulsion unit and a surface of the fluid in which the watercraft is operating (claims 8-9). Sewell also fails to disclose a battery disposed within the housing (claim 12).
Montague et al. shows a watercraft with a waterproof propulsion unit comprising a sensor mounted to the housing for detecting a distance between the propulsion unit and a surface of the fluid in which the watercraft is operating (see ¶110), wherein the sensor is at least one of an ultrasonic and radar sensor. Montague et al. also discloses a battery [1554] disposed within the housing (Fig 15c)
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the propulsion unit of modified Sewell with a sensor, as further taught by Montague et al. Having such an arrangement would have allowed the modified watercraft of Sewell to be maintained at a constant height. It would have also been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to dispose the battery of modified Sewell within the housing, as also taught by Montague et al. Such an arrangement would have resulted in watercraft in which the center of gravity was disposed below the center of buoyancy, thereby providing additional stability to the watercraft.
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sewell (US 12,145,696 B2) in view of Healey (US 6,902,446 B1), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Aoki et al. (US 11097822 B2).
Sewell, as modified above by Healey, shows a watercraft with a waterproof propulsion unit with a housing, but fails to disclose any hydrofoil wing or movable control surface mounted to the housing, or an actuator disposed within the housing and operably coupled to the movable control surface to adjust a position of the movable control surface.
Aoki et al. shows a watercraft with a waterproof propulsion unit with a housing, wherein hydrofoil wings and movable control surfaces [52, 54, 55] are mounted to the housing (Fig 8), and an actuator [94] is at least partially disposed within the housing and operably coupled to the movable control surface to adjust a position of the movable control surface.
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the propulsion unit of modified Sewell with hydrofoil wings, movable control surfaces and an actuator, as further taught by Aoki et al. Having such an arrangement would have allowed one to control the orientation and maneuverability of the watercraft, thereby improving the operational safety of the watercraft.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sewell (US 12,145,696 B2) in view of Healey (US 6,902,446 B1), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Rasmussen et al. (US 20230043251 A1)
Sewell, as modified above by Healey, shows a waterproof propulsion unit with an electronic speed controller having a plurality of concentric circuit boards and transistors. Although Fig 3 in Healey shows cylindrical components that appear to be capacitors, Healey fails to expressly disclose the use of capacitors.
Rasmussen et al. show an electronic speed controller of a propulsion unit, having a plurality of circuit boards with transistors [42] and capacitors [40] (see Fig 11).
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the circuit boards of modified Sewell with capacitors, as further taught by Rasmussen et al. Having such an arrangement would have allowed the circuit boards to store and manage electrical energy, which would have enabled them to stabilize voltage, filter noise, and smooth out fluctuations in the power supply.
Claims 5 and 17-24 and 26-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sewell (US 12,145,696 B2) in view of Healey (US 6,902,446 B1), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Gebhart (US 10,906,621 B2)
Sewell, as modified above by Healey, shows a watercraft with a waterproof propulsion unit mounted adjacent to a trailing edge of a strut, the propulsion unit comprising an electric motor disposed within the housing made of aluminum.
However, modified Sewell fails to expressly disclose the motor as having a rotor and a stator in thermal contact with the internal surface of the outer wall of the housing (claim 5). Modified Sewell also fails to disclose a magnet coupled to the motor shaft, or a sensor mounted to a circuit board of the electronic speed controller to capture data associated with the orientation of the magnet coupled to the shaft of the electric motor (claim 17)
Gebhart shows a watercraft with a propulsion unit, the propulsion unit comprising an electric motor positioned with a housing, wherein a rotor and a stator of the motor are in thermal contact with an internal surface of an outer wall of the housing. Gebhart also shows a magnet coupled to an end portion of the motor shaft, and a hall sensor [29] mounted to a second side of the circuit board of the electronic speed controller to capture data associated with the orientation of the magnet coupled to the shaft of the electric motor (see col. 3, lines 39-41)
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to construct the motor of modified Sewell such that a rotor and a stator of the motor were in thermal contact with the internal surface of the housing, as taught by Gebhart. Having such an arrangement would have enabled dissipation of heat generated by the motor, and thereby allowed the motor to operate with high efficiency. It would have also been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the motor shaft of modified Sewell with a magnet, and the circuit board with a hall sensor, as further taught by Gebhart. Having such a modification would have enabled the electronic speed controller to determine the rotation of the motor shaft and adjust the electrical power provided to the electric motor accordingly.
With the above-described modification in place, all features of claims 18-23 and 27-28 would be encompassed in the modified device described above. Regarding claim 24, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to position the magnet at an end portion of the shaft for maintaining proximity to the hall sensor. Regarding claim 26, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art to form the shaft with a non-magnetic material so as to eliminate any interference with signals generated by the magnet.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN 209441573 and CN 209258351 each shows a propulsion unit mounted to a trailing edge of a strut and comprising an electric motor and an electronic speed controller.
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/AJAY VASUDEVA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615