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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, claims 1-13, in the reply filed on 9/22/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 14 and 15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 9/22/2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mizushima (US2022/0371123A1).
Mizushima discloses the claimed invention as follows:
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Claim 1. A method for producing an active part for a rotary electric machine, comprising:
providing a core (15, Fig. 1) for the active part and shaped conductors (10, Figs. 1 and 2) inserted into the core, wherein the core has an end face (core upper face in Fig. 1), a further end face (core bottom face in Fig. 1) opposite the end face, and a plurality of slots (14, Fig. 1) which are arranged circumferentially and in which the shaped conductors are arranged, wherein the shaped conductors extend from the end face to the further end face and each have a free end (11a and 11b as seen in Fig. 2) which protrudes at the end face and has an end area (as seen in Fig. 7);
joining together, in each case, two of the end areas so that the two end areas form a pair (see Fig. 7); and
welding (see Figs. 2-6) each pair of the end areas by a laser beam (L; see [0063] discussing two laser beams L) which is guided on the end areas of the pair along a first trajectory (from (1) to end of (3) in Fig. 7; see [0063] and then [0045] to [0058]) and a second trajectory (from (4) to the end of the arrow (6); see [0063] and then [0045] to [0058]), wherein the first trajectory and the second trajectory each have a start point ((1) and (4), respectively) and an end point (end of arrow (3) and end of arrow (6), respectively) which is different from the start point, wherein the first trajectory and the second trajectory run concavely between the start point and the end point.
Claim 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein an edge of the end area of each shaped conductor consists of an inner edge portion (respectively, right edge of 11a and left edge of 11b, in Fig. 7) and an outer edge portion (respectively, left edge of 11a and right edge of 11b, in Fig. 7), wherein the inner edge portion of one of the end areas of each pair runs along the inner edge portion of the other end area of the pair in question, and between the inner edge portions a boundary region, in particular formed by a gap between the inner edge portions or a contact of the inner edge portions, runs, formed by a gap between the inner edge portions or a contact of the inner edge portions, wherein each trajectory runs over an area (approximately the area bounded by the rectangle in the annotated figure above) at the edge (lower edge of the rectangle in the annotated figure) of which the outer edge portions lie and which encloses the boundary region.
Claim 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the midpoint of the first trajectory and of the second trajectory is closer to a midpoint of the area than the start point and the end point of the trajectory. See annotated figure above.
Claim 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the area is subdivided (for claims 6 and 7: see dashed lines A and B; for claim 8: see dashed lines A and C) into a first to fourth quadrant, wherein a common boundary line of the first and second quadrants and a common boundary line of the third and fourth quadrants lie on a first line (for claims 6 and 8: A; for claim 7: B) and a common boundary line of the first and fourth quadrants and a common boundary line of the second and third quadrants lie on a second line (for claims 6 and 8: B; for claim 7: A) intersecting the first line. For claim 5 the first line passes between the end arrow of (7) and (1), as well as between the arrow of (3) and (4). The second line is perpendicular to the first line and passes roughly through the midpoint of the rectangle in the annotated figure.
Claim 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the start point and the end point of the first trajectory are located in two different quadrants lying on the same side of the first line, and the start point and the end point of the second trajectory are located in different quadrants lying on the other side of the first line.
Claim 6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the first line (A) runs along the boundary portion.
Claim 7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the second line (A) runs along the boundary portion.
Claim 8. The method according to claim 4, wherein the first trajectory and the second trajectory each run entirely within those quadrants in which the start point and the end point of the trajectory lie. Based on quadrants based on lines A and C, the boundary lines lie in the two upper quadrants.
Claim 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second trajectories each describe an arched curve, an arc of a circle, an arc of an ellipse, a parabola or a hyperbola, on the area or have or consist of first to third straight portions, wherein the first straight portion (from (1) to midpoint of (2) for first trajectory; from (4) to midpoint of (5) for second trajectory) extends from the start point, the third straight portion ((3) for first trajectory; (6) for second trajectory) extends towards the end point, and the second straight portion (from midpoint of (2) to end arrow of (2) for first trajectory; from midpoint of (5) to end arrow of (5) for second trajectory) connects the first straight portion to the third straight portion.
Claim 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the laser beam in the welding step is further guided along a third trajectory (8) which lies, without overlapping, between the first and second trajectories and has a start point and an end point which is different from the start point. See [0058] discussing that the paths do not need to overlap.
Claim 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein a laser device generating the laser beam is used, the laser device being operable in a deactivated state, in which the laser beam is switched off or has insufficient power for melting a material of the shaped conductors, and in an activated state, in which the laser beam can melt the material of the shaped conductors, wherein the step of welding comprises, for each trajectory: aligning the laser device with the start point of the trajectory in the deactivated state; and guiding the laser beam in the activated state of the laser device from the start point along the trajectory to the end point of the trajectory, wherein, between the aligning and the guiding, the laser device is transferred from the deactivated state to the activated state when the laser device is aligned with the start point of the trajectory, and is transferred from the activated state to the deactivated state when the guiding has reached the end point of the trajectory. See [0045] to [0058].
Claim 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the active part is a stator (100; see Fig. 1) or a rotor.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US2020/0083787A1, US2022/0048137A1, US2022/0161361A1, 2021/0379698A1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIVIUS R CAZAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8032. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday noon-8:30 pm ET.
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/LIVIUS R. CAZAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729