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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 21 December 2022 was filed prior to the mailing date of this office correspondence. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 34 and 35 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claims 34 and 35, “being corrected by a method” should read:
-- being corrected by the method --
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 18-19, 22, 24 and 34-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kokubun (US 20080224549) in view of Zhu (US 20180278100).
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Annotated Fig. 3, Kokubun.
Regarding claim 18, Kokubun teaches, a method for correcting a portion (correcting the shape of an inner surface of a stator, see Abstract), in particular a tooth (stator tooth portion 4b, Fig. 5), of a material layer of a dynamoelectric machine (rotating electric machine includes a stator 4 and a rotor 7, Fig. 2, para. [0032]), material layer comprising a soft-magnetic material (core of the stator 4 is formed by…laminating the shaped steel sheets, para. [0047, steel sheets are soft-magnetic material) said method comprising:
ascertaining an actual geometry of the portion of the material layer (step 2, Fig. 3, in step 2, the apparatus of the embodiment measures the shape of the stator inner surface, para. [0040]);
comparing the actual geometry to a target geometry (step 3, Fig. 3, in step 3, the apparatus of the embodiment calculates the direction of deformation, para. [0041]);
determining a deviation of the actual geometry from the target geometry (step 3, Fig. 3, in step 3, the apparatus of the embodiment calculates…the amount of deformation of the stator inner surface…the processing unit of the personal computer 106 calculates the direction of deformation and the amount of deformation of the inner surface of the stator 4, para. [0041]) and
before subjecting the material layer to a partial plastic deformation (heat to be input into…the housing to cause local plastic deformation of the outer side surface of the housing to thereby correct the shape of the stator inner surface, para. [0014]) by a light source to correct the deviation (step 4, Fig. 3, in step 4, the apparatus of the embodiment heats the housing section 1b of the work 100, para. [0042], the apparatus for correcting the shape of the stator inner surface of the present embodiment employs the gas burner 101, other kind of heating device, such as a laser welding machine, para. [0036]).
Kokubun does not teach the soft-magnetic material having a layer thickness between 0.5 and 500 µm; or partially heating the material layer by a further light source. However, Zhu teaches a method for laminating the electrical steel of a dynamoelectric machine including plastic deformation of soft magnetic material by a light source, in which, a material layer comprising a soft-magnetic material and having a layer thickness between 0.5 and 500 µm (a soft magnetic material such as electrical steel…The lamination may be a rotor or a stator lamination. The thickness of each lamination may be about 0.1 to 1 mm or 0.3 to 0.7 mm, para. [0033-0035]), partially heating the material layer by a further light source (local induction heating, laser annealing, or both may be used to locally heat the lamination… localized heating may be such that the material in the first region is kept at a constant temperature while the second region is heated to an elevated temperature such as the phase transition temperature to initiate the phase transformation, para. [0043]).
From the teachings of Zhu in para. [0043], “local heating may be used to selectively heat the region at which the phase transformation to the γ phase is desirable…localized heating may be such that the material in the first region is kept at a constant temperature while the second region is heated to an elevated temperature such as the phase transition temperature to initiate the phase transformation” one of ordinary skill in the art would have known that plastic deformation occurs at a phase transformation and before subjecting to a partial phase transformation, preheating the material layer with a laser light would initiate a plastic deformation of the lamination sheet as Zhu disclosed in para. [0043]. Therefore, in view of the teachings of Zhu, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method for correcting the shape of the inner surface of the stator of Kokubun and to replace the stator lamination with a lamination having 0.3 to 0.7 mm in thickness and to include a partial heating of the lamination by a light source as taught by Zhu so that it enables to initiate a phase transition and a plastic deformation while preheating the lamination sheet. Doing so would enable modifying the magnetic permeability of the soft magnetic material to a desired value as Zhu disclosed in para. [0050].
Regarding claim 19, Kokubun in view of Zhu teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 18. Kokubun further teaches, the method of claim 18, wherein the material layer has a layer thickness between 10 and 100 µm (thickness of each lamination may be about 0.1 to 1 mm or 0.3 to 0.7 mm, para. [0035], selection of a desired thickness is a design choice).
Regarding claim 22, Kokubun in view of Zhu teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 18. Kokubun further teaches, the method of claim 18, wherein the partial plastic deformation is a partial thermal plastic deformation (thermal stress Ph causes thermoplastic deformation, para. [0050]).
Regarding claim 24, Kokubun in view of Zhu teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 18. Kokubun further teaches, the method of claim 18, wherein the light source is a laser (other kind of heating device, such as a laser welding machine, para. [0036]).
Regarding claim 34, Zhu further teaches, a material layer for a dynamoelectric machine (electrical steel used in motor/generator cores, para. [0025]), said material layer being corrected by a method as set forth in claim 18, said material layer having a layer thickness between 0.5 and 500 µm, in particular between 10 and 100 µm (thickness of each lamination may be about 0.1 to 1 mm or 0.3 to 0.7 mm, para. [0035]), and comprising a soft-magnetic material (a soft magnetic material such as electrical steel, para. [0033]). Therefore, in view of the teachings of Zhu, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method for correcting the shape of the inner surface of the stator of Kokubun and to replace the stator lamination with a lamination as taught by Zhu so that it enables to modify the magnetic permeability of the soft magnetic material to a desired value.
Regarding claim 35, Zhu further teaches, a material layer microstructure (substrate may be a soft magnetic material such as electrical steel….the steel may be a grain-oriented silicon steel having a strong crystallographic orientation, para. [0033]) for a dynamoelectric machine (motor/generator, para. [0025], said material layer microstructure including a plurality of material layers arranged one on top of another, each said material layer being corrected by a method as set forth in claim 18, said material layer having a layer thickness between 0.5 and 500 µm, in particular between 10 and 100 µm, and comprising a soft-magnetic material (lamination may be a rotor or a stator lamination. The thickness of each lamination may be about 0.1 to 1 mm or 0.3 to 0.7 mm. Two or more laminations may be stacked to form a rotor or stator core, para. [0035]). Please also refer to the rationale for combination regarding claim 34, as it is applicable to claim 35 in the same manner.
Regarding claim 36, Kokubun in view of Zhu teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 35. Kokubun further teaches, a dynamoelectric machine (stator of a rotating electric machine, para. [0004), comprising a material layer microstructure as set forth in claim 35.
Claim(s) 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kokubun in view of Zhu as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of Pistone (Pistone et.al., Reconfigurable inspection robot for industrial applications, Procedia Manufacturing vol. 38, 2019, page 597–604).
Regarding claim 20, modified Kokubun does not explicitly teach, the actual geometry of the portion is ascertained by an optical unit. However, Pistone teaches an inspection system for stator slot tightness assessment, wherein the actual geometry of the portion is ascertained by an optical unit (housed sensors could be optical or IR cameras, page 600, third paragraph). Therefore, in view of the teachings of Pistone, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method for correcting the shape of the inner surface of the stator of Kokubun and to replace the deviation sensor 110 as taught by Kokubun with an optical unit as taught by Pistone so that it enables to repeatably and reliably measure the geometrical shape of the tooth of the stator.
Claim(s) 27-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kokubun in view of Zhu as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of Wang (US 20190036429).
Regarding claims 27 and 28, modified Kokubun does not teach light source beam intensity. However, Wang teaches a method of joining electrically conductive elements for a stator of an electric machine in which,
27. The method of claim 18, wherein the light source has a beam intensity of between 80 kW/cm2 and 120 kW/cm2, in particular between 90 kW/cm2 and 110 kW/cm2 (pulsed laser beam 16 may exhibit a power density 46 in the range of 1.0×106 W/cm2 to 1.0×107 W/cm2, para. [0046]).
28. The method of claim 18, wherein the further light source has a beam intensity between 1kW/cm2 and 10 kW/cm2 (see para. [0046]).
Therefore, in view of the teachings of Wang, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method for correcting the shape of the inner surface of the stator of Kokubun and to replace laser welding machine as taught by Kokubun with an laser unit as taught by Wang so that it enables to control the heating and hence the deformation of the soft-magnetic material of the stator core while correcting the shape of the tooth.
Claim(s) 21, 23 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kokubun in view of Zhu as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of Toi (US 20210273537).
Regarding claims 21, 23 and 26, modified Kokubun does not teach melting or a partial melting. However, Toi teaches a method of manufacturing a stator for a dynamoelectric machine, including heating the material layers by a light source, in which,
21. The method of claim 18, wherein the material layer is partially heated to cause a partial melting (irradiated with laser light, whereby the cut surfaces ds and extension ends are partially melted, para. [0061], it would have been obvious to partially melt by partially heating).
23. The method of claim 18, wherein the plastic deformation is a partial melting (see para. [0061]).
26. The method of claim 18, further comprising plastically deforming, in particular melting (see para. 0061], it would have been obvious to melt the part by further heating the partially melted part), the material layer at a tooth base of a tooth.
Therefore, in view of the teachings of Toi, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method for correcting the shape of the inner surface of the stator of Kokubun and to replace the heating with a heating as taught by Toi so that it enables controlling the temperature to a desired value of the material layer while plastically deforming a correcting portion of the material layer.
Claim(s) 25 and 30-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kokubun in view of Zhu as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of Alcok (Alcock, et.al., Diode laser welding of stainless steel 304L, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol. 240, February 2017, page 138-144).
Regarding claims 25 and 30-31, modified Kokubun does not teach, the light source is an LED or the focus size of the light source. However, Alcok teaches method of welding a stainless steel using a diode laser in which,
25. The method of claim 18, wherein the light source is an LED (welding of stainless steel utilizing a 15 kW laserline diode laser, see Abstract).
30. The method of claim 18, wherein the light source has a focus size between 0.005 mm and 10 mm (see focus diameter of the beam, annotated Fig. 3 below), preferably between 50 µm and 150 µm.
31. The method of claim 18, wherein the further light source has a focus size between 1 mm and 5 cm (see Fig. 3 below), preferably between 1 cm and 5 cm.
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Annotated Fig. 3, Alcok.
Therefore, in view of the teachings of Alcok, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method for correcting the shape of the inner surface of the stator of Kokubun and to replace the laser source with diode laser as taught by Alcok so that it enables controlling the light source beam that improves the working distance and to achieve optimal results while deforming the material layer correcting portions of the core of an electrical machine.
Regarding claims 32-33, modified Kokubun does not teach, an exposure time. However, Alcok further teaches,
32. The method of claim 18, wherein the light source has an exposure time between 0.1 ms and 100 ms (see the interaction time for the welds in annotated Fig. 12 below).
33. The method of claim 18, wherein the further light source has an exposure time between 1 ms and 100 ms (see Fig. 12 below).
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Annotated Fig. 12, Alcok.
Therefore, in view of the teachings of Alcok, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method for correcting the shape of the inner surface of the stator of Kokubun and to replace the laser source with diode laser as taught by Alcok so that it enables controlling the melt-solidification after heating and melting the soft-magnetic material.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 29 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for indicating allowable subject matter:
Claim 29 would be allowable for disclosing a method for correcting a portion, in particular a tooth, of a material of a dynamoelectric machine, with the material layer comprising a soft-magnetic material and having a layer thickness between 0.5 and 500 µm, wherein the tooth base is partially deformed, in particular melted, in such a way that a warpage occurring upon re-solidification is such that a tooth head of the tooth adapts to the target geometry.
Though, prior art of record Kokubun teaches correcting the shape of the inner surface of the stator heating the material layer, Kokubun does not teach, a soft-magnetic material having a layer thickness between 0.5 and 500 µm; partially heating the material layer by a further light source; or the tooth base is partially deformed, in particular melted, in such a way that a warpage occurring upon re-solidification is such that a tooth head of the tooth adapts to the target geometry.
Though, prior art Zhu teaches a soft-magnetic material having a layer thickness between 0.5 and 500 µm; partially heating the material layer by a further light source, Zhu fails to teach ascertaining an actual geometry of the portion of the material layer; comparing the actual geometry to a target geometry; determining a deviation of the actual geometry from the target geometry; or the tooth base is partially deformed, in particular melted, in such a way that a warpage occurring upon re-solidification is such that a tooth head of the tooth adapts to the target geometry.
Prior arts Wang, Toi, Pistone and Alcok fail to teach the tooth base is partially deformed, in particular melted, in such a way that a warpage occurring upon re-solidification is such that a tooth head of the tooth adapts to the target geometry.
Therefore, claim 29 would be allowable.
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
Prior art Kohei (US 20210408849) teaches a method for correcting a stator core including hearing heating the material layer by a light source.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSE K. ABRAHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-1087. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30 EST.
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/JOSE K ABRAHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 3729