DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Amendment filed on 09 December 2025 has been entered. Claims 1-2 and 4-7 are now pending in the application.
Amendments to the Specification, Abstract and claims 1 and 7 to overcome the informalities are acceptable. Therefore, Specification and claim objections have been withdrawn.
Amendments to the claim 1 to overcome the rejections under U.S.C 112(b) have been fully considered and the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) of claims 1-7 has been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 09 December 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues on Page 6, last paragraph that “Yamashita discloses a configuration wherein intermediate winding portions (e.g., 422, 424 and 426) have a decreasing width between winding sections (e.g., 421, 423, 425, 427) and the lengths of the respective intermediate winding portions decreases, as seen in Fig. 12 reproduced below. Yamashita, therefore, fails to disclose or suggest all of the features of amended claim 1.”
Examiner respectfully submits that, though, Yamashita teaches winding sections (e.g., 422, 424 and 426) having decreasing width at the inclined directions, Yamashita also teaches winding sections (e.g., 421, 423, 425, 427) having different widths 4L1, 4L2, 4L3 and 4L4 respectively. See para. [0043-0044] and the annotated Fig. 12 below. Therefore, Yamashita teaches the recited limitation.
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) 1-2 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamashita (JP 2013128364, one of the prior arts listed in the 13 January 2023 IDS) in view of Sadiku (US 20180331606).
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Annotated Fig. 12, Yamashita.
Regarding claim 1, Yamashita teaches, a method for producing a wave winding (method for manufacturing a stator for a rotating electrical machine using a wave winding, para. [0001]) for forming a coil winding having at least one wave winding layer (see Figs. 1 to 5) in a stator or rotor element (stator 60, Fig. 7) with a winding former (winding frame 40, Fig. 12) rotatable about a longitudinal axis (coil conductor 30 is wound along the guide 43 of the winding frame 40…and the reel 40 may be rotated relative to the axis I-I' to wind it, Fig. 12, para. [0019]), comprising the method steps:
a. feeding parallel coil wires (coil conductor 30, Fig. 1) onto a first side of the winding former in a winding section (first winding portion 421, see annotated Fig. 12 above) of the winding former, the winding section having a first winding width (coil conductor 30 is wound around the bobbin 40, para. [0016], first winding portion 421 is a portion around which the coil conductor 30 corresponding to the first sheet-shaped coil 3L1 disposed on the outermost periphery of the slot 62 is wound, and the length of the winding frame 40a in the inclined direction is 4L1, see annotated Fig. 12, para. [0043]);
b. forming winding heads (coil end portions 20, Fig. 1, coil end portions 20 that are formed integrally with the coil side portions 10 and connect the ends of the coil side portions 10 on the same side, para. [0016]); and
c. repeating steps a and b until the wave winding has reached a length of a first wave winding layer of the coil winding (see Figs. 4 and 5),
repeating steps a and b in at least one further winding section (third winding portion 425, see annotated Fig. 12) of the winding former with a different winding width than the first winding width until the wave winding has reached a length of a further wave winding layer of the coil winding (third winding portion 425 is a portion around which the coil conductor 30 corresponding to the third sheet-shaped coil 3L3 is wound, and the length of the winding frame 40a in the inclined direction is 4L3, Fig. 12, para. [0044]); and
wherein an intermediate step having an intermediate winding (second winding portion 423, see annotated Fig. 12) in an intermediate section is provided in a transfer from the winding section to the further winding section, wherein a winding width (see winding width 4L2) of the intermediate section lies between the winding widths of the winding sections and is uniform in the intermediate section between the winding section and further winding section (second winding portion 423 is a portion around which the coil conductor 30 corresponding to the second sheet-shaped coil 3L2 is wound, and the length of the winding frame 40a in the inclined direction is 4L2, para. [0043]).
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Annotated Fig. 7, Sadiku.
Yamashita does not explicitly teach forming winding heads by alternately axially shifting the parallel coil wires on the winding former and winding them around the winding former that is rotated. However, Sadiku teaches a method of producing a wave winding for a stator or rotor including feeding parallel coil wires 32 in Fig. 1, on to a first side of a winding former 26 having a winding width and forming the winding by rotating the former 26 in Fig. 7, and forming winding heads (winding heads 42, Figs.7 and 8) by alternately axially shifting the parallel coil wires on the winding former and winding them around the winding former that is rotated (an angled transfer region 40 between the holding point generated beforehand by triggering the third holding device (C) 22 in the second holding region 36 and the second holding device (B) 20 which is still clamped and is still situated in the first holding region 34…by relative axial displacement of the clamped holding devices in the first and second holding regions 34, 36 parallel to the rotational axis of the winding template 26, see Figs. 5, 7 and 8, para. [0054-0055]).
Form the teachings of Sadiku in Figs. 5 and 7, and from para. [0049], “rotary device 28 is activated and rotates the winding template 26 and the first holding device 18, which is also coupled with it in the direction of rotation” one of ordinary skill in the art would have known that the parallel coil wires are axially shifting. Therefore, in view of the teachings of Sadiku, 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 of producing a wave winding with a winding former of Yamashita and to replace the rotating step of Yamashita with a rotating step as taught by Sadiku in Figs. 4 to 6 so that it enables forming a wave winding having winding heads which are flattened as a result of the displacement, and the material consumption is low and an axial installation space for the rotor is small as Sadiku disclosed in para. [0064].
Regarding claim 2, Yamashita in view of Sadiku teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 1. Yamashita further teaches, the method according to claim 1, further comprising method step:
- shifting the winding former in an axial direction along the longitudinal axis for transferring the coil wires to be wound into the further winding section (in the winding step, the height of the winding frame is changed for each full turn of the stator core to wind the coil conductor, para. [0008], the coil side portions 10, 10 adjacent in the thickness direction of the winding frame 40 are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the winding frame 40, direction of the axis I-I', with a spacing of one winding pitch across two layers, para. [0021]).
Regarding claim 4, Yamashita in view of Sadiku teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 1. Yamashita further teaches, the method according to claim 1, further comprising the method step:
- repeating steps a to c until a desired number of wave winding layers is reached for insertion into the stator or rotor element (see the winding in Figs. 1 to 6, in which it is evident that the steps are repeated).
Regarding claim 5, Yamashita in view of Sadiku teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 1. Yamashita further teaches, the method according to claim 1, wherein steps a to c are repeated in winding sections with increasing winding widths (see the length of the winding frame 4L4, 4L3, 4L2 and 4L1 in Fig. 12, in which one of ordinary skill in the art would have known that a winding using the winding frame 40 would produce a wave winding with increasing winding widths from fourth winding portion 427 to the first winding portion 421).
Regarding claim 6, Yamashita in view of Sadiku teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 1. Yamashita further teaches, the method according to claim 1, further comprising the method step:
- feeding the wave winding into a transfer tool (winding jig 50, Fig. 6) for insertion of the wave winding into grooves of the stator or rotor element (first, the wound coil conductor 30 is removed from the bobbin 40…When the coil end portions are connected…the sheet-shaped coil 31 is formed…spirally winding the sheet-shaped coil 31 around the winding core 51 of the winding jig 50, para. [0020-0022], slot installation process is a process in which the winding core 51 of the winding jig 50 is rotated in the circumferential direction X…, and the coil side portion 10 of the spirally wound sheet-shaped coil 31 is inserted into the slot 62, para. [0026], Figs. 6 and 7).
Regarding claim 7, Yamashita in view of Sadiku teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 1. Yamashita further teaches, the method according to claim 1, further comprising the method step:
- removing completely (first, the wound coil conductor 30 is removed from the bobbin 40, para. [0020]) the coil winding from the winding former and transferring the coil winding to a transport device (winding jig 50, Fig. 6, first, the wound coil conductor 30 is removed from the bobbin 40…When the coil end portions are connected…the sheet-shaped coil 31 is formed…spirally winding the sheet-shaped coil 31 around the winding core 51 of the winding jig 50, para. [0020-0022]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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 /THOMAS J HONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3729