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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/8/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. As a preliminary matter, the Applicant argues first argues that claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 as being anticipated by Haga. Since the last action, 9/11/2025, the claims have been rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 Haga in view of Inoue. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-7 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haga et al (US 20170201147 A1) in view of Inoue et al (US 20200207316 A1) in further view of Sato et al (US 20130224979 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Haga teaches a hydraulic pressure control device comprising: an electric motor (fig. 1, motor 10) including a motor main body portion (fig. 1, motor 10, comprising housing 21, rotor 30 and stator 40), a conductive portion (fig. 1, coil connection portions 91) connecting a cavity of a substrate (fig. 1, paragraph 59 “The wiring member 92 includes the external power-supply connection terminal 94 and the circuit board connection terminal 95.”) and the motor main body portion (see at least figure 1 and paragraph 59, circuit board 71 is connected to the motor and the terminal 94), and a covering portion covering a part of the conductive portion (fig. 1, connector connection portion 68b); a housing (fig. 1, motor housing 21) that is a metal block that accommodates a pressure adjusting device (paragraph 22 “In this preferred embodiment, a material of the housing 21 is, for example, metal” Examiner notes that the housing accommodates a motor 10), and in which a through-hole for accommodating the covering portion is formed (see at least figure 1, motor housing 21); a cap (fig. 1, main body portion 62) having a terminal insertion hole (paragraph 51 “That is, the connector portion 63 protrudes from the main body portion 62 toward the radially outer side of the center axis J. As can be seen from FIG. 1,”) through which a motor terminal (fig. 1, terminal 94), which is a distal end portion of the conductive portion exposed from the covering portion, is inserted, and being fitted into the through-hole (see figure 1 and paragraph 51 “That is, the connector portion 63 protrudes from the main body portion 62 toward the radially outer side of the center axis J. As can be seen from FIG. 1,”) and a seal member (fig. 1, O-ring 82) which is a cured product of a liquid sealing agent disposed between the cap (paragraph 68 “In this preferred embodiment, the front side O-ring 81 and the rear side O-ring 82 are preferably made of, for example, resin including silicon rubber or the like.”) and the covering portion to close the through-hole (fig. 1, O-ring 82 is between main body 62 and cover 22) and is a different member from the cap and the covering portion (see at least figure 2, O-ring 82 is a different member).
Haga does not teach “a pressure adjusting device driven by the electric motor to adjust hydraulic pressure, wherein the cap is a separate member from the covering portion, and wherein a gap between the conductive portion and the covering portion is filled with the seal member.”
Inoue teaches a pressure adjusting device driven by the electric motor to adjust hydraulic pressure (paragraph 31 “The motor body part 8a is fixed to the housing 10 via a fixing means of the frame 8b. The output shaft 81 protrudes from the motor body part 8a and is connected to the pump 57 disposed in the housing 10 to drive the pump 57”).
Inoue does not teach “wherein the cap is a separate member from the covering portion, and wherein a gap between the conductive portion and the covering portion is filled with the seal member.”
Sato teaches wherein the cap is a separate member from the covering portion (fig. 4b, flange portion is separate from sealing plug 16), and wherein a gap between the conductive portion and the covering portion is filled with the seal member (fig. 4b, inside of flange is filled with filling material 41).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art at the time the invention was filed, to combine the motor of Haga with the pump of Inoue with the sealed plug of Sato in order to produce hydraulic changes in a system, while maintaining a sealed environment in order to protect the motor from ingress or egress thereby increasing the motor lifespan.
With respect to claim 2, Haga in view of Inoue in view of Sato teaches the above-mentioned limitations. Haga further teaches the conductive portion includes a plurality of power lines for supplying power to the motor main body portion (fig. 2, the external power-supply connection terminal 94) and a plurality of signal lines (paragraph 59 “The wiring member 92 includes the external power-supply connection terminal 94 and the circuit board connection terminal 95.”) for transmitting a rotation angle signal of the motor main body portion (paragraph 34 “The controller 70 controls driving operations of the motor 10. The controller 70 preferably includes the circuit board 71, a rotating sensor 72, a sensor magnet holding member 73a, and a sensor magnet 73b. That is, the motor 10 includes the circuit board 71, the rotation sensor 72, the sensor magnet holding member 73a, and the sensor magnet 73b” the Examiner notes that the controller is connected to the circuit board connection terminals); the covering portion includes a first covering portion that covers the power line and a second covering portion that covers the signal line separately from the first covering portion (see at least figures 1 and 2, the bus bar 91 and external power-supply connection terminal 94 are separated by a non-zero distance which the Examiner is interpreting as being covered separately from one another); and the motor terminal of the power line and the motor terminal of the signal line are respectively inserted into individual terminal insertion holes (figures 1-2 and paragraph 52 “The bus bar 91 and the external power-supply connection terminal 94 protrudes from the bottom surface of the power-supply opening 63a toward one side (+X side) disposed in the longitudinal direction of the bus bar holder 61.”).
With respect to claim 3, Haga in view of Inoue in view of Sato teaches the above-mentioned limitations. Haga further teaches the cap includes a main body portion formed with the terminal insertion hole (fig. 1, main body portion 62 and paragraph 51 “That is, the connector portion 63 protrudes from the main body portion 62 toward the radially outer side of the center axis J. As can be seen from FIG. 1,”), and a flange portion protruding from an outer peripheral surface of the main body portion (see figure 2 marked below); and a portion on the covering portion side than the flange portion in the main body portion is disposed in the through-hole in a state of pressing the housing (see figure 1, and paragraph 54 “the connection terminal holding portion 64 includes an inner surface 64a of the holding portion in the radial direction.”).
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Haga Figure 2
With respect to claim 4, Haga in view of Inoue in view of Sato teaches the above-mentioned limitations. Haga further teaches the cap includes a main body portion formed with the terminal insertion hole (fig. 1, main body portion 62 and paragraph 51 “That is, the connector portion 63 protrudes from the main body portion 62 toward the radially outer side of the center axis J. As can be seen from FIG. 1,”), and a flange portion protruding from an outer peripheral surface of the main body portion (see figure 2 marked above); and a portion on the covering portion side than the flange portion in the main body portion is disposed in the through-hole in a state of pressing the housing (see figure 1, and paragraph 54 “the connection terminal holding portion 64 includes an inner surface 64a of the holding portion in the radial direction.”).
With respect to claim 5, Haga in view of Inoue in view of Sato teaches the above-mentioned limitations. Haga further teaches the motor terminal is connected to a female terminal of the cavity of the substrate (paragraph 61 “The circuit board connection terminal 95 is located at the front side (−Z side) ahead of the end of the rear side (+Z side) of the main body portion 62, such that the circuit board connection terminal 94 is fixed to the connection terminal holding portion 64.” And paragraph 64 “The connection surface 95f contacts the circuit board rear surface 71a. Although not shown in the drawings, the plate-shaped portion 95e is preferably fixed to the circuit board 71 by, for example, soldering.” The Examiner is interpreting the contact with circuit board as the female terminal).
With respect to claim 6, Haga teaches the above-mentioned limitations but does not teach “the pressure adjusting device is a pump.”
Inoue teaches the pressure adjusting device is a pump (paragraph 31 “The motor body part 8a is fixed to the housing 10 via a fixing means of the frame 8b. The output shaft 81 protrudes from the motor body part 8a and is connected to the pump 57 disposed in the housing 10 to drive the pump 57”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art at the time the invention was filed, to combine the motor of Haga with the pump of Inoue with the sealed plug of Sato in order to produce hydraulic changes in a system, while maintaining a sealed environment in order to protect the motor from ingress or egress thereby increasing the motor lifespan.
With respect to claim 7, Haga in view of Inoue in view of Sato teaches the above-mentioned limitations. Haga further teaches the seal member abuts on an outer peripheral surface of the motor terminal over an entire circumference (fig. 2, o-rings 82 cover the terminal 94 on the outer surface to left of page).
With respect to claim 8, Haga in view of Inoue teaches the above-mentioned limitations but does not teach “wherein another gap formed in the terminal insertion hole is filled with the seal member.”
Sato teaches wherein another gap formed in the terminal insertion hole is filled with the seal member (see at least figure 4B, entire assembly is sealed via the filling material 41)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, in the art at the time the invention was filed, to combine the motor of Haga with the pump of Inoue with the sealed plug of Sato in order to produce hydraulic changes in a system, while maintaining a sealed environment in order to protect the motor from ingress or egress thereby increasing the motor lifespan.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher M Koehler can be reached on (571)272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/R.O.S./ Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/CHRISTOPHER M KOEHLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834