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 .
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 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.
Claims 11-13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sonoda et al. (US20200232143, “Sonoda”) in view of Urabe et al. (WO2014132364, “Urabe”, using machine translation).
Re claim 11, Sonoda discloses a driving device, comprising:
a stator 522 (figs 4 & 6, [0136]);
a rotor 521 provided to be rotatable about a rotational axis J of a clothing treatment device 1 through interaction with the stator 522 (figs 1 & 4-5, [0138]);
an insulator configured to surround at least a portion of the stator 522 (figs 4 & 6, [0144] & [0166], teaches 545 & 542S can be integral w/ insulator; insulator includes insulation around stator, 545 & 542S);
a clutch 54 including:
a movable member 541, including a locking recess (figs 8-9 & 11, [0162], formed by protrusions 5411S), configured to slide along the rotational axis to be selectively coupled to, and uncoupled from, the rotor 521 according to an operation mode of the clothing treatment device (figs 4 & 8-11, [0158] & [0175-0179]),
wherein the insulator includes:
a coupling area to receive the clutch 54 (figs 8-10), and
a connection member 542S provided in the coupling area and configured to protrude from an inner circumference of the insulator toward the rotational axis J (figs 9-11 & below) so as to be inserted into the locking recess of with the movable member 541 (fig 11) based on the movable member being slid to be uncoupled from the rotor 521 (figs 4 & 8-11, [0158] & [0175-0179]).
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Sonoda discloses claim 11 except for:
a fixing member protruding and extending from an upper surface of the insulator toward the clutch;
a fixing area disposed in the clutch and formed to be open to have the fixing member pass therethrough to fix a portion of the clutch to the insulator; and
the fixing member is formed integrally with the insulator.
Urabe discloses a fixing member protruding and extending from an upper surface of the insulator toward the clutch;
a fixing area disposed in the clutch and formed to be open to have the fixing member pass therethrough to fix a portion of the clutch to the insulator; and
the fixing member is formed integrally with the insulator.
Specifically Sonoda discloses the clutch is fixed to the insulator (figs 4, 6 & 9-10, [0144] & [0166]), but does not specifically disclosed how the clutch is fixed to the insulator.
Urabe discloses a fixing member 81 protruding and extending from an upper surface of the insulator 83 (figs 1-2, pg 3, boxed text);
a fixing area 13a disposed in the lead wiring component 1 and formed to be open to have the fixing member 81 pass therethrough to fix a portion of the lead wiring component 1 to the insulator 83 (figs 1-2, pg 3, 2nd boxed text; pg 4, boxed text & pg 7, boxed text); and
the fixing member 81 is formed integrally with the insulator 83 (figs 1-2, pg 3, boxed text).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the insulator of Sonoda to comprise a fixing member protruding and extending from an upper surface of the insulator toward the clutch; a fixing area disposed in the clutch and formed to be open to have the fixing member pass therethrough to fix a portion of the clutch to the insulator; and the fixing member is formed integrally with the insulator, as disclosed by Urabe for fixing the lead wiring component, in order to provide a known means of fixing a structure to an insulator to fix the clutch, as demonstrated by Urabe and position the clutch with respect to the rotational direction, as taught by Urabe (pg 4, boxed text).
Re claim 12, Sonoda discloses claim 11 as discussed above and further discloses the connection member includes a plurality of protrusions (fig 10), and the plurality of protrusions are arranged to be spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction surrounding the rotational axis J (fig 10).
Re claim 13, Sonoda discloses claim 11 as discussed above and further discloses the insulator is integrally configured with the connection member 542S ([0166]).
With respect to the limitation of the insulator is injection-molded to be integrally configured with the connection member, the patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process. In re Thorpe, 777F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985). See MPEP 2113. Additionally since the insulator is made of insulation material, it would be capable of being formed by injection-molding.
Re claim 15, Sonoda discloses claim 11 as discussed above and further discloses during a washing operation, the movable member 541 is slid toward the insulator, and the connection member 542S is engaged with the locking recess of the movable member 541 (fig 11, [0175-0177]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 and 16-20 allowed (claim 16 and its dependent claims 17-20 allowed for the same reasons as discussed for claim 1, see OA mailed pg 13 to top of pg 18).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 11 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sears (US8450898, figs 1, 4 & 8) and Nakano (US20180323691, figs 1-4) show insulators with fixing members that fix structures with holes for the fixing members.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5715. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 8:30-5pm EST.
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/ERIC JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834