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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6, 9-10, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 has been amended to recite the limitation “wherein in the process of winding, a winding direction is not along the winding frame but overlapping one turn or another” at the end of step 3. It is not sufficiently clear from the claim language if this “process of winding” is referring to the winding performed in step 2, the continued winding performed in step 3, both steps 2 and 3, or some other winding, thereby rendering the claim indefinite because the metes and bounds of the claim are not sufficiently clear. For the purpose of examination, the examiner interprets this limitation to be referring to the continued winding of step 3.
Claims 2-6, 9-10, and 13-14 are rejected based on their dependence upon rejected claim 1.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5 and 9 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2014/0320250 to Yamada.
As per claim 1, as best understood, Yamada discloses a manufacturing method of a magnetic assembly winding, comprising:
step 1: providing a winding frame (see winding shaft 31 in Fig 6A);
step 2: winding a wire (see wire 11A in Fig 6A) on the winding frame to form a plurality of turns of basic coils (see winding numbers W1-W6 in Fig 6A), wherein the wire has two ends (see ends of wire 11A in Fig 6A), and each length of the two ends of the wire to a segment of the wire wound into the plurality of turns of basic coils is larger than a length of a segment of wire wound into a plurality of turns of coils that are different from the basic coils (see Fig 6A-D that show that the length of wire used for the basic coils, i.e. winding numbers W1-W6 in Fig 6A, is approximately three times the diameter of the winding shaft 31, whereas the length of wire used for the rest of the coil used from the second lead 16A side is three times the diameter of the winding shaft 31 plus the diameter of the wire 11A for winding numbers W7-W12 plus the diameter of the winding shaft 31 for winding numbers W13-W14 plus an additional length for the second lead 16A which can be any length required; also see the length of wire from the first lead 17A side that includes wire storage 11Aa which corresponds to a length necessary for forming the entire spiral shaped wound portion 18 and the lead portion 15A; therefore the lengths of wire used on either side of the basic coils is longer then a length of wire used for just the basic coils themselves; also see Fig 7-8 which include additional layers of windings which would further extend the lengths of the wire provided on either side of the basic windings);
step 3: continuing winding of the plurality of turns of coils by winding two wire segments (see winding numbers W7-W12 in Fig 6B and winding numbers W13-W14 in Fig 6C formed by winding the second lead 16A side of the wire 11A around the winding shaft 31 and/or over previous windings; see winding numbers W15-W16 in Fig 6D formed by winding first lead 15A side of the wire 11A around previous windings) of the wire connected with two ends of the plurality of turns of basic coils to complete a magnetic assembly winding (see Fig 6D; see coil component 10A in Fig 4B and 5A), respectively, wherein the magnetic assembly winding comprises two tail segments (see first lead 15A and second lead 16A in Fig 4B, 5A, and 6D) formed by extending two outermost turns of the plurality of turns of coils (see Fig 4B, 5A, and 6D that illustrate that the first lead 15A and second lead 16A are connected to outermost windings of the coil component 10A) (Para 0047-0053), wherein in the continued winding of step 3, a winding direction is not along the winding frame but overlapping one turn or another (see winding numbers W7-W12 in Fig 6B, winding numbers W13-W14 in Fig 6C, and winding numbers W15-W16 in Fig 6D which are wound in a winding direction along and overlapping the previous windings, i.e. the winding direction is perpendicular to the winding shaft 31 and the windings W7-W16 are wound overlapping previous windings).
As per claim 2, Yamada discloses the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1,
wherein in step 3, one of the two wire segments is firstly wound into the plurality of turns of coils to form a first part (see winding numbers W7-W12 in Fig 6B and winding numbers W13-W14 in Fig 6C formed by winding the second lead 16A side of the wire 11A around the winding shaft 31 and/or over previous windings); the other one of the two wire segments is subsequently wound into the plurality of turns of coils wound by the first part to form a second part (see winding numbers W15-W16 in Fig 6D formed by winding first lead 15A side of the wire 11A around previous windings) and overlapped with the first part (see Fig 6); and the two tail segments are formed by extending outermost segments of the first part and the second part respectively (see second lead 16A and first lead 17A in Fig 6D).
As per claims 3-4, Yamada discloses the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claims 1 and 2 respectively,
wherein in step 2, a segment of the wire not at the two ends of the wire is used as a winding start part (see winding number W1 in Fig 6A which is a first winding formed on the winding shaft 31 corresponding to a start point of the winding); winding two segments of the wire adjacent to the winding start part to form the plurality of turns of basic coils (see segments of the wire corresponding to the windings W2-W6 in Fig 6A); and numbers of turns of coils wound by the two segments of the wire are different (the number of turns for each segment can be split up any number of ways, e.g. W2 and W3-W6 or W2-W5 and W6).
As per claims 5 and 9, Yamada discloses the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claims 1 and 2 respectively. Yamada further discloses that the winding frame is removed after forming the magnetic assembly winding (see Fig 4B that shows the coil component 10A after being dismounted from the winding shaft 31; Para 0053). Yamada further discloses that the magnetic assembly winding can be used for making an inductor (see inductor 80 in Fig 9-10) wherein the lead portions are bent to cooperate with terminals of the inductor (see first lead portion 15A and second lead portion 16A in Fig 4B, 5A, and 6D corresponding to first lead 15 and second lead 16 in Fig 10; Para 0059-0060) which would necessarily have to be shaped by some shaping operation including cutting and/or bending.
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 of this title, 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 6, 10, and 13-14 is rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2014/0320250 to Yamada in view of JP 4402757 to Toshiyuki (translation provided by examiner).
As per claim 6 and 10, Yamada discloses the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claims 5 and 9 respectively. Yamada further discloses that the wire (11A) comprises a conductive wire covered by an insulative coating (Para 0033), but Yamada does not explicitly disclose that insulative coating is a hot-meltable sheath covering a metal inner core. However, it is very well-known in the art that the conductive core of wires such as used for conductive windings such as in Yamada are made of metal and insulators including hot-meltable materials are well-known in the art for allowing easy application of the insulation and/or allow the insulation material to be fused together during or after winding for increased bonding strength.
Toshiyuki discloses a similar manufacturing method of a magnetic assembly winding (see winding coil 1 in Fig 1-2) wherein the wire (see conductor wire 5 in Fig 1-2) used for the winding comprises a copper inner core (see conductor 2 in Fig 2c) and a hot-meltable sheath (see self-bonding outer covering layer 4 in Fig 2c; see Translation Para 0012, 0026, 0032) covering the metal inner core.
At the time the application was filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill it the art to modify the wire of Yamada to include a metal inner core and a hot-meltable sheath covering the metal inner core as taught by Toshiyuki. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that wires comprising metal inner cores with outer hot-meltable sheaths are very well-known in the art and a selection of prior art materials on the basis of its suitability for its intended purpose is within the level of ordinary skill and therefore it would be a routine matter to modify the wire of Yamada to include a metal inner core and a hot-meltable sheath covering the metal inner core as taught by Toshiyuki; the obvious advantages being that the hot meltable sheath would allow for the use of a simple heating means during winding to allow for the wires to be fused to each other during winding for firmly integrating the windings (Toshiyuki: Translation Para 0026, 0032).
As per claim 13 Yamada and Toshiyuki disclose the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claim 6. Yamada further discloses that the winding frame is removed after forming the magnetic assembly winding (see Fig 4B that shows the coil component 10A after being dismounted from the winding shaft 31; Para 0053). Yamada further discloses that the magnetic assembly winding can be used for making an inductor (see inductor 80 in Fig 9-10) wherein the lead portions are bent to cooperate with terminals of the inductor (see first lead portion 15A and second lead portion 16A in Fig 4B, 5A, and 6D corresponding to first lead 15 and second lead 16 in Fig 10; Para 0059-0060) which would necessarily have to be shaped by some shaping operation including cutting and/or bending.
As per claim 14 Yamada and Toshiyuki disclose the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claim 13. Yamada and Toshiyuki further disclose the elements of claim 14 as discussed above in the rejection of claims 6 and 10.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicants argue that it is clear from Fig 6B-D of the Yamada reference (US 2014/0320250) that the Yamada reference discloses that windings W7-W16 are wound in the direction of the winding frame (winding shaft 31), and therefore Yamada does not disclose the claimed limitation of “wherein in the process of winding, a winding direction is not along the winding frame but overlapping one turn on another” as added to claim 1.
However, the applicants are arguing that this claim limitation is more specific than it is. For example, this limitation does not define what the winding direction is, therefore it can be interpreted that the winding direction is the direction in which the windings that are overlapping each other are formed, i.e. a radial direction. Therefore since the Yamada reference discloses that the winding direction is in a radial direction, the Yamada reference anticipates this limitation and the applicant’s argument is not persuasive, see above 102 rejection of claim 1 for specific details.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Joshua D. Anderson, whose telephone number is (571) 270-0157. The examiner can normally be reached from Monday to Thursday between 6 AM and 10 PM Arizona time.
If any attempt to reach the examiner by telephone is unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hong, can be reached at (571) 272-0993.
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Applicants are invited to contact the Office to schedule an in-person interview to discuss and resolve the issues set forth in this Office Action. Although an interview is not required, the Office believes that an interview can be of use to resolve any issues related to a patent application in an efficient and prompt manner.
/JOSHUA D ANDERSON/
Examiner, Art Unit 3729
/THOMAS J HONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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