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 1-10 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Re. claim 1: The phrase “the end of the coil piece” as recited in line 4 lacks antecedent basis.
The phrase “a setting step of bringing two ends to be joined into contact” as recited in line 7 renders the claim vague and indefinite. It is unclear as to what the two ends are indicated. Clarification is required.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sakata et al. (JP 2019115188 A1).
Sakata et al. teach a process of manufacturing a stator for a rotary electric machine, comprising steps of: an installation step of installing coil pieces for a stator coil in a stator core as shown in Fig. 1; and a joining step of joining ends of the coil pieces or the end of the coil piece and an end of a busbar by laser welding after the installation step as shown in Figs. 3-4, wherein the joining step includes a setting step of bringing two ends to be joined into contact with each other as sown in Fig. 3, an image recognition step of detecting, after the setting step, image features related to non-contact surfaces continuous with contact surfaces of the two ends in an image obtained by imaging the two ends by an imaging unit (102) as shown in Fig. 3, and a determination step of determining, after the image recognition step, a laser radiation position based on the image features related to the non-contact surfaces subjected to image recognition as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 (see also paragraphs [0023]-[0029]).
Re. claim 2: The image recognition step includes detecting the image features related to the non-contact surfaces at the two ends by the imaging unit as shown in Fig. 3 (see also paragraphs [0023] and [0026]).
Re. claim 3: The determination step includes linearly changing the laser radiation position based on a straight line passing through pixel positions related to the image features in the image or portions near the pixel positions as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 (see also paragraphs [0027]-[0030]).
Re. claims 5 and 8: The setting step includes positioning the two ends with a jig (130), and the non-contact surfaces face the jig with clearances in a direction perpendicular to the non-contact surfaces as shown in Fig. 3 (paragraphs [0028]-[0029]).
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 4 and 6-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakata et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kojima et al. (PGPub 2015/0364891 A1).
Sakata et al. teach all limitations as set forth above including the image, which is captured by a camera (such as the imaging unit), is positioned so that an optical axis extends along the non-contact surfaces as shown in Fig. 3, but silent the image features include edges having brightness differences in a direction intersecting the non-contact surfaces in the image (as per claims 4, 6 and 7). Kojima et al. teach a process of making an electrical device including an imaging unit captured image features having brightness differences in a surfaces in an image in order to define an irradiation position by a laser to a welding portion (see also paragraph [0171]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify a process of fabricating a stator for a rotary electric machine of Sakata et al. by providing brightness differences in a surfaces in an image as taught by Kojima et al. in order to define an irradiation position by a laser to a welding portion.
Re. claims 8-12: Sakata et al. also teach that the setting step includes positioning the two ends with a jig (130), and the non-contact surfaces face the jig with clearances in a direction perpendicular to the non-contact surfaces as shown in Fig. 3 (paragraphs [0028]-[0029]).
The Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Toi (PGPub 2021/0273537 A1), and Lu et al. (PGPub 2012/000238 A1) are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to a manufacturing a stator for a rotary electric machine.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL D KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4565. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6:00 AM-2:00 PM.
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/PAUL D KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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