DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-16 of U.S. Patent Application No. 18/277,528, filed on 16 August, 2023, were presented for examination. In a preliminary amendment, also filed 16 August, 2023, new claims 17-18 were added. In the response filed 8 October, 2025, new claims 19-20 were added. Claims 1-20 are currently pending in the application.
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 11 May, 2026, with respect to the rejections of claim 1-3, 6-9, 15, and 19-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Yamamoto in view of Feier, of claims 4 and 10-11 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Yamamoto in view of Feier, and further in view of Ichikawa, of claim 5 under 35 U.S.C. as unpatentable over Yamamoto in view of Feier, further in view of Sugiura, and claims 12-14 and 16-18 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Yamamoto in view of Feier, further in view of Hattoria, have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are made in view of Sato (US 2024/0072617 A1).
In short, Applicant alleges (page 11 of the Appeal Brief) that the Examiner failed to provide a valid logical rationale to move the switching elements [31] of Yamamoto outside the virtual projection region. In page 13 Applicant points out that the motivational citation from Feier, at ¶ 0045, specifically “for which purpose a particularly good heat conductivity can be effected in their region…”, is followed by “e.g. corresponding positioning of thermal conductive paste…”, which makes it possible, even likely, that Feier is not ascribing the improved heat conductivity with reference to the locating of the heating element mounting region outside the virtual projection region, as the Examiner thought it was, but is instead just generally discussing heat mitigation strategies. The Examiner concurs that Feier does not provide sufficient evidence that it would be obvious to move Yamamoto’s heating element mounting region to outside the virtual projection region.
As the recent discovery of Sato in an updated search, and the consequent rejections below, make all preceding rejections and arguments moot, the Examiner will forego further discussion and proceed to the rejections based on Sato.
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.
Claim 13 is 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.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the plurality of the heating elements mounted on the surface of the cover” in lines 4-5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. There are no heating elements mounted on the surface of the cover in the specification.
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)(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 1-7, 11-12, and 14-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sato (US 2024/0072617 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Sato teaches a control device [13] that controls a motor [12] (see title) having a rotating shaft [37], the control device comprising:
a circuit board [board 42] (see ¶ 0033 and the joint annotated excerpts of figs 2 and 4 attached below);
a plurality of heating elements [inverter circuits 52 and 62] that generate heat that accompanies driving the motor (¶ 0052 recites “the FETs 52 of the inverter circuit 52 are kept in contact with the bottom wall of the housing 41 via heat dissipation grease…” and ¶ 0053 recites the same thing for inverter circuit 62 – the instant application establishes that FET’s generate heat that accompanies driving motors in ¶ 0039-0040 and 0042-0043); and
a rotation angle sensor [71A/71B] that detects a rotation angle of the motor [12] (see ¶ 0036); wherein
the circuit board [42] has a power supply input portion (circumscribed in gray and labeled by the Examiner in the fig. 4 excerpt below – it includes power terminal connection portion 55 and ground terminal connection portion 56) to which a driving current of the motor is supplied (see ¶ 0035 which recites “direct current power from the direct current power supply is supplied to the power terminal connection portion 55…”), a heating element mounting region (also circumscribed in gray and labeled by the Examiner in the fig. 4 excerpt) where the plurality of the heating elements [52/62] are mounted, and a controller mounting region (also circumscribed in gray and labeled by the Examiner in the fig. 4 excerpt) where the rotation angle sensor [71A/71B] is mounted,
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the heating element mounting region is disposed between the power supply input portion and the controller mounting region along a virtual line (the line has been labeled by the Examiner, although it existed in the original drawing as reference numeral BL) extending orthogonally to and through a rotation axis [O] of the rotating shaft [37] (see ¶ 0048),
the circuit board [42], as seen from an axial direction [O] of the rotating shaft, protrudes to an outside of a virtual projection region (virtual projection region labeled by the Examiner in both figs. 2 and 4 above) defined by a projection that projects an outer surface of a cylindrical portion of a motor case [22] that surrounds the motor to a plane extending orthogonally to the rotation axis [O] of the rotating shaft [37],
the power supply input portion is located on a portion of the circuit board [42] that is on the outside of the virtual projection region, and at least one or more of the plurality of heating elements [52/62] are disposed outside the virtual projection region.
With respect to claim 2/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 1, and further teaches wherein:
the rotating shaft [37] has an output end (labeled by the Examiner in the fig. 1 excerpt attached below) to which an object to be driven is connected, the circuit board (which is in control device 13) is located on an opposite side (also labeled) of the motor [12] than the output end in an axial direction [O] of the rotating shaft (see ¶ 0020),
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and the rotation angle sensor [71A/71B] is attached to the circuit board [42] at a position that intersects with a central axis [O] of the rotating shaft [37] (referring to the fig. 4 excerpt attached above in the rejection of claim 1).
With respect to claim 3/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 1, and further teaches wherein
at least one of a drive circuit that drives the plurality of the heating elements, a CPU [microcomputers 51/61] to process the driving current (see ¶ 0033 and 0042 which recites “the microcomputer 51 controls operation of the inverter circuit 52. The microcomputer 51 generates a switching command for each FET 53 of the inverter circuit 52 based on the rotation angle of the motor 12… to convert the direct current power supplied from the direct current power supply into three-phase alternating power… supplied to the first winding group 3A of the motor…”), or a regulator circuit to adjust a voltage is mounted on the controller mounting region on the circuit board [42].
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With respect to claim 4/3/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 3, and further teaches wherein a plurality of CPUs [51/61] (see fig. 4 excerpt above) that process the driving current (see ¶ 0033 and 0042 which recites “the microcomputer 51 controls operation of the inverter circuit 52. The microcomputer 51 generates a switching command for each FET 53 of the inverter circuit 52 based on the rotation angle of the motor 12… to convert the direct current power supplied from the direct current power supply into three-phase alternating power… supplied to the first winding group 3A of the motor…” -- ¶ 0046 provides similar description of 61) are mounted on the controller mounting region on the circuit board [42].
With respect to claim 5/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 1, and further teaches wherein:
the circuit board [42] has a motor connection portion [motor terminal connection portion 54] electrically connected to a winding of the motor (see ¶ 0035 which recites “the board 42 includes two sets of motor terminal connection portions 54, 64… the motor terminal connection portions 54 are portions to which the three motor terminals 36A of the corresponding systems are connected…”, and ¶ 0021 which recites “these motor terminals 36A, 36B are part of the three-phase busbars 36…” and ¶ 0019 which recites “current power is supplied to each winding 34 via a corresponding busbar 36…”), and
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the motor connection portion [54] is located between the heating element mounting region and the controller mounting region (see new excerpt of fig. 4 above).
With respect to claim 6/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 1, and further teaches wherein:
motor relay switching elements [FETs 53 and 63] are included in the plurality of the heating elements [52/62] (see fig. 3 excerpt below and ¶ 0042 which recites “the FETs 53 of the inverter circuit 52 perform switching…” and ¶ 0044 which provides similar description for 62 and 63).
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With respect to claim 7/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 1, and further teaches wherein
a power relay [53/63] capable of switching between supplying and cutting off the driving current that is provided in wires [36A/36b] between the power supply input portion [including 55 and 56] and the motor [12] is included in the plurality of the heating elements [52/62] (see fig. 3 excerpt above and ¶ 0042-0046).
With respect to claim 11/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 1, and further teaches wherein:
the motor [12] has a first winding [first winding group 34A] and a second winding [second winding group 34B] (see fig. 3),
the first winding [34A] and the second winding [34B] each have three phases [U,V,W] (see ¶ 0019, 0041, and 0045),
the circuit board [42] has three first through holes [54] (shown in fig. 2 and represented in fig. 4 where terminals 36A pass through) that correspond to the three phases of the first winding [34A] (see ¶ 0041-0042), and three second through holes [64] that correspond to the three phases of the second winding (see ¶ 0045 – also, 54/64 are called “holes” in ¶ 0035), and
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the three first through holes and the three second through holes are arranged symmetrically with a line [BL] of symmetry as a border, and corresponding phases are symmetrically disposed (see fig. 4 excerpt above and the last lines of ¶ 0004).
With respect to claim 12, Sato teaches a drive device [motor device 11 including motor 12 and control device 13] further comprising:
the control device [13] according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above);
the motor [12] controlled by the control device [13] (see ¶ 0016);
the motor case [21] that accommodates the motor [12];
a cover [43] that forms a space that accommodates the motor case [21] and the circuit board [42]; wherein
the circuit board [42] is disposed between the motor [12] and the cover [43] along an axial direction [O] of the rotating shaft [37]; and
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at least a portion of the plurality of the heating elements [52/62] are mounted on a surface (the top surface, that shown in fig. 4) opposing to the motor frame [41] out of surfaces of the circuit board [42], and
a grease having insulative properties is applied in at least a portion of a gap between the heating elements [52/62] and the motor frame [41] (see ¶ 0052 which recites “the FETs 53 of the inverter circuit 52 are kept in contact with the bottom wall of the housing 41 via heat dissipation grease…” and ¶ 0053 which recites “the FETs 63 of the inverter circuit 62 are kept in contact with the bottom wall of housing 41 via heat dissipation grease…”).
With respect to claim 14/1, Sato teaches a drive device [motor device 11 including motor 12 and control device 13] further comprising:
the control device [13] according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above);
the motor [12] that is controlled by the control device [13] (see ¶ 0016);
the motor case [21] having the cylindrical portion that accommodates the motor [12]; and
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a motor frame [41] that covers the cylindrical portion; wherein
the motor frame [41] is disposed between the motor [12] and the circuit board [42] (see fig. 4 above) in the axial direction [O] of the rotating shaft [37],
at least a portion of the plurality of the heating elements [52/62] are mounted on a surface (the top surface, that shown in fig. 4) opposing to the motor frame [41] out of surfaces of the circuit board [42], and
a grease having insulative properties is applied in at least a portion of a gap between the heating elements [52/62] and the motor frame [41] (see ¶ 0052 which recites “the FETs 53 of the inverter circuit 52 are kept in contact with the bottom wall of the housing 41 via heat dissipation grease…” and ¶ 0053 which recites “the FETs 63 of the inverter circuit 62 are kept in contact with the bottom wall of housing 41 via heat dissipation grease…”).
With respect to claim 15/1, Sato teaches an electric power steering device (¶ 0096 recites “the motor device 11 may be used as a drive source for a reaction mechanism or a steering operation mechanism in a steer-by-wire steering system…”) comprising:
the device of claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
With respect to claim 16/12/1, Sato teaches an electric power steering device (¶ 0096 recites “the motor device 11 may be used as a drive source for a reaction mechanism or a steering operation mechanism in a steer-by-wire steering system…”) comprising:
the drive device of claim 12 (see rejection of claim 12 above).
With respect to claim 18/14/1, Sato teaches an electric power steering device (¶ 0096 recites “the motor device 11 may be used as a drive source for a reaction mechanism or a steering operation mechanism in a steer-by-wire steering system…”) comprising:
the drive device of claim 14 (see rejection of claim 12 above).
With respect to claim 19/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 1, and further teaches wherein:
a number of heating elements [two/2] disposed outside of the virtual projection region is greater than a number of heating elements [zero/0] disposed inside of the virtual projection region.
With respect to claim 20/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 1, and further teaches through holes [54/64] (shown in fig. 2 and represented in fig. 4 where terminals 36A pass through), wherein
the through holes [54/64], which are motor connection portions [36A/36B] (see ¶ 0041-0042 and ¶ 0045), are located between the heating element mounting region and the controller mounting region, so that the arrangement order is (from right-to-left in the fig. 4 excerpt provided below)
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the power supply input portion, the heating element mounting region, the motor connection portions, and the controller mounting region.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 8, 13, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato in view of Yamamoto (US 2016/0295681 A1).
With respect to claim 8/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 1, but omits teaching wherein current detecting elements that detect a current flowing to the motor are included in the plurality of heating elements.
Yamamoto is already on record in the application, and is deemed analogous art. A joint excerpt of figs. 1-2 has been borrowed from the Final Rejection to show as such.
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Yamamoto teaches current detecting elements that detect a current flowing to the motor are included in the plurality of the heating elements [31/32] (¶ 0024 recites “shunt resistances 32 are used for measurement of a current flowing through the switching elements 31 configuring the three-phase inverter circuit…”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the device of Sato, while incorporating current detecting elements in the plurality of heating elements, as taught by Yamamoto, in order to detect current flowing in the heating elements, as is well known in the art.
With respect to claim 13/12/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 12, and further teaches a motor frame [lid 22] that covers the cylindrical portion of the motor case (see fig. 2 – the motor frame is also shown in fig. 1 below) between the circuit board [42] and the motor [12] (see fig. 2), but omits teaching a heat dissipating structure that penetrates the circuit board is provided between the plurality of the heating elements mounted on the surface of the cover and the motor frame, and the heat dissipating structure is configured to convey heat of the heating elements to the motor frame.
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Yamamoto teaches a heat dissipating structure [combined struts 22 and screws 24] that penetrates the circuit board [30] is provided between the plurality of the heating elements [31/32] mounted on the surface of the cover [50] and the motor frame [20],
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the heat dissipating structure [22/24] is configured to convey heat of the heating elements [31/32] to the motor frame [20] (see arrows “A” in fig. 5 and ¶ 0036 – also, ¶ 0030 recites “heat in the high-temperature region H is absorbed by the heat sink body 21 via the first interconnection 41, the strut 22 of the heat sink 20, and the screw 24 in this order”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the device of Sato, while incorporating a heat dissipating structure that penetrates the circuit board and the motor frame, as taught by Yamamoto, in order that heat in the high-temperature region is absorbed by the sink body (in this case the sink body would be the motor frame of Sato).
With respect to claim 17/13/12/1, Sato in view of Yamamoto teaches the drive device of claim 13, Sato further teaches an electric power steering device (¶ 0096 recites “the motor device 11 may be used as a drive source for a reaction mechanism or a steering operation mechanism in a steer-by-wire steering system…”) comprising the drive device
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato in view of Kawata (US 2016/0036289 A1).
With respect to claim 9/1, Sato teaches the device of claim 1, but omits teaching wherein a choke coil is included in the plurality of the heating elements.
Kawata discloses a control device that controls a motor having a rotating shaft, the control device comprising a circuit board, a rotation angle sensor 85, and heat generating elements (inverters 50 and 60), and is deemed analogous art.
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Kawata teaches a choke coil [89] included in the plurality of the heating elements [50/60] (it is in the same electrical circuit with them).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the device of Sato, while incorporating a choke coil in the plurality of heating elements, as taught by Kawata, in order that it serve as a filter circuit, reducing the noise transmitted from the drive device to the other devices that share the power supply (Kawata ¶ 0064).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
With respect to claim 10, the art of record does not teach or reasonably suggest a control device that controls a motor having a rotating shaft, the control device comprising:
a circuit board;
a plurality of heating elements that generate heat that accompanies driving the motor; and
a rotation angle sensor that detects a rotation angle of the motor; wherein
the circuit board has a power supply input portion to which a driving current of the motor is supplied, a heating element mounting region where the plurality of the heating elements are mounted, and a controller mounting region where the rotation angle sensor is mounted,
the heating element mounting region is disposed between the power supply input portion and the controller mounting region along a virtual line extending orthogonally to and through a rotation axis of the rotating shaft,
the circuit board, as seen from an axial direction of the rotating shaft, protrudes to an outside of a virtual projection region defined by a projection that projects an outer surface of a cylindrical portion of a motor case that surrounds the motor to a plane extending orthogonally to the rotation axis of the rotating shaft,
the power supply input portion is located on a portion of the circuit board that is on the outside of the virtual projection region, and at least one or more of the plurality of heating elements are disposed outside the virtual projection region; wherein
wherein:
the motor has a first winding and a second winding,
the circuit board comprises: a first power supply input portion to which a driving current of the first winding is supplied;
a first heating element mounting region to which a plurality of first heating elements which generate heat that accompanies energizing of the first winding are mounted;
a second power supply input portion to which a driving current of the second winding is supplied;
a second heating element mounting region to which a plurality of second heating elements which generate heat that accompanies energizing of the second winding are mounted, and
the controller mounting region where at least one CPU is mounted to arithmetically process at least one driving current of the driving current supplied to the first winding and the driving current supplied to the second winding, and wherein
the first heating element mounting region is disposed between the first power supply input portion and the controller mounting region, and the second heating element mounting region is disposed between the second power supply input portion and the controller mounting region.
Sato teaches a single power supply input portion. The Examiner could not find a reference in this art-space that reasonably suggests adding a second power supply input portion. He is certain that there are prior art references suggesting providing a first power supply input portion whose first power supply drives first windings via first heating elements (inverters) and a second power supply input portion whose second power supply drives second windings via second heating elements (such as, to provide redundancy to keep the motor operative if one of the power supplies fails). However, in this particular art space, and as evidenced by the references in attached PTO Form 892, most of these devices with two windings or winding groups use branch lines from a single power source. Although it would surely be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to make two power supplies (a first power supply input portion and a second power supply input portion), one for each winding or winding group, and although it might be obvious to ordinary practitioners in the art to place each one on the opposite side (relative to the controller mounting region) of Sato’s respective heating elements, to make the device of claim 20, the Examiner believes that there is insufficient extant evidence to make a prima facie case that the resulting structure would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment {the amendment filed 8 October, 2025, necessitated the new grounds 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 DANIEL K SCHLAK whose telephone number is (703)756-1685. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 6:00 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Seye Iwarere can be reached at (571) 270 - 5112. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Daniel K Schlak/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
Prosecution Insights