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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 04/09/2026 is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pp. 7-8, filed 12/31/2025, with respect to objections to the specification have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection to the specification and rejections under 35 USC 112 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to rejections under 35 USC 102 and 103 of claims 1-2, 4 and 6-20, pp. 9-10 filed 12/31/2025 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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-2, 4, and 6-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ODA (US 20140127050; previously cited) in view of CRONIN (US 7009317).
Regarding claim 1, ODA discloses an electric machine (1) comprising:
a stator (5);
a rotor (4) configured to rotate about an axis (see Fig. 3);
wherein the rotor includes a point that traces an annular path (Fig. 3)
a housing (3) surrounding the rotor (4) and the stator (5) and including an end cap (33) at an axial end of the electric machine, the housing (3) enclosing an end space (34A) between the rotor (4) and the end cap (33) (see Fig. 1 and 4); and
a nozzle (7a) disposed within the end space and configured to discharge a cooling fluid into the end space in a direction (8) tangential to the annular path or to another path parallel to and spaced apart from the annular path (Fig. 3).
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However, ODA does not disclose the nozzle includes an inlet tube that extends in an axial direction through the end cap for receiving the cooling fluid.
CRONIN teaches an electric machine with a nozzle 160 that includes an inlet tube 158 that extends in an axial direction through an end cap 122 for receiving a cooling fluid.
It 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 to provide the nozzle of ODA with an inlet tube that extends in an axial direction through the end cap for receiving the cooling fluid, similar to CRONIN.
A person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains would have been motivated to make such modification in order to cool a larger area of the end windings and reduce the possibility of erosion due to a continuous and direct flow of liquid onto the stator, as taught by CRONIN (col. 6, lines 5-15).
Regarding claim 2, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the nozzle (7a) is further configured to discharge the cooling fluid in a same direction as the point of the rotor (4) traces along the annular path when the electric machine is operated (see Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 4, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the nozzle (7a) includes an elbow bend for changing a direction of the cooling fluid prior to the cooling fluid exiting the nozzle (7a) (see Fig. 6).
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Regarding claim 6, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the housing (3) defines an outlet hole (37) for the cooling fluid to drain out of the end space.
Regarding claim 7, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 6, wherein ODA teaches the outlet hole (37) is located at a lowest point of the end space (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 8, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the end space extends around the stator (5), with the cooling fluid contacting the stator (5) for removing heat therefrom (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 9, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the stator (5) is located radially outwardly from the rotor (4) (see Fig. 3 and 4); and wherein the rotor (4) is configured to fling the cooling fluid radially outwardly into contact with the stator (5)(see para [0041]).
Regarding claim 10, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the rotor (4) includes a rotor lamination and a plurality of rotor windings (see para [0032]), with the end space (34A) extending between the rotor lamination and the end cap (33) (Fig. 4), and with the plurality of rotor windings extending into the end space (34A).
Regarding claim 11, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the stator (5) includes a stator lamination and a plurality of stator windings (50), with the end space (34A) extending between the stator lamination and the end cap (33), and with the plurality of stator windings (50) extending into the end space (34A).
Regarding claim 12, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the end cap (33) is one of a pair of end caps (32, 33; see Fig. 4), with each of the end caps disposed at opposite axial ends of the electric machine (1), and wherein the end space (34A) is one of a pair of end spaces (34A, 34B) , with each of the pair of end spaces (34A, 34B) located adjacent to corresponding ones of the pair of end caps;
wherein the nozzle (7a) is one of a pair of nozzles (7a, 7b), with each nozzle (7a/7b) of the pair of nozzles (7a, 7b) disposed within a corresponding one of the pair of end spaces (34A, 34B) (see para [0052]).
Regarding claim 13, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 12, wherein ODA teaches each nozzle (7a/7b) of the pair of nozzles (7a, 7b) includes a corresponding inlet tube that extends through a corresponding one of the pair of end caps for receiving the cooling fluid (see Fig. 7).
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Regarding claim 14, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the stator (5) includes a plurality of stator windings (50) having stator end turns (51) at least partially located circumferentially around the rotor (4), and the rotor (4) is configured to fling the cooling fluid radially outwardly into contact with the stator end turns (51) to remove heat therefrom (see para [0041]).
Regarding claim 15, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 14, wherein ODA teaches the rotor (4) includes a plurality of rotor windings and the stator end turns (51) are at least partially located circumferentially around the plurality of rotor windings (see para [0032]), and the rotor (4) is configured to fling the cooling fluid radially outwardly from the rotor windings and into contact with the stator end turns (51) to remove heat therefrom (see para [0041])..
Regarding claim 16, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the rotation of the rotor (4) causes a rotary movement of air within the end space (see para [0041]), and
wherein the nozzle (7a) is configured to discharge the cooling fluid in a same direction as the rotary movement of the air within the end space (see Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 17, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 1, wherein ODA teaches the rotor (4) traces an annular path as the rotor (4) rotates about the axis (see Fig. 3), and
wherein the nozzle (7a) is configured to discharge the cooling fluid tangential to a path that is parallel to and spaced apart from the annular path traced by the rotor (4) (see Fig. 3).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ODA in view of CRONIN and further in view of ENGBLOM (US 20180069455; previously cited).
Regarding claim 5, ODA in view of CRONIN teaches the electric machine of claim 4.
However, ODA in view of CRONIN does not teach the elbow bend is configured to change the direction of the fluid by 90-degrees.
ENGBLOM discloses an electric machine (1) comprising a stator (7) a rotor (5) configured to rotate about an axis (X) and a nozzle (13) configured to discharge a cooling fluid into and end space in a direction tangential to the rotation of the rotor with an elbow bend configured to change the direction of the fluid by 90-degrees (see para [0120] and Fig. 6)
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It 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 to provide the nozzle of ODA in view of CRONIN with an elbow bend configured to change the direction of the fluid by 90-degrees, similar to ENGBLOM.
A person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains would have been motivated to make such modification in order to be able to control directional means in order to achieve a desired rotational velocity of the cooling liquid, as taught by ENGBLOM (see para [0120]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US-20140009015-A1 Hossain discloses a nozzle 158 includes an inlet tube 140 that extends in an axial direction through an end cap 64; US-20200153312-A1 Gerstler discloses a nozzle 70 includes an inlet tube that extends in an axial direction through an end cap; DE-102021205055-A1 PETRZIK discloses a nozzle 27 includes an inlet tube 25 that extends in an axial direction through an end cap 17; DE-102019216134-A1 NICKEL discloses a nozzle includes an inlet tube that extends in an axial direction through an end cap 4.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) 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.
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/JUSTIN STEFANON/ Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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