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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention II, claims 16-30 in the reply filed on 20 July 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention I, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Objections
Claim 16, 19 and 30 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 16, line 5: “between 10nm-35µm;” should read -- between 10 nm-35 µm; --
In claim 16, lines 12-13: “an integrated power inductor structure with crystallized structures.” should read:
-- the power inductor device with a crystallized magnetic core structure. --
In claim 19, lines 3-4: “the first particle size is 10nm-5µm, the second particle size is 8.5µm-15µm, and the third particle size is 18µm-35µm.” should read:
-- the first particle size is 10 nm-5 µm, the second particle size is 8.5 µm-15 µm, and the third particle size is 18 µm-35 µm. --
In claim 30, line 4: “a electroplating treatment.” should read:
-- an electroplating treatment. --
Appropriate correction is required.
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 18 and 21-25 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.
In claim 18, the limitation “the magnetic powder further comprises nickel, manganese, magnesium, copper, zinc, boron, lithium, sodium, carbon, cobalt, niobium, barium, palladium, potassium, bismuth, graphene, amorphous, nanocrystalline, a combination of above metals, or metal oxide or metal carbonate with above metals” renders claim indefinite because, claim 16, upon which claim 18 depends, recites “a magnetic powder”. Therefore, it is unclear which magnetic powder claims in claim 18. Examiner recommends amending “a magnetic powder” in claim 1 to magnetic powder, or similar.
In claim 21, the limitation “providing a first magnetic core” renders claim indefinite because, claim 16 recites “providing a magnetic core body”, in which it deemed to read as a magnetic core is already provided. Therefore, it is unclear what does “providing a first magnetic core” means. As best understood, it appears that the limitation “The manufacturing method of claim 16, further comprises the steps of:” actually intends that “The manufacturing method of claim 16, wherein providing the magnetic core body further comprises the steps of:”, or the like.
In claims 22-25, the same issues is there for the limitation “providing a first magnetic core”.
In claim 21, the limitation “a first metal conductor” and “a second metal conductor” renders claim indefinite because, claim 16 recites “a metal conductor”. Therefore, it is unclear the recited first and the second metal conductors.
In claims 23 and 25, the same issues is there for the limitation “a first metal conductor” and “a second metal conductor”.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 16-18, 20 and 26-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuura (US 20220277884) in view of Toshiyuki (WO 2018096870).
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Annotated Fig. 2, Matsuura.
Regarding claim 16, Matsuura teaches, a manufacturing method of a power inductor device (coil component 1, Figs. 1 and 2, coil component 1 may be, for example, a power inductor used in a DC/DC converter, para. [0040]), the manufacturing method comprising following steps of:
providing a magnetic core body (magnetic base body 10, see annotated Fig. 2) and a metal conductor (coil conductor 25), the magnetic core body being formed by a magnetic powder (magnetic base body 10...a mixture of particles including a plurality of first metal magnetic particles 31 and a plurality of second metal magnetic particles 32, para. [0055]) and the magnetic powder having a particle size range between 10 nm-35 µm (average particle size of the second metal magnetic particles 32 may be ½ or less, ⅓ or less, ¼ or less, ⅕ or less, 3/20 or less, or 1/10 or less of the average particle size of the first metal magnetic particles 31…average particle size of the first metal magnetic particles 31 may be, for example, 1 μm to 50 μm, para. [0052]);
assembling the magnetic core body and the metal conductor, the metal conductor being placing in the magnetic core body and two ends of the metal conductor being exposed outside the magnetic core body (see Fig. 6, in step S11, the coil conductor 25, which is prepared in advance, is placed in a cavity of a mold, the resin composition mixture made in the above manner is filled into the mold having the coil conductor 25 therein, and a molding pressure is then applied by a punch to the resin composition mixture in the mold, para. [0070]);
conducting a heating and pressing molding process to the magnetic core body and the metal conductor to form a combination structure (step S12, heat treatment is performed on the molded body obtained by compression molding, thereby obtaining the magnetic base body 10 from the molded body…the heat treatment in step S12 cures the resin in the resin composition mixture…compression molding S11 and heating S12, Fig. 5, para. [0072-0073]).
Though, Matsuura teaches a second heat treating process of the molded body in para. [0089], Matsuura does not explicitly teach, conducting a section heating process, a calcining process, a tempering process. However, Toshiyuki teaches, a method of manufacturing a magnetic core body for power inductor devices, in which, conducting a section heating process, a calcining process, a tempering process and a cooling process to the combination structure to obtain an integrated power inductor structure with crystallized structures (when performing high-temperature tempering, a temperature of less than 7000 C is preferable, less than 6500 C is more preferable, and less than 6000 C is even preferable, para. [0025], powders were subjected to quenching and/or tempering treatment in an Ar atmosphere furnace…these process were carried out at a predetermined temperature and time, followed by furnace cooling, para. [0031], soft magnetic powders in which nanocrystalline grains are generated from such amorphous phases by heat treatment, para. [0027]). Therefore, in view of the teachings of Toshiyuki, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the manufacturing method of the power inductor device of Matsuura and to include a calcining process, tempering process and cooling process as Toshiyuki disclosed in para. [0025-0031] so that it enables manufacturing power inductor devices having high saturation magnetic flux density as Toshiyuki disclosed in para. [0004]. Moreover, there is no indication in the instant invention that any surprising results were derived, or that any special steps were devised in the section heating process including calcining and tempering process. Such a combination would have been done by one of ordinary skill in the art without any need for experimentation and with reasonable expectations of success.
Regarding claim 17, Matsuura in view of Toshiyuki teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 16. Matsuura further teaches, the manufacturing method of claim 16, wherein the magnetic powder comprises an iron-based soft magnetic powder (a metal such as Fe or Ni, para. [0047]) mixed with an adhesive, the iron-based soft magnetic powder comprises carbonyl, iron silicon chromium, iron silicon aluminum, iron silicon, amorphous, nanocrystalline alloy, iron nickel, MPP iron nickel molybdenum, silicon, iron cobalt nickel, manganese zinc, nickel zinc, or a combination thereof, the adhesive comprises an organic resin, an epoxy resin or an aldehyde resin having 1.5%-4.5% of unit weight (3 wt % of epoxy resin was mixed and kneaded with the particle mixture to produce a resin composition mixture, para. [0097]).
Regarding claim 18, Matsuura in view of Toshiyuki teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 17. Matsuura further teaches, the manufacturing method of claim 17, wherein the magnetic powder further comprises nickel, manganese, magnesium, copper, zinc, boron, lithium, sodium, carbon, cobalt, niobium, barium, palladium, potassium, bismuth, graphene, amorphous, nanocrystalline, a combination of above metals, or metal oxide or metal carbonate with above metals (the first and second metal magnetic particles 31 and 32 are particles of (1) a metal such as Fe or Ni, (2) a crystalline alloy such as an Fe—Si—Cr alloy, an Fe—Si—Al alloy, an Fe—Si alloy, or an Fe—Ni alloy, (3) an amorphous alloy such as an Fe—Si—B alloy, an Fe—Si—Cr—B—C alloy, or an Fe—Si—Cr—B alloy, or (4) a mixture thereof, para. [0047]).
Regarding claim 20, Matsuura in view of Toshiyuki teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 16. Matsuura further teaches, the manufacturing method of claim 16, wherein the metal conductor is made by gold, silver, copper, nickel or aluminum (copper wire…to produce the coil conductor 25, para. [0097]).
Regarding claim 26, Matsuura in view of Toshiyuki teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 16. Matsuura further teaches, the manufacturing method of claim 16, wherein the magnetic core body comprises rectangular shape (see magnetic base body 10, Fig. 2), E shape, I shape, U shape, rectangular shape with single groove, rectangular shape with dual grooves, rectangular shape with multiple grooves, polygonal shape with single groove, polygonal shape with dual grooves or polygonal shape with multiple grooves.
Regarding claim 27, Matsuura in view of Toshiyuki teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 16. Matsuura further teaches, the manufacturing method of claim 16, wherein a coil number of the metal conductor is 0.25N and N is an integer of 2 or more (enamel-coated copper wire having a diameter of 2 mm was wound around the coil axis Ax for 4.5 turns to produce the coil conductor 25, para. [0097]).
Regarding claim 28, Matsuura in view of Toshiyuki teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 16. Matsuura further teaches, the manufacturing method of claim 16, wherein forming pressure of the heating and pressing molding process is 5-15 T/cm3 (molding pressure of 12 ton/cm2, para. [0097].
Regarding claim 29, Toshiyuki further teaches, the manufacturing method of claim 16, wherein the section heating process heats up the magnetic core and the metal conductor from 250 C to 8500 C in gradual section, the process time of the calcining process and the tempering process is 5-12 hours, and the cooling process cools down to 250 C in gradual section (performing high-temperature tempering, a temperature of less than 7000 C is preferable, less than 6500 C is more preferable, and less than 6000 C is even preferable, para. [0025], powders were subjected to quenching and/or tempering treatment in an Ar atmosphere furnace. These processes were carried out at a predetermined temperature and time, followed by furnace cooling, para. [0031]). Therefore, in view of the teachings of Toshiyuki, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the manufacturing method of the power inductor device of Matsuura and to include a calcining process, tempering process and cooling process as Toshiyuki disclosed in para. [0025-0031] so that it enables manufacturing power inductor devices having high saturation magnetic flux density.
Claim(s) 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuura in view of Toshiyuki as applied to claim 16 as above, and further in view of Rao (CN 113593843).
Regarding claim 30, Matsuura in view of Toshiyuki teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 16. Matsuura further teaches, the manufacturing method of claim 16, wherein an electroplating treatment (external electrodes 21, 22 may include a plating layer, para. [0075]). Modified Matsuura does not teach, insulation layer is formed by spray painting to cover outside surface of the magnetic core body and the two ends of the metal conductor being exposed outside the insulation layer. However, Rao teaches, a manufacturing method of an inductor, in which, an insulation layer is formed by spray painting to cover outside surface of the magnetic core body and the two ends of the metal conductor being exposed outside the insulation layer after a laser stripping process (S5. spray painting: Using insulating material, a full-coverage spray is applied to the end face of the inductor processing intermediate part on the side where the end is exposed, so that a dense insulating coating is formed on the end face of the inductor processing intermediate part on that side, para. [0023, 0043], unless otherwise defined, Rao teaches, forming the insulation layer by spray painting and stripping the outside conductors). Therefore, in view of the teachings of Rao, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the manufacturing method of the power inductor device of Matsuura and forming an insulation layer by spray painting as Rao disclosed in para. [0023] so that it enables manufacturing power inductor devices having a dense insulation coating at the end faces as Rao disclosed in para. [0043].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19 and 21-25 are 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 and to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for indicating allowable subject matter:
Claim 19 would be allowable for disclosing a manufacturing method of a power inductor device, wherein the particle size comprises a first particle size, a second particle size and a third particle size, the first particle size is 10 nm-5 µm, the second particle size is 8.5 µm-15 µm, and the third particle size is 18 µm-35 µm.
Claim 21 would be allowable for disclosing a manufacturing method of a power inductor device, further comprises the steps of: providing a first magnetic core with a rectangle structure having a first groove at one side and a second groove at another side, a columnar magnetic body is disposed between the first groove and the second groove to form a first U-shaped groove and a second U-shaped groove, the first U-shaped groove has first openings at both ends and the second U-shaped groove has second openings at both ends; providing a first cover core with a plate structure having a first channel corresponding to the first U-shaped groove; placing a first metal conductor in the first U-shaped groove and two ends of the first metal conductor pass through the first openings; providing a second cover core with another plate structure having a second channel corresponding to the second U-shaped groove, the first U-shaped groove and the second U-shaped groove are not connected; placing a second metal conductor in the second U-shaped groove and two ends of the second metal conductor pass through the second openings.
Though, prior art of record Matsuura teaches, a magnetic core body including first metal magnetic particles and second metal magnetic particles, and average particle size of the second metal magnetic particles 32 may be ½ or less, ⅓ or less, ¼ or less, ⅕ or less, 3/20 or less, or 1/10 or less of the average particle size of the first metal magnetic particles 31…average particle size of the first metal magnetic particles 31 may be, for example, 1 μm to 50 μm, Matsuura fails to teach, the magnetic powder having a third particle size, the first particle size is 10 nm-5 µm, the second particle size is 8.5 µm-15 µm, and the third particle size is 18 µm-35 µm; or providing a first magnetic core with a rectangle structure having a first groove at one side and a second groove at another side, a columnar magnetic body is disposed between the first groove and the second groove to form a first U-shaped groove and a second U-shaped groove, the first U-shaped groove has first openings at both ends and the second U-shaped groove has second openings at both ends; providing a first cover core with a plate structure having a first channel corresponding to the first U-shaped groove; placing a first metal conductor in the first U-shaped groove and two ends of the first metal conductor pass through the first openings; providing a second cover core with another plate structure having a second channel corresponding to the second U-shaped groove, the first U-shaped groove and the second U-shaped groove are not connected; placing a second metal conductor in the second U-shaped groove and two ends of the second metal conductor pass through the second openings.
Though, prior art Ishida (US 20220102036) teaches, a manufacturing method of an inductor including magnetic powder comprising first magnetic particles, second magnetic particles, third magnetic particles, Ishida does not teach, the first particle size is 10 nm-5 µm, the second particle size is 8.5 µm-15 µm, and the third particle size is 18 µm-35 µm; or providing a first magnetic core with a rectangle structure having a first groove at one side and a second groove at another side, a columnar magnetic body is disposed between the first groove and the second groove to form a first U-shaped groove and a second U-shaped groove, the first U-shaped groove has first openings at both ends and the second U-shaped groove has second openings at both ends; providing a first cover core with a plate structure having a first channel corresponding to the first U-shaped groove; placing a first metal conductor in the first U-shaped groove and two ends of the first metal conductor pass through the first openings; providing a second cover core with another plate structure having a second channel corresponding to the second U-shaped groove, the first U-shaped groove and the second U-shaped groove are not connected; placing a second metal conductor in the second U-shaped groove and two ends of the second metal conductor pass through the second openings.
Prior art of record Rao does not teach, the first particle size is 10 nm-5 µm, the second particle size is 8.5 µm-15 µm, and the third particle size is 18 µm-35 µm; or providing a first magnetic core with a rectangle structure having a first groove at one side and a second groove at another side, a columnar magnetic body is disposed between the first groove and the second groove to form a first U-shaped groove and a second U-shaped groove, the first U-shaped groove has first openings at both ends and the second U-shaped groove has second openings at both ends; providing a first cover core with a plate structure having a first channel corresponding to the first U-shaped groove; placing a first metal conductor in the first U-shaped groove and two ends of the first metal conductor pass through the first openings; providing a second cover core with another plate structure having a second channel corresponding to the second U-shaped groove, the first U-shaped groove and the second U-shaped groove are not connected; placing a second metal conductor in the second U-shaped groove and two ends of the second metal conductor pass through the second openings.
Therefore, claims 19 and 21 would be allowable. Claims 22-25 would be allowable for the above reasons.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Prior art Ishida (US 20220102036) teaches, a manufacturing method of an inductor device, including, providing a magnetic core body and a metal conductor, the magnetic core body being formed by a magnetic powder and the magnetic powder having a particle size; assembling the magnetic core body and the metal conductor, the metal conductor being placing in the magnetic core body and two ends of the metal conductor being exposed outside the magnetic core body; conducting a heating and pressing molding process to the magnetic core body and the metal conductor to form a combination structure.
Prior art Wang (US 9715957) teaches, a manufacturing method of an inductor device, including, a magnetic core body and a metal conductor, the magnetic core body being formed by a magnetic powder and the magnetic powder having a particle size; assembling the magnetic core body and the metal conductor, the metal conductor being placing in the magnetic core body and two ends of the metal conductor being exposed outside the magnetic core body; conducting a heating and pressing process to the magnetic core body and the metal conductor to form a combination structure; and conducting a heating process, calcining process and cooling process.
Prior art Akujarvi (Akujarvi et.al., Evolution of magnetic properties during tempering, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 2022, 119, 2329–2339) teaches tempering heat treatment of a magnetic powder.
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/JOSE K ABRAHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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