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 Species A (claims 1-5) in the reply filed on 6/30/26 is acknowledged. Claims 6-13 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention Species B-F, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/30/26.
An OA on the merits of claims 1-5 as follows:
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested:
--"A method of stacking wave winding wires for a stator motor”--
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-5 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
“,” (claim 1, lines 5, 8, 12, 16, respectively) at the end of each limitation, should be updated to: --“;” --.
Claim 5 appears to be in improper format therefore, it is suggested to rewrite claim 5 in standard independent claim format including all of the limitations of claim 1 instead of merely referring to claim 1. Appropriate correction is required.
Note that it appears that the invention method operatively associated with a stacking device 16 includes magazines directed to me
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 1-5 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.
Since the method associated with “a magazine “(see lines 4-12) therefore, the preamble of claim should be including “a magazine” for clarity of claim scope.
The following changes is/are suggested:
-- A stacking method operatively associated with at least one magazine 14 of a stacking device 16 for stacking wave winding wires to form a winding mat for a coil winding of a stator, the stacking method comprising steps of:” --.
“the steps of” (claim 1, lines 2-3) Lacks proper antecedent basis, and appears to be: --steps of--.
The phrase: “providing at least one magazine containing a plurality of similar wave winding wires in a receiving space,” (claim 1, lines 4-5) should be more specific such as: -- providing at least one magazine comprises a receiving space having a contour shaped, the receiving space containing a plurality of the wave winding wires” --, to reflect the above suggested
“is configured” as a drop magazine such that the receiving space extends, with at least one directional component, in a vertical direction through the magazine (claim 1, lines 6-8) is/are awkwardly worded and confusing consider to be functionally intended use, since no inventive method associated with this
Whether or not “the magazine” (claim 1, in line 6 and 8) as same as “at least one magazine” in line 4 of claim 1 or not?
The phrase: “is configured to received wave winding wires, so that the wave winding wires are positioned at a plurality of guide devices at different locations of a boundary of the receiving space and are guided through the receiving space without changing their geometry” (claim 1, lines 9-10) is functionally intended use should be updated to active method step/limitation as following:
-- receiving the plurality of wave winding and positioning and guiding the plurality of wave winding on a plurality of guide at different locations of a boundary of the receiving space of the at least one magazine without changing geometry of the plurality of wave winding” --, for clarity of the method claim formats.
“is provided” (claim 1, line 13) is not positively active method limitation.
Further, the phrase:” positioning a workpiece carrier which is provided with a retaining structure for the winding mat formed of a plurality of stacked wave winding wires in a first transfer position below the at least one magazine and depositing a wave winding wire from the at least one magazine at a first position on the workpiece carrier,”(claim 1, lines 13-16) awkwardly worded and confusing in that it is not known if “a workpiece carrier” (see line 13 of claim 1) as a part of the provided magazine or else? Please clarify?
(note that if “a workpiece carrier “is not part of the associated magazine then another step such as “providing a workpiece carrier of the stacking device” should have been incorporated into the body of the base claim 1, respectively).
Similar to the above apply to lines 17-20 which appears to be awkwardly worded and confusing in that it is not known whether the claimed “the workpiece carrier” (lines 17-20 of claim 1) actually is/are a part of the method claimed or not, since it is structure entity outside of the method.
“further comprising: providing a plurality of the at least one magazine, each” (claim 2, lines 1-2) should be more specific the use of: -- “wherein the providing at least one magazine further includes plurality of magazines, each of the magazine of the plurality magazines” --, for clarity of method claim formats.
Claim 2, about lines 4-8 is/are also raise issues similar to that as in claim 1 above (see lines 13-16 of claim 1).
Claim 3 is are not understood since in the base claim 1, there is at least one two depositing under the “positioning of the work carrier” (see line 15 and line 19 of claim 1) thus it is not known as to which of the depositing occurrence in the claim 1 to which claim 3 is directed to?
“to be deposited” (claim 3, line 3, 4-5, and area at well) is not an active method limitation.
Whether or not “a separate device” (claim 3, about line 4) is part of the associated magazine or another device associated with the process? please clarify.
Claim 4 entirely is confusing in that it is not known if the positioning cited in claim 4 related to one of the positioning (s)which occurrence earlier in base claim 1?
Claim 5 scope directed to another method other than one of claim 1 which made scope of claim 5 unclear (see also claim objection to above).
Due to the 35 USC 112(b) issues noted above for claims 1-5, the examiner is not able to make a meaningful prior art rejection at this time for claims 1 -5. Note that such omission of any prior art rejection is not to be construed as an indication of allowable subject matter, since the patentability determination of these claims cannot be made at this time due to the ambiguity in the claim language. Upon the resolution of the 35 USC 112(b) issues, the examiner may apply prior art
rejections as deemed appropriate.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINH N TRINH whose telephone number is (571)272-4569. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH ~5:00-3:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas J Hong can be reached at 571-272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MINH N TRINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
mt
Prosecution Insights