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 .
Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of Amendment filed March 2, 2026.
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) 1-3, 7-9, 15, and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou et al. (Foreign Patent Document No.: CN 215897411 U) in view of Wakui et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2020/0381968 A1).
For claim 1, Zou et al. disclose the claimed invention comprising: an oil discharge port (reference numeral 73, see figures 6, 7); and a first end face (i.e. figure 6) and a second end face (i.e. figure 7) opposite to each other (i.e. balancing disk 7 of figure 1 having end faces shown in figures 6 and 7), wherein the first end face (figure 6) is configured to fit on an end face of a rotor core (reference numeral 9, see figure 1), the second end face (figure 7) has an annular groove (i.e. groove in which port 73 is disposed in figure 7), and the oil discharge port (reference numeral 73) is communicated with the first end face and the annular groove (i.e. first end face shown in figure 6 and annular groove in figure 7), to enable oil flowing out of the oil discharge port (reference numeral 73) to be discharged through the annular groove (i.e. groove in which port 73 is disposed in figure 7). Zou et al. however do not specifically disclose a size of the oil discharge port gradually increasing from an inlet end to an outlet end of the oil discharge port.
Wakui et al. disclose a size of the oil discharge port (i.e. plate 50 having an outlet through which refrigerant path AR14 flows, see figure 8) gradually increasing from an inlet end (i.e. an end of guide portion 63 that is disposed on rotor 30, figure 8) to an outlet end (i.e. an end of guide portion 63 that is axially opposite to the end of guide portion 63 that is disposed on rotor 30) of the oil discharge port (see figure 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the size of the oil discharge port gradually increasing from an inlet to an outlet end as disclosed by Wakui et al. for the oil discharge port of Zou et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper cooling of the device.
For claim 2, Zou et al. disclose the annular groove (i.e. groove in which port 73 is disposed in figure 7) being arranged around a rotation axis of the balancing disk (see figure 7); the annular groove (i.e. groove in which port 73 is disposed in figure 7) having a first sidewall (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.) and a second sidewall (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.) spaced apart from each other (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.), and a bottom wall (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.) located between the first sidewall and the second sidewall (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.), the first sidewall (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.) is located outside the second sidewall (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.) in a radial direction of the balancing disk (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.), and a radial distance between an end of the first sidewall (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.) close to the bottom wall (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.) and the rotation axis is a first distance (see annotated figure below of Zou et al.); an outlet end of the oil discharge port (reference numeral 73) extends to the bottom wall (i.e. end of port 73 adjacent to bottom wall, see annotated figure below of Zou et al.), and a radial distance between a third sidewall (i.e. radially outermost portion of port 73) located at an outermost side in the radial direction of the balancing disk in the oil discharge port (reference numeral 73) and the rotation axis is a second distance (i.e. distance from the radially outermost portion of port 73 and a center of disk 7, see annotated figure below of Zou et al.); and the first distance is greater than or equal to the second distance (i.e. first sidewall being disposed radially outward from the port 73, see annotated figure below of Zou et al.).
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For claim 3, Zou et al. disclose the bottom wall being parallel to the first end face (i.e. bottom wall of groove shown in figure 7 and the first end face of disk adjacent to rotor 9 can be considered parallel, see figure 2); and an angle between the first sidewall and the bottom wall (see annotated figure above of Zou et al.) is greater than or equal to 90 degrees (i.e. angle formed on plate disposed on right side of rotor 9 as shown in figure 2).
For claim 7, Zou et al. disclose a plurality of oil discharge ports (reference numeral 73, figure 7), wherein the plurality of the oil discharge ports (reference numeral 73) is arranged at equal angular intervals in a circumferential direction around a rotation axis of the balancing disk (i.e. ports 73 being arranged at equal angular intervals around the center of disk 7, see figure 7).
For claim 8, Zou et al. disclose the annular groove (i.e. groove in which port 73 is disposed in figure 7) being located at a middle of the balancing disk (reference numeral 7) in a radial direction of the balancing disk (i.e. groove as bounded by the first sidewall, bottom wall, and second sidewall as shown in the annotated figure above of Zou et al. can be considered to be in the middle of the balancing disk in the radial direction).
For claim 9, Zou et al. disclose the annular groove (i.e. groove in which port 73 is disposed in figure 7) being located near an outer circumference of the balancing disk (reference numeral 7) in the radial direction of the balancing disk (i.e. groove as bounded by the first sidewall, bottom wall, and second sidewall as shown in the annotated figure above of Zou et al. can be considered to be near an outer circumference of the balancing disk in the radial direction).
For claim 15, Zou et al. disclose the claimed invention comprising: a rotor core (reference numeral 9, figure 1); a rotating shaft (reference numeral 8, figure 1); and two balancing disks (reference numeral 7, figure 1), each of the two balancing disks comprising: an oil discharge port (reference numeral 73, see figures 6, 7), and a first end face (i.e. figure 6) and a second end face (i.e. figure 7) opposite to each other (i.e. balancing disk 7 of figure 1 having end faces shown in figures 6 and 7), wherein the first end face (figure 6) is configured to fit on an end face of a rotor core (reference numeral 9, see figure 1), the second end face (figure 7) has an annular groove (i.e. groove in which port 73 is disposed in figure 7), and the oil discharge port (reference numeral 73) is communicated with the first end face and the annular groove (i.e. first end face shown in figure 6 and annular groove in figure 7), to enable oil flowing out of the oil discharge port (reference numeral 73) to be discharged through the annular groove (i.e. groove in which port 73 is disposed in figure 7), wherein the two balancing disks (reference numeral 7) and the rotor core (reference numeral 9) are fitted over the rotating shaft (reference numeral 8, see figure 1), and the two balancing disks (reference numeral 7) are respectively arranged at two ends of the rotor core (reference numeral 9) in an axial direction (see figure 1). Zou et al. however do not specifically disclose a size of the oil discharge port gradually increasing from an inlet end to an outlet end of the oil discharge port.
Wakui et al. disclose a size of the oil discharge port (i.e. plate 50 having an outlet through which refrigerant path AR14 flows, see figure 8) gradually increasing from an inlet end (i.e. an end of guide portion 63 that is disposed on rotor 30, figure 8) to an outlet end (i.e. an end of guide portion 63 that is axially opposite to the end of guide portion 63 that is disposed on rotor 30) of the oil discharge port (see figure 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the size of the oil discharge port gradually increasing from an inlet to an outlet end as disclosed by Wakui et al. for the oil discharge port of Zou et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper cooling of the device.
For claim 17, Zou et al. disclose the balancing disk (reference numeral 7) having a first mounting hole (reference numeral 75, see figures 6, 7), the rotor core (reference numeral 9) having a second mounting hole (i.e. inner periphery of rotor core 9 surrounding shaft 8, see figure 1), and the rotating shaft (reference numeral 8) passing through the first mounting hole (reference numeral 75) and the second mounting hole (see figure 1); and the rotating shaft (reference numeral 8) is hollow and has an oil hole (i.e. hole extending radially through shaft 8 near disk 7, see figure 1) in a sidewall of the rotating shaft (see figure 1), and the oil hole (i.e. hole extending radially through shaft 8 near disk 7, see figure 1) is communicated with an oil channel defined between the balancing disk (reference numeral 7) of the rotor assembly and the rotor core (reference numeral 9, see figure 1).
For claim 18, Zou et al. disclose a plurality of magnet units (reference numerals 93, 94, figure 4), wherein two corresponding magnet units (reference numerals 93, 94) are configured as a magnetic pole pair (see figure 4), and the plurality of magnet units (reference numerals 93, 94) is arranged on the end face of the rotor core (reference numeral 9) at equal intervals around a central axis of the second mounting hole (see figure 4).
For claim 19, Zou et al. disclose the claimed invention comprising: a rotor assembly (i.e. rotor 9, see figure 1) comprising: a rotor core (reference numeral 9, figure 1); a rotating shaft (reference numeral 8, figure 1); and two balancing disks (reference numeral 7, figure 1), each of the two balancing disks comprising: an oil discharge port (reference numeral 73, see figures 6, 7), and a first end face (i.e. figure 6) and a second end face (i.e. figure 7) opposite to each other (i.e. balancing disk 7 of figure 1 having end faces shown in figures 6 and 7), wherein the first end face (figure 6) is configured to fit on an end face of a rotor core (reference numeral 9, see figure 1), the second end face (figure 7) has an annular groove (i.e. groove in which port 73 is disposed in figure 7), and the oil discharge port (reference numeral 73) is communicated with the first end face and the annular groove (i.e. first end face shown in figure 6 and annular groove in figure 7), to enable oil flowing out of the oil discharge port (reference numeral 73) to be discharged through the annular groove (i.e. groove in which port 73 is disposed in figure 7), wherein the two balancing disks (reference numeral 7) and the rotor core (reference numeral 9) are fitted over the rotating shaft (reference numeral 8, see figure 1), and the two balancing disks (reference numeral 7) are respectively arranged at two ends of the rotor core (reference numeral 9) in an axial direction (see figure 1). Zou et al. however do not specifically disclose a size of the oil discharge port gradually increasing from an inlet end to an outlet end of the oil discharge port.
Wakui et al. disclose a size of the oil discharge port (i.e. plate 50 having an outlet through which refrigerant path AR14 flows, see figure 8) gradually increasing from an inlet end (i.e. an end of guide portion 63 that is disposed on rotor 30, figure 8) to an outlet end (i.e. an end of guide portion 63 that is axially opposite to the end of guide portion 63 that is disposed on rotor 30) of the oil discharge port (see figure 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the size of the oil discharge port gradually increasing from an inlet to an outlet end as disclosed by Wakui et al. for the oil discharge port of Zou et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper cooling of the device.
For claim 20, Zou et al. already disclose the structure of the claimed invention as explained for claim 19 above, and applying this structure to an apparatus such as a vehicle merely recites the intended use of the claimed invention, which does not result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art.
Claim(s) 10 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gao (Foreign Patent Document No.: CN 216851493 U).
For claim 10, Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. disclose the claimed invention except for a first oil discharge groove and a first mounting hole configured for a rotating shaft of the motor to pass through, wherein a central axis of the first mounting hole is the rotation axis of the balancing disk; and the first oil discharge groove is located on the first end face of the balancing disk and extends in the radial direction of the balancing disk, the first oil discharge groove has an inner end communicated with the first mounting hole, and an outer end configured to be communicated with an axial through hole located on the end face of the rotor core. Gao discloses a first oil discharge groove (reference numeral 144, figure 4) and a first mounting hole (reference numeral 143) configured for a rotating shaft (reference numeral 114, figure 3) of the motor to pass through (see figures 1, 3, 4), wherein a central axis of the first mounting hole (reference numeral 143) is the rotation axis of the balancing disk (see figure 4); and the first oil discharge groove (reference numeral 144) is located on the first end face of the balancing disk and extends in the radial direction of the balancing disk (see figures 4, 5), the first oil discharge groove (reference numeral 144) has an inner end communicated with the first mounting hole (see figure 4), and when applied to an axial through hole on the rotor core of Zou et al. (i.e. axial holes in rotor core 9 in figure 4) this would disclose an outer end configured to be communicated with an axial through hole located on the end face of the rotor core. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the first oil discharge groove as disclosed by Gao for the balancing disk of Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating effective cooling of the assembly.
For claim 11, Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. and Gao disclose the claimed invention except for a plurality of first oil discharge grooves and a plurality of oil discharge ports being provided in an equal number, the plurality of the first oil discharge grooves and the plurality of the oil discharge ports being arranged at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation axis, and one oil discharge port being arranged between every two adjacent first oil discharge grooves. Gao further discloses a plurality of first oil discharge grooves (reference numeral 144) and a plurality of oil discharge ports (reference numeral 150) being provided in an equal number (see figure 4), the plurality of the first oil discharge grooves (reference numeral 144) and the plurality of the oil discharge ports (reference numeral 150) being arranged at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation axis (see figure 4), and one oil discharge port (reference numeral 150) being arranged between every two adjacent first oil discharge grooves (reference numeral 144, see figure 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the plurality of first oil discharge grooves and oil discharge ports as disclosed by Gao for the first oil discharge grooves and oil discharge ports of Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. and Gao for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating effective cooling of the assembly.
Claim(s) 12 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Xu et al. (Foreign Patent Document No.: CN 115459493 A).
For claim 12, Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. disclose the claimed invention except for a second oil discharge groove, a third oil discharge groove and a first mounting hole configured for a rotating shaft of the motor to pass through, and a central axis of the first mounting hole is the rotation axis of the balancing disk; the second oil discharge groove is located on the first end face of the balancing disk and extends in the radial direction of the balancing disk, the second oil discharge groove has an inner end communicated with the first mounting hole, and an outer end configured to be communicated with an axial through hole located on the end face of the rotor core; and the third oil discharge groove is located on the first end face of the balancing disk and extends in the radial direction of the balancing disk, the third oil discharge groove has an inner end configured to be communicated with another axial through hole located on the end face of the rotor core, and an outer end communicated with the inlet end of the oil discharge port. Xu et al. disclose a second oil discharge groove (reference numeral 121, see figure 3), a third oil discharge groove (reference numeral 122) and a first mounting hole (reference numeral 124) configured for a rotating shaft (reference numeral 10, see figure 1) of the motor to pass through (see figures 1, 3), and a central axis of the first mounting hole (reference numeral 124) is the rotation axis of the balancing disk (i.e. center of disk in figure 3); the second oil discharge groove (reference numeral 121) is located on the first end face of the balancing disk and extends in the radial direction of the balancing disk (see figure 3), the second oil discharge groove (reference numeral 121) has an inner end communicated with the first mounting hole (reference numeral 124, figure 3), and an outer end configured to be communicated with an axial through hole located on the end face of the rotor core (i.e. Zou et al. disclose axial through holes on the rotor core 9 disclosed in figure 4, and when the outer end of the second discharge grooves of Xu et al. are applied to the axial through holes of Zou et al. this would disclose an outer end configured to be communicated with an axial through hole located on the end face of the rotor core); and the third oil discharge groove (reference numeral 122) is located on the first end face of the balancing disk and extends in the radial direction of the balancing disk (see figure 3), the third oil discharge groove (reference numeral 122) has an inner end configured to be communicated with another axial through hole located on the end face of the rotor core (i.e. Zou et al. disclose axial through holes on the rotor core 9 disclosed in figure 4, and when the inner end of the third discharge grooves of Xu et al. are applied to the axial through holes of Zou et al. this would disclose a third oil discharge groove having an inner end configured to be communicated with another axial through hole located on the end face of the rotor core), and an outer end communicated with the inlet end of the oil discharge port (i.e. outer end of third oil discharge groove 122 when applied to the oil discharge port 73 in Zou et al. would disclose the outer end communicated with the inlet end of the oil discharge port). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the second oil discharge groove and the third oil discharge groove as disclosed by Xu et al. for the balancing disk of Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating effective cooling of the assembly.
For claim 13, Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. and Xu et al. disclose the claimed invention except for a plurality of the second oil discharge grooves, a plurality of the third oil discharge grooves and a plurality of the oil discharge ports being provided in an equal number, and the plurality of the third oil discharge grooves being in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of the oil discharge ports in terms of position; and the plurality of the second oil discharge grooves and the plurality of the third oil discharge grooves being arranged at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation axis, and one second oil discharge groove being arranged between every two adjacent third oil discharge grooves. Xu et al. further disclose a plurality of the second oil discharge grooves (reference numeral 121, figure 3), a plurality of the third oil discharge grooves (reference numeral 122) and a plurality of the oil discharge ports being provided in an equal number (i.e. Zou et al. in figure 7 disclose a number of oil discharge ports 73 being equal to the number of second oil discharge grooves and the number of third oil discharge grooves in Xu et al.'s figure 3, reference numerals 121, 122), and the plurality of the third oil discharge grooves (reference numeral 122) being in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of the oil discharge ports in terms of position (i.e. Xu et al. already disclose the third oil discharge grooves 122 being disposed at the same positions as port components 123 in figure 3, and when applied to the oil discharge ports of Zou et al. this would disclose the plurality of the third oil discharge grooves being in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of the oil discharge ports in terms of position); and the plurality of the second oil discharge grooves (reference numeral 121) and the plurality of the third oil discharge grooves (reference numeral 122) being arranged at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation axis (see figure 3), and one second oil discharge groove (reference numeral 121) being arranged between every two adjacent third oil discharge grooves (reference numeral 122, see figure 3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the particular number of second oil discharge grooves and third oil discharge grooves as disclosed by Xu et al. for the second and third oil discharge grooves of Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. and Xu et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating effective cooling of the assembly.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamaguchi et al. (US Patent No.: 10862365).
For claim 14, Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. disclose the claimed invention except for a fourth oil discharge groove and a first mounting hole configured for a rotating shaft of the motor to pass through, and a central axis of the first mounting hole is the rotation axis of the balancing disk; and the fourth oil discharge groove is located on the first end face of the balancing disk and extends in the radial direction of the balancing disk, the fourth oil discharge groove has an inner end communicated with the first mounting hole, and an outer end communicated with the inlet end of the oil discharge port. Yamaguchi et al. disclose a fourth oil discharge groove (i.e. groove 26j of disk 26, see figures 5-7) and a first mounting hole (reference numeral 26i, see figures 5-7) configured for a rotating shaft of the motor to pass through (i.e. shaft 21 passing through hole 26i, see figures 5-7), and a central axis of the first mounting hole (reference numeral 26i) is the rotation axis of the balancing disk (see figures 5-7); and the fourth oil discharge groove (i.e. groove 26j of disk 26, see figures 5-7) is located on the first end face of the balancing disk and extends in the radial direction of the balancing disk (see figures 6, 7), the fourth oil discharge groove (i.e. groove 26j of disk 26, see figures 5-7) has an inner end communicated with the first mounting hole (reference numeral 26i, figures 5-7), and an outer end communicated with the inlet end of the oil discharge port (i.e. outer end of groove 26j communicating with port 26p, see figures 6, 7). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the fourth oil discharge groove and first mounting hole as disclosed by Yamaguchi et al. for the balancing disk of Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating effective cooling of the assembly.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Dreiman (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2016/0032925 A1).
For claim 16, Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. disclose the claimed invention except for an outer sidewall of the oil discharge port having a linear velocity greater than or equal to 120 m/s during rotation of the balancing disk. Having a particular linear velocity would merely involve having a particular rotational speed for a machine which is a known skill in the art as exhibited by Dreiman (see paragraph [0020]), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a particular rotational speed as disclosed by Dreiman so that a particular linear velocity can be attained for the oil discharge port of Zou et al. in view of Wakui et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating effective cooling of the assembly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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.
Claim 5 is also objected to for its dependency upon aforementioned claim 4.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: While the prior art discloses some of the claimed invention as explained above in the present action, the prior art of record do not sufficiently disclose the combination of features including a first projection of the first sidewall on the first end face being a circle, and the third sidewall in the oil discharge port being an arc-shaped sidewall; and the third sidewall being flush with the first sidewall in the radial direction of the balancing disk as recited in claim 4.
Claim 5 is dependent upon aforementioned claim 4.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-3 and 7-20 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.
Conclusion
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/ALEX W MOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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