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 statement (IDS) submitted on 5/13/2024, and 11/12/2024 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kawasaki (JP,62-132660,U1).
Claim 1
A rotating electrical machine comprising:
a stator (of stator core 1) which is equipped with a stator winding (2);
a rotor (of rotor core 3) which is arranged to face the stator (of stator core 1);
a housing (provided by frame 8) in which the stator (of stator core 1) and the rotor (of rotor core 3) are disposed;
a coolant supply unit (Fig. 4) which is arranged vertically above the stator (of stator core 1) and the rotor (of rotor core 3) in a condition where the rotating electrical machine is mounted in place, the coolant supply unit (Fig. 4) working to deliver liquid coolant into the housing (provided by frame 8); and
a coolant guide (7) which serves to direct a flow of the coolant, as delivered from the coolant supply unit (7), into an air gap (gap provided between stator core and rotor core) between the stator (of stator core 1) and the rotor (of rotor core 3).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 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.
Claim 2/1
Claim 2 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As for Claim 2, Kawasaki teaches the following:
The rotating electrical machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein the rotating electrical machine has an outer-rotor (of rotor core 3) structure in which the rotor (of rotor core 3) is located radially outside the stator (of stator core 1) and is used with an axis thereof oriented to extend substantially in a horizontal direction;
The prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest, alone or in obvious combination, inter alia:
the stator winding has a winding bend defined by an axial end portion thereof which is bent radially outward, the winding bend working as the coolant guide.
Claims 4-5, and 7 stand allowed over all prior art based on their virtue of depending on claim 2.
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.
Claim 3/1
Claim 3 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As for Claim 3, Kawasaki teaches the rotating electrical machine as set forth in claim 1.
The prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest, alone or in obvious combination, inter alia:
wherein the rotating electrical machine has an outer-rotor structure in which the rotor is located radially outside the stator and is used with an axis thereof oriented to extend substantially in a horizontal direction, the stator winding includes multi-phase windings defined by a plurality of winding segments, each of the winding segments includes a pair of intermediate conductive portions and connecting conductive portions which are located at a first axial end and a second axial end of the stator winding, the connecting conductive portions connecting the intermediate conductive portions together in an annular shape, within an interval between the intermediate conductive portions of each of the winding segments for a first phase, a corresponding one of the intermediate conductive portions of each of the winding segments for a second phase, so that the intermediate conductive portions of the multi-phase windings are arranged in a predetermined order in a circumferential direction of the stator winding, at least one of the connecting conductive portions of the winding segments overlapping each other at one of axial ends of the stator winding is bent radially outward to define a winding bend, the winding bend serves as the coolant guide..
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.
Claim 6/1
Claim 6 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As for Claim 6, Kawasaki teaches the rotating electrical machine as set forth in claim 1.
The prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest, alone or in obvious combination, inter alia:
wherein the rotating electrical machine has an outer-rotor structure in which the rotor is located radially outside the stator and is used with an axis thereof oriented to extend substantially in a horizontal direction, the stator includes a stator core around which the stator winding is wound, the stator core having an annular wall which is located outside the rotor in an axial direction of the rotor on an axial end portion of the stator core and faces an axial end surface of the rotor, the annular wall serves as the coolant guide.
2. 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.
Claim 8/1
Claim 8 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As for Claim 8, Kawasaki teaches the rotating electrical machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein the coolant supply unit (Fig. 4) includes a coolant path (4) and a coolant outlet (81), the coolant path (4) extending along a wall of the housing (provided by frame 8), the coolant outlet (81) having the coolant, as delivered from the coolant path (4), drop down (as indicated by arrows curving in opposite axial direction than that of the outlet 81);
The prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest, alone or in obvious combination, inter alia:
the coolant path has a momentum reducer which works to decrease momentum of flow of the coolant.
2. 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED F SECK whose telephone number is (571)272-4638. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 4:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Koehler can be reached at (571) 272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AHMED F SECK/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/CHRISTOPHER M KOEHLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834