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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-10, filed 06/22/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the claim amendments and new prior art.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et al. (US 20140091683 A1) in view of Sakamoto et al. (CN 214799132 U).
Regarding claim 1, Ito discloses a motor (100), comprising:
a motor part (1) comprising a rotor (4) rotatable around a central axis, and a stator (5) facing the rotor (4) in a radial direction with a gap therebetween (FIG. 1);
a circuit board (25) arranged on an axial one side of the motor part (1);
a connection terminal (13) arranged between the stator (5) and the circuit board (25) in an axial direction;
a first housing (6) having a first opening (see annotation below) that is open at the axial one side and accommodating the motor part (1); and
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a second housing (30, 35, 36) arranged on the axial one side of the first housing (6),
wherein the stator (5) comprises: an annular stator core (8) fixed to the first housing (6), a coil (10) comprising a plurality of coil bodies (12 salient poles) attached to the stator core (8), and an insulator (9) arranged between the stator core (8) and the coil (10),
the connection terminal (13) electrically connects the coil (10) and the circuit board (25),
the second housing (30, 35, 36) comprises:
a board accommodator (30, 36) having a cylindrical shape that extends in the axial direction and accommodating the circuit board (25);
a board holding part (31) holding the circuit board (25); and
a terminal holding part (31; also acts as a terminal holding part) holding the connection terminal (13; FIG. 1),
an outer peripheral surface (outer surface of housing 36) of the board accommodator (30, 36) constitutes a portion of an outer peripheral surface of the second housing (30, 35, 36; FIG. 1, 2).
Ito does not disclose the terminal holding part is connected to an inner side surface of the board accommodator, and the terminal holding part protrudes toward a radially inner side from the inner side surface of the board accommodator.
Sakamoto discloses the terminal holding part (see annotation below) is connected to an inner side surface of the board accommodator (30), and the terminal holding part protrudes toward a radially inner side from the inner side surface of the board accommodator (30; FIG. 2).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Ito in view of Sakamoto to disclose the terminal holding part is connected to an inner side surface of the board accommodator, and the terminal holding part protrudes toward a radially inner side from the inner side surface of the board accommodator, for the advantages of reinforcing the board accommodator to increase rigidity and decrease vibration.
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Regarding claim 2/1, Ito in view of Sakamoto was discussed above in claim 1. Ito further discloses wherein the coil (10) comprises a coil lead-out wire (windings ends ¶ [0028]) led out from the coil body to the axial one side (to the terminals 12 in FIG. 1) and connected to the connection terminal (13), and
the terminal holding part (31) is arranged further on the axial one side than the stator core (8).
Regarding claim 12/1, Ito in view of Sakamoto was discussed above in claim 1. Ito further discloses wherein the board accommodator (30) has a second opening (see annotation below) that is open at the axial other side, and
an inside of the first housing (6) and an inside of the second housing (30, 35, 36) are connected to each other via the first opening and the second opening.
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core (8).
Regarding claim 13/1, Ito in view of Sakamoto was discussed above in claim 1. Ito further discloses wherein the motor (1) is fixed to an mounted body (6),
the second housing (30, 35, 36) has a flange protruding toward the radially outer side from the board accommodator (30, 36; FIG. 1; the flange on the outer side of the frame 30), and
the flange is fixed to the mounted body (6).
Regarding claim 14/1, Ito in view of Sakamoto was discussed above in claim 1. Sakamoto further discloses a pump (1), comprising: the motor (10) according to claim 1, and a pump mechanism (90) connected to the rotor (21).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-11 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.
Regarding claims 3-11, the allowable subject matter was discussed in the Non-Final Rejection mailed 03/25/2026.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINKI CHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-0521. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Seye Iwarere can be reached at (571) 270-5112. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MINKI CHANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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