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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/29/2023, 4/9/2024, 12/30/2024, 1/17/2025, 9/30/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement are being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species B, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 10/20/2025.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A in the reply filed on 10/20/2025 is acknowledged.
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 2-3, and 8-9 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.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the front housing is communicated with the oil inlet of the rear housing " in lines 2-3. Furthermore, claim 3 recites “the front housing is arranged coaxially with the oil outlet of the rear housing” in lines 2-3.There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims as there were no previously introduced front and rear housings. Examiner interprets that Applicant wishes to refer to the plural housings of claim 2 as comprising a front housing and rear housing however claim limitations need to be corrected to correct this informality. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 8 recites the limitation " wherein the number of the oil diverting grooves equals to the number of teeth of the stator iron core" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim as there no specified numbers previously introduced as being associated with the diverting grooves and stator teeth. Additionally, there were no previous disclosures of the stator having teeth. Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1
Claim 1 is allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
As for claim 1, Woolmer teaches:
A cooling system (Fig. 11), comprising a housing (102), wherein a bottom of the housing (102) has an installation position for installing a stator iron core (116); the cooling system (Fig. 11) further comprises:
an inlet cavity (156) and an return cavity (156), which are provided in the housing (102);
an inlet (156) and an outlet (160), which are provided on an outer wall of the housing (102), wherein the inlet (156) is communicated with the inlet cavity (152), and the outlet is communicated with the return cavity (152);
and a plurality of oil diverting grooves (155 reasonably provided on relative bottom portion of 102) provided at the bottom of the housing (102), wherein the oil diverting grooves (155) penetrate through the installation position.
Woolmer teaches the cooling system (Fig. 11) being provided with liquid coolant but is silent to the specificity of the coolant being oil as required by the claim. It is known within the art however to use oil to effectively provide cooling to a stator-focused coolant system in an axial flux motor similar to that of Woolmer. Chen for example teaches a stator cooling system comprised of stator cores (13), that are cooled via a liquid inlet (17) and liquid outlet (18).
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It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art of the claimed invention to utilize oil to cool a cooling system similar to that taught by Woolmer. Stator windings are known to generate significant heat, and oil formidably offers superior heat transfer (conduction/convection), efficiently removing heat from tight spaces such as those that exist between stator teeth and windings to boost power density, efficiency and motor life.
Woolmer teaches a singular annular peripheral cavity (152) used for both oil inlet and return. Woolmer is silent however to teaching at least two cavities individually designated for the oil inlet and the oil return such that: an oil inlet cavity and an oil return cavity, which are provided in the housing; the oil inlet is communicated with the oil inlet cavity, and the oil outlet is communicated with the oil return cavity;
The concept of designating two cavities for the inlet and return of oil via an oil inlet and outlet is a known implementation within the art however. Wang for example teaches providing separate peripheral inlet and return cavities (15 and 16) divided by a housing block to facilitate the separation of these two separate cavities, wherein an oil inlet (7) communicates with the inlet cavity and an oil outlet (8) communicates with the return cavity.
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It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) of the claim invention to modify Woolmer’s cooling system to designate an oil inlet cavity and the oil return cavity that are provided in the housing; wherein the oil inlet is communicated with the oil inlet cavity, and the oil outlet is communicated with the oil return cavity. Wang explicitly teaches that separating the inlet and return cavities by a block allows directed and controlled flow of cooling oil- ensuring that oil entering the system follows a defined circulation path through the system before returning to the outlet cavity. A PHOSITA would have recognized that incorporating this separation feature into the system of Woolmer would improve cooling efficiency, reduce thermal mixing of incoming and outgoing oil streams, and enable more predictable temperature management within the stator. The modification represents a predictable use of known techniques (separating fluid paths to control circulation) to yield an expected improvement In performance, consistent with KSR v. Teleflex.
The prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest, alone or in obvious combination, inter alia:
an oil spraying hole and an oil return hole, which are provided on an inner wall of the housing, wherein the oil spraying hole is communicated with the oil inlet cavity, and the oil return hole is communicated with the oil return cavity;
Neither of the cited references teaches or suggests providing oil spraying holes and oil return holes formed on the inner wall of the housing, wherein the spraying holes communicate with the oil inlet cavity, and the oil return holes communicate with the oil return cavity. In the systems of record, oil circulation is achieved through bulk cavity flow or through channels defined by the stator and associated components, rather than through discrete holes that directly spray oil from the housing wall into the stator and discrete holes used to redirect the liquid used to cool the stator back into the return cavity.
A person of ordinary skill in the art of the claimed invention would not have been motivated to modify the cooling structure of the prior art to include such holes, because doing so would require reconfiguring the flow path, sealing interfaces, and structural integrity of the housing to accommodate pressurized oil spray and return features. The prior art systems rely on the annular cavities and radial flow passages to provide uniform cooling; thus, adding localized spraying holes and return holes would represent a departure from the established cooling principle of the prior art references and would introduce new design challenges-such as maintaining pressure balance, avoiding leakage, and ensuring even distribution of oil.
Claims 2-10 stand allowed over all prior art based on their virtue of depending on claim 1.
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.
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, 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
/MAGED M ALMAWRI/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834