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 .
Claims 5-7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/23/25.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (US20240297554) in view of Mizuyama (US4383191).
With respect to claim 1 Wang discloses an omnidirectional cooling guide (see figures 4 and 5, guide including nozzles 405) which is attached to the inside of a motor housing to guide a flow direction of cooling oil, the cooling guide comprising:
An insertion part (outer rim of the plate as shown in figure 5) extending around a motor axis while having an arc shape, one of two ends of the insertion part inserted into the motor housing (that being the outer radial surface);
A guide part extending from the other end of the two ends of the insertion part (that being the inward projecting portion of the plate) and guiding a spray direction of cooling oil (by means of the nozzles 405) toward a coil ,
Wherein the insertion part is applied to an entire circumference of the motor housing in a radial direction (see figure 4).
Wang does not disclose the guide part directing the cooling oil by colliding with the flow flowing between the motor housing and a stator.
Mizuyama discloses a cooling flow directing guide which directs the cooling flow to a desired location by the flow colliding with a portion of the guide (see figures 3 and 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Mizuyama to use a guide member which uses a colliding with the guide to direct the cooling flow with the oil cooled motor structure of Wang. The motivation for doing so would be the structure of Mizuyama would be simple to manufacture and install while providing the needed guiding of the flow.
With respect to claim 2 Wang as modified further discloses wherein the insertion part is made of an elastic material (see para 55 “snap fitted to the mounting groove” would necessitate an elastic deformation and return to shape to be so fitted.) and includes a fastening hole passing through each of the two ends of the insertion part (see Mizuyama for the teachings of the fasteners passing through the guide figure 11 element 24 shows such a fastener, the use of any number of needed fasteners would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill and a symmetrical arrangement thereof would have been obvious to provide the maximum amount of material for the stresses to be spread through).
With respect to claim 3 Wang as modified further discloses wherein the guide part includes a plurality of first guides guiding cooling oil in a first predetermined direction and a plurality of second guides guiding cooling oil in a second direction that is different from the first direction, and the first and second directions are different from each other. Wang discloses the use of multiple nozzles, which would allow for the directing of the cooling oil in any desired direction. Mizuyama discloses in different embodiments the use of differently shaped deflector elements, see embodiments of figures4,8,9,10 and 11 which teach different shapes of deflector plates. The combined teachings would allow for the control at discrete locations as taught by wang the use of different shapes to provide different flow characteristics of the different embodiments of Mizuyama. This would allow for the cooling of separate and diverse sources of heat as is taught by the plurality of nozzles.
With respect to claim 4 Wang as modified by Mizuyama further discloses wherein the first guide extends in a vertical direction from the insertion part to an inner surface of the motor housing (see flat portion of the plate of Wang which extends inward) and the second guide extends while being bent by a predetermined angle from the insertion part to the inner surface of the motor housing and is inclined in a direction opposite the stator (see the bends in the embodiments of figures 4 and 8 of Mizuyama). It would have been an obvious smatter to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Wang and Mizuyama to arrive at such bent features and unbent fe3atures to direct the oil in the different directions.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kim (EP4518105) discloses a cooling guide structure; Eiserer (US20230213222) discloses a cooling structure for liquid cooling dispersion; Ziskovsky (US20220209618) disclose a motor with coolant spray ring; Tilton (US7397154) discloses a spray cooled motor.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST M PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)272-9020. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00.
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, Dedei Hammond can be reached at (571) 272-3985. 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.
/FORREST M PHILLIPS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837