DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The following is in response to applicants submission (e.g. amendment, remarks, etc.) filed on January 30, 2026.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1, 2 and 6 through 10 remain as being withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on October 21, 2025.
Specification
The objections to the specification in the previous office action1 have been withdrawn in light of the amendments to the Title and Abstract.
Claim Interpretation
The claim interpretation is maintained from the previous office action for “means of a first punch” (Claim 4) and “means of second punch” (Claim 5).
Response to Arguments
Applicants arguments with respect to Claims 3 through 5 have been fully considered, but are now moot because the following new grounds of rejections do not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 3 and 11 through 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication 2007/0138891 to Hurst (hereinafter “Hurst”) in view of U.S. Publication 2017/0310176 to Kawaguchi et al (hereinafter “Kawaguchi”).
Claim 3: Hurst discloses a method for producing a rotor comprising:
providing a rotor body (e.g. 11, Fig. 1) having a cylindrical rotor core (e.g. 13) and a plurality of surface magnets (e.g. 15) disposed so as to be distributed on a lateral surface (e.g. 23) of said cylindrical rotor core in a form of rotor poles and which have a cross-sectional shape with a convex curvature (e.g. 33) oriented toward an outer circumference (of the rotor body);
providing a sleeve-shaped protective cover (e.g. 17) for receiving the rotor body;
inserting the rotor body into the sleeve-shaped protective cover (e.g. Fig. 2); and
shaping, with a crown tool [extrusion tool or extrusion machine], a flange collar (e.g. 41 or 47) on an [inner] end face of the sleeve-shaped protective cover into radially indented regions (e.g. 45) between convex curvatures of adjacent surface magnets of the surface magnets, resulting in a form-locking and/or a force-locking [e.g. swaged] connection between the radially indented regions and the surface magnets (e.g. ¶¶ [0017], [0022]).
Claim 11: Hurst discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of surface magnets distributed on the lateral surface of said cylindrical rotor core are disposed on the lateral surface with a space (at 25, Fig. 1) between the adjacent surface magnets and the flange collar is shaped in the shaping step such that each of the radially indented regions is indented into the space between adjacent surface magnets (e.g. Fig. 2).
Claim 12: Hurst discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein each of the radially indented regions protrudes into a space (at 25, Fig. 1) between the adjacent surface magnets (e.g. Fig. 2).
Claim 13: Hurst discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein the radially indented regions are indented between the convex faces (e.g. 33, Fig. 1) of the adjacent surface magnets (e.g. Figs. 1 or 2).
Hurst does not appear to teach that the cross-sectional shape of the magnets are “bread-loafed shaped” [as required in Claim 1]. However, Kawaguchi discloses that it is well-known to have surface magnets (e.g. 22) formed with a bread loaf-shaped cross-sectional shape (e.g. Figs. 5 and 6) including a convex surface that is oriented with a cylindrical rotor core (e.g. 21).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the surface magnets of Hurst with the bread loaf-shaped cross-sectional shape taught by Kawaguchi, to orient them with an equivalent cylindrical core and achieve the same purpose of forming rotor poles for an art-recognized equivalent rotor.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hurst in view of Kawaguchi, as applied to Claim 3 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent 9,472,984 to Taniguchi (hereinafter “Taniguchi”).
Hurst, as modified by Kawaguchi, discloses the claimed manufacturing method as relied upon above in Claim 3. The modified Hurst method does not teach that the protective cover has a chamfer [in Claim 4] or a second punch [in Claim 5].
Claim 4: Taniguchi discloses a method of making an art recognized equivalent rotor body (e.g. 12, Fig. 2) that includes a sleeve-shaped protective cover (e.g. 124, Fig. 4) having chamfer [left end of 124 with diameter De2, Fig. 4]. The chamfer is radially widened on an end face as an insertion aid for a rotor body (e.g. 121), wherein the rotor body is introduced via the chamfer into the sleeve-shaped protective cover (e.g. Fig. 4) and wherein the chamfer is bent radially inwardly by means of a first punch (e.g. K, Figs. 6 to 7, col. 4, lines 59-64) before shaping of a flange collar (e.g. 123)
Claim 5: Alternatively to Claim 4, Taniguchi discloses a method after performing a shaping of a flange collar (e.g. 123, Fig. 5), pressing the flange collar by means of a second punch (e.g. K) against the rotor body on the outer circumference thereof (e.g. col. 4, lines 59-64).
The claimed “second punch” of Taniguchi in Claim 5 is only recited as one single punch, not two and thus, the crimping tool (K) can be read as the claimed “second punch” in Claim 5 and alternatively as the “first punch” in Claim 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 modified the protective cover of Hurst by adding a chamfer to the protective cover and second punch, as taught by Taniguchi, to provide the widened area of the protective cover for greater ease and accuracy of insertion of the rotor body within the protective cover.
Conclusion
Applicants amendment filed as part of their submission has 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 A. DEXTER TUGBANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4570. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00 am to 5:00 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, THOMAS J. HONG can be reached at 571-272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A. DEXTER TUGBANG/Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3729
1 Non-Final action, dated November 4, 2025.
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