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 with respect to claim(s) 1-5 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does 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
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pyeon (US 20190326800) in view of Kobayashi (US 20210013782) and Klaehn et al. (US 20200240509).
1. Pyeon teaches:
A motor device 1 having a stator 300 and a rotor 400 rotated with respect to the stator, the motor device comprising:
a case 100 in which the stator is fixed at a specified position;
a bracket 200 that closes an opening of the case and is fixed to a driven target (the gearing for shaft 4 and steering column, fig 9);
a board 800 that is fixed at a specified position 240 of the bracket and comprises a magnetic sensor 830 detecting rotation of the rotor; and
a sensor magnet 720 that is rotated together with the rotor and is opposed to the magnetic sensor, wherein the bracket comprises:
a plurality of first screw holes (annotated fig below) through which first male screw members fixing the case to the bracket are respectively inserted; and
a plurality of second screw holes (annotated fig below) through which second male screw members fixing the bracket to the driven target are respectively inserted (this is implicit due to the different kinds of holes in the bracket, see annotated fig 4); and
a plurality of insertion holes through which the second male screw members are respectively inserted, and the plurality of second screw holes and the plurality of insertion holes respectively comprise round holes that are arranged coaxially with each other and position the case with respect to the bracket (see figs 3 & 4); but does not teach that the case comprises the bracket comprises:
i) a plurality of first screw holes through which first male screw members fixing the case to the bracket are respectively inserted; and
ii) a plurality of second screw holes through which second male screw members fixing the bracket to the driven target are respectively inserted; and
iii) a plurality of female screw members into which the first male screw members are respectively screwed; and
iv) the plurality of first screw holes and the plurality of second screw holes are coplanar.
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As for points i and ii, the examiner contends that this is a mere reversal of parts which has been held to be obvious. The reversal of parts is the structure of the first and second holes that are on the bracket being put on the housing for the objective of improving maintenance of the steering device (MPEP 2144.04 VI A). As one having ordinary skill in the art could service the gearing and such by removing the bolts associated with the case, bracket and gear housing and the person having ordinary skill could also service the motor and/or the sensor assembly by removing the bolts associated with the case and the bracket which improves its versatility.
Regarding point iii, Kobayashi teaches that iii) a plurality of female screw members 32 into which the first male screw members 36 are respectively screwed to protect the hole in the sleeve assembly/bracket 18 from being damaged by the bolt. This would prolong the life of the both the housing and bracket of Pyeon.
Concluding with point iv, Klaehn et al. teach that iv) the plurality of first screw holes (on flange 20, fig 4) and the plurality of second screw holes (on flange 30, fig 4) are coplanar. As discussed above, this feature only adds to the versatility of the case and bracket.
As a result, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the invention being effectively filed to modify the invention of Pyeon so that i) a plurality of first screw holes through which first male screw members fixing the case to the bracket are respectively inserted; and ii) a plurality of second screw holes through which second male screw members fixing the bracket to the driven target are respectively inserted; and iii) a plurality of female screw members into which the first male screw members are respectively screwed; and iv) the plurality of first screw holes and the plurality of second screw holes are coplanar, as taught by Pyeon and Kobayashi and Klaen et al. so as to improve the versatility and longevity of the motor device.
2. Pyeon teaches:
The motor device according to claim 1, further comprising: a rotating shaft 500 fixed at a rotation center of the rotor (fig 3); a first bearing 610 mounted to the case; and a second bearing 600 mounted to the bracket, wherein two axial sides of the rotating shaft are rotatably supported by the first bearing and the second bearing (fig 3).
3. Pyeon teaches:
The motor device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of first screw holes and the plurality of second screw holes respectively comprise long holes in which the first male screw member and the second male screw member are movable.
4. Pyeon teaches:
The motor device according to claim 1, wherein the first screw holes and the second screw holes are respectively provided as three first screw holes and three second screw holes, and the first screw holes and the second screw holes are alternately arranged in a circumferential direction of the case with the rotor as a center (see fig 5).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pyeon in view of Kobayashi and Klaehn et al. and in further view of Nakamura et al. (US 20090267433).
5. Pyeon teaches:
A manufacturing method of a motor device 1 having a stator 300 and a rotor 400 rotated with respect to the stator, the motor device comprising:
a case 100 in which the stator is fixed at a specified position;
a bracket 200 that closes an opening of the case and is fixed to a driven target (the gearing for shaft 4 and steering column, fig 9);
a board 800 that is fixed at a specified position of the bracket and comprises a magnetic sensor 830 detecting rotation of the rotor; and
a sensor magnet 720 that is rotated together with the rotor and is opposed to the magnetic sensor, the manufacturing method comprising:
butting the opening of the case against the bracket and causing a case-side round hole provided at the case and a bracket-side round hole provided at the bracket to communicate with each other in an axial direction of the rotor; but does not teach the step of inserting a positioning jig into the case-side round hole and the bracket-side round hole and arranging the case-side round hole and the bracket-side round hole coaxially with each other to position the case with respect to the bracket and with the case positioned with respect to the bracket, inserting a fixing male screw through a long hole provided at the case and screwing the fixing male screw into a fixing female screw provided at the bracket; and that the long hole and the case-side round hole are coplanar.
Regarding the step of using a positioning jig, this is well known in the art because of its use increases the accuracy of positioning whatever needs to be positioned with accuracy (see Nakamura et al. para 0059). That being established, a person having ordinary skill in the art would have inserted a positioning jig into the case-side round hole and the bracket-side round hole and arranged the case-side round hole and the bracket-side round hole coaxially with each other to position the case with respect to the bracket to increase the accuracy of the method of manufacturing.
Kobayashi teaches that iii) a plurality of female screw members 32 into which the first male screw members 36 are respectively screwed to protect the hole in the sleeve assembly/bracket 18 from being damaged by the bolt. This would prolong the life of the both the housing and bracket of Pyeon.
So regarding the limitation “inserting a fixing male screw through a long hole provided at the case and screwing the fixing male screw into a fixing female screw provided at the bracket once the case positioned with respect to the bracket”, The person having ordinary skill in the art would have used a positioning jig to increase the accuracy of “inserting a fixing male screw through a long hole provided at the case and screwing the fixing male screw into a fixing female screw provided at the bracket once the case positioned with respect to the bracket” which improves the device’s reliability.
As discussed above, the versatility of the case and bracket would be improved by incorporating the structure of “the long hole and the case-side round hole are coplanar”.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Pyeon with the step of inserting a positioning jig into the case-side round hole and the bracket-side round hole and arranging the case-side round hole and the bracket-side round hole coaxially with each other to position the case with respect to the bracket and with the case positioned with respect to the bracket, inserting a fixing male screw through a long hole provided at the case and screwing the fixing male screw into a fixing female screw provided at the bracket; and that the long hole and the case-side round hole are coplanar, as taught by Kobayashi and Nakamura et al. so as to improve the reliability of the device that is being manufactured.
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 TERRANCE L KENERLY whose telephone number is (571)270-7851. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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/TERRANCE L KENERLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834