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 11/27/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings received on 11/27/2023 are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 4, 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Inaba et al. (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2020/0075230 A1, hereinafter “Inaba”).
With respect to claim 4, Inaba teaches a reactor 10 (Figs. 1-7) comprising:
an edgewise coil 2 constituted by a flat wire 2w;
a magnetic core 3 where the coil is disposed; and
a holding member 50 disposed on at least one end section (front end section) of the coil,
wherein the coil includes
a main body portion 2c constituted by a plurality of turns; and
a first terminal section 2t (annotated FIG. 5) that is drawn out from one end section (front end section as seen in FIG. 5) of the main body portion in a direction extending along an end surface of the main body portion,
the holding member includes
a first surface 52 facing the end surface of the main body portion and
a fixing portion 52b that holds the first terminal section,
the fixing portion has a slit 50a through which the first terminal section is passed,
the first surface has a first region, and
the first region (a portion of first surface) presses a turn of the plurality of turns that is in contact with the first surface, in a second direction (winding axis direction) of an axial direction (winding axis direction) of the main body portion (paras. [0035], [0038] and [0057]).
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With respect to claim 6, Inaba teaches a converter 1 comprising
the reactor according to claim 1 (para. [0037]).
With respect to claim 7, Inaba teaches a power conversion device comprising
the converter according to claim 6 (para. [0037]).
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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inaba, as applied to claim 1 above, in view of Misaki et al. (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2020/0381163 A1, hereinafter “Misaki”).
With respect to claim 5, Inaba teaches the reactor according to claim 1,
wherein the magnetic core includes an inner core portion 31 disposed inward of the main body portion, and
the holding member includes
a through hole 51 into which an end portion (tip portion) of the inner core portion is inserted (para. [0057]). Inaba does not expressly teach
an inner protrusion disposed between the main body portion and the inner core portion.
Misaki teaches a reactor 1 (FIGs. 1-7), wherein
the holding member includes
an inner protrusion 45 disposed between the main body portion 21 and the inner core portion 31 (para. [0067]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the protrusion as taught by Misaki to the reactor of Inaba to ensure the electrical insulation between the main body and the inner core portion (para. [0067]).
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inaba in view of Zheng et al. (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2015/0130583 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Inaba teaches a reactor 10 (FIGs. 1-7) comprising:
an edgewise coil 2 constituted by a flat wire 2w;
a magnetic core 3 where the coil is disposed; and
a holding member 50 disposed on at least one end section (front end section) of the coil,
wherein the coil includes
a main body portion 2c constituted by a plurality of turns; and
a first terminal section 2t (annotated FIG. 5) that is drawn out from one end section (front end section as seen in FIG. 5) of the main body portion in a direction extending along an end surface 2e of the main body portion,
the plurality of turns each include
an inner peripheral section (interior section) that constitutes an inner peripheral side of the turn of the flat wire, and
an outer peripheral section (exterior section) that constitutes an outer peripheral side of the turn of the flat wire,
the holding member includes
a first surface 52 facing the end surface of the main body portion and
a fixing portion 50b that holds the first terminal section, and
the fixing portion has a slit 50a through which the first terminal section is passed (paras. [0035], [0038] and [0057]).
Inaba does not expressly teach the outer peripheral section is bent to be inclined with respect to the inner peripheral section in a first direction of an axial direction of the main body portion.
Zheng teaches a reactor 10 (Fig. 1A), wherein
the outer peripheral section 12a-12e is bent to be inclined with respect to the inner peripheral section (interior section of the coil) in a first direction (vertical direction) of an axial direction (vertical axis direction) of the main body portion (0019]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the bent outer peripheral section as taught by Zheng to the reactor of Inaba to reduce eddy current losses (para. [0004]).
With respect to claim 2, Inaba in view of Zheng teaches the reactor according to claim 1,
wherein the plurality of turns each include a corner section obtained by bending the flat wire (Zheng, para. [0019]). Inaba in view of Zheng does not expressly teach
a displacement amount between the inner peripheral section and the outer peripheral section at the corner section in the axial direction of the main body portion is 0.1 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less. However, it would be within the skill of a person with ordinary skill in the art to use the displacement as claimed to provide the desire electrical characteristics. Therefore, It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to use the displacement amount as claimed to optimize the eddy current loss.
With respect to claim 3, Inaba in view of Zheng teaches the reactor according to claim 1,
wherein the first surface has a first region (a portion of first surface), and
the first region presses a turn of the plurality of turns that is in contact with the first surface, in a second direction (winding axis direction) of the axial direction of the main body portion (para. [0057]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. A list of pertinent prior art is attached in form PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANGTIN LIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5729. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 0800-1700.
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, Shawki S. Ismail 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.
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/MANG TIN BIK LIAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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