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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumagai (Japanese Patent Document No.: JP 2015089748 A) in view of Tahara et al. (US Patent No.: 9746068).
For claim 1, Kumagai discloses the claimed invention comprising: a housing (reference numeral 1, see figure 1); a motor (reference numeral 3, see figure 1); a speed reduction mechanism (reference numeral 18, figure 1); a shaft assembly (reference numeral 31, see figures 1, 2); the housing comprises a first space (i.e. space in which motor 3 is disposed, see figures 1, 2) and a second space (reference numerals 5, 8, see figures 1, 2) separated from each other, the second space (reference numerals 5, 8) is located on one axial side relative to the first space (i.e. space in which motor 3 is disposed) in an axial direction of the shaft assembly (see figures 1, 2), the motor is accommodated in the first space (figures 1, 2), and the speed reduction mechanism is accommodated in the second space (reference numerals 5, 8, see figures 1, 2); the shaft assembly comprises a shaft (reference numeral 31) extending from the first space into the second space (see figures 1, 2), the shaft (reference numeral 31) is torsionally connected to a rotor (reference numeral 32) of the motor (see figures 1, 2), the shaft assembly (reference numeral 31) is formed with an oil inlet (reference numeral 81a, figure 2) and an oil outlet (reference numeral 81d, figure 2) which are both located in the second space (reference numeral 8, see figure 2); and an oil passage (i.e. passage shown by reference characters B, C, see figure 2) extending from the oil inlet (reference numeral 81a) into the first space and then returning to the oil outlet (reference numeral 81d) is formed inside the shaft assembly (reference numeral 31, see figure 2), so that oil from the second space (reference numeral 8) can flow from the oil inlet (reference numeral 81a) into the oil passage (i.e. passage shown by reference characters B, C, see figure 2) to cool the rotor (reference numeral 32) and then return to the second space (reference numeral 8) from the oil outlet (reference numeral 81d, see figure 2). Kumagai however does not specifically disclose the shaft being used as an input shaft of the speed reduction mechanism.
Tahara et al. disclose the shaft (reference numeral 12, figure 1) being used as an input shaft of the speed reduction mechanism (reference numeral 14, see figure 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the shaft being used as an input shaft of the reduction gear as disclosed by Tahara et al. for the shaft of Kumagai for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating the speed reducing function of the device.
For claim 11, Kumagai discloses the claimed invention comprising: a housing (reference numeral 1, see figure 1); a motor (reference numeral 3, see figure 1); a gear assembly (reference numeral 18, figure 1); a shaft assembly (reference numeral 31, see figures 1, 2); the housing comprises a first space (i.e. space in which motor 3 is disposed, see figures 1, 2) and a second space (reference numerals 5, 8, see figures 1, 2) separated from each other, the second space (reference numerals 5, 8) is located on one axial side relative to the first space (i.e. space in which motor 3 is disposed) in an axial direction of the shaft assembly (see figures 1, 2), the motor is located in the first space (figures 1, 2), and the gear assembly is located in the second space (reference numerals 5, 8, see figures 1, 2); the shaft assembly comprises a shaft (reference numeral 31) extending from the first space into the second space (see figures 1, 2), the shaft (reference numeral 31) is connected to a rotor (reference numeral 32) of the motor (see figures 1, 2), the shaft assembly (reference numeral 31) includes an oil inlet (reference numeral 81a, figure 2) and an oil outlet (reference numeral 81d, figure 2) which are both located in the second space (reference numeral 8, see figure 2); and an oil passage (i.e. passage shown by reference characters B, C, see figure 2) extends from the oil inlet (reference numeral 81a) into the first space and then returns to the oil outlet (reference numeral 81d) formed inside the shaft assembly (reference numeral 31, see figure 2), so that oil from the second space (reference numeral 8) flows from the oil inlet (reference numeral 81a) into the oil passage (i.e. passage shown by reference characters B, C, see figure 2) to cool the rotor (reference numeral 32) and then return to the second space (reference numeral 8) from the oil outlet (reference numeral 81d, see figure 2). Kumagai however does not specifically disclose the shaft forming an input shaft of the speed gear assembly.
Tahara et al. disclose the shaft (reference numeral 12, figure 1) being used as an input shaft of the speed gear assembly (reference numeral 14, see figure 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the shaft being used as an input shaft of the speed gear as disclosed by Tahara et al. for the shaft of Kumagai for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating the speed reducing function of the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 3-10 and 13-20 are also objected to for their dependency upon aforementioned claims 2 and 12.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: While the prior art discloses some of the claimed invention as explained above and also the prior art reference of Huber (DE 102015214309 A1) discloses a carrier component 26 that guides coolant to a shaft assembly 10 that is arranged coaxially with the carrier component 26 (see figure 2), the prior art of record do not sufficiently disclose the combination of features including an inner cavity running through the shaft along the axial direction being formed inside the shaft, and the shaft assembly further comprising: an oil collecting component fixed to the housing, the oil collecting component and the shaft being spaced apart from each other, the oil inlet being formed on the oil collecting component, a portion of the oil collecting component which is inserted into the inner cavity being formed with a first oil inlet passage that is in communication with the oil inlet, and the oil collecting component being adapted to collect the oil in the second space into the first oil inlet passage via the oil inlet; and an oil guide component fixed to the shaft and integrally located in the inner cavity, a second oil inlet passage in conduction with the first oil inlet passage being formed inside the oil guide component, an oil discharge passage being formed between the oil guide component and the shaft, the oil discharge passage being in communication with the second oil inlet passage and the oil outlet formed on the shaft, and during rotation with the shaft, the oil guide component is adapted to enable the oil from the first oil inlet passage to sequentially flow through the second oil inlet passage and the oil discharge passage and then return to the second space from the oil outlet as disclosed in claims 2 and 12.
Claims 3-10 and 13-20 are dependent upon claims 2 and 12.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX W MOK whose telephone number is (571)272-9084. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-4pm.
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/ALEX W MOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834