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.
Claims 1-8 and 11-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto (US 2010/0111134 A1) in view of Magee et al. (hereinafter Magee, US 2015/0097500 A1).
For claim 1, Matsumoto discloses a method of determining the cooling efficiency of an electric motor (Figs. 1-2 and 4 of Matsumoto discloses a method of determining the cooling efficiency of an electric motor 12 – see Matsumoto, Figs. 1-2 and 4, abstract, paragraphs [0009]-[0012]) having a stator provided with stator windings (Fig. 4 of Matsumoto discloses an electric motor 12 (see Matsumoto, Fig. 4, paragraph [0038], lines 1-4) which does not specifically have a stator provided with stator windings. However, Fig. 2A of Magee discloses a motor control system which is similar as Matsumoto’s system, wherein Magee discloses an electric motor 210 driven by a 3-phase inverter 232 includes a stator provided with stator windings – see Magee, Fig. 2A, paragraphs [0004] and [0008]-[0009]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify teaching of Matsumoto to incorporate teaching of Magee for purpose of improving energy efficiency through reduced heat loss and improving thermal management), the method comprising:
a) injecting a current into the stator windings to heat the stator windings (Figs. 2 and 4 of Matsumoto in view of Magee disclose injecting a current from inverter device into Magee’s stator windings of the motor 210 to heat the stator windings of the motor 210 – see Matsumoto. Figs. 2 and 4, paragraphs [0038]-[0039]; and see Magee, Fig. 2A, paragraphs [0006], [0009], [0019]-[0020] and [0046]),
b) obtaining a temperature drop in the stator windings after the current injection in step a) has been terminated or the injected current has been decreased (Figs. 2 and 4 of Matsumoto in view of Magee disclose obtaining a temperature drop (Fig. 4 of Matsumoto discloses a temperature drop from T12 to T11) in the stator windings after the current injection in step a) has been terminated or the injected current has been decreased at time t11 – see Matsumoto, Figs. 2 and 4, paragraphs [0025]-[0026]),
c) comparing the temperature drop with a reference temperature drop (Fig. 2 of Matsumoto discloses comparing the temperature drop (T12[Wingdings font/0xE8] T11) with a reference temperature drop (characteristic A) – see Matsumoto, Fig. 2, paragraph [0028]), and
d) concluding, based on the comparison, whether the cooling efficiency of the electric motor (9) has deteriorated or not (see Matsumoto, Fig. 2, paragraph [0028]).
For claim 2, Matsumoto in view of Magee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1, comprising e) generating an alarm in case it is concluded that the cooling efficiency of the electric motor has deteriorated in step d) (see Matsumoto, Fig. 1, paragraph [0027].
For claims 3 and 13, Matsumoto in view of Magee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the current injected in step a) has the same amplitude and angle as a current injection used to determine the reference temperature drop (see Matsumoto, Fig. 1, paragraphs [0030]. It is noted that “amplitude and angle” reads onto a predetermined gain).
For claims 4 and 14, Matsumoto in view of Magee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein in step a) current is injected for a predetermined amount of time or until a predetermined temperature rise in the stator windings is reached from an initial temperature measurement before step a) (see Matsumoto, Fig. 3, paragraphs [0032]-[0033] and [0035]-[0037]), after which the current injection is terminated or decreased (see Matsumoto, Fig. 2, paragraphs [0028] and [0031]).
For claims 5 and 15, Matsumoto in view of Magee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the electric motor is in thermal equilibrium with its environment when step a) is initiated see Matsumoto, Figs. 1 and 5, paragraphs [0023]-[0024] and [004]-[0045]).
For claims 6 and 16, Matsumoto in view of Magee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising measuring ambient temperature (see Matsumoto, Figs. 1 and 5, paragraphs [0023]-[0024] and [004]-[0045]).
For claims 7 and 17, Matsumoto in view of Magee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the current injected in step a) is a DC current (see Magee, Fig. 2A, paragraphs [0006] and [0042]).
For claims 8 and 18, Matsumoto in view of Magee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the current injected in step a) is an AC current (Fig. 2A of Magee discloses the current injected is an AC current generated from the inverter 232 to stator windings of the motor 210 – see Magee, Fig. 2A, paragraphs [0004], [0009] and [0022]).
Claim 11 is "control system" claim which is either same or similar to that of the "a method" claim 1. Explanation is omitted.
For claim 12, Matsumoto discloses an electric motor assembly (Figs. 1 and 4 of Matsumoto disclose an electric motor assembly – see Matsumoto, Figs. 1 and 4, paragraphs [0023] and [0038]) comprising:
an electric motor (Fig. 4 of Matsumoto discloses an electric motor 12 – see Matsumoto, Fig. 4, paragraph [0038], lines 1-4) including:
a stator provided with stator windings (see Matsumoto, Fig. 4, paragraph [0038], lines 1-4) which does not specifically have a stator provided with stator windings. However, Fig. 2A of Magee discloses a motor control system which is similar as Matsumoto’s system, wherein Magee discloses an electric motor 210 driven by a 3-phase inverter 232 includes a stator provided with stator windings – see Magee, Fig. 2A, paragraphs [0004] and [0008]-[0009]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify teaching of Matsumoto to incorporate teaching of Magee for purpose of improving energy efficiency through reduced heat loss and improving thermal management),
at least one temperature sensor configured to detect the temperature in the stator windings (Figs. 1 and 4 of Matsumoto in view of Magee disclose at least one temperature sensor 5 configured to detect the temperature in the stator windings of Matsumoto’s motor 12 – see Matsumoto, Figs. 1 and 4, paragraph [0024]); and
a control system (Figs. 1 and 4 of Matsumoto discloses heat-generating component 1/13, 15 and cooling capacity measurement circuit 20/50 which altogether constitute a control system to perform the method of:
a) injecting a current into the stator windings to heat the stator windings (same as explanation in claim 1 above),
b) obtaining a temperature drop in the stator windings after the current injection in step a) has been terminated or the injected current has been decreased (same as explanation in claim 1 above),
c) comparing the temperature drop with a reference temperature drop (same as explanation in claim 1 above), and
d) concluding, based on the comparison. whether the cooling efficiency of the electric motor has deteriorated or not (same as explanation in claim 1 above); and
wherein the control system is configured to receive temperature measurements from the at least one temperature sensor (Figs. 1 and 4 of Matsumoto discloses the control system which is configured to receive temperature measurements T from the at least one temperature sensor 5 – see Matsumoto, Figs. 1 and 4, paragraphs [0023]-[0024] and [0039]-[0040]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10 and 19 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAI T DINH whose telephone number is (571)270-3852. The examiner can normally be reached (571)270-3852.
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/THAI T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846
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