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 § 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 5-8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Pub. 2017/0370781 (“Yoshihara”).
Claim 1
Yoshihara discloses a temperature sensor comprising: a sensor element including a heat-sensitive body (sensor element 1 and heat sensitive body 11), a pair of lead wires that is electrically connected with the heat-sensitive body (lead wires 13A and 13B), a sealing layer that covers the heat-sensitive body and a part of the pair of lead wires (paragraph [0025], sealing layer 20), and a pair of lead terminals that is electrically connected with the pair of lead wires (lead terminals 12A and 12B); and a holder that holds the sensor element, wherein the holder includes a heat-sensitive surface configured to receive heat from a measurement object (holder 10 with detecting surface 25), a reference surface provided on a back side of the heat-sensitive surface (Fig. 3B, opposite surface of detecting surface 25), and a pressing body that is provided on the reference surface and presses the heat- sensitive body against the reference surface through the sealing layer (Fig. 2B, surface 31C).
Claim 5
Yoshihara discloses the temperature sensor according to claim 1, wherein the holder includes an accommodating space that is provided so as to face the reference surface and accommodates the sensor element, and the sensor element is sealed by a resin mold with which the accommodating space is filled (cavity 31; paragraph [0025], resin mold of cover 20).
Claim 6
Yoshihara discloses the temperature sensor according to claim 5, wherein the holder includes a facing surface that opposes a support body on which the holder is placed when a temperature of the measurement object is detected, the facing surface includes a first facing surface of the resin mold and a second facing surface of an accommodating frame that encloses a circumference of the resin mold, and the first facing surface is dented to a side of the heat-sensitive surface relative to the second facing surface (Yoshihara, Figs. 2B and 3B).
Claim 7
Yoshihara in view of Bessho discloses the temperature sensor according to claim 5, wherein the holder includes a partition that serves for positioning of the pair of lead terminals in an interior of the accommodating space (Yoshihara, partition 31D), and the partition includes a base that stands from the reference surface and extends in a length direction orthogonal to a width direction in which the heat-sensitive body is sandwiched (Yoshihara, Fig. 2B), and a terminal pressing member that projects from a top portion of the base in the width direction (Yoshihara, walls 42).
Claim 8
Yoshihara discloses a rotary electric machine comprising the temperature sensor according to claim 1 (paragraph [0025], rotary electric machine).
Claim 10
Yoshihara in view of Bessho discloses the temperature sensor according to claim 6, wherein the holder includes a partition that serves for positioning of the pair of lead terminals in an interior of the accommodating space (Yoshihara, partition 31D), and the partition includes a base that stands from the reference surface and extends in a length direction orthogonal to a width direction in which the heat-sensitive body is sandwiched (Yoshihara, Fig. 2B), and a terminal pressing member that projects from a top portion of the base in the width direction (Yoshihara, walls 42).
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.
Claims 2-4 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Pub. 2017/0370781 (“Yoshihara”) in view of U.S. Patent Pub. 2015/0155760 (“Bessho”).
Claim 2
Yoshihara discloses the temperature sensor according to claim 1, wherein the holder includes a forward side on which the heat-sensitive body is arranged and a rearward side on which the pair of lead wires is drawn out (Fig. 2B, surfaces 32 and 34).
Yoshihara does not appear to explicitly disclose the pressing body includes a pair of pressing pieces in a width direction in which the heat-sensitive body is sandwiched, each of the pair of pressing pieces includes a flange that presses the heat-sensitive body against the reference surface, and a dimension of the flange from the reference surface is decreased from the rearward side toward the forward side of the heat-sensitive body.
Bessho discloses a similar rotary electric machine with temperature sensor including a pressing body with pair of pressing pieces (paragraphs [0087-0090]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, as disclosed by Bessho, into the device of Yoshihara, such that the pressing body includes a pair of pressing pieces in a width direction in which the heat-sensitive body is sandwiched, each of the pair of pressing pieces includes a flange that presses the heat-sensitive body against the reference surface, and a dimension of the flange from the reference surface is decreased from the rearward side toward the forward side of the heat-sensitive body, for the purpose of providing a stable contact between the temperature sensor and stator coil (Bessho, paragraph [0089]).
Claim 3
Yoshihara in view of Bessho discloses the temperature sensor according to claim 2, wherein a gap between the pair of pressing pieces is narrowed from the rearward side toward the forward side of the heat-sensitive body (Bessho, Fig. 10).
Claim 4
Yoshihara in view of Bessho discloses the temperature sensor according to claim 2, comprising a pair of positioning pieces provided on the rearward side relative to the pair of pressing pieces, with a predetermined gap therebetween (Bessho, Fig. 10).
Claim 9
Yoshihara in view of Bessho discloses the temperature sensor according to claim 3, comprising a pair of positioning pieces provided on the rearward side relative to the pair of pressing pieces, with a predetermined gap therebetween (Bessho, Fig. 10).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERICA S Y LIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7911. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4, TW M,W.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERICA S LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853