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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 6/1/26 and 6/25/26 have been entered.
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) 1-3 and 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2012/0200179 A1) in view of Suzuki (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2015/0015098 A1).
For claim 1, Matsumoto discloses the claimed invention comprising: a fixed stator (reference numeral 31, see figure 1), wherein the stator includes a stator core (reference numeral 31) on which stator windings (reference numeral 36, see figure 1) are fixed, said stator windings forming winding heads (reference numerals 36p, 36q) on the end faces of the stator core (see figure 1), a rotor (reference numeral 21) mounted rotatably in relation to the stator (see figure 1), wherein the rotor includes a rotor core (reference numeral 21) which is arranged fixedly on a rotor shaft (reference numeral 41, figure 1), wherein the rotor core includes multiple circumferentially uniformly spaced-apart receiving regions (reference numeral 27, see figure 3) formed therein, wherein each receiving region includes one permanent magnet (reference numeral 26) inserted and fixed therein via a fixing compound (reference numerals 54, 55, see figure 3), a cooling system for cooling the rotor, wherein the cooling system includes at least one fluid channel (reference numeral 28) via which cooling fluid is guided to the end faces of the rotor core (see figures 3, 4, 7, 8, 9), wherein the fixing compound (reference numerals 54, 55) is at least partially formed such that it forms a ring on each of the end faces of the rotor core of the rotor (i.e. ring 51, 52, see figures 4-8), said ring in each case being shaped such that, during rotation of the rotor, the cooling fluid on the end faces of the rotor core is directed toward the winding heads of the stator (i.e. arrows in figures 7-9 showing fluid on end faces of the rotor directed toward the winding head 36p, 36q); wherein the at least one fluid channel (reference numeral 28) is formed in the rotor core separate from the fixing compound (i.e. fluid channel 28 and fixing compound 54, 55 are separate components, see figure 3); wherein the ring (reference numerals 51, 52) formed by the fixing compound (reference numerals 54, 55) is separate from the at least one fluid channel (i.e. ring 51, 52 and fluid channel 28 are separate components, see figures 4-8). Matsumoto however does not specifically disclose a boundary of the at least one fluid channel being radially spaced apart from the fixing compound such that the at least one fluid channel is not defined by the fixing compound.
Suzuki discloses a boundary of the at least one fluid channel (reference numeral 30, figure 1; reference numerals 30a, 30b, figure 2) being radially spaced apart from the fixing compound (i.e. ring shown in figure 1, also see annotated figure below) such that the at least one fluid channel (reference numeral 30, figure 1; reference numerals 30a, 30b, figure 2) is not defined by the fixing compound (i.e. ring shown in figure 1, also see annotated figure below).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a boundary of the fluid channel be radially spaced apart from the fixing compound as disclosed by Suzuki for the fluid channel and fixing compound of Matsumoto for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating the cooling of the components within the device.
For claim 2, Matsumoto discloses the receiving regions (reference numeral 27, see figure 3) each having a first region (i.e. where magnet 26 is disposed) and at least one second region (i.e. where filling material 54, 55 are disposed, see figure 3), which is directly adjacent to the first region, wherein in each receiving region said one permanent magnet (reference numeral 26) is inserted into the first region (see figure 3) and the second region is filled with said fixing compound (reference numerals 54, 55, see figure 3).
For claim 3, Matsumoto discloses the fixing compound being a plastic or a composite material (i.e. resin, see paragraph [0063], and figure 3).
For claim 8, Matsumoto discloses two second regions (reference numerals 54, 55, see figure 3) being disposed adjacent the first region (i.e. regions 54, 55 being disposed on more than one side of magnet/first region 26, constituting two second regions adjacent the first region, see figure 3).
For claim 9, Matsumoto discloses the fixing compound (reference numerals 51, 54, 55, see figures 3, 4) at least partially extending axially out of the at least one second region (i.e. extending past the end surface 21a, 21b of rotor, see figure 4) and forming the ring (reference numerals 51, 52, see figures 4, 7).
For claim 10, Matsumoto discloses the respective rings (reference numerals 51, 52) at each end of the rotor core (reference numeral 21) being connected to each other by fixing compound (reference numerals 51, 54, 55, see figure 3) extending axially through the second regions of the rotor core (i.e. fixing compound 55 extending axially through the rotor core, see figures 4, 7).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto in view of Suzuki as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gas et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2010/0013351 A1).
For claim 4, Matsumoto in view of Suzuki disclose the claimed invention except for, in the region of the respective ring formed from the fixing compound, the end faces of the rotor core including fixing depressions into which the fixing compound is filled. Providing depressions in the end face of the rotor is a known skill as exhibited by Gas et al. (i.e. rotor 2 having depressions 75, 85 for fixing the components 185 therein, see figures 6-8), and 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 depressions as disclosed by Gas et al. in which the fixing compound of the ring is filled for Matsumoto in view of Suzuki for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating the proper positioning of the components within the device.
Claim(s) 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto in view of Suzuki as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Seidl (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2019/0312475 A1).
For claim 5, Matsumoto in view of Suzuki disclose the claimed invention except for the ring being closed along a rotor circumference of the rotor, such that the cooling fluid flowing out of the fluid channel is distributed along a fluid side, directed radially toward the axis of rotation of the rotor, of the ring before the cooling fluid can exit the ring along a fluid course toward the winding heads. Having a closed ring for distributing the cooling fluid toward the winding heads is a known skill as exhibited by Seidl (reference numeral 19, see figures 5-8, for routing cooling medium to the stator, see paragraph [0078] and figure 3), and when applied to the ring of Matsumoto in view of Suzuki this would disclose the cooling fluid flowing out of the fluid channel being distributed along a fluid side, directed radially toward the axis of rotation of the rotor, of the ring before the cooling fluid can exit the ring along a fluid course toward the winding heads. 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 closed ring as disclosed by Seidl for the rotor of Matsumoto in view of Suzuki for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper cooling of the components within the device.
For claim 6, Matsumoto in view of Suzuki disclose the claimed invention except for the ring having a bevel in the direction of the winding heads for directing the cooling fluid toward the winding heads. Seidl discloses a ring component (reference numeral 19, see figures 5, 6) having an inclined surface (reference numeral 22, figure 6), i.e. bevel, for directing cooling fluid to the winding heads (i.e. towards stator end 25, see figures 2, 3). 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 bevel as disclosed by Seidl for the ring of Matsumoto in view of Suzuki for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper cooling of the components within the device.
For claim 7, Matsumoto in view of Suzuki and Seidl disclose the claimed invention except for fluid flowing axially past the fluid side of the ring and radially outward past an axial end of the ring in response to centrifugal forces and radially outward toward the stator windings along the fluid course. Seidl already discloses the closed ring for the rotor (i.e. closed ring 19, see figures 2, 3, 5, 6) which would have the fluid flowing axially past the fluid side of the ring and radially outward past an axial end of the ring in response to centrifugal forces and radially outward toward the stator windings along the fluid course (i.e. toward the stator end 25, see figures 2, 3). 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 fluid flowing past the ring as disclosed by Seidl for the flow of fluid in Matsumoto in view of Suzuki and Seidl for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper cooling of the components within the device.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto in view of Suzuki as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tatematsu et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2010/0194220 A1).
For claim 11, Matsumoto in view of Suzuki disclose the claimed invention except for the ring having a continuous inner circumference forming a closed circular loop and a continuous outer circumference forming a closed circular loop. Forming a continuous circular loop is a known skill as exhibited by Tatematsu et al. which disclose a ring configuration (reference numeral 90, figure 8) with both the inner circumference and the outer circumference forming a closed circular loop (see figure 8). 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 closed circular loop as disclosed by Tatematsu et al. for the ring of Matsumoto in view of Suzuki for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper cooling of the components within the device.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto in view of Suzuki as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Chamberlin et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2011/0273040 A1).
For claim 12, Matsumoto in view of Suzuki disclose the claimed invention except for the at least one fluid channel extending through the rotor core being defined entirely by the rotor core. Chamberlin et al. disclose a fluid channel (reference numeral 46) extending through the rotor core (reference numeral 38) being defined entirely by the rotor core (see figures 3, 4, 7-9). 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 fluid channel be defined entirely by the rotor core as disclosed by Chamberlin et al. for the at least one fluid channel and rotor core of Matsumoto in view of Suzuki for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper cooling of the components within the device.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-12 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.
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
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