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
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 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.
Claim(s) 1 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Imai et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2020/0366156 A1).
For claim 1, Imai et al. disclose the claimed invention comprising: a housing (reference numeral 314, see figures 4, 11); and a cover (reference numerals 380, 370, 314a, see figure 4) comprising a recess (reference numeral 374) recessed on a surface of the cover from an axial side to an axial other side (see figure 11), wherein the recess (reference numeral 374) is located on a portion of an edge on a radially outer side of the cover (i.e. recess 374 being on radially outer portion of cover portion 371, see figure 11), an edge on a radially outer side of the recess (i.e. edge portion 373b in figure 11 can be considered part of the edge that is on a radially outer side of the recess 374) is in interference fit with an inner circumference of the housing (i.e. edge portion 373b being fitted into the housing 314, see figure 11), and the surface of the cover on the axial side (i.e. surface of cover portion 371 having adhesive 392, figure 11) is used for being coated with an adhesive (reference numeral 392, see figure 11).
For claim 10, Imai et al. disclose a drive device (reference numeral 300, see figure 1, also see Abstract), i.e. an electrical apparatus, comprising the motor according to claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 6 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 3-5 and 7-9 are also objected to for their dependency upon aforementioned claims 2 and 6.
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 in the present action, the prior art of record do not sufficiently disclose the combination of features including the number of the recess being plural, and the recesses comprising a first recess and a second recess, wherein a width of an edge of the housing on the radially outer side of the first recess is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the width of the edge of the housing on the radially outer side of the second recess is greater than the predetermined threshold, and a volume of the first recess is greater than a volume of the second recess as recited in claim 2; and also an ear portion protruding towards the radially outer side, the ear portion being located on a portion of the edge on the radially outer side of the cover, viewed in a radial direction, the ear portion and the recess do not overlap, and the housing comprising an accommodating portion for accommodating the ear portion as recited in claim 6.
Claims 3-5 and 7-9 are dependent upon claims 2 and 6.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references disclose embodiments of machine housing configurations: US 11588367 B2 (Ho; Quang Danh et al.), US 11522408 B2 (Hattori; Takashi et al.), US 11451105 B2 (Park; Kyung Sang et al.), US 11428950 B2 (Cho; Jae Hong et al.), US 11349371 B2 (Imai; Takahiro et al.), US 11088594 B2 (Hattori; Takashi et al.), US 10897177 B2 (Sakuragi; Katsunori et al.), US 10451891 B2 (Cho; Jae Hong et al.), US 10350634 B2 (Leggett; William F. et al.), US 9949394 B2 (Kamoshida; Masaru et al.), US 9872407 B2 (Inobe; Hiroyuki et al.), US 9769363 B2 (Cho; Jae Hong et al.), US 20240258874 A1 (SHI; Wenxian), US 20230101359 A1 (HUANG; Ting et al.), US 20220357589 A1 (Cho; Jae Hong et al.), US 20200381966 A1 (YOSHIDA; Yusaku et al.), US 20200381978 A1 (ONISHI; Tatsuya et al.), US 20200321823 A1 (PARK; Kyung Sang et al.), US 20190199172 A1 (YOSHINO; Shingo et al.), US 20180254684 A1 (Fang; Shanguo et al.), US 20170172006 A1 (KAMOSHIDA; Masaru et al.), US 20160365779 A1 (WATANABE; Akira et al.), US 20160182775 A1 (Cho; Jae Hong et al.), JP 2022128587 A (SANBUICHI KOJI et al.).
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Seye Iwarere can be reached at (571) 270-5112. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEX W MOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834