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 Objections
Claims 9-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 9, ll. 2, “crossover portions” was already recited in claim 1.
Claim 10, ll. 3, “a crossover portion” was already recited in claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-2, 9-10, 12 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishida et al. (US 2020/0106338 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ishida discloses a rotary electric machine (10) comprising:
a field element (40) having magnetic poles (42);
an armature (50) having a toothless structure, the armature (50) including an armature winding (51) being multiphase (¶ [0073] U, V, W, X, Y, Z phases);
an armature holder (61) holding the armature (50);
a position restriction member (64) being a part of the armature holder (61) or fixed to the armature holder (61), the position restriction member (64) being located on a coil end (55) of the armature (50) and restricting movement of the armature winding (50); and
an insulating layer (57) insulating the armature winding (51) from the position restriction member (64), wherein
the armature winding (51) includes winding segments (81) forming phase windings for respective phases,
each of the winding segments (81) has an annular shape (FIG. 12) and includes
a pair of intermediate conductor portions (83) separated at a predetermined interval in a circumferential direction of the armature (50), and
crossover portions (84) provided on one end (54) and another end (55) of the pair of intermediate conductor portions (83) in an axial direction of the armature (50), the crossover portions (84) connecting the pair of intermediate conductor portions (83) to form the annular shape,
different pairs of intermediate conductor portions (83) of the winding segments (81) are arranged in the circumferential direction and close to each other (FIG. 12),
the position restriction member (64) restricts movement of the winding segments (81) attached to the armature holder (61), and
the insulating layer (57) is interposed between each of the winding segments (81) and the position restriction member (64).
Regarding claim 2/1, Ishida was discussed above in claim 1. Ishida further discloses the position restriction member (64) on the coil end (55) is inserted into an annular winding segment of the armature winding (51) on an annularly inner side of a crossover portion (84) of the annular winding segment (FIG. 2, 5), and
the insulating layer (57) is interposed between the crossover portion (84) and the position restriction member (64).
Regarding claim 9/1, Ishida was discussed above in claim 1. Ishida further discloses crossover portions (84) of the winding segments (81) are arranged in the circumferential direction,
the position restriction member (64) has an annular shape and faces the crossover portions (84) arranged in the circumferential direction, and
the rotary electric machine (10) further comprises a wiring module (76) having an annular shape (¶ [0091]) and being electrically connected to each of the winding segments (81) and fixed to the position restriction member (64).
Regarding claim 10/1, Ishida was discussed above in claim 1. Ishida further discloses the insulating layer (57) forms a molded resin (¶ [0114] enters into a gap between wire groups 81) located on at least one of opposite coil ends (54, 55) of the armature (50) and integrated with a crossover portion (84) of each of the winding segments (81) and the position restriction member (64), the molded resin (57) being in contact with a region including the crossover portion (84) of each of the winding segment (81) and the position restriction member (64).
Regarding claim 12/10, Ishida was discussed above in claim 10. Ishida further discloses the position restriction member (64) has a molding-free portion (63) that is not covered by the molded resin (57), and
the molding-free portion (63) faces away from the crossover portion (84) located between the position restriction member (64) and the armature holder (61) and surrounds (on the bottom side) the crossover portion (84).
Regarding claim 20/1, Ishida was discussed above in claim 1. Ishida further discloses the armature (50) includes an armature core (52) provided inward or outward of the armature winding (51) in a radial direction of the armature (50),
the armature core (52) faces the armature holder (61) in the radial direction, and
the insulating layer (57) includes an insulating material interposed between the armature core (52) and the armature holder (61).
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 3, 11, 13 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishida et al. (US 2020/0106338 A1) in view of Tamura (JP 2020-137370 A; US 2021/0384786 A1) used as direct translation).
Regarding claim 3/2, Ishida was discussed above in claim 2. Ishida does not disclose the winding segments of the armature winding include a first winding segment and a second winding segment, the crossover portions on the coil end being different in shape between the first winding segment and the second winding segment,
at least one of the first winding segment or the second winding segment is bent in an radial direction of the armature on the coil end,
the first winding segment and the second winding segment are overlapped in the circumferential direction, and
the position restriction member is a common member that commonly restricts movement of the first winding segment and movement of the second winding segment.
Tamura discloses the winding segments (740) of the armature winding (731) include a first winding segment (740A) and a second winding segment (740B), the crossover portions (745) on the coil end (CE1, CE2) being different in shape (FIG. 84) between the first winding segment (740A) and the second winding segment (740B),
at least one of the first winding segment (740A) or the second winding segment (740B) is bent in an radial direction of the armature (730) on the coil end (CE1, CE2),
the first winding segment (740A) and the second winding segment (740B) are overlapped in the circumferential direction (FIG. 83), and
the position restriction member (733) is a common member that commonly restricts movement of the first winding segment (740A) and movement of the second winding segment (740B).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Ishida in view of Tamura to disclose the winding segments of the armature winding include a first winding segment and a second winding segment, the crossover portions on the coil end being different in shape between the first winding segment and the second winding segment, at least one of the first winding segment or the second winding segment is bent in an radial direction of the armature on the coil end, the first winding segment and the second winding segment are overlapped in the circumferential direction, and the position restriction member is a common member that commonly restricts movement of the first winding segment and movement of the second winding segment, for the advantages of minimizing cross-sectional area of each conductor, reducing copper eddy loss (¶ [0154]).
Regarding claim 11/10, Ishida was discussed above in claim 10. Ishida further disclose the position restriction member (64) includes an annular portion having an annular shape.
Ishida does not disclose the annular portion includes a through-hole extending through the annular portion in the axial direction, and
the molded resin is in contact with a region including an inside of the through-hole and both sides of the annular portion facing in the axial direction.
Tamura disclose the annular portion (of the position restriction member 733) includes a through-hole extending through the annular portion in the axial direction (¶ [0930] discloses bolt fastening), and
the molded resin (886; ¶ [1132]) is in contact with a region including an inside of the through-hole and both sides of the annular portion facing in the axial direction (¶ [1135]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Ishida in view of Tamura to disclose the annular portion includes a through-hole extending through the annular portion in the axial direction, and the molded resin is in contact with a region including an inside of the through-hole and both sides of the annular portion facing in the axial direction, for the advantages of to fill in the gaps between the coils and the stator core.
Regarding claim 13/10, Ishida was discussed above in claim 10. Ishida does not disclose the position restriction member is one of position restriction members located on an one end and another end of the armature holder in the axial direction,
the molded resin is in contact with a region extending from one of the position restriction members located on the one end of the armature holder in the axial direction to another of the position restriction members located on the other end of the armature holder in the axial direction, and
the molded resin is in contact with a component including the pair of intermediate conductor portions of each of the winding segments.
Tamura disclose the position restriction member (733) is one of position restriction members located on an one end and another end of the armature holder (770) in the axial direction (FIG. 119),
the molded resin (886) is in contact with a region extending from one of the position restriction members (733) located on the one end of the armature holder (770) in the axial direction to another of the position restriction members (733) located on the other end of the armature holder (770) in the axial direction, and
the molded resin (886) is in contact with a component including the pair of intermediate conductor portions (744) of each of the winding segments (740).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Ishida in view of Tamura to disclose disclose the position restriction member is one of position restriction members located on an one end and another end of the armature holder in the axial direction, the molded resin is in contact with a region extending from one of the position restriction members located on the one end of the armature holder in the axial direction to another of the position restriction members located on the other end of the armature holder in the axial direction, and the molded resin is in contact with a component including the pair of intermediate conductor portions of each of the winding segments, for the advantages of to fill in the gaps between the coils and the stator core.
Regarding claim 21/1, Ishida was discussed above in claim 1. Ishida further discloses the armature (50) includes an armature core (52) provided inward or outward of the armature winding (51) in a radial direction of the armature (50).
Ishida does not disclose the position restriction member is a separate member from the armature holder,
the armature core has a through-hole extending in the axial direction through the armature core,
the position restriction member has a through-hole extending in the axial direction through the position restriction member,
the position restriction member is placed on an end face of the armature core in the axial direction,
the rotary electric machine further comprises a fastener inserted into the through-hole of the armature core and the through-hole of the position restriction member, and
the fastener has a fastened portion at which the fastener is fastened such that the armature core is located between the position restriction member and the fastened portion.
Tamura discloses the position restriction member (733) is a separate member from the armature holder (770),
the armature core (732) has a through-hole extending in the axial direction through the armature core (732; ¶ [0930]),
the position restriction member (733) has a through-hole extending in the axial direction through the position restriction member (733; ¶ [0930]),
the position restriction member (733) is placed on an end face of the armature core (732) in the axial direction,
the rotary electric machine (700) further comprises a fastener (bolt) inserted into the through-hole of the armature core (732) and the through-hole of the position restriction member (733), and
the fastener has a fastened portion at which the fastener is fastened such that the armature core (732) is located between the position restriction member (733) and the fastened portion (the armature core is between the position restriction member and a fastener on the opposite side).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Ishida in view of Tamura to disclose the position restriction member is a separate member from the armature holder, the armature core has a through-hole extending in the axial direction through the armature core, the position restriction member has a through-hole extending in the axial direction through the position restriction member, the position restriction member is placed on an end face of the armature core in the axial direction, the rotary electric machine further comprises a fastener inserted into the through-hole of the armature core and the through-hole of the position restriction member, and the fastener has a fastened portion at which the fastener is fastened such that the armature core is located between the position restriction member and the fastened portion, for the advantages of suppressing positional shifting of the position restriction member and the stator (¶ [0930]).
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishida et al. (US 2020/0106338 A1) in view of Takahashi (US 2015/0108857 A1).
Regarding claim 14/10, Ishida was discussed above in claim 10. Ishida further discloses the armature (50) includes an armature core (52) provided inward or outward of the armature winding (51) in a radial direction of the armature (50),
the rotary electric machine (10) further comprises an insulating material (82b) interposed between the armature core (52) and the pair of intermediate conductor portions (83) of each of the winding segments (81).
Ishida does not disclose the insulating material is a resin material having an adhesive force higher than an adhesive force of a resin material of the insulating layer located on the coil end. Takahashi discloses that different insulating layers on a conductor are chosen with different coefficient of linear expansion to reduce thermal stress on the insulating layers. As evidence by Takahashi, choosing the desired material for the resin materials for “the insulating material is a resin material having an adhesive force higher than an adhesive force of a resin material of the insulating layer located on the coil end of a stator” would be obvious to try to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 14/10, Ishida was discussed above in claim 10. Ishida further discloses the armature (50) includes an armature core (52) provided inward or outward of the armature winding (51) in a radial direction of the armature (50),
the rotary electric machine (10) further comprises an insulating material (82b) interposed between the armature core (52) and the pair of intermediate conductor portions (83) of each of the winding segments (81).
Ishida does not disclose the insulating material is a resin material having thermal conductivity higher than thermal conductivity of a resin material of the insulating layer located on the coil end. Takahashi discloses that different insulating layers on a conductor are chosen with different coefficient of linear expansion to reduce thermal stress on the insulating layers. As evidence by Takahashi, choosing the desired material for the resin materials for “the insulating material is a resin material having thermal conductivity higher than thermal conductivity of a resin material of the insulating layer located on the coil end” would be obvious to try to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Claim 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishida et al. (US 2020/0106338 A1) in view of Tamura et al. (JP 2020-141551 A; US 2021/0384802 A1 used as direct translation).
Regarding claim 16/10, Ishida was discussed above in claim 10. Ishida does not disclose a temperature detector configured to detect a temperature of the armature, wherein
the molded resin is in contact with the temperature detector, the crossover portion and the position restriction member.
Tamura discloses a temperature detector ((¶ [1148]) configured to detect a temperature of the armature (CA).
While Tamura does not disclose the molded resin is in contact with the temperature detector, the crossover portion and the position restriction member, Ishida modified by Tamura would mount the temperature detector on the winding segments, which would also be molded into the molded resin of Ishida. Thus, Ishida in view of Tamura would also disclose the molded resin is in contact with the temperature detector, the crossover portion and the position restriction member.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Ishida in view of Tamura to disclose a temperature detector configured to detect a temperature of the armature, wherein the molded resin is in contact with the temperature detector, the crossover portion and the position restriction member, for the advantages of detecting the stator temperature to monitor and prevent stator damage.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-8 and 17-19 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.
Regarding claim 4/3, the specific limitation of “the position restriction member (70) is inserted into the first winding segment (81A) on an annularly inner side of a crossover portion (84) of the first winding segment (81A; FIG. 11B), and
the position restriction member (70) is inserted into the second winding segment (81B) on an annularly inner side of a crossover portion (83) of the second winding segment (81B; FIG 11S)” in the combination as claimed are neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
None of the prior arts listed discloses a position restriction member inserted on an inner side of a winding segment.
Regarding claim 5/3, the specific limitation of “the position restriction member (70) is inserted into the first winding segment (81B) on an annularly inner side of a crossover portion (83) of the first winding segment (81B; FIG. 11A), and
the position restriction member (70) faces an outer side of a crossover portion (84) of the second winding segment (81A) in the axial direction (FIG. 11A)” in the combination as claimed are neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
None of the prior arts listed discloses a position restriction member inserted on an inner side of a winding segment.
Regarding claim 6/3, the specific limitation of “the position restriction member (70) is inserted into the first winding segment (81A) on an annularly inner side of the crossover portion (84) of the first winding segment (81A; FIG. 11A), and
the position restriction member (70) faces an annularly outer side of the crossover portion (83) of the second winding segment (81B; FIG. 11B)” in the combination as claimed are neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
None of the prior arts listed discloses a position restriction member inserted on an inner side of a winding segment.
Claim 7 is allowable for depending upon claim 6.
Regarding claim 8/1, the specific limitation of “a restriction portion (75) provided on one of an inner side and an outer side of the annular portion (71) in a radial direction of the armature (40) and inserted into an annular winding segment (81) of the armature winding (41) on an annularly inner side of a crossover portion (83, 84) of the annular winding segment (81), and
a fixed portion (72) provided on another of the inner side or the outer side of the annular portion (71) in the radial direction and fixed to the armature holder (50) with the fastener (77; FIG. 7, 8).
None of the prior arts listed discloses a position restriction member inserted on an inner side of a winding segment.
Regarding claim 17/1, the specific limitation of “the first position restriction member (240) is a separate member from the armature holder (220) and fixed to the armature holder with a fastener (245), and
the second position restriction member (225) is integrated with the armature holder (50) and extends outward from the armature holder in a radial direction of the armature (FIG. 25A).
Claims 18-19 are allowable for depending upon claim 17.
Conclusion
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/MINKI CHANG/ Examiner, Art Unit 2834