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 .
This action is in response to the filing made 3/8/2024.
Claims 1-9 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55, which have a priority date of 3/15/2023, filed by KK Toyota Jidoshaki.
Allowable Subject Matter
The claims will be allowable provided that the rejections under 35 USC 112 can be resolved without broadening the scope of the claims.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims.
Therefore, the features of
Claim 1- “a heat-generating component is mounted on the first holder”
claim 8 – in its entirety.
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Interpretation
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP §2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function. Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation is:
Claim 8 – precision positioning portion, i.e.., a portion for precision positioning, is the precision cutout shown as item 76 in the Figures.
Because this claim limitation is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it is being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation recites sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1
The claim recites, “a heat-generating component is mounted on the first holder”. Referring to Fig. 7, the heat generating components (110) are mounted on the heat radiation plate (79), not the first holder. The office is not certain which interpretation should apply.
The claim recites “the electric compressor further comprising: a housing portion that accommodates the plurality of electronic components and that receives heat conduction from the heat-generating component”. It is not clear which “housing portion” the claim is referring to. Is it the housing 10 shown in Fig. 1 (see published application, par. 17), or is it the inverter housing 42 shown in Fig. 3 (published application par. 45)
Referring to Figs. 6 and 7,
Claim 1 recites, “a first screw (92) member that extends through the first hollow tubular member (72) to fasten the first holder (70) to the housing portion (42),.
a second screw member (96) that extends through the second hollow tubular member (86) to fasten the second holder (80) to the housing portion (42), . . . . .[when] the second screw member (96) fastens the second holder (80) and the housing portion (42) and the first screw member (92) does not fasten the first holder (70) and the housing portion (42), the first hollow tubular (72) member is disposed away from the housing portion (42), and
[when] the second screw member (96) fastens the second holder (80) and the housing portion (42) and the first screw member (92) fastens the first holder (70 and the housing portion (42), the first holder (70) is displaced toward the housing portion (42) and therewith the heat-generating component mounted on the first holder (70) is pressed against a heat radiation surface of the housing portion.
The way the claim is written, implies that the first holder’s structure is dependent, in some way, on what the fastening situation is with the second holder. However, to the extent these structures are understood, the first holder’s fastening situation and second holder fastening situation are independent from each other. It is not clear if some elements need to be added, to clarify the nature of how the first and second holders, interact with each other. Also, it is not clear how the claims one first screw member (92) can cause the first holder to assume the shape in Fig, 7. It would appear that additional screws are needed to make the first holder (70) assume the shape shown in Fig, 7.
Claims dependent upon those specifically discussed above are likewise rejected for incorporating the deficiencies of the parent claims.
In the interests of compact prosecution, the claims are examined herein against the art as best as possible, notwithstanding the lack of clarity in the claims. If amendments are made to resolve the clarity issues, new searches for prior art will be necessary.
The closest prior art of record is US 2007/0032909 to Tolbert and US 9,405,333 to Pine.
Regarding claim 1, the sole independent claim, Tolbert teaches an electric compressor comprising:
a compressing unit that compresses a refrigerant (title, par. 19);
an electric motor (106, par. 28) that drives the compressing unit; and
a driving circuit assembly (402) including a driving circuit that controls rotation of the electric motor, wherein
the driving circuit assembly includes
a circuit board (par. 38), a plurality of electronic components included in the driving circuit (par. 38), and
Pine teaches
a first holder and a second holder (43, Fig. 4D) on each of which at least one electronic component of the plurality of electronic components (45, 46) is mounted, the first holder and the second holder being each supported by the circuit board (42) (NOTE: although Tolbert only teaches one holder, merely providing a second holder is an obvious duplication of parts, necessitated by the number of components involved, and the space and geometry of that space available for mounting the components.
the second holder has a second hollow tubular member (47) attached to the second holder, and
the electric compressor further comprising:
a housing portion (15, Fig. 1) that accommodates the plurality of electronic components and that receives heat conduction from the heat-generating component;
a second screw member that extends through the second hollow tubular member to fasten the second holder to the housing portion, (screws, screw holes described at col.9, 20-30)
The art of record does not teach,
a heat-generating component is mounted on the first holder, the heat-generating component being an electronic component that generates a larger amount of heat than an amount of heat generated by the electronic component mounted on the second holder,
a first screw member that extends through the first hollow tubular member to fasten the first holder to the housing portion; and
the first hollow tubular member is disposed away from the circuit board,
in a state in which the second screw member fastens the second holder and the housing portion and the first screw member does not fasten the first holder and the housing portion, the first hollow tubular member is disposed away from the housing portion, and
in a state in which the second screw member fastens the second holder and the housing portion and the first screw member fastens the first holder and the housing portion, the first holder is displaced toward the housing portion and therewith the heat-generating component mounted on the first holder is pressed against a heat radiation surface of the housing portion.
The remainder of the claims depend from claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HENRY T CRENSHAW whose telephone number is (571)270-1550. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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/HENRY T CRENSHAW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763