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 § 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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TSUTSUMI et al. JP 2017060240 A [TSUTSUMI], and further in view of AIKI et al. JP 2012205397 A [AIKI].
Regarding claim 1, TSUTSUMI teaches A manufacturing apparatus [fig. 3] for a rotor [3] having a permanent magnet [2] provided in a state of being embedded [see figure 1 that shows magnet2 is embedded] inside a rotor core [see the laminated core 1], the permanent magnet having a folding shape [see magnets 2, fig. 1] being convex towards a radially inside part [see magnets 2, fig. 1], the manufacturing apparatus comprising: a magnetization apparatus [fig. 3] that magnetizes the permanent magnet [2] in the embedded state from outside the rotor [3], wherein the magnetization apparatus is provided with a yoke part [see the a main yoke 6, fig. 3] at least disposed in an axially [fig. 3] outside part of the rotor [3], the yoke part [6] constituting a magnetic path for supplying a magnetization flux to the permanent magnet [the main yoke magnetizing coil 10 of the main yoke 6 and the auxiliary yoke magnetizing coil 11 of the auxiliary yoke 7 are energized in a predetermined direction to generate a magnetizing magnetic field 12. The main yoke magnetizing coil 10 and the auxiliary yoke magnetizing coil 11 need to have a pair of relationships in order to magnetize one pole magnet of the rotor.].
TSUTSUMI discloses the claimed invention except for the yoke part includes at least one of a dust core, a laminated steel plate and a slit having a function of suppressing eddy current occurring due to the magnetization flux.
AIKI teaches the stator magnetic pole core is configured by laminating a plurality of electromagnetic steel plates, and the laminating direction is a tooth portion direction, that is, an axial direction. Also, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of slits 15 are formed along the circumferential direction at the tip of the stator magnetic pole core 14, that is, at the end of the stator magnetic pole core 14 facing the mover 20.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to include the laminates and the slit of AIKI to the yoke of TSUTSUMI for the purpose of generation of eddy current can be suppressed which leads to better overall performance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior arts of record when considered as a whole, alone or in combination neither anticipates nor renders obvious the combination of the magnetization apparatus is provided with, as the yoke part, a first yoke disposed in a radially outside of the rotor, a second yoke disposed in an axially outside of the rotor, magnetically coupled with the first yoke and having an insertion protrusion inserted into a shaft insertion hole of the rotor, and a magnetization coil provided on magnetic paths of the first yoke and the second yoke; the magnetization apparatus is configured to cause, based on an energization of the magnetization coil, the magnetization flux to flow between the first yoke and the insertion protrusion of the second yoke which oppose each other in a radial direction of the rotor to magnetize the permanent magnet.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See (PTO-892).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMAD A MUSLEH whose telephone number is ((571)272-9086. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 10 am - 7 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shawki S. Ismail can be reached on 571 272 3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Mohamad A Musleh/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837