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 .
Examiner’s Note
Applicant has amended a withdrawn claim. As no indication of allowability has been made by the office at this time, the withdrawn claim will not be considered, should Applicant believe the amendments would render the claim no longer part of the unelected embodiment, Applicant should submit a new claim with said language. Examiner notes, it would appear rejectable similar to that of current claim 22 should it be placed into a non-withdrawn claim.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's amendments to claims 1 and 11 overcomes the prior 112 rejection, Examiner thanks applicant for the amendment.
Applicant’s arguments filed February 23, 2026 with regards to claims 1 and 11 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive in light of teachings of the new prior art replacing that of Ramarkishna which Applicant correctly noted did not teach rotor windings.
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 1-4, 8-14, 18-20, and 22 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.
Applicant claims in claim 1 and 11, that the rotor and stator are removable from the fan drive gear system. The examiner is not certain by what definition Applicant is alleging the removability. Applicant’s claims recite that the rotor for example is integrated into a gear of the fan drive gear system. Is applicant alleging that separating the gear the rotor is on from the system, makes the gear no longer part of the fan drive gear system. Or is Applicant alleging the integration is destructible, i.e. from unwinding the wires, or destroying some portion. Examiner notes, the specification provides no specific guidance for the examiner as it merely recites the elements are removable, without specifying if they separate from their integrated gear elements or if removing the gear elements from the gearbox would render them no longer part of the system. For compact prosecution, the examiner will not all elements can be destructible removed. Windings can be unwound, either manually or through destruction of welding/brazing depending upon the manner they were secured, or alternatively, if a gear is removed from the gearbox it would appear that it and any attached rotor would no longer be part of the fan drive gear system for some interpretations of the fan drive gear system as defined. Examiner would appreciate clarification for the intended interpretation, and indication of support of such either where Applicant believes it is inherent (with support), or where it is in the specification.
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(s) 1-2, 4, 11-12, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 11,091,272 to Kupratis et al. (K1) in view of US 4,251,987 to Adamson (A1) and US 2023/0399983 to Ganiger et al. (G1).
In Re Claim 1:
K1 teaches:
An electric machine (Fig. 7, 66) comprising:
A rotor(94) utilizing permanent magnets integrated into a gear of a fan drive gear system(42, 70, 78) on a shaft extending forward from said gear in an engine(22); and [Col. 8, ll. 14-28 disclose directly coupling the rotor to the fan shaft, and thus integrated into the system of the fan drive gear system that powers said fan shaft. Col. 10, ll. 52-60 disclose the ring gear of the gear system in Fig. 7, is similarly coupled directly and integrally rotative with the fan shaft, as the carrier was in the previous embodiment and citation of Col. 8. Both utilize a fan drive gear system and a rotor directly connected to rotate integrally with the fan shaft.]
A stator(96, 98) that does not appear to utilize permanent magnets configured to provide a magnetic field to rotate the rotor. [Col. 8, ll. 35-53 disclose the motors having stators that receive power to rotate the rotors. Only the rotors are disclosed as preferentially having permanent magnets, and Fig. 6 shows such permanent magnet poles for the rotors, but shows only windings and phase for the stators (Fig. 6)]
The fan drive gear system associated with the rotor and stator, [the rotor and stator provide power and extract through involving elements of the fan drive gear system such as the ring gear, and see citations above.]
Wherein the rotor and stator are removable from the fan drive gear system. [Examiner refers to the 112 above, noting the stator is not directly tied to the fan gear drive system (See Fig. 3) and thus is already removeable/removed, and the rotor element is attached via a shaft to a ring gear, and as such can be removed from said gearbox with said ring gear and/or per the modification below, individual windings may be unwound or separated from the shaft.]
K1 does not teach:
Wherein the gear of the fan drive gear system is forward extending, and wherein, the rotor and stator do not use permanent magnets, and further the rotor includes a plurality of induction motor stator windings to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy.
A1 teaches:
It is well-known in the art that when a fan(Fig. 1, 15) is driven on its fan shaft(38) by a ring gear, (Fig. 2, 74) the ring gear can be integral to and of one piece to the fan shaft, as an obvious variant of a two piece but firmly attached ring gear and fan shaft.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1, to make the ring gear and fan shaft of one piece, and integral, as an obvious variant taught by A2, which would be expected to perform successfully, and would fall under an obviousness to make integral/separable rationale, and under a recognized in the art known variant. This would yield the ring gear extending forward of the fan drive gear system as the fan shaft.
K1 as modified by A1 does not teach:
the rotor and stator do not explicitly use permanent magnets and further the rotor includes a plurality of induction motor stator windings to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy.
K1 further teaches:
The permanent magnet rotor is merely a further embodiment, and thus not a required embodiment. [Col. 2, ll. 18-25 note the permanent magnet rotor is merely a further embodiment, over the invention.]
G1 teaches:
When extracting or providing power through a fan drive gear system, See Fig. 5 for example, one of ordinary skill would recognize the stator and rotor being being permanent magnets or plurality of coils or windings, or electro magnets, or AC or Dc synchronous electric machines as obvious variants recognized in the art the various bodies posing various advantages of less space or weight or electric power requirements. [Page 5, ¶47-49.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of S1 which merely describes permanent magnets as an embodiment, to utilize the known in the art variants as disclosed by G1, such as plurality of coils and induction windings for the mechanical and electrical energy conversion, as such are recognized variants in the art which would perform with an expectation of success which would provide known in the art recognized advantages over each other depending upon size, weight and electrical power requirements.[Page 5, ¶47-49.] This would yield The rotor and stator including a plurality of induction stator windings to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, and not utilizing permanent magnets.
In Re Claims 2 and 4:
K1 as modified by A1 and G1, teaches:
An electric machine comprising:
(Claim 2) wherein the stator is integrated in a static referenced frame(36) in a bearing compartment. [K1 teaches, Col. 8, ll. 35-40, disclose affixing the stators in a static reference frame of the static system(36). It can be seen in Fig. 7, this is a forward frame element of the inlet vane strut to the forward compressor. Col. 5, ll. 5-36, discloses the static system(36) sets a static reference frame for the bearings that extend off it including the bearing compartment holding bearings (38) such as shown in Fig. 1, in the forward half of the engine forward of the combustor. Thus, this static structure(36) that connects via its struts, the forward inlet vane and the intermediate section between the two compressors and its bearing compartment (38) is a static reference frame that iterates the elements in it to the static reference frame in the bearing compartment, such as the stator in Fig. 7 affixed to the forward end of engine static element.]
(Claim 4) claim 2, wherein the rotor is integrated to a gear ring of the fan drive gear system. [K1, Figure 7, shows the rotor element (94) is directly affixed to and integrally rotates as one element with shaft(70) which also integrally rotates and is coupled to the ring gear(78). A1, Figure 2 shows the fan shaft/ring gear as one element, the rotor is integrated to.]
In Re Claim 11:
K1 teaches:
A hybrid gas turbine engine (Fig. 7, 22) comprising: [Title notes hybrid.]
A fan drive gear system(74, 76, 78, 70, 42); and
an electric machine (Fig. 7, 66) comprising:
A rotor(94) that utilizes permanent magnets integrated into an element that projects in front of the gas turbine engine and is integrally rotated with the fan gear of the fan drive gear system(42, 70, 78); and [Col. 8, ll. 14-28 disclose directly coupling the rotor to the fan shaft, and thus integrated into the system of the fan drive gear system that powers said fan shaft. Col. 10, ll. 52-60 disclose the ring gear of the gear system in Fig. 7, is similarly coupled directly and integrally rotative with the fan shaft, as the carrier was in the previous embodiment and citation of Col. 8. Both utilize a fan drive gear system and a rotor directly connected to rotate integrally with the fan shaft. With regards to in front of the gas turbine engine, examiner refers to the 112 above noting the shaft and gear combination extends towards the front of the engine and in front of the fan drive gear system from which the gear is located.]
A stator(96, 98) that does not appear to utilize permanent magnets configured to provide a magnetic field to rotate the rotor. [Col. 8, ll. 35-53 disclose the motors having stators that receive power to rotate the rotors. Only the rotors are disclosed as preferentially having permanent magnets, and Fig. 6 shows such permanent magnet poles for the rotors, but shows only windings and phase for the stators (Fig. 6)]
Wherein the rotor and stator are removable from the fan drive gear system. [Examiner refers to the 112 above, noting the stator is not directly tied to the fan gear drive system (See Fig. 3) and thus is already removeable/removed, and the rotor element is attached via a shaft to a ring gear, and as such can be removed from said gearbox with said ring gear and/or per the modification below, individual windings may be unwound or separated from the shaft.]
K1 does not teach:
Wherein the gear of the fan drive gear system is forward extending, and wherein, the rotor and stator do not use permanent magnets, and further the rotor includes a plurality of induction motor stator windings to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy.
A1 teaches:
It is well-known in the art that when a fan(Fig. 1, 15) is driven on its fan shaft(38) by a ring gear, (Fig. 2, 74) the ring gear can be integral to and of one piece to the fan shaft, as an obvious variant of a two piece but firmly attached ring gear and fan shaft.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1, to make the ring gear and fan shaft of one piece, and integral, as an obvious variant taught by A2, which would be expected to perform successfully, and would fall under an obviousness to make integral/separable rationale, and under a recognized in the art known variant. This would yield the ring gear extending forward of the fan drive gear system as the fan shaft.
K1 as modified by A1 does not teach:
the rotor and stator do not explicitly use permanent magnets and further the rotor includes a plurality of induction motor stator windings to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy.
K1 further teaches:
The permanent magnet rotor is merely a further embodiment, and thus not a required embodiment. [Col. 2, ll. 18-25 note the permanent magnet rotor is merely a further embodiment, over the invention.]
G1 teaches:
When extracting or providing power through a fan drive gear system, See Fig. 5 for example, one of ordinary skill would recognize the stator and rotor being permanent magnets or plurality of coils or windings, or electro magnets, or AC or Dc synchronous electric machines as obvious variants recognized in the art the various bodies posing various advantages of less space or weight or electric power requirements. [Page 5, ¶47-49.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of S1 which merely describes permanent magnets as an embodiment, to utilize the known in the art variants as disclosed by G1, such as plurality of coils and induction windings for the mechanical and electrical energy conversion, as such are recognized variants in the art which would perform with an expectation of success which would provide known in the art recognized advantages over each other depending upon size, weight and electrical power requirements.[Page 5, ¶47-49.] This would yield The rotor and stator including a plurality of induction stator windings to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, and not utilizing permanent magnets.
In Re Claims 12 and 14:
K1 as modified by A1 and G1, teaches:
The gas turbine engine of claim 11, wherein:
(Claim 12) wherein the stator is integrated in a static referenced frame(36) in a bearing compartment. [K1 teaches, Col. 8, ll. 35-40, disclose affixing the stators in a static reference frame of the static system(36). It can be seen in Fig. 7, this is a forward frame element of the inlet vane strut to the forward compressor. Col. 5, ll. 5-36, discloses the static system(36) sets a static reference frame for the bearings that extend off it including the bearing compartment holding bearings (38) such as shown in Fig. 1, in the forward half of the engine forward of the combustor. Thus, this static structure(36) that connects via its struts, the forward inlet vane and the intermediate section between the two compressors and its bearing compartment (38) is a static reference frame that iterates the elements in it to the static reference frame in the bearing compartment, such as the stator in Fig. 7 affixed to the forward end of engine static element.]
(Claim 14) claim 12, wherein the rotor is integrated to a gear ring of the fan drive gear system. [K1, Figure 7, shows the rotor element (94) is directly affixed to and integrally rotates as one element with shaft(70) which also integrally rotates and is coupled to the ring gear(78). A1, Figure 2 shows the fan shaft/ring gear as one element, the rotor is integrated to.]
Claim(s) 3 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K1, A1, and G1 as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of US 10,920,603 to Munsell et al. (M1).
In Re Claim 3:
K1 as modified by A1 and G1 teaches:
The electric machine of claim 2, wherein:
The stator is integrated to a bearing compartment. [See rejection of claim 2, noting in the same way the stator is integrated to the static reference frame of the bearing compartment is it integrated to the bearing compartment as discussed in claim 2.]
K1 as modified by A1 and G1 does not teach:
In which the bearing compartment is a forward bearing compartment. [The examiner notes a forward bearing compartment has an in art meaning of a bearing compartment that extends and supports the fan in a gas turbine engine, such as disclosed in M1 below.]
M1 teaches:
It is known to integrally attach a forward bearing compartment(Fig. 2, 38-1, 86, 88, 100) to the forward vane support (60) of the static engine to provide enhanced support to the fan shaft region of the fan(42). This is achieved by using a front center body(60) to define the core flowpath, and attach the forward bearing structure 38-1 to protect and support the fan shaft which is decoupled from the rest of the shafts by the fan gear drive system. [Col. 1, ll. 20-30, Col. 3, line 50 – Col. 5, line 6.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1 to utilize a forward bearing compartment(86-1) integrated to a front center body(60) supporting it as taught by M1, with the expectation of successfully providing bearing support and vibration/strain support to the front fan shaft which is decoupled by the fan gear drive system from the bearing supports of the low pressure shaft. [Col. 1, ll. 20-30, Col. 3, line 50 – Col. 5, line 6.] This would yield the stator is integrated through the front body center to the forward bearing compartment.
In Re Claim 13:
K1 as modified by A1 and G1 teaches:
Gas turbine engine of claim 12, wherein:
The stator is integrated to a bearing compartment. [See rejection of claim 12, noting in the same way the stator is integrated to the static reference frame of the bearing compartment is it integrated to the bearing compartment as discussed in claim 12.]
K1 as modified by A1 and G1 does not teach:
In which the bearing compartment is a forward bearing compartment. [The examiner notes a forward bearing compartment has an in art meaning of a bearing compartment that extends and supports the fan in a gas turbine engine, such as disclosed in M1 below.]
M1 teaches:
It is known to integrally attach a forward bearing compartment(Fig. 2, 38-1, 86, 88, 100) to the forward vane support (60) of the static engine to provide enhanced support to the fan shaft region of the fan(42). This is achieved by using a front center body(60) to define the core flowpath, and attach the forward bearing structure 38-1 to protect and support the fan shaft which is decoupled from the rest of the shafts by the fan gear drive system. [Col. 1, ll. 20-30, Col. 3, line 50 – Col. 5, line 6.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1 to utilize a forward bearing compartment(86-1) integrated to a front center body(60) supporting it as taught by M1, with the expectation of successfully providing bearing support and vibration/strain support to the front fan shaft which is decoupled by the fan gear drive system from the bearing supports of the low pressure shaft. [Col. 1, ll. 20-30, Col. 3, line 50 – Col. 5, line 6.] This would yield the stator is integrated through the front body center to the forward bearing compartment.
Claim(s) 8 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K1, in view of A1 and G1 as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of M1, US 2020/0182158 to Kupratis (K2), and US 2020/0309027 to Rytkonen (R1).
In Re Claim 8:
K1 as modified by A1 and G1 teaches:
The electric machine of claim1.
K1 as modified by A1 and G1 does not teach:
Power feeder cables routed through a front center body and a forward bearing compartment to power the stator.
M1 teaches:
It is known to integrally attach a forward bearing compartment(Fig. 2, 38-1, 86, 88, 100) to the forward vane support (60) of the static engine to provide enhanced support to the fan shaft region of the fan(42). This is achieved by using a front center body(60) to define the core flowpath, and attach the forward bearing structure 38-1 to protect and support the fan shaft which is decoupled from the rest of the shafts by the fan gear drive system. [Col. 1, ll. 20-30, Col. 3, line 50 – Col. 5, line 6.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1 to utilize a forward bearing compartment(86-1) integrated to a front center body(60) supporting it as taught by M1, with the expectation of successfully providing bearing support and vibration/strain support to the front fan shaft which is decoupled by the fan gear drive system from the bearing supports of the low pressure shaft. [Col. 1, ll. 20-30, Col. 3, line 50 – Col. 5, line 6.] This would yield the front center body integrally supports the front center body which supports the fan.
R1 teaches:
It is known to place the motor(40) forward of the fan(23) in the nose cone(29) with the advantage permitting the generator to be closer to the fan and allow a more efficient build. [Page 1, ¶11, Page 5, ¶67-71 and allows a more efficient build.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1 to place the motor upstream of the fan and the generator downstream as taught by R1, with the expectation of successfully providing a more efficient build of space and permit the generator to be closer to the fan. [Page 1, ¶11, Page 5, ¶67-71 and allows a more efficient build.]
K2 teaches:
It is known to provide a FADEC to provide direct control over a series of stators(Fig. 4, 122S, 121S, 123S) by routing said control power cables from the FADEC through a front center body (Seen in Fig. 4, the strut and compressor inlet stator). By utilizing the FADEC controller the system through power cables/electrical connections to the rotor and stator windings, the system may more deliberately control the operation of the motor elements, and compare multiple motor generator elements to coordinate their operation. [Page 4, ¶44-46, Page 5, ¶51, and Page 3, ¶36.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1, which is silent as to the path of control for the motor and generator elements, to utilize the power cables extending from a FADEC through a front center body and static structures to the attached motors, as taught by K2, with the expectation of providing a FADEC with direct control over each motor and generator in all engine elements to coordinate their operation. [Page 4, ¶44-46, Page 5, ¶51, and Page 3, ¶36.] This would yield the forward motor of R1, receiving its power cables through the front center body and forward bearing compartment of M1, the static structures supporting said motor, as K2 teaches extending the control power cables through the front center body and static structures supporting.
In Re Claim 18:
K1 as modified by A1 and G1 teaches:
The gas turbine engine of claim 11.
K1 as modified by A1 and G1 does not teach:
Power feeder cables routed through a front center body and a forward bearing compartment to power the stator.
M1 teaches:
It is known to integrally attach a forward bearing compartment(Fig. 2, 38-1, 86, 88, 100) to the forward vane support (60) of the static engine to provide enhanced support to the fan shaft region of the fan(42). This is achieved by using a front center body(60) to define the core flowpath, and attach the forward bearing structure 38-1 to protect and support the fan shaft which is decoupled from the rest of the shafts by the fan gear drive system. [Col. 1, ll. 20-30, Col. 3, line 50 – Col. 5, line 6.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1 to utilize a forward bearing compartment(86-1) integrated to a front center body(60) supporting it as taught by M1, with the expectation of successfully providing bearing support and vibration/strain support to the front fan shaft which is decoupled by the fan gear drive system from the bearing supports of the low pressure shaft. [Col. 1, ll. 20-30, Col. 3, line 50 – Col. 5, line 6.] This would yield the front center body integrally supports the front center body which supports the fan.
R1 teaches:
It is known to place the motor(40) forward of the fan(23) in the nose cone(29) with the advantage permitting the generator to be closer to the fan and allow a more efficient build. [Page 1, ¶11, Page 5, ¶67-71 and allows a more efficient build.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1 to place the motor upstream of the fan and the generator downstream as taught by R1, with the expectation of successfully providing a more efficient build of space and permit the generator to be closer to the fan. [Page 1, ¶11, Page 5, ¶67-71 and allows a more efficient build.]
K2 teaches:
It is known to provide a FADEC to provide direct control over a series of stators(Fig. 4, 122S, 121S, 123S) by routing said control power cables from the FADEC through a front center body (Seen in Fig. 4, the strut and compressor inlet stator). By utilizing the FADEC controller the system through power cables/electrical connections to the rotor and stator windings, the system may more deliberately control the operation of the motor elements, and compare multiple motor generator elements to coordinate their operation. [Page 4, ¶44-46, Page 5, ¶51, and Page 3, ¶36.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1, which is silent as to the path of control for the motor and generator elements, to utilize the power cables extending from a FADEC through a front center body and static structures to the attached motors, as taught by K2, with the expectation of providing a FADEC with direct control over each motor and generator in all engine elements to coordinate their operation. [Page 4, ¶44-46, Page 5, ¶51, and Page 3, ¶36.] This would yield the forward motor of R1, receiving its power cables through the front center body and forward bearing compartment of M1, the static structures supporting said motor, as K2 teaches extending the control power cables through the front center body and static structures supporting.
Claim(s) 9 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K1, A1, G1, M1, R1, and K2 as applied to claims 8 and 18 above, and further in view of US 2018/0094589 to Auker et al. (A2).
In Re Claim 9:
K1 as modified in claim 8 teaches:
The electric machine of claim 8, wherein:
The power is guided and secured the power feeder cables around a low spool shaft(Fan shaft M1, Fig. 4, 100).
K1 as modified in claim 8 is silent as to:
The use of a slip ring to guide said power cables around the low spool shaft and forward bearing compartment.
A2 teaches:
It is well-known in the art to utilize slip rings to direct power and current from rotating elements to stationary elements and electric loads, such as rotating motor elements. [Page 3, ¶30-31.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1, to utilize a slip ring to direct power from stationary structures through rotating elements, as taught by A2, with the expectation of successfully using existing structures of the engine to provide power through the rotating fan structure between the static FADEC and the upstream motor/stator and system, a slip rings are known methods of guiding power from static to rotating elements. [Page 3, ¶30-31.] This would yield a slip ring configured to guide and secure the power feeder cables around the low spool shaft of the fan shaft and through to the motor system upstream of R1 and K1.
In Re Claim 19:
K1 as modified in claim 18 teaches:
The gas turbine engine of claim 18, wherein:
The power is guided and secured the power feeder cables around a low spool shaft(Fan shaft M1, Fig. 4, 100).
K1 as modified in claim 18 is silent as to:
The use of a slip ring to guide said power cables around the low spool shaft and forward bearing compartment.
A2 teaches:
It is well-known in the art to utilize slip rings to direct power and current from rotating elements to stationary elements and electric loads, such as rotating motor elements. [Page 3, ¶30-31.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1, to utilize a slip ring to direct power from stationary structures through rotating elements, as taught by A2, with the expectation of successfully using existing structures of the engine to provide power through the rotating fan structure between the static FADEC and the upstream motor/stator and system, a slip rings are known methods of guiding power from static to rotating elements. [Page 3, ¶30-31.] This would yield a slip ring configured to guide and secure the power feeder cables around the low spool shaft of the fan shaft and through to the motor system upstream of R1 and K1.
Claim(s) 10 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K1 as modified by A1, G1, M1, R1, and K2 as applied to claim 8 and 18 above, and further in view of US 2014/0328668 to Anthony(A3).
In Re Claim 10:
K1 as modified in claim 8 teaches:
The gas turbine engine of claim 8:
Wherein there is a power feeder cables. [See rejection of claim 8.]
K1 as modified in claim 8 does not teach:
Explicit recitation of an exciter configured to transfer power from the power feeder cables to the rotor.
A3 teaches:
Permanent magnet rotors can be replaced by conventional Windings, utilizing sliprings or exciters to transfer the power to said rotor elements. This enables excitation of the motor to be controlled by synchronous machines using output voltage control only, which permits the stator and motor windings to directly feed into the aircraft electrical system without need for power conversions. [Pages 5-6, ¶85-87.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1, who was already utilizing conventional windings in its SRM, to use power fed windings, receiving their power through a brushless exciter as taught by A3, with the expectation of successfully providing improved voltage control of the electrical machine, and permit direct control without power conversion between the aircraft electrical systems and the motor. This would yield the limitation of an exciter transferring power from the power feeder cables to the rotor.
In Re Claim 20:
K1 as modified in claim 18 teaches:
The gas turbine engine of claim 11 (and 18):
Wherein there is a power feeder cables. [See rejection of claim 18.]
K1 as modified in claim 18 does not teach:
Explicit recitation of an exciter configured to transfer power from the power feeder cables to the rotor.
A3 teaches:
Permanent magnet rotors can be replaced by conventional Windings, utilizing sliprings or exciters to transfer the power to said rotor elements. This enables excitation of the motor to be controlled by synchronous machines using output voltage control only, which permits the stator and motor windings to directly feed into the aircraft electrical system without need for power conversions. [Pages 5-6, ¶85-87.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1, who was already utilizing conventional windings in its SRM, to use power fed windings, receiving their power through a brushless exciter as taught by A3, with the expectation of successfully providing improved voltage control of the electrical machine, and permit direct control without power conversion between the aircraft electrical systems and the motor. This would yield the limitation of an exciter transferring power from the power feeder cables to the rotor.
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K1, A1, and G1 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of K2.
In Re Claim 22:
K1 as modified in claim 1 teaches:
The gas turbine engine of claim 1, wherein the gear is a ring gear.
K1 as modified in claim 1 does not teach:
Wherein the gear is a sun gear.
K2 teaches:
It is known to provide a FADEC to provide direct control over a series of stators(Fig. 4, 122S, 121S, 123S) by routing said control power cables from the FADEC through a front center body (Seen in Fig. 4, the strut and compressor inlet stator). By utilizing the FADEC controller the system through power cables/electrical connections to the rotor and stator windings, the system may more deliberately control the operation of the motor elements, and compare multiple motor generator elements to coordinate their operation. [Page 4, ¶44-46, Page 5, ¶51, and Page 3, ¶36.] This system can further permit multiple motor elements on extending off a forward extension of a ring gear(Fig. 4, 116) a forward extension of a planet gear carrier (114, 118) and forward extension of a sun gear (112) In this manner power can be extracted/balanced and controlled by the FADEC amongst multiple motor/generators to exert fine-tuned control and more power extraction from the system and power delivery options amongst the multiple rotating elements. [Page 5, ¶48-51.]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of K1, which is silent as to the path of control for the motor and generator elements, to utilize the power cables extending from a FADEC through a front center body and static structures to the attached motors, as taught by K2, and to utilize multiple motor/generators off forward extending elements of for example the sun gear or planet carrier, or ring gear, with the expectation of providing a FADEC with direct control over each motor and generator in all engine elements to coordinate their operation, and more motor/generator options for placement and control/extraction. [Page 4, ¶44-46, Page 5, ¶48-51, and Page 3, ¶36.] This would yield a FADEC control, and further, a sun gear extending forward with an electrical machine such as in claim 1 on it.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2024/0068377 to Sibilli seems to teach a motor generator (Fig. 2,52 54 ) that is located in a forward bearing compartment and driven by a drive gear system (26.) which is done to place them in reach of blown cooling air.
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/JOSHUA R BEEBE/Examiner, Art Unit 3745
/NATHANIEL E WIEHE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3745