DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-4 of U.S. Application 18/643318 filed on April 23, 2024 are presented for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on April 23, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. Claims 1, 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Segawa (JP 2008005580).
Regarding claim 1, Segawa teaches (see figs. 5 and 6 below) a motor (1) comprising: a rotor (6) rotatable about a rotary shaft (5, fig. 1); a stator (7) disposed radially outward of the rotor (6) (Abstract; page 3); and
a housing (2) that houses the rotor (6) and the stator (7), wherein the stator (7) has a stator core (11) press-fitted to an inner peripheral surface of the housing (2) and provided to surround the rotor (6), and a coil (13) wound around the stator core (11) (Abstract; page 3),
the stator core (11) has an engaging portion (42) protruding radially outward from an outer peripheral surface, and the housing (2) has an engaged portion (43) that is recessed radially outward from the inner peripheral surface and with which the engaging portion (42) engages (page 6).
PNG
media_image1.png
568
846
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 3/1, Segawa teaches (see figs. 5 and 6 above) a retaining member (21) that is in contact with an axial end portion of the stator core (11) and is fixed to the housing (2) (Abstract; pages 4-5).
Regarding claim 4/1, Segawa teaches (see figs. 5 and 6 above) the stator core (11) has recessed portions (see annotated fig. 6 above) recessed radially inward at both ends of the engaging portion (42) in a circumferential direction (Abstract; page 6).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 2 is 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.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Kobayashi (US 7538468) teaches a housing of an electric motor includes an inner circumferential surface, which includes recesses arranged along the circumferential direction. On an outer circumferential surface of a stator core of a stator are provided protrusions arranged along the circumferential direction. Fitting each protrusion to the corresponding recess fixes the stator core to the housing. A rotor is provided radially inward of the stator. In a state where each protrusion is fitted to the corresponding recess, a pair of side surfaces of each protrusion are retained by a pair of inner side surfaces of the corresponding recess in the circumferential direction of the housing. A gap is formed between an end face of each protrusion and an inner bottom surface of the corresponding recess facing the end face along the entire surface of the end face.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER A SINGH whose telephone number is (571)270-0243. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ALEXANDER A SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834