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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki et al. (Japanese Patent Document No.: JP 2019030156 A, hereinafter Suzuki '156).
For claim 1, Suzuki '156 discloses the claimed invention comprising: a stator core (reference numeral 21) including a cylindrical yoke (reference numeral 22) and multiple teeth (reference numeral 23) extending from an inner circumferential surface of the yoke (see figures 1, 2), the stator core (reference numeral 21) including slots (reference numeral 25) each located between adjacent ones of the teeth (reference numeral 23) in a circumferential direction of the yoke (see figures 1, 2); multiple coils (reference numeral 24, see figures 1, 2), each coil (reference numeral 24) being formed by a winding (reference numeral 24a) that is wound in a concentrated manner around the corresponding one of the teeth (reference numeral 23) while passing through the corresponding slots (reference numeral 25, see figure 2); and a thermistor (reference numeral 50) configured to measure a temperature of the coils (see figure 2), wherein a pillar-shaped insulating member (reference numeral 40) is disposed in each slot (see figures 1, 2), the insulating member (reference numeral 40) being located between the coils (reference numeral 24) that are adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction in the slot (see figures 1, 2), at least one of the insulating members (reference numeral 40) includes a thermistor insertion hole (reference numeral 52) that opens in an end face at an end in a lengthwise direction of the insulating member (see figures 2, 4, 5), and the thermistor (reference numeral 50) is held by the corresponding insulating member (reference numeral 40) in a state of being inserted in the thermistor insertion hole (reference numeral 52, see figure 2).
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki ‘156 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Oota et al. (US Patent No.: 8257064).
For claim 2, Suzuki '156 discloses the claimed invention except for a space between the thermistor and an inner surface of the insulating member that defines the thermistor insertion hole being filled with a plastic. Having the insulating member filled with plastic would merely involve filling the slot component with a plastic material which is a known skill in the art as exhibited by Oota et al. (reference numeral 56, see figure 4), which when applied to the slot of Suzuki '156 would disclose a space between the thermistor and an inner surface of the insulating member that defines the thermistor insertion hole being filled with a plastic. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the plastic as disclosed by Oota et al. for filling the space between the thermistor and insulating member of Suzuki '156 for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper assembly of the components within the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 4 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.
Claim 5 is also objected to for being dependent upon aforementioned claim 4.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: While the prior art disclose some of the claimed invention as explained above in the present action, the prior art of record does not sufficiently disclose the combination of features including the thermistor including: a sensor unit configured to measure the temperature of the corresponding coil; and a lead wire extending from the sensor unit, the insulating member that includes the thermistor insertion hole includes a hole bottom surface that faces in a direction opposite to an insertion direction of the thermistor into the thermistor insertion hole, and the sensor unit is configured to protrude from the end face of the insulating member by a predetermined length when the sensor unit is inserted in the thermistor insertion hole and brought into contact with the hole bottom surface as recited in claim 3; and wherein each tooth includes: a tooth extension extending from the inner circumferential surface of the yoke; and two flanges projecting from a distal end of the tooth extension toward opposite sides in the circumferential direction of the yoke, the insulating members each include a supported surface that extends over a slot opening, the slot opening being a gap between ones of the flanges adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction, the supported surface being supported by both of the flanges that are adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction, the supported surface includes a recess that is open toward the slot opening, the recess of the insulating member that includes the thermistor insertion hole is continuous with the thermistor insertion hole, and the recesses are filled with a plastic that has a higher thermal conductivity than the insulating members as recited in claim 4.
Claim 5 is dependent upon claim 4.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references disclose embodiments of slot insulating members: US 6081056 A (Takagi; Kunihiko et al.), US 4926077 A (Gauthier; Raymond G. et al.), US 4246505 A (Yasaka; Yasuhiro et al.), US 20250067261 A1 (ISOBE; Keisuke et al.), US 20230208231 A1 (SUZUKI; Yudai et al.), US 20220154724 A1 (MORI; Hidefumi et al.), US 20210050762 A1 (TSUCHIDA; Kazuchika et al.), US 20200235616 A1 (SUZUKI; Noriyuki et al.), US 20170054346 A1 (MATSUMOTO; Takashi), JP 2022112344 A (HASEGAWA MASAHIRO), JP 2019030158 A (SUZUKI MAREYUKI et al.).
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/ALEX W MOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834