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 . Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Trinkenschuh et al., (WO 2021018343 A1).
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Regarding claim 1, Trinkenschuh discloses a rotor (41, fig. 1) arrangement for the improved cooling of a rotor, comprising a rotor core and a rotor shaft having an axial rotor axis (axis, annotated fig. 1), wherein the rotor core is arranged on the rotor shaft (shaft, annotated fig. 1), wherein the rotor core comprises:
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rotor laminae stacked one after another (standard practice to reduce eddy current loss), embedded outer magnets (magnets, annotated fig. 2c), arranged outside in the rotor core in axially extending magnet pockets (see annotated fig. 2c),
at least four rotor segments (rotor segments, annotated fig. 2c) arranged one after another (fig. 2c), wherein at least the first rotor segment and also the second rotor segment (the first two rotor segments from the left in fig. 2c) are stacked one after the other and form a first rotor section (first rotor section, annotated fig. 1), wherein,
in an area of the outer magnets, the first rotor segment comprises axially through-going first flux barriers (flux barriers, annotated fig. 2c) separate from the outer magnets (fig. 2c), wherein,
in the area of the outer magnets, the second rotor segment comprises axially through-going second flux barriers (flux barriers, annotated fig. 2c) separate from the outer magnets (fig. 2c), wherein
the first rotor segment and the second rotor segment are offset at an angle relative to one another (see the magnets offsets in annotated fig. 2c; see also offsets in figs. 7 and 10), wherein
the angular offset is chosen such that the first flux barriers and the second flux barriers overlap partially in a first overlap zone (see fig. 2c- the flux barriers form a duct for a cooling fluid), wherein
at least the third rotor segment and also the fourth rotor segment are stacked directly one after the other and form a second rotor section (see annotated fig. 2c), wherein,
in the area of the outer magnets , the fourth rotor segment comprises axially through-going fourth flux barriers separate from the outer magnets (see annotated fig. 2c), wherein,
in the area of the outer magnets, the third rotor segment comprises axially through-going third flux barriers separate from the outer magnets (see annotated fig. 2c), wherein
the third rotor segment and the fourth rotor segment are offset at an angle relative to one another (see annotated fig. 2c), wherein
the angular offset is chosen such that the third flux barriers and the fourth flux barriers overlap partially in a second overlap zone (see annotated fig. 2c, the flux barriers form a duct for a cooling fluid), wherein
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between and adjacent to the first rotor section and the second rotor section an intermediate disk (disk, annotated figs. 1 and 2c) is arranged around the rotor shaft, wherein
the intermediate disk (fig. 8) has radially extending first fluid-guiding ducts (first ducts, annotated fig. 8) and second fluid-guiding ducts (first ducts, annotated fig. 8) distributed around the circumference for guiding cooling fluid (see annotated fig. 8), wherein
by way of the rotor shaft cooling fluid can be passed into the intermediate disk (see cooling fluid path in annotated fig. 1), wherein
the first fluid-guiding ducts have first outlets (16 and 17, annotated fig. 8) and the second fluid-guiding ducts have second outlets (16 and 17, annotated fig. 8) to enable the cooling fluid to flow out, and wherein
the first outlets are connected fluidically with the adjacent flux barriers of the first rotor section and also the second outlets are connected fluidically with the adjust flux barriers of the second rotor section to enable the cooling fluid to flow into corresponding flux barriers (see the axial flow channel directing fluid in opposite axial directions in fig. 2c),
so that by virtue of the first overlap through-going axial cooling of the outer magnets of the first rotor section and by virtue of the second overlap through-going axial cooling of the outer magnets of the second rotor section with cooling fluid takes place (implied).
Regarding claim 2, Trinkenschuh discloses the rotor arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the first overlap zone and also the second overlap zone are arranged in the outer periphery in the respective flux barriers, in the area of a radially outer side of the rotor core (see annotated fig. 2c).
Regarding claim 20, Trinkenschuh discloses the rotor arrangement according to claim 1 but is silent about wherein the intermediate disk is adhesively bonded to the first rotor section and the second rotor section. However, securing and sealing a fluid carrying and distributing disk between two rotor sections is a task within the skills of a person having ordinary skills in the art.
For securing and sealing the intermediate disk, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the intermediate disk is adhesively bonded to the first rotor section and the second rotor section.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-19 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
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/MASOUD VAZIRI/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834