DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on 5.24.24. In view of this communication, claims 1-11 are now pending in this application.
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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: Brushless motor with insulator ring structure.
Claim Objections
Claims below are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 7-8 discloses “a first-axial-side end of the stator” , a second-axial-side end of the stator” wherein underlined should be replaced with “the”.
Claim 10 recites “the stator constituent parts are assembled to one another in an axial direction of the stator; and the bridging wires of the winding included in one of the stator constituent parts are arranged at positions” wherein underlined should be preceded by “configured to be” as claim 10 is a product claim.
Appropriate correction and thorough review is requested.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4,9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Seki et al (US20130200742A1), hereinafter Seki.
Regarding Claim 1, Seki discloses (Figs 1,2A,4) a brushless motor (60) [0003] comprising a stator (10) and a rotor (50) that is arranged inside the stator,
the stator comprising:
a stator core (14) constituted of a plurality of core constituent parts (14U,14V,14W), each of the core constituent parts including a corresponding one of a plurality of yoke constituent parts (22U,22V,22W), which together constitute an annular yoke that is segmented (Fig 1) in a circumferential direction thereof, and a corresponding one of a plurality of teeth (24U,24V,24W) that radially protrude respectively from the yoke constituent parts;
a plurality of windings (26U,26V,26W) each having a plurality of winding sections (26U, 26U, 26U, 26U) each of which is wound around a corresponding one of the teeth; and
a plurality of insulators (18U,18V,18W) each having a plurality of insulating parts (32U,32U,32U,32U), each of which is mounted to a corresponding one of the core constituent parts (Fig 2A) to insulate the corresponding tooth included in the corresponding core constituent part and the corresponding winding section wound around the corresponding tooth from each other, and a connecting ring (34U) that connects the insulating parts,
wherein:
each of the connecting rings (34U,34V,34W) of the insulators has an inner diameter (D1) set to be greater than an outer diameter (d1) of the rotor (50).
PNG
media_image1.png
630
524
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
490
470
media_image2.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image3.png
460
358
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 2, Seki discloses the brushless motor as set forth in Claim 1. Seki further discloses wherein: each of the connecting rings (Fig 22A,318U) of the insulators has an outer diameter (318Uod) set to be less than an inner diameter (314Uid) of the stator core (314U)(extending portion 362U has a curvature that extends beyond 318Uod in the radial direction before 314Uid starts).
PNG
media_image4.png
666
476
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 3, Seki discloses the brushless motor as set forth in Claim 1. Seki further discloses (Figs 20A,20B,20C) wherein: all the connecting rings (34U,34V,34W) of the insulators are arranged radially between the stator core (14) and the rotor (50).
PNG
media_image5.png
724
448
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 4, Seki discloses the brushless motor as set forth in Claim 1. Seki further discloses wherein: all the connecting rings (34U,34V,34W) of the insulators are arranged in alignment with each other in an axial direction of the stator (Figs 20A,20B,20C. All have same centerline).
Regarding Claim 9, Seki discloses the brushless motor as set forth in Claim 1. Seki further discloses wherein: each of the windings (26U,26V,26W) includes a plurality of bridging wires (28U,28V,28W) that connect the winding sections of the winding with one another; and all the bridging wires of the windings are arranged radially Figs 2A,2B,2C)outside the connecting rings (34U,34V,34W) of the insulators.
PNG
media_image6.png
528
498
media_image6.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image7.png
544
524
media_image7.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 10, Seki discloses the brushless motor as set forth in Claim 9. Seki further discloses wherein: the stator is constituted of a plurality of stator constituent parts (12U,12V,12W) each of which includes a predetermined number of the core constituent parts(14U, 14U,14U,14U) one of the windings (26U) and one of the insulators (18U); the stator constituent parts are assembled to one another in an axial direction (Z1,Z2) of the stator(Fig 41A); and the bridging wires (28U) of the winding included in one of the stator constituent parts are arranged at positions where they do not interfere with the core constituent parts included in the remainder of the stator constituent parts during the assembly of the stator constituent parts to one another in the axial direction of the stator (Bridging wire is wrapped around connection ring, therefore there is no interference with core constituent part).
PNG
media_image8.png
644
526
media_image8.png
Greyscale
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 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.
Claims 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seki in view of Seki3414 (JP2013223414A English translation).
Regarding Claim 5, Seki discloses the brushless motor as set forth in Claim 1, wherein: a first connecting ring (34U), which is located furthest (Fig 20A,20B) toward a first axial side (Z1) of the stator among all the connecting rings of the insulators but does not explicitly disclose has a first-axial-side end thereof located further toward a second axial side of the stator than first-axial-side ends of the winding sections of the windings are (Examiner interprets first axial side end at first axial side of stator).
Seki3414 discloses (Fig 2) a first-axial-side end (34U1) thereof located further toward a second axial side (Z2) of the stator than first-axial-side ends of the winding sections (32Uw-32U with winding 16U will be farther in Z1 direction than 34U1) of the windings are.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed brushless motor of Seki with winding position in relation to connecting ring as taught by Seki3414in order to have the design choice of location of windings relative to connection ring which is determined by packaging requirements.
PNG
media_image9.png
478
273
media_image9.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 6, Seki in view of Seki3414 discloses the brushless motor as set forth Claim 5. Seki in view of Seki3414 does not explicitly disclose wherein: a second connecting ring, which is located furthest toward the second axial side of the stator among all the connecting rings of the insulators, has a second-axial-side end thereof located further toward the first axial side of the stator than second-axial-side ends of the winding sections of the windings are.
Seki3414 further discloses (Fig 2) wherein: a second connecting ring (34W), which is located furthest toward the second axial side (Z2)of the stator among all the connecting rings of the insulators, has a second-axial-side end (34W2) thereof located further toward the first axial side of the stator than second-axial-side ends of the winding sections (32Ww-32W with winding 16W will be farther in Z2 direction than 34W2) of the windings are.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed brushless motor of Seki with winding position in relation to connecting ring as taught by Seki3414in order to have the design choice of location of windings relative to connection ring which is determined by packaging requirements.
Regarding Claim 7, Seki in view of Seki3414 discloses the brushless motor as set forth Claim 5. Seki in view of Seki3414 further discloses wherein: all the connecting rings (34U,34V,34W) of the insulators are arranged at a first-axial-side end of the stator (Fig 20A-C discloses all rings together which can be towards any axial end) .
Regarding Claim 8, Seki in view of Seki3414 discloses the brushless motor as set forth Claim 6. Seki in view of Seki3414 discloses the first connecting ring (Seki, 34U) is arranged at a first-axial-side end (Z1) of the stator but does not explicitly disclose the second connecting ring is arranged at a second-axial-side end of the stator.
Seki3414 further discloses (Fig 2) the second connecting ring (34W) is arranged at a second-axial-side end (Z2) of the stator.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed brushless motor of Seki in view of Seki3414 with connecting rings on opposite ends as further taught by Seki3414 in order to uniformly and symmetrically position the connecting rings across axial length of stator based on design choice.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 11 recites “ The brushless motor as set forth in Claim 10, wherein: the bridging wires of the windings have been shaped, from a state of spreading toward a radially outer side of the stator constituent parts, toward a radially inner side of the stator constituent parts”. In Seki, the bridging wires are towards the connecting ring and do not spread towards outer side of stator. Seki 3414 also does not explicitly show this configuration. Therefore claim 10 is allowable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VISWANATHAN SUBRAMANIAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4814. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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, Christopher M Koehler can be reached at 5712723560. 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.
/VISWANATHAN SUBRAMANIAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2834