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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/27/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-9, filed 08/27/2026, with respect to claim 15 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claim 15 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 10-11, 13-14 and 16-17 regarding claims 1, 7 and the rounded corners, filed 08/27/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 9 and 15 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the new amendment and new reasoning of the prior arts used.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 12-13 regarding claim 9 and a die, filed 08/27/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 9 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the new amendment and new reasoning of the prior arts used.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 15-16 regarding claim 9 and the direction of the pressing, filed 08/27/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 9 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the new amendment and a new prior art.
Applicant's arguments filed 08/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the argument of claim 1 on page 11, Applicant argues that “the purpose of providing the curved configuration in Document 1 is entirely different from the objectives of the present application, … Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have had no apparent reason to modify Kinouchi’s magnetic wedge according to the configuration of the insulation block disclosed in Document 1…” Examiner disagrees. While Document 1 discloses a different reason for applying the rounded shape of the wedge, it does not detract from the fact that one of ordinary skill in the art would be able to modify Kinouchi’s wedge to have rounded shape as disclosed in Document 1. Also, it is a well-known fact and commonly used in manufacturing to have rounded ends for easy insertion of objects into holes, grooves or slots. Thus, the argument is not persuasive.
Regarding the argument of claim 9 on pages 14-15, Applicant argues that “Kinouchi does not disclose mixing polyamide resin or PPS resin with the magnetic powder material as in Iyoda,” and “it is unclear whether the resulting compact would have sufficient structural integrity or satisfactory mold-release characteristics.” Examiner disagrees. While Kinouchi does not explicitly disclose resin mixed in with the magnetic powder, Kinouchi’s magnetic wedge would inherently include a filler material such as resin. Magnetic powder alone is unable to be die-cast into a specific shape and would fall apart as soon as it’s removed from a die. As such, magnetic powder requires resin to hold together the magnetic powder and keep its form. Thus, the argument is not persuasive.
Regarding the argument of claim 15 on pages 16-17, Applicant argues that “Document 1 does not explicitly disclose or otherwise teach or suggest that the radius R of the rounded portion is 40% or less of the thickness of block 6.” Examiner disagrees. FIG. 2 of Document 1 does suggest that the length of R is significantly shorter than the thickness t of the block. While it is not explicitly stated in the specification, one of ordinary skill in the art would be able to infer from FIG. 2 that the length R would be 40% or less than the thickness of the block. Thus, the argument is not persuasive.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-4, 7 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinouchi et al. (US 2019/0238021 A1) in view of Document 1 (JP H04108354 U).
Regarding claim 1, Kinouchi discloses a magnetic wedge (100) to be installed in a slot opening (260) of a stator (270) of a dynamo-electric machine (200), the magnetic wedge (100) comprising:
wherein defining that a long side of the magnetic wedge is a longitudinal direction, a short side is defined as a thickness direction, and a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and the thickness direction is a width direction (FIG. 1, 2).
a projection shape of the magnetic wedge (100) projected onto a plane perpendicular to a width direction is a rectangle, a parallelogram, or a right angle trapezoid (wedge in FIG. 2 when viewed from the side would be a rectangle).
Kinouchi does not disclose an end shape of the projection shape of the magnetic wedge comprises rounded shape corners connected by a straight edge of the rectangle, the parallelogram, or the right-angle trapezoid.
While Document 1 does not disclose an end shape of the rectangle has rounded shape corners connected by a straight edge, it discloses ends of the rectangle has a rounded shape (FIG. 1, 2). Changing a rounded end to have a straight portion with rounded corners would be obvious to anyone even not of ordinary skill in the art. The different shapes serve the same purpose of easy insertion or smaller contact area of the wedge, and do not involve any other technical advantage or skill to implement. Thus, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 discloses an end shape of the projection shape of the magnetic wedge comprises rounded shape corners connected by a straight edge of the rectangle, the parallelogram, or the right-angle trapezoid.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Kinouchi in view of Document 1 to disclose an end shape of the projection shape of the magnetic wedge comprises rounded shape corners connected by a straight edge of the rectangle, the parallelogram, or the right-angle trapezoid, for the advantages of as the curvature allows the wedges to be inserted easily into the slots.
Regarding claim 2/1, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 was discussed above in claim 1. Kinouchi further discloses including a plurality of soft magnetic particles (2) and an electrically insulating substance (coating layer ¶ [0084], intermediate phase ¶ [0087]) between the soft magnetic particles (2; ¶ [0083]).
Regarding claim 3/2, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 was discussed above in claim 2. Kinouchi further discloses wherein the soft magnetic particles (2) are Fe-based soft magnetic particles (¶ [0064]),
the Fe-based soft magnetic particles (2) contain an element M (coating layer on magnetic particles; ¶ [0084] Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Zr, Ti, Hf, Zn, Mn, Ba, Sr, Cr, Mo, Ag, Ga, Sc, V, Y, Nb, Pb, Cu, In, Sn, and rare earth elements) that is more easily oxidized than Fe (the presence of the coating layer increases oxidation resistance, suggesting the element is oxidized before iron),
the electrically insulating substance (coating layer, intermediate phase) is an oxide phase containing the element M (¶ [0084] one secondary element consisting of oxygen (O), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and fluorine (F), preferably is an oxide or a composite oxide), and
the Fe-based soft magnetic particles are bound by the oxide phase (¶ [0087] the intermediate phase also plays the role of mechanically adhering magnetic bodies to other magnetic bodies).
Regarding claim 4/3, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 was discussed above in claim 3. Kinouchi further discloses wherein the element M is at least one selected from a group consisting of Al, Si, Cr, Zr, and Hf (¶ [0084]).
Regarding claim 7, Kinouchi discloses a dynamo-electric machine (200) having:
a stator (270) which has a plurality of teeth (250) and a plurality of slots (260) formed by the plurality of teeth (250) and in which a magnetic wedge (100) is fitted between tips of the teeth (250) adjacent to each other; and
a rotor (210) disposed at a position by which an axis is shared with the stator (270) for the dynamo-electric machine (200),
wherein defining that a dimension of the magnetic wedge (100) in a circumferential direction of the dynamo-electric machine (200) is a width, and
a projection shape of the magnetic wedge (100) projected onto a plane perpendicular to a line in a width direction is a rectangle, a parallelogram, or a right angle trapezoid (wedge in FIG. 2 when viewed from the side would be a rectangle).
Kinouchi does not disclose an end shape of the projection shape of the magnetic wedge comprises rounded shape corners connected by a straight edge of the rectangle, the parallelogram, or the right-angle trapezoid.
While Document 1 does not disclose an end shape of the rectangle has rounded shape corners connected by a straight edge, it discloses ends of the rectangle has a rounded shape (FIG. 1, 2). Changing a rounded end to have a straight portion with rounded corners would be obvious to anyone even not of ordinary skill in the art. The different shapes serve the same purpose of easy insertion or smaller contact area of the wedge, and does not involve any other technical advantage or skill to implement. Thus, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 discloses an end shape of the projection shape of the magnetic wedge comprises rounded shape corners connected by a straight edge of the rectangle, the parallelogram, or the right-angle trapezoid.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Kinouchi in view of Document 1 to disclose an end shape of the projection shape of the magnetic wedge comprises rounded shape corners connected by a straight edge of the rectangle, the parallelogram, or the right-angle trapezoid, for the advantages of as the curvature allows the wedges to be inserted easily into the slots.
Regarding claim 15, Kinouchi discloses a magnetic wedge (100) to be installed in a slot opening (260) of a stator (270) of a dynamo-electric machine (200),
wherein defining that a long side of the magnetic wedge (100) is a longitudinal direction, a short side is defined as a thickness direction, and a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and the thickness direction is a width direction (FIG. 1, 2),
a projection shape of the magnetic wedge (100) projected onto a plane perpendicular to a width direction is a rectangle, a parallelogram, or a right angle trapezoid (wedge in FIG. 2 when viewed from the side would be a rectangle).
Kinouchi does not disclose corners of the rectangle, the parallelogram, or the right angle trapezoid have a rounded shape, wherein a radius of the rounded shape is 40% or less of a thickness of the magnetic wedge.
Document 1 discloses corners of the rectangle, the parallelogram, or the right angle trapezoid have a rounded shape (FIG. 1, 2), wherein a radius (R) of the rounded shape is 40% or less of a thickness of the wedge (6; FIG. 2 discloses the length of the rounded shape is shorter than the length of the wedge in both y and z direction).
While it is not explicitly stated in the specification, one of ordinary skill in the art would be able to infer from FIG. 2 that the length R would be 40% or less than the thickness of the block.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Kinouchi in view of Document 1 to disclose corners of the rectangle, the parallelogram, or the right angle trapezoid have a rounded shape, wherein a radius of the rounded shape is 40% or less of a thickness of the magnetic wedge, for the advantages of as the curvature allows the wedges to be inserted easily into the slots.
Claims 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinouchi et al. (US 2019/0238021 A1) in view of Document 1 (JP H04108354 U) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Hauger et al. (EP 1659672 A1).
Regarding claim 5/4, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 was discussed above in claim 4. Kinouchi in view of Document 1 does not disclose wherein the Fe-based soft magnetic particles are Fe-Al-Cr alloy particles.
Hauger discloses wherein the Fe-based soft magnetic particles are Fe-Al-Cr alloy particles (see excerpt below).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Kinouchi in view of Document 1, further in view of Hauge to disclose wherein the Fe-based soft magnetic particles are Fe-Al-Cr alloy particles, for the advantages of a magnetic material having a ferromagnetic state below 1050 degree Celsius and paramagnetic state above 1050 degree Celsius.
Regarding claim 8/5, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 and Hauger was discussed above in claim 5. Kinouchi further discloses a dynamo-electric machine (200) having:
a stator (270) which has a plurality of teeth (250) and a plurality of slots (260) formed by the plurality of teeth (250) and in which the magnetic wedge (100) according to claim 5 is fitted between tips of the teeth (250) adjacent to each other; and
a rotor (210) disposed at a position by which an axis is shared with the stator (270) for the dynamo-electric machine (200).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinouchi et al. (US 2019/0238021 A1) in view of Document 1 (JP H04108354 U) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamaguchi et al. (US 2004/0124730 A1).
Regarding claim 6/1, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 was discussed above in claim 1. Kinouchi further discloses wherein the magnetic wedge (100) has a shape with a width that differs in the thickness direction of the magnetic wedge (100; FIG. 1, 2).
Kinouchi in view of Document 1 does not disclose a cross-sectional shape of the magnetic wedge when viewed from the longitudinal direction has a shape in which a straight portion and an inclined portion are smoothly connected.
Yamaguchi discloses a cross-sectional shape of the magnetic wedge (1) when viewed from the longitudinal direction has a shape in which a straight portion (111) and an inclined portion (112) are smoothly connected (FIG. 10a, b).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Kinouchi in view of Document 1, further in view of Yamaguchi to disclose a cross-sectional shape of the magnetic wedge when viewed from the longitudinal direction has a shape in which a straight portion and an inclined portion are smoothly connected, for the advantages of improved insertion performance (¶ [0062]).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinouchi et al. (US 2019/0238021 A1) in view of Document 1 (JP H04108354 U) and Matsuzawa et al. (JP 2000-261998 A).
Regarding claim 9, Kinouchi discloses a method for manufacturing a magnetic wedge (100) that is to be installed in a slot opening (260) of a stator (270) of a dynamo-electric machine (200), the method comprising:
defining that a long side of the magnetic wedge (100) is a longitudinal direction, a short side is defined as a thickness direction, and a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and the thickness direction is a width direction (FIG. 1, 2),
a mold (¶ [0104] discloses compression molding) having a rectangular, parallelogram, or right angle trapezoidal (FIG. 1 discloses a right angle trapezoid shaped wedge) opening.
Kinouchi does not disclose a pressing step of pressing raw material powder containing soft magnetic particles in a width direction to obtain a green compact,
the mold is a die with rounded corners at two ends of the opening in the longitudinal direction, and a punch configured to be inserted into the opening of the die are used.
While Document 1 does not disclose an end shape of the rectangle has rounded shape corners connected by a straight edge, it discloses ends of the rectangle has a rounded shape (FIG. 1, 2). Changing a rounded end to have a straight portion with rounded corners would be obvious to anyone even not of ordinary skill in the art. The different shapes serve the same purpose of easy insertion or smaller contact area of the wedge, and do not involve any other technical advantage or skill to implement. Thus, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 discloses an end shape of the projection shape of the magnetic wedge comprises rounded shape corners connected by a straight edge of the rectangle, the parallelogram, or the right-angle trapezoid.
Matsuzawa discloses a pressing step (FIG. 2) of pressing raw material powder (8) containing soft magnetic particles (magnetic powder and resin binder) in the width direction (FIG. 2, 3) to obtain a green compact,
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the mold is a die, and a punch (5a, 6a) configured to be inserted into the opening of the die (7a) are used (FIG. 2, 3).
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The method of Matsuzawa can be implemented to manufacture the magnetic wedges of Kinouchi and Document 1, where the die of Matsuzawa has rounded ends in the longitudinal direction.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Kinouchi in view of Document 1, further in view of Matsuzawa to disclose a pressing step of pressing raw material powder containing soft magnetic particles in a width direction to obtain a green compact, the mold is a die, and a punch configured to be inserted into the opening of the die are used, for the advantages of effectively preventing magnetic flux leakage and increasing the rotation efficient of the motor (Summary of the Invention).
Regarding claim 10/9, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 and Matsuzawa was discussed above in claim 9. Kinouchi further discloses including a plurality of the soft magnetic particles (2) and an electrically insulating substance (coating layer ¶ [0084], intermediate phase ¶ [0087]) between the soft magnetic particles (2; ¶ [0083]).
Regarding claim 11/10, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 and Matsuzawa was discussed above in claim 10. Kinouchi further discloses wherein the raw material powder is mixed powder of a binder ((¶ [0088] intermediate phase is used as adhering magnetic bodies to each other) and powder of Fe-based soft magnetic particles (2) containing an element M (coating layer on magnetic particles; ¶ [0084] Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Zr, Ti, Hf, Zn, Mn, Ba, Sr, Cr, Mo, Ag, Ga, Sc, V, Y, Nb, Pb, Cu, In, Sn, and rare earth elements) that is more easily oxidized than Fe (the presence of the coating layer increases oxidation resistance, suggesting the element is oxidized before iron), and
a surface oxide phase (¶ [0087] the intermediate phase also plays the role of mechanically adhering magnetic bodies to other magnetic bodies) of the Fe-based soft magnetic particles (2) that binds the Fe-based soft magnetic particles (2) together between the Fe-based soft magnetic particles (2) is provided.
Kinouchi in view of Document 1 does not disclose after the pressing step, a heat treatment step of heat-treating the green compact to form a protective surface.
Matsuzawa discloses after the pressing step, a heat treatment step of heat-treating the green compact to form a protective surface.
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Kinouchi in view of Document 1, further in view of Matsuzawa to disclose after the pressing step, a heat treatment step of heat-treating the green compact to form a protective surface, to cure the resin binder for increased structural integrity.
Regarding claim 12/11, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 and Matsuzawa was discussed above in claim 11. Kinouchi further discloses wherein the element M is at least one selected from a group consisting of Al, Si, Cr, Zr, and Hf (¶ [0084]).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinouchi et al. (US 2019/0238021 A1) in view of Document 1 (JP H04108354 U) and Matsuzawa et al. (JP 2000-261998 A) as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Hauger et al. (EP 1659672 A1).
Regarding claim 13/12, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 and Matsuzawa was discussed above in claim 12. Kinouchi in view of Document 1 and Matsuzawa does not disclose wherein the Fe-based soft magnetic particles are Fe-Al-Cr alloy particles.
Hauger discloses wherein the Fe-based soft magnetic particles are Fe-Al-Cr alloy particles (see excerpt below).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Kinouchi in view of Document 1 and Matsuzawa, further in view of Hauge to disclose wherein the Fe-based soft magnetic particles are Fe-Al-Cr alloy particles, for the advantages of a magnetic material having a ferromagnetic state below 1050 degree Celsius and paramagnetic state above 1050 degree Celsius.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinouchi et al. (US 2019/0238021 A1) in view of Document 1 (JP H04108354 U), Matsuzawa et al. (JP 2000-261998 A) and Hauger et al. (EP 1659672 A1) as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Yamaguchi et al. (US 2004/0124730 A1).
Regarding claim 14/13, Kinouchi in view of Document 1, Matsuzawa and Hauger was discussed above in claim 13.
Matsuzawa further discloses wherein the punch (5a, 6a) has a punch surface that is asymmetrical with respect to a center line in a thickness direction of the magnetic wedge (4).
Kinouchi in view of Document 1, Matsuzawa and Hauger does not disclose a cross-sectional shape of the magnetic wedge when viewed from the longitudinal direction has a shape in which a straight portion and an inclined portion are smoothly connected.
Yamaguchi discloses a cross-sectional shape of the wedge (1) when viewed from the longitudinal direction has a shape in which a straight portion (11, 12) and an inclined portion (between the straight portions 11 and 12) are smoothly connected (FIG. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Kinouchi in view of Document 1, Matsuzawa and Hauger, further in view of Yamaguchi to disclose a cross-sectional shape of the magnetic wedge when viewed from the longitudinal direction has a shape in which a straight portion and an inclined portion are smoothly connected, as disclosed in FIG. 1, 9-12, changing the shape of the wedge to have an inclined surface (FIG. 1) or right angle surface (FIG. 10) are obvious variants of each other as disclosed by Yamaguchi.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinouchi et al. (US 2019/0238021 A1) in view of Document 1 (JP H04108354 U) and Matsuzawa et al. (JP 2000-261998 A) as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Camel (How does cold-chamber die casting machine work, https://www.cameldie.com/how-does-cold-chamber-machine-work).
Regarding claim 16/9, Kinouchi in view of Document 1 and Matsuzawa was discussed above in claim 9. Matsuzawa further disclose wherein during the pressing step, the raw material powder (8) is pressed in the width direction by lowering an upper punch (5a).
Kinouchi in view of Document 1 and Matsuzawa does not disclose lowering the upper punch while simultaneously lowering a lower punch.
Camel discloses lowering the upper punch while simultaneously lowering a lower punch.
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Kinouchi in view of Document 1 and Matsuzawa, further in view of Camel to disclose lowering the upper punch while simultaneously lowering a lower punch, for the advantages of allowing the air bubble to stay on the top of the metal to prevent air bubble from forming in the die casted product.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINKI CHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-0521. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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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.
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/MINKI CHANG/ Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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