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 . This Office Action is responsive to the Applicant's communication filed on January 6, 2026. In view of this communication, claims 1-3, 5-8, and 10-12 are now pending in the application.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7-12 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on January 6, 2026.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the aircraft electric motor and interpenetration layer must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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: An Electrical Cage Rotor Structure.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 (WARNING)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Applicant is advised that should claim 7-12 be no longer withdrawn from consideration, claim 7 will be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 7 recites, both an apparatus and the method steps of making the apparatus. A single claim drawn to both types of limitations is deemed indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b). As outlined in MPEP 2173.05(p) paragraph II.
Claims 8-12 are rejected solely due to their dependency on claim 7.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BETHGE (US 10326341 B2) in view of HASEGAWA (JP 2001211615 A).
In regards to claim 1, BETHGE teaches:
A rotor of an aircraft electric motor(Fig 3; 10)[Col 1;15-24], the rotor comprising:
a shaft (Fig 1; 1)made of a first material[Col 2; 24-25]; and
a skin (Fig 3; 8/9)made of a second material different from the first material(the skin comprises a casted bulk material 8[Col 4; 1-9]),
the shaft (Fig 1; 1)comprising a shoulder portion(Fig 1; 4), the skin (Fig 1; 8)being fixed on the shoulder portion(Fig 1; 4); and
an interpenetration layer of the first material and of the second material, the interpenetration layer comprising an alloy of the first material and an alloy of the second material(the interpretation layer is an inevitable structure created by the process of diffusion welding [Col 2; 29-38]), the interpenetration layer being between the shaft (Fig 1; 1)and the skin(Fig 1; 8).
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BETHGE does not teach:
the skin comprising two half-shells welded together, each half-shell of the two half-shells comprising a chamfer, the chamfers being configured to assemble the two half-shells together.
HASEGAWA teaches:
the skin (Fig 5A; 14)comprising two half-shells welded together(Fig 5A; 14a/b), each half-shell of the two half-shells comprising a chamfer, the chamfers being configured to assemble the two half-shells together(the welding of chamfers in a product by process MPEP 2173.05(p), the structure is taught in HASEGAWA [0028]).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify BETHGE by using the two half-shell assembly taught by HASEGAWA in order to reduce the power consumption, by providing a strong structure capable of withstanding a high peripheral speed, high efficiency, and high power factor [0007 HASEGAWA].
In regards to claim 2, BETHGE, in view of HASEGAWA, teaches the rotor according to claim 1:
wherein the skin (Fig 1; 8) comprises:
a first ring(Fig 1; 7) being fixed to the rotor (Fig 3; 10)at a first end region of the shoulder portion(Fig 1; 4); and
a second ring (Fig 1; 7)being fixed to the rotor at a second end region of the shoulder portion(Fig 1; 4) [Col 3; 54 – Col 4; 7].
In regards to claim 3, BETHGE, in view of HASEGAWA, teaches the rotor according to claim 2:
wherein the skin (Fig 1; 8)and the rings (Fig 1; 7)are monoblocs[Col 3; 54 – Col 4; 7].
In regards to claim 5, BETHGE, in view of HASEGAWA, teaches the rotor according to claim 1:
wherein the first material comprises at least iron and carbon[Col 2; 24-25].
In regards to claim 6, BETHGE, in view of HASEGAWA, teaches the rotor according to claim 1:
wherein the second material comprises at least one of copper; aluminum; and silver[Col 4; 1-9].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS L SETZER whose telephone number is (571)272-3021. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Oluseye 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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/N.L.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834