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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/07/24 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-6, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kinpara et al. (US 2012/0326550 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kinpara teaches an armature manufacturing method comprising:
an insulating member disposing step for disposing an insulating member (16, fig 8A-8B) on a core (7) including a plurality of tooth portions (13) extending along a radial direction so that side faces of the tooth portions (13) of the core (7) are covered with the insulating member (16) and first portions (44) of the insulating member (16, fig 12A-12B) protrude to one side in an axial direction from end faces of the tooth portions (13) on the one side in the axial direction;
a bending step for bending, toward each of the tooth portions (13), the first portions (44) of the insulating member (16) that protrude from the end face of each of the tooth portions (!3) on the one side (fig 13A); and
a winding looping step for looping a winding (17) around each of the plurality of tooth portions (13) on which the bent first portions (44) are disposed (fig 15).
Regarding claim 2, Kinpara teaches the bending step (fig 12A-12B) is a step of disposing the insulating member (16) on the core (7) from the other side in the axial direction.
Regarding claim 3, Kinpara teaches the bending step is a step of plastically deforming the first portions (44) by bending the first portions while heating the first portions (para 0057]).
Regarding claim 4, Kinpara teaches the bending step is a step of bending the first portions (44) while heating the first portions (44) so that a temperature of each of the first portions (44) is equal to or higher than a glass transition point of the insulating member (16) and lower than a melting point of the insulating member (para [0056]-[0057]).
Regarding claim 5, Kinpara teaches the bending step is a step of bending the first portions (44) to bring the first portions (44) into close surface contact with each of the tooth portions (13, fig 13A).
Regarding claim 6, Kinpara teaches the bending step is a step of bending, toward each of the tooth portions (13), a pair of the first portions (44) provided on both sides of each of the tooth portions (13) in a circumferential direction so as to form a clearance between the pair of the first portions (44) with the pair of the first portions bent toward each of the tooth portions (13, fig 13A).
Regarding claim 10, Kinpara teaches an armature comprising:
a winding (17);
a core (7) including a plurality of tooth portions (13) around which the winding (17) is looped, the tooth portions (13) extending along a radial direction; and
an insulating member (16) disposed between the core (7) and the winding (17), wherein
the insulating member (16) is provided so as to cover side faces of the tooth portions (13) and end faces of the tooth portions (13) on one side in an axial direction (fig 13B), and
portions (44) of the insulating member (16) that covers the end faces of the tooth portions (13) on the one side are provided so as to cover the end faces on the one side by being bent toward each of the tooth portions (13, fig 13A-13B).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the record of prior art by itself or in combination with other references does not show the armature manufacturing method wherein the insulating member disposing step is a step of disposing the insulating member on the core so that second portions of the insulating member disposed along an annular yoke portion of the core that connects the plurality of tooth portions and provided so as to adjoin the first portions protrude to the one side in the axial direction from an end face of the yoke portion on the one side in the axial direction with the insulating member disposed on the core; and the bending step is a step of bending the first portions without bending the second portions, as recited in claim 7.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kinoshita (US 10,367,390 B2) teaches a stator capable of preventing the displacement of insulators and securely positioning the insulators at given positions. A stator includes a stator core formed with slots; a coil wound around the stator core, the coil comprising a coil side and a coil end, the coil end arranged outside the slot; and insulators provided in the slots. Each insulator includes a coil side-insulation part arranged between wall surfaces of a slot and a first coil side and electrically insulating the wall surfaces from the first coil side; and a coil end-insulation part formed in one piece with the coil side-insulation part and arranged outside the first slot. The coil end-insulation part is arranged between a first coil end and a second coil end and electrically insulates the first coil end from the second coil end.
Lee (US 2019/0341824 A1) teaches a stator for a compressor motor may include a stator body having a hollow therein, a plurality of coil winding portions that protrudes inward from an inner circumferential surface of the stator body and spaced apart from each other, a coil wound around each of the plurality of coil winding portions, and an insulation portion that extends in an axial direction of the stator body, disposed between a first coil winding portion and a second coil winding portion of the plurality of coil winding portions, and coupled to the inner circumferential surface of the stator body to surround a portion of the coil. The insulation portion may be made of polyether ether ketone, which is a plastic-based material, or one of polyurethane rubber or silicone rubber, which are rubber-based materials.
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/LEDA T PHAM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834