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 6/25/24 is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to preliminary amendment filed on 3/8/24. Regarding the amendment, claims 1-4, 6-13 are present for examination.
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, 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Carosa et al. (US 5,729,885 A).
Regarding claim 1, Carosa teaches a rotor (fig 1) of an aircraft electric motor, the rotor comprising:
a shaft (10) made of a first material (silicon iron, col 4 ln 48-50); and
a conductive assembly (18) made of a second material (copper, col 5 ln 30-32) different from the first material,
wherein the shaft (10) comprises a shoulder portion (14), the shoulder portion (14) comprising a plurality of longitudinal notches (12), wherein the plurality of notches comprise:
two contiguous notches (12a, 12b, see annotated fig 2) radially superimposed in the shoulder portion (14);
a first opening (10a) on a radially outer face of the shoulder portion (14); and
a second opening (10b) connecting the two contiguous notches (12a, 12b), and
wherein the conductive assembly (18) is a one-piece structure comprising:
at least one conductive bar (18) configured to be positioned in one notch (12) of the plurality of notches; and
a skin (34) configured to be fixed on the shoulder portion (14).
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Regarding claim 3, Carosa teaches the conductive assembly (18) comprises: a first ring (34) being fixed to the rotor at a first end region of the shoulder portion (14); and a second ring (34) being fixed to the rotor at a second end region of the shoulder portion (14, fig 6).
Regarding claim 4, Carosa teaches a plurality of notches (12) tangentially distributed in the shoulder portion (14, fig 2).
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.
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carosa in view of Hasegawa et al. (JP 2001211615 A).
Regarding claim 2, Carosa teaches the claimed invention as set forth in claim 1, except for the added limitation of an interpenetration layer of the first material and of the second material, the interpenetration layer being between the shaft and the conductive assembly, and the interpenetration layer comprising an alloy of the first material and an alloy of the second material.
Hasegawa teaches a rotor of squirrel cage induction motor having a rotor comprising an interpenetration layer (the coating layer 14b) of the first material and of the second material, the interpenetration layer (14b) being between the shaft (12) and the conductive assembly (14), and the interpenetration layer comprising an alloy of the first material and an alloy of the second material para [0014]) to prevent the deformation of the rotor or imbalance in the high-speed revolutions (abstract).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Carosa’s rotor with an interpenetration layer of the first material and of the second material, the interpenetration layer being between the shaft and the conductive assembly, and the interpenetration layer comprising an alloy of the first material and an alloy of the second material as taught by Hasegawa. Doing so would prevent the deformation of the rotor or imbalance in the high-speed revolutions (abstract).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-13 are allowed.
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 a method for manufacturing a rotor in claim 6 and 13, the method comprising at least one of:
inserting a shaft and an element intended to form a conductive assembly in a tubular protective casing;
heating and pressurizing the conductive assembly containing the protective casing, the element intended to form the conductive assembly and the shaft, up to a temperature of formation of the conductive assembly and of diffusion welding of the conductive assembly and of the shaft to obtain an assembly comprising the protective casing and the rotor;
heat treating the assembly by cooling the assembly;
tempering the assembly; and
separating the protective casing and the rotor.
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.
Hsu (US 2004/0139596 A1) teaches a method of making a squirrel cage rotor of copper material for use in AC or DC motors, includes forming a core with longitudinal slots, inserting bars of conductive material in the slots, with ends extending out of opposite ends of the core, and joining the end rings to the bars, wherein the conductive material of either the end rings or the bars is copper. Various methods of joining the end rings to the bars are disclosed including electrofriction welding, current pulse welding and brazing, transient liquid phase joining and casting. Pressure is also applied to the end rings to improve contact and reduce areas of small or uneven contact between the bar ends and the end rings. Rotors made with such methods are also disclosed.
Agapiou et al. (US 10,879,752 B2) teaches a rotor stack assembly includes multiple plates each including multiple elongated slots each oriented radially outward from a longitudinal central axis of each plate toward an outer perimeter wall of the plate. Multiple openings are each positioned proximate to one of the slots and directed outwardly through the outer perimeter wall. Multiple runners individually extend through the plate and individually open into one of opposed ends of each of the slots. Multiple bars of a conductive material are each extended through aligned ones of the slots of each of the multiple plates.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher M Koehler can be reached at (571) 272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LEDA T PHAM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834