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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 03/27/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement 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) 1-9, 11-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang (CN 113162277).
As to independent claim 1, Zhang teaches rotor (2) for an electric machine, comprising: a laminated core (21) formed from stacked electrical laminations and having magnet pockets (20) arranged therein, a plurality of magnets (inherent to install on the grooves 20), of which at least one is inserted into each of the magnet pockets (20), a plurality of clearances (see annotated figure 3) which are in each case delimited by the magnets inherent to install on the grooves 20) inserted into one of the magnet pockets (20) and by the laminated core (21), and a first connection channel (41) which connects a first one of the clearances (see annotated figure 3) which is associated with a first one of the magnet pockets (20) to a second one of the clearances (see annotated figure 3) which is associated with a second one of the magnet pockets (20) as shown in figure 3.
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As to claim 2/1, Zhang teaches wherein the first clearance (see annotated figure 3), the second clearance (see annotated figure 3) and the first connection channel (41) belong to a continuous channel which connects a filling opening (31) to a venting opening (see annotated figure 3) of the rotor (2) as shown in figure 3.
As to claim 3/1, Zhang teaches wherein the first connection channel (41) extends at an axial side of the laminated core (21).
As to claim 4/3, having a second connection channel (41) which extends at an opposite axial side of the laminated core (21) and which connects the second clearance (see annotated figure 3) to a third one of the clearances (see annotated figure 3) as shown in figure 3.
As to claim 5/4, Zhang teaches wherein the third clearance (see annotated figure 3) is associated with the second magnet pocket (20) or a third magnet pocket (20) as shown in figure 3.
As to claims 6/4 and 17/5, Zhang teaches wherein the first connection channel (41) extends in an end plate (4) of the rotor (2) and/or the second connection channel (41) extends in an end plate (4) of the rotor (2) as shown in figure 3.
As to claims 7/4 and 18/5, Zhang teaches wherein the first connection channel (41)-extends in an end lamination of the laminated core (21) and/or the second connection channel (41) extends in an end lamination of the laminated core (21) as shown in figure 3.
As to claims 8/2 and 19/3, Zhang teaches wherein the filling opening (31) and the venting opening (see annotated figure 3) are arranged at the same axial side or at different axial sides of the laminated core (21) as shown in figure 3.
As to claim 9/8, Zhang teaches having two, three or four continuous channels (41) which correspond to the continuous channel and which each connect a different filling opening (31, 34) of the rotor (2) to a different venting opening (see annotated figure 3) of the rotor (2) as shown in figure 3.
As to claim 11/1, Zhang teaches wherein the magnets (inherent to install on the grooves 20) are potted with a potting compound (glue, see abstract) which is introduced into the clearances (see annotated figure 3) as shown in figure 3.
As to claim 12/1, Zhang teaches an electric machine (see title) having a rotor (2) as shown in figure 3.
As to claim 13/12, Zhang teaches vehicle(see abstract) having an electric machine (see title ) which is provided to drive the vehicle (see abstract).
As to independent claim 14, Zhang teaches a method for producing a rotor (2) for an electric machine-(see title), comprising the following steps: forming a laminated core-(21), in which magnet pockets (inherent to install on the grooves 20) are disposed, from stacked electrical laminations, (21) inserting at least one magnet (inherent to install on the grooves 20) into each of the magnet pockets (20), wherein clearances (see annotated figure 3) which are each delimited by the magnets (inherent to install on the grooves 20) which are inserted in one of the magnet pockets (20) and the laminated core (21) remain, forming at least a first connection channel (41) which connects a first of the clearances (see annotated figure 3) which is associated with a first one of the magnet pockets (20) to a second one of the clearances (see annotated figure 3) which is associated with a second one of the magnet pockets (20), and potting the magnets (inherent to install on the grooves 20), which have been inserted into the magnet pockets-(20), with a potting compound (glue, see abstract) as shown in figure 3.
As to claim 15/14, Zhang teaches wherein some of the potting compound (glue, see abstract) flows from the first clearance (see annotated figure 3) through the first connection channel (41) into the second clearance (see annotated figure 3) and see abstract and as shown in figure 3.
As to claim 16/2, Zhang teaches wherein the first connection channel (41)-extends at the axial side of the laminated core (21) as shown in figure 3.
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.
Claim(s)10 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (CN113162277) as applied in claims 1 and 2 above, and further in view of Zulaika (WO2018179806).
As to claims 10/1 and 20/2, Zhang teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except wherein the laminated core comprises a plurality of laminated core segments which are stacked in an axial direction, wherein one of the laminated core segments is rotated in the circumferential direction with respect to an adjacent one of the laminated core segments.
However Zulaika teaches wherein the laminated core (410) comprises a plurality of laminated core segments (410a, 410b) which are stacked in an axial direction, wherein one of the laminated core segments (410a) is rotated in the circumferential direction with respect to an adjacent one of the laminated core segments (410b) as shown in figure 3, for the advantageous benefits of improving the performance of a motor.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Zhang by using the laminated core comprises a plurality of laminated core segments which are stacked in an axial direction, wherein one of the laminated core segments is rotated in the circumferential direction with respect to an adjacent one of the laminated core segments, as taught by Zulaika, to improve the performance of a motor.
Conclusion
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/JOSE A GONZALEZ QUINONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834 February 20, 2026