DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-11 of U.S. Application 18/712893 filed on May 23, 2024 are presented for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. 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
3. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on May 23, 2024 and July 4, 2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Priority
4. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-11 are 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.
Regarding claim 1, lines 11-12, “the rotor shaft is rotatably mounted on the rotor shaft via at least two bearings,” it is not clear how the rotor shaft can be mounted onto itself. The examiner will interpret as -- the rotor shaft is rotatably mounted via at least two bearings --.
Claims 2-11 are also rejected due to dependence on claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
7. 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.
8. Claims 1-5, 8, 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ziegler (US 20130270945).
Regarding claim 1 (as best understood, see 112b rejection above for examiner interpretation), Ziegler teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 9 and 11 below) an electronically commutated motor (Abstract, ¶ 1; ¶ 33), comprising:
a disc-shaped rotor (38) which has an associated magnetization component (36) and a rotor shaft (22) (Abstract; ¶ 28; ¶ 29); and
an annular stator (12, 30, 20) on which a plurality of stator teeth (102) is provided, each of the plurality of stator teeth (102) provided with a respective stator tooth winding (168), each of which is configured to interact magnetically with the magnetization component of the rotor (38) (Abstract; ¶ 27; ¶ 30; ¶ 42; ¶ 48),
wherein the rotor shaft (22) reaches through the stator (12, 30, 20) in the axial direction (fig. 2; ¶ 28; ¶ 31), and
the rotor shaft (22) is rotatably mounted on the rotor shaft (22) via at least two bearings (14, 16) arranged directly next to one another in the axial direction of the rotor shaft (22) (¶ 27; ¶ 28; ¶ 31).
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Regarding claim 2/1, Ziegler teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 9 and 11 above) the at least two bearings (14, 16) are arranged axially at least in some regions within the stator (12, 30, 20) or axially between the rotor (38) and the stator (12, 30, 20) (fig. 2; ¶ 27; ¶ 28; ¶ 31).
Regarding claim 3/1, Ziegler teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 9 and 11 above) the magnetization component (36) of the disc-shaped rotor (38) is formed at least in some regions on a first end face of a rotor base body (39) (¶ 27 to ¶ 30), and
the first end face faces the plurality of stator teeth (102) and an axial air gap (48) is formed between the first end face and the plurality of stator teeth (102) (¶ 30).
Regarding claim 4/1, Ziegler teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 9 and 11 above) wherein each of the at least two bearings (14, 16) are configured as one of ball bearings (14, 16) and roller bearings (¶ 27; ¶ 28; ¶ 31).
Regarding claim 5/4/1, Ziegler teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 9 and 11 above) the rotor shaft (22) has a radially outwardly directed collar section (52, 54) for one-sided axial positional locking of at least two inner rings of the at least two bearings (14, 16) (¶ 31; ¶ 32; ¶ 31).
Regarding claim 8/1, Ziegler teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 9 and 11 above) a fan wheel (40) is arranged at a first end of the rotor shaft (22), and the fan wheel bears axially against a second end face, which is directed away from the first end face of the rotor (38), at least in some regions (fig. 2; ¶ 31).
Regarding claim 10/1, Ziegler teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 9 and 11 above) the electronically commutated motor is configured without a housing (fig. 2; Abstract, ¶ 1; ¶ 33).
Regarding claim 11/1, Ziegler teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 9 and 11 above) a hand-held power tool (intended use limitation not given patentable weight), comprising an electronically commutated motor (fig. 2; Abstract, ¶ 1; ¶ 33).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
9. 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.
10. Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ziegler in view of Sahara (FR 2925239, see English Machine Translation attached).
Regarding claim 6/5/4/1, Ziegler teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 9 and 11 above) the stator (12, 30, 20) has an annular stator base body (20) with a central opening; the stator base body (20) forms a magnetic stator return (¶ 27 to ¶ 30; ¶ 46).
Ziegler does not explicitly teach a sleeve-like bearing bracket is accommodated in the central opening and at least two outer rings of the bearings are accommodated in a through-opening of the bearing bracket.
However, Sahara teaches (see figs. 4 and 5 below) a sleeve-like bearing bracket (36) is accommodated in the central opening (76) (of stator 18) and at least two outer rings (44B, 46B) of the bearings (44, 46) are accommodated in a through-opening (38) of the bearing bracket (Abstract; page 5) in order to improve assembly efficiency and thereby reduce costs (Sahara, page 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device Ziegler and provide a sleeve-like bearing bracket is accommodated in the central opening and at least two outer rings of the bearings are accommodated in a through-opening of the bearing bracket as taught by Sahara in order to improve assembly efficiency and thereby reduce costs (Sahara, page 6).
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Regarding claim 7/6/5/4/1, Ziegler in view of Sahara teaches the device of claim 6, Ziegler further teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 9 and 11 above) the rotor base body (39) forms a magnetic rotor return for the magnetization component of the rotor (38) (¶ 27 to ¶ 30).
11. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ziegler in view of Byram (US 20030227362).
Regarding claim 9/8/1, Ziegler teaches the device of claim 1 but does not explicitly teach a second end of the rotor shaft has at least one signal transmitter configured to detect the position of the rotor in relation to the stator.
However, Byram teaches (see fig. 2 below) a second end of the rotor shaft (86) has at least one signal transmitter (90) configured to detect the position of the rotor (80) in relation to the stator (60) (¶ 18; ¶ 21) in order to provide rotor position with improved accuracy and in a cost-effective manner (Byram, ¶ 5, ¶ 21).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device Ziegler and provide a second end of the rotor shaft has at least one signal transmitter configured to detect the position of the rotor in relation to the stator as taught by Byram in order to provide rotor position with improved accuracy and in a cost-effective manner (Byram, ¶ 5, ¶ 21).
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Conclusion
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER A SINGH whose telephone number is (571)270-0243. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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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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/ALEXANDER A SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834