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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 2 and 4-5 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 2 should be changed to “wherein
Claim 4 should be changed to “[[a]] the lid member for covering the opening by being provided around the wiring member at the second fixed part” since lid member is recited in claim 1.
Claim 5 should be changed to “The wiring member routing structure of claim 4, wherein: .
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Minezawa et al. (US5201673, “Minezawa”) in view of Hirano (JP2015073370, “Hirano”, using machine translation).
Minezawa discloses a wiring member routing structure, comprising:
an in-wheel motor unit including an in-wheel motor 12, an inverter to be connected to the in-wheel motor 12 (figs 2-3 & 7, col 1, lns 22-24 & col 3, lns 26-31, inherently connected to inverter since motor runs off of battery & has three power cables to power motor-inverter inverts dc of battery into 3 phase for motor) and a casing 13 for accommodating the in-wheel motor 12 (figs 1 & 3, col 3, lns 3-9);
a wiring member for connecting the in-wheel motor 12 (figs 1-3, col 3, lns 59-64, includes 50 & 23b) and a vehicle body-side device (figs 1-3, col 1, lns 22-24 & col 3, lns 26-31, battery & controller/inverter),
an end part to be connected to the in-wheel motor 12 in the wiring member serving as a first fixed part (figs 1 & below, col 3, lns 53-58, portion of 50 connected to plug 27), a part of the wiring member to be fixed to a vehicle next to the end part serving as a second fixed part (figs 1 & below, col 3, lns 53-58 & col 4, lns 19-20, portion of 23b inside 51 indicated below),
the casing 13 including a wiring fixing portion 9 (figs 1-3, col 3, lns 26-31 & lns 48-52), the second fixed part being fixed to the wiring fixing portion 9 (figs 1 & below); and
a lid member provided around the wiring member at the second fixed part and covering an opening of a recess formed in the casing (fig 1, lid member 52, 53 & top portion of 51 at 2nd fixed part; recess inside of 9), the lid member including a body through which the wiring member is passed (fig 1, body includes 52 & top portion of 51 at 2nd fixed part) and an outer peripheral portion 53 around the body (fig 1), the outer peripheral portion 35 being threadably fastened to the casing (fig 3, col 3, lns 59-64 & col 4, lns 19-20, from fig 1 53 screwed to internal part of 9 in order to compress 55 between 9 & 51), and the outer peripheral portion 53 and the body being rotatable relative to each other so that rotation of the wiring member is suppressed when the outer peripheral portion 53 is threadably fastened to the casing (fig 1, end of 51 plugged into 39 then 53 is screwed to 9 & 53 will rotate while 51 is stationary).
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Minezawa discloses claim 1 except for:
the casing for accommodating the in-wheel motor and the inverter;
the wiring member for connecting the inverter and a vehicle body-side device; and
the end part to be connected to the inverter.
Specifically Minezawa does not disclose the inverter is located inside the casing.
Hirano discloses the casing 1 for accommodating the in-wheel motor 4 and the inverter 6 (fig 1-3, [0011] & [0021]);
the wiring member 71, 72 for connecting the inverter 6 and a vehicle body-side device (figs 1-2 & 4, [0029]); and
the end part of the wiring member 71, 72 to be connected to the inverter 6 (figs 1-2, 4-5 & 7-8, [0029], end part portions of 71 & 72 connected to 73a & 73b).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the inverter of Minezawa to be inside the casing so that the casing for accommodating the in-wheel motor and the inverter; the wiring member for connecting the inverter and a vehicle body-side device; and the end part to be connected to the inverter, as disclosed by Hirano, in order to house all the parts of the in-wheel motor unit inside the casing and decrease the number of parts and cost, as taught by Hirano ([0002-0004] & [0037]).
Re claim 2, Minezawa in view of Hirano discloses claim 1 as discussed above. Minezawa further discloses the casing 13 is formed with a recess (fig 1, recess inside of 9 & 9 part of 13), the first fixed part is fixed at a position of a bottom part of the recess (figs 1 & above for claim 1), and the second fixed part is fixed to a part forming an opening of the recess, out of the casing 13 (figs 1 & above for claim).
Re claim 4, Minezawa in view of Hirano discloses claim 2 as discussed above. Minezawa further discloses a lid member for covering the opening by being provided around the wiring member at the second fixed part (figs 1 & above for claim 1, col 3, lns 59-64 & col 4, lns 19-20, lid includes top part of 51, 52-53 & 55).
Re claim 8, Minezawa in view of Hirano discloses claim 5 as discussed above. Minezawa further discloses the wiring member includes a plurality of linear transmission members 50 (fig 1, col 3, lns 59-64) and a sheath for covering the plurality of linear transmission members 50 (figs 1, above for claim 1 & below, sheath includes portion of 51 between 1st & 2nd fixed parts indicated below), and
an end part of the sheath is located between the first fixed part and the second fixed part (figs 1 & below).
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Re claim 10, Minezawa in view of Hirano discloses claim 1 as discussed above and further discloses the casing 13 includes an annular peripheral wall surrounding a wiring connecting portion 39 of the inverter on a side surface of the casing (Minezawa, fig 1, annular wall formed by 9), the annular peripheral wall forming the recess therein (Minezawa, figs 1) and being provided with a screw-shaped portion on an inner surface of an opening of the annular peripheral wall 9 (Minezawa, figs 1 & below, col 3, lns 59-64 & col 4, lns 19-20, nut inherently has screw-shaped portion requiring screw-shaped portion on 9), and
the outer peripheral portion 53 of the lid member includes a screw-shaped portion on an outward facing surface thereof (Minezawa, figs 1 & below, col 3, lns 59-64 & col 4, lns 19-20), the screw-shaped portion of the outer peripheral portion 53 being threadably fastened to the screw-shaped portion of the annular peripheral wall 9 (Minezawa, figs 1 & below, col 3, lns 59-64 & col 4, lns 19-20).
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Response to Arguments
With respect to applicant’s arguments filed 8/7/26 for claim 1 to Hirose US5793132 (pg 2 to pg 3, 2nd para), the arguments are moot since the claim 1 amendments overcome the rejection.
Applicant's arguments filed 8/7/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Minezawa does not disclose the lid member comprising a body and an outer peripheral portion that are rotatable relative to each other; the outer peripheral portion being threadably fastened to the casing; and the relative rotation between the outer peripheral portion and the body operating to suppress rotation of the wiring member during threaded fastening (pg 8, 2nd paragraph & pg 9, 2nd paragraph). Examiner disagrees.
In view of the claim 1 amendment Examiner has reinterpreted Minezawa so that the body includes 52 and the top portion of 51 at 2nd fixed part (figs 1 & above for claim 1) and 53 is the outer peripheral portion. 53 and the body rotate relative to each other since 51 is inserted into plug 27 (fig 1) and 53 is a nut which is inherently screwed to the opening of 9, where 9 is part of casing 13 (fig 1), thereby suppressing rotation of the wiring member 23b, 50.
Additionally Minezawa does not specifically state that 53 is screwed to 9, but from fig. 1, if 53 is screwed to 51, then 53 will draw 51 away from o-ring 55. Whereas when 53 is screwed to 9 the top portion of 51 will compress 55 between 9 and 51.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5-7 and 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 (see reasons for allowing claim 3 in OA mailed 5/26/26, pgs 8-9).
The main reason for indicating claim 5 and its dependent claim 6-7 as allowable is the inclusion of the limitations, inter alia, of:
“The wiring member routing structure of claim 4, wherein:
the lid member 60 includes a body 62 and an outer peripheral portion 64 around the body,
the body is made of a resilient material,
the wiring member 50 is passed through a hole 62h formed in the body 62, and
the outer peripheral portion 64 includes a screw-shaped portion 65 formed into a screw shape by a material higher in rigidity than the resilient material.”
The closest prior art Minezawa et al. (US5201673) does not disclose the above limitations.
Minezawa discloses the body (fig 1, includes upper part of 51 & 52) and the outer peripheral portion 53 around the body (fig 1), an o-ring 55 between the body and 9 (fig 1), the body is made of resin 52 and insulative rigid material 51 (fig 1, col 3, lns 62-64, since 52 has to insulate wires of 23b from each other & be plugged into plug 27), the wiring member is passed through a hole in the body (fig 1) and the outer peripheral portion 53 includes a screw-shaped portion formed into a screw shape by a material high in rigidity (fig 1, col 4, lns 19-20); but does not disclose the body is made of resilient material and the outer peripheral portion includes a screw-shaped portion formed into a screw shape by a material higher in rigidity than the resilient material.
The main reason for indicating claim 9 as allowable is the inclusion of the limitations, inter alia, of:
“The wiring member routing structure of claim 1, wherein:
the inverter 43 includes a wiring connecting portion 43a exposed to outside on a side surface of the casing 44, and the first fixed part 51 is connected to the wiring connecting portion, and
the lid member 60 is formed with a hole 62h through which the wiring member 50 is passed, the hole being positioned coaxially with the wiring connecting portion 43a so that the wiring member extends from the first fixed part 51 toward the second fixed part 52 while being bent as little as possible.”
The closest prior art Minezawa et al. (US5201673) and Hirano (JP2015073370) do not disclose, alone or in combination, the above limitations.
Minezawa in view of Hirano disclose the inverter having the wiring connecting portion 27 (Minezawa, fig 1, discloses plug 27 for connection of the wiring member 23b, 51 to inside the casing 13; Hirano, figs 1-2, discloses the inverter 6 housed in the casing 1), the first fixed part connected to the wiring connecting portion 27 (Minezawa, figs 1 & above for claim 1) and a plurality of holes in the lid member (Minezawa, figs 1 & 7); but Minezawa in view of Hirano do not disclose the hole being positioned coaxially with the wiring connecting portion so that the wiring member extends from the first fixed part 51 toward the second fixed part while being bent as little as possible.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5715. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 8:30-5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Seye Iwarere can be reached on (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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/ERIC JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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