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.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the following limitation must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
“a curvature of the first side surface increasing from the inner surface to the outer surface”, in claim 2
“a curvature of the second side surface increases from the inner surface to the outer surface” in claim 4
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeshita et al. (JP 2021182812 A) in view of Saito et al. (US 2024/0235283 A1) and Jan et al. (WO 2022063972 A1).
RE claim 1, Takeshita teaches an axial flux machine 100 with a permanent magnet 32 arrangement for use as a rotor 3 or stator of the axial flux machine 100, wherein the permanent magnet arrangement 32 has a plurality of permanent magnets 32a, 32b arranged in a ring-shaped manner around a machine axis (of shaft 4), wherein permanent magnets arranged adjacent to one another each have an oppositely aligned polarization (see translation page 3, 3rd ¶), wherein each permanent magnet 32 extends away from an inner surface (Ari) of the permanent magnet facing the machine axis to an outer surface (Aro) of the permanent magnet (Figs.2, 3, 6), wherein each permanent magnet 32 has a first side surface (Ca) and a second side surface (Cb) opposite the first side surface (Ca), wherein the two side surfaces (Ca, Cb) connect the inner surface and the outer surface to one another, wherein the first side surface (Ca) of each permanent magnet 32 is aligned in the direction of the second side surface (Cb) of a respectively immediately adjacent permanent magnet 32, wherein each first side surface has a continuously curved course from the inner surface to the outer surface (Fig.2b), such that the course of the first side surface is either concave or convex (Fig.2b).
Takeshita does not teach:
each permanent magnet 32 is magnetized in an axial direction running parallel to the machine axis
The motor being utilized in a door drive,
RE (i) above, Saito teaches each permanent magnet 95 (Figs.11, 12) is magnetized in an axial direction running parallel to the machine axis (¶ 126), doing so allow the rotating magnetic field generated by stator causes magnets to repeat attraction and repulsion with respect to each tooth, thereby rotating rotor (¶ 126). Furthermore, such configuration allows the loss can be easily reduced. In rotary electric machine, torque ripple can be easily reduced. Rotary electric machine having a small torque ripple can easily reduce noise and vibration (¶ 127).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Takeshita by having each permanent magnet 32 is magnetized in an axial direction running parallel to the machine axis, as taught by Saito, for the same reasons as discussed above.
RE (ii) above, Jan suggests that axial flux motor is well-known to have smaller axial length compared to other type of electrical machine (see translation page 4, last ¶) therefore can be utilized in application such as door wing, window, sliding door or resolving door drive (see translation page 9, 5th ¶).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the axial motor disclosed by Takeshita in any applicable application such as door, as suggested by Jan, for the same reasons as discussed above.
RE claim 2/1, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches a curvature of the first side surface (Ca) increases from the inner surface (Ari) to the outer surface (Aro) (see Fig.6)
RE claim 3/1, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches each second side surface (Cb) has a continuously curved course from the inner surface (Ari) to the outer surface (Aro), such that the course of the second side surface is either convex or concave (Fig.2b).
RE claim 4/1, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches a curvature of the second side surface (Cb) increases from the inner surface (Ari) to the outer surface (Aro) (see Fig.6).
RE claim 5/3, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches the course of the second side surface (Cb) is concave when the course of the first side surface (Ca) is convex and vice versa (Figs.2, 6).
RE claim 6/1, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches a distance between the first side surface (Ca) and the second side surface (Cb) of each permanent magnet 32 from one another, which is determined in a circumferential direction of the permanent magnet arrangement, increases from the inner surface (Ari) to the outer surface (Aro) (Figs.2, 6).
RE claim 7/1, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches all cut surfaces of each permanent magnet 32 are congruent through section planes perpendicular to the machine axis (Figs.2b, 6).
RE claim 8/1, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches the inner surface (Ari) of each permanent magnet 32 runs in sections along an inner ring circumference of the permanent magnet arrangement and the outer surface (Aro) of each permanent magnet 32 runs in sections along an outer ring circumference of the permanent magnet arrangement (Fig.3).
RE claim 9/1, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches a length of the outer surface (Aro) in the circumferential direction is greater than a length of the inner surface (Ari) (Figs.3, 6).
RE claim 10/1, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches the permanent magnets 32 are configured and the inner surfaces (Ari) and the outer surfaces (Aro) of each permanent magnet 32 are aligned with one another (Figs.3, 6) such that, in at least one section plane perpendicular to the machine axis, a beam running radially from the machine axis through an inner distance center point of the inner surface (Ari) of each permanent magnet 32 intersects the outer surface (Aro) (Figs.3, 6) and/or the outer ring circumference of the respective permanent magnet at a distance from an outer distance center point, wherein the inner distance center point and the outer distance center point are determined by the average path length between end points of the respective inner surface and the respective outer surface.
RE claim 11/1, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches the permanent magnets 32 are configured and aligned relative to each other such that in at least one section plane perpendicular to the machine axis (of shaft 4), a beam running radially from the machine axis through an outermost point, in the circumferential direction, of the outer surface of a first permanent magnet 32 runs in sections in the corresponding section plane of a second permanent magnet 32 arranged immediately adjacent to the first permanent magnet 32 (Figs.2, 3, 6).
RE claim 12/1, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches the axial flux machine 100 (Fig.1) with a coil arrangement 23 and with a permanent magnet arrangement 32, wherein the coil arrangement 23 has a plurality of electrical machine coils 23 arranged adjacent to one another in a ring-shaped manner around the machine axis (Fig.1b), wherein the coil arrangement 23 is arranged axially displaced adjacent to the permanent magnet arrangement 32 (Fig.1).
RE claim 13/12, Takeshita in view of Saito and Jan has been discussed above. Takeshita further teaches the inner ring circumference and the outer ring circumference of the permanent magnet 32 arrangement correspond substantially to corresponding ring circumferences of the coil arrangement 23 (Fig.1).
RE claim 14/12, as discussed above, Jan teaches the axial flux machine is used in a swing leaf door, a sliding door, or a revolving door drive (discussed above, see Jan’s translation page 9, 5th ¶).
Conclusion
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/THOMAS TRUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834