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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 22 July 2026 have been considered but are taught by the different characterization of Dickes and Galmiche shown below. Note, Applicant’s amendment appears to be claiming a bolt: a pin with a wider head on one side and a wider nut, or end piece, attached to the other side. Further, though not required in the rejection below, Applicant should consider Semken Fig. 8, Fig. 10a, Fig. 30, and Fig. 31 for depicting various bolts with a head at one end and an end piece on the other.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dickes (US 2009/0218900), in view of Galmiche et al. (“Galmiche”; US 2020/0112215).
Regarding claim 1: Dickes discloses a rotor (166, Fig. 16) for an external rotor motor (paragraph 0085), comprising:
a stack of ring-shaped steel sheets (168),
permanent magnets (32) fixed to an inner side of the stack of sheets (Fig. 16), and
a carrier (24, Fig. 1) which has a hub for a shaft (18) and is fastened to the stack of sheets, wherein tie rods (74) are pins that each project axially within a channel through the carrier and the stack of sheets and pull the stack of sheets against the carrier (Fig. 2, paragraph 0055);
at one end of the pins a removable end piece (76, Fig. 7) has a width that is greater than a width of the channel (paragraph 0060, inherently end piece 76 has to be wider than the channel to keep the tie rods secure); and
a head at an opposite end of the pins (both sides of the tie rod have an end piece).
Dickes does not explicitly disclose the head at an opposite end of the pins that is wider than the width of the channel.
However, Galmiche discloses an end of a pin (18a) is wider than a width of the channel (Fig. 3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the pin of Dickes to have a wider end piece, as disclosed by Galmiche, in order to reduce the complexity by reducing the number of removable pieces.
Regarding claim 6: Dickes discloses the tie rods are threaded pins and the end pieces are screwed onto the pins (as a nut is screwed onto the pin, paragraph 0060).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dickes and Galmiche, as applied to claim 1, further in view of Mongeau et al. (“Mongeau”; US 2022/0069649).
Regarding claim 7: Dickes discloses the stack sheets and the carrier, but does not explicitly disclose the stack of sheets carries an end ring at its end facing away from the carrier, which end ring forms an axial stop for the permanent magnets, and the tie rods also project through the end ring.
However, Mongeau discloses the stack of sheets (42, Fig. 6) carries an end ring (52) at its end facing away from the carrier (58, shown best in Fig. 5), which end ring forms an axial stop for the permanent magnets, and the tie rods (54) also project through the end ring (as shown in Fig. 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the stack sheets to include the end ring of Mongeau in order to better secure the magnets to the carrier.
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dickes and Galmiche, as applied to claim 1, further in view of Semken et al. (“Semken”; US 2015/0222151).
Regarding claim 8: Dickes discloses the stack of sheets is formed from sheets which have a plurality of openings (58) for the tie rods, the openings each having a round main area (58), but does not explicitly disclose a slot extending from the main area.
However, Semken discloses the sheets have an opening (148) having a round main area and a slot extending from the main area (Fig. 5a).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the openings of Dickes to include the slot of Semken in order to better align the sheets.
Regarding claim 9: Dickes modified by Semken disclose the slot, Semken further discloses the slot is directed radially inwards (paragraph 0159, other configurations can be used, and when combined with the outward rotor of Dickes, the slot would be directed radially inward, towards the stator).
Conclusion
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/SEAN GUGGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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