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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 4, and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gay (Foreign Patent Document No.: FR 2973179 A1).
For claim 1, Gay discloses the claimed invention including: a stator (reference numeral 2, figure 1), including a plurality of stator slots (between stator teeth 4, figure 1) and a plurality of stator teeth (reference numeral 4, figure 1), each of the stator teeth including a stator tooth center (center of stator teeth 4, see figures 1, 4, 7-9); and a rotor (reference numeral 3, figure 1), including a plurality of motor poles (i.e. poles comprised of layers 5, see figure 1), each of the motor poles including a plurality of rotor barriers (reference numerals 5, 8, see figures 1, 4, 7-9), the rotor barriers including a first rotor barrier (i.e. layer 5 closest to center 3b, see figures 1, 4, 7-9) to an n-th rotor barrier (i.e. layer 5 further away from center 3b, see figures 1, 4, 7-9), the first rotor barrier including a first rotor barrier end center (i.e. layer 5 closest to center 3b, the layer 5 having an end that is facing an outer peripheral surface of rotor 3, the end having a center, see figures 1, 4, 7-9), the n-th rotor barrier includes an n-th rotor barrier end center (i.e. layer 5 further away from center 3b, the layer 5 having an end that is facing an outer peripheral surface of rotor 3, the end having a center, see figures 1, 4, 7-9), where n is a positive integer greater than 1; wherein, a first rotor barrier end center line is defined between the first rotor barrier end center and a center of the rotor (i.e. a line extending from first rotor barrier end center to the center of the rotor, see figure 1) include, a stator tooth center line is defined between the stator tooth center and the center of the rotor (i.e. a line extending from a stator tooth center to the center of the rotor, see figure 1), and the first rotor barrier end center line and a corresponding stator tooth center line defines a first included angle (θb) (i.e. angle formed between the first rotor barrier end center line and the stator tooth center line, figure 1); wherein an n-th rotor barrier end center line is defined between the n-th rotor barrier end center and the center of the rotor (i.e. a line extending from n-th rotor barrier end center to the center of the rotor, see figure 1), and the n-th rotor barrier end center line and a corresponding stator tooth center line defines an included angle (θn) (i.e. angle formed between the n-th rotor barrier end center line and the corresponding stator tooth center line, figure 1); wherein the formula of the included angle (θn) is: (θn)=[(n−1)×k+1]×θb (Gay discloses the rotor barriers 5 having different configurations as illustrated in figures 4 and 7-9, which would enable a skilled person to attain a particular formula for the included angle θn), the real number (k) is any value within the range of 2±0.5, and the formula of the first included angle (θb) is any value within the range of the first included angle (θb)=36/Ns±0.5°, Ns is the number of stator slots (Gay discloses the rotor barriers 5 having different configurations as illustrated in figures 4 and 7-9, which would enable a skilled person to attain a particular formula for the included angle θb).
For claim 4, Gay discloses the number of stator slots (Ns) being 48 (see translation of Gay, Description, page 4, fifth to sixth line), and each of the motor poles includes four, five or six rotor barriers (i.e. figure 4 shows the number of barriers 5 being four).
For claim 5, Gay discloses the included angle (θn) including a deviation of any value within the range of ±72/Ns° (i.e. figures 4 and 7-9 show rotor barrier 5 having different angles in relation to the stator teeth 4, which would enable a person of ordinary skill to have a deviation of any value within the range of ±72/Ns°).
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) 2 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gay as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Xiao (US Patent No.: 10770960).
For claim 2, Gay discloses each of the motor poles including two or three rotor barriers (reference numeral 5, see figures 1, 4, 7-9), but Gay however does not specifically disclose the number of stator slots (Ns) being 24. Having a particular number of stator slots would merely involve adjusting the number of slots in the stator which is a known skill in the art as exhibited by Xiao (reference numeral 3, see figures 6, 7), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adjust the number of slots in the stator as disclosed by Xiao for the number of stator slots of Gay for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating the proper functioning of the device.
For claim 3, Gay discloses each of the motor poles including three or four rotor barriers (reference numeral 5, see figures 1, 4, 7-9), but Gay however does not specifically disclose the number of stator slots (Ns) being 36. Having a particular number of stator slots would merely involve adjusting the number of slots in the stator which is a known skill in the art as exhibited by Xiao (reference numeral 3, see figures 6, 7), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adjust the number of slots in the stator as disclosed by Xiao for the number of stator slots of Gay for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating the proper functioning of the device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references disclose embodiments of rotor pole configurations: US 10855125 B2 (Yen; Sheng-Chan et al.), US 10439456 B2 (Reddy; Patel Bhageerath et al.), US 10389193 B2 (Ito; Kazumasa et al.), US 10348173 B2 (Tong; Mingyu), US 10305336 B2 (Lange; Tobias et al.), US RE46867 E (Moghaddam; Reza Rajabi), US 9917481 B2 (Pollock; Charles et al.), US 9490673 B2 (Okubo; Masayuki et al.).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX W MOK whose telephone number is (571)272-9084. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-4pm.
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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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/ALEX W MOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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