DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I, Figs. 6-10, claims 1-3, 5, and 6 in the reply filed on 6/2/2026 is acknowledged. Therefore, claim 4 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yakushiji 9,599,109 in view of Ikeda 6,619,933.
Yakushiji discloses, regarding claim 1, an electric compressor 1 configured such that a drive circuit 21 that drives an electric motor 10 which is a power source for a compression mechanism 8 is installed integrally with a housing 2 that houses the compression mechanism 8 and the electric motor 10, an installation target surface 43 of the housing 2 for a package 51 enclosing a switching element 41 of the drive circuit being provided as a bottom surface 29 of a recessed part formed in the housing 2 (see recessed portion of housing within 21), the package being 51 fixed in such a manner that a thread portion of a bolt 48 inserted into a bolt insertion hole of the package 51 is screwed into a screw hole formed in the installation target surface 43 (see embodiment in Figs. 2-3). However, Yakushiji does not teach the recessed part being filled with a sealing material.
Ikeda (Fig. 2) teaches an electric compressor configured such that a drive circuit (see 4) that drives an electric motor 80 which is a power source for a compression mechanism 60/70 is installed integrally with a housing (comprising 1, 51, and 52) that houses the compression mechanism 60/70 and the electric motor 80, an installation target surface (see 1b) of the housing for a package 4 enclosing a switching element (within 4) of the drive circuit being provided as a bottom surface of a recessed part formed in the housing (see recessed portion of housing section 1), the package being 4 fixed to the installation target surface (see how 4 is attached directly to wall 1b), further regarding claim 1, the recessed part being filled with a sealing material 100’.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to have modified the recessed part of Yakushiji by filling the recessed part with sealing material, as taught by Ikeda, in order to prevent a) improper connection between terminals/wiring and b) dielectric breakdown due to wear from vibration.
Claims 1 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kobayahshi US 2010/0013769 in view of Ikeda 6,619,933.
Kobayahshi discloses, regarding claim 1, an electric compressor 1 configured such that a drive circuit that drives an electric motor 6 which is a power source for a compression mechanism 7 is installed integrally with a housing 2 that houses the compression mechanism 7 and the electric motor 6, an installation target surface (see 12) of the housing 2 for a package 3 enclosing a switching element 13 of the drive circuit being provided as a bottom surface (see surface of 2 which 14 abuts) of a recessed part formed in the housing 2 (see recessed portion of housing section 8), the package being 3 fixed in such a manner that a thread portion of a bolt 36 inserted into a bolt insertion hole of the package 3 is screwed into a screw hole 83 formed in the installation target surface (clearly shown in Fig. 3). However, Kobayahshi does not teach the recessed part being filled with a sealing material.
Ikeda (Fig. 2) teaches an electric compressor configured such that a drive circuit (see 4) that drives an electric motor 80 which is a power source for a compression mechanism 60/70 is installed integrally with a housing (comprising 1, 51, and 52) that houses the compression mechanism 60/70 and the electric motor 80, an installation target surface (see 1b) of the housing for a package 4 enclosing a switching element (within 4) of the drive circuit being provided as a bottom surface of a recessed part formed in the housing (see recessed portion of housing section 1), the package being 4 fixed to the installation target surface (see how 4 is attached directly to wall 1b), further regarding claim 1, the recessed part being filled with a sealing material 100’.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to have modified the recessed part of Kobayahshi by filling the recessed part with sealing material, as taught by Ikeda, in order to prevent a) improper connection between terminals/wiring and b) dielectric breakdown due to wear from vibration.
Re claim 6, Kobayahshi further discloses that the drive circuit is housed in a drive circuit housing space 8 adjacent to a refrigerant introduction space into which refrigerant is introduced in the housing (inlet port clearly shown below element 4 in Fig. 1), and the installation target surface (top of 12) is formed on a partition wall that separates the refrigerant introduction space and the drive circuit housing space 8 from each other (clearly shown in Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 and 5 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Peter J Bertheaud whose telephone number is (571)272-3476. The examiner can normally be reached 9am - 5pm M-F.
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PJB
/PETER J BERTHEAUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
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