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 .
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 exciter winding (claims 13, 20, 22, 23) and the inverter (claim 21) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 § 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) 13-18 and 22-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Maier et al. (Foreign Patent Document No.: EP 3920385 A1).
For claim 13, Maier et al. disclose the claimed invention comprising: a rotor shaft (reference numeral 13, see figure 5a, 5b) formed as a hollow shaft for at least one exciter winding (reference numeral 15, see figure 5a); and a transformer (reference numeral 30, figure 5b) arranged inside the rotor shaft (reference numeral 13) for contactless transfer to the at least one exciter winding (reference numeral 15) of a current which is needed for generating a rotor field (see figures 5a, 5b).
For claim 14, Maier et al. disclose the transformer comprising: a primary side (i.e. portion of transformer 30 on which stator windings 1a, 1b are disposed, see figure 5b) which is fixed with respect to a stator (reference numeral 40, see figures 5a, 5b); and a secondary side (i.e. portion of transformer 30 on which rotor windings 3a, 3b are disposed, see figure 5b) which is rotatable with respect to the stator around a rotational axis and coupled with the rotor shaft (reference numeral 13) so as to be fixed with respect to rotation relative to the rotor shaft (see figures 5a, 5b).
For claim 15, Maier et al. disclose a carrier (reference numeral 12, figure 5b) which is fixed with respect to the stator (reference numeral 40, figure 5a) and which projects axially into a hollow space of the rotor shaft (reference numeral 13) and is mechanically coupled with the primary side of the transformer (i.e. portion of transformer 30 on which stator windings 1a, 1b are disposed, see figure 5b).
For claim 16, Maier et al. disclose the carrier (reference numeral 12, figure 5b) being hollow and configured to introduce a coolant into the rotor shaft (reference numeral 13) through a hollow space of the carrier (i.e. duct 5 within carrier 12 being hollow space, see figure 5b).
For claim 17, Maier et al. disclose the rotor shaft (reference numeral 13) being closed at least at one end to deflect the coolant flowing through the carrier (reference numeral 12) into the rotor shaft at the closed end (i.e. shaft 13 being closed on one end as shown in figures 5a, 5b).
For claim 18, Maier et al. disclose the rotor shaft (reference numeral 13) having radial bore holes (reference numeral 14, figure 5b) in its outer surface to guide the coolant out of the rotor shaft (reference numeral 13) before and/or after the coolant flows through the transformer arranged therein (see figure 5b).
For claim 22, Maier et al. disclose the at least one exciter winding (reference numeral 15, figure 5a) extending axially along the rotor shaft (reference numeral 13) from a starting region to an end region (see figure 5a), and wherein the transformer (reference numeral 30) is arranged axially between the starting region and the end region of the at least one exciter winding (reference numeral 15) inside of the rotor shaft (see figures 5a, 5b).
For claim 23, Maier et al. disclose the claimed invention comprising: a stator (reference numeral 40, figure 5a); a rotor (reference numeral 11) with at least one exciter winding (reference numeral 15, see figure 5a), wherein the rotor is rotatably supported relative to the stator by a hollow shaft (reference numeral 13, see figure 5a, 5b); and a transformer (reference numeral 30, figure 5b) for contactless transfer of a current required for rotor field generation to an exciter winding (reference numeral 15) is arranged inside the hollow shaft (i.e. transformer 30 is arranged inside shaft 13, see figure 5a, 5b).
For claim 24, Maier et al. disclose a coolant lance (reference numeral 12, figures 5a, 5b) which is fixed with respect to the stator (reference numeral 40) and which projects axially into the hollow shaft (reference numeral 13) to support a primary side of the transformer (reference numeral 30, see figure 5b), which primary side is fixed with respect to the stator (reference numeral 40, figures 5a, 5b), and to introduce coolant through a hollow space of the coolant lance (i.e. duct 5 within coolant lance 12 being a hollow space, figure 5b) into the rotor shaft (reference numeral 13, see figures 5a, 5b).
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) 19-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maier et al. as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Gao et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2016/0094114 A1).
For claim 19, Maier et al. disclose the transformer comprising: a primary-side core (i.e. portion of transformer 30 on which stator windings 1a, 1b are disposed, see figure 5b) which is fixed with respect to a stator and in which a primary-side winding (reference numerals 1a, 1b) of the transformer is inserted (see figure 5b); and a secondary-side core (i.e. portion of transformer 30 on which rotor windings 3a, 3b are disposed, see figure 5b) which is rotatable relative to the primary-side core (see figure 5b), is coupled with the rotor shaft (reference numeral 13) so as to be fixed with respect to rotation relative to the rotor shaft and in which a secondary-side winding (reference numerals 3a, 3b) of the transformer is inserted (see figure 5b). Maier et al. however do not specifically disclose the primary-side core and the secondary-side core being ferrite cores. Gao et al. disclose the primary and secondary cores (i.e. containers 140A2, 140B2, see figure 2) being ferrite cores (see paragraph [0024]), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the ferrite cores as disclosed by Gao et al. for the primary-side core and the secondary-side core of Maier et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper materials for the structure of the components.
For claim 20, Maier et al. in view of Gao et al. disclose the claimed invention except for a rectifier which is arranged inside the rotor shaft and is electrically coupled between the secondary side of the transformer and the at least one exciter winding. Gao et al. further disclose a rectifier (reference numeral 145) on the rotor shaft (reference numeral 115, figure 2), which when applied to the secondary side of Maier et al. in view of Gao et al. would disclose a rectifier which is arranged inside the rotor shaft and is electrically coupled between the secondary side of the transformer and the at least one exciter winding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the rectifier as disclosed by Gao et al. for the rotor shaft of Maier et al. in view of Gao et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating proper functioning of the device.
For claim 21, Maier et al. disclose an inverter (reference numeral 24, figure 7) which is electrically coupled with the primary side of the transformer (i.e. inverter 24 formed with primary-side electronic device 6a, see figure 7).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references disclose embodiments of transformer cores/exciter cores: US 11038403 B2 (Lemmers, Jr.; Glenn C. et al.), US 10784757 B2 (Gao; Lijun et al.), US 10305356 B2 (Gao; Lijun et al.), US 7816828 B2 (Cordes; Ralf et al.), US 20190058382 A1 (Gao; Lijun et al.), US 20190035548 A1 (LUBAS; Michael J.), US 20120038308 A1 (Zadeh; Hossein Safari), US 20040155538 A1 (Kalsi, Swarn S.).
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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