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.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: AXIAL GAP MOTOR WITH A PRINTED WIRING BOARD
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 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 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guffanti (EP3595138, “Guffanti”) in view of Asano (JP2006187091, “Asano”, using machine translation).
Re claim 1, Guffanti discloses an axial gap motor 100 comprising;
a motor rotor including a rotor disk 120 and a rotor magnet 121 that is disposed on the rotor disk (figs 3-4, [0028-0029]); and
a motor stator 110 facing the motor rotor across a fixed gap in an axial direction (figs 3-4, [0030]), and including
a stator core having
a stator-core end surface (figs 4 & below, where core is made up of plurality of 111), and
salient-pole teeth that protrude in the axial direction from the stator-core end surface at fixed angular intervals in a circumferential direction centered on a motor center axis x-x (figs 3-4 & below),
a printed wiring board laminated on the stator-core end surface in the axial direction (figs 4-9, [0030-0031], includes 2a-2c), the printed wiring board being a laminated board having
a plurality of phase boards 2a-c that is laminated with a fixed inter-board gap therebetween in the axial direction (figs 4-9, [0030-0032], [0034-0036] & [0042], says 2a-c made of insulating layer 3 w/ two sides 31 & 32 having conductor 4 on each side 31 & 32; says there can be additional conductors 4 on each side w/ insulation layer between the conductor layer; discloses insulating glue layer 21 forms substrate 22 between 2a-c forming the gap between 2a-c), each of the plurality of phase boards being provided with
an insulated board 3, and
a plurality of salient-pole-tooth passage holes 6 through which the salient-pole teeth are respectively inserted and which are formed in the insulated board (figs 4-9, [0050]), and
a gap-forming member 22 that is positioned between two of the plurality of phase boards 2a-c (figs 4 & 8-9, [0042]), which are adjacent to one another in the axial direction, in order to ensure the inter-board gap (figs 4 & 9-9, [0030-0032] & [0042]), and
a plurality of motor coils 4 formed on the plurality of phase boards 2a-c (figs 4-9, [0038])
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Guffanti discloses claim 1 except for:
the plurality of motor coils respectively corresponding to a plurality of phases;
each of the plurality of motor coils belonging to each of the plurality of phases allocated to each of the plurality of phase boards; and
having a distributedly wound coil winding pattern formed on the insulated board.
Asano discloses the plurality of motor coils a31-c32 respectively corresponding to a plurality of phases u-w (figs 8-10, [0133-0134] & [0166]);
each of the plurality of motor coils a31-c32 belonging to each of the plurality of phases u-w allocated to each of the plurality of phase layers a-c (figs 9-10, [0166]); and
having a distributedly wound coil winding pattern formed on the layers a-c (figs 9-10, [0159]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the motor coils of Guffanti so the plurality of motor coils respectively corresponding to a plurality of phases; each of the plurality of motor coils belonging to each of the plurality of phases allocated to each of the plurality of phase boards; and having a distributedly wound coil winding pattern formed on the insulated board, as disclosed by Asano for motor coils of phase layers, in order to increase efficiency and drive output and reduce vibration and noise, as taught by Asano ([0145] & [0159]).
Re claim 2, Guffanti in view of Asano disclose claim 1 as discussed above. Guffanti further disclose the gap-forming member 22 is a board protruding part that protrudes in the axial direction and is formed integrally with the insulated board 3 on one or two of the plurality of phase boards 2a-c that are adjacent to one another in the axial direction (figs 4 & 8-9, [0030-0031] & [0042]).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guffanti in view of Asano and in further view of Asano et al. (US20100225195, “Asano ‘195”).
Re claim 6, Guffanti in view of Asano disclose claim 1 as discussed above but are silent with respect to the motor stator includes a first motor stator and a second motor stator are provided as the motor stator; and the first and second motor stators face the motor rotor from both sides in the axial direction.
Asano ‘195 discloses the motor stator includes a first motor stator 421 and a second motor stator 421 are provided as the motor stator (fig 13, [0187]); and the first and second motor stators face the motor rotor 431 from both sides in the axial direction (fig 13, [0187]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the motor stator of Guffanti to include a first motor stator and a second motor stator are provided as the motor stator; and the first and second motor stators face the motor rotor from both sides in the axial direction, as disclosed by Asano ‘195, in order to cancel thrust force acting on the rotor, as taught by Asano ‘195 ([0188])/
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 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.
The main reason for indicating claim 3 and its dependent claims 4 and 5 as allowable is the inclusion of, inter alia, the limitations of:
“The axial gap motor according to claim 1, wherein:
the insulated board of each of the plurality of phase boards 21u-w includes a first board 22(1) and a second board 22(2) that are laminated in the axial direction;
each of the plurality of motor coils 30u-w includes a distributedly wound first coil winding pattern that is formed on a surface of the first board on a side opposite from the second board (fig 3b shows coils for one phase), and a distributedly wound second coil winding pattern that is formed on a surface of the second board on a side opposite from the first board (fig 3b); and
the first coil winding pattern and the second coil winding pattern are formed at positions that are shifted relative to one another by a first fixed angle in the circumferential direction (fig 3b).”
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The closest prior art Guffanti (EP3595138) and Asano (JP2006187091), either alone or in combination, do not disclose the above limitations.
Guffanti discloses the insulated board 3 with conductor 4 on both sides 31 and 32 of 3, as well as additional conductors 4 on each side of 3 with additional insulation layers between the additional conductors ([0034-0035]), but does not disclose the insulated board of the plurality of phase boards includes a first board and a second board that are laminated in the axial direction; each of the plurality of motor coils includes a distributedly wound first coil winding pattern that is formed on a surface of the first board on a side opposite from the second board, and a distributedly wound second coil winding pattern that is formed on a surface of the second board on a side opposite from the first board; and the first coil winding pattern and the second coil winding pattern are formed at positions that are shifted relative to one another by a first fixed angle in the circumferential direction.
Asano discloses distributedly wound motor coils include distributedly wound coils 31a-c and 32a-c (figs 9-10), but does not disclose the insulated board of the plurality of phase boards includes a first board and a second board that are laminated in the axial direction; each of the plurality of motor coils includes a distributedly wound first coil winding pattern that is formed on a surface of the first board on a side opposite from the second board, and a distributedly wound second coil winding pattern that is formed on a surface of the second board on a side opposite from the first board; and the first coil winding pattern and the second coil winding pattern are formed at positions that are shifted relative to one another by a first fixed angle in the circumferential direction.
Conclusion
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/ERIC JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
