CTNF 18/846,462 CTNF 98426 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim s 1 – 2, 4 – 5, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hashimoto et al. (US20180034339A1) . Regarding Claim 1, Hashimoto et al. discloses a stator (1) in a rotary electric machine (100) (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 1), comprising: a cylindrical-shaped core (10) having a plurality of slots (13) (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 1); coils (20) disposed side by side in the slots (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 1), the coils having respective end portions (lead wires 23) connected to each other to constitute 2n sets of Y-connected wires (n is an integer of 1 or more) (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 4) comprising a group of phase windings (U-phase, V-phase, W-phase) having different electric phases (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 5); and a wire connection portion (power line connection terminals 30) connecting the coils to each other (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 5), wherein the wire connection portion comprises a first conductive plate member (30a) (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 9), a second conductive plate member (30b) (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 9), and a third conductive plate member (30c) for connecting the end portions of the coils of a same phase to each other (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 9), and a neutral-point connection plate member (40) for connecting neutral points of the group of phase windings to each other (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 5), the neutral-point connection plate member connects a coil disposed in an inner layer in a radial direction of the core and a coil disposed in an outer layer in the radial direction of the core to each other (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 3 and Fig. 10 discloses coils 20 in an inner radial layer having first lead wires 231 and an outer radial layer having second lead wires 232 connect to the neutral line connection terminals 40), the neutral-point connection plate member is divided into a plurality of sections (40a, 40b) in a circumferential direction of the core (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 6), and in the wire connection portion, at least one of the first conductive plate member, the second conductive plate member, and the third conductive plate member and at least one of the sections of the divided neutral-point connection plate member are disposed at positions overlapping each other in an axial direction of the core (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 7 discloses at least one of power line connection terminals 30a, 30b, and 30c to be overlapped with at least one neutral line connection terminals 40a and 40b in the axial direction). Regarding Claim 2, Hashimoto et al. discloses the stator in the rotary electric machine according to claim 1, wherein the respective sections of the divided neutral- point connection plate member are disposed at different positions in the axial direction of the core (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 10 discloses an overlap area 44a where the neutral line connection terminals 40a and 40b are arranged at different axial positions). Regarding Claim 4, Hashimoto et al. discloses the stator in the rotary electric machine according to claim 1, wherein the neutral-point connection plate member includes a connection base portion (main body 42) along the circumferential direction of the core (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 10), a connection portion (41) protruding from the connection base portion in the radial direction of the core (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 10), and a coil coupling portion which is a portion provided at an end of the connection portion and is coupled to a coil end portion (24) which is an end portion of the coil (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 3), the coils include protruding portions (coil ends 22) protruding from the core along the axial direction (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 3), and the connection portion is provided between the protruding portions (Hashimoto et al. Para [0036] lines 7 – 16 disclose coil ends 22 are between respective lead wires having ends that are respectively connected to lead wire connection portions 41). Regarding Claim 5, Hashimoto et al. discloses the stator in the rotary electric machine according to claim 4, wherein the one coil coupling portion includes at least one coil coupling terminal coupled to one single-phase coil constituting the group of phase windings (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 5), and the one coil coupling portion includes a same number of the coil coupling terminals as the number "n" (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 5). Regarding Claim 7, Hashimoto et al. discloses the stator in the rotary electric machine according to claim 5, wherein each of the coil coupling portions adjacent to each other is coupled to each of the single-phase coils disposed in the slots adjacent to each other (Hashimoto et al. Fig. 8) . 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: 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hashimoto et al. in view of Takada et al. (WO2020246407A1) . Regarding Claim 3, Hashimoto et al. discloses the stator in the rotary electric machine according to claim 1. Hashimoto et al. does not disclose: wherein in the wire connection portion, two of the first conductive plate member, the second conductive plate member, and the third conductive plate member and one of the sections of the divided neutral-point connection plate member are disposed at positions overlapping each other in the axial direction of the core. Takada et al. discloses: wherein in the wire connection portion, two of the first conductive plate member (U-phase bus bar 51u), the second conductive plate member (V-phase bus bar 51v), and the third conductive plate member (W-phase bus bar 51w) and one of the sections of the divided neutral-point connection plate member (neutral point bus bar 51n) are disposed at positions overlapping each other in the axial direction of the core (Takada et al. Para [0056] whole paragraph discloses that among the four busbars, any number of busbars may overlap in the axial direction). Hashimoto et al. and Takada et al. disclose wire connection portions therefore, Takada et al. constitute prior art. Takada et al. discloses three phase busbars and a neutral busbar that can be arranged such that they can overlap one another in an axial direction of a stator. It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have wherein in the wire connection portion, two of the first conductive plate member, the second conductive plate member, and the third conductive plate member and one of the sections of the divided neutral-point connection plate member are disposed at positions overlapping each other in the axial direction of the core of Takada et al. for the purpose of making the stator more compact in the radial direction . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hashimoto et al. in view of Tian et al. (US 20200235622 A1) . Regarding Claim 6, Hashimoto et al. discloses the stator in the rotary electric machine according to claim 5. Hashimoto et al. does not disclose: wherein a cross-sectional area of the coil coupling terminal is smaller than a cross-sectional area of the connection portion and is equal to a cross-sectional area of the coil end portion. Tian et al. discloses: wherein a cross-sectional area of the coil coupling terminal (second connection segment 322) is smaller than a cross-sectional area of the connection portion (bend segment 323 and first connection segment 321) and is equal to a cross-sectional area of the coil end portion (star point line 24) (see below in annotated Tian et al. Fig. 4). PNG media_image1.png 612 546 media_image1.png Greyscale Hashimoto et al. and Tian et al. discloses a neutral connection therefore, Tian et al. constitutes as prior art. Tian et al. discloses a neutral point connection for a stator having a connection portion and a coil coupling terminal connected to a coil end portion. It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have wherein a cross-sectional area of the coil coupling terminal is smaller than a cross-sectional area of the connection portion and is equal to a cross-sectional area of the coil end portion of Tian et al. for the purpose of reducing routing between the coil-coupling terminal and the connection portion, and enabling a precise connection between the coil-coupling terminal and the coil end portion . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hashimoto et al. in view of Houzumi et al. (US20180159397A1) . Regarding Claim 8, Hashimoto et al. discloses the stator in the rotary electric machine according to claim 1. Hashimoto et al. does not disclose: wherein the first conductive plate member, the second conductive plate member, the third conductive plate member, and the neutral-point connection plate member are each a plate member subjected to working in advance. Houzumi et al. discloses: wherein the first conductive plate member (bus bar 21), the second conductive plate member (bus bar 22), the third conductive plate member (bus bar 23), and the neutral-point connection plate member (bus bar 24) are each a plate member subjected to working in advance (Houzumi et al. Para [0065] whole paragraph discloses the bus bar unit 20 is manufactured in advance through the use of insert molding). Hashimoto et al. and Houzumi et al. disclose a neutral point connection therefore, Houzumi et al. constitutes prior art. Houzumi et al. discloses a bus bar unit is manufactured via insert molding. It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have wherein the first conductive plate member, the second conductive plate member, the third conductive plate member, and the neutral-point connection plate member are each a plate member subjected to working in advance of Houzumi et al. for the purpose of reducing manufacturing costs of the first conductive plate member, the second conductive plate member, the third conductive plate member, and the neutral-point connection plate member. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THEODORE L PERKINS whose telephone number is (703)756-4629. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am- 17:00pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Koehler can be reached on (571) 272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /THEODORE L PERKINS/Examiner, Art Unit 2834 /TERRANCE L KENERLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834 Application/Control Number: 18/846,462 Page 2 Art Unit: 2834 Application/Control Number: 18/846,462 Page 3 Art Unit: 2834 Application/Control Number: 18/846,462 Page 4 Art Unit: 2834 Application/Control Number: 18/846,462 Page 5 Art Unit: 2834 Application/Control Number: 18/846,462 Page 6 Art Unit: 2834 Application/Control Number: 18/846,462 Page 7 Art Unit: 2834 Application/Control Number: 18/846,462 Page 8 Art Unit: 2834
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