DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/13/2024 and 06/17/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 r ejection 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 depends on may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, 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 5-12 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over YABE et al. (JP2009/195031A, see attached translation) in view of TANAKA et al. (JPH04285444A, see attached translation) and TSUKAMOTO et al. (US 2020/0266676).
In regards to claim 1, YABE discloses a stator (stator of electric motor of compressor; pars. 1 and 7; Figs. 1 and 6) comprising: a stator core (stator core plate 1 or 10) having an outer circumference (core back 3) extending in a circumferential direction about center axis (axis of plate 10) and a plurality of slots (slots 2) arranged in the circumferential direction (refer to pars. 10 and 13), the outer circumference being fixed to an inner side of a cylindrical shell, wherein a first cutout portion (central notch 5a; lower side in Figure 6), two second cutout portions (two notches 5a; right and left sides in Figure 6) and two third cutout portions (two notches 5b left and right; upper side in Figure 6) are formed on the outer circumference of the stator core (10), wherein the two second cutout portions (5a left and right) are formed on both sides of the first cutout portion (5a center) in the circumferential direction so that a center of the first cutout portion (5a center) in the circumferential direction and a center of each second cutout portion (5a left and right) in the circumferential direction are at an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the center axis (refer to pars. 21 and 24), wherein the two third cutout portions (5b) are formed on both sides of a straight line (vertical line 7) passing through the center axis and the center of the first cutout portion (central notch 5a; lower side in Figure 6), and a first contact portion (arc part 6) is formed between the two third cutout portions (two notches 5b left and right), the first contact portion (6) being located on the straight line (7), (par. 23; also as can be seen in Fig. 6). YABE fails to explicitly teach the first contact portion being in contact with the shell, and wherein when D1 represents a minimum distance from the first contact portion to one of the plurality of slots which is closest to the first contact portion, and D2 represents a minimum distance from each third cutout portion to one of the plurality of slots which is closest to the third cutout portion, 1.00 ≤ D1/D2 < 1.60 is satisfied.
TANAKA teaches a motor (Figs. 1-2) wherein when D1 (distance corresponding to between tooth parts T1 and T3 which is 6.1) represents a minimum distance from the first contact portion to one of the plurality of slots which is closest to the first contact portion, and D2 (distance corresponding to between tooth parts T2 and T3 which is 7.5) represents a minimum distance from each third cutout portion to one of the plurality of slots which is closest to the third cutout portion, 1.00 ≤ D1/D2 < 1.60 is satisfied (D1/D2≈ 1.23; refer to par. 6; Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of YABE such that when D1 represents a minimum distance from the first contact portion to one of the plurality of slots which is closest to the first contact portion, and D2 represents a minimum distance from each third cutout portion to one of the plurality of slots which is closest to the third cutout portion, 1.00 ≤ D1/D2 < 1.60 is satisfied as taught by TANAKA in order to provide the magnetic flux density to be uniform, which improving the efficiency of the motor (refer to par. 6 of TANAKA).
In regards to the limitations that the first contact portion being in contact with the shell, the first contact portion being located on the straight line, TSUKAMOTO teaches
a motor used for a compressor (Fig. 13) wherein the first contact portion being in contact with the shell (corresponds to closed container 307), (motor 100 is fixed to the closed container 307 by fitting the stator 1 into the closed container 307; pars. 62 and 128; Fig. 13).
It would also have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of YABE such that the first contact portion being in contact with the shell as taught by TSUKAMOTO in order to dissipate heat outside the stator 1 (refer to par. 62 of TSUKAMOTO).
In regards to claim 5, YABE as modified meets the claim limitations as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, YABE teaches wherein another one of the plurality of slots (2) is located on the center axis side with respect to the center of the first contact portion (6) in the circumferential direction (Fig. 6 shows that there are a plurality of slots 2 between the arc part 6 between the notches 5b, 5b and the center of the core back 3).
In regards to claim 6, YABE as modified meets the claim limitations as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, YABE teaches wherein a tooth (tooth 8) is located on the center axis side with respect to the center of each second cutout portion (5a left and right) in the circumferential direction (as can be seen in Fig. 6), the tooth being formed between two of the plurality of slots (2), (Fig. 6 shows that between the left and right notches 5a, 5a and the center, there are teeth formed between the plurality of slots 2).
In regards to claim 7, YABE as modified meets the claim limitations as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, YABE teaches wherein a tooth (tooth 8) is located on the center axis side with respect to a center of each third cutout portion (5b) in the circumferential direction, the tooth being formed between two of the plurality of slots (2), (Fig. 6 shows that between the notches 5b, 5b and the center, there are teeth formed between the plurality of slots 2).
In regards to claim 8, YABE as modified meets the claim limitations as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, YABE teaches a motor (refer to par. 89) comprising: the stator (refer to par. 89) according to claim 1; and a rotor provided inside the stator (refer to pars. 2 and 12).
In regards to claim 9, YABE as modified meets the claim limitations as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, YABE teaches a compressor (refer to par. 4) comprising: the motor (refer to par. 89) according to claim 8; but fails to explicitly teach a compression mechanism driven by the motor; and the shell surrounding the motor and the compression mechanism. TSUKAMOTO further teaches a compression mechanism (compression mechanism 305) driven by the motor (refer to par. 125); and the shell (closed container 307) surrounding the motor (100) and the compression mechanism (305).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of YABE such that a compression mechanism driven by the motor; and the shell surrounding the motor and the compression mechanism as taught by TSUKAMOTO in order to form a compression chamber (refer to par. 126 of TSUKAMOTO).
In regards to claim 10, YABE as modified meets the claim limitations as set forth above in the rejection of claim 9, but fails to explicitly teach a refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising the compressor according to claim 9, a condenser, a decompressor, and an evaporator. TSUKAMOTO further teaches a refrigeration cycle apparatus (refrigeration cycle apparatus 400) comprising the compressor (400) according to claim 9, a condenser (402), a decompressor (throttling device 403), and an evaporator (404).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of YABE such that a refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising the compressor according to claim 9, a condenser, a decompressor, and an evaporator as taught by TSUKAMOTO in order to inhibit the rise in temperature inside the compressor 401 (refer to par. 137 of TSUKAMOTO).
In regards to claim 11, YABE as modified meets the claim limitations as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1. Further, YABE teaches a manufacturing method of the stator according to claim 1, the manufacturing method comprising the steps of: punching core sheets (punching stator core plate 1) from an electromagnetic steel sheet (refer to par. 65); stacking the core sheets to form a stator core (a stator core constructed by stacking a plurality of stator core plates; pars. 2, 5, 65 and 89); and winding coils on the stator core (refer to par. 89), wherein in the step of punching the core sheets, the core sheets are punched from the electromagnetic steel sheet in 2N rows (N is an integer) and at a constant pitch P in each row in such a manner that the core sheets of the first row and the second row are displaced from each other by a distance corresponding to a half of the pitch Р (refer to par. 28 which states that the stator core plates 1 in the second row, on the lower side of fig. 7, are punched out so as to be shifted in the longitudinal direction in relation to the stator core plates 1 in the first row, on the upper side of Fig. 7, by approximately 1/2 the pitch of the stator core plates 1, approximately 1/2 the distance between opposing notches 5a).
In regards to claim 12, YABE as modified meets the claim limitations as set forth above in the rejection of claim 11. Further, YABE teaches wherein in the step of punching the core sheets (punching stator core plate 10), the core sheets are punched so that the third cutout portion (two notches 5b left and right; upper side in Figure 6) of the core sheet of the first row and the third cutout portion (5b) of the core sheet of the second row face each other (refer to par. 27 which states that if the stator core plates 10 are punched out in two rows using a die, as shown in Fig. 7, the stator core plates 10 in the first row are in the reverse vertical orientation from that shown in Fig. 6. Further, the stator core plates 10 in the second row are in the same vertical orientation as that shown in Fig. 6).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim 1, 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 MARTHA TADESSE whose telephone number is (571)272-0590. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:30am-5:00pm EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Frantz Jules can be reached on 571-272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For
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/M.T/
Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/FRANTZ F JULES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763