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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/20/2024 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. In this case, the coil holder referred to in claim 8 was introduced in claim 3 and not claim 2. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gerard (US 20200343801 A1) in view of Katsuki (JPH03212137).
Claim 1
Gerard teaches: An electric generator comprising:
a housing (4);
an inlet for receiving gas into the housing (4);
a rotor (14) operatively rotatable through contact with the fluid (gas);
a stator winding (22) assembly having a coreless stator winding (22);
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Gerard does not explicitly disclose:
the rotor [as] having at least one magnetic element attached to its inside; [the] coreless stator winding [being] arranged to interact with the magnetic element;
and wherein the stator winding assembly having a dismantlable casing arranged to seal the coreless stator winding from the gas inflow.
As for limitation I, Katsuki conversely teaches a claw-pole synchronous generator including a generator rotor that is divided into magnetic pole portions and magnetized to form N-pole and S-pole regions. Katsuki further teaches that the magnetic rotor interacts with the stator winding (armature winding) to generate electrical power. Accordingly, Katsuki teaches a rotor having magnetic elements and a stator winding arranged to interact with the magnetic elements for electrical generation (see para. 1).
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It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the claimed invention to modify the generator of Gerard to incorporate the magnetic rotor arrangement taught by Katsuki because electrical generators commonly require magnetic field-producing rotor structures that interact with stator windings in order to convert rotational mechanical energy into electrical energy. Such a modification would have been predictably enabled the rotor-driven generator of Gerard to generate electrical power using well-known magnetic interaction between a rotor magnetic field and a stator winding.
As for limitation II, Katsuki teaches a generator structure specifically configured to facilitate disassembly and reassembly of generator components. In particular, Katsuki states that the turbine and compressor are mounted to the generator rotor through a thermal insulating member in a manner that permits the generator to be easily disassembled and assembled for maintenance, repair, and replacement of components. A further advantage of such construction may include improved serviceability and ease of assembly.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the claimed invention to provide the stator winding assembly Gerard with a dismantlable casing structure in view of the teachings of Gerard because Gerard expressly recognizes the benefits of designing generator components to be readily disassembled and reassembled. Extending such known serviceability features to the stator winding assembly would have represented nothing more than the predictable use of known mechanical design techniques to facilitate maintenance, inspection, repair, and replacement of stator components while preserving the operational integrity of the generator. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have understood that providing a removable or dismantlable casing around the stator winding would allow access to the winding assembly without requiring substantial disassembly to the generator as a whole and would therefore further the same maintenance objectives taught by Katsuki.
Claim 12
Gerard teaches: An electric generator comprising:
a housing (4);
an inlet for receiving gas into the housing (4);
a rotor (14) operatively rotatable through contact with the gas, the rotor (14);
a stator winding (22) assembly having a coreless stator winding (22); and
wherein the rotor (14) is arranged to receive the gas inflow to cause the rotation of the rotor (14).
Gerard does not explicitly teach: the rotor [as] having at least one magnetic element attached to its inside; [and the] coreless stator winding arranged to interact with the magnetic element;
Katsuki conversely teaches a claw-pole synchronous generator including a generator rotor that is divided into magnetic pole portions and magnetized to form N-pole and S-pole regions. Katsuki further teaches that the magnetic rotor interacts with the stator winding (armature winding) to generate electrical power. Accordingly, Katsuki teaches a rotor having magnetic elements and a stator winding arranged to interact with the magnetic elements for electrical generation (see para. 1).
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It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the claimed invention to modify the generator of Gerard to incorporate the magnetic rotor arrangement taught by Katsuki because electrical generators commonly require magnetic field-producing rotor structures that interact with stator windings in order to convert rotational mechanical energy into electrical energy. Such a modification would have been predictably enabled the rotor-driven generator of Gerard to generate electrical power using well-known magnetic interaction between a rotor magnetic field and a stator winding.
Claim 13/12
Gerard as modified by Katsuki teaches: The electric generator according to claim 12, wherein the rotor (14) includes blades (in turbine 10) uniformly placed about a periphery of the rotor (14), such that the blades of the rotor (14) are arranged to receive the gas inflow to cause the rotation of the rotor (14).
Claim 14
Gerard teaches: A stator winding (22) assembly for use with an electric machine, the electric machine comprising:
a housing (4);
the rotor (14);
the stator winding (22) assembly having a stator winding (22);
Gerard does not explicitly disclose:
the rotor [as] having at least one magnetic element attached to its inside; [the] stator winding [being] arranged to interact with the magnetic element;
and wherein the stator winding assembly having a dismantlable casing arranged to seal the coreless stator winding from the gas inflow.
As for limitation I, Katsuki conversely teaches a claw-pole synchronous generator including a generator rotor that is divided into magnetic pole portions and magnetized to form N-pole and S-pole regions. Katsuki further teaches that the magnetic rotor interacts with the stator winding (armature winding) to generate electrical power. Accordingly, Katsuki teaches a rotor having magnetic elements and a stator winding arranged to interact with the magnetic elements for electrical generation (see para. 1).
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It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the claimed invention to modify the generator of Gerard to incorporate the magnetic rotor arrangement taught by Katsuki because electrical generators commonly require magnetic field-producing rotor structures that interact with stator windings in order to convert rotational mechanical energy into electrical energy. Such a modification would have been predictably enabled the rotor-driven generator of Gerard to generate electrical power using well-known magnetic interaction between a rotor magnetic field and a stator winding.
As for limitation II, Katsuki teaches a generator structure specifically configured to facilitate disassembly and reassembly of generator components. In particular, Katsuki states that the turbine and compressor are mounted to the generator rotor through a thermal insulating member in a manner that permits the generator to be easily disassembled and assembled for maintenance, repair, and replacement of components. A further advantage of such construction may include improved serviceability and ease of assembly.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the claimed invention to provide the stator winding assembly Gerard with a dismantlable casing structure in view of the teachings of Gerard because Gerard expressly recognizes the benefits of designing generator components to be readily disassembled and reassembled. Extending such known serviceability features to the stator winding assembly would have represented nothing more than the predictable use of known mechanical design techniques to facilitate maintenance, inspection, repair, and replacement of stator components while preserving the operational integrity of the generator. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have understood that providing a removable or dismantlable casing around the stator winding would allow access to the winding assembly without requiring substantial disassembly to the generator as a whole and would therefore further the same maintenance objectives taught by Katsuki.
Claim 15/14
Gerard as modified by Katsuki teaches: The stator winding (22) assembly according to claim 14, wherein the stator winding (22) assembly includes a coreless stator winding (22).
Claims 2 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gerard as modified by Katsuki in view of Frosell (US 9879506 B2).
Claim 2/1
Gerard as modified by Katsuki teaches: The electric generator according to claim 1, but is silent to: wherein the dismantlable casing comprises an outer housing and a hub detachably mounted onto the outer housing.
Frosell conversely teaches a generator arrangement including a housing configured to contain a turbine-generator assembly and further teaches a hub portion (402) that receives stator components. Although Frosell does not expressly disclose the hub being detachably mounted to the housing, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the claimed invention to provide a detachable connection between the hub and housing because detachable mechanical connections facilitate assembly, maintenance, repair, replacement, and inspection of internal generator components. Such modification would merely involve the predictable substitution of a removable fastening arrangement for a permanent attachment and would have yielded the expected benefit of improved serviceability of the generator assembly.
Claim 6/2/1
Gerard as modified by Katsuki and Frosell teaches: The electric generator according to claim 2, further including a reinforcement ring (36) mounted to the casing (116).
Claims 3, 4, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gerard as modified by Katsuki and Frosell in view of Baumann (US6404092B1).
Claim 3/2/1
Gerard as modified by Katsuki and Frosell teaches: The electric generator according to claim 2, but does not explicitly disclose: wherein the coreless stator winding includes a coil holder and coil windings located on the coil holder, the coil windings comprising a thermoplastic material.
Baumann conversely teaches stator windings for electric machines wherein the winding insulation comprises a thermoplastic polymer (Summary of Invention, para. 4). Baumann expressly teaches the use of thermoplastic materials including polyetherether ketone (PEEK), and polysulfone (PSU) in association with stator winding conductors.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was claimed to employ the thermoplastic winding construction of Baumann in the stator winding arrangement of Gerard because Bauman teaches that thermoplastic materials provide improved electrical insulation properties, manufacturability, shaping capability, and electrical strength for stator windings. The modification would merely involve the substitution of one known winding insulation material for another known winding insulation material to obtain the known benefits taught by Baumann.
Claim 4/3/2/1
Gerard as modified by Katsuki, Frosell, and Baumann teaches: The electric generator according to claim 3, wherein the thermoplastic material (as taught by Baumann) comprises at least one of Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
Claim 8/2/1
Gerard as modified by Katsuki, Frosell, and Baumann teaches: The electric generator according to claim 2, wherein the coil holder includes a non-magnetic material (Baumann’s thermoplastic material).
Claims 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gerard as modified by Katsuki and Frosell in view of Baudry (US 2873393 A).
Claim 5/2/1
Gerard as modified by Katsuki teaches: The electric generator according to claim 2, but does not explicitly teach: wherein the outer housing hub include grooves at respective bonding surfaces for receiving a sealing member.
Baudry conversely teaches a generator (Fig. 1) having a substantially gastight construction and further teaches the use of sealing members including O-rings (38) and gland seals to maintain a pressure-tight and gastight joints between cooperating components (para. 12). For example, Baudry discloses O-rings (38) provided between adjacent components to form gastight joints and prevent leakage between sealed regions of the generator. Baudry further teaches that maintaining the integrity of the sealed cooling system is important for proper operation of the generator (para. 6).
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It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the claimed invention to provide grooves at the mating or bonding surfaces between the housing and hub of the modified generator assembly of Gerard for receiving sealing members such as the O-ring taught by Baudry. A person havnig ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that elastomeric sealing members are conventionally retained within grooves formed in opposing mating surfaces in order to accurately position the seal, prevent displacement during assembly and operation, improve sealing effectiveness, and maintain the integrity of a sealed fluid environment.
The modification would merly involve the applicaion of a known sealing arrangeemnt to a known generator housing structure in order to obtain the predictable result of improving fluid isolation and preventing leakage into the sttaor winding assembly. Therefore, it would have been obvious to provide grooves at the respective bonding surfaces of the housing and hub for receiving a sealing member as claimed.
Claim 7/2/1
Gerard as modified by Katsuki teaches: The electric generator according to claim 2, but is silent to: wherein the casing includes hermetic electric connectors arranged to channel out electrical leads from the electric generator.
Baudry teaches a generator having a substantially hermetically sealed and gastight construction including sealed chambers, pressure boundaries, gland seals, and structures intended to maintain the integrity of a sealed cooling environment.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was claimed to provide hermetic electrical connectors for routing the electrical leads through the casing of the generator because electrical conductors passing through a hermetically sealed enclosure must be routed through sealed feedthrough structures in order to maintain the integrity of the sealed environment. Hermetic electrical connectors and feedthroughs were well known solutions for transmitting electrical signals and power through pressure-tight and gastight boundaries while preventing fluid leakage.
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gerard in view of Katsuki and Huber (US20190305643A1).
Claim 9
Gerard teaches: An electric generator comprising:
a housing (4);
an inlet for receiving gas into the housing (4);
a rotor (14) operatively rotatable through contact with the gas;
a stator winding (22) assembly having a coreless stator winding (22);
Gerard does not explicitly disclose:
the rotor [as] having at least one magnetic element attached to its inside; [the] coreless stator winding [being] arranged to interact with the magnetic element;
a cooling system including:
an insulating cooling fluid supplied into the stator winding assembly to cool the coil windings;
a tank containing the insulating cooling fluid, the insulating cooling fluid circulating in between the stator winding assembly and the tank;
a pump arranged to supply the insulating cooling fluid into the stator winding assembly; and
a recirculating element arranged to recirculate the outflow gas into the tank to cool down the insulating cooling fluid through heat transfer.
As for limitation I, Katsuki conversely teaches a claw-pole synchronous generator including a generator rotor that is divided into magnetic pole portions and magnetized to form N-pole and S-pole regions. Katsuki further teaches that the magnetic rotor interacts with the stator winding (armature winding) to generate electrical power. Accordingly, Katsuki teaches a rotor having magnetic elements and a stator winding arranged to interact with the magnetic elements for electrical generation (see para. 1).
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It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the claimed invention to modify the generator of Gerard to incorporate the magnetic rotor arrangement taught by Katsuki because electrical generators commonly require magnetic field-producing rotor structures that interact with stator windings in order to convert rotational mechanical energy into electrical energy. Such a modification would have been predictably enabled the rotor-driven generator of Gerard to generate electrical power using well-known magnetic interaction between a rotor magnetic field and a stator winding.
Huber conversely teaches an electrical machine (10) including a stator (14) and a rotor (18) arranged within a housing (20). Huber further teaches an electrically non-conductive coolant, preferably an oil or transmission oil, supplied into the electrical machine for cooling the stator and rotor (see para. 10, 21, and 38). The coolant is introduced through axial coolant supply line (28) and radial coolant supply lines (32-35) into interior chamber (26) containing the stator (14), whereby coolant is transmitted onto the stator to remove heat from it (see para. 14, 49-55).
Huber further teaches a coolant circuit including coolant sump (42), coolant pump (44), coolant reservoir (46), and coolant cooler (48) (see para. 39, 43-47, and 57), wherein the coolant circulates between the stator region and the coolant reservoir through a closed cooling circuit.
Accordingly, Huber teaches: a) an insulating cooling fluid supplied into the stator winding assembly to cool the coil windings (stator 14; coolant introduced into interior chamber 26); b) a tank containing the insulating cooling fluid (coolant reservoir 46 and coolant sump 42); c) circulation of the insulating cooling fluid between the stator and the tank; and d) a pump arranged to supply the insulating cooling fluid (coolant pump 44).
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It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was claimed to modify the generator of Gerard to incorporate the liquid cooling system of Huber because Huber expressly teaches that direct application of electrically non-conductive coolant to the stator and rotor improves heat removal, lowers operating temperature, and increases continuous power capability of the electrical machine (see para. 6-15). A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to apply these known cooling techniques to Gerard’s generator in order to improve thermal management, increase reliability, and permit higher power density.
Furthermore, because Gerard already employs gas flow through the generator housing, it would have been obvious to utilize the outflow gas as a heat-transfer medium for removing heat from the circulating insulating coolant in the reservoir or cooling portion of the coolant circuit in order to obtain the advantage of recovering cooling capacity from an already available fluid stream and reducing coolant temperature prior to recirculation through the stator winding assembly.
Claim 10/9
Gerard as modified by Katsuki and Huber teaches: The electric generator according to claim 9, wherein the insulating cooling fluid (transmission oil; para. 10, Huber) is a non-conductive oil.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is 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.
Claim 11/9
Claim 11 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Gerard teaches: The electric generator according to claim 9;
The prior art fails to teach or fairly suggest, alone or in obvious combination, inter alia:
wherein the recirculating element is a cooling fin having an inverted finned structure.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED F SECK whose telephone number is (571)272-4638. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 4:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Koehler can be reached at (571) 272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AHMED F SECK/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/CHRISTOPHER M KOEHLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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