DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-7 of U.S. Application 18/871355 filed on December 3, 2024 are presented for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on December 3, 2024 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 § 102
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sasaki (US 20150097470).
Regarding claim 1, Sasaki teaches (see figs. 1A and 1B below) an electric compressor (intended use limitation not given patentable weight) including an inverter (2) that has a plurality of switching elements (103) and supplies power to a motor (10) (¶ 15 to ¶ 18; ¶ 24),
the electric compressor (intended use limitation not given patentable weight) comprising: a housing (10A, 2A) including a motor chamber (see annotated fig. 1A below) in which the motor (10) is incorporated, and an inverter accommodating portion (see annotated fig. 1A below) in which the inverter (2) is mounted (Abstract; ¶ 15; ¶ 21);
a partition wall (1A) between the motor chamber (see annotated fig. 1A below) and the inverter accommodating portion (see annotated fig. 1A below) (¶ 15; ¶ 18; ¶ 19); and
a plurality of connecting terminals (104) each having one end electrically connected to the motor (10) and protruding from the motor (10) in a direction of the partition wall (1A), wherein the connecting terminals (104) are dispersedly provided and each have the other end electrically connected to the inverter (2) through the partition wall (1A) (¶ 19 to ¶ 23), and
the switching elements (103) are dispersedly provided on the partition wall (1A) in such a manner as to correspond to each of the connecting terminals (104) (¶ 18 to ¶ 23).
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Regarding claim 2/1, Sasaki teaches (see figs. 1A and 1B above) the switching elements (103) are located near the connecting terminals (104) and provided on the partition wall (1A) (fig. 1A; ¶ 18 to ¶ 23).
Regarding claim 3/1, Sasaki teaches (see figs. 1A and 1B above) the connecting terminals (104) are dispersedly provided at equal intervals in a circumferential direction of the motor (figs. 1A, 1B; ¶ 18 to ¶ 23).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sasaki in view of Nakanishi (JP 2007116840, see English Machine Translation attached).
Regarding claim 4/1, Sasaki teaches the device of claim 1 but does not explicitly teach three connecting terminals are provided, the inverter includes six switching elements, and the switching elements are placed in pairs, the pairs corresponding to the connecting terminals respectively.
However, Nakanishi teaches (see figs. 1, 5 and 9 below) three connecting terminals (46) are provided, the inverter includes six switching elements (5a and 5c form one switch element, 5b and 5d for another, 6a and 6c form another, 6b and 6d for another, 7a and 7c for another, 7b and 7d for another), and the switching elements (5-7) are placed in pairs (5a and 5c form a pair with 5b and 5d; 6a and 6c form a pair with 6b and 6d; 7a and 7c form a pair with 7b and 7d), the pairs corresponding to the connecting terminals (46) respectively (Abstract; pages 2-4 and 13) in order to provide a compact and light weight configuration with reduced noise (Nakanishi, Abstract, page 6).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Sasaki and provide three connecting terminals are provided, the inverter includes six switching elements, and the switching elements are placed in pairs, the pairs corresponding to the connecting terminals respectively as taught by Nakanishi in order to provide a compact and light weight configuration with reduced noise (Nakanishi, Abstract, page 6).
Allowable Subject Matter
9. Claims 5-7 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.
Conclusion
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER A SINGH whose telephone number is (571)270-0243. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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, 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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/ALEXANDER A SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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