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 .
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:
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fubuki et al. (US 9065316) in view of Watanabe et al. (JPS 61189153).
13. Fubuki et al. teach:
A rotary electric machine (title) comprising:
a stator/stator core 100; and
a rotor (inherent since the title discloses a rotary electric machine, MPEP 2112) disposed to be rotatable about a rotation axis (inherent since the title discloses a rotary electric machine, MPEP 2112),
wherein the stator includes a stator iron core 100 (a core implies that it is iron, MPEP 2112) including a plurality of slots 2, and bobbins/insulators 10 fitted into the slots,
each of the bobbins includes flanges/collars 36 provided at both respective ends of the stator in an axial direction (fig 8); but does not teach that protrusions provided on the respective flanges, and the stator iron core includes projections protruding from inner surfaces of the slots, and the bobbins are positioned by engaging the protrusions and the projections to each other.
Watanabe et al. teach that protrusions (Watanabe et al. fig 6 below) provided on the respective flanges (of Fubuki et al.), and the stator iron core 1 includes projections (inbetween crevices 2a, annotated fig 6 below) protruding from inner surfaces of the slots 2, and the bobbins/spacer block 5 (Watanabe et al.) (or insulator of Fubuki et al.) are positioned by engaging the protrusions and the projections (of Watanabe et al.) to each other to effectively secure the coil within the stator which improves the rotary electric machine’s reliability (abstract).
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As a result, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the invention of Fubuki et al. being effectively filed to modify it such that protrusions provided on the respective flanges, and the stator iron core includes projections protruding from inner surfaces of the slots, and the bobbins are positioned by engaging the protrusions and the projections to each other, as taught by Watanabe et al. so as to improve the reliability of the rotary electric machine.
14. Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. teach:
The rotary electric machine according to 13, wherein the protrusions (of Watanabe et al.) are located on contact surfaces (of Fubuki et al.) that come into contact with respective end faces of the stator iron core (of Fubuki et al. or Watanabe et al.), and are provided on the flanges (of Fubuki et al.) to extend in the axial direction.
15. Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. teach:
The rotary electric machine according to 13, wherein the flanges (of Fubuki et al.) are configured to be elastically deformable (since they are made of PPS which has elasticity), and the protrusions (of Watanabe et al.) of the bobbin are provided on back sides of the flanges (of Fubuki et al. since the flanges are touching the end faces of the stator core and the protrusions of Watanabe et al. are level with the end faces of the stator core).
16. Fubuki et al. teach:
The rotary electric machine according to claim 15, wherein the flanges are made of an elastic material (PPS) that is bendable in a predetermined direction (since it has elasticity).
Claim(s) 17-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. and in further view of Enomoto et al. (US 20210249926).
17. Fubuki et al. has been discussed above, re claim 13; but does not teach that each of the bobbins includes a plurality of coil insertion holes extending in the axial direction, and in a state where the bobbin is positioned, convex segment coils and concave segment coils are fitted to each other inside the coil insertion holes.
Enomoto et al. teaches that each of the bobbins 1 includes a plurality of coil insertion holes 31 extending in the axial direction (Fig 2B), and in a state where the bobbin is positioned, convex segment coils 13a and concave segment coils 13b are fitted to each other inside the coil insertion holes (Figs 12A-12C). This ensures proper spacing between conductors and a reduced manufacturing time as opposed to winding the stator with wire.
As a result, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the invention of Fubuki et al. being effectively filed to modify it such that each of the bobbins includes a plurality of coil insertion holes extending in the axial direction, and in a state where the bobbin is positioned, convex segment coils and concave segment coils are fitted to each other inside the coil insertion holes, as taught by Enomoto et al. so as to ensure proper spacing between coil segments and reducing manufacturing time.
18. Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. and in further view of Enomoto et al. teach:
The rotary electric machine according to 13, wherein the stator (of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D) includes a core back/back yoke 56 and a plurality of teeth 55 extending in a radially inward direction of the core back (of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D), each of the slots is sandwiched between the teeth (the slots of Enomoto et al. are occupied by the part of the bobbin containing the coil segments which is sandwiched between the teeth cores), the projections (of Watanabe et al.) are provided on the inner surfaces of the slots (of Watanabe et al.), and the bobbins (of Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. and in further view of Enomoto et al.) are inserted into the slots (of Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. and in further view of Enomoto et al.) in a radial direction of the stator.
19. Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. and in further view of Enomoto et al. teach:
The rotary electric machine according to 18, wherein the bobbins (of Watanabe et al.) are inserted into the slots (of Watanabe et al.) in the radial direction, so that radial inner surfaces of the protrusions (of Watanabe et al.) and radial outer surfaces of the projections (of Watanabe et al.) come into contact with each other to engage the protrusions and the projections with each other (figs 2 & 6 of Watanabe et al.), and the bobbins (of Watanabe et al.) are fixed in the axial direction and the radial direction.
20. Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. and in further view of Enomoto et al. teach:
The rotary electric machine according to 18, wherein the protrusions (of Watanabe et al.) and the projections (of Watanabe et al.) engage with each other at central portions of the slots (of Watanabe et al.).
21. Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. and in further view of Enomoto et al. teach:
The rotary electric machine according to claim 18, wherein the core back (of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D) and the teeth (of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D) are formed as separate components, and the stator iron core (of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D) is configured by fitting the teeth (of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D) into the core back (of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D).
22. Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. and in further view of Enomoto et al. teach:
The rotary electric machine according to 21, wherein the core back (of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D) includes teeth insertion grooves (recesses of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D), and the teeth (of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D) are fitted into the core back by inserting the teeth into the teeth insertion grooves (of Enomoto et al. figs 4A-4D) in the axial direction.
23. Fubuki et al. in view of Watanabe et al. and in further view of Enomoto et al. teach:
The rotary electric machine according to 21, wherein the teeth are made of an amorphous material (para 0053 of Enomoto et al.), and the core back is made of an electromagnetic steel sheet (para 0038 of Enomoto et al.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 24-28 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
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/TERRANCE L KENERLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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