Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 16, 2026
Application No. 18/877,918

OUTER ROTOR STRUCTURE FOR A MOTOR, ROTARY POWER UNIT, AND QUADRUPED ROBOT

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 20, 2024
Priority
Jun 23, 2022 — CN 202221590221.5 +1 more
Examiner
GONZALEZ QUINONES, JOSE A
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Hangzhou Yushu Technology Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
88%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allowance Rate
895 granted / 1178 resolved
+16.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
40 currently pending
Career history
1196
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
66.5%
+26.5% vs TC avg
§102
27.4%
-12.6% vs TC avg
§112
4.3%
-35.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1178 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 statements (IDS) submitted on 12/20/2024 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 § 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. Claim(s) 1-7, 9, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (6,396,177) in view of Chao (CN 109713817). As to independent claim 1, Shin teaches an outer rotor structure for a motor, comprising: a sleeve (760), wherein an edge of the sleeve (760) extends toward an axis of the sleeve (760) to form a retaining portion; and a rotor end cover (510), wherein the rotor end cover (510) is nested in the magnetic steel sleeve (760), and the portion (see annotated figure 9) presses against an edge of the rotor end cover (510) to unidirectionally fix the rotor end cover (510) relative to the sleeve (760) in an axis direction as shown in figure 9. PNG media_image1.png 496 758 media_image1.png Greyscale However Shin teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except a magnetic steel sleeve and the retaining portion presses against an edge of the rotor end cover. Chao teaches a magnetic steel sleeve (3) and the retaining portion (13) presses against an edge of the rotor end cover (5) as shown in figures 1 and 3, for the advantageous benefit of improving the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Shin by using a magnetic steel sleeve and the retaining portion presses against an edge of the rotor end cover, as taught by Chao, to improve the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. As to claim 2/1, Shin teaches wherein the portion (see annotated figure 9) is a flange) formed by directly bending the edge of the sleeve (760) as shown in figure 9. However Shin in view of Chao teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except magnetic steel sleeve. Wu teaches a magnetic steel sleeve (3) as shown in figure 1, for the advantageous benefit of improving the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Shin in view of Chao by using a magnetic steel sleeve, as taught by Chao, to improve the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. As to claim 3/2, Shin in view of Wu teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except wherein a step fitting with the flange is provided on the edge of the rotor end cover, and the flange presses against the step to unidirectionally fix the rotor end cover relative to the magnetic steel sleeve in the axis direction. However Chao teaches a step (8) fitting with the flange is provided on the edge of the rotor end cover (5) , and the flange presses against the step to unidirectionally fix the rotor end cover (5) relative to the magnetic steel sleeve (3) in the axis direction as shown in figure 3, for the advantageous benefit of improving the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Shin in view of Chao by using a step fitting with the flange is provided on the edge of the rotor end cover, and the flange presses against the step to unidirectionally fix the rotor end cover relative to the magnetic steel sleeve in the axis direction, as taught by Chao, to improve the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. As to claim 4/3, Shin in view of Wu teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except wherein a magnetic steel assembly (4) is fixed in the magnetic steel sleeve (5), and the magnetic steel assembly (3) comprises a magnetic steel fixing member and magnetic steel uniformly fixed on the magnetic steel fixing member. However Chao teaches a magnetic steel assembly (2, 3) is fixed in the magnetic steel sleeve (3), and the magnetic steel assembly (2,3) comprises a magnetic steel fixing member (2) and magnetic steel (3) uniformly fixed on the magnetic steel fixing member as shown in figure 3, for the advantageous benefit of improving the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Shin in view of Chao by using a step fitting with the flange is provided on the edge of the rotor end cover, and the flange presses against the step to unidirectionally fix the rotor end cover relative to the magnetic steel sleeve in the axis direction, as taught by Chao, to improve the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. As to claim 9/1, Shin teaches a rotary power unit, comprising the outer rotor structure (500) for a motor as shown in figure 4A. As to independent claim 5, Shin teaches an outer rotor structure for a motor, comprising: a sleeve (760) with an accommodation space and a rotor end cover (510) of an arcuate structure, wherein the sleeve (760) is provided with a retaining portion for limiting the range of a movement of the rotor end cover (510); and the rotor end cover (510) is nested in the accommodation space of the sleeve (760), and the portion presses against an edge of the rotor end cover (760) to limit the rotor end cover (510) relative to the sleeve (760) in an axis direction. However Shin teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except a magnetic steel sleeve and the retaining portion presses against an edge of the rotor end cover. Chao teaches a magnetic steel sleeve (3) and the retaining portion (13) presses against an edge of the rotor end cover (5) as shown in figures 1 and 3, for the advantageous benefit of improving the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Shin by using a magnetic steel sleeve and the retaining portion presses against an edge of the rotor end cover, as taught by Chao, to improve the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. As to claim 6/5, Shin in view of Chao teaches the claimed limitation as dissed above except wherein the retaining portion is provided along an edge of the magnetic steel sleeve and extends toward the accommodation space of the magnetic steel sleeve to vary an opening space of the accommodation space. However Chao teaches the retaining portion (13) is provided along an edge of the magnetic steel sleeve (3) and extends toward the accommodation space of the magnetic steel sleeve (3) to vary an opening space of the accommodation space as shown in figure 3, for the advantageous benefit of improving the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Shin in view of Chao by using the retaining portion is provided along an edge of the magnetic steel sleeve and extends toward the accommodation space of the magnetic steel sleeve to vary an opening space of the accommodation space, as taught by Chao, to improve the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. As to claim 7/6, Shin in view of Chao teaches the claimed limitation as dissed above except wherein the retaining portion is an annular structure provided around the magnetic steel sleeve; the retaining portion is a sheet structure arranged at intervals; or the retaining portion is a pin structure capable of insertion into the magnetic steel sleeve. However Chao teaches the retaining portion (13) is an annular structure provided around the magnetic steel sleeve (3); the retaining portion (13) is a sheet structure arranged at intervals as shown in figure 3; or the retaining portion is a pin structure capable of insertion into the magnetic steel sleeve, for the advantageous benefit of improving the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Shin in view of Chao by using the retaining portion is an annular structure provided around the magnetic steel sleeve; the retaining portion is a sheet structure arranged at intervals, as taught by Chao, to improve the magnetic steels are indexing, enhancing motor performance and its manufacturing method. As to claim 11/5, Li teaches a rotary power unit, comprising the outer rotor structure (500) for a motor as shown in figure 4A. Claim(s) 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (6,396,177) and Chao (CN 109713817) as applied in claims 1 and 5 in view of Fu (WO2023/051352). As to claims 12/1, 13/5, 14/9 and 15/11, Shin in view of Chao teaches the claimed limitation as dissed above except a quadruped robot, comprising the outer rotor structure for a motor. However Fu teaches a quadruped robot, comprising the outer rotor structure for a motor (See page 2, line 15-19), for the advantageous benefit of providing an autonomous intelligent machine, including the above-mentioned outer rotor motor. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Shin in view of Chao by using a quadruped robot, comprising the outer rotor structure for a motor, as taught by Fu, to provide an autonomous intelligent machine, including the above-mentioned outer rotor motor. Allowable Subject Matter Claim 8 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. Note Claim 8 depends of claim 7. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSE A GONZALEZ QUINONES whose telephone number is (571)270-7850. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6:30-2:30 EST. 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, OLUSEYE 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. 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. /JOSE A GONZALEZ QUINONES/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834 July 23/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 20, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 28, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
76%
Grant Probability
88%
With Interview (+12.3%)
2y 5m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1178 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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