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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the pipe of claim 3 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 7-10 are method claims that depend on apparatus claim 1. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph. See In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 1318, 97 USPQ2d 1737, 1748-49 (Fed. Cir. 2011).
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection 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 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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woolmer (US 2011/0309694), in view of Auzas et al. (“Auzas”; FR 2 998 112, English translation attached).
Regarding claim 1: Woolmer discloses a stator (12b) of an axial-flow rotary electrical machine (Fig. 4) comprising:
a support ring (16’) produced from, said support ring having N teeth (81) each extending as an axial component as far as a top (75a), N being an integer greater than 2 (in this case N=12), said N teeth being separated respectively from one another by N housings (84) so that each of said teeth extends between two adjacent housings (shown in Fig. 4);
N conductive-wire windings (22) respectively wound around said N teeth, each of said N windings extending in said two adjacent housings (when the exploded stator in Fig. 4 is assembled);
N wings (each 18, shown in Fig, 5b) respectively secured to the tops of said N teeth, the two wings of each of said N pairs extending laterally opposite each other with respect to each of said N teeth and respectively in line with each of said N windings (paragraph 0062);
wherein said N pairs of wings are at least partially embedded together in a single piece forming a cover and fitting on top of said N teeth (Fig. 5a), so as to confine said N housings so as to be able to refrigerate said N housings (paragraph 0033: refrigerant flows between the coils, inherently teaching that the housing is sealed).
Woolmer does not explicitly disclose the support ring produced from a magnetic material and the N pairs of rings made from a magnetic material.
However, Auzas discloses a support ring (101, Fig, 2) produced from a magnetic material (page 3 of translation, 3rd full paragraph) and N pairs of wings (170) made from a magnetic material (page 5 of translation, 2nd full paragraph).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the support ring and wings of Woolmer to be magnetic and be a pair of wings in order to reduce magnetic losses (end of second paragraph on page 7 of the translation).
Regarding claim 2: Woolmer discloses said N housings are refrigerated by injecting a refrigerating fluid (paragraph 0033, via 156, Fig. 11b).
Regarding claim 3: Woolmer discloses said refrigerating fluid is guided inside said N housings inside a pipe (152a, 152b).
Regarding claim 4: Woolmer modified by Auzas discloses the two wings of each of said N pairs of wings, Auzas further discloses the two wings of each of said N pairs of wings form together a single element coming to be applied against the top of each of said N teeth (shown in Fig. 6 with both 170 installed flush with the top of the tooth 103).
Regarding claim 5: Woolmer modified by Auzas discloses the two wings of each of said N pairs of wings, Auzas further discloses wherein the wings of said N pairs of wings are produced by sintering metal powder (end of the 3rd full paragraph on page 5 of the translation).
Regarding claim 6: Woolmer modified by Auzas discloses the two wings of each of said N pairs of wings, Woolmer further discloses the wings of said N pairs of wings (18) are produced from a composite material with metal reinforcement fibres (paragraph 0055).
Regarding claim 7: Woolmer discloses a method for producing a stator of an axial-flow rotary electrical machine according to claim 1 (see clam 1), comprising the following steps:
a support ring (16’) is provided, produced from, said support ring having N teeth (81) each extending as an axial component as far as a top (75a), N being an integer greater than 2 (in this case N=12), said N teeth being separated respectively from one another by N housings (84) so that each of said teeth extends between two adjacent housings (shown in Fig. 4);
N conductive-wire windings (22) are respectively wound around said N teeth, each of said N windings extending in said two adjacent housings (when the exploded stator in Fig. 4 is assembled);
N wings (each 18, shown in Fig, 5b) are provided, respectively secured to the tops of said N teeth, the two wings of each of said N pairs extending laterally opposite each other with respect to each of said N teeth and respectively in line with each of said N windings (paragraph 0062);
wherein said N pairs of wings are at least partially embedded together in a single piece forming a cover and fitting on top of said N teeth (Fig. 5a), so as to confine said N housings so as to be able to refrigerate said N housings (paragraph 0033: refrigerant flows between the coils, inherently teaching that the housing is sealed).
Woolmer does not explicitly disclose the support ring produced from a magnetic material and the N pairs of rings made from a magnetic material.
However, Auzas discloses a support ring (101, Fig, 2) produced from a magnetic material (page 3 of translation, 3rd full paragraph) and N pairs of wings (170) made from a magnetic material (page 5 of translation, 2nd full paragraph).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the support ring and wings of Woolmer to be magnetic and be a pair of wings in order to reduce magnetic losses (end of second paragraph on page 7 of the translation).
Regarding claim 8: Woolmer modified by Auzas discloses the two wings of each of said N pairs of wings, Auzas further discloses the two wings of each of said N pairs of wings form together a single element coming to be applied against the top of each of said N teeth (shown in Fig. 6 with both 170 installed flush with the top of the tooth 103).
Regarding claim 9: Woolmer modified by Auzas discloses the two wings of each of said N pairs of wings, Auzas further discloses wherein the wings of said N pairs of wings are produced by sintering metal powder (end of the 3rd full paragraph on page 5 of the translation).
Regarding claim 10: Woolmer modified by Auzas discloses the two wings of each of said N pairs of wings, Woolmer further discloses the wings of said N pairs of wings (18) are produced from a composite material with metal reinforcement fibres (paragraph 0055).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN GUGGER whose telephone number is (571)272-5343. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9:00am - 5:00pm EST.
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/SEAN GUGGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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