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 § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Masoudipour et al (US PGPub No. 2008/0199326).
Masoudipour teaches:
limitations from claim 1, a compressor (10) comprising: a rotary shaft (14); a motor (30) configured to rotate the rotary shaft (paragraph 21); and a gas bearing (foil bearings 18-19) configured to support the rotary shaft (paragraphs 4 and 22), a passage (loop 67, arrows 68) being provided between a coil (34-35) of the motor and a housing (43-44) of the gas bearing,
the passage being configured to carry gas refrigerant to cool the coil of the motor and the gas bearing, the gas refrigerant being introduced into the compressor through a branch pipe and flowing through the passage (see FIG. 3; step “27” within loop 67), the motor including a rotor (31) fixed to the rotary shaft and a stator (33) spaced apart from the rotor in a radial direction, the gas bearing including a first radial gas bearing (18) located on one side of the rotor in an axial direction, a second radial gas bearing (19) located on an other side of the rotor in the axial direction, and a thrust gas bearing (foil bearing 17) supporting the rotary shaft in the axial direction, the passage extending from an inlet flow path (from jacket 36 for example) that allows communication between an outside of a casing of the compressor and a space inside the casing to an outlet flow path (48) that communicates with the outside of the casing of the compressor, and passing through (see annotated FIG. 1 below, flow from A-B-C) a space between the coil (“A”) and a first holding member that holds the first radial gas bearing and the thrust gas bearing, a space (“B”) between the stator and the rotor, and a space (“C”) between the coil and a second holding member that holds the second radial gas bearing, the gas refrigerant having passed through the space between the coil and the second holding member flowing into the outlet flow path (at 48), the inlet flow path communicating with the branch pipe through which gas refrigerant flows, and the space located between the coil and the first holding member in the space inside the casing, and the outlet flow path communicating with the space located between the coil and the second holding member in the space inside the casing (see FIG. 1 and 3-4; paragraph 32 and 37);
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limitations from claim 2, wherein the passage (67) includes a first passage provided between the coil of the motor and (FIG. 1; between housings 43-44 and bearings 18-19, see arrows 68);
limitations from claim 3, wherein the first radial gas bearing (18) is located inside the coil (34-35) as viewed along a radial direction of the rotary shaft (see annotated FIG. 1 below);
limitations from claim 4, wherein the passage includes a second passage provided between the coil of the motor and a housing of the thrust gas bearing (see arrows 68; between housing 44 and coil 34-35);
limitations from claim 5, wherein the passage includes a second passage provided between the coil of the motor and a housing of the thrust gas bearing (see arrows 68; between housing 44 and coil 35), and the first passage communicates with the second passage (see FIG. 1 and arrows 68);
limitations from claim 7, wherein part of the coil (34-35) is immersed in liquid refrigerant (FIG. 1; paragraph 36);
limitations from claim 8, a refrigeration apparatus including the compressor of claim 1 (paragraph 16);
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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) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masoudipour et al (US PGPub No. 2008/0199326).
Regarding claim 6:
Masoudipour teaches, in FIG. 1 as annotated below, portions of the first and second passages appearing to have roughly equal widths; However, it has been held that where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device (MPEP 2144.04 Section IV. A). In this case changing the dimensions of fluid flow passages would have been obvious to control the flow of fluid through said passages, and the resulting cooling of the motor/bearings.
6. The compressor of claim 5, wherein a width dimension of the first passage and a width dimension of the second passage are equal to each other (see annotated FIG. 1 below);
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Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/02/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues, on Page 11 of the response, that Masoudipour does not teach the flow path(s) of amended claim 1. The examiner has addressed the new limitations above, including annotated FIG. 1, and maintains that Masoudipour teaches a flow path encompassing the claimed compressor components.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH whose telephone number is (571)270-5289. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Essama Omgba can be reached at 469-295-9278. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH/Examiner, Art Unit 3746
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