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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishizuka et al. (Japanese Patent Document No.: JP 2001136696 A) in view of Dedrich (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2014/0175917 A1).
For claim 1, Ishizuka et al. disclose the claimed invention comprising: a rotation center shaft (reference numeral 2) extending in the axial direction thereof at the center of a sealed housing (reference numeral 7, figure 1); a cylindrical coil (reference numeral 8) disposed concentrically with respect to said rotation center shaft (reference numeral 2) in said housing (reference numeral 7) with an end surface on one side of said cylindrical coil (reference numeral 8) being supported by a stator (see figure 1) and extending in the direction in which said rotation center shaft extends (see figure 1); a rotor (reference numerals 3, 9) disposed concentrically with respect to said rotation center shaft (reference numeral 2) and capable of rotation in the circumferential direction of said rotation center shaft (reference numeral 2, see figure 1), said rotor including a cylindrical inner yoke (reference numeral 3) and a cylindrical outer yoke (reference numeral 9) sandwiching said cylindrical coil (reference numeral 8) therebetween in the radial direction and having a magnet (reference numeral 4) provided on the outer side of said inner yoke or on the inner side of said outer yoke (see figures 1-3). Ishizuka et al. however do not specifically disclose a liquid refrigerant contained in said housing, said liquid refrigerant having its liquid surface extending in said axial direction in its stationary state and contacting the outer circumferential side of said outer yoke, whereby said liquid refrigerant is caused by the rotation of said rotor to flow inside said housing and contact said cylindrical coil.
Dedrich discloses a liquid refrigerant (reference numeral 16) contained in the housing (reference numeral 10) and contacting the rotor (reference numeral 44, see figure 1), and when applied in the housing of Ishizuka et al. this would disclose a liquid refrigerant contained in said housing, said liquid refrigerant having its liquid surface extending in said axial direction in its stationary state and contacting the outer circumferential side of said outer yoke, whereby said liquid refrigerant is caused by the rotation of said rotor to flow inside said housing and contact said cylindrical coil.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the liquid refrigerant as disclosed by Dedrich for the housing and rotor of Ishizuka et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating cooling means for the device.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishizuka et al. in view of Dedrich as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Shiraki et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2018/0323673 A1).
For claim 2, Ishizuka et al. in view of Dedrich disclose the claimed invention except for said outer yoke having a hole passing through said outer yoke in the radial direction thereof. Shiraki et al. disclose the outer yoke (reference numeral 600) having a hole (reference numeral 660) passing through said outer yoke in the radial direction thereof (see figures 2, 3), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the hole for the outer yoke as disclosed by Shiraki et al. for the outer yoke of Ishizuka et al. in view of Dedrich for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating cooling means for the device.
Claim(s) 3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishizuka et al. (Japanese Patent Document No.: JP 2001136696 A) in view of Kawaguchi et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2004/0202550 A1) and Dedrich (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2014/0175917 A1).
For claim 3, Ishizuka et al. disclose the claimed invention comprising: a rotation center shaft (reference numeral 2) extending in the axial direction thereof at the center of a sealed housing (reference numeral 7, figure 1); a cylindrical coil (reference numeral 8) disposed concentrically with respect to said rotation center shaft (reference numeral 2) in said housing (reference numeral 7) with an end surface on one side of said cylindrical coil (reference numeral 8) being supported by a stator (see figure 1) and extending in the direction in which said rotation center shaft extends (see figure 1); a rotor (reference numerals 3, 9) disposed concentrically with respect to said rotation center shaft (reference numeral 2) and capable of rotation in the circumferential direction of said rotation center shaft (reference numeral 2, see figure 1), said rotor including a cylindrical inner yoke (reference numeral 3) and a cylindrical outer yoke (reference numeral 9) sandwiching said cylindrical coil (reference numeral 8) therebetween in the radial direction and having a magnet (reference numeral 4) provided on the outer side of said inner yoke or on the inner side of said outer yoke (see figures 1-3). Ishizuka et al. however do not specifically disclose a speed reduction gear disposed in said housing and including planetary gears for transmitting the rotational movement of said rotor around said rotation center shaft to a rotational movement output section from which a different rotational movement is produced; and a liquid refrigerant contained in said housing, said liquid refrigerant having its liquid surface extending in said axial direction in its non-rotational state and contacting the outer circumferential side of said outer yoke, whereby said liquid refrigerant is caused by the rotation of said rotor to flow inside said housing and contact said cylindrical coil.
Kawaguchi et al. disclose a speed reduction gear (reference numeral 40, figures 1, 2) disposed in the housing (reference numeral 1) and including planetary gears (reference numeral 43, see figures 1, 2), which when combined with the rotor of Ishizuka et al. would transmit the rotational movement of said rotor around said rotation center shaft to a rotational movement output section from which a different rotational movement is produced. Dedrich discloses a liquid refrigerant (reference numeral 16) contained in the housing (reference numeral 10) and contacting the rotor (reference numeral 44, see figure 1), and when applied in the housing of Ishizuka et al. this would disclose a liquid refrigerant contained in said housing, said liquid refrigerant having its liquid surface extending in said axial direction in its non-rotational state and contacting the outer circumferential side of said outer yoke, whereby said liquid refrigerant is caused by the rotation of said rotor to flow inside said housing and contact said cylindrical coil.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the speed reduction gear as disclosed by Kawaguchi et al. and also have the liquid refrigerant as disclosed by Dedrich for the housing and rotor of Ishizuka et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for providing further output means and facilitating cooling means for the device.
For claim 5, Ishizuka et al. in view of Kawaguchi et al. and Dedrich disclose the claimed invention except for the liquid surface of said liquid refrigerant extending in said axial direction in its stationary state contacting the outermost circumferential edge of said planetary gears in the radial direction thereof. Dedrich already discloses the liquid refrigerant (reference numeral 16, figure 1), and when applied to the speed reduction gear in the housing of the combined invention of Ishizuka et al. in view of Kawaguchi et al. and Dedrich this would disclose the liquid surface of said liquid refrigerant extending in said axial direction in its stationary state contacting the outermost circumferential edge of said planetary gears in the radial direction thereof. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the liquid refrigerant as disclosed by Dedrich so that the liquid surface contacts the planetary gears of Ishizuka et al. in view of Kawaguchi et al. and Dedrich for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating cooling means for the device.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishizuka et al. in view of Kawaguchi et al. and Dedrich as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Fukuoka (US Patent No.: 8004132).
For claim 4, Ishizuka et al. in view of Kawaguchi et al. and Dedrich disclose the claimed invention except for said speed reduction gear being contained in a cylindrical gear case extending in the direction in which said rotation center shaft extends, said gear case having a hole passing through said gear case in the radial direction. Fukuoka discloses a gear case (reference numeral 6) containing the speed reduction gear (reference numerals 8a, 8b, see figure 1), the gear case having holes passing in a radial direction (see figure 3, holes in gear case 6). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the gear case with the hole as disclosed by Fukuoka for the speed reduction gear of Ishizuka et al. in view of Kawaguchi et al. and Dedrich for predictably providing desirable configuration for facilitating cooling means for the device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX W MOK whose telephone number is (571)272-9084. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-4pm.
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/ALEX W MOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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