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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kerlin IV et al. (hereinafter Kerlin, US 2005/0073281 A1) in view of Harada (JP 2017-130987 A), further in view of Lauw (US 5,239,251 A).
For claim 1, Kerlin discloses an electrical system configured to control an electrically-excited electric motor (Figs. 2-3 of Kerlin disclose an electrical system configured to control an electrically-excited electric motor 10 – see Kerlin, Figs. 2-3, and 5 paragraphs [0041], [0051] and [0126]. It is noted that Kerlin discloses brushless DC motor (see Kerlin, paragraphs [0026]-[0027]) which which is one of an electrically-excited electric motor), comprising:
an inverter configured to supply alternating current electrical power to the electrically-excited electric motor (Fig. 3 of Kerlin discloses an inverter 12a-12f configured to supply alternating current electrical power to the electrically-excited electric motor 10 – see Kerlin, Figs. 2-3, paragraph [0126]);
the electrically-excited electric motor (Figs. 2-3, the electrically-excited electric motor 10), comprising:
a rotor having a rotor winding (Fig.3 of Kerlin discloses a rotor 14 having a rotor winding 14 – see Kerlin, Fig. 3, paragraph [0126], line 7); and
a stator having a stator winding (Fig. 3 of Kerlin discloses a stator 16 having a stator winding 16 – see Kerlin, Fig. 3, paragraph [0127]);
wherein, the stator winding is electrically connected to the inverter and the rotor winding is electrically connected to the inverter such that the stator winding receives an electrical current from the inverter (Fig. 3 of Kerlin discloses the stator winding 16 is electrically connected to the inverter (12a-12f) and the rotor winding 14 is electrically connected to the inverter (12a-12f) such that the stator winding receives an electrical current from the inverter (12a-12f) – see Kerlin, Fig. 3, paragraph [0126]).
Kerlin discloses the stator winding which is silent for supplying a direct current component to the rotor.
However, Harada discloses the stator winding which supplies a direct current component to the rotor (Figs. 1-2 of Harada disclose the stator winding 28 which supplies a direct current component to the rotor 27 – see Harada, Figs. 1-2, paragraph [ 0023]. It is noted that direct current produce magnetic fields. Thus, “the stator winding supplies a direct current component to the rotor” reads onto “the exciter rotor 27 receives a magnetic field from the corresponding exciter stator 28”, on paragraph [0023], lines 4-5).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify teaching of Kerlin to incorporate teaching of Harada for purpose of controlling speed of motor accurately by modifying either the DC or the load.
Kerlin in view of Harada disclose a stator which is silent for having a first set of stator windings and a second set of stator windings, wired in parallel.
However, Lauw discloses a stator which have a first set of stator windings and a second set of stator windings, wired in parallel (Figs. 1 and 5 of Lauw disclose a stator 52 which have a first set of stator windings 54 and a second set of stator windings 6, wired in parallel – see Lauw, Figs. 1 and 5, col. 3, lines 26-31; and col. 12, lines 61-66).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify teaching of Kerlin in view of Harada to incorporate teaching of Lauw for purpose of controlling speed of motor efficiently.
For claim 2, Kerlin in view of Harada, further in view of Lauw disclose the electrical system recited in claim 1, wherein the DC electrical current is supplied to the rotor through the stator (Figs. 1-2 of Harada disclose the DC electrical current/magnetic fields which is supplied to the rotor 27 through the stator 28 – see Harada, Figs. 1-2, paragraph [0023]).
For claim 3, Kerlin in view of Harada, further in view of Lauw disclose the electrical system recited in claim 1, wherein the electrically-excited electric motor is a traction motor (Fig. 2 of Kerlin discloses the electrically-excited electric motor 10 is a traction motor – see Kerllin, Fig. 2, paragraph [0019]. It is noted that locomotive inherently includes a traction motor used for propulsion of a vehicle).
For claim 4, Kerlin in view of Harada, further in view of Lauw disclose the electrical system recited in claim 1, wherein the electrically-excited electric motor is a three-phase machine (Figs. 3 and 5 of Kerlin discloses the electrically-excited electric motor 10 is a three-phase machine – see Kerlin, Fig. 3 and 5, paragraph [0127]).
For claim 5, Kerlin in view of Harada, further in view of Lauw disclose the electrical system recited in claim 1, wherein the electrically-excited electric motor is installed on a vehicle (Kerlin discloses the electrically-excited electric motor 10 which is installed on a vehicle – see Kerllin, Fig. 2, paragraph [0019]. It is noted that locomotive inherently includes a traction motor used for propulsion of a vehicle).
For claim 6, Kerlin in view of Harada, further in view of Lauw disclose the electrical system recited in claim 5, further comprising a vehicle battery that is electrically connected to the electrically-excited electric motor (Figs. 3 and 6 of Kerlin discloses a vehicle battery “DC power supply”/26 that is electrically connected to the electrically-excited electric motor 10 – see Kerlin, Fig. 3, paragraph [0144]).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kerlin IV et al. (hereinafter Kerlin, US 2005/0073281 A1) in view of Harada (JP 2017-130987 A) and Lauw (US 5,239,251 A), further in view of Bailey et al. (hereinafter Bailey, US 2019/0013759 A1).
For claim 7, Kerlin in view of Harada, further in view of Lauw disclose the electrical system recited in claim 1, further comprising slip rings that electrically connect the inverter to the stator winding and the rotor winding (Fig. 3 of Kerlin discloses the inverter 12a-12f which is connect to the stator 16. Kerlin is silent for discloses slip rings which electrically connect the inverter to the stator winding. However, Bailey discloses slip rings including multiples of stator winding – see Bailey paragraph [0098]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify teaching of Kerlin in view of Harada, further in view of Lauw to incorporate teaching of Bailey for purpose of reducing the number of wires need for the system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAI T DINH whose telephone number is (571)270-3852. The examiner can normally be reached (571)270-3852.
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/THAI T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
Jun 13, 2026
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