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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
Claims 1–5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over YANO (US 2009/0146516 A1) in view of HAGA (US 10,181,766 B2).
Regarding claim 1, YANO teaches a motor (¶ [0001]; inner rotor brushless motor);
a rotor rotatable about a central axis extending in an axial direction (¶ [0027]; FIG. 1, rotor R with cup-shaped rotor yoke 7 fixed to motor shaft 4);
a stator including coil assemblies arranged in a circumferential direction (¶ [0030]; FIG. 3, ring-shaped stator core 12, teeth 14, motor coils 16);
a rotor recessed portion recessed in the axial direction is defined in the rotor (¶ [0027]; FIG. 1, cup-shaped rotor yoke 7 with rotor yoke opening 7a facing base portion 1b);
and at least a portion of the bus bar is accommodated in the rotor recessed portion (¶¶ [0027], [0032]; FIG. 1, motor substrate 17 with substrate-mounted components disposed in empty space inside rotor yoke opening 7a).
YANO does not explicitly teach a bus bar assembly including a bus bar to electrically connect end portions of the coil assemblies to each other.
However, HAGA teaches a bus bar assembly including a bus bar to electrically connect end portions of the coil assemblies to each other (¶ [0056-0058]; FIG. 1, bus bar 91 with coil connection portion 91c electrically connected to coil 43 of stator 40 via a connection member).
YANO and HAGA are both in the field of inner-rotor brushless motors and address the same problem of providing electrical interconnection between motor coils within a compact axial envelope. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute YANO's motor substrate 17 with HAGA's bus bar assembly 60, because bus bars are a known equivalent of printed wiring boards for connecting the end portions of three-phase motor coils, with the predictable advantage of higher current-handling capacity per cross-sectional area and simpler routing for high-current motor applications. This is a simple substitution of one known coil-interconnect element for another to obtain the predictable result of supplying drive current to the stator coils. KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 416 (2007).
Regarding claim 2/1, YANO in view of HAGA teaches the motor of claim 1.
YANO further teaches the end portion of each of the coil assemblies is accommodated in the rotor recessed portion (¶ [0030]–[0031]; FIG. 1, coil 16 leads routed through wiring groove 15a of insulator 15 and connected to motor substrate 17 inside rotor yoke opening 7a).
Regarding claim 3/2, YANO in view of HAGA teaches the motor of claim 2.
YANO does not explicitly teach a plurality of the bus bars; and a bus bar holding portion to hold the plurality of bus bars; nor that the bus bar holding portion is made from a resin material integrally molded with the plurality of bus bars.
HAGA teaches a plurality of the bus bars (¶ [0040-0056]; FIG. 4, plurality of bus bars 91 with coil connection portions 91a–91f at different circumferential positions);
a bus bar holding portion to hold the plurality of bus bars ((¶ [0040-0042]; FIG. 3, bus bar holder 61 with main body portion 62 holding bus bars 91 and wiring member 92);
and that the bus bar holding portion is made from a resin material integrally molded with the plurality of bus bars ((¶ [0042]; "preferably manufactured as a single monolithic member by, for example, injection molding" with bus bars as insert components).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to implement the substitution of claim 1 using HAGA's injection-molded resin bus bar holder with insert-molded bus bars, because insert-molded resin holders are a known technique for fixing bus bars in a predetermined geometry while electrically insulating them, with the predictable result of reduced assembly steps and consistent bus bar positioning during motor manufacture. KSR, 550 U.S. at 416.
Regarding claim 4/3, YANO in view of HAGA teaches the motor of claim 3.
YANO further teaches a shaft that is inserted into and fixed to the central axis of the rotor and is rotatable with rotation of the rotor (¶ [0027]; FIG. 1, motor shaft 4 with center portion of rotor yoke 7 integrally attached);
and a pair of bearings rotatably supporting the shaft (¶ [0026]; FIG. 1, bearing portions 5 and 6 in hollow cylinder portion 2).
YANO does not explicitly teach a holding portion through hole penetrating the bus bar holding portion in the axial direction is defined in the bus bar holding portion; nor that at least a portion of a bearing holding portion to hold one of the pair of bearings is arranged in the holding portion through hole.
HAGA teaches a holding portion through hole penetrating the bus bar holding portion in the axial direction is defined in the bus bar holding portion ((¶ [0043-0049]; FIG. 4, main body portion 62 of bus bar holder 61 with opening 62a defining a central axial opening bounded by connection portions 66a–66d with gaps 66e–66h therebetween);
and at least a portion of a bearing holding portion to hold one of the pair of bearings is arranged in the holding portion through hole ((¶ [0031-0047]; FIG. 1, rear bearing holding portion 65 disposed in main body portion 62 and holding second bearing 52).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to implement the bearing arrangement of YANO using HAGA's configuration, in which one bearing of the pair is held by a bearing holding portion disposed within an axial through hole of the bus bar holding portion, because this configuration permits axial overlap between the bus bar assembly and one of the bearings, predictably reducing the axial dimension of the motor. This is consistent with YANO's express objective of providing a motor that is "miniaturized, flattened and made lighter without reducing the motor performance" (¶ [0011]). KSR, 550 U.S. at 416.
Regarding claim 5/4, YANO in view of HAGA teaches the motor of claim 4.
HAGA further teaches the bus bar assembly is located between the pair of bearings in the axial direction (HAGA, ¶ [0007], [0030-0047]; FIG. 1, bus bar assembly 60 with rear bearing holding portion 65 holding second bearing 52, the bus bar holder spans axially from the rear bearing toward the front-bearing-holding portion 21c holding first bearing 51, such that the bus bar assembly occupies the axial space between the pair of bearings).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over YANO in view of HAGA, further in view of NAKAMURA(US 2018/0372164 A1).
Regarding claim 6/4, YANO in view of HAGA teaches the motor of claim 4.
Neither YANO nor HAGA explicitly teaches a tolerance ring that is located between the rotor and the shaft and couples the rotor and the shaft.
However, NAKAMURA teaches a tolerance ring that is located between the rotor and the shaft and couples the rotor and the shaft (¶ [0008]; FIGS. 1, 6A, 6B, tolerance ring 10 with cylindrical main body 11 and protuberances fitted between outer circumferential surface of shaft 30 and inner circumferential surface of sleeve 40 to couple shaft and sleeve via frictional engagement).
NAKAMURA is analogous art reasonably pertinent to the problem of mechanically coupling a shaft to a surrounding cylindrical member that rotates with it. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply NAKAMURA's tolerance ring as the coupling structure between YANO's motor shaft 4 (mapped to NAKAMURA's shaft 30) and the inner surface of the cup-shaped rotor yoke 7 (mapped to NAKAMURA's sleeve 40), in place of YANO's "integral" attachment. Tolerance rings are well known to provide controlled torque transmission with slip limiting, to accommodate manufacturing tolerances between the shaft and the surrounding member, and to facilitate assembly. This is a known technique applied to a known device ready for improvement, yielding predictable results. KSR, 550 U.S. at 417.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMED QURESHI whose telephone number is (571)-272-8310. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tulsidas Patel can be reached on 571-272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMMED AHMED QURESHI/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/TULSIDAS C PATEL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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