DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-7 of U.S. Application No. 18/925,309 filed on 10/24/2024 are presented for examination.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/24/2024, 10/28/2024, 07/08/2025, and 07/25/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 7 objected to because of the following informalities:
The limitation “A motor, comprising: a stator according to claim 1;” should read, “A motor, comprising: the stator according to claim 1;
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hwang et al. (US 2019/0372415; Hereinafter, “Hwang”)
Regarding claim 1: Hwang discloses a stator (110), comprising:
a plurality of teeth (poles 115) arranged in a circumferential direction (fig. 1) and extending in a radial direction (fig. 1); and
a winding wound (coils 140 of dual winding motor 100) around the teeth (115) by concentrated winding (as seen in fig. 1, each coil 140 is wound around one individual tooth 115), wherein the winding includes a plurality of first system windings (160; fig. 3) to which a first system current (I1) is supplied, and a plurality of second system windings (165) to which a second system current (I2) is supplied, and the first system windings and the second system windings are alternately arranged (see “system 1” and “system 2” in the annotated fig. 2 below) in the circumferential direction, the first system windings (140a-140i) are wound around the teeth (115) in a first arrangement (different quarter and different number of turns), and the second system windings (140d-140I) are wound around the teeth (115) in a second arrangement (different quarter and different number of turns) different from the first arrangement while avoiding the first system windings between adjacent teeth (as seen below, no sys 1 winding in between two adjacent sys 2 windings, and no sys 2 winding in between two adjacent sys 1 windings).
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Regarding claim 7/1: Hwang discloses the limitations of claim 1 and further discloses a motor (100), comprising: a stator (110) according to claim 1; and a rotor (120) disposed facing tips of the teeth (115) and rotatably supported (para [0014]).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang in view of Asano (US 9748811; Hereinafter, “Asano”).
Regarding claim 2/1: Hwang discloses the limitations of claim 1 but does not disclose that a first neutral conductor, which is one of terminal wires of the first system winding, and a second neutral conductor, which is one of terminal wires of the second system winding, are drawn out from different positions in the radial direction.
Asano teaches forming a first neutral conductor (Yc drawn from the innermost side of the stator; fig.5-6, and 9), which is one of terminal wires of the first system winding (32A; fig. 5), and a second neutral conductor (Uc drawn from the outermost side of the stator; note that N2 is made similar to N1; col.7 Lines 5-18), which is one of terminal wires of the second system winding (32B; fig. 5), are drawn out from different positions in the radial direction (one from the innermost radial side, and the other from the outermost radial side).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the stator of Hwang with a first neutral conductor, which is one of terminal wires of the first system winding, and a second neutral conductor, which is one of terminal wires of the second system winding, are drawn out from different positions in the radial direction as taught by Asano to ease the manufacturing process and reduce vibration.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED ELNAKIB whose telephone number is (571)270-0638. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00AM-4:00PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tulsidas Patel can be reached at 571-272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AHMED ELNAKIB/Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 2834
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