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)(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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ahmed; Adeeb (US 20230261537 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Ahmed discloses a stator of a flat wire motor, the stator comprising: a stator iron core having a plurality of winding slots formed in an inner wall of the stator iron core (fig. 2, stator core 32, slots 38); and a stator winding provided at the stator iron core (fig. 2, windings 44), the stator winding comprising a plurality of coil elements, wherein the plurality of winding slots is arranged along a circumferential direction of the inner wall of the stator iron core (fig. 2-3, slots 38); wherein each of the plurality of coil elements comprises a first coil and a second coil (fig. 7-8, 5 pitch pins 88 and 7 pitch pins 90), the first coil comprising a first plug portion, a second plug portion, and a first connection portion connecting the first plug portion and the second plug portion (fig. 8, angled portions on side of vertex 118, legs114 and 116, and twist 120), and the second coil comprising a third plug portion, a fourth plug portion, and a second connection portion connecting the third plug portion and the fourth plug portion (fig. 7, angled portions 102 and 112, legs 92 and 94, and twist 106); and wherein the first plug portion, the third plug portion, the fourth plug portion, and the second plug portion are arranged along the circumferential direction and respectively inserted in different winding slots of the plurality of winding slots (see figure 4-5, hairpins are arranged around the winding slots), the first plug portion being connected to the fourth plug portion, and the second connection portion being located on a side of the first connection portion facing towards the stator iron core (see figure 4-5, hairpins are arranged around the winding slots).
With respect to claim 2, Ahmed discloses the first coil further comprises a first extension portion (fig. 7, twist left of page 106) and a second extension portion (fig. 8, twist left of page 120), the first extension portion extending from an end of the first plug portion away from the first connection portion (fig. 8, twist left of page 120), and the second extension portion extending from an end of the second plug portion away from the first connection portion (fig. 8, twist left of page 120); the second coil further comprises a third extension portion and a fourth extension portion, the third extension portion extending from an end of the third plug portion away from the second connection portion (fig. 7, twist right of page 106), and the fourth extension portion extending from an end of the fourth plug portion away from the second connection portion (fig. 7, twist right of page 106); and the first extension portion is bent towards the fourth plug portion with respect to the first plug portion (figs. 4-5, and paragraph 11 “the pins in each conductive path alternate with 5-pitch pins being connected in series with one of the 7-pitch pins that is repeated throughout the stator core assembly from a lead pin connector to a neutral pin connector.”), the fourth extension portion being bent towards the first plug portion with respect to the fourth plug portion and connected to the first extension portion (figs. 4-5, and paragraph 11 “the pins in each conductive path alternate with 5-pitch pins being connected in series with one of the 7-pitch pins that is repeated throughout the stator core assembly from a lead pin connector to a neutral pin connector.”).
With respect to claim 3, Ahmed discloses the number of the plurality of winding slots is 12·M, where M is a positive integer (paragraph 33 “For example, the core 28 may define seventy-two slots and have eight poles.”); and a span between the first plug portion and the second plug portion of the first coil is seven winding slots of the plurality of winding slots (paragraph 52 “the first leg 114 is adapted to be disposed in one of the slots 38 and the second leg 116 is disposed in another of the slots 38 that is spaced apart by a span of seven slots”), a span between the third plug portion and the fourth plug portion of the second coil is five winding slots of the plurality of winding slots (paragraph 49 “Different types of hairpins may differ in shape or size. 5-pitch pins 88”).
With respect to claim 4, Ahmed discloses each of the first plug portion, the third plug portion, the fourth plug portion, and the second plug portion serves as a flat wire conductor in a corresponding one of the plurality of winding slots (see at least paragraph 51 “The second leg 94 includes a straight portion 110 disposed within a slot 34 and an angled portion 112 that extends between the vertex 96 and the straight portion 110. The first and second angled portions 102, 112 and the vertex 96 are collectively referred to as the crown 50.”); and n flat wire conductor layers are arranged in each of the plurality of winding slots, n being a positive even number, and the n flat wire conductor layers being denoted as an L1 flat wire conductor layer, ... an Li flat wire conductor layer, ... and an Ln flat wire conductor layer in a direction in which a bottom of the winding slot is directed towards an opening of the winding slot, where 1 ≤ i ≤ n (see at least figure 3-5, there are 8 layers of windings with alternating connections at the top and bottom of the core 28).
With respect to claim 5, Ahmed discloses the stator winding comprises a plurality of phase windings, each of the plurality of phase windings comprising at least one branch (fig. 6, layer 1), and the at least one branch comprising the plurality of coil elements; and in the at least one branch, the flat wire conductors of at least two coil elements of the plurality of coil elements connected to one another are arranged in a same flat wire conductor layer (fig. 4-6, hairpins are connected in series around the core).
With respect to claim 6, Ahmed discloses in the at least one branch, the L1 flat wire conductor layers of the at least two coil elements are connected (paragraph 11 “The pins in each conductive path alternate with 5-pitch pins being connected in series with one of the 7-pitch pins that is repeated throughout the stator core assembly from a lead pin connector to a neutral pin connector.” And figures 5-6); and/or in the at least one branch, the Ln layers flat wire conductor of the at least two coil elements are connected (paragraph 11 “The pins in each conductive path alternate with 5-pitch pins being connected in series with one of the 7-pitch pins that is repeated throughout the stator core assembly from a lead pin connector to a neutral pin connector.” And figures 5-6).
With respect to claim 7, Ahmed discloses the stator winding comprises a plurality of phase windings, each of the plurality of phase windings comprising at least one branch (fig. 6, layer 1), and the at least one branch comprising the plurality of coil elements (see at least figures 4-6, layer includes both hairpins); and each of the at least one branch is provided with a first lead and a second lead respectively at two ends of the branch (fig. 4, terminals 45), the first lead and the second lead being connected to different flat wire conductors, and the flat wire conductor connected to the first lead and the flat wire conductor connected to the second lead being arranged in different winding slots of the plurality of winding slots (see at least figure 4, terminals 45 are at different portions of the core 28).
With respect to claim 8, Ahmed discloses the flat wire conductor connected to the first lead and the flat wire conductor connected to the second lead are arranged in a same flat wire conductor layer (fig. 6, first and second terminals 45 are arranged on the same layer).
With respect to claim 9, Ahmed discloses each of the plurality of phase windings comprises a plurality of branches, two of the plurality of branches being a first branch and a second branch (fig. 6, layer 1 and layer 2); and a span between the flat wire conductor connected to the first lead of the first branch and the flat wire conductor connected to the first lead of the second branch is smaller than or equal to a pole pitch (see at least figure 6, branch spans are less than the pole pitch).
With respect to claim 10, Ahmed discloses the flat wire conductor connected to the first lead of the first branch and the flat wire conductor connected to the first lead of the second branch are arranged in a same winding slot of the plurality of winding slots (see figure 6, first and second layers are arranged in the same slot).
With respect to claim 11, Ahmed discloses all of the first leads of the plurality of phase windings are connected to the flat wire conductors in the different winding slots (see figure 6, phases windings are in different slots).
With respect to claim 12, Ahmed discloses the stator winding comprises a plurality of phase windings, each of the plurality of phase windings comprising at least one branch, and the at least one branch comprising the plurality of coil elements (see figures 4-6, there are a plurality of windings in each branch); each of the at least one branch comprises k flat wire conductor layers, k being a positive integer greater than 1, and the k flat wire conductor layers being denoted as an A1 flat wire conductor layer, an A2 flat wire conductor layer, ... an Ak-1 flat wire conductor layer, and an Ak flat wire conductor layer in a current flow direction; and two adjacent flat wire conductors of the branch that are located in the same winding slot are respectively denoted as an Aj flat wire conductor layer and an Al flat wire conductor layer, 1 ≤ j < l ≤ k, where l-j ≤ k/2 (see at least figures 4-5, the flat side of the hairpins are located within a slot 38 and require at least one hairpin per section in the slot).
With respect to claim 13, Ahmed discloses the stator winding comprises a plurality of phase windings, each of the plurality of phase windings comprising at least one branch, and the at least one branch comprising the plurality of coil elements (fig. 4-6 and paragraph 41 “The U-phase may include a first path 56, a second path 58, a third path 60, and a fourth path 62.”); the phase winding comprises 2P pole-phase groups, P being a positive integer (paragraph 40 “Each phase has the same structure and includes four paths that spiral around the stator 24. For brevity, only the U-phase is described below with the understanding that the V and W phases are identical but circumferentially shifted to slots adjacent to the U-phase”); and the phase winding comprises a plurality of branches, coil elements of at least one of the plurality of branches being distributed in all of the 2P pole-phase groups (see figures 4-6, each phase has a variety of hairpins making up the coil elements).
With respect to claim 14, Ahmed discloses the stator winding comprises a plurality of phase windings, each of the plurality of phase windings comprising at least one branch, and the at least one branch comprising the plurality of coil elements (see figures 4-6, each phase has a variety of hairpins making up the coil elements); the phase winding comprises 2P pole-phase groups, P being a positive integer; and the phase winding comprises a plurality of branches, coil elements of each of the plurality of branches being distributed in some of the 2P pole-phase groups (paragraph 40 “Each phase has the same structure and includes four paths that spiral around the stator 24. For brevity, only the U-phase is described below with the understanding that the V and W phases are identical but circumferentially shifted to slots adjacent to the U-phase”).
With respect to claim 15, Ahmed discloses a flat wire motor, comprising: a rotor; and the stator according to claim 1, wherein the rotor is disposed in a space enclosed by the inner wall of the stator iron core (fig. 1 rotor 26).
Conclusion
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/R.O.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/CHRISTOPHER M KOEHLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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