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 § 102/103
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 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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as anticipated by Kinpara et al. (US 8888542 B2, hereafter Kinpara) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Kinpara.
With respect to claim 1, Kinpara discloses a ship propulsion machine (11) comprising:
a motor (Fig. 1, 2);
an inverter configured to generate a driving current for controlling drive of the motor (Fig. 1, 3);
a propeller (Fig. 1, 45);
and a power transmission mechanism configured to transmit power of the motor to the propeller (Fig. 1, 43),
wherein the motor comprises:
a motor shaft (Fig. 2, 41)
a rotor (Col 4, lines 9-44);
a stator (Kinpara discloses an electric drive motor including a motor shaft and a rotor (Col. 4, lines 9-44), it is inherently that an electric motor having a rotor rotatable about a motor shaft necessarily includes a stator surrounding or positioned relative to the rotor to generate the electromagnetic field required for operation of the electric motor.);
a motor housing in which the motor shaft, the rotor, and the stator provided are housed (Fig. 2, 21,24);
a lower motor bracket to which a lower portion of the motor housing is fixed (Fig. 10, 221-224; 701-704);
and an upper motor bracket to which an upper portion of the motor housing is fixed (Fig. 8, 33, 34; Fig. 9, 31, 32; 701-704), Kinpara discloses a bracket assembly including lower motor bracket and upper motor bracket. The inverter is mounted to this bracket assembly via mounting members as shown in Fig 8-10, the inverter is secured to the same lower and upper motor bracket assembly that supports the motor housing, the disclosed inverter includes a lower portion attached to the lower motor bracket and an upper portion attached to the upper motor bracket.
and wherein a lower portion of the inverter is attached to the lower motor bracket (Fig. 2,601-604; Col 5, lines 25-67; Col 6, lines 1-4),
and an upper portion of the inverter is attached to the upper motor bracket (Fig. 2, 601-604; Col 5, lines 25-67; Col 6, lines 1-4).
Furthermore, Kinpara discloses that outboard motor is mounted for steering and trim movement through swivel bracket, till pin, clamp bracket and installation unit. Accordingly, the relative orientation of the inverter with respect to gravity changes during normal operation. This further supports the claimed upper and lower portions as relative portions of the inverter attached to the respective motor brackets, rather than requiring a fixed vertical orientation.
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With respect to claim 2, Kinpara discloses the ship propulsion machine according to claim 1, wherein each of a left portion of the inverter and a right portion of the inverter is attached to the lower motor bracket (as all components are attached).
With respect to claim 3, Kinpara discloses the ship propulsion machine according to claim 1, wherein each of a left portion of the inverter and a right portion of the inverter is attached to the upper motor bracket .
With respect to claim 4, Kinpara discloses the ship propulsion machine according to claim 1, wherein the inverter is attached to a rear portion of each of the lower motor bracket and the upper motor bracket (Col 5, lines 25-67;Col 6, lines 1-4).
With respect to claim 5, Kinpara discloses the ship propulsion machine according to claim 1, wherein the lower motor bracket comprises:
a first inverter attachment part protruding rearward from a left rear portion of the lower motor bracket (Fig. 10, 223);
and a second inverter attachment part protruding rearward from a right rear portion of the lower motor bracket (Fig. 10, 224),
wherein the upper motor bracket comprises:
a third inverter attachment part protruding rearward from a left rear portion of the upper motor bracket (Fig. 8, 33);
and a fourth inverter attachment part protruding rearward from a right rear portion of the upper motor bracket (Fig. 8, 34),
and wherein a lower left portion of the inverter is attached to the first inverter attachment part, a lower right portion of the inverter is attached to the second inverter attachment part, an upper left portion of the inverter is attached to the third inverter attachment part, and an upper right portion of the inverter is attached to the fourth inverter attachment part (Col 5, lines 25-67;Col 6, lines 1-4).
With respect to claim 1, Kinpara teaches a ship propulsion machine (11) comprising:
a motor (Fig. 1, 2);
an inverter configured to generate a driving current for controlling drive of the motor (Fig. 1, 3);
a propeller (Fig. 1, 45);
and a power transmission mechanism configured to transmit power of the motor to the propeller (Fig. 1, 43),
wherein the motor comprises:
a motor shaft (Fig. 2, 41)
a rotor (Col 4, lines 9-44);
a stator (Kinpara discloses an electric drive motor including a motor shaft and a rotor (Col. 4, lines 9-44), it is inherently that an electric motor having a rotor rotatable about a motor shaft necessarily includes a stator surrounding or positioned relative to the rotor to generate the electromagnetic field required for operation of the electric motor.);
a motor housing in which the motor shaft, the rotor, and the stator provided are housed (Fig. 2, 21,24);
a lower motor bracket to which a lower portion of the motor housing is fixed (Fig. 10, 221-224; 701-704);
and an upper motor bracket to which an upper portion of the motor housing is fixed (Fig. 8, 33, 34; Fig. 9, 31, 32; 701-704).
Kinpara does not teach:
and wherein a lower portion of the inverter is attached to the lower motor bracket,
and an upper portion of the inverter is attached to the upper motor bracket.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention’s effective filling date to modify the inverter attachment arrangement of Kinpara by moving the inverter to a vertical orientation extending across both the upper motor bracket and the lower motor bracket, such that a lower portion of the inverter is attached to the lower motor bracket and an upper portion of the inverter is attached to the upper motor bracket , in order to improve structural support for the relatively large and heavy inverter by distributing the support through the existing motor bracket assembly, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
With respect to claim 2, With respect to claim 2, Kinpara teaches the ship propulsion machine according to claim 1, wherein each of a left portion of the inverter and a right portion of the inverter is attached to the lower motor bracket.
With respect to claim 3, Kinpara teaches the ship propulsion machine according to claim 1, wherein each of a left portion of the inverter and a right portion of the inverter is attached to the upper motor bracket .
With respect to claim 4, Kinpara teaches the ship propulsion machine according to claim 1, wherein the inverter is attached to a rear portion of each of the lower motor bracket and the upper motor bracket (Col 5, lines 25-67;Col 6, lines 1-4).
With respect to claim 5, Kinpara teaches the ship propulsion machine according to claim 1, wherein the lower motor bracket comprises:
a first inverter attachment part protruding rearward from a left rear portion of the lower motor bracket (Fig. 10, 223);
and a second inverter attachment part protruding rearward from a right rear portion of the lower motor bracket (Fig. 10, 224),
wherein the upper motor bracket comprises:
a third inverter attachment part protruding rearward from a left rear portion of the upper motor bracket (Fig. 8, 33);
and a fourth inverter attachment part protruding rearward from a right rear portion of the upper motor bracket (Fig. 8, 34),
and wherein a lower left portion of the inverter is attached to the first inverter attachment part, a lower right portion of the inverter is attached to the second inverter attachment part, an upper left portion of the inverter is attached to the third inverter attachment part, and an upper right portion of the inverter is attached to the fourth inverter attachment part.
With respect to claim 6, Kinpara does not teach:
The ship propulsion machine according to claim 1, wherein the motor, the inverter, and a cover configured to cover the motor and the inverter are provided in an upper portion of the ship propulsion machine,
wherein the cover comprises a lower cover part and an upper cover part,
and wherein the lower cover part is configured to cover a lower portion of the motor and a lower portion of the inverter,
the upper cover part is configured to cover an upper portion of the motor and an upper portion of the inverter,
the upper cover part is attachable and detachable with respect to the lower cover part,
and when viewed from a side of the ship propulsion machine, an upper end surface of the lower cover part extends between a lower end surface of the inverter and an upper end surface of the inverter.
Sato et al. (JP-2005153727-A, hereafter Sato) teaches:
The ship propulsion machine according to claim 1, wherein the motor, the inverter, and a cover configured to cover the motor and the inverter are provided in an upper portion of the ship propulsion machine (Fig. 3, 2),
wherein the cover comprises a lower cover part and an upper cover part (Fig. 3, 5, 6),
and wherein the lower cover part is configured to cover a lower portion of the motor and a lower portion of the inverter (Fig. 3, 5),
the upper cover part is configured to cover an upper portion of the motor and an upper portion of the inverter (Fig. 3, 6),
the upper cover part is attachable and detachable with respect to the lower cover part (Paragraph 17,
and when viewed from a side of the ship propulsion machine, an upper end surface of the lower cover part extends between a lower end surface of the inverter and an upper end surface of the inverter (Fig. 3, 2).
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Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinpara in view of Sato and Konakawa et al (US-20100059008-A1, hereafter Konakawa).
With respect to claim 7, Kinpara and Sato do not teach the ship propulsion machine according to claim 6, wherein the upper end surface of the lower cover part is inclined such that a rear portion thereof is lower than a front portion thereof.
Konakawa teaches in outboard motor including an engine cover with a top cover and bottom cover (Fig. 1., 8,91-93) having an upper end surface that is inclined such that one end portion is lower than the opposite end portion.
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Konakawa teaches the claimed invention except that Konakawa does not explicitly disclose the upper end surface of the lower cover part being inclined such that the rear portion is lower than the front portion. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention’s effective filling date to reverse the direction of the inclined upper end surface of Konakawa such that the rear portion is lower than the front portion in order to improve access to the motor and associated components from the rear of the outboard motor during assembly, inspection, and maintenance, since it has been held that a mere reversal of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re Einstein, 8 USPQ 167.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinpara.
With respect to claim 8, Kinpara does not teach a ship propulsion machine comprising a first motor unit and second motor unit, wherein the second motor unit is arranged above that first motor unit and is supported by the first motor unity by connecting the upper motor racket of the motor in the first motor unit lower motor bracket of the motor in the second motor unit.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to duplicate the motor unit of Kinpara and stack the duplicate motor unit above the first motor unit in order to provide additional propulsion power and increase thrust while utilizing the same proven motor and bracket arrangement , since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN CHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0117. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am-5:00 pm.
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/K.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3615
/MARC BURGESS/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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