DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This Office Action is responsive to the Applicant's communication filed 09 December 2024. In view of this communication, claims 1-9 are now pending in the application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) or (f), 365(a) or (b), or 386(a), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) submitted on 09 December 2024 was/were filed before mailing of the first action on the merits. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Disclosure
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.
The following title is suggested: Electric Drive Device with Heat Insulation Partition.
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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 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) 1-3 and 5-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ushio (US 2021/0408866 A1), hereinafter referred to as “Ushio”.
Regarding claim 1, Ushio discloses an electric drive device [1], comprising:
a rotary electric machine [3] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0021); and
a controller [4] integrated with the rotary electric machine [3] and configured to control driving of the rotary electric machine [3] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0034-0036),
wherein the rotary electric machine [3] includes:
a plurality of structural components [31-33] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0029); and
a housing [21] that accommodates the plurality of structural components [31-33] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0022),
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the controller [4] includes:
a plurality of electronic components [41-45] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0036-0037); and
a casing [22] that is adjacent to the housing [21] and accommodates the plurality of electronic components [41-45] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0025-0027), and
a heat insulation component [5,7] separates the plurality of structural components [31-33] from the plurality of electronic components [41-45], and the heat insulation component [5,7] includes a partition portion [5] that separates the plurality of electronic components [41-45] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0027-0028, 0069-0070).
Regarding claim 2, Ushio discloses the electric drive device [1] according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein the plurality of electronic components [41-45] includes:
a power module [41] including a semiconductor element [451] (fig. 1-2, 5; ¶ 0037-0038, 0046-0047); and
a smoothing capacitor [423-425] configured to smooth an electric current input to the power module [41] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0036, 0058-0062), and
the heat insulation component [5,7] separates the power module [41] from the smoothing capacitor [423-425] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0069-0070).
Regarding claim 3, Ushio discloses the electric drive device [1] according to claim 2, as stated above, wherein the power module [41] contacts with an inner circumferential surface of the casing [22] (fig. 1, 5).
Regarding claim 5, Ushio discloses the electric drive device [1] according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein the casing [22] includes:
a cylindrical circumferential wall [22c] extending in a prescribed axial direction; and
a bottom wall [22b] closing an opening of the circumferential wall [22c] on a side opposite to the rotary electric machine [3] (fig. 1, 5; the casing covers the axial end of the chamber in which the drive device is located),
the bottom wall [22b] is provided with a ventilation hole [28] that penetrates therethrough in the axial direction (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0076), and
the heat insulation component [5,7] is provided with a notch [53] that overlaps with the ventilation hole [28] as viewed in the axial direction (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0071).
Regarding claim 6, Ushio discloses the electric drive device [1] according to claim 5, as stated above, wherein the plurality of structural components [31-33] includes:
a hollow rotor [32] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0029-0031); and
a stator [33] arranged on an outer circumference of the rotor [32] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0029, 0032-0034), and
the ventilation hole [28] is connected to an internal space of the rotor [32] via the notch [53] (fig. 1, 5; the hole through which bolt 64 passes is connected to the rotor space by the central hole in frame 7).
Regarding claim 7, Ushio discloses the electric drive device [1] according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein the controller [4] includes an output terminal [35] connected to a terminal [34] of the rotary electric machine [3] in an internal space of the casing [22] (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0034), and
the heat insulation component [5,7] is provided with a terminal opening that exposes the output terminal [35] to the rotary electric machine [3] (fig. 1, 5; the terminal passes through an axial hole in the frame 7).
Regarding claim 8, Ushio discloses the electric drive device [1] according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein the heat insulation component [5,7] includes:
a resin layer [72] formed of a resin material (fig. 5; ¶ 0101); and
a metal layer [71] formed of a metal material and provided on the resin layer [72] (fig. 5; ¶ 0028, 0101), and
the resin layer [72] is arranged to face one of the rotary electric machine [3] and the controller [4] with greater heat generation (fig. 5).
Regarding claim 9, Ushio discloses the electric drive device [1] according to claim 1, as stated above, wherein the rotary electric machine [3] further includes a shaft [31] extending in a prescribed axial direction (fig. 1, 5; ¶ 0029-0030),
the heat insulation component [5,7] further includes a base portion [7] provided along a plane perpendicular to the axial direction (fig. 1, 5; the frame 7 extends largely in the radial direction), and
the partition portion [5] extends along the axial direction from the base portion [7] toward a side opposite to the rotary electric machine [3] (fig. 1, 5; the member 5 extends largely in the radial direction, but also includes mounting portion 53 which projects axially away from the electric machine 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 4 is/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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 4, and all claims dependent thereon, the prior art does not disclose, inter alia, the electric drive device according to claim 2, as stated above, wherein the partition portion includes:
a first circumferential plate extending in a circumferential direction;
a pair of first radial plates extending from both ends of the first circumferential plate in the circumferential direction toward an outside in a radial direction;
a second circumferential plate extending in the circumferential direction on an outside of the first circumferential plate in the radial direction; and
a pair of second radial plates extending from both ends of the second circumferential plate in the circumferential direction toward the outside in the radial direction,
the first circumferential plate, one of the first radial plates, one of the second radial plates, and the casing define a first storage space that accommodates the power module, and
the first circumferential plate, another of the first radial plates, another of the second radial plates, and the casing define a second storage space that accommodates the smoothing capacitor.
While the prior art discloses various arrangements of the heat insulation component, being formed monolithically or from multiple layers, it does not disclose the specific arrangement of radial and circumferential plates recited above and shown in figures 14-17 of the application. Further, no motivation has been found why one of ordinary skill would have formed any of the known heat insulation components having such plates. Thus, the claimed invention is neither anticipated nor rendered obvious by the prior art.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. Prior art:
Hidelot et al. (US 2025/0015672 A1) discloses an electric drive device comprising an integrated electric machine and controller separated by a partition within their respective housings, including a shaft-driven fan for cooling both housings.
Morimoto (US 2023/0179070 A1) discloses an electric drive device comprising an integrated electric machine and controller separated by a heat insulation component.
Kaneko et al. (WO 2019/142792 A1) discloses an electric drive device comprising an integrated electric machine and controller separated by a heat insulation component, wherein said heat insulation component is formed of both a resin layer and a metal layer.
Cleanthous et al. (US 2004/0256923 A1) discloses an electric drive device comprising an integrated electric machine and controller separated by a heat insulation component and including a shaft-driven fan for cooling both housings.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Andrews whose telephone number is (571)270-7554. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday, 8:30am-3:00pm.
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, Oluseye Iwarere can be reached at 571-270-5112. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Michael Andrews/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
Prosecution Insights