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 . Claims 1-10 are pending.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 3 are objected to because of the following informalities:
The proposition “in” should be replaced by “on.” See “discharge portions in a surface of the motor case” in claim 1, and “the motor case includes a cover in the surface” in claim 3.
The cover is placed on one axial side of the of motor case, not in the surface. In this Office action, the phrase “wherein the motor case includes a cover in the surface” is interpreted as “wherein the motor case includes a cover on one axial side.”
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 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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakahara et al. (JP 2015104290 A).
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Regarding Claim 1, Nakahara discloses a motor (fig. 6; see also the title: “ROTARY ELECTRIC MACHINE, AND ELECTRIC VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH THE SAME”), comprising:
a shaft (shaft, annotated fig. 6);
a rotor (rotor, annotated fig. 6) fixed to the shaft;
a stator (stator, annotated fig. 6) having an annular shape about a central axis of the rotor; and
a motor case (housing, annotated fig. 6) that houses the rotor and the stator, wherein
the motor case includes a cooling medium channel (channel, annotated fig. 6) and discharge portions (discharge ports, annotated fig. 6) on a surface of the motor case that faces the stator in an axial direction of the central axis (see annotated fig. 6),
the cooling medium channel includes at least a first channel (first channel, annotated fig. 6) through which a cooling medium flows in a vertical up-down direction (see annotated fig. 6), and
the cooling medium is discharged in the axial direction from the cooling medium channel through the discharge portions toward inside of the motor case (see arrows indicating directions of coolant discharge in annotated fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 2, Nakahara discloses the motor according to claim 1, wherein the cooling medium channel includes at least one second channel (second channel, annotated fig. 6) that branches off from the first channel, and at least one of the discharge portions is located in the at least one second channel (the second channel discharges first into the bearing and then onto the stator end windings).
Regarding Claim 3, Nakahara discloses the motor according to claim 1, wherein the motor case includes a cover (cover, annotated fig. 6) on one axial side that faces the stator in the axial direction, the cooling medium channel is inside the cover, and the discharge portions are holes (nozzles 37) that communicate with the cooling medium channel inside the cover (see annotated fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 4, Nakahara discloses the motor according to claim 1, wherein the discharge portions include a hole (discharge ports, annotated fig. 6) that discharges the cooling medium toward a coil end of the stator (see coil end 4 in annotated fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 5, Nakahara discloses the motor according to claim 1, wherein the discharge portions include a hole that discharges the cooling medium toward an inner periphery of a coil end of the stator (see annotated fig. 6: the cooling medium after spraying onto the top coil end 4 is directed onto the inner periphery of the lower coil end; a nozzle sprays in several directions).
Regarding Claim 6, Nakahara discloses the motor according to claim 1, further comprising a bearing (bearing, annotated fig. 6) for the shaft, wherein the discharge portions include a hole that discharges the cooling medium to the bearing to lubricate the bearing (see the annotated fig. 6 wherein the second channel lubricating the bearing and discharging towards the inner periphery of the lower end winding).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakahara et al. (JP 2015104290 A).
Regarding Claim 7, Nakahara discloses the motor according to claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the discharge portions include holes having different diameters.
However as shown in fig.6, the first channel and the second channel have different sizes indicating the hole size can be adjusted to distribute the cooling medium proportionally to different parts of the motor.
For proportional distribution of the cooling medium, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the discharge portions include holes having different diameters.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 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.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
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/MASOUD VAZIRI/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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