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 . Claims 1-5 are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/21/2026,12/20/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Inventorship
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
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 1,2,4,5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) and USC (a)(2) as being unpatentable over Hu (Chinese Patent Publication CN216056519U hereinafter “Hu”).
Re-claim 1, Hu discloses cooling structure (fig.,1) for an electric motor ( Title) comprising: slots (4) that open toward an inner peripheral side of a stator yoke (1) obtained by stacking annular steel plates (8,9 are laminations, Fig.2 description, steel laminations) and continue in an axial direction being formed in the stator yoke (1, see fig.1); coils (5) being held inside the slots (4); and a stator (stator core 1) with coil ends (end winding 6) projecting on both end sides of the stator yoke (see fig.1, both ends have 6) in the axial direction being cooled with a cooling fluid (cooling fluid is arrows in fig.1), the cooling structure (7 with inlets and channels in fig.15) for an electric motor including inlets (11) provided at one end portion of the stator yoke (1) in the axial direction on a side further outward (11 is far from coil ends) than the coil ends (6) in a radial direction (see fig.1) to allow the cooling fluid to flow into the inlets (arrows flow to 11), and cooling flow paths (paths in 12-13) that are formed at positions closer to the slots (see fig.1 and fig.15, 12 is closer to 16 or closer to end coil than 11) than an outer peripheral surface of the stator yoke from one end portion side to another end portion side of the stator yoke in the axial direction to allow the cooling fluid to flow through the cooling flow paths (12-13 to 16 axial flow paths, are closer than 11), wherein end portions of the cooling flow paths (12-13, 16, ends) on one side communicate with the inlets of the stator yoke (communicated with 11), and the end portions of the cooling flow paths on another side open on the other end portion side of the stator yoke (see annotated ifg.1).
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Re-claim 2, Hu discloses the cooling structure for an electric motor according to claim 1, wherein an opening shape of the cooling flow paths (16) is a shape in which a dimension measured in a circumferential direction (see annotated fig.10) of the stator yoke is smaller than a dimension measured in a radial direction of the stator yoke (annotated fig.10, showing shape of 16 to be open on one side, and smaller on the radial side).
Re-claim 4, Hu discloses the cooling structure for an electric motor according to claim 1, comprising a header portion (23,24, see fig.16) that is provided on the one end portion side of the stator yoke in the axial direction as an annular blank space (23 is annular) that covers the inlets ( with 24 and 32) and distributes and supplies the cooling fluid to each of the inlets (see fig.1 and fig.16 showing item 23, holes 25 and 24), wherein a flow-out hole at 24, supply oil to end coil) that supplies the cooling fluid to the coil ends (6) projecting on the one end portion side of the stator yoke in the axial direction is formed in the header portion (formed in 23).
Re-claim 5, Hu discloses the cooling structure for an electric motor according to claim 1, comprising a third steel plate (plate 9) that is sandwiched between a first steel plate (8) provided with the inlets (11) and a second steel plate (plate at 35) in which the cooling flow paths are formed (16), wherein: communication hole portions (13) that open from both the inlets provided in the first steel plate and the cooling flow paths provided in the second steel plate are formed in the third steel plate (see fig.15, hole 13 formed in 9); and the communication hole portions (13) cause the inlets (11) and the cooling flow paths (16)to communicate with each other (they are all part of the cooling channel with liquid or cooling inside all of 11-16).
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 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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu (Chinese Patent Publication CN216056519U hereinafter “Hu”) in view of Ohza et al. (US PG Patent 12700760 hereinafter “Ohza”).
Re-claim 3, Hu discloses the cooling structure for an electric motor according to claim 1.
Hu fails to explicitly teach wherein an opening shape of the inlets is a shape in which a dimension measured in a radial direction of the stator yoke is smaller than a dimension measured in a circumferential direction of the stator yoke.
However, Ohza teaches wherein an opening shape of the inlets (20) is a shape in which a dimension measured in a radial direction (annotated fig.19) of the stator yoke is smaller than a dimension measured in a circumferential direction (annotated fig.19, 205 is bigger in circumferential direction, see fig.19) of the stator yoke.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to modify the dimension shape of inlet of Hu wherein an opening shape of the inlets is a shape in which a dimension measured in a radial direction of the stator yoke is smaller than a dimension measured in a circumferential direction of the stator yoke as shown by Ohza to provide alternate arrangement of holes for distributing cooling and have flexibility for design choices based on need (Ohza, Col.8, L.45-65).
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure in PTO892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAGED M ALMAWRI whose telephone number is (313)446-6565. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher M. Koehler can be reached on 5712723560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MAGED M ALMAWRI/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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