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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/12/2025 and 05/29/2026 are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "high thermal conductivity portion" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The term “high thermal conductivity” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “high thermal conductivity” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The specification provides examples, e.g.: contacting with the coil or applying a heat dissipation material, but no definition. It is unclear whether the claimed property is accomplished by providing different materials, changing the geometry or density of a single material, or via differing amounts of contact and/or exposure of different parts of the material, which may be inherent properties of any prior art structure.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "high thermal conductivity portion" in lines 2 and 4. The term “high thermal conductivity” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “high thermal conductivity” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
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)(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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by SAWAHATA - WO 2020161999.
Regarding claim 1, SAWAHATA discloses a stator 10 of rotating electrical machine, the stator 10 comprising:
a stator core 11; and
a stator coil 13 wound around the stator core 11, wherein
the stator coil 13 is made of a plurality of segment coils 131/132,
the plurality of segment coils 131/132 is configured of a first segment coil 131, a second segment coil 132, and a coupling member 133 that couples the first segment coil 131 and the second segment coil 132,
a slot paper 15/31 that has an insulating property is wound around the stator coil 13, and
the slot paper 15/31 has a high thermal conductivity portion at a position corresponding to the coupling member 133 (i.e. in [Example 6], the embodiment of Fig. 20, the insulating paper 31 at the coupling member is provided with a foaming agent, inherently creating a different thermal conductivity from the paper 15, which fills the gap and adheres to the stator slot 12, thereby inherently raising conductivity compared to sections 15 not contacting the stator slot).
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Regarding claim 2, SAWAHATA discloses the stator 10 according to claim 1, wherein:
the slot paper 31 has the high thermal conductivity portion provided in a band shape in a radial direction of the stator core 11 (Fig. 20; the coating of the bar creates a band shape as broadly claimed); and
the high thermal conductivity portion 31 has a higher thermal conductivity than a portion 15 other than the high thermal conductivity portion in the slot paper 34 (i.e. the sections 31 with foaming agent fill the gap and adheres to the stator slot 12, thereby inherently raising conductivity compared to sections 15 not contacting the stator slot).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US-20060163952-A1 Kashihara discloses composite materials in slot insulating sheets; US-20190222087-A1 MATSUMOTO discloses varying thickness of slot insulation; US-20210249926-A1 ENOMOTO discloses varying thickness of slot papers; US-20230087038-A1 SUZUKI discloses multi-part slot papers with holes; WO-2019138693-A1 IWAKI discloses varying thickness of slot papers.
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/JUSTIN STEFANON/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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