DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-13 of U.S. Patent Application No. 19/021,606, filed on 15 January, 2025, were presented for examination and are currently pending in the application.
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 15 January, 2025, and 4 September, 2026, were filed before the mailing date of this Office Action. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
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.
Claim Objections
Claims 3 and 9-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In line 3 of claim 3, the word “element” should be changed to “elements” (plural).
Line 3 of claim 9 and lines 2-3 of claim 10 recite the limitation “conical or conical…” The Examiner, based on the last line of claim 9, believes this limitation was intended to be “conical or frustoconical” and requests that the claims be amended to that or something else (i.e. removing one iteration of “conical”). For examination on the merits the Examiner will interpret the limitation as meaning “conical or frustoconical” since one is just a subcategory of the other.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 10 is 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 10 recites the limitation "said conical or conical opening portion" in lines 2-3{this is separate from the objection to the limitation above}. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The Examiner notes that the three options of parent claim 9 are mentioned in the alternative (with “and/or”), such that if the second option (“each of said sealing elements has a plurality of radial ribs on an outer circumference of said sealing elements”) is the only one that applies, the first option (“said through-openings…. have a conical or conical opening portion tapering…”) and the last option (“each of said sealing elements is conical or frustoconical in shape…”) do not apply, and thus any reference to them specifically is inherently without antecedent basis because they are by their conditional nature nonexistent in the respective context.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-8 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung (KR 102221679 B1, provided with machine translation).
With respect to claim 1, Jung teaches an electric motor (see title), comprising:
a motor carrier [housing 30] having an electronics compartment for accommodating motor electronics {see ¶ 0044 which recites “a circuit board (not illustrated) is installed in the housing 30…”}, said motor carrier [30] further having through-openings [combined receiving holes 33 and receiving spaces 32] (33 are shown in both figs. 5 and 6, while 32 is only shown in fig. 6 – see ¶ 0048 and the joint annotated excerpt of figs. 2 and 5 attached below) formed therein;
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a stator [combined core 20, first insulator 10, second insulator 10’, and unillustrated coil] (see ¶ 0030) fastened to said motor carrier [30] (see fig. 1) and having a stator winding {¶ 0030 recites “and a coil (not illustrated)…”}, a stator main body [20] with an annular main body part (labeled in the joint annotated excerpt of figs. 1 and 4 attached below) and radially outwardly directed stator teeth [core arms 22] (see ¶ 0032);
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axially oriented contact pins [terminals T] (see ¶ 0034, fig. 1 above, and fig. 6 below);
sealing elements [grommets G] (the translation calls them “gromats” but the Examiner will use the accepted spelling – now referring to ¶ 0047 and the annotated excerpt of fig. 6 attached below);
a coil or winding insulation [first insulator 10] disposed on a side [the bottom side in fig. 6] of said stator [20/10/10’] facing said motor carrier [30] or on said side of said stator facing said motor carrier and on a side of said stator facing away from said motor carrier on said stator main body thereof;
said annular main body part (labeled in fig. 4 excerpt above and the fig. 6 excerpt below by the Examiner) of said stator main body [20] forming a receiving or mounting space (roughly circumscribed and labeled in the fig. 6 excerpt attached below), in said receiving or mounting space said axially oriented contact pins [T] are disposed and make contact with connecting contacts [T’] {see ¶ 0029 which recites “the plurality of terminals (T) penetrate the housing (30) and come into contact with a counterpart terminal (T’) provided in the stator assembly…” and also ¶ 0055} and are guided into said electronics compartment [inside 30] {also labeled by the Examiner in fig. 6 excerpt based on ¶ 0044 which recites “a circuit board (not illustrated) is installed in the housing 30…”} via said sealing elements [G] disposed in said through-openings [33/32] of said motor carrier [30] (see ¶ 0047);
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said coil or winding insulation [10] disposed on said side of said stator [20/10/10’] facing said motor carrier [30] on said stator main body [20] thereof has a number of radially inwardly directed lugs [guide units 13 including grommet guides 14] {see ¶ 0034 which recites “the guide unit (13) includes a grommet guide (14)…”} corresponding to a number of said axially oriented contact pins [T] (there are three of each), said radially inwardly directed lugs [13/14] project into said receiving or mounting space (the Examiner did not draw the circumscription box to extend down into this area because the area is crowded, but the whole area surrounding the shaft 30’ and generally inside 20 is being interpreted as the “receiving or mounting space” – this definition should be abundantly clear to Applicant since fig. 6 of the reference is so similar to fig. 7 of the instant application) and are penetrated by said axially oriented contact pins [T] {see ¶ 0034 which recites “the terminal guide (15) guides the terminal (T)…” and ¶ 0037 which recites “the terminal T passes through the inside of the through hole 15’…”}; and
a rotor circulating around said stator [20/10/10’] about a rotation axis {see abstract which recites “a rotor assembly coupled to one side of the housing (30 ) to rotate the shaft (30’)”, also ¶ 0004 which recites “a rotor case coupled to the housing and having a main magnet therein, and a stator core installed in the housing to rotate the rotor case…”, also ¶ 0011 which recites “a stator assembly coupled to the housing in a space defined by the housing and the rotor assembly…”}.
Jung omits teaching that the contact pins make contact with said stator winding via the connecting contacts. Jung does teach wherein the contact pins [T] make contact with the connecting contacts [T’] {see ¶ 0029 which recites “the plurality of terminals (T) penetrate the housing (30) and come into contact with a counterpart terminal (T’) provided in the stator assembly…”}. Jung further teaches a stator winding {¶ 0030 recites “and a coil (not illustrated)…”}. Jung only omits that connecting contacts T’ connect to the stator winding.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the motor of Jung, while having the connecting contacts making contact with the stator winding, in order to complete the electrical connection from the circuit board to the stator winding, to advantageously electrically energize the stator winding, as is suggested by ¶ 0005 of Jung which recites “a terminal is used for electrical connection between the PCB and the coil wound on the stator coil…”. It would have been obvious to said person of ordinary skill that this “terminal”, described in the summary/ background, corresponds to the terminals [T] of the drawings and detailed description, while the “PCB” corresponds to the “circuit board” (not illustrated)” of ¶ 0028, cited above. With or without the connecting contacts [T’], anyone of ordinary skill in the art would know that the electrical path is and must be from the circuit board, along pins T, to the stator windings. Jung merely omits mentioning the latter feature directly because its authors were clearly more focused on the inventive aspects and not the banal. If the claimed relationship was not in effect in Jung, Jung’s device would not operate (i.e. the rotor would not spin the shaft), since the reference makes no reference to a power/control source other than the circuit board.
With respect to claim 2/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 1, and further comprising fastening elements [reinforcing parts 24 and fastening holes 24’ on the stator core and unillustrated “fastening means” mentioned in ¶ 0042], said stator [20/10/10’] is fastened to said motor carrier [30] by means of said fastening elements (¶ 0042 recites “the second reinforcing part 24 and the housing 30 are coupled to each other by a fastening means penetrating through the fastening hole 24’); and
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wherein said radially inwardly directed lugs [13/14] of said coil or winding insulation [10] bear against said sealing elements [G] through which said axially oriented contact pins [T] pass {¶ 0047 recites “the gromat (g) seated in the accommodation portion (31) is pressed by the guide portion (13)… a portion of the gromat g exposed from the receiving space 32 is seated on and pressed against the guide part 13…” – see the fig. 3 excerpt below which shows that element 14 is part of element 13}.
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With respect to claim 12/2/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 2, and further teaches wherein said radially inwardly directed lugs [13/14] of said coil or winding insulation [10] bear against said sealing elements [G] through which said axially oriented contact pins [T] pass with a prestress being generated on said sealing elements [G] (see ¶ 0037 which recites “the grommet g inserted into the terminal T is seated in the seating space 14’ and pressed…”).
With respect to claim 3/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 1, and further teaches wherein each of said radially inwardly directed lugs [13/14] of said coil or winding insulation [10] has a hollow-cylindrical shaped part [14] which bears against an associated one of said sealing element [G] and through which a respective one of said axially oriented contact pins [T] passes (see joint excerpt of figs. 3 and 6 attached above – the Examiner notes that fig. 3 shows the insulation 10 upside-down).
With respect to claim 4/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 1, and further teaches wherein each of said radially inwardly directed lugs [13/14] of said coil or winding insulation [10] has an axially raised insulating pin [terminal guide 15], and through said axially raised insulating pin [15] a respective one of said axially oriented contact pins [T] passes (see ¶ 0055).
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With respect to claim 5/4/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 4, and further teaches wherein:
said stator main body [20] on said annular main body part [20] has radial lugs [23] aligned with said through-openings [33] of said motor carrier [30] and said radial lugs [23] each having a through-opening [insertion hole 23’] formed therein for associated ones of said axially oriented contact pins [T]; and
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said axially raised insulating pin [15] of a respective one of said radially inwardly directed lugs [13/14] of said coil or winding insulation [10] is seated in said through-opening [23’] of an associated one of said radial lugs [23] of said stator main body (see ¶ 0040 which recites “the terminal guide 15 of the first insulator 10 is inserted and coupled to the insertion hole 23’…”).
With respect to claim 6/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 1, and further teaches wherein said coil or winding insulation [10] disposed on said side of said stator [20/10/10’] facing said motor carrier [30] on said stator main body [20] thereof has a ring body and tooth caps [12] for said stator teeth [22] formed thereon on a circumference, wherein said radially inwardly directed lugs [13/14] are formed on an inner circumference of said ring body (Ring Body, Tooth Caps, and Inner Circumference have been labeled by the Examiner in the new fig. 2 excerpt attached below – see also fig. 3 and ¶ 0032 which recites “the insulating arm 12 surrounds the stator core 20, one side of the insulating arm 12 is opened to have an empty space. A core arm 22 of the stator core 20 is seated in the empty space…”).
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With respect to claim 7/6/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 6, and further teaches wherein said tooth caps [12] have a top cap portion extending in a plane of said ring body and side cap portions formed extending from said top cap portion (still referring to the annotated fig. 2 excerpt above and the Examiner’s labels contained therein).
With respect to claim 13/7/6/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 6, and further teaches wherein said side cap portions extend radially and are oriented axially (see annotated fig. 2 excerpt attached above in the rejection of claim 6).
With respect to claim 8/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 1, and further teaches wherein said stator main body [20] is formed as a laminated core from a plurality of stacked laminations (see ¶ 0043 which recites “the stator core 20 is formed by stacking a plurality of metal plate materials…”).
With respect to claim 11/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 1, and further teaches wherein the electric motor is configured to be a radiator fan motor of a motor vehicle (being a small, simple electric motor, it is configured to be a fan motor for any application, albeit household or automotive – motors are interchangeable with each other).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung in view of Best (US 2010/0187920 A1).
With respect to claim 9/1, Jung teaches the motor of claim 1, but omits teaching wherein said through-openings of said motor carrier provided for receiving said sealing elements for said axially oriented contact pins have a conical or conical opening portion tapering towards said electronics compartment; and/or each of said sealing elements has a plurality of radial ribs on an outer circumference of said sealing elements; and/or each of said sealing elements is conical or frustoconical in shape.
Best discloses an outer rotor comprising a motor carrier [housing 11] having a stator [1] fastened thereon, wherein contact pins [contacts 21] extend downwardly from the stator and through through-openings [through-openings 19] (see ¶ 0015 and fig. 1 excerpt attached below) in the motor carrier [11], wherein the through-openings [19] are provided with sealing elements [sealing bodies 49] around the contact pins [21] (see ¶ 0017). Best is thus deemed analogous art.
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Best teaches wherein:
said through-openings [19] of said motor carrier [11] provided for receiving said sealing elements [49] for said axially oriented contact pins [21] have a conical or conical opening portion (see ¶ 0017 which recites “the through-openings 19 have a conical mating profile with respect to the sealing bodies 49…”) tapering towards said electronics compartment (the hollow bottom portion of 11 – ¶ 0017 recites “seal off directly the through-openings 19…. such that it is not possible for any moisture to enter the electronics housing from the stator 1 through said openings…”); and/or
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each of said sealing elements [49] has a plurality of radial ribs [sealing beads 50] on an outer circumference of said sealing elements [49] (see ¶ 0018 which recites “these sealing bodies 49 have circumferentially running sealing beads 50…”); and/or
each of said sealing elements [49] is conical or frustoconical in shape (see ¶ 0017 which recites “these sealing bodies 49 likewise have…. and are preferably designed to be conical such that the thickness of their wall tapers toward the upper end…”).
{please note that all three clauses of claim 9 are recited in the alternative, such that Best, or another reference, only has to meet the limitations of one of them to teach the claim – this reference just happens to meet all three}.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the motor of Jung, while utilizing the tapered and ribbed sealing elements, combined with the tapered through-holes, as taught by Best, in order to seal off directly the through-openings for the contact pins, with the result that it is not possible for any moisture to enter the electronics housing from the stator through the openings (Best, last 16 lines of ¶ 0017) and to provide direct and indirect sealing of the through-openings (Best abstract and ¶ 0017 and claim 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
With respect to claim 10, the prior art of record does not teach or reasonably suggest, inter alia, an electric motor, comprising:
a motor carrier having an electronics compartment for accommodating motor electronics, said motor carrier further having through-openings formed therein;
a stator fastened to said motor carrier and having a stator winding, a stator main body with an annular main body part and radially outwardly directed stator teeth;
axially oriented contact pins;
sealing elements;
a coil or winding insulation disposed on a side of said stator facing said motor carrier or on said side of said stator facing said motor carrier and on a side of said stator facing away from said motor carrier on said stator main body thereof;
said annular main body part of said stator main body forming a receiving or mounting space, in said receiving or mounting space said axially oriented contact pins are disposed and make contact with said stator winding via connecting contacts and are guided into said electronics compartment via said sealing elements disposed in said through-openings of said motor carrier;
said coil or winding insulation disposed on said side of said stator facing said motor carrier on said stator main body thereof has a number of radially inwardly directed lugs corresponding to a number of said axially oriented contact pins, said radially inwardly directed lugs project into said receiving or mounting space and are penetrated by said axially oriented contact pins; and
a rotor circulating around said stator about a rotation axis; further wherein
said through-openings of said motor carrier provided for receiving said sealing elements for said axially oriented contact pins have a conical or conical opening portion tapering towards said electronics compartment; and/or each of said sealing elements has a plurality of radial ribs on an outer circumference of said sealing elements; and/or each of said sealing elements is conical or frustoconical in shape; and
said through-openings of said motor carrier have a cylindrical opening portion adjoining said conical or conical opening portion.
Jung in view of Best teaches all of claim 10 except the cylindrical opening portion adjoining the conical opening portion. Two references, Fleischmann and Devermann {briefly summarized with annotated excerpts of the relevant figures in the Conclusion section below}, as well as others, teach analogous art wherein the through-openings of the motor carrier do have a cylindrical opening portion adjoining the conical opening portion. The advantages of adding Best’s ribbed/conical sealing elements to Jung were explicitly put forth in Best, and Jung shows a rib but does not describe it explicitly. Basically, Jung in view of Best provide a system wherein sealing effect of the sealing element increases as the pressure from the lugs of the insulation push the sealing element down into the carrier through-opening. There is insufficient evidence in the references per se, particularly due to the fact that the advantages of the cylindrical opening portion are not explicitly laid forth in the references, to modify Jung in view of Best with the cylindrical opening portion as claimed. In fact, the feature is not really even described in these references.
It is noted that a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 could be made under Jung directly in view of Fleischmann, or Jung directly in view of Devermann, without Best intervening, or with Best providing the motivation to combine when Fleischmann and/or Devermann fall short of explicitly listing the motivations in a sufficiently relevant way, since they are such similar references. Best provides motivation for adding the conical opening portion and the radial ribs. Regardless of whether/how Fleischmann and/or Devermann sufficiently provide rationale for combining the conical/ribbed outer surfaces of their sealing elements, the Examiner does not believe there is evidence for adding their sealing elements and their cylindrical opening portion, because, again, the purposes and/or advantages of the cylindrical opening portions of Fleischmann and Devermann are not explicitly put forth in the references, such that the only reasonable motivation for or path to making this overall combination would be inadvertency or hindsight reasoning in light of the present application.
A not-insignificant part of the Examiner’s rationale here includes the fact that Jung’s arrangement in the direct environs of the sealing element does already exist, and to modify it with the features of Fleischmann or Devermann would require modification (to element 31 and the receiving hole 33 and space 32) that is more than just putting ribs or a taper on the sealing elements. Such a modification would require multiple steps made in the proper order {i.e. switching the sealing element [grommet G] with a tapered one, reconfiguring the receiving hole/space [33/32] to match the sealing element’s taper, while deciding not to taper the full extent of the receiving hole [33] (i.e. all the way to its bottom)}.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Fig. 2 of WO 2015024829 A2 (to Fleischmann, provided with machine translation) was discussed in the reasons for indication of allowability of claim 10. A conductor seal is provided for a radiator fan and comprises a motor carrier [20] through which a sealing element [12] guides a contact pin [6], wherein the sealing element has ribs [sealing libs 7/8/9] and is conical/tapered, and further wherein the through-openings of the motor carrier have a cylindrical opening portion adjoining a conical opening portion (both labeled by the Examiner in the annotated excerpt of fig. 2 attached below).
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US 2020/0195079 A1 (to Devermann et al.) was also discussed in the reasons for indication of allowability of claim 10. A conductor seal is provided for a motor carrier [5] through which a sealing element [72] guides a contact pin [42], wherein the sealing element has is conical/tapered, and further wherein the through-openings of the motor carrier have a cylindrical opening portion adjoining a conical opening portion (both labeled by the Examiner in the annotated excerpt of fig. 6 attached below).
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL K SCHLAK whose telephone number is (703)756-1685. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 6:00 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Seye 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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/Daniel K Schlak/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
