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 15 January 2025. In view of this communication, claims 1-8 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 15 January 2025 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:
Rotating Electric Machine with Rotor Internal Flow Path.
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.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show “permanent magnets configured to be retained in the sleeve” (claim 1, line 6) as described in the specification.
Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures.
Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL. — The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “permanent magnets configured to be retained in the sleeve”. As stated above, this limitation is not shown in the drawings (i.e. the drawings only show permanent magnets mounted “on the outer circumferential surface of the sleeve”). While the specification discloses that the rotor “may be of a so-called IPM (interior permanent magnet motor) type in which the permanent magnets 270 are embedded in the sleeve 220” (¶ 0048 of the specification), this description is insufficient to show that the inventor(s) had possession of the claimed invention. The magnets shown in the drawings are substantially equal in length and thickness to the sleeve, and it is unclear how such magnets could be embedded within the sleeve without impinging on the space occupied by the various coolant flow paths within the sleeve.
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(s) 1-8 is/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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “permanent magnets configured to be retained in the sleeve”. As stated above, it is unclear how said magnets could be embedded within the sleeve without impinging on the space occupied by the various coolant flow paths within the sleeve. Thus, this limitation renders the claims indefinite.
Claim 2 recites the limitation “the communication flow path… in close proximity to the internal space” in line 4. The term “close proximity” is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “close proximity” 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. Thus, it is unclear exactly what distance the claim requires between the flow path and the internal space of the rotor.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, and all claims dependent thereon, the prior art does not disclose, inter alia, a rotating electric machine system comprising a rotating electric machine including a rotor and a stator, and a housing in which the stator is accommodated, wherein:
the rotor comprises a rotating shaft, a sleeve configured to cover the rotating shaft from an outer circumferential side, permanent magnets configured to be retained {on} the sleeve, a collar configured to be disposed on the outer circumferential side relative to the sleeve and the rotating shaft, a rotor internal flow path configured to include an annular shaped space formed between an outer circumferential surface of the rotating shaft and an inner circumferential surface of the sleeve, and configured to extend in an axial direction of the rotating shaft, and an internal space formed between the outer circumferential surface of the rotating shaft and an inner circumferential surface of the collar;
the rotating electric machine system comprises a liquid coolant supplying device configured to supply a liquid coolant to the rotor internal flow path;
the sleeve comprises an inserted portion that is an axial end portion of the sleeve and is inserted into the internal space to separate the internal space from the rotor internal flow path, and a communication flow path that is formed in the inserted portion and is configured to place the internal space and the rotor internal flow path in communication;
an outer circumferential surface of the inserted portion comprises an abutment surface against which the inner circumferential surface of the collar abuts; and
an outlet port through which the liquid coolant flows out from the communication flow path into the internal space is located more inwardly in a diametrical direction of the rotating shaft than the abutment surface.
While the prior art discloses various arrangements of rotors having sleeves with internal flow paths, internal spaces, and outlet ports connecting said paths and spaces, it does not disclose the exact arrangement recited above. In particular, the sleeve both separating an internal space from the rotor internal flow path, and configured to place them in communication with one another, is not disclosed. The closest prior art, Ohashi (cited below), discloses these spaces and the sleeve placing them in communication with one another, but does not disclose an inserted portion of the sleeve being inserted into the internal space to separate the internal space from the rotor internal flow path. Thus, the invention recited above, and best shown in figure 5 of the application, 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:
Ueguchi et al. (US 2024/0055932 A1) discloses a rotor having permanent magnets mounted on a sleeve, an internal flow path, and a collar; the collar having an outlet port through which liquid coolant flows out from the internal flow path and which is inclined in a diametrically outward direction.
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Yazaki et al. (US 2024/0055938 A1) discloses a rotor having permanent magnets mounted on a sleeve, an internal flow path, and a collar; the sleeve configured to place an internal space in communication with the internal flow path.
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Yazaki et al. (US 2022/0316394 A1) discloses a rotor having permanent magnets mounted on a sleeve and a collar mounted on an axial end of both the permanent magnets and the sleeve.
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Ohashi et al. (US 2013/0038151 A1) discloses a rotor having permanent magnets mounted in a sleeve, an internal flow path including an annular shaped space, and a collar disposed on the outer circumferential side of both the sleeve and the rotating shaft; the collar defining an internal space; and the sleeve comprising an inserted portion at its axial end placing the internal space and the rotor internal flow path in communication with one another.
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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.
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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