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 .
Detailed Action
This is first action on the merits (FAOM) to this instant application in which claims 1-12 are pending. Claim 1 is independent and claims 2-12 are dependent.
Thorough and targeted prior art searches are performed by this Examiner on behalf of the Office. Applicant’s independent claims are broad enough to be met by prior art references and Applicant’s instant claims suffer from clarity issues; and for these reasons instant claim are not allowable at this time.
Election/Restriction
This application received a restriction requirement and in response, the Applicant has elected, without traverse, claims 1-10 to be examined. Claim 11-12 are withdrawn from consideration.
Since claims 11 and 12 depends from claim 1, if claim 1 becomes allowable claims 11 and 12 will also become allowable and these two claims should be rejoined, even when, these claims are currently being withdrawn from consideration.
Claim Rejection under 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.
Claims 1-10 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.
As to the sole independent claim 1, it is unclear what is meant by “common yoke connected thereto by a magnetic material”.
From the claim language expressly provided in the claim 1, it appears that the at least two pole portions are connected magnetically by a common yoke, in other words, a yoke being common between each of the at least two pole portions and the yoke is being called “common yoke”, and the common yoke connects the two or more pole portions where the common yoke provides multiple routes or paths for the magnetic flux from one permanent magnet to another. From the claim language the common yoke is understood to be made from a magnetic material when it states N (N≥2) magnetic flux routes existing between the magnetic pole portion and the common yoke, because without being formed of a magnetic material the common yoke will not be able to route magnetic flux. It is unclear, whether or not the claimed “magnetic material”, at the very end of the claim (claim 1) is a different entity than the magnetic material in the common yoke, and if so, then claim language should indicate so. For example, the claim language may be - -common yoke connected thereto by a connection component made from a magnetic material- -.
Further on the last line of the claim, a singular noun is used for “pole portion” and it is unclear whether or not Applicant intend to mean it to be read as “each of the magnetic pole portions” or “one of the magnetic pole portions”, because preceding to this point in the claim, the claim language uses only plural version of the “pole portion”, and therefore, it is unclear which single one of the two or more pole portions is indicated by the claim language, “pole portion”.
Further, the claim language “at least two of the magnetic pole portions connected to the common yoke each have N (N≥2) magnetic flux routes existing between the magnetic pole portion and the common yoke connected thereto by a magnetic material” is unclear and perhaps, the applicant intends to state - -at least two of the magnetic pole portions connected to the common yoke each have N (N≥2) magnetic flux routes existing between each of the magnetic pole portions and the common yoke and wherein the common yoke being connected thereto [pole portions] by a connection component made from magnetic material--. The present from the claim language does not clearly delineate between a general structure of connection between the common yoke and the magnetic pole portions and a particular make up of the connection component.
In the instant situation the claim language (claim 1) suffers from clarity issues and therefore, for comprehending a scope of the claim and for applying prior art, the Examiner assumes the Applicant intends to mean the common yoke being made from a magnetic material by providing the specific language at last end portion of claim 1.
As to claims 2-10, these claims are defective because each of these claims depends from the sole independent claim 1.
In the dependent claim 6, the Applicant states the “magnetic material” of claim 1 includes a yoke which connects the permanent magnet and the common yoke. The yoke in claim 6 being different from the common yoke. This clarifies scope of claim 1. However, as is, scope of claim 1 still remains unclear.
In claim 6, singular noun is used for pole portion which should be made plural as discussed for claim 1 above.
In dependent claim 7, the Applicant sets forth the permanent magnet of the pole portions is to be the magnetic material of claim 1. Claim 7 confirms Examiner’s suspicion about lack of additional connection component between pole portions and the common yoke.
Rejection under 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.
Claims 1 and 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Miyamoto (US-4,672,346).
Claim No
Claim feature
Prior art
Miyamoto (US-4,672,346)
1
A magnetic field generating device comprising:
Miyamoto discloses a magnetic field generating device as claimed, see the title in Miyamoto and also see Figs 1-15.
at least one pair of magnetic pole portions provided to face each other with a space gap sandwiched therebetween, wherein
Miyamoto meets this claim feature.
See Figs 1-15.
Pair of magnetic pole portions (1,1,2,2).
Space gap (4)
each of the magnetic pole portions includes a soft magnetic material and a permanent magnet,
Permanent magnet (1,1)
Soft magnetic material (2,2)1
at least two of the magnetic pole portions are magnetically connected by a common yoke, and
Yoke (3)
at least two of the magnetic pole portions connected to the common yoke each have N (N≥2) magnetic flux routes existing between the magnetic pole portion and the common yoke connected thereto by a magnetic material.
Yoke (3) connects (couples) upper magnet pole portion and lower magnet pole portion, see Figs. 1-15.
The yoke (3) provides at least two routes for magenta flux, one on the left and another on the right as shown Fig. 1.
4
The magnetic field generating device according to claim 1, wherein N=3.
Miyamoto meets claim 4.
See structure in Fig. 4B which shows 3 magnetic flux routs formed by taking any 3 of the four rod-like yoke portions 11.
5
The magnetic field generating device according to claim 1, wherein N=4.
Miyamoto meets claim 4.
See structure in Fig. 4B which shows 4 magnetic flux routs formed by taking any 3 of the four rod-like yoke portions 11.
6
The magnetic field generating device according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic material includes a yoke which connects the common yoke and the permanent magnet of the magnetic pole portion.
Miyamoto meets claim 6.
See embodiment of yoke structure in Fig. 4B where the yoke includes yoke (plate like yoke portions 10) and common yoke (column like yoke portion 11).
7
The magnetic field generating device according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic material includes the permanent magnet of the magnetic pole portion in contact with the common yoke.
Miyamoto meets claim 7, see Fig. 1 in Miyamoto.
Yoke contains magnetic material and the yoke is in contact the two permanent magnet portions of the two poles.
8
The magnetic field generating device according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic material includes a permanent magnet which connects the common yoke and the permanent magnet of the magnetic pole portion.
Miyamoto meets claim 8.
Yoke contains magnetic material and the yoke is in contact the two permanent magnet portions of the two poles.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP-S6182607-U.
Claim No
Claim feature
Prior art
JP-S6182607 U
1
A magnetic field generating device comprising:
Reference, JP-S6182607 U, discloses a magnetic field generating device, see Fig. 1.
at least one pair of magnetic pole portions provided to face each other with a space gap sandwiched therebetween, wherein
See items 2 & 2 and 4 & 4 in Fig. which can be equated to the claimed pair of magnetic pole portions, and item 3 is the claimed space gap.
each of the magnetic pole portions includes a soft magnetic material and a permanent magnet,
Soft magnetic pole portions (4 & 4)
Permanent magnets (2 & 2).
at least two of the magnetic pole portions are magnetically connected by a common yoke, and
The permanent magnets 2 & 2 are connected by yoke 1
at least two of the magnetic pole portions connected to the common yoke each have N (N≥2) magnetic flux routes existing between the magnetic pole portion and the common yoke connected thereto by a magnetic material.
See Fig. 1 which shows the magnetic flux routs, one on the left and another on the right.
2
The magnetic field generating device according to claim 1, wherein in the magnetic pole portion, at least N or more of the permanent magnets are provided around a core of the soft magnetic material, the permanent magnets of one of the pair of magnetic pole portions are magnetized in a direction in which the core of the soft magnetic material is magnetized to a first polarity, and the permanent magnets of the other one of the pair of magnetic pole portions are magnetized in a direction in which the core of the soft magnetic material is magnetized to a second polarity.
Item 4 can be equated to the claim core around which the permanent magnet 2 is formed.
A north pole of the upper permanent magnet 2 faces the space gap (3) and south pole of the lower permanent magnet faces the space gap (3).
3
The magnetic field generating device according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the magnetic pole portions including the core of the soft magnetic material magnetized to the first polarity and at least one of the magnetic pole portions including the core of the soft magnetic material magnetized to the second polarity are magnetically connected by the common yoke.
The soft magnets (4 & 4) are polarized by the respective permanent magnets (2 and 2), and therefore, their polarities are also being different.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to G.M. HYDER whose telephone number is (571)270-3896. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9 AM- 5 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephanie Bloss can be reached on (571) 272-3555. 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.
G.M. HYDER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2852
/G.M. A HYDER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
1 Examiner Comment: pole segments 2 and 2 are not permanent magnets, these are made from soft magnetic material and these are used to shape the magnetic field lines generated by the permanent magnets (1 and 1) to be parallel in the space gap (4).
Prosecution Insights