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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the second motor directly coupled to the engine (claim 4) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 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 4 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 4 recites that the “wherein the engine and the second electric motor are directly coupled to each other.” The drawings illustrate indirect connections or no connection between the second motor and engine. The detailed description in the specification does not describe how one of the embodiments could be interpreted as including this feature. The “Summary” discloses the same description as claim 4 but in reference to a fourth embodiment, however there are only three figures. As such, the claims in view of the specification are unclear. What types of connections are considered “directly coupled”?
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yonezawa et al. (US 2020/0370484; hereinafter “Yonezawa”) in view of Nagamatsu (US 2010/0041502).
Claim 1
Yonezawa discloses a hybrid electric vehicle in which, with an engine (10), a first electric motor (21) and a crankshaft (101) of the engine are disposed so as to be rotatable around a first axis (Cnt), a second electric motor (22) and a differential gear device (44) are disposed so as to be rotatable around other axes that are parallel to the first axis, and the second electric motor (22), a speed reduction mechanism (222, 41, 42, 43), and the differential gear device (44) are disposed in this order from a first electric motor side (left side in FIG. 1) toward an engine side (right side in FIG. 1), wherein:
the speed reduction mechanism (222, 41, 42, 43) includes a counter shaft (42) that is provided so as to be rotatable around a third axis (axis of 43) that is parallel to the first axis and the other axes, a counter driven gear (41) which is provided on the counter shaft and into which motive power is input from the second electric motor (22), and a counter drive gear (43) that has a smaller diameter than the counter driven gear (41) and is provided on the counter shaft to drive the differential gear device (44); and
at least either part of the differential gear device or part of the counter shaft (see FIG. 1 illustrating schematically both of these extending to the right beyond the engine which would be farther to the right than the interface) is disposed so as to protrude toward the engine side beyond an interface between the engine and the transaxle case.
Yonezawa does not disclose a transaxle case or that the axes of the second electric motor and differential are the same “second” axis. Yonezawa does not necessarily disclose that the schematic is accurate placement and therefore to provide compact prosecution it will be presumed that Yonezawa does not necessarily disclose the differential or countershaft beyond an interface between the engine and transaxle case.
However, Nagamatsu discloses a transaxle case (11) that houses a transmission including a countershaft (shaft supporting 700) inputting torque into a differential (800) where both the end of the countershaft (at 700b) as well as part of the differential (right half of 800) are both beyond the interface (housing immediately outward of 310B) to the right which is toward the engine side (see FIG. 10). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to have modified Yonezawa to include a case around the entire transmission and differential in order to protect the transmission from contamination and in so adding the case to have supported the countershaft and differential adjacent to, i.e., aligned along the left-to-right direction (this appears in the drawings as the engine being above the countershaft end as differential) in order to provide a compact arrangement in the left-to-right direction.
In addition, Li (CN 205632092U) discloses a transmission that includes an engine and motor on one axis (101), a countershaft (601) that inputs torque to a differential (400) and a second motor (500) that also inputs power to the same countershaft, where the second motor (500) is coaxial with the differential (see FIG. 1). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success to have further modified Yonezawa to have physically placed the second motor coaxial along the axle to be coaxial with the differential in order to provide a more compact arrangement. That does not occupy passenger space and obtains “good whole space layout”.
Claim 2
Yonezawa discloses wherein: between the engine (10) and the first electric motor (21), a planetary gear device (30) is disposed, the planetary gear device (30) having a sun gear (S) that is connected to a rotor shaft (rotor of 21) of the first electric motor (21), a carrier (C) that is connected to the crankshaft (101) of the engine (10), a planetary gear (P) that is rotatably supported by the carrier (C), and a ring gear (R and 31 which all rotate as a unit) with which the planetary gear (P) supported by the carrier (C) meshes; and outer circumferential teeth (31) of the ring gear mesh with the counter driven gear (41).
Claim 4
As best understood, Yonezawa discloses wherein the engine (10) and the second electric motor (22) are directly coupled to each other since the torque of the engine and the torque of the second motor are coupled in an uninterrupted manner similar to FIG. 1 of the Applicant’s drawings that illustrate the second motor coupled to the engine rather than separate as in FIGS. 2 and 3.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is allowed.
With reference to claim 3, the prior art does not disclose the combination as recited including “wherein: between the engine and the first electric motor, a planetary gear device is disposed, the planetary gear device having a sun gear that is connected to a rotor shaft of the first electric motor, a carrier that is connected to the crankshaft of the engine, a planetary gear that is rotatably supported by the carrier, and a ring gear with which the planetary gear supported by the carrier meshes; and the ring gear is fixed on the transaxle case.”
JP 2022/149054A discloses the protruding countershaft however it would not have been obvious to have modified the upper transmission so that the motor were coaxial with the engine and also to include the planetary gearset with a fixed ring, and also to have modified the lower transmission so that the motor was coaxial with the differential, still all within the same case. Similarly, other references having a countershaft supported in the same case as the two transmission would require significant modification to both transmissions to satisfy all of the requirements of the claim which would alter the intended purpose and design of the references.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2017/0184036 is the same schematically (the torque paths) as FIG. 1 of the present application. US 2019/0009770 discloses the end of countershaft 29 past the end of the transmission housing thereabove.US 9,731,590 illustrates the right end of a countershaft 32 overlapping part of the input damper (see FIG. 2).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STACEY A FLUHART whose telephone number is (571)270-1851. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9AM-7PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at 571-270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STACEY A FLUHART/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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