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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/29/2025 and 11/26/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 8, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakamura (CN111756148).
As to independent claim 1, Nakamura teaches vehicle drive system including a motor (see paragraph [0041]), a temperature sensor (see paragraph [0036]) configured to detect a temperature state of the motor (1) , and a resolver (20) configured to detect a rotation state of the motor (1), further comprising: a motor housing (13) accommodating the motor (1), the temperature sensor (see paragraph [0036]), and the resolver (20); a cover member (15) covering the motor housing (13) from one side in an axial direction of a motor rotation shaft (10); a temperature sensor harness (23) connected to the temperature sensor (see paragraph [0036]); and a resolver harness (21) connected to the resolver (20), wherein the temperature sensor harness (23) and the resolver harness (21) are integrally provided inside the motor housing (13); wherein the motor housing (13) includes a window (16) through which a collective harness of the temperature sensor harness (23) and the resolver harness (21) passes, wherein an external connector (41) connectable to an external harness is attached to the cover member (15) to pass through the cover member (15), and wherein the external connector (41) is connected to a tip-end part of the collective harness as shown in figures 1-2.
As to claim 2/1, Nakamura teaches wherein the motor housing (13) includes a housing-side vertical wall part extending in a radial direction of the motor rotation shaft (10), and a housing-side circumferential wall part (13C) projecting in the axial direction of the motor rotation shaft (10) from a circumferential edge portion of the housing-side vertical wall part to extend annularly, and wherein the window (16) is formed in the housing-side vertical wall part as shown in figures 1-2.
As to claim 8/1, Nakamura teaches wherein the cover member (15) includes a cover-side vertical wall part (15B) extending in a radial direction of the motor rotation shaft (10) and a cover-side circumferential wall part (15B) extending in a circumferential direction of the motor rotation shaft (10), and wherein the external connector is attached to the cover-side circumferential wall part (15B) to pass therethrough as shown in figures 1-2.
As to claim 10/2, Nakamura teaches wherein the cover member (15) includes a cover-side vertical wall part (15B) extending in the radial direction of the motor rotation shaft (10) and a cover-side circumferential wall part (15B) extending in a circumferential direction of the motor rotation shaft (10), and wherein the external connector is attached to the cover-side circumferential wall part (15B) to pass therethrough as shown in figures 1-2.
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) 9, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura (CN111756148) as applied in claims 8, 10 above, and further in view of in view of Myouki et al. (US PG Pub 2021/0167659).
As to claims 9/8 and 11/10, Nakamura teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except wherein the cover member accommodates a transmission thereinside.
However Myouki et al. teaches the cover member (52) accommodates a transmission (31) thereinside as shown in figure 1, for the advantageous benefit of providing a motor drive device for vehicles that allows for improving the reliability of a wired state of the signal cable within the casing.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Nakamura by using the cover member accommodates a transmission thereinside, as taught by Myouki et al., to improve the reliability of a wired state of the signal cable within the casing.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/JOSE A GONZALEZ QUINONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834 August 6, 2026
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