DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katou (WO 2021/039746 A1; US 2022/0181943 A1 used as direct translation) in view of Suzuki (US 2017/0018985 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Katou discloses an armature (10) comprising:
an armature core (11) having a plurality of teeth (T) arranged at intervals in a circumferential direction;
a plurality of coils (U1-U4, V1-V4, W1, W4) formed by winding an electroconductive winding around each of the teeth (T);
inter-coil connection portions (26, 46, 66) that are portions of the winding which connect the coils (U1-U4, V1-V4, W1, W4);
a first end portion (28, 48, 68) and a second end portion (29, 49, 69) which are respectively one end portion (27s) and the other end portion of the winding (27e),
a plurality of electrical conductor portions (FIG. 3) that are portions of the winding which form the coils (U1-U4, V1-V4, W1, W4) and are routed in the axial direction along the teeth (T), wherein the numbers of the electrical conductor portions in the respective coils are set to be equal to each other (FIG. 2; all the coils has 6 layers).
Katou does not disclose the first and second end portions being led out, respectively from a second circumferential side and a first circumferential side in the coil formed around a predetermined one of the teeth, toward a first side in an axial direction.
Suzuki discloses the first and second end portions (101, 104) being led out, respectively from a second circumferential side and a first circumferential side in the coil (1-9) formed around a predetermined one of the teeth, toward a first side in an axial direction.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention to have modified Katou in view of Suzuki to disclose the first and second end portions being led out, respectively from a second circumferential side and a first circumferential side in the coil formed around a predetermined one of the teeth, toward a first side in an axial direction, as evidenced by Suzuki in ¶ [0011], selecting a connection system according to a use is common within the art, which would also change the layout of the terminal ends of the coil.
Regarding claim 2/1, Katou in view of Suzuki was discussed above in claim 1. Suzuki further discloses wherein the inter-coil connection portions (91-99) connect, on a second side (opposite side of lead side) in the axial direction with respect to the armature core, the coils (FIG. 5).
Regarding claim 3/1, Katou in view of Suzuki was discussed above in claim 1. Katou further discloses wherein the winding and the plurality of coils (U1-U4, V1-V4, W1, W4) are provided for each of three or more phases (U, V, W), and all the coils (U1-U4, V1-V4, W1, W4) of the three or more phases are arranged sequentially along the circumferential direction (FIG. 2), and
the first and second end portions (28, 29) of the winding forming the coils (U1-U4) of a first phase of the three or more phases and the first and second end portions (48, 49) of the winding forming the coils (V1-V4) of a second phase of the three or more phases are led out respectively from one of the coils (U1-U4) of the first phase and one of the coils (V1-V4) of the second phase which are adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction (FIG. 2).
Regarding claim 4/3, Katou in view of Suzuki was discussed above in claim 3. Katou further discloses wherein the armature core (11) is segmented in the circumferential direction into a plurality of core constituent parts (21, 41, 61), the number of the core constituent parts (21, 41, 61) being equal to the number of the coils of the three or more phases (FIG. 2), and
those of the core constituent parts (21, 41, 61) on which the coils (U1-U4, V1-V4, W1, W4) of a same phase of the three or more phases are respectively formed are connected together by an insulator (22, 42, 62).
Regarding claim 5/4, Katou in view of Suzuki was discussed above in claim 4. Katou further discloses wherein the insulator (22, 42, 62) has winding locking portions (33, 34, 53, 54, 73, 74) to which portions of the winding forming the coils (U1-U4, V1-V4, W1, W4) of the same phase are respectively locked, and
the first and second end portions (28, 29, 48, 49, 68, 69) of the winding forming the coils (U1-U4, V1-V4, W1, W4) of the same phase are located at predetermined positions with the portions of the winding locked respectively to the winding locking portions (33, 34, 53, 54, 73, 74)of the insulator (22, 42, 62).
Regarding claim 6/4, Katou in view of Suzuki was discussed above in claim 4. Katou further discloses wherein the insulator (22, 42, 62) has a bobbin portion (24, 44, 64) around which the winding is wound, and a flange portion (25, 45, 65) protruding, on a radial side of the bobbin portion (24, 44, 64), toward both the first and second circumferential sides of the bobbin portion (24, 44, 64), and
the winding locking portions (33, 34, 53, 54, 73, 74) are formed in the flange portion (25, 45, 65).
Regarding claim 7/1, Katou in view of Suzuki was discussed above in claim 1. Katou further discloses wherein parts of the inter-coil connection portions (26, 46, 66) constitute pairs of cross portions at locations adjacent to the respective coils (U1-U4, V1-V4, W1, W4), each pair of the cross portions overlapping each other in the axial direction and intersecting a radial direction (FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 8/7, Katou in view of Suzuki was discussed above in claim 7. Katou further discloses wherein the insulator (22, 42, 62) has winding locking portions (33, 34, 53, 54, 73, 74) to which portions of the winding are respectively locked, and
the inter-coil connection portions (26, 46, 66) are routed with tension generated in the inter-coil connection portions (26, 46, 66) to urge the portions of the winding toward the respective winding locking portions (33, 34, 53, 54, 73, 74; FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 9/1, Katou in view of Suzuki was discussed above in claim 1. Katou further discloses a rotating electric machine (¶ [0035] brushless motor) comprising:
a stator (10); and
a rotor ((¶ [0044] inner rotor),
wherein one of the stator (10) and the rotor includes the armature (10) as set forth in claim 1, and the other of the stator (10) and the rotor has a magnet arranged to radially face the armature (¶ [0192] magnetic poles of the rotor).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINKI CHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-0521. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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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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/MINKI CHANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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