DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-12 of U.S. Application No. 19066475 filed on 02/28/2025 are presented for examination.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/28/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
The limitation in the last line of claim 1, “…wherein a ferrite magnet is arranged on the exposed surface of the rotor.” is repeated and should be deleted.
The limitation in the last line of claim 2 in lines 4-5, “…and and...” is repeated and should be deleted.
In claim 7, the limitations, “…brass that is electrically conducted,…” should read, “…brass that is electrically conductive,…”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 2-10 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.
Regarding claim 2, claim 2 recites, “…a bearing housing extending from an inner circumferential portion of the motor housing and formed to support a bearing at a central portion thereof; at least one bearing installed inside the bearing housing;…:
It is not clear if the underlined above refers to the same bearing or a different bearing.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2012/0183421; Hereinafter, “Kim”).
Regarding claim 1: Kim discloses a disk drive device (the motor in fig. 1-3; the Examiner interpret the word “disk” as a shape that has its axial length, less than its radial length, which is seen in fig. 3) for a friction generator (intended use limitations that has no patentable weight), the disk derive device comprising:
PNG
media_image1.png
616
814
media_image1.png
Greyscale
a motor housing (29, 31-32) having an annular trench-type concave groove (the space between 31 and 32) at a lower side thereof; a motor cover (31) coupled to a lower portion of the motor housing to configure the inside of the trench-type concave groove to a sealing state (by lower case 31; para [0088] lines 1-6);
a stator (26) arranged in the sealed trench-type concave groove (between 31 and 32) to generate a rotating magnetic field (as any motor stator) to rotate a rotor (25) ; and the rotor (25) rotatably arranged to have an air gap (the radial gap between 25 and 26) inside the stator (26) and having a sealing structure (fig. 3) by a rotor support body (26a ) except for the exposed surface (of magnets 22a) facing the stator (26),
wherein a ferrite magnet (22a; para [0130]) is arranged on the exposed surface of the rotor (fig. 3),
wherein a ferrite magnet is arranged on the exposed surface of the rotor (repeated limitation).
Regarding claim 2/1: Kim discloses the limitations of claim 1 and further discloses a bearing housing (29f) extending from an inner circumferential portion of the motor housing (29) and formed to support a bearing (35b) at a central portion thereof; at least one bearing (35b) installed inside the bearing housing (29f); and and (repeated word) a hollow shaft accommodating portion (the shaft accommodation portion is hollow as it receives the shaft) extending from the rotor support (21) to the central portion (the central portion of the housing portion 29) and rotatably supported by the bearing (35b) to accommodate the rotary shaft (27).
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.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Schmider et al. (US 5176509; Hereinafter, “Schmider”).
Regarding claim 6/2/1: Kim discloses the limitations of claim 1 but does not specifically disclose that the bearing comprises a waterproof ball bearing or a plastic bearing.
Schmider discloses bearing (12) comprises a waterproof ball bearing or a plastic bearing (claim 4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to have formed the bearing of Kim to comprise a waterproof ball bearing or a plastic bearing as disclosed by Schmider, since plastic bearings are known for being lower in cost, requires no maintenance, and high on rust and chemical resistance.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Jang et al. (US 2013/0009513; Hereinafter, “Jang”).
Regarding claim 11/1: Kim discloses the limitations of claim 1 and further discloses the stator (26) comprises: a stator core (23) including a plurality of teeth each having a T-shaped front end portion (para [0036] and fig. 7-8) extending in an axial direction and a back yoke (23b) interconnected to the plurality of teeth (23a) to form a magnetic circuit; upper and lower insulators (top and bottom insulators 23c; para [0096]) surrounding a coil winding region (the neck between 23a and 23b; fig. 8) of each of the plurality of teeth (23a) by half in upper and lower portions thereof; and a coil (24) wound around an outer circumferential surface (covering the neck between 23a, and 23b) of each of the upper and lower insulators (23c),
Kim does not specifically show that each of the upper and lower insulators comprises: an annular base frame having a predetermined width; and a plurality of teeth accommodating portions protruding from the base frame and receiving the winding regions of the teeth from the upper portion and the lower portion by half.
Jang teaches forming each of the upper and lower insulators (150; fig. 1) to comprises: an annular base frame (corresponding to core base 5) having a predetermined width (fig. 1); and a plurality of teeth accommodating portions (152) protruding from the base frame and receiving the winding regions (coil 200; fig. 2) of the teeth from the upper portion and the lower portion by half (fig. 1-2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to have formed the insulators of Kim’s motor where each of the upper and lower insulators comprises: an annular base frame having a predetermined width; and a plurality of teeth accommodating portions protruding from the base frame and receiving the winding regions of the teeth from the upper portion and the lower portion by half as taught by Jang to reduce the number of parts, thus to ease the manufacturing and installation of the motor.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Schmider et al. (US 4755699; Hereinafter, “Schmider ‘99”).
Regarding claim 12/11/1: Kim, in view of Jang discloses the limitations of claim 11 and Kim further discloses a printed circuit board (36) which is adjacent to the stator (26).
Kim in view of Jang does not disclose a Hall sensor mounted close to a portion where a magnet of the rotor is located, and end lines of the U, V, and W three-phase coils of the stator which are commonly connected to form a Y-connection neutral point (COM).
Schmider ‘99 discloses a Hall sensor (13) mounted close to a portion (outer edge 12) where a magnet of the rotor (9) is located, and end lines of the U, V, and W three-phase coils (941-943; fig. 9) of the stator which are commonly connected to form a Y-connection neutral point (950)(col. 5, lines 50-55).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to have formed the stator of Kim in view of Jang where a Hall sensor mounted close to a portion where a magnet of the rotor is located, and end lines of the U, V, and W three-phase coils of the stator which are commonly connected to form a Y-connection neutral point (COM) as taught by Schmider ‘99 to be able to detect the position of the rotor to increase the precision of the motor control.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 7-10 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED ELNAKIB whose telephone number is (571)270-0638. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00AM-4:00PM.
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, Tulsidas Patel can be reached at 571-272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AHMED ELNAKIB/Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 2834
Prosecution Insights