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.
Claim(s) 1 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakai et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2009/0236923 A1) in view of Kogure et al. (Japanese Patent Document No.: JP 2010119190 A).
For claim 1, Sakai et al. disclose the claimed invention comprising: a rotor core (reference numeral 2) having a substantially annular shape centered on a rotation axis (see figure 16A); and a plurality of magnetic pole portions (reference numeral 7) provided along a circumferential direction of the rotor core (see figure 16A), wherein each of the magnetic pole portions (reference numeral 7) includes a magnet accommodating hole (reference numerals 5, 6) provided in the rotor core and extending in an axial direction (see figure 16A), and at least one magnet (reference numerals 3A, 4A) accommodated in the magnet accommodating hole (see figure 16A), the at least one magnet (reference numerals 3A, 4A, see figure 16A) has a coercive force distribution in a predetermined direction (see also paragraph [0110]). Sakai et al. however do not specifically disclose the at least one magnet being accommodated in the magnet accommodating hole such that a direction of the coercive force distribution is the axial direction and a coercive force of an outer end, in the axial direction, of the at least one magnet being larger than a coercive force of an inner portion of the at least one magnet.
Kogure et al. disclose the coercive force of the magnet (reference numeral 21) being in the axial direction (see figure 2) with the outer end (reference numeral 21a) of the magnet having greater coercive force than an inner portion (see figure 2, and also see English translation of Kogure et al., Detailed Description, paragraph [0027]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the axial direction for the coercive force as disclosed by Kogure et al. for the magnet of Sakai et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for achieving optimal magnetic field characteristics for the device.
For claim 5, Sakai et al. disclose each of the magnetic pole portions (reference numeral 7, figure 16A) having a plurality of the magnet accommodating holes (reference numeral 5) along the circumferential direction (see figure 16A), and the magnet (reference numeral 3A) accommodated in the magnet accommodating hole, among the plurality of the magnet accommodating holes, on an outer side in the circumferential direction of each of the magnetic pole portions (i.e. magnets 3A on the outer side holes 5 for each magnet pole portion 7, figure 16A) having a larger coercive force than a larger coercive force of the magnet (i.e. magnet 4A) accommodated in the magnet accommodating hole (reference numeral 6, figure 16A), among the plurality of the magnet accommodating holes, on an inner side in the circumferential direction (i.e. magnets 4A in the inner hole 6 of the magnet accommodating holes of the magnetic pole portion 7 having a lower coercive force compared to magnets 3A, see figure 16A, and paragraph [0110]).
Claim(s) 2 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakai et al. in view of Kogure et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Asaga et al. (Japanese Patent Document No.: JP 2013132116 A).
For claim 2, Sakai et al. in view of Kogure et al. disclose the claimed invention except for the at least one magnet accommodated in the magnet accommodating hole being a plurality of magnets, and a magnet, among the plurality of magnets, disposed on an outer side in the axial direction having a larger coercive force than a coercive force of a magnet, among the plurality of magnets, disposed on an inner side in the axial direction. Asaga et al. disclose a plurality of magnets (reference numerals 51a-51f, 51g-51j, see figures 3-5) in the magnet accommodating hole (reference numeral 41a) with the magnets having different coercive forces (see English translation of Asaga et al., Detailed Description, paragraphs [0039-0046]), and when combined with Kogure et al. teaching larger coercive force on the outer side in the axial direction (i.e. outer end 21a having greater coercive force for magnet 21, see figure 2(a) and English translation of Kogure et al., Detailed Description, paragraph [0027]) this would disclose a magnet disposed on an outer side in the axial direction having a larger coercive force than a coercive force of a magnet disposed on an inner side in the axial direction. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the plurality of magnets as disclosed by Asaga et al. with the outer end in the axial direction having larger coercive force as disclosed by Kogure et al. for the magnet of Sakai et al. in view of Kogure et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for achieving optimal magnetic field characteristics for the device.
For claim 6, Sakai et al. disclose each of the magnetic pole portions (reference numeral 7, figure 16A) having a plurality of the magnet accommodating holes (reference numeral 5) along the circumferential direction (see figure 16A), and the magnet (reference numeral 3A) accommodated in the magnet accommodating hole, among the plurality of the magnet accommodating holes, on an outer side in the circumferential direction of each of the magnetic pole portions (i.e. magnets 3A on the outer side holes 5 for each magnet pole portion 7, figure 16A) having a larger coercive force than a larger coercive force of the magnet (i.e. magnet 4A) accommodated in the magnet accommodating hole (reference numeral 6, figure 16A), among the plurality of the magnet accommodating holes, on an inner side in the circumferential direction (i.e. magnets 4A in the inner hole 6 of the magnet accommodating holes of the magnetic pole portion 7 having a lower coercive force compared to magnets 3A, see figure 16A, and paragraph [0110]).
Claim(s) 3, 4, 7, and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakai et al. in view of Kogure et al. as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Ichien et al. (US Patent Application Pub. No.: US 2021/0135518 A1).
For claim 3, Sakai et al. in view of Kogure et al. disclose the claimed invention except for the magnet disposed on the outer side in the axial direction being larger in size than the magnet disposed on the inner side in the axial direction. Having the magnets larger on the outer side in the axial direction is a known skill as exhibited by Ichien et al. (reference numerals 5312, 5332, see figure 10), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the larger magnets as disclosed by Ichien et al. for the outer side in the axial direction of Sakai et al. in view of Kogure et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for achieving optimal magnetic field characteristics for the device.
For claim 4, Sakai et al. in view of Kogure et al. and Ichien et al. disclose the claimed invention except for the magnet disposed on the outer side in the axial direction being longer in the axial direction than the magnet disposed on the inner side in the axial direction. Ichien et al. further disclose the magnets on the outer side being longer in the axial direction (reference numerals 5312, 5332, see figure 10), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the longer magnets in the axial direction as disclosed by Ichien et al. for the outer side magnets along the axial direction of Sakai et al. in view of Kogure et al. and Ichien et al. for predictably providing desirable configuration for achieving optimal magnetic field characteristics for the device.
For claims 7 and 8, Sakai et al. disclose each of the magnetic pole portions (reference numeral 7, figure 16A) having a plurality of the magnet accommodating holes (reference numeral 5) along the circumferential direction (see figure 16A), and the magnet (reference numeral 3A) accommodated in the magnet accommodating hole, among the plurality of the magnet accommodating holes, on an outer side in the circumferential direction of each of the magnetic pole portions (i.e. magnets 3A on the outer side holes 5 for each magnet pole portion 7, figure 16A) having a larger coercive force than a larger coercive force of the magnet (i.e. magnet 4A) accommodated in the magnet accommodating hole (reference numeral 6, figure 16A), among the plurality of the magnet accommodating holes, on an inner side in the circumferential direction (i.e. magnets 4A in the inner hole 6 of the magnet accommodating holes of the magnetic pole portion 7 having a lower coercive force compared to magnets 3A, see figure 16A, and paragraph [0110]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references disclose embodiments of rotor magnet configurations: US 11349420 B2 (Takahashi; Yuki), US 11165322 B2 (Ko; Hyojin et al.), US 11159067 B2 (Ichien; Akira et al.), US 9735631 B2 (Kayano; Shinsuke et al.), US 9496774 B2 (Hashiba; Yutaka et al.), US 8653710 B2 (Takahashi; Norio et al.), US 8053942 B2 (Abe; Shoei et al.), US 8044548 B2 (Sakai; Kazuto et al.), US 6849981 B2 (Kojima; Hiroaki et al.), US 20180183289 A1 (HORIUCHI; Yosuke et al.), US 20160276886 A1 (BABA; Kazuhiko et al.), US 20140184005 A1 (Kim; Jung Shik et al.), US 20040145263 A1 (Kojima, Hiroaki et al.).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX W MOK whose telephone number is (571)272-9084. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-4pm.
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/ALEX W MOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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