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 § 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kosaka et al. (US 2024/0229921 A1). Kosaka discloses a vehicle drive device (fig. 1) comprising:
Re claim 1, an output member (40) drivingly coupled to a wheel (W); a rotary electric machine (2) including a rotor (21); a power transmission mechanism (3-5) that transmits power between the rotor and the output member; and a case (HS) including an accommodation chamber (Sa,Sb) that accommodates the rotary electric machine and the power transmission mechanism, the power transmission mechanism including a plurality of rotation shafts and gears disposed on the respective rotation shafts (figs. 1-2), wherein the vehicle drive device includes a support member (72) that is disposed in the accommodation chamber, is fixed to the case, and holds a plurality of bearings (B1,B3) rotatably supporting the plurality of rotation shafts included in the power transmission mechanism, and a catch tank (CT2) that stores oil scraped up by at least any of the gears included in the power transmission mechanism, wherein the catch tank is formed of only the support member or formed of the support member and a member other than the case (fig. 3 and fig. 14), and wherein at least part of the support member is disposed inside the case (fig. 5).
Re claim 5, wherein the vehicle drive device includes, as the output member, a first output member (5A) drivingly coupled to a first wheel (fig. 1: right wheel) of the wheels and a second output member (5B) drivingly coupled to a second wheel (fig. 1: left W) of the wheels, wherein the power transmission mechanism includes a differential gear mechanism (40) and a counter gear mechanism (3) disposed in a power transmission path between the rotor and the differential gear mechanism, wherein the differential gear mechanism includes a differential input member (FG) and distributes a rotation transmitted to the differential input member to the first output member and the second output member, wherein the counter gear mechanism is disposed at an axis (X2) different from any of a rotation axis (X1) of the rotor and a rotation axis (X1) of the differential input member, and includes a pair of gears (32,33) and a coupling shaft (31) as the rotation shaft coupling the pair of gears, and wherein the support member includes an oil guide structure (730) that guides oil scraped up and scattered by at least one of the pair of gears included in the counter gear mechanism to the differential gear mechanism (figs. 14-15; the oil flung by 32,33,FG will be ultimately be guided by 730 in the recirculation flow process).
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nakata et al. (US 2022/0282784 A1). Nakata discloses a vehicle drive device (fig. 1) comprising:
Re claim 1, an output member (55) drivingly coupled to a wheel (W); a rotary electric machine (2) including a rotor (24); a power transmission mechanism (3) that transmits power between the rotor and the output member; and a case (6) including an accommodation chamber (6A,6B) that accommodates the rotary electric machine and the power transmission mechanism, the power transmission mechanism including a plurality of rotation shafts and gears disposed on the respective rotation shafts (fig. 1), wherein the vehicle drive device includes a support member (61c) that is disposed in the accommodation chamber, is fixed to the case, and holds a plurality of bearings (87,85,89a) rotatably supporting the plurality of rotation shafts included in the power transmission mechanism, and a catch tank (fig. 2: 6t) that stores oil scraped up by at least any of the gears included in the power transmission mechanism, wherein the catch tank is formed of only the support member or formed of the support member and a member other than the case (6t is formed by rib 6c on the face 61f), and wherein at least part of the support member is disposed inside the case (fig. 1-2).
Re claim 2, wherein the support member includes an oil passage (6h) for supplying oil from the catch tank to at least one of the plurality of bearings (85) and the gears supported by the plurality of rotation shafts (fig. 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)1-2 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kosaka et al. (US 2024/0229921 A1) in view of Nakata et al. (US 2022/0282784 A1). Kosaka discloses the vehicle drive device (as cited above):
Re claim 6, wherein the vehicle drive device includes, as the output member, a first output member (5A) drivingly coupled to a first wheel (fig. 1: right wheel) of the wheels and a second output member (5B) drivingly coupled to a second wheel (fig. 1: left W) of the wheels, wherein the power transmission mechanism includes a differential gear mechanism (40) and a counter gear mechanism (3) disposed in a power transmission path between the rotor and the differential gear mechanism, wherein the differential gear mechanism includes a differential input member (FG) and distributes a rotation transmitted to the differential input member to the first output member and the second output member, wherein the counter gear mechanism is disposed at an axis (X2) different from any of a rotation axis (X1) of the rotor and a rotation axis (X1) of the differential input member, and includes a pair of gears (32,33) and a coupling shaft (31) as the rotation shaft coupling the pair of gears, and wherein the support member includes an oil guide structure (730) that guides oil scraped up and scattered by at least one of the pair of gears included in the counter gear mechanism to the differential gear mechanism (figs. 14-15; the oil flung by 32,33,FG will be ultimately be guided by 730 in the recirculation flow process).
Kosaka does not disclose:
Re claim 2, wherein the support member includes an oil passage for supplying oil from the catch tank to at least one of the plurality of bearings and the gears supported by the plurality of rotation shafts.
However, Nakata teaches a vehicle drive device (fig. 1) comprising:
Re claim 2, wherein the support member includes an oil passage (6h) for supplying oil from the catch tank to at least one of the plurality of bearings (85) and the gears supported by the plurality of rotation shafts (fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ an oil passage, as taught by Nakata, to provide direction lubricant supply to the desired bearing.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 are 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.
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior arts of record fail to disclose or render obvious the claimed combination of a vehicle drive device, particularly the first gear is disposed on the axial first side relative to the support member and the second gear is disposed on the axial other side relative to the support member, and wherein the support member has an opening for meshing the first gear and the second gear.
Conclusion
The cited prior art(s) made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. For instance, both US20210071751A1 fig. 2 and US20120286607A1 fig. 1 disclose a counter gear splashing up the oil and a support member within the gear chamber. US11598410B2 shows various catch tanks and passages to direct oil to the gears.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINH D TRUONG whose telephone number is (571) 270-3014. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Hodge can be reached at (571) 272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Minh Truong/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654
