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
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication 2019/0353168 to Fujikawa in view of U. S. Patent Publication 2012/0224991 to Lipinski, U. S. Patent Publication 2018/0340533 to Bohm and U. S. Patent Publication 2020/0007004 to Kim.
Referring to claim 1, Fujikawa teaches an electric liquid pump comprising:
an electric motor (30) including a motor rotor that has a shaft (15) and a magnet portion (34) integrated with one axial end of the shaft (15), and a stator (33) that is disposed radially outside or inside the magnet portion (34) and rotates the motor rotor (15, 34) (Fig. 1, annotated below; paragraphs [0015]-[0024]);
a liquid pump (14) including an inner rotor (22) that has an external tooth and is integrated with an other axial end of the shaft (15), and an outer rotor (23) that has an internal tooth meshing with the external tooth and forms, together with the inner rotor (22), a gap volume portion (24) into which a liquid is suctioned from a suction passage (26) and from which the liquid is discharged toward a discharge passage (25) (Fig. 1, annotated below; paragraphs [0015]-[0024]);
a motor case (32) having a box shape and including therein a first accommodation chamber that accommodates the stator and one axial part of the motor rotor including the magnet portion, a second accommodation chamber that communicates with the first accommodation chamber and accommodates an other axial part of the motor rotor, and a partition wall that has a hole-shaped communication portion allowing the first accommodation chamber and the second accommodation chamber to communicate with each other and is provided between the first accommodation chamber and the second accommodation chamber, in which the liquid circulates through the first accommodation chamber, the second accommodation chamber, and the hole-shaped communication portion (Fig. 1, annotated below; paragraphs [0015]-[0024]); and
a body (12) including a centering body portion inserted into the hole-shaped communication portion to be centered, a general body portion being continuous with the centering body portion and accommodated in the second accommodation chamber, and a bearing portion (19) formed to penetrate the centering body portion and the general body portion and supporting an axial one portion of the shaft (15) at a position between the magnet portion (34) and the inner rotor (22) (Fig. 1, annotated below; paragraphs [0015]-[0024]).
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector][AltContent: ][AltContent: connector][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: ][AltContent: textbox (General Body Portion)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Centering Body Portion)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Partition Wall)][AltContent: connector][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: ][AltContent: textbox (Second Accommodation Chamber)][AltContent: textbox (Communication Portion)][AltContent: textbox (Rotor Other Axial End)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Rotor One Axial End)][AltContent: textbox (First Accommodation Chamber)][AltContent: arrow]
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Annotation of Fujikawa Figure 1.
Fujikawa is silent as to the material of the inner rotor, the outer rotor and the body, and silent as to how magnets 36 are attached. Lipinski teaches a pump wherein:
each of an inner rotor and an outer rotor is made of a thermosetting resin (paragraphs [0022]-[0023]).
It would be obvious to one of skill in the art, at the time of invention, to modify the pump taught by Fujikawa with the rotor material taught by Lipinski, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Lipinski does not teach a body is made of a thermosetting resin or a magnet portion that is a bonded magnet. Bohm teaches a pump wherein:
a body (15) is made of a thermosetting resin (paragraph [0051]).
It would be obvious to one of skill in the art, at the time of invention, to modify the pump taught by Fujikawa with the body material taught by Bohm, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Bohm does not teach a magnet portion that is a bonded magnet. Kim teaches a pump wherein:
a magnet portion (191) is a bonded magnet (paragraph [0066]).
It would have been obvious before the invention was effectively filed, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to include the magnet portion as taught by Kim into the device of Fujikawa because it has been held that a simple substitution of one known element, the magnet portion of Kim, for another, the magnet portion of Fujikawa, to obtain predictable results, driving the pump, was an obvious extension of prior art teachings, KSR, 550 U.S. at 419, 82 USPQ2d at 1396, MPEP 2141 III B.
Referring to claim 2, Fujikawa, Lipinski, Bohm and Kim teach a pump comprising all the limitations of claim 1, as detailed above and Fujikawa further teaches a pump wherein:
the motor case (32) has a board chamber (52) liquid-tightly isolated from the first accommodation chamber and the second accommodation chamber, and a control board (53) for the stator (33) is disposed in the board chamber (52) (Fig. 1, annotated above; paragraphs [0015]-[0024]).
Referring to claim 3, Fujikawa, Lipinski, Bohm and Kim teach a pump comprising all the limitations of claim 1, as detailed above, but Fujikawa is silent as to the material of the inner rotor, the outer rotor and the body. Lipinski further teaches a pump wherein:
at least one of a thermosetting resin material used for the outer rotor, or a thermosetting resin material used for the inner rotor includes a phenol resin (paragraphs [0022]-[0023]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. IImura, Miyagawa, Pawellek and Sakat teach similar pumps as claimed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRYAN MATTHEW LETTMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7860. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.
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/BRYAN M LETTMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746