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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (KR 1020180092423) in view of Hattori et al. (US 20210143708).
1. Kim teaches:
A motor (fig 1), comprising:
a rotor 20 including a rotating shaft 10 rotatable around a central axis (fig 1);
a stator 30 that is radially opposed to the rotor;
a housing (the housing is made of two parts; housing 40 + bracket 200) that accommodates the rotor and the stator (fig 1); and
a connector/grommet 400 that is inserted (the connector is between the bracket and housing, fig 1) and fixed (via protrusions 120 and holes 410, figs 1-4) to the housing and is connected to a busbar/terminal 32 in a radial direction (figs 1-4); but does not teach that the connector includes at least two support portions respectively located on two sides of the connector and respectively connected and fixed to a side wall and a bottom surface of the housing in an axial direction.
Hattori et al. teach that the connector 200 includes at least two support portions/body projection 211 respectively located on two sides of the connector (via flange 220, fig 27) and respectively connected and fixed to a side wall/heatsink protrusion 104 and a bottom surface (where the flange 220 meets the heatsink projection 104, fig below) of the housing (the housing is of three parts: heatsink 100, cover 30, and housing 10, fig 1) in an axial direction (annotated fig 28 below) to facilitate maintenance with the connector which would improve the motor’s durability.
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As a result, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the invention being effectively filed to modify it such that the connector includes at least two support portions respectively located on two sides of the connector and respectively connected and fixed to a side wall and a bottom surface of the housing in an axial direction, as taught by Hattori et al. so as to improve the durability of the motor.
2. Kim in view of Hattori et al. teach:
The motor according to claim 1, wherein the at least two support portions (of Hattori et al.) are located on a radially outer side of a side wall of the connector (of Hattori et al., fig 26).
3. Kim in view of Hattori et al. teach:
The motor according to claim 1, wherein a length of the at least two support portions (of Hattori et al.) in the axial direction is greater than or equal to a length of the side wall of the housing (of Hattori et al., fig 28).
4. Kim in view of Hattori et al. teach:
The motor according to claim 3, wherein one end of the at least two support portions (of Hattori et al.) in the axial direction is parallel to or higher than the side wall of the housing (of Hattori et al., fig 28), and the other end extends toward the bottom surface of the housing (of Hattori et al., fig 28) and protrudes from a bottom of the connector (of Hattori et al., fig 28).
5. Kim in view of Hattori et al. have been discussed above, re claim 1; but do not explicitly teach that a diameter of the at least two support portions is greater than about 20% of a planar length where the at least two support portions are located. However, Hattori et al. teach the two support portions and the planar location and when the only difference between the prior art limitations of structure and the claimed limitations of structure is relative dimensions and the prior art would not perform differently, there is no patentable distinction between the two (MPEP 2144.04 IVA; In Gardner v. TEC Syst., Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984)). That being said, the dimensions of the two support portions and their planar location are not being held patentable and are considered obvious.
6. Kim in view of Hattori et al. teach:
The motor according to claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the portion of at least two support portions inserted into the bottom surface of the housing is semicircular (this is true since the recess of the heatsink projection 104 is semicircular, see fig 21 of Hattori et al.).
7. Kim in view of Hattori et al. teach:
The motor according to claim 1, wherein a circumferential outer surface of the at least two support portions includes at least one rib (see figs 27 & 28).
8. Kim in view of Hattori et al. teach:
The motor according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the connector also includes a bottom support portion that is not on a same straight line as the at least two support portions located on two sides of the connector (of Hattori et al., annotated fig 26 below).
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9. Kim in view of Hattori et al. teach:
The motor according to claim 1, wherein the support portions and the connector are integrally provided portions of a single monolithic structure (of Hattori et al., fig 26).
10. Kim teaches:
An electrical product (power steering (see background of the invention) comprising the motor according to claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERRANCE L KENERLY whose telephone number is (571)270-7851. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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/TERRANCE L KENERLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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