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 .
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 1-2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryo et al (JP2021047147).
As to claim 1, Ryo et al disclose a current sensor as shown in figure 6 having a busbar (30) through which a current to be measured flows; a magnetic detector (40) capable of detecting a magnetic field generated when the current to be measured flows through the busbar (30); and a magnetic shield (20) capable of suppressing external magnetic field noise applied to the magnetic detector, wherein, when a direction in which the busbar (30) extends is a first direction and two directions perpendicular to the first direction and to each other are a second direction and a third direction, the magnetic detector (40) is disposed on one side of the second direction perpendicular to a plate surface of the busbar in such a way as to face the busbar, wherein, when viewed in the first direction, the magnetic shield (20) has a U-shape including a bottom that is disposed on another side of the second direction in such a way as to face the busbar and that extends in the third direction and side walls extending from both ends of the bottom in the third direction to the one side of the second direction, wherein, in the current sensor (40) in which the busbar (30) is disposed between the pair of side walls (23,24), wherein the magnetic detector (40) is located farther from the bottom in the second direction than the ends on the one side of the second direction, and the busbar (40) is located closer to the bottom in the second direction than the ends on the one side of the second direction, and wherein the magnetic shield (20) capable of suppressing the external magnetic field noise is not provided for the magnetic detector (40) on the one side of the second direction. It is noted that in figure 6, Ryo et al do not show a first dimension of the bottom of the shield (20) in the second direction is larger than a second dimension of the side walls of the shield (20) in the third direction when the magnetic shield is viewed in the first direction.
Ryo et al suggest that the first dimension of the bottom of the shield (20) in the second direction is larger than a second dimension of the side walls of the shield (20) in the third direction when the magnetic shield is viewed in the first direction as shown in figure 4
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the first dimension of the bottom of the shield (20) in the second direction is larger than a second dimension of the side walls of the shield (20) in the third direction when the magnetic shield is viewed in the first direction for the purpose of suppressing the external magnetic field noise on the bottom of the bus bar (30) more efficiently ,
As to claim 2, Ryo et al disclose a current sensor as mentioned in claim 1, but Ryo et al do not mentioned about wherein the first dimension is larger than the second dimension, and is 2.0 times or less larger than the second dimension. However, the size of the first dimension would depend on how efficiently the noise suppression applied to the bottom of the bus bar (30).
As to claim 5, Ryo et al disclose a current sensor as mentioned in claim 1 but do not disclose a second magnetic shield plate formed in a flat plate shape and the second magnetic shield plate are stacked on each other on the bottom of the first magnetic shield (20). However, It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to provide a second magnetic shield stacked at the bottom of the first magnetic shield for the purpose of providing better
suppressing the external magnetic field noise provided for the magnetic detector (40)
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryo et al as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Akihiro et al (JP2013148512).
As to claim 3, Ryo et al disclose a current sensor as mentioned in claim 1, but Ryo et al do not mentioned about the magnetic shield has a configuration in which reference plates, which are flat plates whose outer shapes are a U-shape, are stacked on one another in the first direction such that the outer shapes match.
Akihiro et al disclose a magnetic shield (20) has a configuration in which reference plates, which are flat plates (23) whose outer shapes are a U-shape, are stacked on one another in the first direction such that the outer shapes match.
It would have been obvious for or one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to configure the magnetic shield (20) of Ryo et al with a plurality of stacked flat plates whose outer shapes are a U-shape as taught by Akihiro et al for the purpose of suppressing noise along any length of the magnetic shield.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryo et al in view of Akihiro et al as applied to claims 1 and 3 above, and further in view of NAOMICHI et al (JP2003181968).
As to claim 4, Ryo et al in view of Akihiro et al as mentioned in claims 1 and 3 but do not teach insulating layers are provided between the adjacent reference plates.
NAOMICHI et al teach that an insulating layer is formed on the surface of such magnetic strips to suppress losses due to eddy currents (see paragraph # 003).
It would have been obvious for or one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to provide an insulating layer as taught by NAOMICHI between the adjacent reference plates in the device of Ryo et al in view of Akihiro et al for the purpose of suppressing losses due to eddy currents.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tamura (PG-Pub# 20250044325 A1) discloses Current Sensor.
Nakayama Pat# 10,184,960) discloses current sensor.
Nomura et al (Pat# 9,915,685) disclose Electrical Current Detection System.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VINH P NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1964. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:00am-4:00pm.
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/VINH P NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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