DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claims 12 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 12 should depend from claim 10, not claim 1.
In claim 15, the term “cords” in lines 3 and 9 should be changed to --cores--.
Appropriate corrections are required.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schob 6,171,078.
Schob (see embodiment in Fig. 4) discloses, regarding claims 1 and 14, a centrifugal pump 1 for conveying a fluid, comprising: a pump unit 2/5, which includes the pump unit 2/5 and a stator 6 extending in an axial direction from a first axial end to a second axial end, a cup-shaped recess (see recess created by the stator 6 in Fig. 4) disposed at the first axial end, into which the pump unit 2/5 is capable of being inserted (clearly shown in Fig. 4), the pump unit 2/5 comprising: a pump housing 2 with an inlet 3 and an outlet 4 for a fluid to be conveyed; and a rotor 5 arranged in the pump housing 2, the rotor including a plurality of vanes 51 configured to convey the fluid, each vane 51 of the plurality of vanes extending in the axial direction to an end face of the rotor facing the inlet 3 (clearly shown in Fig. 4), the pump housing 2 delimiting a pump chamber, the rotor 5 configured to be rotated about the axial direction, the pump unit 2/5 configured for a non-contact magnetic levitation of the rotor 5 and for a non-contact magnetic drive of the rotor 5 by the stator 6, the pump housing 2 having a cover part 22 and a bottom part 21, the bottom part 21 having a cylindrical cup to receive the rotor 5 (see cup-shaped bottom part 21 which fits into 6 in Fig. 4), the cup configured to be inserted into the cup-shaped recess of the stator 6, the inlet 3 having a lip forming an axial end of the inlet 3 (see how the cover 22 has a lower portion that forms a pointed lip above the rotor 5), the lip projecting into the pump chamber (clearly shown in Fig. 4) and, when viewed in a flow direction, ends in front of the end face of the rotor 5 when the rotor is centered with respect to the axial direction in an operating state (this is arrangement is clearly shown in Fig. 4); and the stator extending in the axial direction from the first axial end to the second axial end, the cup-shaped recess (of 6) disposed at the first axial end, into which the cylindrical cup of the pump unit 2/5 is capable of being inserted, the stator 6 together with the rotor 5 forming an electromagnetic rotary drive to rotate the rotor 5 about the axial direction, the stator 6 is a bearing and drive stator with which the rotor 5 is capable of being magnetically driven without contact and capable of being magnetically levitated without contact with respect to the stator 6, the rotor 2 passively magnetically stabilized with respect to the axial direction and actively magnetically levitated in a radial plane perpendicular to the axial direction (this is clearly the case; see col. 2, line 53 to col. 3, line 5); Re claim 2, wherein the plurality of vanes 51 of the rotor 5 are arranged around a central inlet area which extends in the axial direction to the end face of the rotor and which has a diameter (substantially broad, clearly shown in Fig. 4); Re claim 3, wherein the rotor 5 has at least one relief opening 10 extending from the central inlet area in the axial direction through the rotor 5; Re claim 4, wherein the lip of the inlet 3 (the lower portion of cover 22 that forms a pointed lip above the rotor 5) has an outer diameter which is larger than the diameter of the central inlet area (clearly shown in Fig. 4); Re claim 5, wherein the lip (the lower portion of cover 22 that forms a pointed lip above the rotor 5) has a substantially triangular profile (clearly shown in Fig. 4), an apex of the triangular profile facing the end face of the rotor; Re claim 6, wherein the lip widens when viewed in the flow direction (clearly shown in Fig. 4); Re claim 7, wherein the lip is outwardly curved (see how the pointed lip at the bottom-most portion of 22 is curved outwardly around the end point and then upwards to form channel 8; Re claim 8, wherein the lip is a cylindrical pipe section (see how the outer end of the lip is cylindrical to create channel 8 in Fig. 4); Re claim 9, wherein the cover part 22 of the pump housing 2 is oblique so that the cover part encloses an angle with the axial direction at the inlet which is greater than 90° (see how the lower part of 22 which leads to the pointed lip is at an oblique angle with respect to inlet pipe 3); Re claim 10, wherein the outlet 4 has an entry surface (see 8) through which the fluid is capable of flowing from the pump chamber into the outlet 4, and the entry surface (see 8) has a profile which is different from a circular surface (see how the “entry surface” for outlet 4 is constructed in an S-shape in Fig. 4); Re claim 11, wherein the profile of the entry surface (see 8) is substantially rectangular (this is clearly shown in Fig. 4); Re claim 12, wherein the profile of the entry surface (8) has rounded corners (see how the “entry surface” for outlet 4 is constructed in an S-shape with rounded corners in Fig. 4); Re claim 13, wherein the profile of the entry surface (see 8) has a profile height in the axial direction and a profile width in a radial direction perpendicular to the axial direction, and the profile width is greater than the profile height (with the “entry surface” dimensions being left substantially broad by the claim language, the examiner has interpreted the “entry surface” in Fig. 4 to extend from the stepped bottom surface of 2, above the radial windings of 6, up to the ceiling of cover 2, i.e. channel 8, and radially out to the outer periphery of 6; the outlet 4 starting just beyond the outer radial end of 61 – thus, the profile width of the “entry surface” is greater than its profile height, as claimed).
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 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schob 6,171,078 in view of Barletta US 2019/0013747 A1.
Schob discloses the invention as discussed above. However, Schob does not teach the motor being a temple motor.
Barletta teaches a centrifugal pump 100 for conveying a fluid, comprising: a pump unit 101/1, which includes the pump unit 101/1 and a stator 104 extending in an axial direction from a first axial end to a second axial end, a cup-shaped recess (see recess created by the stator 104) disposed at the first axial end, into which the pump unit 101/1 is capable of being inserted (clearly shown in Fig. 1), the pump unit 101/1 comprising: a pump housing 101 with an inlet 102 and an outlet 103 for a fluid to be conveyed; and a rotor 1 arranged in the pump housing 101, the rotor including a plurality of vanes 4 configured to convey the fluid, and the stator 104 extending in the axial direction from the first axial end to the second axial end, the cup-shaped recess (of 104) disposed at the first axial end, into which the cylindrical cup of the pump unit 101/1 is capable of being inserted, the stator 104 together with the rotor 1 forming an electromagnetic rotary drive to rotate the rotor 1 about the axial direction; regarding claim 15, wherein the electromagnetic rotary drive is a temple motor (see para. [0064]), the stator has a plurality of coil cores 105, each of the coil cores 105 of the plurality of coil cores 105 comprising a longitudinal leg extending from a first end in the axial direction to a second end, and a transverse leg arranged at the second end of the longitudinal leg and in the radial plane and extending from the longitudinal leg in the radial direction, the plurality of coil cores arranged around the rotor 1 with respect to a circumferential direction, so that the rotor 1 is arranged between the transverse legs of the plurality coil cores 105, and at least one concentrated winding is disposed at and surrounds the longitudinal leg of each coil core 105 of the plurality of coil cores (clearly shown in Fig. 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to have modified the motor of Schob by implementing a temple motor, as taught by Barletta, in order to allow the pump to fit a desired space footprint within an apparatus.
Conclusion
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PJB
/PETER J BERTHEAUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746