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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 29 January 2025 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(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.
Claims 13 & 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sakuma (US Pat.Pub.2021/0305868).
Regarding claim 13, Sakuma teaches a winding (coils) 11 for a component (stator) 3 of an electric machine (motor) M, wherein the component comprises an annular lamination stack (core) 31 with a plurality of axially extending slots 32 through the lamination stack (¶[0035]), the winding comprising:
partial strands of the winding received in the axially extending slots in a plurality of radially adjacently arranged winding layers, wherein the winding layers comprise:
at least one radially outermost outer (first) layer (in Y2 direction);
a radially innermost inner (eighth) layer (in Y1 direction);
at least one second winding layer arranged adjacent the outer (first) layer;
a third winding layer arranged adjacent the second winding layer;
a fourth winding layer arranged adjacent the third winding layer; and
a fifth winding layer which is adjacent the fourth winding layer and is arranged between the fourth winding layer and the inner (eighth) layer,
wherein an average coil pitch of partial strands of the winding which are guided through the inner (eighth) layer and through the outer (first) layer (e.g., 10C, from slot 8 to slot 16)… differs from another average coil pitch of other partial (sub) strands of the winding,
wherein the other partial strands are guided through the fourth winding layer and the fifth winding layer (e.g., from slot 1 to slot 8; Figs.3-5&11.).
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Regarding claim 19, a further partial strand of the winding is guided through a further input slot (i.e., winding starting end indicated by white circle at winding order No.1; Fig.3) and a further output slot within the outer layer (i.e., winding termination indicated by black circle at winding order No.80; Fig.5).
Regarding claim 20, the winding 11 corresponds to at least a first partial winding and/or a second partial winding.
Substantially similar claim 21 is rejected on the same grounds.
Regarding claim 22, the component (stator) 3 is integrated into the electric machine which is constructed as stator or as rotor of the electric machine and comprises three windings (i.e., three-phase AC synchronous motor M).
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 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakuma in view of Saito et al. (US 10,797,550).
Sakuma does not further teach the three-phase synchronous motor M is “integrated into an electric axle drive for a motor vehicle having a transmission device and a power converter” or part of a “motor vehicle”, per se.
But, Saito teaches rotary electric machines 200, 202 for use in a hybrid vehicle comprising a three-phase machine (axle drive) wherein the torque is used as a driving force to drive front wheels 110 (c.2:40-46; Fig.1). A power converter 600 supplies DC power from a battery to drive the rotary electric machines (c.5:14-17) and rotation torque generated by the machines are transmitted to front wheels (axles) by a transmission 130 (c.5:26-29).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date to integrate Sakuma’s motor into an electric axle drive for a motor vehicle having a transmission device and a power converter since Saito teaches a converter and transmission were known for use in hybrid drive vehicles to supply electric power from a battery and transmit torque to the vehicle wheels, respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-18 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 prior art does not further teach “the partial strands and/or the other partial strands are interconnected with one another in an alternating manner” (claim 14);
or “a first quantity of partial strands and of other partial strands is wound along a first main direction of the winding, and a second quantity of partial strands and of other partial strands of the winding is wound along a second main direction of the winding opposite the first main direction” (claim 15) or
“a first partial strand of the other partial strands has a first input portion, a first output portion and a first connection portion connecting the first input portion and the first output portion, wherein the first input portion is arranged in a first input slot of the slots and in a first input layer of the winding layers, and the first output portion is arranged in a first output slot of the slots which is spaced from the first input slot along a circumference of the lamination stack and in a first output layer of the winding layers, wherein the first output portion is interconnected with a second input portion of a second partial strand of the partial strands wherein the second input portion is arranged in a second input slot of the slots and in a second input layer of the winding layers” (claim 16).
These determinations are based on keyword and citation searches performed in a limited number of subclasses. Artificial intelligence search tools were employed. Nomenclature in the art is inconsistent. For these reasons, the scope of the search was necessarily truncated and relevant art classified outside the subclasses searched and/or using different terminology or keywords may not have been reviewed. See the Search Notes for details.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BURTON S MULLINS whose telephone number is (571)272-2029. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tulsidas C Patel can be reached at 571-272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BURTON S MULLINS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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