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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TAMAKI (US 2017/0302118 A1) in view of HAMASU (JP 2006-320136 A, citations to the English machine translation of record).
Regarding claim 1, Tamaki teaches a stator core(stator 1, 2; ¶[0028], ¶[0050]) comprising:
a circular cylindrical ring part(circular cylindrical part 111 of the teeth unit 11; ¶¶[0029]-[0030]; FIGS. 2, 5);
a plurality of teeth provided on the ring part and protruding outward in a radial direction(projection parts 112 projecting radially outwardly from the circular cylindrical part 111, spaced uniformly in the circumferential direction; ¶[0030]; FIGS. 2, 5), the recited alternative of protruding inward in the radial direction being an alternative limitation of which only one alternative need be taught;
coils provided on the teeth(windings 14 wound on bobbins 13 fitted over the projection parts 112; ¶¶[0033], [0035]; FIG. 5);
and an insulation part that provides insulation between the coils on each pair of adjacent teeth(second insulating member 16 electrically insulating windings 14 of different phases in each gap C between adjacent bobbins; ¶¶[0034], [0050], [0054]; FIGS. 5-7),
the insulation part including a circular cylindrical retainer(coupling part 162 of annular shape at one end of the interphase insulating parts, shown as a short circular cylinder; ¶[0052]; FIG. 6),
and separators provided on the retainer and protruding in the radial direction, the separators separating each pair of adjacent coils from each other(interphase insulating parts 161 coupled to and integrated by the coupling part 162, each extending in the radial direction of the stator and fitted in the gap C between adjacent windings 14 of different phases; ¶¶[0051]-[0052], [0054]; FIG. 6).
Tamaki does not explicitly teach the retainer disposed on the ring part.
However, Hamasu teaches a connected interphase insulating sheet (39) for insertion between the adjacent coils (8) of a stator, in which a plurality of interphase insulating sheets (39b) are connected in a ring shape by a connecting portion (39c), and in which, upon installation, the connecting portion (39c) is positioned on the back surface of the yoke portion (1c) of the stator (¶¶[0028], [0030]; FIGS. 8-9).
Hamasu is analogous art because it is directed to interphase insulation structures disposed between the adjacent coils of a stator of a rotating electric machine, the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified Tamaki wherein the retainer disposed on the ring part , as taught by Hamasu. One would be motivated to dispose the coupling part of Tamaki on the ring part as taught by Hamasu in order to accurately position the interphase insulating member relative to the stator core and to permit all of the separators to be inserted between the adjacent coils in a single, mechanizable operation (HAMASU ¶¶[0028], [0030], [0032]-[0033]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art of TAMAKI (US 2017/0302118 A1), HAMASU (JP 2006-320136 A), and ICHINOMIYA (JP 2003-047188 A) does not teach or fairly suggest “the retainer is disposed on an outer circumference of the ring part” with the separators protruding outward therefrom (claim 2), nor “the retainer is disposed on an inner circumference of the ring part” with the separators protruding inward therefrom (claim 3). TAMAKI's coupling part (162) is arranged at one axial end of the interphase insulating parts (¶[0052]) and is not disposed on a circumference of the circular cylindrical part (111); HAMASU's connecting portion (39c) rests on the back surface of the yoke (¶[0030]) as a polygonal frame from which the insulating sheets (39b) depend axially rather than protruding radially from a circumferentially disposed retainer; and ICHINOMIYA's annular member (6a), while a circular cylindrical member carrying radially protruding partition plates (10a), is attached to the inner diameter side of the winding ends protruding from the stator end face and is fastened to the windings themselves (¶[0028]), not disposed on a circumference of the ring part. Claim 5 additionally recites nested inner and outer ring parts with an inner retainer disposed on an outer circumference of the inner ring part and an outer retainer disposed on an inner circumference of the outer ring part, carrying inner and outer separators respectively, which dual-retainer arrangement is not taught or suggested by the prior art of record.
Claims 4 and 6-8 depend from claims 2 and 3.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure.
ICHINOMIYA (JP 2003-047188 A) discloses a circular cylindrical annular member attached at the coil ends and carrying radially protruding partition plates separating adjacent windings.
TAKESHITA (US 2011/0156525 A1) discloses wedge members having partition wall portions inserted into slots between adjacent magnetic pole portions, integrally coupled by an annular continuous coupling portion located at the coil ends.
VAN TIEM (US 2012/0187797 A1) discloses an insulator assembly having an annular ring attached to a stator core and coil separators extending axially from the annular ring between adjacent coils of different phases.
WALISKO (US 2020/0366173 A1) discloses a coil separator cage having an annular disc-shaped base part fastened to an end face of a stator core and separating webs extending axially into the stator slots.
MORISHIRO (JP 2017-112721 A) discloses an interphase insulation unit having upper and lower rings connected by interphase insulators carrying blades disposed between adjacent coils.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMED QURESHI whose telephone number is (571)-272-8310. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tulsidas Patel can be reached on 571-272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pairdirect. uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/MOHAMMED AHMED QURESHI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2834
Prosecution Insights