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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 04/23/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Murase (JP2018093607).
As to independent claim 1, Murase teaches a circuit-integrated motor, comprising: a motor (12); a control board (60) for controlling the motor (12); and a casing including a partition part dividing a board chamber for housing the control board from a placement space for the motor (12), and a cover disposed on an opposite side of the control board (60) from the partition part (30A), an opposing surface of the partition part (30A) to the control board (60) including: a non-contact region not in contact with the control board (60); and a contact region rising from the non-contact region and in contact with the control board (60), the cover having at least one protrusion (72) which protrudes toward the board chamber at a position overlapping with the contact region of the opposing surface when viewed from a normal direction of the control board (60), the control board (60) being held between the at least one protrusion (72) of the cover (70) and the contact region of the opposing surface of the partition part (30A) as shown in figure 1.
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(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murase (JP2018093607) as applied in claim 1 above, and further in view of Throum (US PG Pub 2005/0088826).
As to claim 2/1, Murase teaches wherein the partition part (30A) includes a side peripheral wall (66) part disposed along an outer peripheral edge of the partition part (30A), the cover (70) includes: a cover plate part (74) extending along the control board (60) on the opposite side of the control board (60) from the partition part (30A) and including the at least one protrusion (72);
Murase teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except at least one hanging part connected to an outer peripheral edge of the cover plate part via a bent portion and extending downward along the side peripheral wall part of the partition part, one of the side peripheral wall part and the hanging part has at least one fitting claw, and the other of the side peripheral wall part and the hanging part has a fitting recess capable of engaging with the or each fitting claw.
Throum teaches least one hanging part (42) connected to an outer peripheral edge of the cover plate part (74) via a bent portion (75) and extending downward along the side peripheral wall part (66) of the partition part (60), one of the side peripheral wall part (66) and the hanging part (76) has at least one fitting claw (76), and the other of the side peripheral wall part (66) and the hanging part (42) has a fitting recess capable of engaging with the or each fitting claw (76) as shown in figures 2-5, for the advantageous benefit of improving heat transfer from the PCB to the cover plate.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Murase by using at least one hanging part connected to an outer peripheral edge of the cover plate part via a bent portion and extending downward along the side peripheral wall part of the partition part, one of the side peripheral wall part and the hanging part has at least one fitting claw, and the other of the side peripheral wall part and the hanging part has a fitting recess capable of engaging with the or each fitting claw, as taught by Throum, to improve heat transfer from the PCB to the cover plate.
As to claim 3/2, Murase in view of Throum teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except wherein the hanging part of the cover is disposed along an outer side surface of the side peripheral wall part, and the fitting claw disposed on the outer side surface of the side peripheral wall part is configured to engage with the fitting recess disposed on the hanging part.
However Throum teaches the hanging part (42) of the cover (16) is disposed along an outer side surface of the side peripheral wall part (66), and the fitting claw (76) disposed on the outer side surface of the side peripheral wall part (66) is configured to engage with the fitting recess disposed on the hanging part (42) as shown in figure 2-5, for the advantageous benefit of improving heat transfer from the PCB to the cover plate.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Murase in view of Throum by using the hanging part of the cover is disposed along an outer side surface of the side peripheral wall part, and the fitting claw disposed on the outer side surface of the side peripheral wall part is configured to engage with the fitting recess disposed on the hanging part, as taught by Throum, to improve heat transfer from the PCB to the cover plate.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murase (JP2018093607) as applied in claim 1 above, and further in view of Kato (US PG Pub 2010/0103632).
As to claim 5/1, Murase teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except wherein the cover includes, as the at least one protrusion, four protrusions provided at four corners of the cover corresponding to four corner portions of the control board.
However Kato teaches the cover (14) includes, as the at least one protrusion (62), four protrusions provided at four corners of the cover (14) corresponding to four corner portions (16a1) of the control board (16) as shown in figure 8, for the advantageous benefit of providing housing case of compact structure, is assembled at low cost.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Murase by using the cover includes, as the at least one protrusion, four protrusions provided at four corners of the cover corresponding to four corner portions of the control board, as taught by Kato, to provide housing case of compact structure, is assembled at low cost.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murase (JP2018093607) as applied in claim 1 above, and further in view of Hatakeyama (US PG Pub 2004/0209498).
As to claim 6/1, Murase teaches comprising a screw fastening (112) the control board (106) to the partition part (30A) as shown in figure 9-13
However Murase teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except wherein the control board has a ground terminal disposed in a portion that is fastened to the partition part by the screw, and the ground terminal is pressed against the partition part having conductivity by fastening force of the screw and electrically connected to the partition part having conductivity.
Hatakeyama teaches the control board (2) has a ground terminal (5) disposed in a portion that is fastened to the partition part (6a) by the screw (7), and the ground terminal (5) is pressed against the partition part having conductivity by fastening force of the screw (7) and electrically connected to the partition part (6a) having conductivity as shown in figure 1-3, see paragraph [0034-0043], for the advantageous benefit of providing a ground terminal which can be downsized and has good electrical connectability with a chassis.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Murase by using the control board has a ground terminal disposed in a portion that is fastened to the partition part by the screw, and the ground terminal is pressed against the partition part having conductivity by fastening force of the screw and electrically connected to the partition part having conductivity, as taught by Hatakeyama, to provide a ground terminal which can be downsized and has good electrical connectability with a chassis.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murase (JP2018093607) as applied in claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhang (CN210111893).
As to claim 7/1, Murase teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except wherein the partition part has a boss protruding from the contact region of the opposing surface toward the cover, and the control board has a through hole into which the boss fits.
However Zhang teaches the partition part (20) has a boss protruding (26) from the contact region of the opposing surface toward the cover , and the control board (12) has a through hole (128) into which the boss fits as shown in figures 8-9, for the advantageous benefit of accurately position the control device relative to the motor and reduce assembly misalignment.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Murase by using the partition part has a boss protruding from the contact region of the opposing surface toward the cover, and the control board has a through hole into which the boss fits, as taught by Zhang, to accurate position the control device relative to the motor and reduce assembly misalignment.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murase (JP2018093607) and Zhang (CN210111893)as applied in claim 7 above, and further in view of Yoshida (EP2579408).
As to claim 8/7, Murase in view of Zhang teaches the claimed limitation as discussed above except wherein the at least one protrusion of the cover has a tip surface having a recess for receiving a top portion of the boss.
However Yoshida teaches at least one protrusion of the cover (72) has a tip surface (54) having a recess for receiving a top portion of the boss (64) as shown in figures 1 and 11, for the advantageous benefit of providing a newly structured electrical junction box that facilitates a positioning operation of positioning bosses formed on one case and positioning recesses formed on the other case, and also implements a compact design.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Murase in view of Zhang by using the at least one protrusion of the cover has a tip surface having a recess for receiving a top portion of the boss, as taught by Yoshida, to provide a newly structured electrical junction box that facilitates a positioning operation of positioning bosses formed on one case and positioning recesses formed on the other case, and also implements a compact design.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 9 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSE A GONZALEZ QUINONES whose telephone number is (571)270-7850. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6:30-2:30 EST.
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, OLUSEYE IWARERE can be reached at (571)270-5112. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JOSE A GONZALEZ QUINONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834 October 14, 2026
Prosecution Insights