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 .
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) 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5,064,345 to Kimball.
In Reference to Claim 1
Kimball discloses:
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A fan wheel for a motor vehicle, the fan wheel comprising:
a hub 18 to which at least two sickled fan blades are connected (see fig.3) , each of the at least two sickled fan blades having a front edge A and a rear edge B, and at an end being connected to an outer ring, wherein a first angle D is formed between the front edge and the outer ring 20, wherein a second angle F is formed between the rear edge and the outer ring 20, and
Kimball does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first and second angles are greater than 90°.
Kimball however does disclose in Fig.1A (annotated above) angles D and F are both angles that are greater that 90 degrees (right angle).
At the time claimed invention was filed it would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill to recognized that the angle D and F are greater than 90 degree.
In Reference to Claim 2
Kimball discloses:
wherein the fan blades are sickled forward, see Fig.1.
In Reference to Claim 3
Kimball does not discloses:
wherein the rear edges and the hub in each case form an angle that is less than 60°, and wherein the front edges and the hub in each case form an angle that is greater than 100°.
However the rear edges and the hub in each case form an angle that is less than 60°, and wherein the front edges and the hub in each case form an angle that is greater than 100°, would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill of the art at the time of the invention as a matter of design choice since there is no demonstrated motivation or reason for one of ordinary skill in the art to angle that is less that 60 degree and greater than 100. See MPEP § 2144.04(VI)(C).
In Reference to Claim 4
Kimball does not discloses:
wherein the first angle is between 150° and 160°.
However wherein the first angle is between 150° and 160°, would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill of the art at the time of the invention as a matter of design choice since there is no demonstrated motivation or reason for one of ordinary skill in the art to angle wherein the first angle is between 150° and 160°. See MPEP § 2144.04(VI)(C).
In Reference to Claim 5
Kimball does not discloses:
wherein the first angle is between 140° and 160°.
However wherein the first angle is between 140° and 160°, would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill of the art at the time of the invention as a matter of design choice since there is no demonstrated motivation or reason for one of ordinary skill in the art to angle wherein the first angle is between 140° and 160°. See MPEP § 2144.04(VI)(C).
In Reference to Claim 6
Kimball discloses:
wherein the front edges are uniformly curved, see Fig.1.
In Reference to Claim 7
wherein the curvature characteristic of the rear edges changes at an inflection point I.
In Reference to Claim 8
Kimball discloses:
wherein the distance of the inflection point from the hub is between 80% and 90% of a distance of the outer ring from the hub, see Fig.1.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5,064,345 to Kimball as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2023/0392538 to Froh et al. (Froh).
In Reference to Claim 9
Kimball discloses:
A radiator fan for a motor vehicle or a main fan of a motor vehicle, the radiator fan comprising: the fan wheel according to claim 1;
Kimball does not disclose:
and a fan shroud with a circular cutout, within which the fan wheel is arranged, and which is driven by an electric motor that is connected to the fan shroud.
Froh discloses a fan shroud 2 with a circular cutout, within which the fan wheel is arranged, and which is driven by an electric motor 10that is connected to the fan shroud, see paragraph [0033-0034].
At the time claimed invention was filed it would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill to include a fan shroud 2 and electric motor 10, combine the teachings of Froh with Kimball, since this would enable the practitioner of the primary reference to practice the advantage of attaching the fan of Kimball into the radiator.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY AYALA DELGADO whose telephone number is (571)270-3452. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark III Laurenzi can be reached at (571) 270-7878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANTHONY AYALA DELGADO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
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