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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 10, 2025 has been considered by the Examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 13 recite the limitation “the wear”.
Claim 3 recites the limitation “the environment”.
Claims 6, 8-10 recite the limitation “the movable component”.
Claim 12 recites the limitation “the fluidic inlet and/or outlet”.
Claim 19 recites the limitation “the movable electrifiable moving component”.
There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the corresponding claims.
Remaining claims are rejected for their dependence on independent claims 1, 13 and 20.
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 1-4 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dakai et al. (KR 1989-0006992).
Dakia discloses and shows a system for reducing wear on an electrified component comprising:
an enclosed chamber (1) filled with an inert gas; and
a mechanical component (3,5) that, during operation, is electrified.
Cl. 2 – the enclosed chamber is a hermetically sealed (not shown, pg. 2, 8th paragraph)
Cl. 3 – a hermetic seal (not shown) is fluidly positioned between the enclose chamber and the environment (pg. 2, 8th paragraph).
Cl. 4 – the hermetic seal is a gas seal or an oil seal.
Cl. 6 – during operation the movable component is electrified with direct current (DC, see Fig. 7 for DC discharge characteristics).
Cl. 7 – the mechanical component comprises a movable component (rotor, 5).
Cl. 8 – the movable component comprises a rotor (5) attached to a stator (3).
Cl. 9 – the movable component is operatively attached to a rotatable shaft (see shaft portion beyond the bearing 7 outside of the enclosed chamber), wherein the rotatable shaft optionally comprises a drive shaft or a motor shaft.
Claims 1, 5, 11-13, 15, 16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gunnoe, Jr. (US 4,659,954).
Regarding claim 1, Gunnoe discloses and shows a system for reducing the wear on an electrified component comprising:
an enclosed chamber (34) filled with an inert gas (Abstract); and
a mechanical component (18) that, during operation, is electrified.
Cl. 5 – the inert gas comprises argon, nitrogen or carbon dioxide (col. 4:21-24)
Cl. 11 – the chamber comprises a controlled fluidic inlet and/or outlet that allows inert gas to pass therethrough, wherein the fluidic inlet and/or outlet comprises a fluidic inlet (at 46) and a separate fluidic outlet (at 48).
Cl. 12 – a flow of an inert gas through the fluidic inlet and/or outlet is controlled by a fluidic valve (46 and 48).
Cl. 13 – Gunnoe discloses and shows a system for reducing the wear on an electrified component comprising:
an enclosed chamber (34) fluidly connected to an inert gas supply (44); and
a moveable component (18) that, during operation, is electrified.
Cl. 15 – the enclosed chamber comprises an electric motor compartment, a transmission compartment, or a bearing compartment.
Cl. 16 – the electric motor compartment is fluidly connected to the inert gas supply, the transmission compartment is fluidly connected to the inert gas supply, or the bearing compartment is fluidly connected to the inert gas supply.
Cl. 18 – the system further comprises a pressure controller (46) that regulates a pressure of an inert gas delivered to said enclosed chamber from the inert gas supply.
Cl. 19 – Gunnoe discloses and shows a method of reducing wear in an electrifiable moving component comprising:
encapsulating the movable electrifiable moving component (18) with an inert gas kept in close proximity to said electrifiable moving component; and
controlling pressure of an enclosed chamber (28) housing the electrifiable moving component with a pressure controller (46) operatively connected to the enclosed chamber;
wherein the inert gas is initially placed into at least one compartment of the enclosed chamber, said at least one compartment being completely and hermetically sealed during an entire usable life of the electrifiable moving component.
Cl. 20 – the method further comprising electrifying the electrifiable moving component and powering a machine or an automobile (not shown) with the electrified moving component.
Claims 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Deeg et al. (US 5,950,501).
Regarding claim 1, Deeg discloses and shows a system for reducing the wear on an electrified component comprising:
an enclosed chamber (10) filled with an inert gas (col. 318-22); and
a mechanical component (3) that, during operation, is electrified.
Cl. 10 – the movable component is driven by at least one gear that comprises a first gear (Fig. 3, larger gear) directly attached to a driveshaft (not shown) and a second gear (Fig. 1, item 1) directly attached to a motor shaft (1’, 1”), wherein turning the first gear causes the second gear to turn, which in turn causes the movable component to move.
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 14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gunnoe as applied to claim 13.
Gunnoe discloses and shows the invention of claim 13 as described elsewhere above.
Regarding claim 14, Gunnoe does not specify the system being a drivetrain of an electric vehicle. Regarding claim 17, Gunnoe does not show the enclosed chamber as a gear box. However, and in either instance, it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus form a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. See MPEP 2114(II), Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BOBBY RUSHING, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-0501. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8AM-5PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minnah Seoh can be reached at (571) 270-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BOBBY RUSHING, JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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