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 § 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.
(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 1-3, 6-8, and 12-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wilson et al. (Wilson) (Patent/Publication Number US 2020/0025199).
Regarding claim 1, Wilson discloses a co-rotating scroll compressor (100, 200, 300, 400) (Figures 1-10), comprising: a housing (104, 202, 304, 404) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0032, 0054, 0059, 0069]); a motor (146, 149, 240, 320) mounted within the housing (116) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0043, 0051, 0054, 0059]), the motor (146, 149, 240, 320) comprising a first rotor (148, 216, 352, 436, 440) and a second rotor (148, 216, 352, 436, 440) configured to rotate in opposite directions around a main axis (106A, 106B, ) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0043] Also within each motor housing 116 is an electric motor 146, comprising a stator 144 and a rotor 148. Each stator 144 is secured to the adjacent motor mount 196. Each rotor 148 comprises a plurality of permanent magnets, and is secured to one of the cylindrical extensions 162 and 166. The stator may comprise, for example, an electromagnet that, when energized, creates a magnetic field that interacts with the permanent magnets of the rotor 148 and causes the rotor 148 to spin. The cylindrical extensions 162 and 166 thus act as the shaft of the electric motors 146.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0032, 0043, 0054, 0093, 0095]); a proximal scroll plate (108, 160, 164, 204A, 204B, 356A, 356B, 428A, 428B) and a distal scroll plate (108, 160, 164, 204A, 204B, 356A, 356B, 428A, 428B) rotatably disposed within the housing and meshing with each other, wherein the proximal scroll plate is positioned between the motor (146, 149, 240, 320) and the distal scroll plate (e.g. See Paragraphs [0040-0042, 0054, 0059-0060, 0093-0095]); a gear pair (208, 212, 448, 452) coupling the first rotor to the proximal scroll plate such that the proximal scroll plate is configured to rotate around a secondary axis offset relative to the main axis (e.g. See Paragraphs [0054] Turning now to FIG. 4, a scroll device 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure utilize a gear system to transmit rotational force from the motor to the scrolls. The scroll device 200 comprises a housing 202, within which two scrolls 204A, 204B are mounted on bearings 220, 224, thus enabling the scrolls 204A, 204B to rotate relative to the housing 202. Each scroll 220, 224 is fixedly secured to a drive gear 208, which extends around a circumference of the scroll 220, 224. A motor 240 is secured to the housing 202 via a housing extension 252. The motor 240 is connected to a drive shaft 216 via a jaw coupling 236. The drive shaft 216 is supported within the housing by two bearings 228. Two drive gears 212 are mounted to the drive shaft 216, with each drive gear 212 positioned to engage a corresponding drive gear 208. ......) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0040-0042, 0072-0073, 0095]), a gear ratio of the gear pair (208, 212, 448, 452) being equal to a rotational speed ratio of the first rotor to the second rotor (e.g. See Paragraphs [0057, 0064-0065, 0095]); and a support cylinder (104A, 104B, 162, 166) connecting the second rotor to the distal scroll plate such that the distal scroll plate is configured to rotate synchronously with the second rotor around the main axis (e.g. See Paragraphs [0092] Aspects of the foregoing scroll device include: wherein the first motor is operably connected to the first scroll and a second motor is operably connected to the second scroll; a controller for controlling an operating speed of the first motor and of the second motor; wherein the first plurality of bearings comprises a first bearing positioned proximate a first end of the first cylindrical extension and a second bearing positioned proximate an opposite end of the first cylindrical extension; wherein the housing comprises a scroll housing, a scroll plate secured to the scroll housing, a motor housing secured to the scroll plate, and an endplate secured to the motor housing; wherein the scroll housing comprises a first cylindrical portion and a second cylindrical portion, the first and second cylindrical portions having offset axes; ......) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0039-0042, 0091-0092]).
Regarding claim 2, Wilson further discloses an outer bearing (220, 224, 228, 332, 328, 446, 460) mounted within the support cylinder, an eccentric block supported by the outer bearing, and an inner bearing (220, 224, 228, 332, 328, 446, 460) mounted within the eccentric block, wherein the proximal scroll plate is positioned within the support cylinder and supported by the inner bearing (e.g. See Paragraphs [0054, 0060, 0070, 0072, 0092]).
Regarding claim 3, Wilson further discloses wherein the housing (104, 202, 304, 404) comprises a housing body defining an interior chamber and an isolation plate (304, 316) disposed within the housing body, wherein the isolation plate divides the interior chamber into an intake chamber (308) and an exhaust chamber (312), and the distal scroll plate (108, 160, 164, 204A, 204B, 356A, 356B, 428A, 428B) is supported by a distal bearing mounted on the isolation plate (120) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0054] Turning now to FIG. 4, a scroll device 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure utilize a gear system to transmit rotational force from the motor to the scrolls. The scroll device 200 comprises a housing 202, within which two scrolls 204A, 204B are mounted on bearings 220, 224, thus enabling the scrolls 204A, 204B to rotate relative to the housing 202. Each scroll 220, 224 is fixedly secured to a drive gear 208, which extends around a circumference of the scroll 220, 224. A motor 240 is secured to the housing 202 via a housing extension 252. The motor 240 is connected to a drive shaft 216 via a jaw coupling 236. The drive shaft 216 is supported within the housing by two bearings 228. Two drive gears 212 are mounted to the drive shaft 216, with each drive gear 212 positioned to engage a corresponding drive gear 208. ......) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0054, 0059, 0063-0064, 0092-0095]).
Regarding claim 6, Wilson further discloses, wherein the housing body is provided with an inlet in communication with the intake chamber and an outlet in communication with the exhaust chamber (e.g. See Paragraphs [0054, 0059, 0063-0064, 0092-0095]).
Regarding claim 7, Wilson further discloses wherein the motor, the proximal scroll plate, and the distal scroll plate are located within the intake chamber (e.g. See Paragraphs [0054, 0059, 0063-0064, 0092-0095]).
Regarding claim 8, Wilson further discloses wherein the proximal scroll plate comprises a proximal plate body and a proximal scroll body protruding axially from the proximal plate body and the distal scroll plate comprises a distal plate body and a distal scroll body protruding axially from the distal plate body, wherein the proximal scroll body meshes with the distal scroll body (e.g. See Paragraphs [0040-0042, 0054, 0059-0060, 0093-0095]).
Regarding claim 12, Wilson further discloses wherein the proximal scroll body abuts the distal plate body and the distal scroll body abuts the proximal plate body (e.g. See Paragraphs [0040-0042, 0054, 0059-0060, 0093-0095]).
Regarding claim 13, Wilson further discloses wherein the motor further comprises a spindle (216, 352, 436, 456) fixed on the housing and a stator (144, 145) fixed on the spindle, wherein the first rotor and the second rotor are positioned on opposite axial sides of the stator and respectively supported by bearings mounted on the spindle (e.g. See Paragraphs [0043, 0051-0056]).
Regarding claim 14, Wilson further discloses wherein the gear pair comprises a drive gear connected to the first rotor and a driven gear meshing with the drive gear and coupled to the proximal scroll plate (e.g. See Paragraphs [0040-0042, 0072-0073, 0095]).
Regarding claim 15, Wilson further discloses wherein the motor further comprises a stator fixed on the housing and a spindle supported by bearings mounted on the housing, wherein the second rotor is located radially inside of the stator and supported by bearings mounted on the spindle and the first rotor is located radially inside of the second rotor and is fixed on the spindle (e.g. See Paragraphs [0053] Also in some embodiments, the motors 146 or a direct drive motor 149 as described above (and/or a controller of any of the foregoing) may use back emf to determine the angular position of the motor(s), after which the motor(s) may be driven at precisely the right voltage to maintain proper alignment between the scroll 160 and the scroll 164.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0036-0038, 0043, 0051-0054]).
Regarding claim 16, Wilson further discloses wherein the second rotor is supported by two bearings mounted on the spindle and positioned on both axial sides of the first rotor (e.g. See Paragraphs [0036-0038, 0051-0054]).
Regarding claim 17, Wilson further discloses wherein the gear pair comprises a drive gear connected to the spindle and a driven gear meshing with the drive gear and connected to the proximal scroll plate (e.g. See Paragraphs [0040-0042, 0072-0073, 0095]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5, and 9-11 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; and also to overcome the claim objections set forth in this Office action, such as to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101, 112 2nd paragraph, and double patenting.
Since allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant is encouraged to submit Final Formal Drawings (If Needed) in response to this Office action. The early submission of formal drawings will permit the Office to review the drawings for acceptability and to resolve any informalities remaining therein before the application is passed to issue. This will avoid possible delays in the issue process.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and consists of seven patents:
Ge et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2024/0141897), Sakai et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 6234769), Young et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 3884599), Shibamoto et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2004/0101428), Rosson et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2016/0238006), Choi et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2021/0010473), and Iijima et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2021/0381508), all discloses a scrolls pump for use with fluid dispensing system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner Binh Tran whose telephone number is (571) 272-4865. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors, Mark Laurenzi, can be reach on (571) 270-7878. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are (571) 273-8300 for regular communications and for After Final communications.
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Binh Q. Tran
/BINH Q TRAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3748
July 23, 2026
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