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 Objections
Claim 19 is objected to because of the following informalities: Line 6 recites “the stator the stator”. This should be amended to state –the stator--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-6, 10-15 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by GOTO et al. (US 6,595,337).
Regarding claim 1, GOTO discloses a rotary device comprising: a rotatable housing (18); a stator (58) including an annular housing (62) disposed around a portion of the rotatable housing, the stator defining a central opening through which a portion of the rotatable housing extends (see Fig. 2) when the stator is coupled to the rotatable housing, the stator including an inner lip (A, see annotated Figure below) extending radially into the central opening from a radially inwardly facing periphery of the stator; and a bearing race (B) mounted around the portion of the rotatable housing at a fixed position, the bearing race being sized to fit within the central opening of the stator so that an outer periphery of the bearing race opposes the radially inwardly facing periphery of the stator, wherein the inner lip of the stator extends radially inwardly past the outer periphery of the bearing race.
Regarding claim 2, GOTO discloses an abutment surface of the bearing race is disposed radially inward of the outer periphery of the bearing race, the abutment surface being aligned with the inner lip of the stator (@ C in the annotated Figure).
Regarding claim 3, GOTO discloses the bearing race has a constant outer diameter.
Regarding claim 4, GOTO discloses the bearing race is devoid of outwardly extending lips.
Regarding claim 5, GOTO discloses the inner lip (A) is disposed at an axial side of the stator (the lip starts at the right sight axial end of the stator and tapers towards the bearing race).
Regarding claim 6, GOTO discloses an electromagnet disposed at the stator.
Regarding claim 10, GOTO discloses the stator defines a ring-shaped cavity in which the electromagnet is disposed.
Regarding claim 11, GOTO discloses a thickness of the stator does not decrease from an outer radial end of the stator to an inner radial end of the stator.
Regarding claim 12, GOTO discloses rotary device comprising: a rotatable housing; a stator including an annular housing disposed around a portion of the rotatable housing, the stator defining a central opening through which a portion of the rotatable housing extends when the stator is coupled to the rotatable housing; and a bearing race mounted around the portion of the rotatable housing at a fixed position, the bearing race being sized to fit within the central opening of the stator so that an outer periphery of the bearing race opposes a radially inwardly facing periphery of the stator, wherein a thickness of the stator does not decrease as the stator extends radially inwardly towards the outer periphery of the bearing race.
Regarding claim 13, GOTO discloses an axial engagement between the bearing race and the stator is located radially inward of the outer periphery of the bearing race.
Regarding claim 14, GOTO discloses the bearing race has a constant outer diameter.
Regarding claim 15, GOTO discloses the bearing race is devoid of outwardly extending lips.
Regarding claim 17, GOTO discloses a first side of the stator is devoid of concave surfaces.
Regarding claim 18, GOTO discloses a diameter of the central opening at a second side of the stator is less than a diameter of the central opening at a first side of the stator.
Regarding claim 19, GOTO discloses a rotary device comprising: a rotatable housing; a stator including an annular housing disposed around a portion of the rotatable housing, the stator defining a central opening through which a portion of the rotatable housing extends when the stator is coupled to the rotatable housing, the central opening extending between opposite first and second sides of the stator the stator, the stator including a portion extending radially into the central opening at the second side to define an inner lip; a bearing race mounted around the portion of the rotatable housing at a fixed position, the bearing race being sized to fit within the central opening of the stator so that an abutment surface of the bearing race opposes the inner lip of the stator to hold the stator to the rotatable housing.
Regarding claim 20, GOTO discloses the rotatable housing includes a differential case.
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Figure 1: Annotated Fig. 3 from GOTO et al. (US 6,595,337)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GOTO et al. (US 6,595,337).
Regarding claim 16, GOTO discloses an entirety of the stator has a magnetic flux density (col. 5, lines 21-30), but is silent to its value.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to have the magnetic flux density of the stator of GOTO be less than 2 tesla, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEREK D. KNIGHT whose telephone number is (571)272-7951. The examiner can normally be reached Telework: From 5:30am-1:30pm EST.
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/DEREK D KNIGHT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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