Patent Application 18331268 - ELECTRIC COMPRESSOR - Rejection
Patent Application 18331268 - ELECTRIC COMPRESSOR
Title: ELECTRIC COMPRESSOR
Application Information
- Invention Title: ELECTRIC COMPRESSOR
- Application Number: 18331268
- Submission Date: 2025-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Effective Filing Date: 2023-06-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Filing Date: 2023-06-08T00:00:00.000Z
- National Class: 417
- National Sub-Class: 423100
- Examiner Employee Number: 84964
- Art Unit: 3746
- Tech Center: 3700
Rejection Summary
- 102 Rejections: 1
- 103 Rejections: 3
Cited Patents
The following patents were cited in the rejection:
Office Action Text
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 12 is objected to because of the following informalities: there is a spelling error in Line 13; “bearging” should be “bearing”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 1 and its dependents are 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.
Claim 1, Line 2, recites “a housing of a motor as a power source of a compressor unit”. This limitation lacks clarity, as it appears to claim the housing as a power source. Clarification is required to indicate the motor is the power source.
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, 4-10, 15, and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by An et al (US PGPub No. 2018/0080499).
An teaches:
limitations from claim 1, an electric compressor (1) comprising: a housing of a motor as a power source of a compressor unit (see FIG. 2 and drive portion 3); a rotor (11a) rotating around a rotation axis (“O”) in the housing; a pressurizing spring (32) biasing the rotor in a rotation axis direction (paragraph 49); a rolling bearing (16) that is interposed between the housing and the rotor (FIG. 2), and comprises: an inner ring (20) holding the rotor (paragraph 43); and an outer ring (21) biased by the pressurizing spring to abut against an abutting portion of the housing in the rotation axis direction (paragraph 43); and a stopper (18, 43 or alternatively body 66 in FIG. 4) that prohibits the rotor from displacing beyond a predetermined limit displacement amount against a biasing of the pressurizing spring, and that allows the rotor to displace within the limit displacement amount (see FIG. 2, paragraphs 53-54) wherein, when the rotor is displaced to the limit displacement amount, the pressurizing spring after being deformed has a height that is equal to or more than a closed height of the pressurizing spring (a spring, such as the spring 32 taught by An, is necessarily at its shortest height when closed, i.e. fully compressed; therefore at the limit displacement, to the right in FIG. 2, the spring height must be at least equal to the closed height);
limitations from claim 4, wherein the rolling bearing is an angular contact ball bearing installed in a direction that supports a thrust force in a biasing direction of the pressurizing spring (16; paragraph 42);
limitations from claim 5, wherein, when the rotor is displaced to the limit displacement amount, the pressurizing spring after being deformed is in a state of maintaining an elastic repulsive force (paragraphs 57, 60; FIG. 2; the spring is compressed at the limit displacement and therefore provides an elastic force to the left in FIG. 2);
limitations from claim 6, wherein the stopper (18, 43, 66) is provided in the housing, and the displaced rotor directly or indirectly interferes with the stopper (see FIG. 2; via the bearing 16);
limitations from claim 7, wherein the stopper (66; FIG. 4) is a retaining ring member (paragraph 84) that is fitted in a groove extending in a circumferential direction in an inner peripheral surface of the housing (see annotated FIG. 4 below);
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limitations from claim 8, wherein the stopper (18) is directly or indirectly provided on the rotor (via bearing 16), and displaces together with the rotor to interfere with the housing (paragraphs 48-49);
limitations from claim 9, an electric compressor (1) comprising: a housing accommodating a motor (see FIG. 2 and drive portion 3); a rotor (11a) that comprises a rotation shaft and rotates around a rotation axis in the housing (“O”); a pressurizing spring (32) that biases the rotor in a rotation axis direction from a second end of the housing to a first end of the housing (paragraph 49); a first rolling bearing (49 or alternatively 16) interposed between the housing and the rotor in a radial direction (FIG. 1-2), a retainer (18) interposed between the rotor and the second end of the housing in the rotation axis direction, and a stopper (66 or alternatively 43) that is interposed between the retainer and the second end of the housing in the rotation axis direction with a gap (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 4) between the retainer and the stopper, wherein the gap corresponds a predetermined limit displacement amount of the rotor (the rotor 11a is attached to retainer 18 which moves axially and therefore is limited by the distance between the retainer and the stopper 66 in the axial direction);
limitations from claim 10, wherein, when the rotor is displaced to the limit displacement amount, the pressurizing spring after being deformed is in a state of maintaining an elastic repulsive force (paragraphs 57, 60; FIG. 2; the spring is compressed at the limit displacement and therefore provides an elastic force to the left in FIG. 2);
limitations from claim 15, further comprising a second rolling bearing (16) interposed between the first rolling bearing (49) and the retainer (18) in the rotation axis direction (see FIG. 1-2), wherein, the second rolling bearing (16) comprises: an inner ring (21) provided on a second small diameter portion of the rotor (see FIG. 1), wherein an end surface of the inner ring abuts against a step of the second small diameter portion (see projection “T”; paragraph 43); an outer ring (21) that is slidable in the rotation axis direction with respect to an inner peripheral surface of the housing (paragraph 48-49); and a bearing ball (22) provided between the inner ring and the outer ring in the radial direction (FIG. 2; paragraph 42);
limitations from claim 17, wherein the retainer (18) is interposed between the second rolling bearing (16) and the stopper in the rotation axis direction, wherein the retainer comprises a protruding portion (31, 33) that protrudes in the rotation axis direction towards the outer ring of the second rolling bearing (see FIG. 2), and wherein the retainer is biased by the pressurizing spring (32) to abut against the outer ring of the second rolling bearing (paragraphs 49-50);
limitations from claim 18, wherein the stopper (66) has a ring shape (paragraph 84) and is interposed between the retainer and the second end of the housing in the rotation axis direction along an inner peripheral surface of the housing (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 4);
limitations from claim 19, wherein the stopper (43) is a step provided on an inner peripheral surface of the housing between the retainer (18) and the second end of the housing in the rotation axis direction (see FIG. 4);
limitations from claim 20, an electric compressor (1) comprising: a housing accommodating a motor (see FIG. 2 and drive portion 3); a rotor (11a) that comprises a rotation shaft and rotates around a rotation axis (“O”) in the housing; a pressurizing spring (32) that biases the rotor in a rotation axis direction from a second end of the housing to a first end of the housing (paragraph 49); a first rolling bearing (16) interposed between the housing and the rotor in a radial direction (FIG. 2), a retainer (18) interposed between the rotor and the second end of the housing in the rotation axis direction, and a stopper (43 or alternatively 66) that is interposed between the retainer and the second end of the housing with a gap between the stopper and the second end of the housing (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 4), wherein the gap corresponds a predetermined limit displacement amount of the rotor (the rotor 11a is attached to retainer 18 which moves axially and therefore is limited by the distance between the retainer and the stopper 66 in the axial direction).
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 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An et al (US PGPub No. 2018/0080499) as applied to claims 9 and 15 above, and in further view of Osborne (US Patent No. 3,801,215).
An does not teach a particular value for compressed and uncompressed spring states, such as the relationships of claims 2 and 11;
Osborne teaches a pump (10) including a device (12) to axially absorb loads during pump operation (C. 3 Lines 43-48); the device comprising a spring (80) connected to a moveable shaft (28 via spline 60), and wherein heights of the spring at compressed, partially compressed, and uncompressed states are chosen such that the partially compressed length falls between the compressed and uncompressed (see C. 5 Lines 46-64; particularly values X, Y, and Z);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of pumps at the time the invention was filed to choose values for the spring of An including those of claim 2, such that a height of the spring during operation is between an uncompressed and fully compressed value as taught by Osborne, in order to control the maximum permissible movement of the shaft while controlling “bottoming out”.
Claim(s) 3 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An et al (US PGPub No. 2018/0080499) as applied to claims 9 and 15 above, and as further evidenced by Meares et al (US PGPub No. 2020/0248701).
An teaches:
wherein, the first rolling bearing (16) comprises: an inner ring (21) provided on a first small diameter portion of the rotor (see FIG. 1); an outer ring (21) biased by the pressurizing spring (paragraphs 48-49) to abut against an abutting portion of the housing in the rotation axis direction (43), wherein the abutting portion protrudes inward in the radial direction from an inner peripheral surface of the housing (41; FIG. 2); and a bearing ball (22) provided between the inner ring and the outer ring in the radial direction (FIG. 2; paragraph 42);
An does not explicitly disclose an axial displacement amount, or that the amount is chosen to be less than an amount at which a bearing dislocation would occur;
However, Meares teaches a pump having a rolling bearing (paragraph 2; FIG. 2); and wherein the bearing (1) becomes dislocated when axially displaced (see paragraphs 6, 17, 19 for example);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of pumps at the time the invention was filed to provide an axial displacement limit in the pump of An, in order to avoid pushing the bearing to a dislocated state which may result in pump failure or damage (as evidenced by paragraphs 7-10 of Meares).
Claim(s) 13-14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An et al (US PGPub No. 2018/0080499) as applied to claims 9, 12, and 15.
Regarding claims 13 and 16:
An teaches that the inner ring is interference-fit to the shaft (paragraph 42; “press-fit”); An does not explicitly teach that the outer ring is clearance-fit to the housing, but does teach that the outer bearing ring can be fit using a variety of known methods so long as the bearing is properly fixed (see paragraph 43);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of bearings at the time the invention was filed to secure the outer bearing race of An by substituting one known method of fitting for another, such as a clearance-fit, in order to securely mount the bearing.
An further teaches:
limitations from claim 14, wherein, the first rolling bearing (49) further comprises an O-ring (52) that extends in a circumferential direction and is sandwiched between an outer peripheral surface of the outer ring and the inner peripheral surface of the housing (paragraphs 55, 61);
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
The following prior art teach biased bearing-supported shafts: US 9976476, 8858173, 7855882, 6971801, and 2209109.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH whose telephone number is (571)270-5289. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Essama Omgba can be reached at 469-295-9278. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER S BOBISH/Examiner, Art Unit 3746
