Ex Parte Morikaku et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Jul 15, 2013

11226278 (P.T.A.B. Jul. 15, 2013)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________

BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
____________

Ex parte HIDEKI MORIKAKU
and YOSHIHITO ASAO
____________

Appeal 2011-007002
Application 11/226,278
Technology Center 3700
____________

Before JAMES P. CALVE, SCOTT A. DANIELS, and
JEREMY M. PLENZLER, Administrative Patent Judges.

CALVE, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL

STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the rejection of
claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8. App. Br. 4. Claims 3 and 6 are canceled. Id.
We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We REVERSE.
Appeal 2011-007002
Application 11/226,278

2
CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER
Claim 1, the sole independent claim on appeal, is reproduced below:
1. A method of forming a stator of an
electric rotating machine, the method comprising:
providing a stator core having a plurality of
teeth defining a plurality of slots in a
circumferential direction;
providing a plurality of insulators having a
U-shape and a two-layer structure composed of a
paper layer and a resin layer, each of the insulators
including end portions which bend inward at
different angles;
partially inserting the insulators in the slots
so that at least the end portions of the insulators
remain outside of the slots, wherein sides of each
of the insulators have a convex shape or a concave
shape prior to being partially inserted in the slots;
and
inserting a stator winding in an opening
portion of the insulators so that the insulators and
the stator winding are fully inserted in the slots and
the end portions of the insulators overlap to
completely close the opening portion of the
insulators.

REJECTION
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over Rejda (US 3,130,335; iss. Apr. 21, 1964) and
Yamamoto (EP 0 772 275 A1; pub. May 7, 1997).
ANALYSIS
The Examiner found that Rejda discloses a method of forming a stator
as claimed except for expressly disclosing that the sides of each insulator
have a convex and a concave shape prior to being partially inserted into the
slots. Ans. 4-5. The Examiner found that Yamamoto teaches that the sides
Appeal 2011-007002
Application 11/226,278

3
of each insulator have a convex or concave shape prior to partial insertion in
the slots to facilitate placing the insulators and windings in the slot. Ans. 5
(citing col. 8, ll. 18-32; figs. 5a, 5b). The Examiner further found that both
references require the insulators to be manipulated into a concave or convex
position along the left and right side of the insulators centerline to be capable
of being inserted into a stator slot because the slot itself cannot be modified
to accommodate the insulator so the insulator must be manipulated before
being inserted in the slot. Ans. 6-7. The Examiner also construed claim 1 as
not requiring a shape that is “curved or rounded inwards like the inner
surface of a sphere or circle.” Ans. 7.
Appellants argue that neither Rejda nor Yamamoto discloses “sides of
each of the insulators have a convex shape or a concave shape prior to being
partially inserted in the slots.” App. Br. 8; Reply Br. 4. Appellants argue
that Figures 1-3 of Rejda do not show the insulators prior to being partially
inserted in the core slots and Rejda’s specification does not disclose the
shape of sides of the insulators prior to such insertion. App. Br. 8; Reply Br.
4. Appellants also argue that Yamamoto does not disclose that any of the
sides of the insulating member 50 shown in Figures 5(a) and 5(b) have a
convex shape or a concave shape. App. Br. 8; Reply Br. 4-5. Regarding the
Examiner’s finding that Rejda and Yamamoto require the insulators to be
manipulated into a concave or convex position before being inserted into a
slot, Appellants assert that claim 1 does not require the insulators to be
manipulated into a concave or a convex position, but instead expressly
requires the “sides of each of the insulators have a convex shape or a
concave shape prior to being partially inserted in the slots.” App. Br. 9;
Reply Br. 5. We agree.
Appeal 2011-007002
Application 11/226,278

4
The Examiner has not established by a preponderance of evidence that
Rejda and Yamamoto disclose a method of forming a stator where the sides
of each insulator have a convex or a concave shape prior to being partially
inserted in the slots. We agree with the Examiner that Rejda and Yamamoto
disclose that the insulators are manipulated prior to insertion into a slot of a
rotor. See Ans. 6-7. Rejda discloses that the metal foil 20 is loosely folded
or curled and inserted through the neck 12 until it rests against the bottom of
the slot 11 as illustrated in Figure 1. Col. 2, ll. 48-51. Yamamoto discloses
that the insulating member 50 has a flexibility so it can be formed relatively
easily by external force and a flexural repulsiveness to restore the original
shape after deformation so that when the sides (auxiliary insulating sections
58) are elastically deformed to approach each other to insert the insulating
member 50 in a slot 64, the insulating member 50 can be kept in the slot 64
by its own elastic restoring force that restores it to its original shape. Col. 8,
ll. 37-58. The Examiner failed to adequately explain why these disclosures
inherently disclose that the sides of the insulators have a convex or concave
shape prior to being partially inserted in the slots. See App. Br. 11. To the
extent that the Examiner found that Yamamoto’s sides (auxiliary insulating
sections 58) have a convex or concave shape in Figures 5(a) and 5(b))
without curving inwardly or outwardly, the finding is inconsistent with an
ordinary, customary meaning of “concave” and “convex”.1

1 An ordinary and customary meaning of “concave” includes “[c]urving,
rounded, or hollowed inward” and “convex” includes “[c]urving outward.”
Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology (2001), retrieved
from http:// www.credoreference.com/entry/chambdict/concave and convex.
Appellants disclose insulators 4 with inwardly curved sides 9, 10 (fig. 2(b))
and outwardly curved sides 9, 10 (fig. 3(b)). See Spec. 13, ll. 1-6 and 12-16.
Appeal 2011-007002
Application 11/226,278

5
DECISION
We REVERSE the rejection of claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8.

REVERSED

Klh