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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 04/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues on page 10, “Eramian does not teach or suggest using the "timing of the first mobile UWB connection" to "calculate[e] a distance and an orientation" as claimed. The vehicle is unable to determine the distance and orientation of the charging using such a generic wireless connection as disclosed in Eramian.”
The examiner wants to make it clear that using the timing of the UWB connection to calculate a distance and orientation is taught by the primary reference Rastoll (¶67-69). The Rastoll reference does not explicitly disclose that the vehicle has a mobile device with a transceiver to make a connected with a transceiver of the charger. The Eramian reference discloses that the vehicle has the user device 210 (fig. 2b) which makes the UWB connection with the transceiver of the charger for parking guidance (¶73-74). Thus, by using the Eramian teaching, the connection is made between the user device and the charger transceiver and by using Ratoll’s teaching of calculating the distance and orientation using the timing of the UWB connection, the vehicle can be parked more precisely.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a).
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) 9, 14-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rastoll et al. (US 2020/0307403), herein after Rastoll and Eramian (US 2016/0189324).
Regarding claim 9, Rastoll discloses a method (700, fig. 7) for a vehicle, comprising;
responsive to setting a charging facility as navigation destination, receiving an identification of a charger transceiver associated with a charger (the sensor is used to identify the boundary of the charging pad, paragraph [0032]);
establishing a first vehicle ultra-wide band (UWB) communication between a plurality of vehicle transceivers and the charger transceiver, before arriving at a parking space associated with the charger (The wireless communication may be triggered by the vehicle coming within communication range of the second wireless device. For example, in FIG. 3, the wireless communication may be triggered once the receiver 312 recognizes a signal from the transmitter 322. The wireless communication in step 702 may include the transmission of one or more beacon signals between the first wireless device and the second wireless device. For example, the transmitter 322 may broadcast a set of UWB signals that enable a distance between the transmitter 322 and the receiver 312 to be determined, paragraph [0065]),
continuously calculating a distance of the charger from the vehicle and an orientation of the charger relative to the vehicle using a timing of the first UWB communication of each of the plurality of vehicle transceivers (paragraph [0067]-[0069]); and
maneuvering the vehicle to at the parking space using the distance and the orientation without a driver input (paragraph [0070]).
However, Rastoll doses not explicitly disclose a vehicle has a mobile device having a UWB connection communicate with the charger transceiver and park the vehicle according to the receive signals.
Eramian discloses a first mobile device located inside a vehicle cabin(110 or 210, figs. 1, 2B, paragraph [00022]) having a UWB connection with the charger transceiver (Check-in application 112 may utilize communication module 118 of device 110 to communicate with one or more of wireless beacons 142 (e.g., over near field communication, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, radio, infrared, LTE Direct, or other communication protocol), paragraph [0026], [0036]; Note: UWB (Ultra-Wideband) is a type of radio communication), wherein the mobile device is associated with a vehicle user (paragraph [0022]). Eramian further discloses using data representative of timing of the UWB connection between the mobile device and the charger transceiver park the car in the parking space (Wireless beacons 242a is located at entrance 294 in order to connect with a device within vehicle 204a. Thus, once vehicle 204a arrives at parking structure 240, the user within vehicle 204a may receive parking instructions and guidance based on a connection between a device for vehicle 204a and wireless beacons 242a, paragraph [0068]-[0069]);
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Rastoll’s method of finding the parking spot at the charging station through the communication of a mobile device and transceiver of the charger as taught by Eramian, in order to enhance convenience and accessibility, reduced vehicle damage, and increased safety of the vehicle during automatic parking.
Regarding claim 14, Rastoll further discloses the method further comprising: detecting an object at a predefined vicinity of the vehicle via a sensor ((610, fig. 6)); and maneuvering the vehicle to the parking space associated with the charger based on the first UWB communication and data received from the sensor without driver input (paragraph [0044], [0051], [0055]).
Regarding claim 15, Rastoll further discloses the method further comprising responsive to detecting the vehicle has arrived a predefined geofence associated with a charging facility, establishing the first UWB communication (the wireless communication may be triggered by the vehicle coming within communication range of the second wireless device. For example, in FIG. 3, the wireless communication may be triggered once the receiver 312 recognizes a signal from the transmitter 322. The wireless communication in step 702 may include the transmission of one or more beacon signals between the first wireless device and the second wireless device. For example, the transmitter 322 may broadcast a set of UWB signals that enable a distance between the transmitter 322 and the receiver 312 to be determined, paragraph [0065]).
Regarding claim 16, Rastoll discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium (paragraph [0107]), comprising instructions that, when executed by a vehicle, cause the vehicle to perform operations including to: establish a first vehicle ultra-wide band (UWB) communication between a plurality of vehicle transceivers and a charger transceiver of a charger, before arriving at a parking space associated with the charger (paragraph [0065]), continuously calculate a direction and distance of the charger relative to the vehicle using a timing of the first UWB communication of each of the plurality of vehicle transceivers (paragraph [0066], [0068], [0069]); and maneuver the vehicle to at the parking space using the direction and distance continuously calculated (paragraph [0070]).
However, Rastoll doses not explicitly disclose a vehicle has a mobile device having a UWB connection communicate with the charger transceiver and park the vehicle according to the receive signals.
Eramian discloses a first mobile device located inside a vehicle cabin(110 or 210, figs. 1, 2B, paragraph [00022]) having a UWB connection with the charger transceiver (Check-in application 112 may utilize communication module 118 of device 110 to communicate with one or more of wireless beacons 142 (e.g., over near field communication, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, radio, infrared, LTE Direct, or other communication protocol), paragraph [0026], [0036]; Note: UWB (Ultra-Wideband) is a type of radio communication), wherein the mobile device is associated with a vehicle user (paragraph [0022]). Eramian further discloses using data representative of timing of the UWB connection between the mobile device and the charger transceiver park the car in the parking space (Wireless beacons 242a is located at entrance 294 in order to connect with a device within vehicle 204a. Thus, once vehicle 204a arrives at parking structure 240, the user within vehicle 204a may receive parking instructions and guidance based on a connection between a device for vehicle 204a and wireless beacons 242a, paragraph [0068]-[0069]);
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Rastoll’s method of finding the parking spot at the charging station through the communication of a mobile device and transceiver of the charger as taught by Eramian, in order to enhance convenience and accessibility, reduced vehicle damage, and increased safety of the vehicle during automatic parking.
Regarding claim 17, Rastoll further discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium further comprising instructions that, when executed by the vehicle (with reference to the appended figures, components that can include memory can include non-transitory machine-readable media. The terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium” as used herein, refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion, paragraph [0107]), cause the vehicle to perform operations including to: responsive to setting a charging facility as navigation destination (The navigation module 670 may include circuitry or instructions for generating a map of the environment surrounding the vehicle and for determining the position of the vehicle and/or the various wireless devices on the map. The navigation module 670 may implement any of the techniques described herein for determining the relative position of the vehicle in relation to the position of the wireless charger, paragraph [0058]), receive an identification of a charger transceiver associated with a charger; and responsive to detecting the vehicle has arrived a predefined geofence associated with a charging facility, establish the first UWB communication using the identification (The wireless communication may be triggered by the vehicle coming within communication range of the second wireless device. For example, in FIG. 3, the wireless communication may be triggered once the receiver 312 recognizes a signal from the transmitter 322. The wireless communication in step 702 may include the transmission of one or more beacon signals between the first wireless device and the second wireless device. For example, the transmitter 322 may broadcast a set of UWB signals that enable a distance between the transmitter 322 and the receiver 312 to be determined, paragraph [0065]).
Claim(s)10-12, 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rastoll (US 2020/0307403), and Eramian (US 2016/0189324) as applied to claims9 and 16 above, and further in view of Seo et al. (US 2019/0126765), herein after Seo.
Regarding claim 10, Rastoll in view of Eramian discloses the method of claim 9. However, they are silent about responsive to detecting the charger is occupied, establishing a second UWB communication between the plurality of vehicle transceivers and a waiting transceiver associated with a waiting area, and maneuvering the vehicle to the waiting area based on the second UWB communication without the driver input.
Seo discloses responsive to detecting the charger is occupied, establishing a second UWB communication between the plurality of vehicle transceivers and a waiting transceiver associated with a waiting area, and maneuvering the vehicle to the waiting area based on the second UWB communication without the driver input (paragraph [0052]-[0057]Note: the communication of the vehicle is using UWB network, paragraph [0075]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify Rastoll’s controller in view of Eramian to include the instruction during the occupied parking space as taught by Seo, in order to improve efficiency, convenience, and integration of the charging system.
Regarding claim 11, Rastoll in view Eramian and Seo discloses the method of claim 10. Seo further discloses responsive to receiving a signal indicative of the charger has become available while parked at the waiting area, maneuvering the vehicle from the waiting area to the parking space based on both the first UWB communication and the second UWB communication(when an empty charging slot is detected while the vehicle is waiting in the non-charging slot SL2 of the parking lot, the vehicle charging control apparatus 100 may move the vehicle to park in the charging slot on the basis of charging slot information received from the parking lot control system 200, and control wireless charging of the vehicle parked in the charging slot SL1, paragraph [0050]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify Rastoll’s controller in view of Eramian to include the instruction during the occupied parking space as taught by Seo, in order to improve efficiency, convenience, and integration of the charging system.
Regarding claim 12, Rastoll in view of Eramian and Seo discloses the method of claim 10. Seo further discloses responsive to receiving a signal indicative of the charger has become available while parked at the waiting area, sending a message to a mobile device associated with a vehicle user, wherein the message identifies the charger (the parking lot control system 200 may be implemented at a central location, using terminals that are attached to a central computer or may be a computer installed at a parking lot wirelessly communicating with the user terminal 300 and the charging control apparatus 100, paragraph [0091], fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify Rastoll’s in view of Eramian controller to include the instruction during the occupied parking space as taught by Seo, in order to improve efficiency, convenience, and integration of the charging system.
Regarding claim 18, Rastoll in view of Eramian discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16. However, they are silent about instructions that, when executed by the vehicle, cause the vehicle to perform operations including to: responsive to detecting the charger is occupied, establish a second UWB communication between the plurality of vehicle transceivers and a waiting transceiver associated with a waiting area; and maneuver the vehicle to the waiting area based on the second UWB communication.
Seo discloses when executed by the vehicle, cause the vehicle to perform operations including to: responsive to detecting the charger is occupied, establish a second UWB communication between the plurality of vehicle transceivers and a waiting transceiver associated with a waiting area; and maneuver the vehicle to the waiting area based on the second UWB communication(paragraph [0052]-[0057]Note: the communication of the vehicle is using UWB network, paragraph [0075]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify Rastoll’s in view of Eramian controller to include the instruction during the occupied parking space as taught by Seo, in order to improve efficiency, convenience, and integration of the charging system.
Regarding claim 19, Kumar in view of Eramian and Seo discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18. Seo further discloses when executed by the vehicle, cause the vehicle to perform operations including to: responsive to receiving a signal indicative of the charger has become available while parked at the waiting area, maneuver the vehicle from the waiting area to the parking space based on both the first UWB communication and second UWB communication(when an empty charging slot is detected while the vehicle is waiting in the non-charging slot SL2 of the parking lot, the vehicle charging control apparatus 100 may move the vehicle to park in the charging slot on the basis of charging slot information received from the parking lot control system 200, and control wireless charging of the vehicle parked in the charging slot SL1, paragraph [0050]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify Rastoll’s in view of Eramian controller to include the instruction during the occupied parking space as taught by Seo, in order to improve efficiency, convenience, and integration of the charging system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 6, 8, 21 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, none of the prior art alone or in combination discloses a vehicle comprising, “wherein the vehicle is further in communication with a first mobile device associated with a first user located at first location inside a vehicle cabin and having a first mobile UWB connection with the charger transceiver, and in communication with a second mobile device associated with a second user located at second location inside the vehicle cabin and having a second mobile UWB connection with the charger transceiver, the controller is further programmed to: calculate the orientation and distance further using data representative of timing of the first mobile UWB connection and the second mobile UWB connection”, along with all the other limitations of the claim.
Claims 2-4, 6, 8 and 21 depend on the claim 1 and are allowed for the same reason.
Claims 24-25 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
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SADIA KOUSAR whose telephone number is (571)272-3386. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian Huffman can be reached at (571) 272-2147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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SADIA . KOUSAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
Prosecution Insights