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 .
Applicant's request for reconsideration of the finality of the rejection of the last Office action is persuasive and, therefore, the finality of that action is withdrawn.
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.
Claims 1 – 7 and 9 – 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over patent document number GB 2 351 953 A to Eckersley et al. (hereinafter referred to as Eckersley), in view of patent document number CN 101607571 A to Yang et al (hereinafter referred to as Yang).
Regarding claims 1 – 7 and 9 – 11, Eckersley discloses a steer-by-wire steering device (See Abstract Title), comprising:
[Claim 1] a steering shaft (steering shaft 2);
a housing (cover assembly 7) having a receiving space (the interior of cover assembly 7 containing support bearing 3) for receiving the wing portion, coupled to the steering shaft, and having a rheological fluid (Page 7, Lns. 23 – 25) in the receiving space (resistance element 4 is formed by an electrorheological and/or a magnetorheological fluid damping device, Page, Lns. 23 – 25); and
an electronic control unit (electrical steering-signal transmitter 5) controlling a viscosity of the rheological fluid based on a steering angle of the steering shaft (”a moment of resistance is therefore generated as a force of reaction to a movement of the steering actuation element”, See Page 3, Lns. 21 – 30).
Note that Eckersley’s steering shaft 2 and/or its shape inherently causes resistance to the fluid with which it is in contact, during rotation of the steering shaft.
However, Eckersley does not explicitly disclose:
the steering shaft including a wing portion radially extruding from an outer circumferential surface thereof; and
the wing portion fixed to the steering shaft has a shape causing resistance to the rheological fluid included in the receiving space of the housing during rotation of the steering shaft.
Yang discloses a steering control method system wherein comprising a steering shaft (31) and a wing portion (rotor 23, Page 4) radially extruding from an outer circumferential surface thereof (Fig. 2); and the wing portion (rotor 23, Page 4) fixed to a steering shaft (31, Page 4) has a shape causing resistance to rheological fluid (magneto-rheological fluid, Page 4) included in the receiving space (“the gap between the stator 26 and the rotor 23”, Page 4; Fig. 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify Eckersley to have the wing portion submerged in the rheological fluid, as taught by Yang, to tune the steering resistance by increasing it according to vehicle design needs.
Regarding claims 2 – 7 and 9 – 11, Eckersley, modified by Yang, discloses a steer-by-wire steering device of claim 1. Eckersley further discloses:
[Claim 2] wherein the rheological fluid (Page 7, Lns. 23 – 25) is an electro-rheological fluid, and wherein the housing (cover assembly 7) has an electric field application unit (resistance element 4) connected with the electronic control unit (electrical steering-signal transmitter 5; Figure 1) to apply an electric field to the electro-rheological fluid (the resistance element 4 is formed by an electrorheological and/or a magnetorheological fluid damping device; Page 7, Lns. 23 – 25);
[Claim 3] wherein the rheological fluid (Page 7, Lns. 23 – 25) is a magneto-rheological fluid, and wherein the housing (cover assembly 7) has a magnetic field application unit (resistance element 4) connected with the electronic control unit (electrical steering-signal transmitter 5) to apply a magnetic field to the magneto-rheological fluid (the resistance element 4 is formed by an electrorheological and/or a magnetorheological fluid damping device; Page 7, Lns. 23 – 25);
[Claim 4] wherein the electronic control unit (electrical steering-signal transmitter 5) is capable of increasing the viscosity of the rheological fluid (Page 7, Lns. 23 – 25) to restrain the rotation of the steering shaft (steering shaft 2) if the steering angle of the steering shaft reaches a first rotational angle (“The magnitude of the moment of resistance is set via the viscosity of the electrorheological or magnetorheological fluid used. By means of such an active resistance element, it is possible, for example, to generate a return force on the steering actuation element. Thus, in a steering device according to the invention, the moment of resistance of the resistance element can be set by varying the viscosity of the fluid”; Page Lns. Page 4, Lns. 3 – 13);
[Claim 5] wherein the electronic control unit (electrical steering-signal transmitter 5) solidifies the rheological fluid (Page 7, Lns. 23 – 25) to restrain the rotation of the steering shaft (steering shaft 2; the fluid is solid and the steering shaft is restrained at the full lock position; See Figure 4; “Lines 41 and 43 show how the steering wheel torque can peak when the steered wheel or wheels are at the full lock position”, Page 10, Ln. 34 – 35 through Page 11, Ln. 1);
[Claim 6] wherein the electronic control unit (electrical steering-signal transmitter 5) is capable of setting the viscosity of the rheological fluid (Page 7, Lns. 23 – 25) to a base viscosity value if the steering angle is smaller than the first rotational angle (See Figure 4; the right end of the low horizontal line showing a constant torque indicating a constant low viscosity before the angle where the highest torque occurs);
[Claim 7] wherein the electronic control unit (electrical steering-signal transmitter 5) is capable of increasing the viscosity of the rheological fluid (Page 7, Lns. 23 – 25) as the steering angle increases if the steering angle has a value between the first rotational angle and a second rotational angle smaller than the first rotational angle (See Figure 4, the upwardly sloped portion of line 41, in the middle of the figure);
[Claim 9] wherein the electronic control unit (electrical steering-signal transmitter 5) sets the viscosity of the rheological fluid (Page 7, Lns. 23 – 25) to a base viscosity value if the steering angle is smaller than the second rotational angle (See Figure 4; the right end of the low horizontal line is at a second rotational angle, the torque before that point is constant and low indicating a constant and low viscosity);
[Claim 10] wherein the first rotational angle is determined by a driving mode (full lock position; Page 10, Ln. 34 – 35 through Page 11, Ln. 1) of a vehicle (Regarding Figure 4, “Lines 41 and 43 show how the steering wheel torque can peak when the steered wheel or wheels are at the full lock position; full lock position”; Page 10, Ln. 34 – 35 through Page 11, Ln. 1); and
[Claim 11] wherein the first rotational angle is capable of being set to a first value if the driving mode is a comfort mode and is set to a second value smaller than the first value if the driving mode is a sports mode (the steer-by-wire device is capable of performing this function and the manner of operating the device does not differentiate the claim from the prior are). MPEP 2114 (II).
Regarding claims 8, 12 and 13, Eckersley, modified by Yang, discloses the steer-by-wire steering device of claim 7, but they do not explicitly teach:
[Claim 8] wherein a difference between the first rotational angle and the second rotational angle is 10° or more and 20° or less;
[Claim 12] wherein the first value is 450°; and
[Claim 13] wherein the second value is 324°.
Nowhere does Eckersley give any steering wheel rotational angle values to indicate any changes in viscosity. Recognizing that the shaft rotational angle (as a result effective variable defining the viscosity profile) directly correlates to the total damping torque, which is a desirable characteristic, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify Eckersley such that the first and second rotational angles are as recited (difference between 10-20°, or first angle value at 450° or second angle value at 324°), because it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable range involves only routing skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USOQ 233. Please note that in the instant application, the Applicant has not disclosed any criticality for the claimed limitation. See MPEP 2144.05 – II – Routine Optimization
Regarding claims 14 and 15, Eckersley, modified by Yang, discloses the steer-by-wire device of independent claim 1. However, Eckersley does not further disclose:
[Claim 14] wherein the wing portion, [[which is]] fixed to the steering shaft, is configured to be non-movable relative to the steering shaft so that the wing portion is rotatable together with the steering shaft; and
[Claim 15] wherein the wing portion fixed to the steering shaft has a substantially rectangular shape.
Yang discloses a vehicle steering control method based on magnetorheological technology further wherein:
[Claim 14] a wing portion (rotor 23, Page 4) fixed to a steering shaft (31) is configured to be non-movable relative to the steering shaft so that the wing portion is rotatable together with the steering shaft (“rotor 23 and steering mechanism 3 of the steering shaft 31 fixed together and rotate together with the steering shaft 31”, Yang Page 4); and
[Claim 15] wherein the wing portion (rotor 23, Page 4) fixed to the steering shaft has a substantially rectangular shape (23 – 27 are all substantially rectangular in cross section, See Fig. 2) and sits in magnetorheological fluid (“the gap between the stator 26 and the rotor 23”; Page 4; Fig. 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify Eckersley to have the wing portion submerged in the rheological fluid, as taught by Yang, to tune the steering assistance by increasing the steering resistance according to the needs of the vehicle design.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pre-Appeal Brief Conference Request, filed February 16, 2026, with respect to Eckersley’s ability to teach the “wing portion” have been fully considered and are persuasive. The final rejection of claims 1 – 15 has been withdrawn. A new rejection in view of Yang is issued herewith.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Felicia L Brittman-Alabi whose telephone number is (313)446-6512. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-6.
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/Felicia L. Brittman-Alabi/ Examiner, Art Unit 3611
/VALENTIN NEACSU, Ph.D./ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3611
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