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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 6/24/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claims 4-6 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 4 recites the limitation “a control unit of a first section and a control unit of a second section” in the 4th line of the claim. It is unclear if this is a separate control unit defined in claim 1 as “a plurality of control units of multiple sections”. Claims 5-6 depend on claim 4 and are therefore rejected. For the purpose of examination, it will be understood as the control unit of the first section and the control unit of the second section being part of the plurality of control units and the first and second section being part of the multiple sections.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 2, and 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoneda et al (US 2012/0271513 hereinafter “Yoneda”) in view of Mochizuki et al (US 2009/0174584 hereinafter “Mochizuki”).
In regards to claim 1:
Yoneda teaches an on-vehicle control device (100) in which each of a plurality of control units of multiple sections forming a redundant system includes a fail-safe calculation unit (90 and 92), wherein the control units in which the fail-safe calculation units are disposed are configured as a collective aggregate (Shown in Figure 3), the on-vehicle control device comprising: calculation boards (90 and 92) configured to perform calculation processing for the multiple sections, respectively; and outputting a calculation result of the calculation processing performed by the calculation boards, a common unit (64) including a relay circuit (72) and a common interface connected to the plurality of outputs respectively corresponding to the multiple sections is aggregated in a partial specific region of the aggregate, the circuitry being connected to a power source (not shown, mentioned in Paragraph [0017]) and a signal, and wherein the common unit is configured to output through an interface circuit (74) to a system output (VT3) obtained by combining calculation outputs from the respective sections in the redundant system into one according to a logic required by the redundant system.
Yoneda does not teach output boards configured to output and a backboard that is fixed to a back portion of one sub-rack and allows circuit boards to be detachably fitted via a coupling mechanism, and connects a power source and a signal, the control units of the multiple sections and the common unit are disposed in the one sub-rack and the vehicle interface is coupled to an external device outside the one sub-rack.
Mochizuki teaches an output board (36a1 – 36a3) configured to output an output a calculation and the output boards are detachably fitted with a coupling mechanism to a backboard (34) that is fixed to a back portion of a sub-rack (31), with the sub-rack connecting a power source (33) and a signal source (35) and an external device (LCD monitor or speaker Paragraph [0276]) to interface with a user.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the application to have an output board that is detachably fitted to a backboard of a sub-race and to provide the output to an end user using a vehicle interface device external to the sub-rack as taught by Mochizuki in order to provide a board that outputs an output, allow convenience to add and remove the output boards, to house and protect the circuitry, provide power to the circuitry, and relay this information to an end user. Circuit boards are known in the art to receive an input and give an output, and these functions can be separated, such as a designated input board and a designated output board. Circuit boards can further be attached to other circuit boards via coupling mechanisms to allow easy installation and removal. A known example of this is the home computer with a dedicated graphics card, the main motherboard has sockets to easily install and remove graphics cards, which are also circuit boards. Placing components in a sub-rack or housing is known in the art to provide protection to the components internal to the sub-rack or housing. A sub-rack is known in the art, and used when multiple sub-racks are needed, but can also be used as a single unit, wherein a vehicle might house a single sub-rack, but the sub-racks may be stored on a main rack or cabinet to be distributed to a plurality of vehicles. Having a user interface external to the sub-rack is typically how users interact with the output of circuitry, wherein the sub-rack or housing is typically in a space that is not readily accessible, and is further typically not where the user is situated, such as interior to an engine bay or adjacent the engine bay. For a user to receive the data while seated, in a vehicle such as a car, the user interface would typically be a screen inside of the main cabin or in the dashboard display, so that the user does not need to stop the vehicle and access the engine bay in order to receive data about the vehicle.
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Annotated Figure 3 of Yoneda
In regards to claim 2:
Yoneda teaches the plurality of circuit boards that are electrically connected to the backboard via the coupling mechanism, the plurality of the circuit boards each being detachably fitted (Mochizuki teaches the circuit boards being detachably fitted and shown in Figure 2 of Mochizuki).
In regards to claim 4:
Yoneda teaches the two calculation boards (90 and 92) having the same configuration, the control unit of a first section and the control unit of a second section each having the calculation board are disposed in the one sub-rack, and the fail-safe calculation unit calculates the same information twice (Paragraph [0081] recites “The voltages VT3-1, VT3-2 serve collectively as one steering torque signal VT3. Therefore, the torque sensor circuit 100 may be regarded as having a plurality of torque sensor circuits, each of which may have the same circuit configuration, or have different circuit configurations respectively.”), in which when one of the first section and the second section fails, a calculation result of the other section is used for control (Paragraph 0087] recites “When either one of the failure detection signals (Fail) is supplied to the interface circuit 74, the interface circuit 74 operates the multiplexer 72 to output one of the voltages VT3-1, VT3-2, which is not associated with the supplied failure detection signal (Fail), as the torque signal VT3.”), wherein the calculation boards are configured to perform the calculation processing for the sections, respectively, and the output boards configured to output the calculation result are provided, the common interface connects the calculation result generated by control boards of the control unit of the first section and the control unit of the second section to the outside (Shown in Figure 3 of Yoneda, wherein the output that does not fail is output as VT3 and the output that fails is output as “Fail”), and the common interface is mounted at one position of the aggregate (a physical board configuration is shown by Mochizuki).
In regards to claim 5:
Yoneda teaches the calculation board and the output board constituting the control unit of the first section and the calculation board and the output board constituting the control unit of the second section are disposed in a laterally symmetrical manner in the sub-rack, and the common interface is disposed between the control unit of the first section and the control unit of the second section.
In regards to claim 6:
Yoneda teaches the calculation board and the output board constituting the control unit of the first section and the calculation board and the output board constituting the control unit of the second section are disposed so as to be vertically disposed in the same array in the sub-rack, and the common interface is disposed at an end portion of the sub-rack so as to be adjacent to each of the control unit of the first section and the control unit of the second section (vertical boards are connected to a common interface and is shown in Figure 2 of Mochizuki).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-5 of Remarks, filed 6/24/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-6 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly found prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES JAY KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-7610. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 EST.
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/JAMES J KIM/Examiner, Art Unit 3747 /HUNG Q NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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