DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the After Final Action response received on December 31, 2025. Upon further consideration the Final Rejection mailed on October 1, 2025 has been withdrawn and a new Non-Final Rejection is presented below.
Claims 1-19 and 21 are pending in the application. Claim 20 has been previously cancelled.
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 1-19 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoinkhaus (US PG Pub No. 2014/0379210), hereinafter “Hoinkhaus”, in view of Larkins et al. (US PG Pub No. 2012/0046827), hereinafter “Larkins” and Saylor et al. (US PG Pub No. 2021/0339593), hereinafter “Saylor”.
Regarding claim 1, Hoinkhaus (Figs. 1-4) discloses a method (Abstract), comprising: receiving a height change request for an amount of change in ride height of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle comprises a vehicle suspension (paragraph 64: “The measurement of the suspension displacements 100, 102, 104, 106 of the suspension struts of a suspension system of a vehicle takes place initially by receiving a height signal by means of height sensors in the suspension system of the chassis. In order to relate only the in-phase suspension displacements, the offsets of the received signals are taken into account. In order to suppress disturbance noise from differently produced signals, bandpass filtering of the received height signals is also carried out. Only thereafter will signal conditioning take place, as illustrated in FIG. 1, during which bandpass filtered offset-free suspension displacements VL 100, VR 102, HL 104, HR 106 are used as input variables for calculating further evaluation variables 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128 as output variables”); determining a displacement of at least one spring of the vehicle suspension (paragraphs 21 and 55: “According to one embodiment of the invention, the suspension displacements, which are used for calculating the calculated evaluation variables, are bandpass filtered and offset-free. In this context freedom from offset means phase equality of the measured height signals for determining the suspension displacements of different suspension struts relative to time” and “For a plausibility check based on the observation of the vehicle behavior for pre-detection of whether there could possibly be a loss of load bearing capacity on at least one of the suspension struts of a suspension system of a chassis, in embodiments of the invention, besides measured height values for spring displacements of the suspension struts, other evaluation variables are calculated from the spring displacements in a signal conditioning phase for a resulting identification signal as an indication of a possible loss of load bearing capacity”); determining whether the displacement satisfies a criterion for displacement control (paragraph 64: “The measurement of the suspension displacements 100, 102, 104, 106 of the suspension struts of a suspension system of a vehicle takes place initially by receiving a height signal by means of height sensors in the suspension system of the chassis. In order to relate only the in-phase suspension displacements, the offsets of the received signals are taken into account. In order to suppress disturbance noise from differently produced signals, bandpass filtering of the received height signals is also carried out. Only thereafter will signal conditioning take place, as illustrated in FIG. 1, during which bandpass filtered offset-free suspension displacements VL 100, VR 102, HL 104, HR 106 are used as input variables for calculating further evaluation variables 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128 as output variables”), wherein the displacement control adds or removes air until a target displacement is achieved; and in response to determining the criterion is not satisfied, changing a height of the vehicle suspension using an air mass control (paragraph 66: “FIG. 2 shows how measured suspension displacements Heights and other evaluation variables SignalCond 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128 calculated from these are each systematically individually subjected to a target-actual value comparison with respective predefined threshold variables TargetLimits 200, such as e.g. a predefined target level TargetLevel 200, including taking into account a small deviation Limit_Near 202 and/or a large deviation limit Limit_Wide 204. The respective deviations of the measured and calculated vehicle variables are quantified by means of a ratio RelationalOperatorX 208 (X stands for an index number). Said ratios RelationalOperatorX 208 are summed in the operation Sum11 210. The sum of said ratios RelationalOperatorX 208 is compared with a predefined total ratio, in this case RelationalOperatorl2 208, which represents a constant C. The setting of a detection signal 212 takes place depending on the ratio of the sum of the ratios RelationalOperatorX 208 to the predefined total ratio C and on which target value is met. The value for the total ratio is thereby based on a multi-stage mathematical combination or aggregation of empirically observed suitable vehicle variables, whose values correlate with high validity and high reliability with a loss of load bearing capacity in a suspension strut on a vehicle wheel”).
Hoinkhaus fails to disclose determining a target air mass for an air spring of the vehicle suspension based on the amount of change in ride height; and that the air mass control adds or removes air until the target air mass is achieved.
However, Larkins discloses determining a target air mass for an air spring of the vehicle suspension based on the amount of change in ride height (Larkins (paragraphs 26-29, 39, 51 and 52)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified Hoinkhaus by incorporating the teachings of Larkins in order to operate in a self-levelling mode to maintain the height of each air spring at a requested specific height.
Saylor discloses that for the air mass control adds or removes, air until a target air mass is achieved (Saylor (paragraph 38: Programming to control the disclosed leveling event may be operated based upon minimizing a roll angle or a measured displacement from a zero-roll condition. As part of calibrating and controlling such a minimization of the roll angle, a monitored or estimated air mass or a number of moles of air in each of the air springs may be equalized or a difference between the moles of air may be brought below a threshold difference value. This control of the disclosed leveling event may be expressed as the control being based upon both the reducing the longitudinal roll angle and equalizing the number of moles of air within the plurality of air springs. Operating the leveling event based upon the estimated number of moles of air may include controlling the vehicle suspension system to have an equal estimated number of moles of air in each of the air springs. In another embodiment, operating the leveling event based upon the estimated number of moles of air may include controlling the vehicle suspension system to have number of moles of air within the air springs within a desired range of each other. If the air volume and air pressures are the same between the left and right sides the resulting number moles of air or air mass will be the same. According to one embodiment, a process goal or end result is to control the roll angle to keep the left and right air spring volumes equal. In one embodiment, pressures within the left and right air spring of an axle are equal based upon a process of leveling by axle)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified Hoinkhaus by incorporating the teachings of Saylor in order to control the vehicle suspension system to have an equal estimated number of moles of air in each of the air springs.
Regarding claim 2, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: determining twist of the vehicle suspension based on the displacement of the at least one spring, wherein determining whether the displacement satisfies the criterion comprises comparing the twist to a twist threshold (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 3, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the method of claim 2, wherein determining the twist of the vehicle suspension comprises comparing a first lateral displacement difference of a front axle of the vehicle to a second lateral displacement difference of a rear axle of the vehicle (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 4, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the displacement satisfies the criterion comprises comparing the displacement to a displacement threshold (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 5, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the displacement satisfies the criterion comprises determining, based on the displacement, whether one or more springs of the vehicle suspension are at a maximum or minimum displacement (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 6, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the displacement satisfies the criterion comprises determining whether a load of one or more air springs is below a load threshold (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 7, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the displacement satisfies the criterion comprises determining whether a load of one or more air springs is a minimum load (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 8, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the target air mass is further determined based on a temperature of an air reservoir or a suspension component (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 9, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to determining the criterion is not satisfied, changing an axle height control methodology from an average axle control methodology to an independent axle control methodology; wherein height adjustments of the vehicle suspension in the independent axle control methodology are implemented independently at first and second air springs of a single axle based on a first and second control targets corresponding to the first and second air springs, respectively; and wherein height adjustments of the vehicle suspension in the average axle control methodology are implemented at the first and second air springs based upon an average of the first and second control targets (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 10, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses a method (Abstract), comprising: receiving a height change request for an amount of change in ride height of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle comprises a vehicle suspension (paragraph 64: “The measurement of the suspension displacements 100, 102, 104, 106 of the suspension struts of a suspension system of a vehicle takes place initially by receiving a height signal by means of height sensors in the suspension system of the chassis. In order to relate only the in-phase suspension displacements, the offsets of the received signals are taken into account. In order to suppress disturbance noise from differently produced signals, bandpass filtering of the received height signals is also carried out. Only thereafter will signal conditioning take place, as illustrated in FIG. 1, during which bandpass filtered offset-free suspension displacements VL 100, VR 102, HL 104, HR 106 are used as input variables for calculating further evaluation variables 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128 as output variables”); determining a displacement of at least one spring of the vehicle suspension (paragraph 21 and 55: “According to one embodiment of the invention, the suspension displacements, which are used for calculating the calculated evaluation variables, are bandpass filtered and offset-free. In this context freedom from offset means phase equality of the measured height signals for determining the suspension displacements of different suspension struts relative to time” and “For a plausibility check based on the observation of the vehicle behavior for pre-detection of whether there could possibly be a loss of load bearing capacity on at least one of the suspension struts of a suspension system of a chassis, in embodiments of the invention, besides measured height values for spring displacements of the suspension struts, other evaluation variables are calculated from the spring displacements in a signal conditioning phase for a resulting identification signal as an indication of a possible loss of load bearing capacity”); determining whether the displacement satisfies a criterion for displacement control (paragraph 64: “The measurement of the suspension displacements 100, 102, 104, 106 of the suspension struts of a suspension system of a vehicle takes place initially by receiving a height signal by means of height sensors in the suspension system of the chassis. In order to relate only the in-phase suspension displacements, the offsets of the received signals are taken into account. In order to suppress disturbance noise from differently produced signals, bandpass filtering of the received height signals is also carried out. Only thereafter will signal conditioning take place, as illustrated in FIG. 1, during which bandpass filtered offset-free suspension displacements VL 100, VR 102, HL 104, HR 106 are used as input variables for calculating further evaluation variables 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128 as output variables”); based on determining the criterion is not satisfied, selecting air mass control as a height control method for implementing the height change request in response to the height change request (Larkins (paragraphs 26-29, 39, 51 and 52)), wherein: the air mass control is selected from height control methods that include the displacement control and the air mass control (Larkins (paragraphs 26-29, 39, 51 and 52)); for the displacement control, air is added to or removed from one or more air springs of the vehicle suspension until a target displacement of the one or more air springs is achieved, and for the air mass control, air is added to or removed from the one or more air springs of the vehicle suspension until a target air mass of the one or more air springs is achieved (paragraph 66: “FIG. 2 shows how measured suspension displacements Heights and other evaluation variables SignalCond 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128 calculated from these are each systematically individually subjected to a target-actual value comparison with respective predefined threshold variables TargetLimits 200, such as e.g. a predefined target level TargetLevel 200, including taking into account a small deviation Limit_Near 202 and/or a large deviation limit Limit_Wide 204. The respective deviations of the measured and calculated vehicle variables are quantified by means of a ratio RelationalOperatorX 208 (X stands for an index number). Said ratios RelationalOperatorX 208 are summed in the operation Sum11 210. The sum of said ratios RelationalOperatorX 208 is compared with a predefined total ratio, in this case RelationalOperatorl2 208, which represents a constant C. The setting of a detection signal 212 takes place depending on the ratio of the sum of the ratios RelationalOperatorX 208 to the predefined total ratio C and on which target value is met. The value for the total ratio is thereby based on a multi-stage mathematical combination or aggregation of empirically observed suitable vehicle variables, whose values correlate with high validity and high reliability with a loss of load bearing capacity in a suspension strut on a vehicle wheel”); and changing a height of the vehicle suspension using the air mass control (Larkins (paragraphs 26-29, 39, 51 and 52)); (Saylor (paragraph 38)).
Regarding claim 11, Hoinkhaus discloses the method of claim 10, wherein determining the criterion is not satisfied is based on one or more of: a twist of the vehicle suspension exceeding a predetermined twist threshold; a displacement of the one or more air springs exceeding a displacement threshold; or a load of the one or more air springs being below a load threshold (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 12, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses a suspension system for a vehicle, comprising: a controller (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65) configured to: receive a height change request for an amount of change in ride height of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle comprises a vehicle suspension (paragraphs 50-65); determine a displacement of at least one spring of the vehicle suspension (paragraphs 50-65); determine whether the displacement satisfies a criterion for displacement control (paragraphs 50-65), wherein the displacement control adds or removes air until a target displacement is achieved; and based on determining the criterion is not satisfied; determine a target air mass for an air spring of the vehicle suspension based on the amount of change in ride height (Larkins (paragraphs 26-29, 39, 51 and 52)); and change a height of the vehicle suspension using an air mass control (paragraphs 50-65), wherein the air mass control adds or removes air until the target air mass is achieved (Saylor (paragraph 38: Programming to control the disclosed leveling event may be operated based upon minimizing a roll angle or a measured displacement from a zero-roll condition. As part of calibrating and controlling such a minimization of the roll angle, a monitored or estimated air mass or a number of moles of air in each of the air springs may be equalized or a difference between the moles of air may be brought below a threshold difference value. This control of the disclosed leveling event may be expressed as the control being based upon both the reducing the longitudinal roll angle and equalizing the number of moles of air within the plurality of air springs. Operating the leveling event based upon the estimated number of moles of air may include controlling the vehicle suspension system to have an equal estimated number of moles of air in each of the air springs. In another embodiment, operating the leveling event based upon the estimated number of moles of air may include controlling the vehicle suspension system to have number of moles of air within the air springs within a desired range of each other. If the air volume and air pressures are the same between the left and right sides the resulting number moles of air or air mass will be the same. According to one embodiment, a process goal or end result is to control the roll angle to keep the left and right air spring volumes equal. In one embodiment, pressures within the left and right air spring of an axle are equal based upon a process of leveling by axle)).
Regarding claim 13, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to: determine twist of the vehicle suspension based on the displacement of the at least one spring; and determine whether the displacement satisfies the criterion based on the twist of the vehicle suspension exceeding a twist threshold (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 14, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the system of claim 13, wherein the controller is further configured to determine the twist of the suspension system based upon a difference between a first lateral displacement difference of a front axle of the vehicle and a second lateral displacement difference of a rear axle of the vehicle (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 15, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the displacement satisfies the criterion based on a displacement of one or more air springs exceeding a displacement threshold (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 16, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the displacement satisfies the criterion based on a displacement of one or more air springs being at a maximum or minimum displacement (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 17, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the displacement satisfies the criterion based on a load of one or more air springs being below a load threshold (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 18, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the displacement satisfies the criterion based on a load of one or more air springs being a minimum load (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 19, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to determine the target air mass based on a temperature of an air reservoir or a suspension component (paragraphs 20-30 and 50-65).
Regarding claim 21, the modified invention of Hoinkhaus discloses the method of claim 1, wherein: the height change request is a first height change request received at a first time, the amount is a first amount, and the displacement is a first displacement (Larkins (paragraphs 26-29, 39, 51 and 52)); the method further comprising: receiving a second height change request at a second time for a second amount of change in ride height of the vehicle (Larkins (paragraphs 26-29, 39, 51 and 52)); determining a second displacement of the at least one spring of the vehicle suspension (Larkins (paragraphs 26-29, 39, 51 and 52)); in response to determining the second displacement of the at least one spring of the vehicle suspension satisfies the criterion: determining a target displacement for the air spring of the vehicle suspension based on the second amount of change in ride height (Larkins (paragraphs 26-29, 39, 51 and 52)); and changing the height of the vehicle suspension using the displacement control.
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ remarks filed on December 31, 2025 have been fully considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the current rejection.
Conclusion
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/O.M/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/LINDSAY M LOW/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3747