DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
This Office action is in response to the request for continued examination filed on 01/02/2026. Claims 1-20 are currently pending and are presented for examination.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/02/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/02/2026 have been fully considered.
Regarding the claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103, applicant has argued that the cited prior art fails to teach “determining, by the control unit, virtual shift intervention torque for actively modulating a motor torque profile during a virtual shifting transition period according to the determined virtual variable information based on a determination that the virtual gear stage has been changed.” More specifically, applicant has argued that the recited “intervention torque” is not a steady-state map value, but is instead a transient torque adjustment that exists to bridge the gap between gear stages. Applicant has argued that this feature is not taught by the combination of Isami and Duo or any of the other cited prior art of record.
While the examiner agrees that the combination of Isami and Duo does not explicitly teach the torque being actively modulated during a virtual shifting transition period, the examiner notes that this feature is taught by Ota; see Ota ¶ 12, which discloses that “the control device controls the engine torque during the upshift based on a virtual shift progress rate virtually indicative of a shift progress rate of the upshift,” and Ota FIG. 8 illustrates that the engine torque is modulated during a shifting transition period according to a virtual shift progress rate. The examiner notes that this feature is additionally taught by Oh; see Oh ¶¶ 184-188, which disclose that “a virtual gear-shift effect may be generated and formed by controlling motor torque when a gear shift event occurs, and a motor torque command may be corrected in order to generate and form a virtual gear-shift effect, and in this case, correction torque for correcting the motor torque command may be virtual gear shift intervention torque,” and further disclose the use of a “virtual gear shift intervention torque profile” that changes according to “a gear shift progress rate.”
Applicant has further argued that the cited prior art fails to teach that, “based on the virtual gear stage being changed, the virtual shifting intervention torque is determined as a function of a virtual engine speed and the virtual gear stage acting as independent control inputs that are included in the virtual variable information.” Specifically, applicant has argued that Duo ¶ 83 “discloses that the gear is a pre-condition for which map to look at, not that the virtual gear stage and engine speed are concurrent inputs to a calculation,” whereas in the instant claims, “You don’t just ‘associate’ a value; you calculate a unique result based on the interaction of those two variables in real-time.” Applicant has further argued that “the other cited references fail to remedy these deficiencies of Duo.”
The examiner respectfully disagrees, because this feature is taught by Ota; specifically, Ota ¶¶ 43-44 disclose that “if the target engine torque Tet is decided based on the virtual shift progress rate PRSat, the target engine torque deciding means 108 first calculates a virtual engine rotation speed NSe from the following Equation (2) based on the virtual shift progress rate PRSat. … After calculating the virtual engine rotation speed NSe from Equation (2), the target engine torque deciding means 108 uses the target engine torque Tet at the start of the upshift as a standard to calculate the target engine torque Tet during the upshift based on the virtual engine rotation speed NSe.” Further, as stated above, Ota ¶ 12 discloses that “the control device controls the engine torque during the upshift based on a virtual shift progress rate virtually indicative of a shift progress rate of the upshift,” demonstrating that the calculations are done dynamically while the progress of the upshift is happening.
For the reasons explained above, the claims are rejected using new grounds of rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-6, 10-11, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isami (US 2021/0229550 A1) in view of Ota et al. (US 2015/0051047 A1), hereinafter referred to as Ota.
Regarding claim 1:
Isami discloses the following limitations:
“A control method for generating a virtual shifting experience of an electric vehicle.” (Isami Abstract: “An electric vehicle includes… a torque controller for controlling torque of the electric motor… The torque controller is configured to control torque of the electric motor in response to the mode selected by the shift lever.” Also, Isami ¶ 25: “the torque of the electric motor is controlled in response to the driver’s operation of the shift device, it is possible to simulate the manual gear change operation of the MT vehicle.”)
“the control method comprising: collecting, by a control unit, vehicle-driving information while the electric vehicle is driven.” (Isami ¶¶ 44-46: “The electric vehicle 10 includes an accelerator pedal 22 for inputting an acceleration request and a brake pedal 24 for inputting a braking request as an operation request input device for inputting an operation request to the electric vehicle 10 by driver. … Each of signals detected by the accelerator position sensor 32 and the brake position sensor 34 is output to the ECU 50 to be described later. The electric vehicle 10 further includes a shift lever 26 and a clutch pedal 28 as the operation request input device. … The shift lever 26 is provided with a function as a shift device for driver to select one mode from among a plurality of modes.”)
“determining, by the control unit, virtual variable information including a virtual gear stage based on the collected vehicle-driving information.” (Isami ¶ 53: “FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional block of the ECU 50 relating to torque control of the electric motor. The ECU 50 includes a virtual engine speed calculation unit 500, … a gear ratio calculation unit 508, and a transmission output torque calculation unit 510 as functional blocks related to the torque control of the electric motor 2.” Also, Isami ¶ 62: “The gear ratio calculation unit 508 is a functional block that executes a process of calculating the gear ratio r. The gear ratio r is a torque characteristic of the electric motor 2 corresponding to a plurality of modes, which simulates the gear ratio of the transmission.” Also, Isami ¶ 185: “In a control procedure for generating a virtual gear-shift effect of an electric vehicle, a controller (which may be a virtual effect realizing controller) may determine whether a gear shift event occurs from virtual vehicle speed and an accelerator pedal input value (APS value) (or a vehicle load) using a preset gear shift schedule map, and may determine a virtual target gear stage.”)
“determining, by the control unit, a torque range corresponding to a current virtual gear stage of the determined virtual variable information.” (Isami ¶ 75: “FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a torque characteristic of the electric motor corresponding to a plurality of modes.” Also, Isami ¶ 76: “In addition to the shift position Gp, a pattern selection result is input to the gear ratio calculation unit 508. In the gear ratio calculation unit 508, the gear ratio corresponding to the input shift position Gp is calculated using the calculation map of the gear ratio corresponding to the pattern selection result. According to such a configuration, the driver can select the pattern of torque characteristics.” Therefore, Isami discloses patterns of torque characteristics (torque ranges) corresponding to the input shift position Gp (current virtual gear stage) which are calculated based on the driver pattern selection (determined virtual variable information).)
“determining, by the control unit, driver request torque corresponding to a driving input value from a driver of the vehicle-driving information within the determined torque range.” (Isami ¶ 44: “The electric vehicle 10 includes an accelerator pedal 22 for inputting … an operation request to the electric vehicle 10 by driver… Each of signals detected by the accelerator position sensor 32 and the brake position sensor 34 is output to the ECU.” Also, Isami ¶ 57: “The accelerator opening degree Pap and the virtual engine speed Ne are input to the virtual engine output torque calculation unit 502. The memory 54 of the ECU 50 stores a map in which the virtual engine output torque Teout for the virtual engine speed Ne is specified for each accelerator opening Pap. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a calculation map of the virtual engine output torque.”)
“determining, by the control unit, virtual shift intervention torque … according to the determined virtual variable information based on a determination that the virtual gear stage has been changed.” (Isami ¶ 66: “the mode of the shift lever 26 is operated from 1st gear to 2nd gear. According to the operation of the shift lever 26 with the depression of the clutch pedal 28, the driver can obtain a feeling similar to the manual gear change operation of the MT vehicle.” Further, Isami ¶ 78: “FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a torque characteristic setting process.” Also, Isami ¶ 79: “When the driver performs an operation such as touch-and-drag on the torque curve of the base pattern displayed on the touch panel 60, the information is input to the torque characteristic setting unit 512 as input information. The torque characteristic setting unit 512 deforms the torque curve in the direction dragged by the driver based on the input information. … According to such a torque characteristic setting process, the driver can set any user preset pattern to suit the preference.” Therefore, Isami discloses a torque curve based on a user selected pattern (virtual shift intervention torque) for each virtual gear selection (virtual gear stage change) according to the operation of the shift lever (determination of virtual gear stage change).)
“generating, by the control unit, a final torque instruction based on the determined driver request torque and the determined virtual shift intervention torque.” (Isami ¶ 64: “In the torque control, the ECU 50 sequentially executes processing in the virtual engine output torque calculation unit 502, the torque transmission gain calculation unit 504, the clutch output torque calculation unit 506, the gear ratio calculation unit 508, and the transmission output torque calculation unit 510.” Further, Isami ¶ 79: “The torque characteristic deforms the torque curve … According to such a torque characteristic setting process.” To summarize, Isami discloses the transmission output torque calculation (final torque instruction) is based on the virtual engine output torque (determined driver torque; see Isami ¶ 57 above) and the torque characteristic setting (determined virtual shift intervention torque).)
“and controlling, by the control unit, a motor implemented in the electric vehicle based on the generated final torque instruction.” (Isami ¶ 64: “In the torque control, the ECU 50 sequentially executes processing in the virtual engine output torque calculation unit 502… The calculated transmission output torque Tgout is output to the inverter 16 as the required electric motor driving torque Tpreq. The inverter 16 controls the command value to the electric motor 2 so that the electric motor driving torque Tp approaches the required electric motor driving torque Tpreq.”)
The following limitations are not specifically disclosed by Isami, but are taught by Ota:
“determining, by the control unit, virtual shift intervention torque for actively modulating a motor torque profile during a virtual shifting transition period according to the determined virtual variable information based on a determination that the virtual gear stage has been changed.” (Ota ¶ 67: “FIG. 8 is a time chart for explaining changes in the engine torque Te between before and after an upshift by taking as an example the case of an upshift of the automatic transmission 12 performed when the accelerator opening degree Acc is equal to or greater than a predetermined value during vehicle acceleration, i.e., the case that the power-on upshift is performed.” Further, Ota ¶ 12: “the control device controls the engine torque during the upshift based on a virtual shift progress rate virtually indicative of a shift progress rate of the upshift.” Ota FIG. 8 reproduced below illustrates that the engine torque is modulated during a shifting transition period according to a virtual shift progress rate.)
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“wherein, based on the virtual gear stage being changed, the virtual shifting intervention torque is determined as a function of a virtual engine speed and the virtual gear stage acting as independent control inputs that are included in the virtual variable information.” (Ota ¶¶ 43-44: “if the target engine torque Tet is decided based on the virtual shift progress rate PRSat, the target engine torque deciding means 108 first calculates a virtual engine rotation speed NSe from the following Equation (2) based on the virtual shift progress rate PRSat. … After calculating the virtual engine rotation speed NSe from Equation (2), the target engine torque deciding means 108 uses the target engine torque Tet at the start of the upshift as a standard to calculate the target engine torque Tet during the upshift based on the virtual engine rotation speed NSe.”)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Isami by determining a virtual shift intervention torque profile during a virtual shifting transition period based on the virtual engine speed and the virtual gear stage as taught by Ota with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Ota ¶ 12 teaches that with this modification, “the engine torque during the upshift can be reduced by using the virtual shift progress rate with the same control as the control of simply increasing the engine torque as the upshift progresses. Therefore, the reduction in a control load can be achieved.” A person having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that actual torque for a mechanical vehicle changes during gear shifting based on the actual engine speed and actual gear stage, and so it would improve calculation accuracy to determine the virtual torque profile during a virtual shifting transition period based on a virtual engine speed and virtual gear stage as taught by Ota.
Regarding claim 2:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 1,” and Isami further teaches “wherein the virtual variable information further includes the virtual engine speed that is determined from a vehicle drive system speed of the vehicle-driving information.” (Isami ¶ 54: “While the electric vehicle 10 is traveling, the ECU 50 dynamically calculates the virtual engine speed Ne based on a driving condition. For example, the ECU 50 performs inverse calculation of the virtual engine speed Ne during traveling from the following equation (1) using a shaft rotational speed ‘Np’ of the propeller shaft 5,” where the shaft rotational speed used to calculate the virtual engine speed corresponds to vehicle driving information from a vehicle drive system.)
Regarding claim 3:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 2,” and Isami further teaches “wherein the virtual engine speed is determined based on the vehicle drive system speed and a virtual gear ratio value corresponding to the current virtual gear stage.” (Isami ¶ 54: “the ECU 50 performs inverse calculation of the virtual engine speed Ne during traveling from the following equation (1) using a shaft rotational speed ‘Np’ of the propeller shaft 5, a gear ratio ‘r’ corresponding to the shift position Gp.” Also, Isami ¶ 47: “The shift lever 26 is provided with a shift position sensor 36 for detecting a shift position Gp representing a position of the mode.” Further, Isami ¶ 46: “The plurality of modes are shift modes simulating the gear stages of an MT vehicle.” Therefore, Isami discloses simulated gear stages Gp (gear ratio values) as input to the ECU for calculating the virtual engine speed.)
Regarding claim 5:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 2,” and Isami further teaches the method “further comprising controlling, by the control unit, a sound system in the electric vehicle to output a virtual driving sound corresponding to the virtual engine speed.” (Isami ¶ 19: “The torque controller is configured to acquire a virtual engine speed that simulates an engine speed… The torque controller is configured to add an engine sound based on the virtual engine speed.)
Regarding claim 6:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 1,” and Isami further teaches the following limitations:
“wherein a torque range is set for each of a plurality of virtual gear stages.” (Isami ¶ 17: “The torque controller has a plurality of preset patterns in which torque characteristics of the plurality of modes are defined. The torque controller is configured to control torque of the electric motor according to a preset pattern selected from among the plurality of preset patterns.” Also, Isami ¶ 46: “The plurality of modes are shift modes simulating the gear stages of an MT vehicle, including, for example, 1st gear, 2nd gear, 3rd gear, 4th gear, 5th gear, 6th gear and N (neutral) modes.”)
“and one or more torque ranges associated with a first set of the plurality of virtual gear stages are set in wider ranges than one or more torque ranges associated with a second set of the plurality of virtual gear stages, the first set being lower virtual gear stages than the second set.” (Isami ¶ 38: “FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a torque characteristic of the electric motor corresponding to a plurality of modes,” where Isami FIG. 7 reproduced below illustrates a first and second preset pattern of virtual gear stages in relation to the rotational speed of the motor, which corresponds to the torque range of each virtual gear, and the second preset pattern (dashed line) illustrates a set of gear stages in wider torque ranges than the first preset pattern (solid line), and additionally illustrates the first preset pattern producing a higher driving force (i.e., a higher gear ratio/lower gearing) which corresponds to a lower virtual gear stage set than the second gear stage set.)
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Regarding claim 10:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 1,” and Isami further teaches the following limitations:
“wherein the torque range of each of a plurality of virtual gear stages is a positive torque region.” (Isami ¶ 44 and FIG. 3 shown below: “The electric vehicle 10 includes an accelerator pedal 22 for inputting an acceleration request… The accelerator pedal 22 is provided with an accelerator position sensor 32 for detecting the accelerator opening Pap (%),” where Isami FIG. 3 below illustrates a positive torque range when the accelerator pedal is operated (driver requested torque).)
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“and wherein determining the driver request torque comprises, based on an accelerator pedal input value being input as the driving input value to the control unit, determining the driver request torque as a value corresponding to the accelerator pedal input value between a lower limit value and an upper limit value of the torque range.” (Isami ¶ 57: “FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a calculation map of the virtual engine output torque. In the virtual engine output torque calculation unit 502, the virtual engine output torque Teout corresponding to the input accelerator opening Pap and the virtual engine speed Ne is calculated using the map shown in FIG. 3. The calculated virtual engine output torque Teout is output to the clutch output torque calculation unit 506.” Also, Isami ¶ 63: “In the transmission output torque calculation unit 510, the transmission output torque Tgout is calculated using the following equation (3) in which the clutch output torque Tcout is multiplied by the gear ratio r.” Therefore, Isami discloses determining an engine torque output in a positive region when the accelerator pedal is operated (driver request torque corresponding to pedal input) with a corresponding torque output for 100% pedal opening (maximum limit) and 0% (minimum limit) and using the determined virtual engine output torque and virtual gear ratio to calculate the transmission output torque for each of the plurality of gear stages.)
Regarding claim 11:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 1,” and Isami further teaches “wherein a torque range of each of a plurality of virtual gear stages includes a negative torque region and a positive torque region, and wherein determining the driver request torque comprises, based on an accelerator pedal input value being input as the driving input value to the control unit, determining the driver request torque as a value corresponding to the accelerator pedal input value between a lower limit value and an upper limit value of the torque range.” (See Isami ¶¶ 44, 57, and 63 and FIG. 3 as explained regarding claim 10 above, where the 0% pedal operation corresponds to a negative torque region for each of the plurality of gear stages.)
Regarding claim 19:
Ota teaches “wherein a virtual shifting intervention torque profile information having a virtual shifting progress ratio as a variable is input and stored in advance in the virtual shifting control unit to be used, the virtual shifting intervention torque profile information is obtained by setting the virtual shifting intervention torque, and the virtual shifting intervention torque changes in accordance with the virtual shifting progress ratio, as a continuous value.” (Ota ¶ 12: “the control device controls the engine torque during the upshift based on a virtual shift progress rate virtually indicative of a shift progress rate of the upshift.” Also, Ota FIG. 8 illustrates that the torque changes as a continuous value along with the virtual shift progress rate.)
The remaining limitations of claim 19 are taught by the combination of Isami and Ota using the same rationale applied to claim 1 above, mutatis mutandis.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Isami by determining the torque value based on information relating a torque profile to a virtual shift progress rate as taught by Ota with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Ota ¶ 12 and FIG. 8 teach that there is a defined relationship between torque and shifting progress rate. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that using a representation of this actual relationship could help to improve accuracy when calculating the virtual torque value.
Regarding claim 20:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 19,” and Ota further teaches “wherein the virtual shifting intervention torque corresponding to a current virtual shifting progress ratio is determined from the virtual shifting intervention torque profile.” (Ota ¶ 12 discloses that “the control device controls the engine torque during the upshift based on a virtual shift progress rate virtually indicative of a shift progress rate of the upshift,” which implies the use of some sort of profile defining the relationship between the torque and the virtual shift progress rate. Ota FIG. 8 illustrates the torque profile and virtual shift progress rate.)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Isami by determining the torque value based on information relating a torque profile to a virtual shift progress rate as taught by Ota with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Ota ¶ 12 and FIG. 8 teach that there is a defined relationship between torque and shifting progress rate. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that using a representation of this actual relationship could help to improve accuracy when calculating the virtual torque value.
Claims 4 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isami in view of Ota as applied to claims 1-2 above, and further in view of Duo’ et al. (US 2022/0063494 A1), hereinafter referred to as Duo.
Regarding claim 4:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 2,” but does not explicitly teach the method “further comprising controlling, by the control unit, a display to display the virtual gear stage and the virtual engine speed.” However, Duo does teach this limitation. (Duo ¶¶ 40-43: “the user interface includes a display, the control unit (4) being configured to represent on the display one or more of: an analogue and/or digital tachometer representing the simulated engine revolutions value (RpmFinal); a speed of the electric propulsion vehicle (100); the value of the simulated inserted gear (GearInserted) of the simulated endothermic combustion vehicle…”)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method that is disclosed by the combination of Isami and Ota by displaying the virtual gear stage and the virtual engine speed as taught by Duo with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this since Duo ¶¶ 166-167 teach that this allows the user to provide feedback and exchange data with the control unit based on the displayed data. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the virtual engine speed and virtual gear stage would be relevant to the user when deciding on desired emulation settings.
Regarding claim 17:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 1,” and Isami further teaches the following limitations:
“wherein the virtual variable information further includes the virtual engine speed that is determined from a vehicle drive-train speed of the vehicle-driving information.” (See Isami ¶ 54 as discussed regarding claim 2 above.)
“and wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the control unit, a motor torque instruction for limiting the virtual engine speed not to be lower than a lower critical speed.” (Isami ¶ 56: “during idling of the MT vehicle, idle speed control (ISC control) is performed to maintain the engine speed at a constant engine speed. Therefore, in view of the ISC control in the virtual engine, when, for example, the shaft rotation speed Np is 0 (zero) and the accelerator opening Pap is 0%, the ECU 50 outputs the virtual engine speed Ne as a predetermined idling speed (for example, 1000 rpm) on the assumption that the virtual engine is idling,” where the idle speed corresponds to a lower critical speed for the virtual engine.)
“and controlling, by the control unit, the motor based on the determined motor torque instruction.” (See Isami ¶ 64 as discussed regarding claim 1 above.)
The combination of Isami and Ota does not specifically teach that the torque instruction “is set for determining a virtual engine stall region, based on the virtual engine speed reaching the lower critical speed with a manual shifting mode being selected and without manual shifting being received from the driver.” However, Duo does teach this limitation. (Duo ¶ 110: “if the simulated engine revolutions value (RpmFinal) remains constantly below the engine idle value (RpmNIdle) for a set, optionally configurable, period of time, the simulated engine will shut down and the sound simulation routine will reproduce a sampled sound of the engine stall.”)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method that is disclosed by the combination of Isami and Ota by simulating the engine stalling when the virtual engine speed is lower than a threshold value as taught by Duo with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Duo ¶¶ 7-9 teach that this allows the system to “bring the driver of an electric vehicle the complete feeling of being at the wheel of a more common endothermic motor vehicle.” A person having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that an actual mechanical engine could stall if the engine speed is too low, and so it would improve the immersion experience of the driver to replicate this feature in the virtual system.
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isami in view of Ota as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Schuessler (US 2014/0195088 A1).
Regarding claim 7:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 1,” and Isami further teaches the following limitations:
“wherein a torque range is set for each of a plurality of virtual gear stages.” (Isami ¶ 17: “The torque controller has a plurality of preset patterns in which torque characteristics of the plurality of modes are defined. The torque controller is configured to control torque of the electric motor according to a preset pattern selected from among the plurality of preset patterns.” Also, Isami ¶ 46: “The plurality of modes are shift modes simulating the gear stages of an MT vehicle, including, for example, 1st gear, 2nd gear, 3rd gear, 4th gear, 5th gear, 6th gear and N (neutral) modes.”)
“a torque range width is determined based on a determined virtual gear ratio value of a corresponding virtual gear stage.” (Isami ¶ 46: “the torque characteristics of each of the plurality of modes can be freely preset within an output range of the electric motor 2.” Additionally, Isami ¶ 47: “The shift lever 26 is provided with each position corresponding to the plurality of modes having different torque characteristics.” Also, Isami ¶ 76: “In the gear ratio calculation unit 508, the gear ratio corresponding to the input shift position Gp is calculated using the calculation map of the gear ratio corresponding to the pattern selection result.” In summary, Isami teaches calculating (determining) a virtual gear ratio based on a pattern selection, where the pattern selection corresponds to setting torque output characteristics within electric motor output (torque) range for each virtual gear stage selected.)
The combination of Isami and Ota does not explicitly teach “the torque range width being a difference between an upper limit value and a lower limit value of the torque range for each of the plurality of virtual gear stages.” However, Schuessler does teach this limitation. (Schuessler ¶ 15: “at least one power limit of the electric motor is set or canceled as a function of the virtual rotational speed and/or of the virtual shift stage … to limit the operation of the electric motor, for example when specific threshold rotational speeds, in particular dependent on the virtual component stage, are undershot, in such a way that a threshold value for the efficiency cross section is not undershot, for example therefore remains in an optimum working range.” Also, Schuessler ¶ 16: “for example the electric motor can be operated only within a predefined range, in particular an optimum working range.” Therefore, the combination teaches setting a torque output characteristic within the output range of an electric motor for a plurality of virtual gears, as taught by Isami, while Schuessler teaches limiting the torque range based on a virtual gear stage by limiting the motor to predefined threshold values for optimum working range, which corresponds to an upper and lower limit of the torque range.)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method that is disclosed by the combination of Isami and Ota by modifying the torque output characteristics by using the optimum working range limits as taught by Schuessler with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Schuessler ¶ 36 teaches that this can be used to “provide that whenever a specific virtual rotational speed is undershot in specific virtual shift stages, a specific efficient operating range in which, for example, the efficiency level exceeds a predetermined limiting value is not exited,” thereby improving vehicle efficiency.
Regarding claim 8:
The combination of Isami, Ota, and Schuessler teaches “The method of claim 7,” and Isami further teaches “wherein the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the torque range for each of the plurality of virtual gear stages are determined as values that are proportioned to a determined virtual gear ratio value of a corresponding virtual gear stage.” (Isami ¶ 62: “As shown in FIG. 5, the gear ratio r is specified so that the higher the shift position Gp is, the lower the gear ratio r is. In the gear ratio calculation unit 508, the gear ratio corresponding to the input shift position Gp is calculated using the map shown in FIG. 5. The calculated gear ratio r is output to the transmission output torque calculation unit 510.” Also, Isami ¶ 63: “In the transmission output torque calculation unit 510, the transmission output torque Tgout is calculated using the following equation (3) in which the clutch output torque Tcout is multiplied by the gear ratio r.” Therefore, Isami teaches limiting the electric motor operation to an optimum working range (within an upper and lower limit), and the electric motor output torque is determined by multiplying (proportioned to) the virtual gear ratio.)
Regarding claim 9:
The combination of Isami, Ota, and Schuessler teaches “The method of claim 7,” and Isami further teaches “wherein the virtual gear ratio value of each of the plurality of virtual gear stages is determined as a value that is received from an input implemented in the electric vehicle.” (Isami ¶ 75 and FIG. 7: “The memory 54 of the ECU 50 respectively store a calculation map of the gear ratio corresponding to the first preset pattern and a calculation map of the gear ratio corresponding to the second preset pattern. The driver operates a mode selector switch in the vehicle to select the desired pattern.” Also, Isami ¶ 77: “As shown in FIG. 8, the user preset pattern can be set using, for example, a touch panel 60. The touch panel 60 includes an input device 62 for receiving a touch operation on the display as input information,” where the user inputs a preset pattern that is used to calculate each of the virtual gear (stage) ratios.)
Claims 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isami in view of Ota as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Herrmann et al. (US 2015/0166048 A1), hereinafter referred to as Herrmann.
Regarding claim 12:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 1,” and Isami further teaches “a determination that the determined virtual gear stage has been changed.” (Isami ¶ 25: “since the torque of the electric motor is controlled in response to the driver’s operation of the shift device, it is possible to simulate the manual gear change operation of the MT vehicle.” Therefore, Isami teaches an ECU that uses virtual gears in determining an electric motor output torque range.)
Isami in view of Ota does not specifically teach that based on the determination, “the control unit uses a virtual gear stage before changing as the current virtual gear stage in determining the torque range.” However, Herrmann does teach this limitation. (Herrmann ¶ 5: “When transitioning from a continuously-variable mode to a manual or override mode, the initial discrete virtual gear ratio must be determined or selected.” Also, Herrmann ¶ 11: “Initial virtual gear selection when transitioning from an automatic mode to a manually activated shift mode according to embodiments of the present disclosure selects a virtual gear and controls the engine and electric machines to provide a change in vehicle operation.” Therefore, Herrmann teaches determining an initial virtual gear for transitioning between virtual gears (current gear before changing).)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method disclosed by the combination of Isami and Ota by modifying the virtual gear ratios by using the initial gear as taught by Herrmann with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Herrmann ¶ 11 teaches that this would provide drivers with “more interactive controls to manually command output torque and acceleration to provide enhanced luxury features and/or a sporty feel,” thereby improving the driver experience.
Regarding claim 13:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 1,” and Isami further teaches “a determination that the virtual gear stage has been changed according to manual shifting input information from the driver of the vehicle-driving information in determining the virtual variable information.” (See the discussion of the “manual gear change operation” of Isami ¶ 25 regarding claim 12 above.)
Isami in view of Ota does not explicitly teach that based on the determination, “the control unit uses a virtual gear stage before changing as the current virtual gear stage in determining the torque range.” However, this limitation is taught by Herrmann. (See Herrmann ¶¶ 5 and 11 as explained regarding claim 12 above.)
Regarding claim 14:
The combination of Isami, Ota, and Herrmann teaches “The method of claim 13,” and Isami further teaches the following limitations:
“wherein the virtual variable information further includes the virtual engine speed that is determined from a vehicle drive-train speed of the vehicle-driving information and a virtual gear ratio value corresponding to the virtual gear stage.” (Isami ¶ 42: “An output shaft 3 of the electric motor 2 is connected to one end of a propeller shaft 5 via a gear mechanism 4. The other end of the propeller shaft 5 is connected to a drive shaft 7 in front of the vehicle via a differential gear 6.” Also, Isami ¶ 54: “the ECU 50 performs inverse calculation of the virtual engine speed Ne during traveling from the following equation (1) using a shaft rotational speed ‘Np’ of the propeller shaft 5, a gear ratio ‘r’ corresponding to the shift position Gp.”)
“and based on (i) a determination that a virtual gear stage has been changed according to manual shifting input information from the driver.” (See the “manual gear change operation” of Isami ¶ 25 as discussed regarding claim 12 above.)
The following limitations are not explicitly taught by the combination of Isami and Ota, but are taught by Herrmann:
“and (ii) a virtual engine speed determined using a virtual gear ratio value of a virtual gear stage after the change exceeding a preset upper critical speed or being less than a preset lower critical speed.” (Herrmann ¶ 32: “In selecting an initial virtual gear, the controller may evaluate vehicle speed and compare the vehicle speed to a threshold value, step 212.” Also, Herrmann ¶¶ 33-35: “If the vehicle speed exceeds the threshold value in step 212, the controller may determine if the accelerator pedal position is less than or equal to zero, step 216. … An exemplary look-up table providing a correlation between vehicle speed and virtual gear may appear as follows: Vehicle Speed=[0-9. 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50+] Virtual Gear=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].”)
“the control unit is configured to maintain a current virtual gear stage by blocking a change of a virtual gear stage and stop performing a process according to the change of the virtual gear stage.” (Herrmann ¶ 39: “Should the change in accelerator pedal position exceed the check value in step 246, the controller may limit the final virtual gear selection and apply the initial virtual gear, step 248.”)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method that is disclosed by the combination of Isami and Ota by modifying the virtual gear ratios by maintaining the initial gear stage based on a speed threshold being exceeded as taught by Herrmann with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Herrmann ¶ 11 teaches that this modification can help “to provide a change in vehicle operation consistent with driver expectations, i.e. a noticeable increase in engine speed and output torque in response to a downshift request,” thereby improving the driver experience.
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isami in view of Ota as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Baur et al. (US 2008/0060861 A1), hereinafter referred to as Baur.
Regarding claim 15:
The combination of Isami and Ota teaches “The method of claim 1,” and Isami further teaches the following limitations:
“wherein the virtual variable information further includes the virtual engine speed that is determined from a vehicle drive-train speed of the vehicle-driving information.” (See Isami ¶¶ 42 and 54 as explained regarding claim 14 above.)
“and wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the control unit, a motor torque instruction for limiting the virtual engine speed not to exceed an upper critical speed.” (Isami ¶ 46: “torque characteristics of the electric motor 2 are defined in stages with respect to a rotational speed of the electric motor 2. … the torque characteristics of each of the plurality of modes can be freely preset within an output range of the electric motor 2,” where the preset output range for the electric motor teaches the use of an upper critical speed as claimed.)
The following limitations are not explicitly taught by the combination of Isami and Ota, but are taught by Baur:
“which is set for determining a virtual red zone, based on the virtual engine speed reaching the upper critical speed with a manual shifting mode being selected and without manual shifting being received from the driver.” (Baur ¶ 19: “user interface 30 of the preferred embodiment additionally includes a gear selector 16 that functions to receive a gear selection 18 amongst a number of simulated gear ratios. … The gear selector 16 in this variation is preferably an electric gear shifter or a standard gear shifter similar to those used in manual transmission vehicles.” Also, Baur ¶ 26: “The simulated gear ratios preferably mimic those of an internal combustion engine, and more preferably those of a high performance vehicle, but may alternatively be any suitable relationship between the simulated engine speed 26 and the sensed vehicle speed 22 for the given gear selection 18.” Also, Baur ¶ 35: “The processor preferably allows the user of the entertainment vehicle 10 to experience the sensation and strategy of driving a vehicle with an internal combustion engine and multiple gear ratios and to experience the necessity to keep the simulated engine speed 26 below a predetermined redline value 58 to avoid simulated engine damage 56. This effectively limits the vehicle speed a user can safely achieve for a particular gear selection.”)
“and controlling, by the control unit, the motor based on the determined motor torque instruction.” (Baur ¶ 35: “The processor 24 adjusts the motor 12 such that the output torque 14 of the motor 12 is significantly lower than the simulated transmission output torque 52. Once simulated engine damage 56 has occurred, the entertainment vehicle 10 will preferably slow or stop until action is taken.” Therefore, Baur teaches a simulated internal combustion engine with a redline value (upper critical speed for a virtual engine) where the processor adjusts the motor torque (controls the motor based on the determined torque instruction), where the simulated engine damage occurs when the simulated engine speed is not kept below the redline value until action is taken (without manual shifting being received from the driver).)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method disclosed by the combination of Isami and Ota by controlling the motor based on a torque that is determined while accounting for a redline value as taught by Baur with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Baur ¶ 35 teaches that considering a redline value in this way can provide a simulation of potential engine damage, and Baur ¶¶ 4-5 teach that this could help with providing an improved entertainment vehicle and improving the driver experience since “vehicles with electric motors often do not include a transmission. The experience and strategy of driving and racing an entertainment vehicle with electric motors is, however, reduced.”
Regarding claim 16:
The combination of Isami, Ota, and Baur teaches “The method of claim 15,” and Baur also teaches “wherein controlling the motor comprises controlling the motor such that vibration is generated by motor torque variation based on a final torque instruction obtained by adding a correction torque value having a torque ripple to the determined motor torque instruction.” (Baur ¶ 32: “Using the simulated properties and/or sensed properties of the vehicle, the processor preferably controls the vehicle, adjusts the motor, controls the feedback devices, and/or performs any other suitable function.” Also, Baur ¶ 33: “the processor 24 adjusts the motor 12 such that the output torque 14 of the motor 12 is approximately equal to the simulated transmission output torque 52.” Also, Baur ¶ 34: “The processor 24 may also simulate the temporary pause in the transmission of engine torque to the wheels that occurs when shifting or changing gears of a manual transmission. The processor 24 preferably adjusts the motor 12 such that the output torque 14 of the motor 12 is about zero upon the change of the gear selection 18 amongst the simulated gear ratios. This might simulate the ‘jerk’ the user would feel when shifting an actual manual transmission.” Therefore, the combination of Isami, Duo, and Baur teaches adjusting the motor torque output (controlling a torque variation based on an instruction) to simulate a “jerk” from shifting (vibration generated by adding motor torque instruction) to a value around zero (adding a correction value) to simulate a temporary pause in torque transmission (having a torque ripple) upon gear change (final torque instruction).)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method disclosed by the combination of Isami and Ota by controlling the motor to provide a jerking sensation and a temporary pause in the transmission of the torque as taught by Baur with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Baur ¶¶ 32-34 teach that this can simulate the sensations that would be present in an actual manual transmission vehicle, and Baur ¶¶ 4-5 teach that this could help provide an improved entertainment vehicle and improve the driver experience because “vehicles with electric motors often do not include a transmission. The experience and strategy of driving and racing an entertainment vehicle with electric motors is, however, reduced.”
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isami in view of Ota and Duo as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Baur et al. (US 2008/0060861 A1), hereinafter referred to as Baur.
Regarding claim 18:
The combination of Isami, Ota, Duo, and Ballard teaches “The method of claim 17,” but does not specifically teach “wherein controlling the motor comprises controlling the motor such that vibration is generated by motor torque variation based on a final torque instruction obtained by adding a correction torque value having a torque ripple to the determined motor torque instruction.” However, Baur does teach this limitation. (Baur ¶¶ 32-34 teach this limitation as explained regarding claim 16 above.)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method disclosed by the combination of Isami, Ota, and Duo by controlling the motor to provide a jerking sensation and a temporary pause in the transmission of the torque as taught by Baur with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Baur ¶¶ 32-34 teach that this can be used to simulate the sensations that would be present in an actual manual transmission vehicle, and Baur ¶¶ 4-5 teach that this could help provide an improved entertainment vehicle and improve the driver experience because “vehicles with electric motors often do not include a transmission. The experience and strategy of driving and racing an entertainment vehicle with electric motors is, however, reduced.”
Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isami (US 2021/0229550 A1) in view of Oh et al. (US 2022/0089174 A1), hereinafter referred to as Oh.
Regarding claim 19:
Oh teaches the following limitations:
“determining, by the control unit, virtual shift intervention torque for actively modulating a motor torque profile during a virtual shifting transition period according to the determined virtual variable information based on a determination that the virtual gear stage has been changed.” (Oh ¶ 184: “a virtual gear-shift effect may be generated and formed by controlling motor torque when a gear shift event occurs, and a motor torque command may be corrected in order to generate and form a virtual gear-shift effect, and in this case, correction torque for correcting the motor torque command may be virtual gear shift intervention torque.” Further, Oh ¶¶ 187-188 disclose the use of a “virtual gear shift intervention torque profile” that changes according to “a gear shift progress rate.”)
“wherein a virtual shifting intervention torque profile information having a virtual shifting progress ratio as a variable is input and stored in advance in the virtual shifting control unit to be used, the virtual shifting intervention torque profile information is obtained by setting the virtual shifting intervention torque, and the virtual shifting intervention torque changes in accordance with the virtual shifting progress ratio, as a continuous value.” (Oh ¶ 188: “the virtual gear shift intervention torque profile may be a torque profile having a preset virtual gear shift intervention torque value depending on a gear shift progress rate, and the gear shift progress rate may be determined as, for example, a percentage (%) of a counted time with respect to a total preset gear-shifting time, and may increase until reaching 100%.”)
The remaining limitations of claim 19 are disclosed by Isami using the same rationale applied to claim 1 above, mutatis mutandis.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Isami by determining the virtual torque information based on a defined relationship with a gear shift progress rate during a virtual shifting transition period as is taught by Oh with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Oh ¶¶ 7-12 and 183 teach that this modification can help “to form the virtual gear-shift effect” that can “enable a driver to experience a desired sensation in the same vehicle without changing a vehicle.”
Regarding claim 20:
The combination of Isami and Oh teaches “The method of claim 19,” and Oh further teaches “wherein the virtual shifting intervention torque corresponding to a current virtual shifting progress ratio is determined from the virtual shifting intervention torque profile.” (Oh ¶ 188: “the virtual gear shift intervention torque profile may be a torque profile having a preset virtual gear shift intervention torque value depending on a gear shift progress rate.”)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Isami by determining the virtual torque information based on a defined relationship with a gear shift progress rate as taught by Oh with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this since Oh ¶¶ 7-12 and 183 teach that this can help “to form the virtual gear-shift effect” that can “enable a driver to experience a desired sensation in the same vehicle without changing a vehicle.”
Conclusion
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/Madison R. Inserra/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3662