DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 June 24, 2026 has been entered. This is the second RCE in the application.
Response to Arguments
The amendment filed May 26, 2026 has been entered with the RCE filed on June 24, 2026. Claims 1, 10, and 19 have been amended. Those are the independent claims. The remaining claims are in original or previously presented form. Therefore, claims 1-20 are pending in the application.
The applicant’s Remarks, filed June 24, 2026, has been fully considered. The applicant argues, under the heading “Rejection under 35 U.S.C. §112,” that the antecedent basis issue in the last detailed action has been corrected on amendment. The examiner agrees and withdraws the rejection.
The application further argues, under the heading “Rejection under 35 U.S.C. §103,” that Rajkumar et al. (US2020/0090419 A1) in view of Malkowicz et al. (US2009/0222427 A1) do not teach the present claims. The examiner agrees, but there is still some difficultly in determining what the claim means. Please see the rejection below.
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 1-20 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
The independent claims are substantially similar and rejected for the same reason so the examiner will discuss claim 1.
Claim 1 now recites:
A method for vehicle analytics, the method comprising:
receiving data from at least one condition indicator sensor of a vehicle,
wherein the at least one condition indicator sensor is configured to measure
a torque value associated with a steering system, and at least one of
a handwheel position of a handwheel of the steering system, and
a motor position of a motor of the steering system;
receiving data from at least one usage indicator sensor of the vehicle;
updating a vehicle specific model based on a vehicle master model, the data from the at least one condition indicator sensor, and the data from the at least one usage indicator sensor,
wherein the vehicle master model
represents a class of vehicle corresponding to a vehicle design associated with the vehicle and
is generated based on
at least one design specification characteristic of the class of vehicle corresponding to the vehicle design and
at least one end-of-line characteristic associated with the vehicle, and
wherein the vehicle specific model is generated based on
the vehicle master model and
at least one initial parameter corresponding to at least one end-of-line characteristic of the vehicle,
the at least one initial parameter being one of a plurality of parameters of a parameter set generated based on at least one of nominal design data, as-built data, and in-use data,
wherein the in-use data includes at least data indicating a wheel angle corresponding to an applied handwheel torque during operation of the vehicle;
identifying, using the vehicle specific model, at least one usage trend of the vehicle;
generating aggregated data based on (i) at least one of the data from the at least one condition indicator sensor of the vehicle and the data from the at least one usage indicator sensor of the vehicle, and (ii) at least one of condition indictor data and usage indicator data associated with at least one other vehicle; and
determining an estimate of a remaining useful life of at least one aspect of the vehicle based on the at least one usage trend of the vehicle and the aggregated data.
Does the “wheel angle” in the claim refer to a handwheel, i.e., a steering wheel. Or does it refer to one of the road wheels? It is not particularly pointed out. This makes the claims indistinct.
The examiner notes that the claim makes a distinction between a “handwheel” and a “a wheel”. Thus, when referring to “a wheel angle” in the claim, the claim might be referring to the wheel angle of the vehicle’s driving wheels, not the handwheel (also called steering wheel) used by the driver of the vehicle.
This matters when determining what the claim means when reciting: “wherein the in-use data includes at least data indicating a wheel angle corresponding to an applied handwheel torque during operation of the vehicle”.
Determining what “wheel angle” is referring to has a lot to do with paragraph 0060 of the present specification. The amended language is similar to that used in paragraph 0060. That paragraph recites that “operation data may include sensor data indicating handwheel friction of a handwheel of the vehicle steering system, wheel angle corresponding to an applied handwheel torque,” etc.
One reading of the phrase just quoted could be that the term “wheel” in “wheel angle” was simply used as shorthand for handwheel angle. Yet it may not be the case that “wheel angle” is being used as shorthand for handwheel angle because even though “handwheel” is mentioned several times before the use of the term “wheel,” and thus using a shortened form would be logical, the sentence goes back to referring to “handwheel” when using the term “handwheel torque.” Thus, no shorthand appears to be adopted. It might be that “wheel” in the phrase “wheel angle” in paragraph 0060 is referring to what paragraph 0063 later refers to “roadwheel angle”.
Paragraph 0053 recites that the vehicle may have a steer-by-wire system in which there is no mechanical connection between the “handwheel and wheels 22 of the vehicle 10”. Here “handwheel” and “wheel” mean separate things. This may be a good guide for the claim. According to paragraph 0053, the system may receive inputs from “a handwheel position, an input torque, one or more roadwheel positions,” as well as other data, “or a combination thereof.” This and paragraph 0063 could reasonable provide written description for clarifying claim 1 to change the term “wheel angle” to “roadwheel angle.” Additionally, paragraph 0053 teaches, “the inputs may include a handwheel torque, a handwheel angle,” etc.
But since paragraph 0053 specifically uses the term “handwheel angle” and not just “wheel angle” and because the paragraph later refers to “roadwheel” it suggests that when claim 1 uses the term “wheel angle” it is at least not referring to handwheel angle and probably referring to a roadwheel.
Paragraph 0055 recites that a vehicle may have various sensors including sensors that can indicate “a handwheel torque, a handwheel angle, a motor velocity, a vehicle speed, other suitable information, or a combination thereof.” This paragraph also shows that when referring to a steering wheel angle the disclosure uses the full term “handwheel angle” not “wheel angle.” Thus “wheel angle” may mean something different. It may mean roadwheel angle.
In one broad reasonable interpretation, the amended clause in the context of claim 1 means that the vehicle contains a sensor that measures the “wheel angle” of the wheels of the vehicle and one that measures the torque applied to the steering wheel. It may be that, initially, when the vehicle rolls off the assembly line, its initial parameter or “end-of-line characteristic” is that the applied torque on the steering wheel can achieve a greater drive wheel angle than later in the vehicle’s life. Or, it may be the other way around. In either case, this parameter, which is really the combination of two sensor readings, can be measured and kept track of as a means for determine a specific vehicle’s usage and condition.
For examination purposes, the term “wheel angle” will be interpreted to mean roadwheel angle.
Additional Art
The following references are prior art made of record and considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
One close prior art is Pavey et al. (GB2598785A). Pavey teaches a system that detects vehicle component fatigue by measuring parameters such as “brake pressure; steering angle, speed and torque; body inertial measurement unit (IMU); wheel speed and odometer”. Note that the phrase “steering angle, speed and torque” is set off by semi-colons while commas are used within the phrase. This indicates that the parameters measured included steering angle and steering torque. Pavey later uses the term “steering wheel angle.” Emphasis added. Thus, when referring to “steering angle” it seems Pavey is referring to the roadwheel angle.
Another close prior art is Choi (KR2001/0035145A). Choi teaches “the used car price is the depreciation amount (paragraph 103) in proportion to the period of use in the new car price (paragraph 102), the depreciation amount of each component for the period used in proportion to the preset life expectancy according to the vehicle model”. Choi also teaches that “The new car price (102) is determined according to the vehicle model and the year of sale, and the vehicle depreciation (103) in proportion to the period of use can be set according to the basic life of the vehicle determined by the vehicle manufacturer.”
Choi teaches that all this data is compiled in a “server 705”. “Figure 9 shows the search keywords available to the buyer when he or she wants to search for the desired vehicle. The buyer can select the vehicle model (901), vehicle year (902), price range (903), option (904), Search by others (905) and sort the results.”
Yet Choi does not teach that a vehicle’s initial parameters and later wear and tear is uploaded by the vehicle itself to the server including a roadwheel angle corresponding to an applied handwheel torque during operation of the vehicle.
Another close prior art is Suganuma (JP2002149774A). The title of the disclosure is “Gathering and retrieval system for vehicle history information.” The Abstract states that “This is a gathering and retrieval system for vehicle history information equipped with a server where the vehicle history information including the repair history and/or travel distance history is stored while made to correspond to a vehicle ID such as the vehicle body number, etc., of the vehicle connected to the communication net work such as the Internet, an information gathering means which can gather and store the vehicle history information on the server in the form of the database while making it correspond to the vehicle ID by access to a site related to the server from an information terminal such as a personal computer and a portable telephone, and an information retrieving means which can retrieve whether or not information having the vehicle ID of a desired vehicle whose history is to be known is present in the database. A purchaser (general consumer) of a used vehicle can buy even a vehicle having a repair history at ease.”
Suganuma teaches: “The vehicle history information includes, as a repair history, at least one of items of sheet metal repair, skeleton correction, parts replacement repair such as panel replacement, painting repair or painting replacement, and a meter mileage item.”
Suganuma mentions that “vehicle history information” can include “parts replacement repair” but does not mention the various system that may be repaired. Suganuma also does not teach that a vehicle’s initial parameters and later wear and tear is uploaded by the vehicle itself to the server including a roadwheel angle corresponding to an applied handwheel torque during operation of the vehicle.
Another close prior art is Usui et al. (JP2003050886A). Usui teaches in the Abstract “ The PCs of a plurality of registered repair and maintenance agents can be connected by a communication channel, the history data formatted and converted to a fixed form, which are the data of the repair and maintenance records of the vehicles possessed inside the respective PCs are received and connected for the same vehicle and a connected vehicle history data base in the order of dates is formed. Also, a data retrieval processing part is provided and users including the repair and maintenance agents can browse or download the connected vehicle history data base through the communication channel.” Usui also teaches that “When the customer etc. specifies one used car, the car history number corresponding to the used car Can be selected and transmitted to the maintenance record database, and the history data of the used car can be transmitted to the customer or the like via a communication line.”
According to Usui, each vehicle will receive a vehicle “chassis number” in a database 2 in a particular table. There will also be a column for “mileage up to the time when the repair or maintenance” was performed. In this way the specific price of each vehicle can be determined by purchasers.
Usui teaches that “the degree of wear and the degree of deterioration may be acquired from the electronic sensor chip attached to each part of the automobile. The electronic sensor chip is controlled by a control computer in the vehicle, and the control computer transmits the deterioration degree and the wear loss detected by the electronic sensor chip to a dedicated reading device by wire or wirelessly.”
Usui teaches a “the lifelong consolidated vehicle history centralized management center” that receives data via Communication lines “from vehicles equipped with parts equipped with electronic sensor chips.” These chips “send usage data such as deterioration and wear. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a usage data analysis processing unit that receives usage data via the and analyzes the usage data is provided.”
Usui teaches the general idea of a centralized server that determines the degree of wear of “each part” of an automobile, but Usui doesn’t get into recording an “initial parameter,” which “includes at least data indicating a [road]wheel angle corresponding to an applied handwheel torque during operation of the vehicle;
Salizzoni (IT201900000106 A1), Sakuzzi teaches a system that can determine the real value of used cars based on more than just mileage, year, make, and model. Salizzoni teaches a centralized server that can collect data on individual vehicles. The data includes, vehicle mileage as well as “mechanical condition of major mechanical components”. This information is transmitted using device 14a-14n. According to the disclosure, “The invention consists of a system 100 for determining substantially in real time the actual residual value of a series of vehicles (10, 20) based on at least one parameter relating to each vehicle (10, 20), determined or detected by at least a corresponding entity (11a, 11b, ... 11n) or device (14a, 14b, ... 14n) and communicated to said system via a data communication geographic network (WAN), and also on the basis of a standard residual value assigned to said vehicle (10, 20) (e.g. based on market information).” Therefore, the devices can “detect” the value of a “parameter.” Based on these detected values of parameters, the system can generate “assessment of the condition of wearing parts”.
The system works by initial performing “registration” of “a new vehicle”. When registering a new car, the registration can be “set by the manufacturer of the car” and include “other characteristics known to the manufacturer”.
Yet Salizzoni does not teach that a vehicle’s initial parameters and later wear and tear is uploaded by the vehicle itself to the server including a roadwheel angle corresponding to an applied handwheel torque during operation of the vehicle.
Another close prior art is Ukai et al. (US2008/0306655). See paragraph 0035 for “FIGS. 7A to 7D are Lissajous' figures for showing a relationship between a rotation angle of a steering wheel and a steering torque applied by the operator, wherein the first viscous friction coefficient of the steering wheel is increased by 900 percent due to the component deterioration with age caused by the long use of the electric power steering system, and the changes in the steering torque are formed as sinusoidal waves over time and frequencies of the sinusoidal waves are 0.2 Hz, 0.5 Hz, 1.0 Hz, and 1.8 Hz, respectively”.
Yet Ukai does not teach that a vehicle’s initial parameters and later wear and tear is uploaded by the vehicle itself to the server including a roadwheel angle corresponding to an applied handwheel torque during operation of the vehicle.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL M. ROBERT whose telephone number is (571)270-5841. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:30 EST.
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/DANIEL M. ROBERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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