Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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, 2, 6, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son (US 12,131,596) in view of Cheng (US 2006/0278466).
In re claims 1, 15, and 16 Son discloses a steer-by wire apparatus (as shown in Figure 2) for use in turning steerable vehicle wheels, the apparatus comprising:
a steering member (210) which is axially movable relative to the vehicle to effect turning movement of the steerable vehicle wheels;
a ball nut assembly (231) connected with an externally threaded portion (211) of the steering member, the steering member moving axially in response to rotation of the ball nut assembly relative to the steering member;
a first motor (232) connected with the ball nut assembly, the first motor being operable to effect rotation of the ball nut assembly relative to the steering member;
a pinion (271, 272) in meshing engagement with the steering member (via rack gear 213), the steering member moving axially in response to rotation of the pinion.
Son does not disclose a second motor connected with the pinion, the second motor being operable to effect rotation of the pinion relative to the steering member.
Cheng, however, does disclose a power steering apparatus having a first motor (272) connected with a ball nut assembly (274) to axially move a steering member (18) and a second motor (280) connected with a pinion (286) to effect rotation of the pinion relative to the steering member; further including an electronic control unit (ECU 292) that controls the first and second motors (as shown in Figure 14) and at least one motor sensor (see [0049]) connected with the ECU that detects whether at least one of the first and second motors is operating correctly (see [0049]), the ECU adjusting operation of one of the first and second motors if the other of the first and second motors is not operating correctly (clam 15) (see [0049] and [0051]); wherein the first and second motors provide redundancy for each other (clam 16) (see [0051]) such that in the event of a failure or damage to one of the motors, the other motor can continue to provide power assist (see [0011]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the steering apparatus of Son such that it further comprised the pinion motor of Cheng to advantageously provide a secondary assist motor in the event of failure or damage to the ball nut motor.
In re claim 2, Son does not disclose further including a gear connected with the ball nut assembly and rotatable with the ball nut assembly relative to the steering member, the first motor being operable to effect rotation of the gear and the ball nut assembly relative to the steering member.
Cheng, however, does disclose wherein the pulley drive can be a gear drive including a gear (90) connected with the ball nut assembly and rotatable with the ball nut assembly relative to the steering member (as shown in Figure 4), the first motor being operable to effect rotation of the gear and the ball nut assembly relative to the steering member.
At the time the application was filed, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the gear drive of Cheng because Applicant has not disclosed that a gear drive provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Son to perform equally well with a gear drive because gear drives and pulley drives are known equivalent means of driving a ball nut. Therefore it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify the pulley drive of Son to obtain the invention as claimed.
In re claim 6, Son further discloses a drive pulley (233) connected to an output shaft (as shown in Figure 3) of the first motor (232) and a belt (234) connected to the drive pulley and the ball nut assembly (as shown in Figure 3), the first motor being operable to effect rotation of the drive pulley, the belt transmitting force from the drive pulley to ball nut assembly to rotate the ball nut assembly relative to the steering member (as shown in Figures 2-3).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son and Cheng in view of Tatewaki (US 7,284,634).
In re claim 3, the combination of Son and Cheng discloses the steer-by wire apparatus as set forth in claim 2, but does not disclose further including an idler gear in meshing engagement with the gear connected with the ball nut assembly, the first motor being operable to effect rotation of the idler gear to effect rotation of the gear and the ball nut assembly relative to the steering member.
Tatewaki, however, does disclose a gear driven ball nut (241) further including an idler gear (238) in meshing engagement with the gear connected with the ball nut assembly (as shown in Figures 5-7), the first motor (235) being operable to effect rotation of the idler gear to effect rotation of the gear and the ball nut assembly relative to the steering member (223).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the steering apparatus of Son and Cheng such that it further comprised the idler gear of Tatewaki to advantageously maintain the spacing between the ball nut gear and the motor output gear.
Claims 4, 5, 11, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son and Cheng in view of Shiino (US 2010/0152971).
In re claims 4, 5, 11, and 13, Son and Cheng disclose the steer-by wire apparatus as set forth in claims 1, 2, and 6, but do not disclose further including a worm shaft connected to an output shaft of the second motor, the worm shaft being in meshing engagement with a worm wheel connected to the pinion.
Shiino, however, does disclose a worm shaft (13) connected to an output shaft of the second motor (11), the worm shaft being in meshing engagement with a worm wheel (12) connected to the pinion (5); wherein the worm wheel has a press fit connection with the pinion (as shown in Figure 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the second motor of Son and Cheng such that it further comprised the worm gear/shaft of Shiino to provide the necessary power from the motor to the steering member.
Claims 7-10, 12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son and Cheng in view of Chae (US 9,193,378).
In re claims 7-10, 12, and 14, Son and Cheng disclose the steer-by wire apparatus as set forth in claims 1, 2, and 6, but do not disclose further including a planetary gear stage connecting the second motor to the pinion.
Chae, however, does disclose a planetary gear stage (230) connecting the motor (210) to the pinion (250); wherein the planetary gear stage has a press fit connection with the pinion (claim 8; as shown in Figure 3); wherein the planetary gear stage (230) includes a sun gear (351) rotatable with an output shaft (311) of the motor (210), at least one planetary gear (355) being in meshing engagement with the sun gear and supported for rotation on a carrier (354) connected to the pinion (250), the at least one planetary gear being in meshing engagement with teeth on a housing (310), the at least one planetary gear rotating and orbiting the sun gear during operation of the motor, the carrier rotating relative to the output shaft of the motor as the at least one planetary gear rotates and orbits the sun gear (as shown in Figures 3-4) (claim 9); wherein the carrier has an output member (370) connected to the pinion, the output member having a press fit connection with the pinion (250 as shown in Figure 3) (claim 10).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the second motor of Son and Cheng such that it further comprised the planetary gear stage of Chae to advantageously provide additional torque in a compact design with even load distribution.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/18/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the rack bar 210 of Son does not move axially in response to rotation of the pinion gear 272 as suggested in the previous Office Action. The Examiner notes that this was suggested merely to show that if the pinion gear 272 was powered (via motor of Cheng) then the rack bar 210 would move axially, not that Son discloses using the pinion gear to actually drive the rack bar. Applicant also argues that using the motor 280 of Cheng to rotate the pinion gear 272 of Son would defeat the purpose of detecting the torque generated between the pinion shaft 271 and the rack bar 210 since the motor 280 would be applying torque to the pinion shaft. The Examiner, however, notes that the motor of Cheng was only used as a backup drive “to advantageously provide a secondary assist motor in the event of failure or damage to the ball nut motor”. So even if it does defeat the purpose of detecting a generated torque, the Examiner maintains that it is more important to maintain steering control in the event of a failure than it is to detect a torque at least until the failure is fixed.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael R Stabley whose telephone number is (571)270-3249. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-5:30.
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/MICHAEL R STABLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3611 /VALENTIN NEACSU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3611