DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 -2, 13, 15, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
As to claim 1performing first operation, second operation, and third operation. It is not clear what operation is being performed. The applicant does not claim what exactly is being done during these different operations.
Claims, 2, 13, 15 are rejected based on their dependency on the defective parent. Claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 16,18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chan (US 2016/0121666)
As to claim 16 Chan discloses an air-pressure adjusting device that is configured to adjust an air pressure of a tire of a human-powered vehicle, the air-pressure adjusting device comprising:
a control device configured to control the air pressure of the tire,
in a state where the human-powered vehicle is not traveling, the control device is configured to:
acquire locational information related to at least one of a state of a road surface on which the human-powered vehicle will travel, a traveling state of the human-powered vehicle, and a state of a component mounted on the human-powered vehicle(Paragraph 45 “As an example, road sensor 24 may detect wet or icy conditions along road 34 (see FIGS. 4-5) and provide road data indicating such conditions to controller 20. Controller 20, in turn, controls operation of pressure regulator 22 to vary the air pressure of tires 14 accordingly.”, Paragraph 48 “Referring now to FIG. 7, method 80 of controlling air pressure within one or more tires is shown according to one embodiment. A tire pressure is received (82). In one embodiment, the tire pressure is received as tire data from one or more tire sensors such as tire sensor 26. Road data is received (84). In one embodiment, road data regarding road conditions, etc. at an advanced location is received from one or more road sensors such as road sensor 24. A target pressure is determined (86).”);
calculate an adjustment value of the air pressure of the tire (Paragraph 48 “A target pressure is determined (86). Based on the received tire pressure and road data, a target pressure for one or more tires may be determined by, for example, controller 20. The tire pressure of one or more tires is adjusted (e.g., maintained, increased, or decreased) based on the target pressure (88)”) based on locational information and positional information of the human-powered vehicle in relation to the locational information (Paragraph 44 “In one embodiment, the road data includes location data for an advanced location of road conditions, such that based on a the advanced location, the current location of the vehicle, and the speed/direction of travel of the vehicle, controller 20 can determine a point in time at which vehicle 10 will arrive at the advanced location, and control operation of pressure regulator 22 such that the air pressure within tires 14 is adjusted for road conditions at an advanced location by the time vehicle 10 arrives at the advanced location, thereby anticipating road conditions and adjusting tire pressure in real time to accommodate such conditions.”) and
adjust the air pressure of the tire (Paragraph 48 “A target pressure is determined (86). Based on the received tire pressure and road data, a target pressure for one or more tires may be determined by, for example, controller 20. The tire pressure of one or more tires is adjusted (e.g., maintained, increased, or decreased) based on the target pressure (88)”)
As to claim 18 Chan discloses an air-pressure adjusting device wherein the control device is further configured to:
calculate the adjustment value of the air pressure of the tire by using an estimation model based on the locational information and positional information (Paragraph 47-48); and
control the air pressure of the tire based on the adjustment value that was calculated (Paragraph 47-48).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 13, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chan (US 2016/0121666) on view of Fairgrieve (US 2015/02031155)
As to claim 1 Chan discloses a control device for a human-powered vehicle, the control device comprising:
an electronic controller configured to control an air pressure of a tire provided to a human-powered vehicle based on at least one of a roughness of a road surface on which the human-powered vehicle is traveling or will travel, a slope state related to an advancing direction of the human-powered vehicle, a wet state of the road surface, a traveling state of the human-powered vehicle, and a state of a component mounted on the human-powered vehicle(Paragraph 45 “As an example, road sensor 24 may detect wet or icy conditions along road 34 (see FIGS. 4-5) and provide road data indicating such conditions to controller 20. Controller 20, in turn, controls operation of pressure regulator 22 to vary the air pressure of tires 14 accordingly.”, Paragraph 48 “Referring now to FIG. 7, method 80 of controlling air pressure within one or more tires is shown according to one embodiment. A tire pressure is received (82). In one embodiment, the tire pressure is received as tire data from one or more tire sensors such as tire sensor 26. Road data is received (84). In one embodiment, road data regarding road conditions, etc. at an advanced location is received from one or more road sensors such as road sensor 24. A target pressure is determined (86). Based on the received tire pressure and road data, a target pressure for one or more tires may be determined by, for example, controller 20. The tire pressure of one or more tires is adjusted (e.g., maintained, increased, or decreased) based on the target pressure (88)”).
Chan does not explicitly disclose the electronic controller configured to determine whether the first state is a predetermined state, and further configured to determine whether the air pressure is a first air pressure having a first air pressure range or a second air pressure having a second air pressure range,
Fairgrieve teaches the electronic controller configured to determine whether the first state is a predetermined state, and further configured to determine whether the air pressure is a first air pressure having a first air pressure range or a second air pressure having a second air pressure range (Paragraph 55 “For example, if the actual tyre pressure may be 10 psi (approximately 69 kPa) higher than the tyre pressure determined to be the optimum or benchmark for a given terrain or operating condition, it may be determined that the tyre pressure needs to be reduced by 10 psi (69 kPa)”),
the electronic controller configured to perform a first operation when the air pressure is the first air pressure and the first state is not the predetermined state(Paragraph 18 “As such, chassis management subsystem 12.sub.2 may monitor the tyre pressure and, if necessary, and if the vehicle is so configured, to automatically make, or cause to be made, adjustments to the pressure using an air compressor onboard the vehicle.”),
a second operation when the air pressure is not the first air pressure and the first state is not the predetermined state(Paragraph 18 “As such, chassis management subsystem 12.sub.2 may monitor the tyre pressure and, if necessary, and if the vehicle is so configured, to automatically make, or cause to be made, adjustments to the pressure using an air compressor onboard the vehicle.”),, and
a third operation when the air pressure is not the second air pressure and the first state is the predetermined state(Paragraph 55 “For example, if the actual tyre pressure may be 10 psi (approximately 69 kPa) higher than the tyre pressure determined to be the optimum or benchmark for a given terrain or operating condition, it may be determined that the tyre pressure needs to be reduced by 10 psi (69 kPa)”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to modify Chan to include the teachings of determining the different air pressures of the tire for the purpose of controlling the vehicle based on the nature of the upcoming terrain.
As to claim 2 Chan discloses a control device wherein the electronic controller is further configured to control the air pressure of the tire based on a detection result of a road-surface-roughness detecting unit configured to detect the roughness of the road surface on which the human-powered vehicle is traveling or will travel (Paragraph 25).
As to claim 13 Chan discloses a control device wherein the electronic controller is further configured to:
calculate an adjustment value of the air pressure of the tire by using an estimation model based on at least one of the roughness of a road surface on which the human-powered vehicle is traveling or will travel, the slope state related to an advancing direction of the human-powered vehicle, the wet state of the road surface, the traveling state of the human-powered vehicle, and the state of the component mounted on the human-powered vehicle; and control the air pressure of the tire based on the calculated adjustment value(Paragraph 25,45,48).
As to claim 15 Chan discloses a control system comprising the control device the control system further comprising:
an air-pressure adjusting device configured to adjust the air pressure of the tire, in a state where the human-powered vehicle is not traveling, the electronic controller being further configured to:
acquire information related to at least one of the state of the road surface on which the human-powered vehicle will travel, the traveling state of the human-powered vehicle, and the state of the component mounted on the human-powered vehicle(Paragraph 45 “As an example, road sensor 24 may detect wet or icy conditions along road 34 (see FIGS. 4-5) and provide road data indicating such conditions to controller 20. Controller 20, in turn, controls operation of pressure regulator 22 to vary the air pressure of tires 14 accordingly.”,;
calculate an adjustment value of the air pressure of the tire; and adjust the air pressure of the tire (Paragraph 48 “Referring now to FIG. 7, method 80 of controlling air pressure within one or more tires is shown according to one embodiment. A tire pressure is received (82). In one embodiment, the tire pressure is received as tire data from one or more tire sensors such as tire sensor 26. Road data is received (84). In one embodiment, road data regarding road conditions, etc. at an advanced location is received from one or more road sensors such as road sensor 24. A target pressure is determined (86). Based on the received tire pressure and road data, a target pressure for one or more tires may be determined by, for example, controller 20. The tire pressure of one or more tires is adjusted (e.g., maintained, increased, or decreased) based on the target pressure (88)”).
Claims 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chan (US 2016/0121666) in view of Kobler (US 2020/0148177)
As to claim 17 Kobler teaches an air-pressure adjusting device wherein the air-pressure adjusting device is configured to be detachably provided to the human-powered vehicle (Paragraph 90). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to modify Chan to include the teachings of a portable pressure adjusting device for the purpose of adjusting the tire pressure of the vehicle.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-2, 13, 15-18 been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 IMRAN K MUSTAFA whose telephone number is (571)270-1471. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James J Lee can be reached at 571-270-5965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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IMRAN K. MUSTAFA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3668
/IMRAN K MUSTAFA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3668
2/10/2026