, 5/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 .
The following rejection is made non-final to address claims 11 and 12.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) s 1, 2 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) AND (a)(2) as being anticipated by Jordan TW 201823102.
The TW ‘102 reference discloses on page 5 of the translation in the IDS filed 09/10/2024 (foreign reference C), a method for controlling electronic shifting of a bicycle with a control unit 86 that uses input from sensors 70, 90 and 191(wake up sensor 70 is used to determine that the bicycle is being used and includes a vibration sensor as recited below on page 5 of Jordan.) to detect if the bicycle is moving and front shift operator 42 that detects rider engagement to actuate the electronic front gear changer 28 with assist motor 84(that drives the chain as the gears are shifted between chain rings) that involves the front chain ring as the gears are shifted(claims 1 and 11). The examiner feels that a shift operator does detect engagement of the rider, as that is how it is shifted with a highly secure system that requires physical access as described in Jordan page 5. (One embodiment of the wireless system 22 has a right transmission 24a and a left transmission 24b, each transmission having an MCU 44; and a front gear converter 28 and a rear gear converter 30, the front gear converter having an SCU 86, and the rear gear converter The device has SCU 66 (Figures 6 and 7). Therefore, it should be understood that for this embodiment, the pairing process will be repeated four (4) times. The rear gear changer 30 will be paired with each of the right and left transmissions 24a and 24h, and the front gear changer 28 will be paired with each of the right and left transmissions. This creates a highly secure system, as physical access is required to press the buttons on the assembly in order to pair the devices. In addition, each gear changer 28, 30 will only respond to a transmission paired with it. lf the operator verifies that each of the transmissions 24a, 24b controls each of the gear shifters 28, 30, he can be confident that an unauthorized transmission is not paired. In an alternative embodiment, in the case where a pair of transmissions 124a, 124b share one MCU 144 or the front gear converter 28 and the rear gear converter 30 share one SCU, the number of pairing steps will be reduced.)
In reference to the bicycle being ridden Jordan discloses on page 5(For example, the SCU 66 in the gear converter 30 may receive control signals from the MCU 44 or, in some cases, control signals from other SCUs. If the transmitter and receiver 80 remain continuously connected, the battery 62 will be quickly exhausted. The SCU 66 may include a wake-up unit 70 to determine and signal when using a bicycle. In one embodiment, for example, the SignalQuest SQ-MIN-200 or Freescale Semiconductor MMA8451Q vibration sensor can be used as a sensor for the wake-up unit. When the bicycle is operated, the vibration is caused by the uneven road surface and the movement of the driving wheel train. Such vibrations are easily detected by a sensor (not shown). Other sensors may be used to wake the unit 70, such as an accelerometer or reed switch that is configured to detect a magnet attached to a moving element of the bicycle 20. When the bicycle 20 is operated, vibration or movement is detected and the wake-up unit 70 sends a wake-up signal to wake up the SCU 66 (FIG. 10). The SCU 66 becomes awake after it becomes fully powered and operable according to the wake-up signal from the vibration sensor, as long as it receives the wake-up signal from the wake-up unit 70. If the wake-up signal is not received within the period exceeding the predetermined sleep timeout value, the SCU 66 will return to sleep. The duration of the sleep timeout may be approximately 30 seconds.)
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.
Claim(s) s 3-8 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jordan TW ‘102 in view of Ethington 5,599,244.
In regards to claims 3-8 and 12, Jordan discloses the three sensors 70, 90 and 190 that can be vibration or acceleration sensors to detect movement of the bicycle and provide electronic shifting of the bicycle as described above. Jordan lacks the specifics of wheel speed and crank data. The patent to Ethington discloses in the Abstract a strain gage used to detect strain related to the bicycle crank as well as a crank speed sensor. Paragraph 10 discloses wheel speed and crank speed sensors used to determine upshifts and downshifts. It is old and well known that wheel speed sensors may be used to detect movement of a bicycle.(see also pararaphs20-23 and 56). Paragraph 65 discloses that the automatic control; system for shifting the gears is only operational when the bicycle is being ridden. Thus the control sensors are used to determine the bicycle is being ridden in order for the system to operate. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the device of Jordan with a wheel speed sensor and crank speed data in order to detect movement of the bicycle and automatically shift the gears as taught by Ethington.
Abstract
An automatic speed range shifter for bicycles is disclosed which produces a downshift when a predetermined pedal force is exceeded and which produces an upshift when a predetermined pedal rotational speed is exceeded. A pedal force sensor includes a strain gage element on an arm supporting an idler sprocket for the chain. A pedal rotational speed sensor includes a magnet/coil coacting with the pedal crank. A microcomputer receives inputs from the force and speed sensors and produces control signals for the automatic shifter. The automatic shifter includes a front shifter actuator including a reversible electrical servo motor which is coupled by a cable with the front derailleur. It also includes a rear shifter actuator with a reversible servo motor which is coupled by a cable with the rear derailleur.
(10) In the prior art, it has been known for several years to provide an automatic shifter for bicycles wherein a derailleur is actuated by an electric motor under the control of a microcomputer in response to rotational speed of a bicycle wheel and/or rotational speed of the crank gear. Such an automatic shifter is described in Matsumoto et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,127 granted Dec. 25, 1984. In the system of this patent, a microcomputer with a stored program derives 1) optimum running speed ranges and 2) crank gear rotation speed ranges which correspond respectively to the five transmission gears. A proper speed range is defined as that which enables the rider to ride the bicycle at maximum efficiency while being subjected to the least fatigue, taking into account the rider and various driving conditions. In the system of this patent, the transmission is shifted by a cable wound on a motor driven take-up reel and connected with the derailleur. A rotary decoder driven by the take-up reel shaft detects which transmission gear has been selected. A wheel speed sensor develops a bicycle speed signal which is supplied to the microcomputer and a crank gear rotation sensor develops a signal corresponding to the crank gear speed which is supplied to the microcomputer. The proper speed range for each transmission gear is defined between upper and lower limits which are expressed in terms of constants supplied by setting switches. Information regarding the rider and topography, along with the condition setting switches is supplied to the microcomputer. In operation under the control of the computer program, the running speed of the bicycle is compared with the proper speed range for the selected transmission gear. When the running speed is greater than the maximum speed in the proper speed range, an upshift signal causes the motor actuator to select the next higher speed range. Conversely when the actual speed is lower than the minimum speed of the proper speed range, a downshift signal is produced to select the next lower transmission gear so that the actual running speed is in the proper speed range. Also, the system of this patent includes a process for defining a crank gear rotation speed range to allow the crank gear to rotate substantially at constant speed for each transmission gear. For this, upper and lower limits for the crank gear speed are established to define a speed range for each of the five transmission gears. These limits are established by assigning constants for each of the speed ranges by the use of condition setting switches. These constants are initial values which are modified or compensated by a constant dependent upon the individual bicycle rider and the riding conditions. When the crank gear rotational speed key switch is depressed, the actual speed of rotation of the crank gear is compared with the proper speed range for the selected transmission gear. When the actual speed is higher than the maximum speed of the range, an upshift signal is generated to upshift the transmission so that crank speed is within the speed range of the selected gear. Conversely, when the actual speed is less than the minimum speed of the speed range, a downshift signal is generated to downshift the transmission so that the actual speed is within the speed range of the selected gear.
(20) The controller 72 comprises a microcomputer 70 for operation of the automatic shifter in accordance with certain algorithms implemented in a control program which will be described subsequently. The microcomputer of the controller 72 includes a read only memory (ROM) 185 which stores the control program and a ROM 186 which stores a shift signal pattern, suitably as a look-up table. It also includes a read/write random access memory (RAM) which accommodates certain variable data storage including front and rear shifter position signal stores 174 and 176 and front and rear shifter calibration signal stores 182 and 184. In general, the controller 72 receives certain input signals including a pedal force signal on input 152 and a pedal crank speed signal on input 154.
(21) The pedal force signal is generated by the force sensor 94 which comprises the strain gauge transducer 104, as described above with reference to FIG. 3. The transducer is connected in a resistive network to generate an analog voltage which varies with the tension in the chain 28 which corresponds to the pedal force applied by the bicycle rider. The pedal force sensor signal is applied to the input of an analogue to digital (A/D) converter 156 to develop a digital pedal force signal corresponding to the instantaneous value of pedal force. This digital signal is applied to the input 152 of the microcomputer 70 for further processing.
(22) The pedal crank rotation sensor 82, as described above with reference to FIG. 1 produces a voltage pulse train having a frequency corresponding to the rotational speed of the pedal crank. This rotation signal is applied to the input of a signal shaping circuit 158. The circuit 158 produces a digital output signal comprising a rectangular pulse train corresponding to the pulse train from the rotation sensor 82. The output of the signal shaping circuit 158 is applied to the input 154 of the microcomputer 70 for further processing.
(23) The microcomputer 70 operates under software control to process the pedal force signal at input 152 to produce a pedal force signal which is representative of the instantaneous value of force applied to the pedal by the rider. It also produces a force rate of change signal corresponding to the time rate of change of the pedal force signal. Likewise, the microcomputer 70 operates to process the digital pedal crank rotation signal at input 154 for producing a pedal crank speed signal which is representative of the instantaneous value of the pedal speed. It also produces a rotation rate of change signal corresponding to the time rate of change of the pedal crank speed. The microcomputer 70 operates under control of the stored control program and is responsive to the aforementioned signals and certain predetermined parameter values stored in the computer memory and generates control signals for the energization of the power actuators 48 and 54.
(65) With the system ready for operation, a polling loop is started for the purpose of monitoring all inputs to the computer as indicated at line 19. The program advances to the looping construct at line 21 in which all inputs will be monitored successively. This portion of the program within the looping construct, initiated at line 21, represents the operation of the automatic control system while the bicycle is operational, i.e. being ridden. In this operational phase, the sequence statement at line 22 causes the microcomputer to read signal A which represents the instantaneous pedal force value. Then, the statement at line 23 causes the signal B to be read to obtain a pedal rotation rate. The statement at line 24 derives rates of change of the pedal force and the speed values. After deriving this data, the statement 25 causes the program to execute the Upshift Demand Module and thereby check the need for an upshift. If an upshift is needed, the Shifter Control Module and the Shift Actuation Module will be invoked to execute the upshift, as will be described below. Then, the statement at line 26 causes execution of the Downshift Demand Module to thereby check the need for a downshift. If a downshift is needed, the Shift Control Module and the Shift Actuation Module will be invoked as will be described below. Then the program, at the statement of line 27, executes the User Request Module. This module causes either upshift or downshift in response to manual actuation of the "Up" or "Down" switches on the control panel to which override the controller of the automatic shifter. The looping construct initiated at line 21 is repeated over and over until the controller is powered down. This occurs when the bike rider actuates the Power switch on the control panel. In response to the turn-off of power, the program is ended as indicated at line 29.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD M CAMBY whose telephone number is (571)272-6958. The examiner can normally be reached M - F flex.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter D Nolan can be reached on 571 270 7016. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICHARD M CAMBY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3661