DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/19/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of the amendment filed12/19/2025. Claims 1-12, 14-24, and 27-29 are pending. Claims 13, 25, and 26 was canceled. Claims 1, 12, and 14 were amended. Claims 28 and 29 were added.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-12, 14-24, and 27-29 are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
The examiner agrees Taniguchi and Richards fail to teach “wherein the target comprises a multiple ring absolute encoder” and “wherein the third magnetic field signal provides one or more bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target in addition to the number of bits of resolution provided by the multiple ring encoder.” New grounds of rejection is provided to teach the amended limitation.
In response to applicant's argument that Taniguchi and Richard are incompatible references which would render the combination inoperable, the test for obviousness is not whether the features of a secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into the structure of the primary reference; nor is it that the claimed invention must be expressly suggested in any one or all of the references. Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981).
The argument is not clearly understood by the Examiner, as it is not clear how the combination would render Taniguchi inoperable for its intended purpose of determining an angle or position of an encoder as outlined in lines 8-11, “The present invention relates to an interpolation circuit for interpolating detection signals from an encoder for to thereby detect rotational angles or positions on a straight line.”
One of ordinary skill in the art would understand Taniguchi and Richards are both directed toward correcting errors in an angle or position measurement of an encoder when the sine wave and cosine wave do not have a desired phase difference. See col. 1, lines 44-59 of Taniguchi and [0107]-[0113] and Figs. 7-8 of Richards. While Taniguchi and Richards provide different approaches for achieving this correction, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand the combination of Taniguchi and Richards would still be operable for the intended purpose of detecting angles or position without errors arising due to phase errors between the sine and cosine signal. Therefore, it is unclear from the Applicant’s arguments how substituting a measured input signal of Taniguchi with a phase corrected input signal as disclosed in Richards would render Taniguchi inoperable for its intended purpose of measuring an angle without offset or amplitude errors. Richards merely provides an alternative approach achieving the same desired goal of detecting rotational angles or position with an encoder without errors.
However, in view of the amendments, a new ground of rejection is provided with Richards cited as the primary reference.
Therefore, claims 1-12, 14-24, and 27-29 stand rejected as outlined below.
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) 1-12, 14-24, and 27-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0081073 (Richards) in view of US 6,188,341 (Taniguchi) and US 2007/0216544 (Dalton).
Regarding claim 1, Richards teaches a method comprising:
receiving, by a magnetic field sensor, first and second magnetic field signals responsive to motion of a target (a method starts at block 1410 by generating at least two measured magnetic field signals L, R indicative of a magnetic field affected by an object, wherein the magnetic field signals L, R may be generated by magnetic field sensors 20a-c in Fig. 1 (or 20a’ and 20b’ in Fig. 1A) generate magnetic field signals 38a, 38b (or 32a’ and 32b’ in Fig. 1A) corresponding to movement of a target 12 (or 60 in Fig. 1A); see Figs. 1, 1A, 14; see [0050]-[0062], [0132]);
generating first and second digital pulse signals responsive to the first and second magnetic field signals, respectively (binary, two-state signals 46a,b have transitions when the signal 38a,b from magnetic field sensing elements 20a’,b’ detect magnetic fields; see Fig. 1A; Fig. 2; see [0059]-[0060]; alternatively see signals 140a,b in Fig. 1B or signals 178a,b in Fig. 1C and [0075], [0079][0081], [0142]);
generating, using the calculated phase shift, a third magnetic field signal having a predetermined phase shift from the first magnetic field signal or from the second magnetic field signal (a phase shifted virtual signal Vi having a desired phase shift ϕi is generated based on the first and second signals having a first phase difference ϕP; see [0126]-[0136]; see Figs. 13, 14), wherein generating the third magnetic field signal includes:
calculating a calculated phase shift between the first and second magnetic field signals (step 1410 generates at least two measured magnetic field signals having a first phase difference, wherein the phase difference is denoted as ϕP; see Fig. 14; see [0132]-[0135]);
multiplying the first magnetic field signal by a first coefficient (the phase shifted virtual signal Vi is calculated by multiplying a second signal R by coefficient ai; see [0135]);
multiplying the second magnetic field signal by a second coefficient (the phase shifted virtual signal Vi is calculated by multiplying a first signal L by coefficient bi; see [0135]); and
summing the multiplied first magnetic field signal and the multiplied second magnetic field signal to generate the third magnetic field signal (the phase shifted virtual signal Vi is calculated as Vi=ai*L + bi*R; see [0135]-[0136]); and
wherein the third magnetic field signal provides one or more bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target (“…the sensor may permit a user to select a desired resolution and, on that basis, the controller can determine how many virtual magnetic field signals will be generated and their respective phases…”; see [0087]. “The number of virtual signals and the phase separation between the virtual signals can be determined by the sensor controller in response to a user selection of a programming option. In the illustrated example, the user may have selected to receive twelve edges for each period, or gear tooth for example. With such resolution selected and based on knowledge of the target (i.e., how many periods the target represents), the sensor controller can determine that four virtual magnetic field signals with a phase separation of 30° between each other and between each of the measured magnetic field signals should be generated. Alternatively, a user can provide a “resolution improvement factor” where the standard 4 edges per period generated by the physical channels could be scaled by 2× (resulting in 8 edges) or 3× (resulting in 12 edges) by using added virtual channels.” See [0099]; see Fig. 4 see [0099]-[0103] for further details.).
Richards fails to teach wherein the target comprises a multiple ring absolute encoder configured to provide a number of bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target; calculating a first time between a pulse edge of the first digital pulse signal and a next pulse edge of the second digital pulse signal; calculating a second time between two different pulse edges of the first digital pulse signal or two different pulse edges of the second digital pulse signal; calculating, using the calculated first and second times, a calculated phase shift between the first and second magnetic field signals; and wherein the third magnetic field signal provides one or more bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target in addition to the number of bits of resolution provided by the multiple ring absolute encoder.
Taniguchi teaches calculating a first time between a pulse edge of the first digital pulse signal and a next pulse edge of the second digital pulse signal; calculating a second time between two different pulse edges of the first digital pulse signal or two different pulse edges of the second digital pulse signal; calculating, using the calculated first and second times, a calculated phase shift between the first and second magnetic field signals.
calculating a first time between a pulse of the first digital pulse signal and a next pulse of the second digital pulse signal (Taniguchi determines a phase difference P1 as shown in equation (9) as P1={(t1+t3)/2-t2/2}/t4x2π. With the first zero-cross point for the encoder signal V.sub.A selected as a starting point and then the times t1, t2, t3, t4 and t5 at the zero-cross points for the signals are measured. The equation includes a first calculation, {(t1+t3)/2-t2/2}, corresponding to a difference between a mid-point of VB between T1 and T3, and a mid-point of VA between 0 and t2. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that determining the time between the midpoints of a first digital signal and a next mid-point of a second digital signal would provide equivalent results as determining a time between a first edge and a second edge for determining a phase error. See Fig. 11; see col. 9, line 25-col. 10, line 16);
calculating a second time between two different pulses of the first digital pulse signal or two different pulses of the second digital pulse signal (In eqn. (9), a first zero cross point for VA is defined as a starting point and the time t4 corresponds to a time between two zero crossings of VA which correspond to a full period; see Fig. 11; see eqn. 9);
calculating, using the calculated first and second times, a phase shift between the first and second signals (a phase error is obtained from P1 in eqn. 9; see col. 9, lines 50-59).
While Richards discloses determining the phase difference, denoted as ϕP, Richards does not demonstrate how the phase difference is determined or calculated. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features using the calculations for determining a phased difference based on the pulse signals of the first and second magnetic fields as disclosed in Taniguchi into Richards in order to gain the advantage of determining the phase difference between the two measured signals of the magnetic fields based on the pulsed form of the magnetic field signal.
Dalton teaches wherein the target comprises a multiple ring absolute encoder configured to provide a number of bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target (a target comprises a multiple ring absolute encoder having three rings as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and provides a three-bit word; see Figs. 3-4; see [0036]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features as disclosed in Dalton into Richards in order to gain the advantage of determining an absolute position based on a unique n-bit word from each measured track.
While Richards and Dalton fail to explicitly recite wherein the third magnetic field signal provides one or more bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target in addition to the number of bits of resolution provided by the multiple ring absolute encoder, Richards discloses the virtual signal may increase the resolution by adding virtual channels which provide additional edges. See Fig. 4 and [0087], [0099]-[0103]. Based on Fig. 4 of Richards (see below), it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art convert the angle to an n-bit word in view of the signals provided below.
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For example, the 2 measurement channels and 4 virtual channels shown in Fig. 4 would provide a 6-bit measurement. Further examples for converting a pulse signal as shown below into a bit word may be found in supporting references: Figs. 1-2 of US 6,510,396; US 4,947,166; Figs. 5-6 and cols. 7-8 of US 7,102,317; and Fig. 10 of US 2009/0015248. It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a multiple ring target having n-bits with each ring having different target patterns as disclosed in Dalton and providing additional bits for each virtual channel as desired as disclosed in Richards, wherein the multiple ring target allows for determining an absolute angular position based on the value of each bit and wherein including virtual channels would further increase the resolution.
Regarding claim 14, Richards teaches a magnetic field sensor (the sensor of any of Figs. 1, 1A-C) comprising:
a plurality of magnetic field sensing elements configured to generate first and second magnetic field signals responsive to motion of a target, (magnetic field sensors 20a-c in Fig. 1 (or 20a’ and 20b’ in Fig. 1A) generate magnetic field signals 46a,b in Fig. 1A (or alternatively, signals 140a,b in Fig. 1B or signals 178a,b in Fig. 1C ) corresponding to movement of a target 12 in Fig. 1 (or 60 in Fig. 1A); see Figs. 1, 1A-C, 14; see [0050]-[0062], [0132]; and
circuitry configured to:
generate first and second digital pulse signals responsive to the first and second magnetic field signals, respectively (binary, two-state signals 46a,b have transitions when the signal 38a,b from magnetic field sensing elements 20a’,b’ detect magnetic fields; see Fig. 1A; Fig. 2; see [0059]-[0060]; alternatively see signals 140a,b in Fig. 1B or signals 178a,b in Fig. 1C and [0075], [0079][0081], [0142]);
calculate a calculated phase shift between the first and second magnetic field signals (step 1410 generates at least two measured magnetic field signals having a first phase difference, wherein the phase difference is denoted as ϕP; see Fig. 14; see [0132]-[0135]); and
generate, using the calculated phase shift, a third magnetic field signal having a predetermined phase shift from the first magnetic field signal or from the second magnetic field signal (a phase shifted virtual signal Vi having a desired phase shift ϕi is generated based on the first and second signals having a first phase difference ϕP; see [0126]-[0136]; see Figs. 13, 14), wherein generating the third magnetic field signal includes:
multiplying the first magnetic field signal by a first coefficient (the phase shifted virtual signal Vi is calculated by multiplying a second signal R by coefficient ai; see [0135]);
multiplying the second magnetic field signal by a second coefficient (the phase shifted virtual signal Vi is calculated by multiplying a first signal L by coefficient bi; see [0135]); and
summing the multiplied first magnetic field signal and the multiplied second magnetic field signal to generate the third magnetic field signal (the phase shifted virtual signal Vi is calculated as Vi=ai*L + bi*R; see [0135]-[0136]); and
wherein the third magnetic field signal provides one or more bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target (“…the sensor may permit a user to select a desired resolution and, on that basis, the controller can determine how many virtual magnetic field signals will be generated and their respective phases…”; see [0087]. “The number of virtual signals and the phase separation between the virtual signals can be determined by the sensor controller in response to a user selection of a programming option. In the illustrated example, the user may have selected to receive twelve edges for each period, or gear tooth for example. With such resolution selected and based on knowledge of the target (i.e., how many periods the target represents), the sensor controller can determine that four virtual magnetic field signals with a phase separation of 30° between each other and between each of the measured magnetic field signals should be generated. Alternatively, a user can provide a “resolution improvement factor” where the standard 4 edges per period generated by the physical channels could be scaled by 2× (resulting in 8 edges) or 3× (resulting in 12 edges) by using added virtual channels.” See [0099]; see Fig. 4 see [0099]-[0103] for further details.).
Richards fails to teach wherein the target comprises a multiple ring absolute encoder configured to provide a number of bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target; calculate a first time between a pulse edge of the first digital pulse signal and a next pulse edge of the second digital pulse signal; calculate a second time between two different pulse edges of the first digital pulse signal or two different pulse edges of the second digital pulse signal; calculate, using the calculated first and second times, a calculated phase shift between the first and second magnetic field signals; wherein the third magnetic field signal provides one or more bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target in addition to the number of bits of resolution provided by the multiple ring absolute encoder.
Taniguchi teaches calculate a first time between a pulse of the first digital pulse signal and a next pulse of the second digital pulse signal (Taniguchi determines a phase difference P1 as shown in equation (9) as P1={(t1+t3)/2-t2/2}/t4x2π. With the first zero-cross point for the encoder signal V.sub.A selected as a starting point and then the times t1, t2, t3, t4 and t5 at the zero-cross points for the signals are measured. The equation includes a first calculation, {(t1+t3)/2-t2/2}, corresponding to a difference between a mid-point of VB between T1 and T3, and a mid-point of VA between 0 and t2. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that determining the time between the midpoints of a first digital signal and a next mid-point of a second digital signal would provide equivalent results as determining a time between a first edge and a second edge for determining a phase error. See Fig. 11; see col. 9, line 25-col. 10, line 16);
calculate a second time between two different pulses of the first digital pulse signal or two different pulses of the second digital pulse signal (In eqn. (9), a first zero cross point for VA is defined as a starting point and the time t4 corresponds to a time between two zero crossings of VA which correspond to a full period; see Fig. 11; see eqn. 9);
calculate, using the calculated first and second times, a phase shift between the first and second signals (a phase error is obtained from P1 in eqn. 9; see col. 9, lines 50-59).
While Richards discloses determining the phase difference, denoted as ϕP, Richards does not demonstrate how the phase difference is determined or calculated. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features using the calculations for determining a phased difference based on the pulse signals of the first and second magnetic fields as disclosed in Taniguchi into Richards in order to gain the advantage of determining the phase difference between the two measured signals of the magnetic fields based on the pulsed form of the magnetic field signal.
Dalton teaches wherein the target comprises a multiple ring absolute encoder configured to provide a number of bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target (a target comprises a multiple ring absolute encoder having three rings as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and provides a three-bit word; see Figs. 3-4; see [0036]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features as disclosed in Dalton into Richards in order to gain the advantage of determining an absolute position based on a unique n-bit word from each measured track.
While Richards and Dalton fail to explicitly recite wherein the third magnetic field signal provides one or more bits of resolution associated with the motion of the target in addition to the number of bits of resolution provided by the multiple ring absolute encoder, the limitations are rejected for similar reasons as outlined in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claims 2 and 15, Richards and Taniguchi fail to explicitly teach wherein the calculating of the first time includes calculating a time between a rising pulse edge of the first digital pulse signal and a next rising pulse edge of the second digital pulse signal, however, the limitation would be an obvious design choice without providing any new or unexpected result. As recited in claim 1, the choice of square pulses instead of a triangular representation would be a matter of design choice as both provide the same benefit of identifying the zero crossings. While Taniguchi determines the phase error based on calculations using the midpoint between two zero crossings for a first digital signal and a next midpoint of the second digital signal, the decision to choose a rising pulse edge instead of a midpoint would provide an equivalent and unexpected result.
Regarding claims 3 and 16, Richards and Taniguchi fail to explicitly teach wherein the calculating of the second time includes calculating a time between consecutive rising pulse edges of the first digital pulse signal or consecutive rising pulse edges of the second digital pulse signal, however, the limitation would be an obvious design choice without providing any new or unexpected result. Taniguchi uses a first zero cross of VA as a starting point and the next equivalent zero cross point of VA to determine the period. This would be equivalent to the limitations as claimed since the initial crossing of t=0 and the subsequent crossing at t4 would correspond to consecutive rising pulse edges of VA if the triangular wave were converted to a pulse representation. Thus, the limitation as claimed provide obvious variations for determining the period of the sinusoidal wave to that disclosed in Taniguchi.
Regarding claims 4 and 17, Richard fails to teach wherein the calculating of the phase shift includes dividing the first time by the second time.
Taniguchi teaches wherein the calculating of the phase shift includes dividing the first time by the second time (see eqn. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features taught in Taniguchi into Richards in order to gain the advantage of determining the phase difference between the two measured signals of the magnetic fields based on the pulsed form of the magnetic field signal.
Regarding claims 5-6 and 18-19, Richards teaches further comprising: generating a third digital pulse signal responsive to the third magnetic field signal; and providing the first digital pulse signal on a first output of the sensor; and selectively providing either the second or third digital pulse signal on a second output of the sensor (virtual magnetic field signals 410a-d are represented as channel output signals 422a-d and the measured and virtual magnetic fields may be output with the angle measured based on an arctangent of a measured magnetic field and a virtual magnetic field; see Fig. 4; see [0097]-[0100], [0132]-[0143]).
Regarding claims 7 and 20, Richards fails to teach further comprising: detecting the motion of the target to be a constant motion, wherein the calculating of the phase shift is performed in response to the detecting of the constant motion.
Taniguchi teaches further comprising: detecting the motion of the target to be a constant motion, wherein the calculating of the phase shift is performed in response to the detecting of the constant motion (measurement is performed when the moving speed of the objected to be detected is stable, which would inherently require some determination that the motion is constant; see col. 9, lines 60-65).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features taught in Taniguchi into Richards in order to gain the advantage of determining the phase difference during a constant speed such that the times between pulse edges remain constant over multiple cycles and a mean value may be determined after sampling data during multiple cycles.
Regarding claims 8 and 21, Richards fails to teach further comprising: storing, during a first period of operation, the calculated phase shift to a memory of the magnetic field sensor; retrieving, during a second period of operation, the stored phase shift from the memory; and using the retrieved phase shift to generate the third magnetic field signal.
Taniguchi teaches further comprising: storing, during a first period of operation, the calculated phase shift to a memory of the magnetic field sensor (the correction data includes the phase error Pd which may be stored on correction data storage means 4P2; see col. 2, lines 34-41; Fig. 10); retrieving, during a second period of operation, the stored phase shift from the memory; and using the retrieved phase shift to generate the third magnetic field signal (the correction data stored in the correction data forming mans can be fetched for forming the correction as outlined in the rejection of claim 1; see col. 2, lines 42-62; col. 11, lines 6-22).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features taught in Taniguchi into Richards in order to gain the storing the value of correction data which can be fetched with an address which represents a combination of the output of the interpolative computation means and the output of the correction data forming means.
Regarding claims 9 and 22, Richards teaches wherein the predetermined phase shift is ninety degrees (the predetermined phase difference between the sine and cosine signals is 90 degrees; see [0008], [0105]; see Figs. 5 and 6).
Regarding claim 10-11 and 23, Richards teaches wherein the first magnetic field signal is generated by at least one or more magnetic field sensing elements of the magnetic field sensor and the second magnetic field signal is generated by at least one or more other magnetic field sensing elements of the magnetic field sensor; wherein the first and second magnetic field sensing elements comprise Hall effect elements (the magnetic field signals L, R may be generated by magnetic field sensors 20a-c in Fig. 1 (or 20a’ and 20b’ in Fig. 1A) generate magnetic field signals 38a, 38b (or 32a’ and 32b’ in Fig. 1A) corresponding to movement of a target 12 (or 60 in Fig. 1A); see Figs. 1, 1A-C; see [0050]-[0062], [0132])).
Regarding claims 12 and 24, Richards teaches further comprising: generating, using calculated phase shift, one or more other magnetic field signals having respective other predetermine phase shifts from the first magnetic field signal (the number of channels and virtual signals is dependent on the number of desired equidistance output communications and desired phase angles as illustrated in table 3; see [0128], [0137]).
Regarding claim 27, Richards teaches wherein: the first coefficient corresponds to a difference involving the predetermined phase shift and a ratio involving the predetermined phase shift and the calculated phase shift; and the second coefficient corresponds to a ratio involving the predetermined phase shift and the calculated phase shift (see equations 9-12; see [0135]-[0136]).
Regarding claims 28-29, Richards fails to teach wherein the multiple-ring absolute encoder includes a plurality of rings arranged on a disk, wherein the number of bits of resolution provided by the multiple-ring absolute encoder is determined by the number of rings in the plurality.
Dalton teaches wherein the multiple-ring absolute encoder includes a plurality of rings arranged on a disk, wherein the number of bits of resolution provided by the multiple-ring absolute encoder is determined by the number of rings in the plurality (Figs. 2 and 4 show a target having three rings and wherein the position # is determined from a 3-bit word with one bit corresponding to a measured value from each ring; see Figs. 2 and 4; see [0028]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the features taught in Dalton into Richards in order to gain the storing the value of determining an absolute position by identifying which of a plurality of loci a moveable member occupies comprises a plurality of data tracks in which binary data from each track is encoded to form a series of n-bit words, each of the plurality of loci being associated with one of the n-bit words.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN LEE YENINAS whose telephone number is (571)270-0372. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 10 - 6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Judy Nguyen can be reached at (571) 272-2258. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEVEN L YENINAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858