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 § 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 1-5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Choi et al (US 2022/0203896 A1 from IDS).
Regarding claim 1, Choi et al discloses a driving support device that performs, based on surrounding information collected by a plurality of sensors provided in a vehicle (para 65, “the sensor device 200 may include a distance measurement sensor (e.g., an ultrasonic sensor and the like), an image sensor (e.g., an omnidirectional camera and the like), an acceleration sensor, a yaw rate sensor, a wheel speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, a distance sensor, and the like to collect the data on the regions around the vehicle 10), parking support for the vehicle (para 8, “the present disclosure provides a vehicle that complements a blind spot of ultrasonic sensors by utilizing both the ultrasonic sensors and omnidirectional cameras when performing the automatic parking”), the driving support device comprising:
an opening-and-closing control unit configured to open and close rear side checking parts provided with first sensors out of the plurality of sensors (para 60, “the automatic parking controller 100 may generate the folding signal or the unfolding signal for the side mirror based on the data on the regions around the vehicle collected by the sensor device 200, and transmit the generated signal to the door unit 300. In addition, the automatic parking controller 100 may store a generation record of the folding signal or the unfolding signal in the memory (not shown)”); and
a calculation module, when the parking support is performed, configured to determine whether the rear side checking parts are closed based on a size of a width of a frontage of a parking area for the vehicle to enter the parking area (para 13, “when the side mirror is unfolded, the automatic parking controller may generate information on a parking space based on the first data and the second data, and determine whether the vehicle is aligned in the parking space”; para 14, “when the vehicle is aligned in the parking space, the automatic parking controller may generate information on a surrounding object based on the first data and the second data, and generate the folding signal when a half of a difference of a width of the parking space from a full width of the vehicle is within a first distance or when the surrounding object is sensed within a second distance from the vehicle”),
the calculation module, when the width of the frontage is a certain threshold or less (see Fig. 7, see WC, WM and W3), being configured to start closing of the rear side checking parts by the opening-and-closing control unit at a position in front of the parking area based on the vehicle (para 15, “generate the folding signal when the surrounding object is sensed within a third distance from the vehicle” to avoid side mirror collision possible range shown in Fig, 7), the position being based on a distance obtained from a vehicle speed of the vehicle and a time required to close the rear side checking parts (para 16, “the automatic parking controller may calculate a minimum folding distance based on a current speed of the vehicle, a distance between the surrounding object and the vehicle, and a time it takes to complete folding of the side mirror”; para 127, “The second distance W2 may vary depending on a driving environment of the vehicle 10, the performance of the sensor device 200, the size of the side mirror 310, the time it takes for the folding of the side mirror 310, and the full width of the vehicle 10”; para 128, “when a length of the side mirror 310 is 15 centimeters, the second distance W2 may be 55 centimeters. The second distance W2 may be determined in consideration of a time it takes for the sensor device 200 to sense the surrounding object and fold the side mirror 310, and the size of the side mirror 310” see Figs. 1, 3-7).
Regarding claim 2, the driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation module is configured to:
calculate a predicted moving distance predicted for the vehicle to move from start of closing to completion of closing of the rear side checking parts based on the vehicle speed of the vehicle and the closing time of the rear side checking parts (para 16, “the automatic parking controller may calculate a minimum folding distance based on a current speed of the vehicle, a distance between the surrounding object and the vehicle, and a time it takes to complete folding of the side mirror”); and start closing of the rear side checking parts before a position of the vehicle moving by the parking support has a distance from the rear side checking parts to the frontage equal to the predicted moving distance (para 127, “The second distance W2 may vary depending on a driving environment of the vehicle 10, the performance of the sensor device 200, the size of the side mirror 310, the time it takes for the folding of the side mirror 310, and the full width of the vehicle 10”; para 128, “when a length of the side mirror 310 is 15 centimeters, the second distance W2 may be 55 centimeters. The second distance W2 may be determined in consideration of a time it takes for the sensor device 200 to sense the surrounding object and fold the side mirror 310, and the size of the side mirror 310”).
Regarding claim 3, the driving support device according to claim 1, further comprising a movement control module configured to move the vehicle to the parking area, wherein the movement control module, before starting closing of the rear side checking parts, is configured to adjust a
parking position of the vehicle in a width direction of the parking area based on an object indicating the parking area detected by the first sensors (para 68, “the information required to perform the automatic parking may include information (e.g., a width of a parking space, an obstacle located around the parking space, a distance from the vehicle 10 to the parking space, and the like) on the parking space for parking the vehicle 10, information (e.g., other vehicles and pedestrians around, user locations, terrain features, or the like) on an obstacle adjacent to a parking location or a parking route, and road surface information (e.g., a resistance of a road surface, a material of the road surface, and the like) of the parking route, and the like, as an example”, a parking route is computed by detected parking space, see Figs. 5-7).
Regarding claim 4, the driving support device according to claim 3, wherein the object indicating the parking area (Figs. 5-7, shown parking area) includes targets indicating ends of the parking area in the width direction (see the confined space for parking area has end).
Regarding claim 5, the driving support device according to claim 3, wherein the movement control module, after starting closing of the rear side checking parts, is configured to adjust a moving
route of the vehicle based on the surrounding information collected by second sensors provided in a travel direction of the vehicle out of the plurality of sensors ([0151] According to an embodiment, while the vehicle 10 is moving, the collision between the side mirror 310 and the surrounding object may not occur through a change in the steering angle. Accordingly, the automatic parking controller 100 may generate the folding signal based on the minimum folding distance, the distance Di between the surrounding object and the side mirror 310, and the change in the steering angle of the vehicle 10.
[0152] For example, when the minimum folding distance is smaller than the distance Di between the surrounding object and the side mirror 310, and when the surrounding object is not avoidable based on the change in the steering angle while the vehicle 10 moves a preset distance from the minimum folding distance, the automatic parking controller 100 may generate the folding signal.
[0153] When the distance Di between the surrounding object and the side mirror 310 is smaller than the minimum folding distance, the automatic parking controller 100 may control the current speed Vc of the vehicle 10 based on the time it takes to complete the folding of the side mirror 310.
[0154] To secure the time it takes for the folding of the side mirror 310, the automatic parking controller 100 may control the speed of the vehicle 10 to be equal to or below a value obtained by dividing the distance Di between the surrounding object and the side mirror 310 by the time it takes to complete the folding of the side mirror. As result an initial parking route is necessarily being adjusted).
Regarding claim 7, the driving support device according to claim 3, wherein the movement control module is configured to advance (Fig. 6) or reverse (Fig. 5) the vehicle to cause the vehicle to enter the parking area from the frontage.
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.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al (US 2022/0203896 A1 from IDS) in view of Brown (US 2022/0099829 A1).
Choi et al discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein the movement control module is configured to start to move the vehicle after occupants of the vehicle get out of the
vehicle.
Brown discloses the movement control module is configured to start to move the vehicle after occupants of the vehicle get out of the vehicle ([0003] … The driver then gets out of the vehicle ahead of the selected parking space and starts the parking maneuver by remote control, by way of example via a button on his car key or on his smartphone. The vehicle pulls into the parking space independently and, if necessary, pulls out again, without anybody sitting at the steering wheel).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to use the movement control module configured to start to move the vehicle after occupants of the vehicle get out of the vehicle as taught by Brown for the purpose of parking the vehicle in a tight space without occupants being trapped inside of the vehicle after the parking is completed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUNCHA P CHERRY whose telephone number is (571)272-2310. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 7am to 3:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached at (571) 270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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1/23/2026
/EUNCHA P CHERRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872