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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/29/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
This action is in response to the amendments filed on 03/26/2026. Wherein claims 1-3, 7, and 8 are amended. Claims 1-8 are rejected.
Response to Arguments
The applicant’s arguments, see REMARKS 03/26/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-8 under 35 U.S.C. §103 have been considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-8, under 35 U.S.C. §103, have been withdrawn. However, a new rejection is presented below in view of Nakajima et al.
The applicant’s amendments, with respect to the interpretation of claims 1-3, under 35 USC § 112f have been considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the previous interpretations under 35 USC § 112f have been withdrawn.
With respect to claim 1, the Applicant argues:
Claim 1 recites "calculate the damping torque based on the rotational frequency signal acquired during a period from a timing at which the rotating electric machine performs cranking of the internal combustion engine until a timing at which the internal combustion engine is started."
The Office Action relies on ¶ 36 of Lee for allegedly disclosing calculating a damping torque based on elements
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Office Action p. 14.
In Lee, the alleged damping torque calculation is not from a timing at which the rotating electric machine performs cranking of the internal combustion engine until a timing at which the internal combustion engine is started. For example, the virtual inertia term Jvirtutal is based on a predetermined calibration and estimate and stored in a memory device for retrieval (i.e., not during cranking of the engine). See, e.g., Lee 34. Therefore, Lee does not disclose, or suggest, the above-quoted features of claim 1.
The Examiner does not interpret the term Jvirtual as limiting or defining when the dampening torque calculation can occur. Instead, the term is referring to an array of values that may be calculated, estimated, or otherwise determined, and are based upon rotating masses, bearing frictions, and other elements that are related to specific factors of the electric machine, pulley mechanism, and crankshaft of the engine. (¶ [0035])
Lee is directed towards an autostart/autostop operation and a starting function in response to a key-crank event, i.e., performing the dampening torque calculation at these times. However, Lee does not explicitly teach that the calculating of the dampening torque stops when the engine is “started”.
Therefore, the previous rejections are withdrawn and a new rejection is presented below in view of Nakajima et al.
Applicant further argues:
The other cited references do not overcome the deficiencies of Lee. Therefore, claim 1 is patentable over the cited references. Claims 2-6 are patentable because they depend from claim 1 and because of the additional features they recite.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 2-6 have 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.
Applicant further argues:
Claim 7 recites "calculating the damping torque based on an acquired rotational frequency signal during a period from a timing at which the rotating electric machine performs cranking of the internal combustion engine until a timing at which the internal combustion engine is started."
Claim 8 recites "calculating the damping torque based on an acquired rotational frequency signal during a period from a timing at which the rotating electric machine performs cranking of the internal combustion engine until a timing at which the internal combustion engine is started."
Therefore, claims 7 and 8 are patentable for reasons similar to claim 1.
These arguments are substantially similar to those made with respect to independent claim 1 and are therefore addressed above.
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(s) 1, 4, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2017/0317631 A1, “Lee”), in view of Yamamoto et al. (US 2015/0006004 A1, “Yamamoto”), in view of Hermansson et al. (Control of an Electric Vehicle Powertrain to Mitigate Shunt and Shuffle, “Hermansson”), and in further view of Nakajima et al. (EP 1052400A2, “Nakajima”).
Regarding claims 1, 7, and 8, Lee discloses method and apparatus for vibration damping in a power train system and teaches:
A control apparatus for a rotating electric machine that includes a moving portion that applies torque to a drive shaft of an internal combustion engine, the control apparatus comprising: (FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a vehicle 100 including a powertrain system 20 including an internal combustion engine 40 having a crankshaft 36 that couples to an electrically-powered torque machine (electric machine) 35 via a pulley mechanism 38 that includes a serpentine belt and controlled by a control system 10. The crankshaft 36 of the internal combustion engine 40 also rotatably couples via a torque converter 44 to a transmission 50 that is coupled to a driveline 60 – See at least ¶ [0010])
a processor; (The control system 10 includes control module 12 that communicates to an operator interface 14. The control module 12 preferably communicates with individual elements of the powertrain system 20 either directly or via the communications bus 18 – See at least ¶ [0018] and [0020])
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium; and (The terms controller, control module, module, control, control unit, processor and similar terms refer to any one or various combinations of Application Specific Integrated Circuit(s) (ASIC), electronic circuit(s), central processing unit(s), e.g., microprocessor(s) and associated non-transitory memory component in the form of memory and storage devices (read only, programmable read only, random access, hard drive, etc.) – See at least ¶ [0020])
a set of computer-executable instructions stored on the computer-readable storage medium that, when read and executed by the processor, cause the processor to implement: (The non-transitory memory component is capable of storing machine readable instructions in the form of one or more software or firmware programs or routines, combinational logic circuit(s), input/output circuit(s) and devices, signal conditioning and buffer circuitry and other components that can be accessed by one or more processors to provide a described functionality – See at least ¶ [0020])
acquiring a rotational frequency signal that is a signal that changes depending on a rotational frequency of the moving portion per unit time; (The torque determination routine 220 is preferably periodically executed at a relatively slow repetition rate, which may be a second period rate having a 2.083 ms repetition rate in one embodiment. Each iteration (222), a virtual inertia term Jvirtual is determined based upon a predetermined calibration that estimates the expected inertial term for the present speed and torque operating point of the electric machine (224) – See at least ¶ [0034]; The torque command incorporates a virtual inertia torque term that accommodates speed ripples on the shaft of the rotor of the electric machine. The speed ripples on the shaft of the rotor of the electric machine 35 reflect a vibration signature related to torque that is transferred through the pulley mechanism 38 between the crank shaft 36 of the engine 40 and the electric machine 35 – See at least ¶ [0033])
calculating a damping torque that is applied from the moving portion to the drive shaft to suppress vibration during operation of the internal combustion engine; (A present value for the estimated motor acceleration rate Aest is determined from the output of the motor speed monitoring routine 200, and a torque compensation term T*cmn is calculated, preferably by multiplying the virtual inertia term Jvirtual and the estimated motor acceleration rate Aest (228) – See at least ¶ [0036])
calculating the damping torque based on an acquired rotational frequency signal during a period from a timing at which the rotating electric machine performs cranking of the internal combustion engine; [] (A final torque command for the electric machine T*em_hcp is determined by combining the motor torque command T*em_hcp and the torque compensation term T*em_cmp (232). The final torque command for the electric machine T*em is communicated to the motor controller for implementation, and this iteration ends (234). As such, the control routine 200 may be employed to reduce noise generation on embodiment of the powertrain system described with reference to FIG.1. Furthermore, latencies associated with determining motor speed and acceleration, and employment thereof related to determining a final torque command for the electric machine may be reduced, thus improving responsiveness – See at least ¶ [0037])
Lee does not explicitly teach calculating the damping torque to have a waveform that is synchronous with a waveform of the rotational frequency signal. However, Yamamoto discloses torque transfer system and teaches:
calculating the damping torque to have a waveform that is synchronous with a waveform of the rotational frequency signal; and (A signal line is provided, e.g., signal line(s) 74 and 75, to generate a stable frequency. This frequency is used as a synchronization signal for the damping torque and the rotational frequency signal as well as the remaining signals used in the method – See at least ¶ [0117]-[0132])
In summary, Lee discloses calculating the damping torque that reduces or eliminates the vibrations caused by the rotational frequencies of the system. Lee does not explicitly teach calculating the damping torque to have a waveform that is synchronous with a waveform of the rotational frequency signal. However, Yamamoto discloses torque transfer system and teaches utilizing a stable frequency signal to synchronize the rotational frequency signal, damping torque signal, and other signals within the system.
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the method and apparatus for vibration damping in a powertrain system of Lee to provide for the torque transfer system, as taught in Yamamoto, to suppress the sound of the torque split mechanism with high accuracy. (At Yamamoto ¶ [0135])
The combination of Lee and Yamamoto does not explicitly teach correcting a phase of the damping torque based on a value of a normalized rotational frequency signal and a value of a normalized damping torque. However, Hermansson discloses control of an electric vehicle powertrain and teaches:
correcting a phase of the damping torque based on a value of a normalized rotational frequency signal and a value of a normalized damping torque. (By using a linear model and the availability of all the states from the estimator, LQR is a good option to go with. The LQR controller developed was based on using the shaft torsion which is the first state in the state vector, i.e. using the QLQR matrix, the shaft torsion was penalized for damping out the oscillations. The QLQR matrix was kept diagonal for ease of penalizing interpretation, a positive large entry was made for the diagonal element in QLQR that will relate to the shaft torsion state and the other diagonal elements were kept to the minimum. The RLQR matrix was a 1[Symbol font/0xB4]1 with value tuned to control the feedback torque value thus defining the controller to be aggressive or not. The elements in the weighting matrices representing the states being controlled and feedback control signal are divided by the square of the assumed peak (or the range of operation) that we expect the controller to limit to. This is done so that the values are normalized thus ensuring no misinterpretation of the penalized terms by the controller during the reduction of the cost function – See at least pg. 30, §4.3 LQR)
In summary, Lee discloses providing a corrected damping torque value based on a rotational signal. The combination of Lee and Yamamoto does not explicitly disclose correcting a phase of the damping torque based on a value of a normalized rotational frequency signal and a value of a normalized damping torque. However, Hermansson discloses control of an electric vehicle powertrain teaches dividing the controlled states by the square of the assumed peak in order to create normalized values that prevent misinterpretations by the controller.
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the method and apparatus for vibration damping in a powertrain system of Lee and Yamamoto to provide for the electric vehicle powertrain, as taught in Hermansson, to ensure no misinterpretation by the controller (At Hermansson, pg. 30, §4.3 LQR)
The combination of Lee, Yamamoto, and Hermansson does not explicitly teach calculating the damping torque based on an acquired rotational frequency signal during a period from a timing at which the rotating electric machine performs cranking of the internal combustion engine until a timing at which the internal combustion engine is started. However, Nakajima discloses an automatic stop-restart system of an internal automotive combustion engine and teaches:
calculating the damping torque based on an acquired rotational frequency signal during a period from a timing at which the rotating electric machine performs cranking of the internal combustion engine until a timing at which the internal combustion engine is started; (After the time T3 (after initiation of fuel-injection and spark-plug firing), when the regenerative torque of the motor generator 2 is held below the predetermined low value for the predetermined time period, the ECU 20 determines that the complete-explosion condition is satisfied (see the flow from step 104 to step 107), and thus the automatic engine-restart mode terminates – See at least ¶ [0013])
In summary, Lee teaches an automatic start system and the ability to start the system with a key cranking process. Lee further teaches performing calculating the dampening torque based on an acquired rotational frequency signal during a period from a timing at which the rotating electric machine performs cranking of the internal combustion engine. The combination of Lee, Yamamoto, and Hermansson does not explicitly teach that this period ends when the internal combustion engine is started. However, Nakajima discloses an automatic stop-restart system of an internal automotive combustion engine and teaches operating a dampening function for an engine start/restart over a period starting at an engine crank time until it is confirmed there is a complete-explosion condition of the engine, i.e., the engine has started.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the method and apparatus for vibration damping in a powertrain system of Lee, Yamamoto, and Hermansson to provide for the automatic stop-restart system, as taught in Nakajima, so that even in the presence of engine misfiring, there is no risk of stalling the engine by virtue of the motor-generator rotational speed control. (At Nakajima, ¶ [0014])
Regarding claim 4, Lee further teaches:
the moving portion is fixed to the drive shaft. (The electric machine 35 and the internal combustion engine 40 are torque-generating devices. The electric machine 35 includes an output member that mechanically rotatably couples to the crankshaft 36 of the engine 40 via the pulley mechanism 38, which provides a mechanical power path therebetween – See at least ¶ [0011])
Claim(s) 2, 3, 5, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Yamamoto, Hermansson, and Nakajima, as applied to claim 1, and in further view of Wu et al. (WO 2018133807 A1. “Wu”, Machine Translation).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Lee, Yamamoto, Hermansson, and Nakajima does not explicitly teach the torque adjusting unit starts to superimpose the damping torque onto the torque of the moving portion at a timing at which the internal combustion engine is started. However, Wu discloses a hybrid electric vehicle and active vibration damping control method and device thereof and teaches:
a torque adjusting unit that adjusts torque of the moving portion, wherein (When the delay time is reached, the first correction current value is applied to the actuator to perform vibration reduction control on the vehicle – See at least ¶ [0100])
the torque adjusting unit starts to superimpose the damping torque onto the torque of the moving portion at a timing at which the internal combustion engine is started. (Finally, the cylinder explosion time of the engine, i.e., the advance or lag amount, is estimated according to the signal waveform output by the camshaft sensor to obtain the delay time of the first correction current value – See at least ¶ [0100])
In summary, Lee discloses adjusting the torque of the moving portion and modulates, i.e., superimposes, the damping torque onto the moving portion in timing with the internal combustion engine. The combination of Lee, Yamamoto, Hermansson, Nakajima does not explicitly teach that the timing is the timing at which the internal combustion engine is started. However, Wu discloses a hybrid electric vehicle and active vibration damping control method and device thereof and teaches adjusting the damping torque in relation to the cylinder explosion time of the engine, i.e., timing, the process is performed starting with the first cycle of the engine (¶ [0007]) and therefore would also occur at the engine start time.
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the method and apparatus for vibration damping in a power train system of Lee, Yamamoto, Hermansson, and Nakajima to provide for the active vibration damping control method and device thereof, as taught in Wu, to provide an active vibration reduction control method for a hybrid vehicle, which can realize active vibration reduction control of the vehicle under idle charging conditions, has high timeliness, and uses camshaft sensor signals to pre-judge the effective time of vibration reduction and noise reduction control, so that the action time of vibration reduction control is more accurate and the vibration reduction effect is more effective. (At Wu ¶ [0009])
Regarding claim 3, The combination of Lee, Yamamoto, Hermansson, and Nakajima does not explicitly teach, but Wu further teaches:
an information acquiring unit that acquires angle information that is information on an advance amount or a lag amount of the internal combustion engine, wherein (Finally, the cylinder explosion time of the engine, i.e., the advance or lag amount, is estimated according to the signal waveform output by the camshaft sensor to obtain the delay time of the first correction current value – See at least ¶ [0100])
the torque calculating unit corrects the phase of the damping torque based on the angle information. (When the delay time is reached, the first correction current value is applied to the actuator to perform vibration reduction control on the vehicle – See at least ¶ [0100])
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the method and apparatus for vibration damping in a power train system of Lee, Yamamoto, Hermansson, and Nakajima to provide for the active vibration damping control method and device thereof, as taught in Wu, to provide an active vibration reduction control method for a hybrid vehicle, which can realize active vibration reduction control of the vehicle under idle charging conditions, has high timeliness, and uses camshaft sensor signals to pre-judge the effective time of vibration reduction and noise reduction control, so that the action time of vibration reduction control is more accurate and the vibration reduction effect is more effective. (At Wu ¶ [0009])
Regarding claim 5, Lee further teaches:
the moving portion is fixed to the drive shaft. (The electric machine 35 and the internal combustion engine 40 are torque-generating devices. The electric machine 35 includes an output member that mechanically rotatably couples to the crankshaft 36 of the engine 40 via the pulley mechanism 38, which provides a mechanical power path therebetween – See at least ¶ [0011])
Regarding claim 6, Lee further teaches:
the moving portion is fixed to the drive shaft. (The electric machine 35 and the internal combustion engine 40 are torque-generating devices. The electric machine 35 includes an output member that mechanically rotatably couples to the crankshaft 36 of the engine 40 via the pulley mechanism 38, which provides a mechanical power path therebetween – See at least ¶ [0011])
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHASE L COOLEY whose telephone number is (303)297-4355. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7-5MT.
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/CHASE L COOLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3662
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