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 Status
Claims 1-8 are pending in the application and have been examined.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) claims 1-8 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.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 6 are objected to because of the following informalities: Examiner suggests adding an Oxford comma after, "vibrator" for clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
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, 4-6, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fitzgibbons (US 2007/0265749 A1) hereinafter Fitzgibbons and Kitamura (US 2024/0166227 A1) hereinafter Kitamura.
Claim 1:
Fitzgibbons discloses a vehicle control system, comprising: a damper configured to damp a vibration of a vehicle [¶¶12, 17; Items 112, 114]; a vehicle height adjuster configured to adjust the height of a vehicle [¶¶17; Item 104]; a controller [101] configured to change a setting of at least one of a damping force of the damper and the height of the vehicle by a user selection signal indicating selection by a user [¶17; Item 102; Figs. 3-4]; and wherein the controller is capable of changing, depending on the user selection signal, only the damping force, only the height of the vehicle, or both the damping force and the height of the vehicle, and is configured to drive the vehicle height adjuster when changing the height of the vehicle [¶¶12, 17; "In various embodiments, mode controller 101 can output control signals to one or more of subsystems 104-115 to set the subsystems to a particular state in response to receiving an operator input for a particular mobility traction control mode and/or setting via input apparatus 102"].
Fitzgibbons doesn’t explicitly disclose a notification unit comprising at least one of a speaker, a vibrator and an extensible mechanism and configured to use at least one selected from the group consisting of a sound, a vibration, and a change in an exterior appearance of the vehicle [¶20; Item 103] (the notification unit is used) in conjunction with the change of the setting in response to the user selection signal to notify the user for a predetermined period that the setting has changed.
However, Kitamura discloses a notification unit comprising at least one of a speaker, a vibrator and an extensible mechanism and configured to use at least one selected from the group consisting of a sound, a vibration, and a change in an exterior appearance of the vehicle [¶20; Item 103] (the notification unit is used) in conjunction with the change of the setting in response to the user selection signal to notify the user for a predetermined period that the setting has changed [¶¶58-59].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the vehicle control system of Fitzgibbons with the notification system of Kitamura to inform the driver of which state the vehicle is in to ensure appropriate performance for given conditions.
Claim 4:
Fitzgibbons and Kitamura, as shown in the rejection above, disclose all the limitations of claim 1.
Fitzgibbons also discloses wherein a device configured to be able to communicate with the controller is included in the notification unit [¶20; Items 101, 103].
Claim 5:
Fitzgibbons discloses a vehicle control system, comprising: a damper configured to damp a vibration of a vehicle [¶¶12, 17; Items 112, 114]; a vehicle height adjuster configured to adjust the height of a vehicle; [¶¶17; Item 104]; a controller [101] configured to change settings of a damping force of the damper and the height of the vehicle by a user selection signal indicating selection by a user [¶17; Item 102; Figs. 3-4]; and wherein the controller is capable of changing, depending on the user selection signal, only the damping force, only the height of the vehicle, or both the damping force and the height of the vehicle, and is configured to drive the vehicle height adjuster when changing the height of the vehicle [¶¶12, 17; "In various embodiments, mode controller 101 can output control signals to one or more of subsystems 104-115 to set the subsystems to a particular state in response to receiving an operator input for a particular mobility traction control mode and/or setting via input apparatus 102"].
Fitzgibbons doesn’t explicitly disclose a notification unit comprising at least one of a speaker, a vibrator and an extensible mechanism and configured to use at least one selected from the group consisting of a sound, a vibration, and a change in an exterior appearance of the vehicle [¶20; Item 103] in conjunction with the change of the setting in response to the user selection signal to notify the user for a predetermined period that the setting has changed.
However, Kitamura discloses a notification unit comprising at least one of a speaker, a vibrator and an extensible mechanism and configured to use at least one selected from the group consisting of a sound, a vibration, and a change in an exterior appearance of the vehicle [¶20; Item 103] in conjunction with the change of the setting in response to the user selection signal to notify the user for a predetermined period that the setting has changed [¶¶58-59].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the vehicle control system of Fitzgibbons with the notification system of Kitamura to inform the driver of which state the vehicle is in to ensure appropriate performance for given conditions.
Claim 6:
Fitzgibbons discloses a vehicle control system, comprising: a damper configured to damp a vibration of a vehicle [¶¶12, 17; Items 112, 114]; a vehicle height adjuster configured to adjust the height of a vehicle [¶¶17; Item 104]; a controller [101] configured to change a setting of at least one of a damping force of the damper [22, 24, 26, 28] and the height of the vehicle by a user selection signal indicating selection by a user [¶17; Item 102; Figs. 3-4]; and the controller is capable of changing, depending on the user selection signal, only the damping force, only the height of the vehicle, or both the damping force and the height of the vehicle, and is configured to drive the vehicle height adjuster when changing the height of the vehicle [¶¶12, 17; "In various embodiments, mode controller 101 can output control signals to one or more of subsystems 104-115 to set the subsystems to a particular state in response to receiving an operator input for a particular mobility traction control mode and/or setting via input apparatus 102"].
Fitzgibbons doesn’t explicitly disclose a notification unit comprising at least one of a speaker or a vibrator and configured to use at least one selected from the group consisting of a sound and a vibration in conjunction with the change of the setting in response to the user selection signal to notify the user for a predetermined period that the setting has changed.
However, Kitamura discloses a notification unit comprising at least one of a speaker or a vibrator and configured to use at least one selected from the group consisting of a sound and a vibration in conjunction with the change of the setting in response to the user selection signal to notify the user for a predetermined period that the setting has changed [¶¶58-59].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the vehicle control system of Fitzgibbons with the notification system of Kitamura to inform the driver of which state the vehicle is in to ensure appropriate performance for given conditions.
Claim 8:
Fitzgibbons and Kitamura, as shown in the rejection above, disclose all the limitations of claim 1.
Fitzgibbons also discloses wherein the notification unit is configured, in association with the change of the setting, to actuate the vehicle height adjuster to cause a change in the exterior appearance of the vehicle for notifying the user [¶¶17-20; Item 103; the height adjustment changes the exterior appearance of the vehicle].
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fitzgibbons and Kitamura as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Bell et al. (US 2004/0159515 A1) hereinafter Bell.
Claim 2:
Fitzgibbons and Kitamura, as shown in the rejection above, disclose all the limitations of claim 1.
Fitzgibbons doesn’t explicitly disclose further comprising: an adjustment unit configured to adjust a load applied in advance to an elastic body provided in the controller, wherein: controller is configured to change the setting of the at least one and a setting of the load; and to notify the user of a change in the setting of the at least one and the setting of the load.
However, Bell discloses further comprising: an adjustment unit configured to adjust a load applied in advance to an elastic body provided in the controller, wherein: controller is configured to change the setting of the at least one and a setting of the load [Abstract].
Fitzgibbons discloses the notification unit [103] uses the at least one selected from the group consisting of the sound, the vibration, and the exterior appearance [¶20; Item 103].
Kitamura discloses to notify the user of a change in the setting of the at least one and the setting of the load. [¶¶58-59]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the vehicle control system of Fitzgibbons and Kitamura with the load adjustment of Bell to maintain vehicle ride height.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fitzgibbons and Kitamura as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Bartsch et al. (DE102018215606A1) hereinafter Bartsch.
Claim 3:
Fitzgibbons and Kitamura, as shown in the rejection above, disclose all the limitations of claim 1.
Fitzgibbons doesn’t explicitly disclose wherein the controller vibrates a member provided inside or outside the damper when the setting is changed.
However, Bartsch does disclose wherein the controller vibrates a member provided inside or outside the damper when the setting is changed. [¶¶6-7]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the vehicle control system of Fitzgibbons and Kitamura with the vibration of Bartsch to maintain vehicle ride height.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fitzgibbons and Kitamura as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Coombs et al. (US 2021/0061040 A1) hereinafter Coombs.
Claim 7:
Fitzgibbons and Kitamura, as shown in the rejection above, disclose all the limitations of claim 1.
Fitzgibbons also discloses wherein the notification unit is provided separately from the damper and the vehicle height adjuster [¶20; Item 103], and
Fitzgibbons doesn’t explicitly disclose is configured to wirelessly communicate with the controller.
However, Coombs discloses is configured to wirelessly communicate with the controller. [¶36]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the vehicle control system of Fitzgibbons and Kitamura with the wireless alert of Coombs to provide flexibility on the mounting position of the notification system.
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 KURT P LIETHEN whose telephone number is (313)446-6596. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri, 8 AM - 4 PM.
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KURT P. LIETHEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3747
/KURT PHILIP LIETHEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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