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 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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 10-14 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fontaine et al. (US 2016/0257174) (hereinafter referred to as ‘Fontaine’).
Fontaine teaches
Regarding claim 1,
an electric generation system for vehicular applications comprising:
a vehicle tire (tire 2) having a tread portion (tread portion 4), a hub portion and a plurality of semi-rigid spokes (rods 10) extending radially from the hub portion to the tread portion;
a plurality of piezoelectric devices affixed to at least one surface of each of the plurality of semi-rigid spokes such that a deformation of the tread portion of the vehicle tire causes a deformation of at least one of the plurality of semi-rigid spokes and at least one of the plurality of piezoelectric devices (see Paragraph 0035); and
a charge accumulator for receiving an electric current generated in response to the deformation of the at least one of the plurality of piezoelectric devices and for storing an electric charge accumulated in response to the electric current (see Paragraph 0037);
regarding claim 2, the electric generation system for vehicular applications of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of semi-rigid spokes include a planar surface and wherein one of the plurality of piezoelectric devices is affixed to the planar surface (see Paragraph 0035);
regarding claim 3, the electric generation system for vehicular applications of claim 1, wherein the charge accumulator includes a current conditioning device for generating a voltage having a constant amplitude in response to the electric current received from the plurality of piezoelectric devices (see Paragraph 0043);
regarding claim 4, the electric generation system for vehicular applications of claim 1, wherein the vehicle tire is an airless vehicle tire;
regarding claim 5, the electric generation system for vehicular applications of claim 1, wherein the charge accumulator is configured to charge an electric vehicle propulsion battery (see Paragraph 0043);
regarding claim 6, the electric generation system for vehicular applications of claim 1, wherein the charge accumulator powers a wheel mounted electronic device;
regarding claim 10,
a method comprising:
providing a tread portion, a hub portion and a spoke extending radially from the hub portion to the tread portion;
affixing a piezoelectric device to a surface of the spoke such that a deformation of the tread portion of the vehicle tire results in a deformation of the spoke and the piezoelectric device; and
electrically coupling a charge accumulator to the piezoelectric device to receive an electric charge generated in response to the deformation of the piezoelectric device;
regarding claim 11, the method of claim 10, wherein the piezoelectric device includes at least one of a ferroelectric material and a pyrooelectric material (see Paragraph 0037);
regarding claim 12, the method of claim 10, wherein the piezoelectric device includes electrostrictive materials (see Paragraph 0037);
regarding claim 13, the method of claim 10, wherein the tread portion is formed from a pliable elastic material and the hub portion is formed from an inextensible material (see Paragraph 0045);
Regarding claim 14, the method of claim 10, further including the step of charging, by a charging module, an electric vehicle propulsion battery using the electric charge from the charge accumulator;
Regarding claim 18, the method of claim 10, wherein electrically coupling the charge accumulator to the piezoelectric device is performed in response to a vehicle operational state being switched from a standby state to a run state (see Paragraph 0043);
Regarding claim 19,
a vehicle wheel system comprising:
a tread surface;
a wheel hub;
a semi rigid spoke formed between the tread surface and the wheel hub;
a piezoelectric material affixed to the semi rigid spoke operative to generate an electric charge in response to a deformation of the piezoelectric material and the semi rigid spoke resulting from a compression of the tread surface towards the wheel hub; and
a battery for storing the electric charge;
regarding claim 20, the vehicle wheel system of claim 19, wherein the battery is further configured to couple the electric charge to a wheel mounted electronic device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 and 15-17 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest either alone or combination thereof:
regarding claim 7, the electric generation system for vehicular applications of claim 1, further including a current switch electrically coupled between at least one of the plurality of piezoelectric devices and the charge accumulator configured to prevent a current from being coupled from the charge accumulator to the at least one of the plurality of piezoelectric devices;
regarding claim 8, the electric generation system for vehicular applications of claim 1, further comprising a charging interface configured to display a charge level of the charge accumulator to a vehicle operator;
regarding claim 9, the electric generation system for vehicular applications of claim 1, further including a current switch configured to decouple at least one of the plurality of piezoelectric devices from the charge accumulator in response to a cessation of vehicle tire rotation;
Regarding claim 15, the method of claim 10, further including the steps of detecting a spin rate of the hub portion and electrically decoupling the charge accumulator from the piezoelectric device in response to the spin rate being less than a threshold value;
Regarding claim 16, the method of claim 10, conditioning an electrical current having a variable amplitude received from the piezoelectric device to the electric charge having a constant amplitude;
Regarding claim 17, the method of claim 10, including the steps of detecting a charge level of the charge accumulator and electrically decoupling the charge accumulator from the piezoelectric device in response to the charge level being greater than a threshold value.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMARA ALZAIDA FRANKLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-2389. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Pham can be reached at 571-272-3689. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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June 12, 2026
/JAMARA A FRANKLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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