DETAILED ACTION
This is a first action on the merits of application 18503472.
Claims 1-11 are pending.
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) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakashita US
20200331578 in further view of Watanabe EP 3437986.
Claims 1 and 9-11, Sakashita discloses a watercraft propulsion system comprising: a bow thruster 5 at a bow of a hull to generate a lateral propulsive force; at least two propulsion devices [4L/4R] on a stern of the hull each having a variable steering angle; a translation/bow turning operator 14 to be operated by a user to apply a translation command to translate the hull and a bow turning command to turn the bow of the hull; and a controller 6 configured or programmed to control the bow thruster 5 and the at least two propulsion devices; wherein the controller is configured or programmed to, in a translation watercraft maneuvering mode, drive the bow thruster, and drive one of the at least two propulsion devices forward and drive another of the at least two propulsion devices in reverse while controlling the steering angles of the at least two propulsion devices so that propulsive force action lines of the at least two propulsion devices cross each other in the hull to translate the hull in response to an operation of the translation/bow turning operator; he does not disclose the controller includes a calibration mode in which calibration is performed for the translation watercraft maneuvering mode; the controller is configured or programmed to control the bow thruster and the at least two propulsion devices according to the translation command and the bow turning command applied by the translation/bow turning operator in the calibration mode; and the controller is configured or programmed to increase an output of the bow thruster when the bow turning command is a bow turning promoting command that commands bow turning in a direction indicated by the translation command, and to reduce absolute values of the steering angles of the at least two propulsion devices when the bow turning promoting command is still applied even after the output of the bow thruster reaches an upper limit. While the art doesn’t disclose calibration mode, Watanabe discloses the limitation in [0026-0028] to implement a calibration mode is an obvious practice in the art particularly when the watercraft movement is achieved through the simultaneous and combined thrust of several propulsion devices, in order to account for changes in the center of mass of the watercraft, or in the power output of the
bow thruster and/or the stern propulsion devices through time. Thus, it 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 to have combined the disclosures for a calibration mode for translational maneuvering.
Claim 2, Sakashita discloses wherein the controller 6 is configured or programmed to increase the absolute values of the steering angles of the at least two propulsion devices when the bow turning command is a bow turning reduction command that commands bow turning in a direction opposite to the direction indicated by the translation command, and to reduce the output of the bow thruster when the bow turning reduction command is still applied even after the absolute values of the steering angles reach an upper limit. See fig. 1, 3-5 [0094, 0102-0103, 0120-0125]
Claim 3, Sakashita discloses the controller he does not disclose a calibration ending operator to be operated by the user to end the calibration; wherein the controller is configured or programmed to generate a calibration value based on control states of the bow thruster and the at least two propulsion devices when the calibration ending operator is operated, and to store the calibration value in a memory. Watanabe discloses a calibration switch to assist vessel maneuvering, [0026-0028, fig. 6]. Thus, it 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 to have combined the disclosures for effective and safe operation of a vessel.
Claims 4-7, Sakashita discloses the aforementioned limitations of claim 1, he does not disclose A) the calibration value includes translation steering angles to which the steering angles of the at least two propulsion devices are to be set in the translation watercraft maneuvering mode, a reference ratio that indicates a ratio of the output of the bow thruster to a lateral component of a target thrust corresponding to the translation command applied by the translation/bow turning operator, and a forward/reverse thrust ratio that indicates a ratio between a propulsive force of one of the at least two propulsion devices driven forward and a propulsive force of the another of the at least two propulsion devices driven in reverse; or B) the controller is configured or programmed to control the output of the bow thruster, the steering angles of the at least two propulsion devices, and propulsive forces of the at least two propulsion devices based on the calibration value when the translation command is applied by the translation/bow turning operator in the translation watercraft maneuvering mode; c) the controller is configured or programmed to increase the output of the bow thruster, and reduce the absolute values of the steering angles of the propulsion devices when a bow turning command that commands the bow turning in the direction indicated by the translation command is applied by the translation/bow turning operator in the translation watercraft maneuvering mode; or D) the controller is configured or programmed to reduce the output of the bow thruster, and increase the absolute values of the steering angles of the propulsion devices when a bow turning command that commands bow turning in a direction opposite to the direction indicted by the translation command is applied by the translation/bow turning operator in the translation watercraft maneuvering mode. However, Watanabe discloses a calibration mode process in [0026-0028, fig. 6] and inherently all the above functions would be preformed and be obvious to one of ordinary skill in programming controllers, thus, it 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 to have combined the disclosures to attain effective and safe operation of vessel maneuvering.
Claim 8, Sakashita discloses an upper output limit setter to be operated by the user to set an upper limit of the output of the bow thruster. This is inherent via the thruster ECU that has target value setting, obviously there is a max setting to prevent over driving the thruster and burning up the motor via over current or high temperature conditions [0092, 0114-0115]. Thus, it 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 to set an upper limit of the output of the bow thruster.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOVON E HAYES whose telephone number is (571)272-3115. The examiner can normally be reached 10am-6pm M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Samuel Morano can be reached at 571-272-6684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JOVON E HAYES/Examiner, Art Unit 3615
/S. Joseph Morano/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3615