DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to RCE filed on 11/4/2025.
Claims 1-5 are pending for examination.
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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/4/2025 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/4/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ARITA (JP2008072868A) in view of Tamagawa (US20030177846A1).
In regards to claim 1, ARITA teaches A driving force control device comprising an electronic control unit (ARITA: Para 10 “The vehicle controller 11 is equipped with a microcomputer, and calculates a user-requested torque command value T<sup>＊</sup> based on the vehicle speed Vs detected by a vehicle speed sensor 12 and the accelerator pedal (not shown) depression amount Acc detected by an accelerator sensor 13, and distributes the torque command value T<sup>＊</sup> to an engine torque command value Te<sup>＊</sup> and a motor torque command value Tm<sup>＊</sup> to obtain driving force. The vehicle controller 11 is connected to a memory 14 that stores a torque limit rate map (described in detail later) relative to the resonance duration. The engine controller 15 controls the throttle valve opening θv so that the output torque of the engine 3 coincides with the engine torque command value Te<sup>＊</sup>”) configured to
determine whether resonance occurs in a vehicle with respect to a traveling road, based on a rotation speed of a motor mounted on the vehicle (ARITA: Para 16 “vehicle body resonance is detected based on the amount of change in motor rotation speed, and the motor torque command value Tm<sup>＊</sup> and the user requested torque command value T<sup>＊</sup> are limited according to the duration of the resonance”), and
limit torque of the motor when determination is made that the resonance occurs in the vehicle(ARITA: Para 26 “In step 14, it is determined whether the amount of change in the motor rotation speed exceeds a preset threshold value Δ2. Here, the threshold value Δ2 is a threshold value for determining whether or not vehicle body resonance is occurring, and an optimum value is set by conducting actual vehicle tests for each vehicle model. If the change in motor rotation speed exceeds the resonance determination threshold value Δ2, the process proceeds to step 15, where the resonance continuation counter is incremented by the count-up amount CU”; Para 27 “In step 17, a motor torque limit rate is set in accordance with the value of the resonance continuation counter, and in the following step 18, a user-requested torque limit rate is set in accordance with the value of the resonance continuation counter”), wherein:
only a fluctuation component of the rotation speed is extracted from the rotation speed of the motor with a band-pass filter(ARITA: Para 14 “In step 1, the output of the motor rotation angle sensor 6 input via the motor controller 10 is subjected to bandpass filtering to detect the change in rotation speed (change in rotational speed) in a specific frequency range where vehicle body resonance occurs, for example, 8 to 15 Hz”; Para 40 “a band-pass filter having a predetermined frequency characteristic is applied to the motor rotation angle detection value obtained by the rotation angle sensor, and the amount of change in the motor rotation speed is detected based on the rotation angle after the filter processing, thereby enabling vehicle body resonance to be reliably detected”).
Yet ARITA do not explicitly teach when the torque of the motor is limited, torque reduction is started at a timing of 270 degrees in a phase of a waveform in which the extracted fluctuation component is regarded as a cosine waveform.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Tamagawa teaches when the torque of the motor is limited, torque reduction is started at a timing of 270 degrees in a phase of a waveform in which the extracted fluctuation component is regarded as a cosine waveform (Tamagawa: Fig. 3A; Para 9 “a torque variation control device and computer program for a hybrid vehicle, which possibly experiences a sudden variation of torque. The device and computer program are capable of restricting vibration acting back and forth on the vehicle by converging the torque variation rapidly”; Para 28 “the compensation torque setting means delivers negative compensation torque only when a rotational velocity falls in the area B, thereby compensating a relative excess of drive torque. It leads to cancellation of the torque variation like simple harmonic motion, thereby eliminating subsequent torque variations.”; i.e. area B indicated 270 degrees in a phase of a waveform).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the driving force control device of ARITA with the feature of when the torque of the motor is limited, torque reduction is started at a timing of 270 degrees in a phase of a waveform in which the extracted fluctuation component is regarded as a cosine waveform disclosed by Tamagawa. One would be motivated to do so for the benefit of “restricting vibration acting back and forth on the vehicle by converging the torque variation rapidly” (Tamagawa: Para 9).
In regards to claim 2, the combination of ARITA and Tamagawa teaches The driving force control device according to claim 1, and Tamagawa further teaches wherein, when a timing at which the determination is made that the resonance occurs in the vehicle is 0 degrees or more and less than 270 degrees in the phase of the waveform in which the fluctuation component is regarded as the cosine waveform, the torque reduction is started at a timing when the phase becomes 270 degrees(Tamagawa: Fig. 3A and 3B; Para 28 “the compensation torque setting means delivers negative compensation torque only when a rotational velocity falls in the area B, thereby compensating a relative excess of drive torque. It leads to cancellation of the torque variation like simple harmonic motion, thereby eliminating subsequent torque variations.”; Para 29 “the torque variation detection means judges that a torque variation like simple harmonic motion, the amplitude of which is larger than a given value, occurs if a first differential is equal to or greater than a predetermined value U′ and a second differential is less than or equal to zero”; i.e. Fig. 3B indicated that predetermined value U′ occurred between 0 degrees or more and less than 270 degrees in the phase of the waveform). The Examiner supplies the same rationale for the combination of references ARITA and Tamagawa as in Claim 1 above.
In regards to claim 3, ARITA teaches A driving force control device comprising an electronic control unit (ARITA: Para 10 “The vehicle controller 11 is equipped with a microcomputer, and calculates a user-requested torque command value T<sup>＊</sup> based on the vehicle speed Vs detected by a vehicle speed sensor 12 and the accelerator pedal (not shown) depression amount Acc detected by an accelerator sensor 13, and distributes the torque command value T<sup>＊</sup> to an engine torque command value Te<sup>＊</sup> and a motor torque command value Tm<sup>＊</sup> to obtain driving force. The vehicle controller 11 is connected to a memory 14 that stores a torque limit rate map (described in detail later) relative to the resonance duration. The engine controller 15 controls the throttle valve opening θv so that the output torque of the engine 3 coincides with the engine torque command value Te<sup>＊</sup>”) configured to
determine whether resonance occurs in a vehicle with respect to a traveling road, based on a rotation speed of a motor mounted on the vehicle (ARITA: Para 16 “vehicle body resonance is detected based on the amount of change in motor rotation speed, and the motor torque command value Tm<sup>＊</sup> and the user requested torque command value T<sup>＊</sup> are limited according to the duration of the resonance”), and
limit torque of the motor when determination is made that the resonance occurs in the vehicle(ARITA: Para 26 “In step 14, it is determined whether the amount of change in the motor rotation speed exceeds a preset threshold value Δ2. Here, the threshold value Δ2 is a threshold value for determining whether or not vehicle body resonance is occurring, and an optimum value is set by conducting actual vehicle tests for each vehicle model. If the change in motor rotation speed exceeds the resonance determination threshold value Δ2, the process proceeds to step 15, where the resonance continuation counter is incremented by the count-up amount CU”; Para 27 “In step 17, a motor torque limit rate is set in accordance with the value of the resonance continuation counter, and in the following step 18, a user-requested torque limit rate is set in accordance with the value of the resonance continuation counter”), wherein:
only a fluctuation component of the rotation speed is extracted from the rotation speed of the motor with a band-pass filter(ARITA: Para 14 “In step 1, the output of the motor rotation angle sensor 6 input via the motor controller 10 is subjected to bandpass filtering to detect the change in rotation speed (change in rotational speed) in a specific frequency range where vehicle body resonance occurs, for example, 8 to 15 Hz”; Para 40 “a band-pass filter having a predetermined frequency characteristic is applied to the motor rotation angle detection value obtained by the rotation angle sensor, and the amount of change in the motor rotation speed is detected based on the rotation angle after the filter processing, thereby enabling vehicle body resonance to be reliably detected”).
Yet ARITA do not explicitly teach when the torque of the motor is limited, a timing to start torque reduction is controlled based on a phase of a waveform in which the extracted fluctuation component is regarded as a cosine waveform; and
when a timing at which the determination is made that the resonance occurs in the vehicle is 270 degrees or more and less than 360 degrees in the phase of the waveform in which the fluctuation component is regarded as the cosine waveform, the torque reduction is started immediately.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Tamagawa teaches when the torque of the motor is limited, a timing to start torque reduction is controlled based on a phase of a waveform in which the extracted fluctuation component is regarded as a cosine waveform(Tamagawa: Fig. 3A; Para 9 “a torque variation control device and computer program for a hybrid vehicle, which possibly experiences a sudden variation of torque. The device and computer program are capable of restricting vibration acting back and forth on the vehicle by converging the torque variation rapidly”; Para 31 “the compensation torque setting means delivers negative compensation torque only when a rotational velocity falls in the area B, thereby compensating a relative excess of drive torque. It leads to cancellation of the torque variation like simple harmonic motion, thereby eliminating subsequent torque variations.”; i.e. area B indicated 270 degrees or more and less than 360 degrees in a phase of a waveform); and
when a timing at which the determination is made that the resonance occurs in the vehicle is 270 degrees or more and less than 360 degrees in the phase of the waveform in which the fluctuation component is regarded as the cosine waveform, the torque reduction is started immediately(Tamagawa: Para 121 “If the torque variation control device 9 judges that the deceleration of a vehicle is commanded at step S100, the device 9 judges if a first differential dNE is equal to or greater than a predetermined value U′ (positive value) (dNE>U′) (FIG. 3B). If dNE≧U′ (Y), the device 9 judges if a second differential ddNE is less than or equal to zero (ddNE≦0) at step S107 (FIG. 3C). If ddNE≦0 is satisfied (Y) at step S107, the device 9 judges that a rotational velocity NE of the drive shaft 10 varies in simple harmonic motion and the torque variation thereof falls in the area B (FIG. 3A). Then at step S108 “1” is set for a flag so that a compensation torque command RTQ can be added to a torque command with the expression (1) described before”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the driving force control device of ARITA with the feature of when the torque of the motor is limited, a timing to start torque reduction is controlled based on a phase of a waveform in which the extracted fluctuation component is regarded as a cosine waveform; and when a timing at which the determination is made that the resonance occurs in the vehicle is 270 degrees or more and less than 360 degrees in the phase of the waveform in which the fluctuation component is regarded as the cosine waveform, the torque reduction is started immediately disclosed by Tamagawa. One would be motivated to do so for the benefit of “restricting vibration acting back and forth on the vehicle by converging the torque variation rapidly” (Tamagawa: Para 9).
In regards to claim 4, ARITA teaches A driving force control device, comprising:
an electronic control device comprising a control section and a storage section, the electronic control device being configured to acquire a rotational speed of a motor mounted on a vehicle(ARITA: Para 10 “The vehicle controller 11 is equipped with a microcomputer, and calculates a user-requested torque command value T<sup>＊</sup> based on the vehicle speed Vs detected by a vehicle speed sensor 12 and the accelerator pedal (not shown) depression amount Acc detected by an accelerator sensor 13, and distributes the torque command value T<sup>＊</sup> to an engine torque command value Te<sup>＊</sup> and a motor torque command value Tm<sup>＊</sup> to obtain driving force. The vehicle controller 11 is connected to a memory 14 that stores a torque limit rate map (described in detail later) relative to the resonance duration. The engine controller 15 controls the throttle valve opening θv so that the output torque of the engine 3 coincides with the engine torque command value Te<sup>＊</sup>”; Para 16 “vehicle body resonance is detected based on the amount of change in motor rotation speed, and the motor torque command value Tm<sup>＊</sup> and the user requested torque command value T<sup>＊</sup> are limited according to the duration of the resonance”); and
a band-pass filter configured to extract a fluctuation component of the rotational speed from the rotational speed of a motor mounted on a vehicle, the extracted fluctuation component being represented by a cosine waveform(ARITA: Fig. 8), wherein the electronic control device is further configured to detect that the vehicle is traveling on an undulating road(ARITA: Fig. 8; Para 14 “In step 1, the output of the motor rotation angle sensor 6 input via the motor controller 10 is subjected to bandpass filtering to detect the change in rotation speed (change in rotational speed) in a specific frequency range where vehicle body resonance occurs, for example, 8 to 15 Hz. Normally, when driving on an uneven road, the rotation speed of the motor 1 changes, but the amount of change in motor rotation speed due to vibration of the transaxle 4 caused by vehicle body resonance is much greater, and as mentioned above, the current flowing from the inverter 8 to the motor 1 in accordance with the motor rotation angle detected by the rotation angle sensor 6 is not controlled normally (this is called inverter failure), and an overcurrent flows”),
determine whether the rotational speed exceeds a threshold value, in response to a detection that the vehicle is traveling on the undulating road(ARITA: Para 26 “In step 14, it is determined whether the amount of change in the motor rotation speed exceeds a preset threshold value Δ2. Here, the threshold value Δ2 is a threshold value for determining whether or not vehicle body resonance is occurring, and an optimum value is set by conducting actual vehicle tests for each vehicle model. If the change in motor rotation speed exceeds the resonance determination threshold value Δ2, the process proceeds to step 15, where the resonance continuation counter is incremented by the count-up amount CU”).
Yet ARITA do not explicitly teach obtain a phase of the cosine waveform at a timing when a determination is made that the rotational speed exceeds the threshold value, and execute torque reduction of the motor in a state where the phase is 270 degrees or more and less than 360 degrees.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Tamagawa teaches obtain a phase of the cosine waveform at a timing when a determination is made that the rotational speed exceeds the threshold value(Tamagawa: Fig. 3A and 3B; Para 28 “the compensation torque setting means delivers negative compensation torque only when a rotational velocity falls in the area B, thereby compensating a relative excess of drive torque. It leads to cancellation of the torque variation like simple harmonic motion, thereby eliminating subsequent torque variations.”; Para 29 “the torque variation detection means judges that a torque variation like simple harmonic motion, the amplitude of which is larger than a given value, occurs if a first differential is equal to or greater than a predetermined value U′ and a second differential is less than or equal to zero”; i.e. Fig. 3B indicated that predetermined value U′ occurred between 0 degrees or more and less than 270 degrees in the phase of the waveform), and execute torque reduction of the motor in a state where the phase is 270 degrees or more and less than 360 degrees(Tamagawa: Fig. 3A; Para 9 “a torque variation control device and computer program for a hybrid vehicle, which possibly experiences a sudden variation of torque. The device and computer program are capable of restricting vibration acting back and forth on the vehicle by converging the torque variation rapidly”; Para 31 “the compensation torque setting means delivers negative compensation torque only when a rotational velocity falls in the area B, thereby compensating a relative excess of drive torque. It leads to cancellation of the torque variation like simple harmonic motion, thereby eliminating subsequent torque variations.”; i.e. area B indicated 270 degrees or more and less than 360 degrees in a phase of a waveform).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the driving force control device of ARITA with the feature of obtain a phase of the cosine waveform at a timing when a determination is made that the rotational speed exceeds the threshold value, and execute torque reduction of the motor in a state where the phase is 270 degrees or more and less than 360 degrees disclosed by Tamagawa. One would be motivated to do so for the benefit of “restricting vibration acting back and forth on the vehicle by converging the torque variation rapidly” (Tamagawa: Para 9).
In regards to claim 5, the combination of ARITA and Tamagawa teaches The driving force control device according to claim 4, and Tamagawa further teaches wherein the electronic control device is further configured to
determine whether the obtained phase falls within a first scope and a second scope, the first scope being from 270 degrees to less than 360 degrees(Tamagawa: Para 121 “If the torque variation control device 9 judges that the deceleration of a vehicle is commanded at step S100, the device 9 judges if a first differential dNE is equal to or greater than a predetermined value U′ (positive value) (dNE>U′) (FIG. 3B). If dNE≧U′ (Y), the device 9 judges if a second differential ddNE is less than or equal to zero (ddNE≦0) at step S107 (FIG. 3C). If ddNE≦0 is satisfied (Y) at step S107, the device 9 judges that a rotational velocity NE of the drive shaft 10 varies in simple harmonic motion and the torque variation thereof falls in the area B (FIG. 3A). Then at step S108 “1” is set for a flag so that a compensation torque command RTQ can be added to a torque command with the expression (1) described before”), and the second scope being from 0 degrees to less than 270 degrees(Tamagawa: Fig. 3A and 3B; Para 28 “the compensation torque setting means delivers negative compensation torque only when a rotational velocity falls in the area B, thereby compensating a relative excess of drive torque. It leads to cancellation of the torque variation like simple harmonic motion, thereby eliminating subsequent torque variations.”; Para 29 “the torque variation detection means judges that a torque variation like simple harmonic motion, the amplitude of which is larger than a given value, occurs if a first differential is equal to or greater than a predetermined value U′ and a second differential is less than or equal to zero”; i.e. Fig. 3B indicated that predetermined value U′ occurred between 0 degrees or more and less than 270 degrees in the phase of the waveform),
in a case where a first determination is made that the obtained phase falls within the first scope, execute the torque reduction of the motor immediately after the first determination is made(Tamagawa: Para 121 “If the torque variation control device 9 judges that the deceleration of a vehicle is commanded at step S100, the device 9 judges if a first differential dNE is equal to or greater than a predetermined value U′ (positive value) (dNE>U′) (FIG. 3B). If dNE≧U′ (Y), the device 9 judges if a second differential ddNE is less than or equal to zero (ddNE≦0) at step S107 (FIG. 3C). If ddNE≦0 is satisfied (Y) at step S107, the device 9 judges that a rotational velocity NE of the drive shaft 10 varies in simple harmonic motion and the torque variation thereof falls in the area B (FIG. 3A). Then at step S108 “1” is set for a flag so that a compensation torque command RTQ can be added to a torque command with the expression (1) described before”), and
in a case where a second determination is made that the obtained phase falls within the second scope, execute the torque reduction at a timing when the phase reaches 270 degrees(Tamagawa: Fig. 3A, 3B, 3C; Para 28 “the compensation torque setting means delivers negative compensation torque only when a rotational velocity falls in the area B, thereby compensating a relative excess of drive torque. It leads to cancellation of the torque variation like simple harmonic motion, thereby eliminating subsequent torque variations.”; Para 29 “the torque variation detection means judges that a torque variation like simple harmonic motion, the amplitude of which is larger than a given value, occurs if a first differential is equal to or greater than a predetermined value U′ and a second differential is less than or equal to zero”; i.e. Fig. 3B indicated that predetermined value U′ occurred between 0 degrees or more and less than 270 degrees in the phase of the waveform).. The Examiner supplies the same rationale for the combination of references ARITA and Tamagawa as in Claim 1 above.
Conclusion
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/W.Y./Examiner, Art Unit 3667
/ANISS CHAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3662