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 .
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 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.
DETAILED ACTION
Claims status
Claims 1-7 are pending as the applicant filed Preliminary Amendment on 03/26/2024.
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. See MPEP 707.05. Although the prior art discloses several unclaimed, some claimed limitation. The closest Prior Art of record are considered to be defined by:
Adams (US 6973847 B2) described a gyroscopic roll stabilizer for a boat, the stabilizer comprising: a flywheel; a flywheel drive motor configured to spin the flywheel about a spin axis; an enclosure surrounding a portion or all of the flywheel and maintaining a below-ambient pressure; a gimbal structure configured to permit flywheel precession about a gimbal axis; and a device for applying a torque to the flywheel about the gimbal axis; the flywheel, enclosure, and gimbal structure configured so that when installed in the boat the stabilizer damps roll motion of the boat. A gyroscopic roll stabilizer for a boat, the stabilizer comprising: a flywheel; a flywheel drive motor configured to spin the flywheel about a spin axis; an enclosure surrounding a portion or all of the flywheel and containing a below-ambient density gas; a gimbal structure configured to permit flywheel precession about a gimbal axis; and a device for applying a torque to the flywheel about the gimbal axis; the flywheel, enclosure, and gimbal structure configured so that when installed in the boat the stabilizer damps roll motion of the boat.
NEDWED, WO 2006022847 A2, Date Published: 2006-03-02, CPC B63B 39/04 described a vessel stabilizing apparatus, comprising: a circular tube liquid container securable to a floating vessel, the floating vessel suitable for use in a marine body; a first valve on the liquid container suitable for receiving a volume of water from the marine body into the liquid container; means for urging the liquid within the liquid container to spin relative to the floating vessel in order to stabilize the floating vessel within the marine body; and opposing frame support members securable to the hull of a floating vessel, the frame members providing bearing connections with the liquid container forming a gimbal axis about which the liquid container may precess.
PIGNATELLI, WO 2018174866 A1, Date Published: 2018-09-27, CPC B63B 39/08 described an anti-roll system for a water vessel is configured for stabilizing the water vessel from rolling about its longitudinal axis. The anti-roll system has a sensor configured for sensing information within a field of view of the sensor surrounding the vessel, and a controller operatively connected to the sensor. The controller is configured to receive the sensed information, determine whether the sensed information contains data indicative of a wave moving toward the vessel, and issue a turning instruction to a turning mechanism of the vessel when the wave is sensed. Execution of the turning instruction by the turning mechanism turns the vessel from a first position, where the longitudinal axis of the vessel is acute or obtuse relative to a major longitudinal axis of the wave, to a second position, where the longitudinal axis of the vessel is substantially perpendicular with the major longitudinal axis of the wave.
TANG, CN 109693762 A, Date Published: 2019-04-30, CPC B63B 39/04 described a gyro stabilization device, wherein it comprises a supporting part, a turntable bearing outer ring of the turntable bearing is connected with the supporting part fixedly connected; the inner ring fixedly connected with the gyro unit, the gyro portion and the turntable bearing, axis of the gyro rotor of the gyro portion parallel to the gyroscope mounting plane; the bottom of the blade and the gyro rotary oil cylinder, the rotary oil cylinder is connected with the rotating shaft of the blade, the peg-top part of the rotary shaft and the turntable bearing of the rotating shaft are in the same axis; control valve, the control valve is set on the outer part of oil path of the revolving oil cylinder.
SALUTARI, WO 2019224322 A1, Date Published: 2019-11-28, CPC B63B 39/04 described method of servicing or maintaining a gyroscope of an anti-roll stabilizer onboard of a seacraft. The method comprising a step of providing a seacraft provided with an anti-roll stabilizer. The stabilizer comprises a gyroscope comprising a container housing a rotor including a flywheel and a flywheel shaft that is rotatably mounted within said container by means of two support devices placed inside said container and arranged to support a respective end of said flywheel shaft so as to allow the relative rotation of said shaft with respect to said container. The container comprises a base portion mounted on a suspension held by a frame of the anti-roll stabilizer so as to be able to oscillate around a first axis transverse with respect to a rotation axis of the flywheel shaft. The container further comprises two end portions removably connected to said base portion. The method further comprising the steps of: removing one of the end portions from the base portion onboard of the seacraft; placing back said removed end portion and reconnecting said end portion with the base portion onboard of the seacraft; and pumping out air of the interior of the container of the gyroscope onboard of the seacraft after the container of the gyroscope has been reassembled.
Gai (US 20220119079 A1) described an anti-roll stabilizer device for boats comprising: a container adapted to be mounted on a suspension so as to be able to oscillate around a first axis; a mass rotatably supported inside the container so as to form a rotor, which rotates around a second axis, transverse to the first axis; a rotor cooling system, wherein the cooling system comprises: a cooling fluid; a hollow shaft arranged along the second axis; and a first and a second cooling chamber sealed with respect to the container of the rotor and toward an external environment, arranged at ends of the hollow shaft and communicating through the hollow shaft, the first cooling chamber having an inlet and the second cooling chamber having an outlet, the inlet and the outlet being connected to a forced circulation circuit of the cooling fluid so that the cooling fluid can circulate from the first cooling chamber to the second cooling chamber through the hollow shaft, and from the second cooling chamber to the first cooling chamber through the forced circulation circuit.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claim 1, Step 1 the claim is a process (or machine) (Yes),
Step 2A Prong One, does the claim recite an abstract idea? current claim related to an anti-roll system, comprising: detect a deviation of a center of the oscillation away from a nominal center, wherein the precession: is caused by roll of the gyroscope about a roll axis perpendicular to the spin axis and precession axis; and imposes decreasing amounts of damping upon the roll as the precession moves away from the nominal center; and reduce the deviation of the center of the oscillation by controlling the braking system to apply an asymmetric amount of braking to the precession when the precession and the deviation are in a same direction relative to when the precession and the deviation are in opposing directions appears is an abstract idea of mental process (MPEP 2106.04(a)) or data gathering equivalent to mathematical concept or mathematical manipulation function (MPEP 2106.04 (a) (2) (concept need not be expressed in mathematical symbols, because "[w]ords used in a claim operating on data to solve a problem can serve the same purpose as a formula), (OR Mathematical Concepts and Mental Processes) Step 2A Prong One: Yes.
Step 2A Prong Two, is the claim directed to an abstract idea? In other words, does claim recite additional elements that integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application? the additional elements of a gyroscope and a motor configured to spin the gyroscope about a spin axis; a mount configured to restrict precession of the gyroscope to oscillation about a precession axis perpendicular to the spin axis are recited at a high level of generality and merely amount to a particular field of use (see MPEP 2106.05(h)) and/or insignificant post-solution activity (MPEP 2106.05(g)), this does not integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application,
Step 2A Prong Two: NO.
Step 2B, Does the claim recite additional element that amount to significantly more than the Judicial exception? the additional elements of a braking system configured to apply a braking force that controls an extent of the oscillation;
a gyroscopic precession controller configured to appears to be field of use (See MPEP 2106.05(h) and MPEP 2106.05(f)) and/or merely amounts to insignificant extra-solution output of the results (see MPEP 2106.05(g)) and therefore fails to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or amount to significantly more. Step 2B: No. claim 1 not eligible.
Claim 2 related to wherein to apply the asymmetric amount of braking, the gyroscopic precession controller is configured to: generate a control signal based on a target amount of damping upon the braking system; and send the control signal to the braking system, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 2 not eligible.
Claim 3 related to wherein to generate the control signal based on the target amount of damping upon the braking system, the gyroscopic precession controller is configured to: correct the target amount of damping upon the braking system based on the deviation; combine the corrected target amount of damping upon the braking system with damping feedback from the braking system to determine a damping error; and generate the control signal such that an amount of damping applied to the braking system is adjusted to correct for the damping error, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 3 not eligible.
Claim 4 related to wherein to apply the asymmetric amount of braking, the gyroscopic precession controller is configured to: generate the control signal based on a target amount of precession acceleration; and send the control signal to the braking system, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 4 not eligible.
Claim 5 related to wherein to generate the control signal based on the target amount of precession acceleration, the processing circuitry is configured to: correct a target precession rate based on the deviation; determine the target amount of precession acceleration based on the corrected target precession rate; combine the target amount of precession acceleration with precession feedback from a precession sensor to determine a precession acceleration error; and generate the control signal such that an amount of precession acceleration permitted by the braking system is adjusted to correct for the precession acceleration error, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 5 not eligible.
Claim 6 related to : to generate the control signal based on the target amount of precession acceleration, the gyroscopic precession controller is further configured to combine the corrected target precession rate with further precession feedback to determine a precession rate error; to determine the target amount of precession acceleration based on the corrected target precession rate, the gyroscopic precession controller is configured to calculate the target amount of precession acceleration based on the precession rate error, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 6 not eligible.
Claim 7 related to the braking system comprises a hydraulic damping valve; the gyroscopic precession controller is further configured to: calculate an amount of current that, when sent to a hydraulic damping valve of a braking system controlling the braking, reduces the deviation; and generate a pulse width modulated (PWM) control signal having a duty cycle that provides the amount of current; to reduce the deviation by applying the asymmetric amount of braking, the gyroscopic precession controller is configured to send the PWM control signal to the hydraulic damping valve, its recites further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 7 not eligible.
Contact information
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tung Lau whose telephone number is (571)272-2274, email is Tungs.lau@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Tuesday-Friday 7:00 AM-5:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TURNER SHELBY, can be reached on 571-272-6334. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TUNG S LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
Technology Center 2800
July 28, 2026
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