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 .
2. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant's Communication received on November 26, 2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments/remarks filed November 26, 2025, with respect to claims 4-6 rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. Accordingly, said claims 4-6 rejections been withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments filed November 26, 2025, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-3 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of ISHIMURA as explained below in section 35 USC 103.
Disposition of Claims
Claims 1-6 are pending in this application.
Claims 4-6 are objected as allowable subject matter.
Claims 1-3 are rejected.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 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.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
Claim 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (SHIBATA – JP 2020037370 A), in view of (ISHIMURA - CN 114206707 A).
Regarding claim 1, SHIBATA discloses:
A steering control device (Steering device as the steering input mechanism 1: Fig. 1) comprising:
a processor (controller 10: Fig. 1) that is configured to
control, as a target, a steering system including a reaction force motor (reaction force actuator 5 includes a first electric motor 8: Fig. 1) that applies a steering reaction force (reaction force) to a steering shaft (steering shaft 4: Fig. 1) and a turning motor (steering actuator 16 has a second electric motor 18: Fig. 1) that turns a turning wheel (One of a pair of turning wheels 14: Fig. 1), and to
execute a reaction force setting process, a phase compensation process (response delaying part 49 performs phase-delay processing: Abstract and [0032-0038]), and a reaction force application process (SHIBATA [0032-0038, 0042-0073]),
wherein:
the reaction force setting process is a process of setting the steering reaction force using the phase compensation process (The turning responsiveness control part 47 has a response delaying unit 49 that performs delay control by which responsiveness of the turning actuator 16 to the steering angle signal θr is more delayed when the reaction force actuator 5 is abnormal than when the actuator is normal: Abstract and [0032-0038]);
the reaction force application process is a process of operating the reaction force motor (reaction force actuator 5 includes a first electric motor 8: Fig. 1) so as to produce a reaction force as set by the reaction force setting process (SHIBATA [0032-0038, 0042-0073]).
But SHIBATA does not explicitly and/or specifically meet the following limitations:
(A) the phase compensation process is a process of performing phase compensation of the steering reaction force that is to be applied to the steering shaft by the reaction force motor in a manner that differs for different travel modes of the vehicle.
However, regarding limitation (A) above, ISHIMURA discloses/teaches the following:
As illustrated in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the responsive {{{phase compensation unit 210}}} {{{according to the type of the driving mode}}} selected by the driver, the change gain and phase degree according to the steering frequency {{{is different}}}. For example, in the case of selecting the motion mode, the responsive phase compensation unit 210 increases the gain with the steering frequency becomes larger and the phase is advanced. On the other hand, in the case of selecting the comfort mode, the responsive phase compensation unit 210 increases with the steering frequency to reduce the gain and the phase lag. In the case of a normal mode, no such gain and phase adjustment is performed, and a predetermined gain and phase compensation are used.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the steering control device of SHIBATA incorporating additional controller communications/calculation-unit modules/instructions as taught by ISHIMURA to improves steering feeling suitable for various driving situations.
Regarding claim 2, SHIBATA as combined above disclose the steering control device according to claim 1, and further on SHIBATA as combined above also discloses:
wherein the travel modes (Normal Reaction Force mode or Abnormal Reaction Force mode) among which the manner of the phase compensation differs include a mode (Abnormal Reaction Force mode) in which a diagnosis that there is an abnormality has been made and a mode for normal times (Normal Reaction Force mode) (SHIBATA [0032-0038, 0042-0073]).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (SHIBATA – JP 2020037370 A), in view of (ISHIMURA - CN 114206707 A), further in view of (ENDO - US 2022/0266894 A1).
Regarding claim 3, SHIBATA as combined above disclose the steering control device according to claim 2.
But SHIBATA as combined above does not explicitly and/or specifically meet the following limitations:
(A) wherein: the phase compensation process is a process of performing phase compensation of the steering reaction force according to a value of a phase compensation specifying variable, and includes a variable changing process; the phase compensation specifying variable is a variable that specifies the manner of the phase compensation; the variable changing process includes a process of changing the value of the phase compensation specifying variable according to a vehicle speed; the modes in which a diagnosis that there is the abnormality has been made include a mode in which a diagnosis that there is the abnormality in a detected value of the vehicle speed has been made; and the phase compensation process includes a process of executing the phase compensation with the value of the phase compensation specifying variable set to a value for the abnormality in the mode in which a diagnosis that there is the abnormality in the detected value of the vehicle speed has been made.
However, regarding limitation (A) above, ENDO (Fig. 3 and [Abstract, 0026, 0028, 0030, 0038-0040, 0048, 0050-0051, 0056-0058]) discloses/teaches the following:
Phase compensation variable processing.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions implemented in the processor 200 in functional block units. In the present specification, the processor 200 includes a responsiveness phase compensation unit 210, a {{{phase compensation variable processing unit 220}}}, a base assist calculation unit 230, a stability phase compensation unit 240, a current control calculation unit 250, and a motor control unit 260. Typically, the processes (or the tasks) of the functional blocks corresponding to the respective units are described in the computer program on a software module basis, and are stored in the ROM 116. However, in a case where an FPGA or the like is used, all or some of the functional blocks may be implemented as hardware accelerators.
Referring again to FIG. 3, the responsiveness phase compensation unit 210 acquires, as inputs, the steering torque T.sub.tor, the steering angle θ, and an output signal of the phase compensation variable processing unit 220. The responsiveness phase compensation unit 210 adjusts the assist gain within a possible range of the steering frequency (for example, 0.1 to 5.0 Hz) to compensate for the rigidity of the torsion bar 546. For example, the responsiveness phase compensation unit 210 calculates first-order phase compensation represented by the following (Formula 1) and applies the first-order phase compensation to the steering torque T.sub.tor.
The phase compensation variable processing unit 220 acquires the vehicle speed v as an input. The phase compensation variable processing unit 220 changes values of the frequency f.sub.1 of the zero point and the frequency f.sub.2 of the pole in accordance with the vehicle speed v. For example, the ROM 116 stores a lookup table that defines a relationship among the vehicle speed v, the frequency f.sub.1 of the zero point, and the frequency f.sub.2 of the pole. The lookup table changes the values of the frequency f.sub.1 of the zero point and the frequency f.sub.2 of the pole in accordance with the vehicle speed v. For example, the value of the frequency f.sub.1 of the zero point and the value of the frequency f.sub.2 of the pole are set to lower values as the value of the vehicle speed v increases.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the steering control device of SHIBATA as combined above incorporating additional controller communications/calculation-unit modules/instructions as taught by ENDO to improves steering feeling suitable for various driving situations.
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 Ruben Picon-Feliciano whose telephone number is (571)-272-4938. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday within 11:30 am-7:30 pm ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lindsay M. Low can be reached on (571)272-1196. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/RUBEN PICON-FELICIANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/GRANT MOUBRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747