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) 1-8 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being taught by Nakijima et al (PGPUB 2013/0285585).
With respect to claim 1, Nakajima teaches an electronic control device that uses a first external power supply source which is connected to a first ground, and uses a second external power supply source which is connected to a second ground, the electronic control device comprises:
a first power supply source circuit (fig. 7, 612) that is connected to the first ground, and that generates a first voltage from an output voltage of the first external power supply source with the first ground as a reference (paragraph 0098);
a second power supply source circuit (fig. 7, 180) that is connected to the second ground and that generates a second voltage from an output voltage of the second external power supply source with the second ground as a reference (paragraph 0098);
a first circuit (fig. 7, 700) that is connected to the first ground, and into which the first voltage is input;
a second circuit (fig. 7, 604) that is connected to the second ground, and into which the second voltage is input, and
an isolator circuit (paragraph 0111; 520) that is provided between the first circuit and the second circuit, wherein the isolator circuit has a:
a first interface circuit (fig. 7, 734) that has the first voltage input thereto while being connected to the first ground, and is connected to the first circuit, and
a second interface circuit (fig. 7, 744) that has the second voltage input thereto while being connected to the second ground, is connected to the second circuit, and is electrically isolated from the first interface circuit.
With respect to claim 2, Nakajima teaches wherein: one of the first circuit or the second circuit is a control circuit (paragraph 0049; 700 control), and the other of the first circuit or the second circuit is a peripheral circuit (fig. 2, 604 is peripheral) of the control circuit.
With respect to claim 3, Nakajima teaches wherein: the first circuit is the control circuit; the second circuit is the peripheral circuit, and the peripheral circuit is a transmission circuit (fig. 7, 604 to 504) that transmits to an external device (fig. 7, 140).
With respect to claim 4, Nakajima teaches wherein: the first circuit is the peripheral circuit; the second circuit is the control circuit, and the peripheral circuit is a drive circuit that drives an actuator (fig. 7, 140) based on a control signal that is output from the control circuit.
With respect to claim 5, Nakajima teaches wherein: the first circuit is the control circuit; the second circuit is the peripheral circuit, and the peripheral circuit is a sensor signal interface circuit (fig. 7, 624) that is connected to an external sensor (paragraph 0096; 648).
With respect to claim 6, Nakajima teaches wherein: the isolator circuit is a capacitor insulating circuit (paragraph 0111; 522) where the first interface circuit and the second interface circuit are combined using a capacitive element.
With respect to claim 7, Nakajima teaches wherein: the isolator circuit is a magnetic isolation type circuit where the first interface circuit and the second interface circuit are combined using a magnetic induction circuit (paragraph 0108).
With respect to claim 8, Nakajima teaches wherein: the isolator circuit is an optically isolated type circuit where the first interface circuit and the second interface circuit are combined using a photo coupler (paragraph 0109).
With respect to claim 13, Nakajima teaches wherein: the drive circuit is a motor drive (604) that drives a motor (140), and the first external power supply source is used as a power supply source (paragraph 0094; 612) for the motor drive.
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) 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakijima et al (PGPUB 2013/0285585).
With respect to claim 9, Nakajima does not teach wherein: the isolator circuit transmits a digital signal between the first interface circuit and the second interface circuit.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to wherein the interface and isolation circuitry operate with digital signals, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 10, Nakajima does not teach wherein: the first external power supply source is a power supply source where an output voltage exceeds 12V;
the second external power supply source where an output voltage is a 12V system, and each of the first power supply source circuit and the second power supply source circuit generates a 5[V] standard voltage as the first voltage and as the second voltage respectively.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to first power source is above 12V and second is 5V, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claim 11, Nakajima teaches wherein: the external device is connected to the second external power supply source, and the transmission circuit and the external device are connected to the second ground (paragraph 0098; fig. 7).
With respect to claim 12, Nakajima teaches wherein: the external sensor is connected to the second external power supply source, and the sensor signal interface circuit and the external sensor are connected to the second ground (fig. 7, ground to 648).
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakijima et al (PGPUB 2013/0285585) in view of Fujiwara et al (PGPUB 2019/0312536).
With respect to claim 14, Nakajima does not teach an electric power steering device comprising: a torque sensor that detects a steering torque of steering; a motor that generates steering assist torque with respect to the steering, and the electronic control device according to claim 1 that controls a drive of the motor according to the steering torque detected by the torque sensor.
Fujiwara teaches a torque sensor (fig. 2, 10) that detects a steering torque of steering; a motor (fig. 2, 20) that generates steering assist torque (paragraph 0018)with respect to the steering, and the electronic control device according to claim 1 that controls a drive (fig. 2, 30) of the motor according to the steering torque detected by the torque sensor. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made for system to have torque sensor of Fujiwara, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art for torque feedback to be used in EPS device.
Conclusion
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/ERICK D GLASS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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