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 § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 1-10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masakazu (JP62-175813) and further in view of GORENFLO et al (U.S. 2018/0352730).
1. As per claims 1, 7 and 12 Masakazu disclosed Steering control system for a vehicle that detects a magnetic field generated from an electromagnetic induction line and that is capable of autonomous travelling along said electromagnetic induction line, wherein the steering control system comprises:
a plurality of induction line detection sensors attached to said vehicle; and
a control device that, for every control cycle and on the basis of a deviation of said vehicle from said electromagnetic induction line calculated from detection data acquired by said plurality of induction line detection sensors [In addition, although no particular mention was made of the induction method in the same embodiment, it may be a so-called electromagnetic induction method using
induced current, or a white line tape or the like may be used as the guidance wire 1. A so-called optical guidance method in which reading is performed using an optical sensor may also be used. For example, this is M1 1 guidance method, and when using an inductive radio antenna as described above, by installing the antenna at the center point of the vehicle 2, it can be ensured that it
follows the guidance Pi11. can be done. Finally, an example of a guidance device that is mounted on the unmanned vehicle 2 and implements this guidance method will be described with reference to FIG. 2] (Page 3), generates and outputs a travelling control signal causing said vehicle to turn so as to cancel the deviation, or causing said vehicle to advance straight forward, at a forward side by a distance l[m] in the horizontal direction.
[The steering angles of the steered wheels 3a and 3b are controlled based on the comparison with the detection level of the guideline 1 obtained by 0b. Incidentally, FIG. 3 shows the general configuration of an unmanned vehicle 2 that travels forward along line 1, and FIG. 5 shows a general configuration of unmanned vehicle 2 that travels backwards along line 1. show. Further, in FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 5 is provided near the sensors 10a and 10b, respectively, and wirelessly receives the induced current flowing through the induction wire 1, and This is an inductive radio antenna used to perform necessary control based on the frequency, etc.] (Page. 1), and said distance l[m] is tv[m] or more and
[Formula 1] JR2--(R-D)2Im]
or less, where said control cycle is t[seconds], a velocity when said vehicle is travelling on said electromagnetic induction line is v[m/seconds], a deviation tolerance width in the horizontal direction from said electromagnetic induction line of said deviation detection reference point is D[m], and the smallest turning radius of said vehicle is R[m] [Means and effects for solving the problem] In the present invention, for an unmanned vehicle traveling on the curved guide line, the displacements of at least three arbitrary points from the guide line are simultaneously measured. By detecting this, the arrangement curve of the four-wire line is approximated as a circle, and the radius of curvature and center of curvature are determined, and the center point of the vehicle, such as the center point of the fixed wheel, is determined based on the radius of curvature and center of curvature. The displacement of an arbitrary fourth point from the guiding line and the deviation angle of the vehicle's traveling direction from the guiding line arrangement direction centering on the fourth point are calculated at any time, and the calculated displacement and deviation angle are calculated as needed.The unmanned vehicle in question is steered so that the value becomes "0" or a predetermined value.] (Page. 2).
However, Masakazu did not explicitly disclose wherein a deviation detection reference point of said plurality of induction line detection sensors is disposed at a position separated from a pivot serving as the turning center of said vehicle.
In the same field of endeavor Gorenflo disclosed, the autonomous mobile lawn mower robot 40 has a magnetic field sensor 44. The magnetic field sensor 44 is configured to detect the magnetic field and therefore the boundary edge 101. The lawn mower robot 40 is configured to control its movement on the lawn 100, in particular as a function of detection of the boundary edge 101, in such a way that said lawn mower robot 40 remains on the lawn 100, in particular within the boundary edge 101 (Paragraph. 0068).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing was made to have incorporated the autonomous mobile lawn mower robot 40 has a magnetic field sensor 44. The magnetic field sensor 44 is configured to detect the magnetic field and therefore the boundary edge 101. The lawn mower robot 40 is configured to control its movement on the lawn 100, in particular as a function of detection of the boundary edge 101, in such a way that said lawn mower robot 40 remains on the lawn 100, in particular within the boundary edge 101 as taught by Gorenflo in the method and system of Masakazu to improve the stability of the autonomous vehicle.
2. As per claims 2,8 Masakazu- GORENFLO disclosed wherein said plurality of induction line detection sensors are a center induction line detection sensor, left side induction line detection sensor, and right side induction line detection sensor, and said deviation detection reference point is disposed on the central line of said vehicle, the center induction line detection sensor is disposed at said deviation detection reference point, and said left side induction line detection sensor and said right side induction line detection sensor are respectively disposed on a straight line perpendicular to the central line of said vehicle passing through said center induction line detection sensor, at the left side and right side of said center induction line detection sensor (Masakazu, Page. 3).
3. As per claims 3,9 Masakazu- GORENFLO disclosed wherein said deviation tolerance width is a maximum detection distance from said center induction line detection sensor, which is the maximum distance in the horizontal direction of said center induction line detection sensor capable of detecting said magnetic field (Masakazu, Page. 3).
4. As per claims 4,10 Masakazu- GORENFLO disclosed wherein said vehicle comprises a front wheel and a rear wheel, said front wheel is a driving wheel and said rear wheel is a steering wheel, and the center of an axle of said front wheel is said pivot (GORENFLO, Paragraph. 0019-0020). Claims 4 and 10 have the same motivation as to claim 1.
5. As per claim 5 Masakazu- GORENFLO disclosed Vehicle, comprising a travelling drive mechanism to drive self-travel on the basis of said travelling control signal output from said steering control system according to Claim 1 (Masakazu, Page. 1).
6. As per claim 6 Masakazu- GORENFLO disclosed wherein said vehicle is a lawn mower (GORENFLO, Paragraph. 0019-0020). Claim 6 has the same motivation as to claim 1.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the
examiner should be directed to Adnan Mirza whose telephone number is (571)-272-3885.The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday during normal
business hours. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the
examiner’s supervisor, Faris Almatrahi can be reached on (313)-446-4821.
8. 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 un published 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).
/ADNAN M MIRZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3667
