DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. The specification, the abstract and the drawings are all acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-6, 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by USPN 8,169,169 to Hass.
As to claim 1, Hass teaches an actuator device (col. 1: lines 50 – col. 2: lines 44) comprising: a motor (fig. 20: “30”) whose rotation is controlled by a drive circuit(fig. 20: “300”); a gearbox that decelerates or accelerates torque of the motor(col. 4: lines 42-49, col. 16: lines 61-col. 17: lines 2); an angle sensor that detects a rotation angle of an output shaft of the gearbox(col. 16: lines 38-42 where the hall effect sensor “90” is the angle sensor that detects the motor rotor rotation angle); and a feedback circuit that generates feedback for control of the motor on a basis of internal information of the motor used in the drive circuit and the rotation angle of the output shaft detected by the angle sensor(fig. 3: “90” is the hall effect sensor which also serves as a feedback circuit to control the motor to reach predetermined rotation angles ).
As to claim 2, Hass teaches the actuator device according to claim 1, wherein the motor is a brushless motor(col. 8: lines 21 “brushless DC motor 30”).
As to claim 3, Hass teaches the actuator device according to claim 2, wherein the internal information is information regarding a magnetic field generated in the motor(fig. 20: “90 – hall effect sensor” is used to detect the motor magnetic field to obtain the motor rotor positions).
As to claim 4, Hass teaches the actuator device according to claim 3, wherein the internal information is information detected by a Hall sensor included in the motor(col. 12: lines 33-36).
As to claim 5, Hass teaches the actuator device according to claim 4, wherein the internal information is information regarding an electrical angle of the motor(col. 12: lines 33-36 wherein the hall sensor monitors the rotor rotation angle/position which is equivalent to the electrical angle of the motor).
As to claim 6, Hass teaches the actuator device according to claim 1, wherein the gearbox includes a mechanical element having a backlash(col. 4: lines 49 wherein the gearbox inherently has a backlash because the backlash is an inherent part of the gearbox).
As to claim 12, it is rejected as the same reason as claim 1.
As to claim 13, it is rejected as the same reason as claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 7-11 are objected to as being dependent upon the rejected base claim 1, but could be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claims and any intervening claims for the following reasons: No prior art of record discloses the features as claimed in the noted claims.
6. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. The non-obvious features are:
In comparison with the closest prior art as cited in this Office action and any previous Office actions, no prior art of record discloses the following features as claimed in the following claim limitations:
As per claim 7: The feedback circuit generates the feedback by deriving a difference between the rotation angle of the output shaft estimated from the internal information and the detected rotation angle of the output shaft, and adding the derived difference to the estimated rotation angle of the output shaft.
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
USPN 10,392,849 to Xiao discloses a door motor control system.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID S LUO whose telephone number is (571)270-5251. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eduardo Colon-Santana can be reached at 571-272-2060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID LUO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846