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 . This Office Action is responsive to the Applicant's communication filed on April 22, 2026. In view of this communication, claims 1-20 are now pending in the application, and claims 3-10 and 18 have been withdrawn from consideration.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species IV in the reply filed on April 22, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Species III and Species IV are not mutually exclusive because the sensors (the inverter) of Species IV could be used with the sensorless generator of species III, thus making them not mutually exclusive. This is not found persuasive because the Examiner asserts that if the sensors (the inverter) of Species IV were to be added to the generator of Species III than the generator of Species III would no longer be sensorless under the broadest reasonable interpretation of claim 18, thus components are mutually exclusive.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, “a GPS device, a device that provides a state of charge (SOC) for one or more batteries, a speedometer, an accelerometer, an inclinometer, and/or one or more devices that can detect a status of brakes” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 11-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SGHERRI (US 20120025594 A1) in view of AREVALO (US 20220234396 A1).
In regards to claim 1, SGHERRI teaches:
A system comprising:
a housing (Fig 3; 5) adapted to be coupled to a wheel hub(Fig 3; 2)[0027]; and
an electric generator (Fig 3; 4)within the housing (Fig 3; 5 [0027], the hub [abstract](Fig 3; 2)and housing (Fig 3; 5)around a stationary spindle(Fig 3; 7), the electric generator (Fig 3; 4)comprising:
one or more rotors (Fig 3; 18)coupled to the housing(Fig 3; 5) [0095], and
one or more stator windings (Fig 3; 9)coupled to the spindle(Fig 3; 7) [0095].
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SGHERRI does not teach:
the electric generator configured to produce electricity based on a rotation of the hub.
AREVALO teaches:
an electric generator(Fig 4; 750) within the housing(Fig 4; 784)[0065], the electric generator (Fig 4; 750)configured to produce electricity based on a rotation of the hub [abstract].
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify SGHERRI by using the electric generator rather than the electric motor taught by AREVALO, in order to eliminate the need for other energy saving strategies and to maximize battery life [0002 AREVALO].
Additionally, SGHERRI discloses the claimed invention except for a electric generator. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to replace an electric motor with an electric generator since the examiner takes Official Notice on the equivalence of the structure for an electric motor and an electric generator for their structure in the art would be within the level of ordinary skill and understanding. For the most part the functionality of the two devices is generally the only difference while the structure remains substantially the same.
In regards to claim 2, SGHERRI, in view of AREVALO, teaches the system of claim 1:
wherein the housing (Fig 3; 5) is coupled to the hub (Fig 3; 2)via one or more fasteners (Fig 3; H1) extending through one or more holes in the housing (Fig 3; H1)and one or more corresponding holes in the hub(Fig 3; 2)(holes and bolts annotated in Fig 3).
In regards to claim 11, SGHERRI, in view of AREVALO, teaches the system of claim 1:
wherein the electric generator (Fig 3; 4)comprises an axial flux motor[abstract].
In regards to claim 12, SGHERRI, in view of AREVALO, teaches the system of claim 11:
wherein an interior of the housing (Fig 3; 5)is pressurized and is coupled to a tube for an automatic tire inflator system(Fig 3; 50)(fluid connector 50 comprises conduits that extend through the shaft and inflate flat tire 3. The housing 5 must be pressurized or else air from tire 3 would leak[0063-0072]).
In regards to claim 13, SGHERRI, in view of AREVALO, teaches the system of claim 11:
wherein the one or more rotors (Fig 3; 18) and the one or more stator windings (Fig 3; 9) are orientated such that a majority of their lengths are perpendicular with a longitudinal axis that runs a length of the spindle(Fig 3; 7)(shown in Figure 3).
In regards to claim 14, SGHERRI, in view of AREVALO, teaches the system of claim 13:
wherein the one or more stator windings (Fig 3; 9)are connected to a central stator(Fig 3; 19) [0039]that is substantially cylindrical in shape{shown in Figure 3, annular is substantially cylindrical).
In regards to claim 15, SGHERRI, in view of AREVALO, teaches the system of claim 14:
wherein the central stator (Fig 3; 19) is connected to the spindle (Fig 3; 7) via a tab (Fig 3; 20/21) that inserts into a keyway on the spindle(Fig 3; 7)[0040].
In regards to claim 16, SGHERRI, in view of AREVALO, teaches the system of claim 14:
further comprising a hollow shaft (Fig 3; 7)extending through a middle opening of the central stator(Fig 3; 19)(shown in Fig 3).
In regards to claim 17, SGHERRI, in view of AREVALO, teaches the system of claim 16:
wherein the hollow shaft (Fig 3; 7)extends through an opening in the housing (Fig 3; 5)and is coupled to a tube for an automatic tire inflator system(Fig 3; 50).
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SGHERRI (US 20120025594 A1), in view of AREVALO (US 20220234396 A1), in further view of TOMS (US 20240014708 A1).
In regards to claim 19, SGHERRI, in view of AREVALO, teaches the system of claim 1.
Combination SGHERRI/AREVALO does not teach:
an inverter coupled to the electric generator via one or more wires, and configured is to deliver power from the electric generator to one or more electrical components; and
a controller coupled to the inverter, the controller configured to determine a mode of operation of the inverter, wherein the mode of operation of the inverter comprises one of: off, through the road (TTR) charging, and regeneration.
TOMS teaches:
an inverter (Fig 8; 804) coupled to the electric generator (Fig 8; 802) via one or more wires[0086], and configured is to deliver power from the electric generator to one or more electrical components[0050]; and
a controller(Fig 8; 806) coupled to the inverter(Fig 8; 804)[0087], the controller (Fig 8; 806) configured to determine a mode of operation of the inverter(Fig 8; 804), wherein the mode of operation of the inverter comprises one of: off, through the road (TTR) charging, and regeneration(the inverter determines the amount of power delivered to the storage device which can be called off or recharging mode [0049]).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify combination SGHERRI/AREVALO by using the controller system taught by TOMS, in order to improve control of the electrical generator. [0028 TOMS].
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SGHERRI (US 20120025594 A1), in view of AREVALO (US 20220234396 A1), in further view of TOMS (US 20240014708 A1), in further view of LOPEZ (US 20210221310 A1).
In regards to claim 20, SGHERRI, in view of AREVALO, in further view of TOMS teaches the system of claim 19.
Combination SGHERRI/AREVALO does not teach any of claim 20.
TOMS teaches:
wherein the determine the mode of operation of the inverter (Fig 8; 804)is based on input from one or more sensors coupled to the controller[0028].
TOMS does not teach:
wherein the one or more sensors comprise a GPS device, a device that provides a state of charge (SOC) for one or more batteries, a speedometer, an accelerometer, an inclinometer, and/or one or more devices that can detect a status of brakes.
LOPEZ teaches:
wherein the one or more sensors comprise a GPS device[0025], a device that provides a state of charge (SOC) for one or more batteries[0011], a speedometer, an accelerometer, an inclinometer, and/or one or more devices that can detect a status of brakes( it would be intuitive to one in the art to use other types of sensors in order to better obtain data on vehicle operations[0021]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify combination SGHERRI/AREVALO/TOMS by using the specific sensors taught by TOMS, in order to optimally obtain energy. [0021 TOMS].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS L SETZER whose telephone number is (571)272-3021. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Oluseye Iwarere can be reached at (571) 270-5112. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/N.L.S./ Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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