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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-5, 7-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Romig US PG Pub No. 2007/0260370).
Regarding claim 1, Romig teaches A driving and steering control system to be employed in an autonomous ground vehicle that is capable of running without a driver in/on the vehicle, the autonomous ground vehicle including:
a plurality of wheels including a targeted wheel, (101 figure 1)
a propulsion motor that rotates the targeted wheel around an axle of the targeted wheel, (108 figure 2 paragraph 19)
a steering motor that steers the targeted wheel to left and right of the autonomous ground vehicle, (107 figure 2 paragraph 19)
a steering shaft that: (124 steering tube figure 3 paragraph 21)
is connected to the steering motor, (107 figure 2 paragraph 21)
is configured to steer the targeted wheel by operation of the steering motor, and
is positioned in such a manner to have a scrub radius relative to the targeted wheel, and (figure 6 paragraph 33+34 scrub radius 606 figure 3 paragraph 42)
an upper-level control section that is configured to output:
propulsion motor actuation instruction information for actuating the propulsion motor, and (figure 7)
steering motor actuation instruction information for actuating the steering motor, (figure 7)
the driving and steering control system comprising:
an acquisition device (paragraph 37 steering logic may reside in controller) that is configured to acquire the propulsion motor actuation instruction information and the steering motor actuation instruction information from the upper-level control section; and (paragraph 38)
a motor information processing device that is configured to concurrently actuate the propulsion motor and the steering motor in such a manner to:
concurrently change an operation parameter of the steering motor and an operation parameter of the propulsion motor based on the steering motor actuation instruction information acquired by the acquisition device, and (602 figure 7 desired angle velocity -> 604)
concurrently change the operation parameter of the propulsion motor and the operation parameter of the steering motor based on the propulsion motor actuation instruction information acquired by the acquisition device (603 figure 7 desired linear velocity -> 604).
Regarding claim 2, Romig teaches wherein the motor information processing device is further configured to, while actuating both the steering motor and the propulsion motor, in response to receipt by the acquisition device a new piece of information that provides a change in only one, but not both, of the steering motor actuation instruction information and the propulsion motor actuation instruction information, concurrently change the operation parameters of both the steering motor and the propulsion motor (paragraph 41 605 figure 7 each wheel).
Regarding claim 3, Romig teaches wherein the motor information processing device is further configured to, when the acquisition device receives the steering motor actuation instruction information and the propulsion motor actuation instruction information, concurrently actuate the propulsion motor and the steering motor, such that the propulsion motor is inhibited from interfering with the steering motor in steering of the targeted wheel, and such that a change in the steering angle caused by the propulsion motor is inhibited by the steering motor (paragraph 39 vector desired velocity).
Regarding claim 4, Romig teaches wherein the targeted wheel, the propulsion motor, the steering motor, and the steering shaft constitute a built-in driving and steering unit that is attachable to the autonomous ground vehicle (figure 2).
Regarding claim 5, Romig teaches wherein the steering motor actuation instruction information and the propulsion motor actuation instruction information are configured without information on the scrub radius and free of any information on the scrub radius (figure 2 motors have no instruction when built in factory).
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) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Romig US PG Pub No. 2007/0260370) in view of Hanchett (US PG Pub. No. 2022/0355855)
Regarding claim 6, Romig does not explicitly teach however Hanchett teaches wherein both the propulsion motor and the steering motor are in-wheel motors mounted to the targeted wheel (figure 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Romig based on the teachings of Hanchett to teach wherein both the propulsion motor and the steering motor are in-wheel motors mounted to the targeted wheel. The motivation would be to improve packaging.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GEORGE C. JIN whose telephone number is (571)272-9898. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-6PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lindsay Low can be reached at (571) 272-1196. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GEORGE C JIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747