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 Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “the cooling the driving motor comprising:”, which is grammatically incorrect. Examiner respectfully suggests amending the claim to recite “wherein cooling the driving motor comprises:” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4, 6, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 4 and 19 recite the limitation “setting the auxiliary cooling starting temperature of the engine to be equal to a second temperature less than the first temperature.” It is unclear whether this language requires (1) the auxiliary cooling starting temperature is equal to a second temperature, wherein the second temperature is less than the first temperature, or (2) the auxiliary cooling starting temperature is equal to the first temperature less (i.e., reduced by) the second temperature. The scope of the claimed temperature relationship cannot be determined with reasonable certainty.
Claim 6 recites the limitation “from the first determining”, which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear which determination(s) is/are being referenced by “the first determining”. Although claim 6 previously recites “in response to first determining”, it is unclear whether “the first determining” refers to claim 6’s determination that the vehicle meets the locked rotor motor exit condition, the determination that the current temperature is less than the auxiliary cooling shutdown temperature, both determinations collectively, or claim 1’s “determining that a driving mode of the vehicle is in an electric mode and that the vehicle meets a locked rotor motor trigger condition”. Consequently, the starting point of the recited “second present duration” cannot be determined with reasonable certainty.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shibata (JP-2012096584-A).
Regarding Claim 14, Shibata teaches:
A device for cooling a driving motor of a vehicle with a locked rotor (Specification ¶ [0036], line 5, "while the motor MG2 is stopped, the mechanical oil pump 23 continuously supplies cooling oil to the motor MG2"),
the vehicle comprising a driving motor, an engine, an engine end oil pump (Fig. 1, items MG2, 22, and 23),
and a cooling flow path, the engine being configured to drive the engine end oil pump to run, and the cooling flow path connecting the engine end oil pump to the driving motor (Specification ¶ [0036], line 5, "if the engine 22 continues to operate while the motor MG2 is stopped, the mechanical oil pump 23 continuously supplies cooling oil to the motor MG2"), the device comprising:
a controller (Specification ¶ [0033], line 2, "stop prohibition flag setting routine executed by the hybrid electronic control unit 70"),
configured to execute a method for cooling the driving motor of the vehicle (Specification ¶ [0034], line 11, "When the stop stop prohibition flag F is set with value 1 in this way, as mentioned above, the engine 22 continues to operate regardless of the required power Pe*, so the mechanical oil pump 23 is driven to supply cooling oil to the cooling targets such as the power distribution integration mechanism 30 and motors MG1 and MG2").
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.
Claims 1, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shibata (JP-2012096584-A) in view of Liu (CN-102700417-A).
Regarding Claim 1, Shibata teaches:
A method for cooling a driving motor with a locked rotor of a vehicle (Specification ¶ [0036], line 5, "while the motor MG2 is stopped, the mechanical oil pump 23 continuously supplies cooling oil to the motor MG2"),
the vehicle comprising the driving motor, an engine, an engine end oil pump (Fig. 1, items MG2, 22, and 23),
and a cooling flow path, the engine being configured to drive the engine end oil pump, and the cooling flow path connecting the engine end oil pump to the driving motor (Specification ¶ [0036], line 5, "if the engine 22 continues to operate while the motor MG2 is stopped, the mechanical oil pump 23 continuously supplies cooling oil to the motor MG2"), the method comprising:
in response to determining that a driving mode of the vehicle is an electric mode (Specification ¶ [0020] line 13, "a motor operation mode that stops the operation of the engine 22 and controls operation to output power corresponding to the required power from the motor MG2")
and detecting that a current temperature of the driving motor (Specification ¶ [0019] line 3, "a motor temperature Tmo from a temperature sensor 48 that detects the temperature of motor MG2")
is greater than an auxiliary cooling starting temperature of the engine (Specification ¶ [0034] line 9, "if the motor temperature Tmo is above the predetermined Tmoref, the stop stop prohibition flag F is set to value 1"),
controlling the engine to start (Specification ¶ [0009] line 1, "the control means may also be the means to start the internal combustion engine when the motor temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature while the internal combustion engine is stopped.")
to cause the engine end oil pump to drive a coolant in the cooling flow path to cool the driving motor (Specification ¶ [0034] line 11, "When the stop stop prohibition flag F is set with value 1 … the engine 22 continues to operate … so the mechanical oil pump 23 is driven to supply cooling oil to the cooling targets such as the power distribution integration mechanism 30 and motors MG1 and MG2.").
Shibata does not explicitly describe determining that the vehicle meets a locked rotor motor trigger condition. Liu teaches determining whether a driving motor enters a locked state based on monitored motor rotational speed and motor control torque, and generating a locked-state flag signal when the locked state is determined (Liu, Specification ¶ [0018] line 7, “the vehicle control unit in the system program set real-time monitoring drive motor speed signal and vehicle control unit controls the torque signal of the driving motor, when the system judges whether the driving motor enters a locked state, the system will generate a locked state flag signal”). Liu further teaches initiating protective control, including operation of the vehicle cooling system, upon determination of the locked state (Liu, Specification ¶ [0020] line 2, “it also comprises judging whether the driving motor enters the blocked state, vehicle control unit opening the whole radiating system so as to dissipate the heat”). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide Shibata with determining whether the vehicle meets a locked rotor motor trigger condition, as suggested by Liu; the motivation being: positively identifying a locked-rotor operating condition of a driving motor for which thermal protection is warranted.
Regarding Claim 15, the combination further teaches:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising (Shibata, Specification ¶ [0019] line 1, “The hybrid electronic control unit 70 is configured as a microprocessor centered on CPU72, and in addition to CPU72, it includes ROM74 for storing processing programs, RAM 76 for temporarily storing data”).
Regarding Claim 16, the combination further teaches:
A temperature detector configured to detect a current temperature of the driving motor (Shibata, Specification ¶ [0019] line 3, "a motor temperature Tmo from a temperature sensor 48 that detects the temperature of motor MG2").
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shibata (JP-2012096584-A) and Liu (CN-102700417-A), as applied above, in further view of Carpenter (US-20140338376-A1).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination teaches the method of claim 1 as set forth above.
Shibata further teaches:
controlling the engine to start comprises: controlling the engine to output a preset rotational speed (Shibata, Specification ¶ [0026] line 1, "When the engine 22 is started, the target rotation speed Ne* and target torque Te* as the operating points to operate the engine 22 are set”).
The combination does not explicitly disclose controlling a cooling fan of the vehicle to run to cool the driving motor. Carpenter teaches controlling a cooling fan of the vehicle to run to cool the driving motor (Carpenter, Specification ¶ [0127] line 1, “the motor circuit is cooled … such as by operating the pump 70 and radiator fan 144 to cool heat exchange fluid and pump the fluid through a motor circuit 56”). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the combination with a controller-operated cooling fan, as suggested by Carpenter; the motivation being: increasing airflow through the radiator, thereby facilitating removal of heat from the coolant used to cool the driving motor.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 5, 7-9, 11-13, 17, 18, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claims 2-5 and 7, the prior art of record does not teach determining, according to a temperature change rate of the driving motor and a current temperature of the driving motor, a first duration for the temperature of the driving motor to reach a first temperature, and, in response to determining that the first duration is less than or equal to a first preset duration, reducing an auxiliary cooling starting temperature of the engine, as recited in claim 2. Claims 3-5 and 7 inherit this allowable subject matter by virtue of their dependency on claim 2.
Regarding Claims 6 and 12, the prior art of record does not teach the particular delayed engine shutdown control following satisfaction of the locked-rotor exit and temperature conditions, as recited in claim 6. Claim 12 inherits this allowable subject matter by virtue of its dependency on claim 6.
Regarding Claims 8 and 9, the prior art of record does not teach controlling an engine rotational speed based on a current temperature of the driving motor, wherein the engine rotational speed is correlated with the current temperature, and, when the locked-rotor trigger condition is met and a coolant flow is greater than a first cooling flow rate, increasing a rotational speed of a cooling fan, as recited in claim 8. Claim 9 inherits this allowable subject matter by virtue of its dependency on claim 8.
Regarding Claim 11, the prior art of record does not teach the particular delayed shutdown control of the engine and cooling fan following satisfaction of the recited locked-rotor exit and temperature conditions.
Regarding Claim 13, the prior art of record does not teach after controlling the engine to start, determining that the coolant flow is greater than a third cooling flow rate and, in response, controlling the spill valve to close.
Regarding Claims 17-20, the prior art of record does not teach determining, according to a temperature change rate of the driving motor and a current temperature of the driving motor, a first duration for the temperature of the driving motor to reach a first temperature, and, in response to determining that the first duration is less than or equal to a first preset duration, reducing an auxiliary cooling starting temperature of the engine, as recited in claim 17. Claims 18-20 inherit this allowable subject matter by virtue of their dependency on claim 17.
Claims 4, 6, and 19 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
Shin (US-8774996-B2) teaches cooling control of a vehicle driving motor based on a temperature of the motor and a temperature change rate of the motor.
Miyamoto (US-20130173104-A1) teaches thermal management of a vehicle driving motor using cooling oil supplied by an oil pump, and control of cooling operation based on motor temperature.
Hata (US-20160101773-A1) teaches predictive thermal control using temperature-change information and time to estimate a future temperature.
Wang (CN-114379366-A) teaches determination of a locked-rotor condition of a vehicle driving motor based on operating parameters including vehicle speed-related information.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM R BRENNER whose telephone number is (571)270-0299. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EDT.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Allen Shriver can be reached at (303) 297-4337. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/WILLIAM RICHARD BRENNER/Examiner, Art Unit 3613
/JAMES A SHRIVER II/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3613
Prosecution Insights