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 § 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.
Claims 1-2 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Behrens (U.S. 20160325742) in view of Nakabayashi et al. (U.S. 20230399071).
In re claim 1, Behrens teaches a variable spoiler wing (front wings 51; [0025]) of a motorcycle (The vehicle of claim 1 may take the form of a car, truck, boat, motorcycle, and other modes of transportation used in racing; [claim 2]), wherein
a plurality of spoiler wings (an example is the automatic change in angle of the front wings of the car to generate higher down-forces, thus pushing the front of the vehicle back to the ground; [0010]),
the plurality of spoiler wings being operable (A device 13 may include altering the angle of wings or body panels on the vehicle to adjust the down force 25 and/or lift force 26 and/or drag on the vehicle 20, as shown in FIG. 5. For example, increasing the angle of the front wing 51 would increase the down force 25, which would push the front of the vehicle 20 down; [0042]) as being controllable by an operation controller (The control module 10 triggers devices 13 to affect the forces on the vehicle 20 for the intended purpose to force it back to the ground, keep it on the ground, and or slow it down to minimize collision impact and minimize potential for the vehicle 20 to go airborne; [0039]),
the operation controller (device 13)
being in information connection (as explained above) with one of
the electronic control unit (The control module 10 analyzes data from the sensors 12 and uses some of the data to calculate characteristics of the vehicle 20 such as loft angle 24 and roll angle 32. The data from the sensors 12 and or the calculated characteristics are compared against criteria inside the control module 10; [0024]; control module 10 could be an electronic device, electrical relay system, a combination mechanical and electrical system, general-purpose or special-purpose processor, ASIC, controller or other controller; [0048]),
the inertial measurement unit (A sensor 12 that detects rotation and/or angle such as a gyroscope or accelerometer may be employed to detect sudden changes in speed and or direction, roll angle 32, loft angle 24 and other vehicle 20 characteristics; [0036]),
the throttle position sensor, and
the wheel speed detector (A sensor 12 that monitors vehicle speed may be employed to disable the system at lower speeds that pose a lower risk of incident; [0032]) and
receiving one or multiple messages from
the inertial measurement unit (as suggested above),
the throttle position sensor,
the wheel speed detector (as suggested above), or
the electronic control unit (as suggested above)
to have the spoiler wings varying a pitch angle to match with a traveling condition of the motorcycle (altering the angle of wings or body panels on the vehicle to adjust the down force 25 and/or lift force 26 and/or drag on the vehicle 20, as shown in FIG. 5; [0042]).
Behrens is silent wherein
the motorcycle at least comprises
a vehicle frame unit,
the vehicle frame unit at least comprising
a steering mechanism,
the steering mechanism being provided with a dashboard device for displaying traveling data;
a power unit,
which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit;
an electronic control unit,
which is operable to control operation of the power unit;
an inertial measurement unit,
which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit and
is electrically connected with the electronic control unit;
a throttle position sensor,
which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit and
is electrically connected with the electronic control unit;
a wheel speed detector,
which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit and
is electrically connected with the electronic control unit.
Nakabayashi teaches an analogous motorcycle (fig. 1) and further teaches wherein
the motorcycle (as shown in fig. 1) at least comprises
a vehicle frame unit (vehicle body frames 5; [0052]),
the vehicle frame unit at least comprising
a steering mechanism (fig. 1-2; handle 2; [0051]),
the steering mechanism being provided with a dashboard device for displaying traveling data (fig. 2; display screen 62 such as a liquid crystal display which displays images of a vehicle speed and an engine rotation speed and an indicator lamp group 63 which is arranged around the display screen 62 and notifies various information; [0069]);
a power unit (power unit 20 integrally includes an engine (internal combustion engine) 13; [0057]),
which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit (as shown in fig. 1);
an electronic control unit,
which is operable to control operation of the power unit (The control device 71 includes an engine control unit 85; [0079]);
an inertial measurement unit (vehicle body acceleration sensor 93 is a 5-axis or 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU); [0083]),
which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit (as indicated in fig. 1-2 and fig. 4) and
is electrically connected with the electronic control unit (as indicated in fig. 4);
a throttle position sensor ( engine control unit 85 controls the output of the engine 13 based on the throttle opening; [0094]; note: throttle position sensor is strongly implied),
which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit (as suggested in fig. 1-2 and fig. 4, and is routine in the art) and
is electrically connected with the electronic control unit (as suggested in fig. 1-2 and fig. 4, and is routine in the art);
a wheel speed detector (a vehicle speed sensor 94; [0080]),
which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit (as suggested in fig. 1-2 and fig. 4, and is routine in the art) and
is electrically connected with the electronic control unit (as suggested in fig. 1-2 and fig. 4, and is routine in the art).
Thus it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Behrens, to incorporate wherein the motorcycle at least comprises a vehicle frame unit, the vehicle frame unit at least comprising a steering mechanism, the steering mechanism being provided with a dashboard device for displaying traveling data; a power unit, which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit; an electronic control unit, which is operable to control operation of the power unit; an inertial measurement unit, which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit and is electrically connected with the electronic control unit; a throttle position sensor, which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit and is electrically connected with the electronic control unit; a wheel speed detector, which is arranged on the vehicle frame unit and is electrically connected with the electronic control unit, as clearly suggested and taught by Nakabayashi, since Behrens teaches a motorcycle, and Nakabayashi explicitly teaches some of the components that are typically and routinely found on motorcycles, as is commonly known in the art.
In re claim 2, Behrens and Nakabayashi teach the variable spoiler wing of the motorcycle according to claim 1, and Behrens further teaches wherein
the motorcycle comprises
a spoiler wing control system (as explained above); and
the operation controller is
controllable for operation by the spoiler wing control system (as explained above).
In re claim 9, Behrens and Nakabayashi teach the variable spoiler wing of the motorcycle according to claim 1, and Behrens further teaches wherein
the spoiler wings comprise
a wing body (as explained above and shown in fig. 5),
a connection rod connected to the wing body,
the connection rod being connected to the operation controller (necessarily present to alter the angle of the wings, as indicated in [0042]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 and 10 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.
Reasons for Indication of Allowable Subject Matter
The prior art of record fails to show or reasonably teach in combination a variable spoiler wing of a motorcycle having the recited elements, as required by claim 3, including
a control flow of the spoiler wing control system comprises
a step of system starting up,
a step of mode selection,
an anti-wheelie function mode,
a step of spoiler wing intervening threshold setting,
a step of operator’s intention detection,
a step of throttle position detection,
a step of vehicle posture detection,
a step of wheel speed detection,
a step of if vehicle front wheelie amount exceeding set threshold,
a step of operation controller driving step motor,
a step of if spoiler wing reaching down pressing force set position,
a step of if vehicle front wheelie rate lowering, and
a step of if spoiler wing reaching low wind resistance set position.
or a variable spoiler wing of a motorcycle having the recited elements, as required by claim 10, including
the front end portion being mounted with
a direction indicator light indicating a traveling direction or
a position light indicating a position.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN D BAILEY whose telephone number is (571)272-5692. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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/JOHN D BAILEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/KURT PHILIP LIETHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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