DETAIL ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice on Prior Art Rejections
2. 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 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.
Status of Claims
3. This Office Action is in response to the Applicant's application filed August 20, 2024. Claims 1-20 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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 of this title, 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.
5. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Tabata et al, US 2021/0125420, in view of Kyes et al. US 2019/0244445, hereinafter referred to as Tabata and Kyes, respectively.
Regarding claim 1, Tabata discloses an apparatus for controlling driving systems including an internal combustion driving system and an electric driving system in a hybrid vehicle (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 49, “The vehicle 10 is a hybrid vehicle provided with the drive force sources in the form of the engine 14 and the second rotating machine MG2”), the apparatus comprising:
a driving system controller configured to determine residual values of the internal combustion driving system and the electric driving system based on driving system state information (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 21, 38, 40, 41, 39, “it is possible to estimate the remaining life or lives of a selected one or ones of the components, which are expected to be shorter than those of the other components through experimentation or simulation. Further, it is possible to employ any of various arrangements such as an arrangement in which the remaining life of a predetermined one of the component elements is obtained and the obtained remaining life of the predetermined component element is determined as the remaining life of the vehicle component as a whole”), compare the residual value of the internal combustion driving system and the residual value of the electric driving system, and increase torque of a driving system including a high residual value and decrease torque of a driving system including a low residual value among the internal combustion driving system and the electric driving system in terms of satisfying total required torque (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, “the remaining-life calculating portion is configured to obtain the load distribution that represents the relationship between the magnitude and the frequency ( such as a total number of instances, a total length of time and a total number of rotations) of the load (such as a torque and a rotational speed) applied to the vehicle component, for example, based on the remaining-life-related data, and to compare the obtained load distribution with the strength information ( such as fatigue limit or endurance limit) that is predefined as the load distribution representing a given limit of endurance of the vehicle component”).
Tabata fails to explicitly disclose driving system state information.
However, Kyes teaches driving system state information (See at least fig 1-36, ¶ 9, 16, 48, 49, 50, 107, 111, 144, 94, “monitoring operational components of vehicle, including electrical components and other components of a vehicle, to generate information on a state of an operational component over time and to generate a prediction of whether and/or when an operational component is likely to fail.”).
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 the system of Tabata and include driving system state information as taught by Kyes because it would allow the system monitoring and predicting vehicle component replacement before actual component failure thereby maximizing maintainability and operational status for each vehicle in a fleet of vehicles (Kyes ¶ 6).
Regarding claim 2, Tabata discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the internal combustion driving system includes an engine, and the electric driving system includes a motor and a battery (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 60, 68, 46, 47, 49, 51, 58, 48, “The first and second rotating machines MGl, MG2 are connected to an electric storage device in the form of a battery 54 provided in the vehicle 10, through an inverter 52 provided in the vehicle 10”).
Regarding claim 3, Tabata discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driving system controller is further configured to determine the residual value of the internal combustion driving system based on a deterioration degree of an engine in the internal combustion driving system, and determine the residual value of the electric driving system based on a deterioration degree of a motor in the electric driving system and a deterioration degree of a battery in the electric driving system (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 60, 68, 46, 47, 49, 51, 58, 48, 38, “the apparatus
according to the present invention can be applied to also a case in which a remaining life of any one of various kinds of vehicle components such as other drive-force transmitting devices, an engine, a damper device, a clutch for connecting/ disconnecting transmission of a drive force from a drive force source, a differential device, gears provided in various portions, various kinds of bearings, a suspension device and a cushion device”).
Regarding claim 4, Tabata discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driving system controller is further configured to perform driving system balance control in response that a driving system balance control function is activated, a vehicle driving mode is a hybrid mode, and the residual value of the internal combustion driving system is different from the residual value of the electric driving system (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 60, 68, 46, 47, 49, 51, 58, 48, 38, 86, “The hybrid control portion 98 outputs the engine control command signal Se for controlling the engine 14 and the rotating-machine control command signals Smg for controlling the first and second rotating machines MGl, MG2, such that the required drive power Prdem is obtained. The engine control command signal Se is, for example, a command value of an engine power Pe that is the power of the engine 14 outputting the engine torque Te at the current engine rotation speed Ne”).
Regarding claim 5, Tabata discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driving system controller is further configured to determine the residual value of the hybrid vehicle based on the residual value of the internal combustion driving system and the residual value of the electric driving system (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, 91, “the remaining- life-related data include: the torques (including negative torques) of the engine 14 and the second rotating machine MG2 as the driving force sources; the regenerative torque of
the second rotating machine MG2 of the electrically-controlled continuously-variable transmission portion 18; the gear ratios yat of the AT gear positions of the step-variable transmission portion 20; the temperature THoil of lubricant fluid in the step-variable transmission portion 20; the output rotational speed No corresponding to the vehicle running
speed V; an acceleration dV/dt of the vehicle 10; and maintenance information such as presence or absence of change of the lubricant fluid”).
Regarding claim 6, Tabata discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driving system controller is further configured to determine a torque increment of a torque increasing driving system, determine control torque of the torque increasing driving system by adding the torque increment to current torque of the torque increasing driving system, and determine control torque of a torque decreasing driving system by subtracting the control torque of the torque increasing driving system from the total required torque (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, 91, 97, “the remaining- life-related data and represents a relationship between a magnitude (such as a torque and a rotational speed) and a frequency (such as a total number of use, a total number of time and a total number of rotations) of a load applied to each of the component elements. Specifically, a ratio [Le/ (Le-Lei)] of the cumulative running distance Le (that is a total running distance of the vehicle 10) to a data-obtained
running distance (Le-Lei) (that is obtained by subtracting the data-unobtained running distance Lei from the cumulative running distance Le) is obtained, and then complemented
data are obtained by multiplying actual data”).
Regarding claim 7, Tabata discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driving system controller is further configured to determine a torque increment of an engine in the internal combustion driving in response that the residual value of the internal combustion driving system is greater than the residual value of the electric driving system, determine engine control torque by adding the torque increment to current torque of the engine, and determine motor control torque by subtracting the engine control torque from the total required torque (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, 91, 97, 105, “the number of times of
input of the large torque and a wave-like road running time, such that the actual data, the complemented data and/or the cumulative fatigue-damage degree De is increased, and/or
such that the remaining life (the remaining running distance Lrem and/or remaining running time Trem) is reduced. Further, when the lubricant fluid is changed, a lubricating performance is restored thereby advantageously influencing the durabilities of the component elements such as the engagement devices CB and the bearings”).
Regarding claim 8, Tabata discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driving system controller is further configured to determine a torque increment of a motor in the electric driving system in response that the residual value of the electric driving system is greater than the residual value of the internal combustion driving system, determine motor control torque by adding the torque increment to current torque of the motor, and determine engine control torque by subtracting the motor control torque from the total required torque (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, “the remaining-life calculating portion is configured to obtain the load distribution that represents the relationship between the magnitude and the frequency ( such as a total number of instances, a total length of time and a total number of rotations) of the load (such as a torque and a rotational speed) applied to the vehicle component, for example, based on the remaining-life-related data, and to compare the obtained load distribution with the strength information ( such as fatigue limit or endurance limit) that is predefined as the load distribution representing a given limit of endurance of the vehicle component”).
Regarding claim 9, Tabata discloses the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the driving system controller is further configured to determine the torque increment based on an increment lookup table where torque increments are tabulated corresponding to the residual values of the internal combustion system and the electric driving system (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, 55, “The table of FIG. 2 indicates a relationship between each of the AT gear positions of the step-variable transmission portion 20 and operation states of
the respective engagement devices CB of the step-variable transmission portion 20, namely, a relationship between each of the AT gear positions and a combination of ones of the engagement devices CB, which are to be placed in theirs engaged states to establish the each of the AT gear positions”).
Regarding claim 10, Tabata discloses the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the driving system controller is further configured to determine the torque increment based on an increment lookup table for each control level, in which torque increments are tabulated corresponding to the residual values and control levels of the internal combustion system and the electric driving system, to reflect a driving system balance control level (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 55, 42, “calculate the cumulative fatigue-damage degree, such that the remaining life is estimated based on the cumulative fatigue-damage degree, by the remaining-life calculating portion. The cumulative fatigue-damage degree is a value obtained by integrating fatigue damage degrees in all regions or levels of the load, and is calculated, for example, in accordance with Miner's law or modified Miner's law. For the estimation of the remaining life, the load distribution does not necessarily have to be used, and the estimation of
the remaining life may be made in any one of various manners”).
Regarding claim 11, Tabata discloses a method of controlling driving systems including an internal combustion driving system and an electric driving system in a hybrid vehicle, the method comprising:
determining, by a processor, residual values of the internal combustion driving system and the electric driving system based on driving system state information (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 21, 38, 40, 41, 39, “it is possible to estimate the remaining life or lives of a selected one or ones of the components, which are expected to be shorter than those of the other components through experimentation or simulation. Further, it is possible to employ any of various arrangements such as an arrangement in which the remaining life of a predetermined one of the component elements is obtained and the obtained remaining life of the predetermined component element is determined as the remaining life of the vehicle component as a whole”);
comparing, by the processor, the residual value of the internal combustion driving system and the residual value of the electric driving system (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, “the remaining-life calculating portion is configured to obtain the load distribution that represents the relationship between the magnitude and the frequency ( such as a total number of instances, a total length of time and a total number of rotations) of the load (such as a torque and a rotational speed) applied to the vehicle component, for example, based on the remaining-life-related data, and to compare the obtained load distribution with the strength information ( such as fatigue limit or endurance limit) that is predefined as the load distribution representing a given limit of endurance of the vehicle component”); and
performing, by the processor, driving system balance control by increasing torque of a driving system including a high residual value and decreasing torque of a driving system including a low residual value among the internal combustion driving system and the electric driving system, based on comparison results, in terms of satisfying total required torque (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 60, 68, 46, 47, 49, 51, 58, 48, 38, 86, “The hybrid control portion 98 outputs the engine control command signal Se for controlling the engine 14 and the rotating-machine control command signals Smg for controlling the first and second rotating machines MGl, MG2, such that the required drive power Prdem is obtained. The engine control command signal Se is, for example, a command value of an engine power Pe that is the power of the engine 14 outputting the engine torque Te at the current engine rotation speed Ne”).
Tabata fails to explicitly disclose driving system state information.
However, Kyes teaches driving system state information (See at least fig 1-36, ¶ 9, 16, 48, 49, 50, 107, 111, 144, 94, “monitoring operational components of vehicle, including electrical components and other components of a vehicle, to generate information on a state of an operational component over time and to generate a prediction of whether and/or when an operational component is likely to fail.”).
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 the method of Tabata and include driving system state information as taught by Kyes because it would allow the system monitoring and predicting vehicle component replacement before actual component failure thereby maximizing maintainability and operational status for each vehicle in a fleet of vehicles (Kyes ¶ 6).
Regarding claim 12, Tabata discloses the method of claim 11, wherein the determining includes determining the residual value of the internal combustion driving system based on a deterioration degree of an engine in the internal combustion driving system, and determining the residual value of the electric driving system based on a deterioration degree of a motor in the electric driving system and a deterioration degree of a battery in the electric driving system (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 60, 68, 42, 46, 47, 49, 51, 58, 48, 38, 99, “the remaining life is estimated based on
the calculated cumulative fatigue-damage degree De. The strength information is information representing a frequency (fatigue limit or endurance limit) at which the each of the component elements reaches the life end in each region or level of the load. Each of FIGS. 7-10 shows life S-N line represented by one-dot chain line, and the life S-N line is an example of the strength information. As is apparent from FIGS. 7-10, the component elements are different from one another in terms of, for example, an inclination of the life S-N line.”).
Regarding claim 13, Tabata discloses the method of claim 11, wherein the determining includes determining a residual value of the hybrid vehicle based on the residual value of the internal combustion driving system and the residual value of the electric driving system (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, 91, “the remaining- life-related data include: the torques (including negative torques) of the engine 14 and the second rotating machine MG2 as the driving force sources; the regenerative torque of the second rotating machine MG2 of the electrically-controlled continuously-variable transmission portion 18; the gear ratios yat of the AT gear positions of the step-variable transmission portion 20; the temperature THoil of lubricant fluid in the step-variable transmission portion 20; the output rotational speed No corresponding to the vehicle running speed V; an acceleration dV/dt of the vehicle 10; and maintenance information such as presence or absence of change of the lubricant fluid”).
Regarding claim 14, Tabata discloses the method of claim 11, wherein the comparing is performed in response that a driving system balance control function is activated, a vehicle driving mode is a hybrid mode, and the residual value of the internal combustion driving system is different from the residual value of the electric driving system (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 60, 68, 46, 47, 49, 51, 58, 48, 38, 86, “The hybrid control portion 98 outputs the engine control command signal Se for controlling the engine 14 and the rotating-machine control command signals Smg for controlling the first and second rotating machines MGl, MG2, such that the required drive power Prdem is obtained. The engine control command signal Se is, for example, a command value of an engine power Pe that is the power of the engine 14 outputting the engine torque Te at the current engine rotation speed Ne”).
Regarding claim 15, Tabata discloses the method of claim 11, wherein the performing the driving system balance control includes: determining a torque increment of a torque increasing driving system; determining control torque of the torque increasing driving system by adding the torque increment to current torque of the torque increasing driving system; and determining control torque of a torque decreasing driving system by subtracting the control torque of the torque increasing driving system from the total required torque (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, 91, 97, “the remaining- life-related data and represents a relationship between a magnitude (such as a torque and a rotational speed) and a frequency (such as a total number of use, a total number of time and a total number of rotations) of a load applied to each of the component elements. Specifically, a ratio [Le/ (Le-Lei)] of the cumulative running distance Le (that is a total running distance of the vehicle 10) to a data-obtained running distance (Le-Lei) (that is obtained by subtracting the data-unobtained running distance Lei from the cumulative running distance Le) is obtained, and then complemented data are obtained by multiplying actual data”).
Regarding claim 16, Tabata discloses the method of claim 11, wherein the performing the driving system balance control includes: determining a torque increment of an engine in the internal combustion driving system in response that the residual value of the internal combustion driving system is greater than the residual value of the electric driving system; determining engine control torque by adding the torque increment to current torque of the engine; and determining motor control torque by subtracting the engine control torque from the total required torque (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, 91, 97, “the remaining- life-related data and represents a relationship between a magnitude (such as a torque and a rotational speed) and a frequency (such as a total number of use, a total number of time and a total number of rotations) of a load applied to each of the component elements. Specifically, a ratio [Le/ (Le-Lei)] of the cumulative running distance Le (that is a total running distance of the vehicle 10) to a data-obtained running distance (Le-Lei) (that is obtained by subtracting the data-unobtained running distance Lei from the cumulative running distance Le) is obtained, and then complemented data are obtained by multiplying actual data”).
Regarding claim 17, Tabata discloses the method of claim 11, wherein the performing the driving system balance control includes: determining a torque increment of a motor in the electric driving system in response that the residual value of the electric driving system is greater than the residual value of the internal combustion driving system; determining motor control torque by adding the torque increment to current torque of the motor; and determining engine control torque by subtracting the motor control torque from the total required torque (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, 91, 97, 105, “the number of times of
input of the large torque and a wave-like road running time, such that the actual data, the complemented data and/or the cumulative fatigue-damage degree De is increased, and/or
such that the remaining life (the remaining running distance Lrem and/or remaining running time Trem) is reduced. Further, when the lubricant fluid is changed, a lubricating performance is restored thereby advantageously influencing the durabilities of the component elements such as the engagement devices CB and the bearings”).
Regarding claim 18, Tabata discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the performing the driving system balance control includes: determining the torque increment based on an increment lookup table where torque increments are tabulated corresponding to the residual values of the internal combustion system and the electric driving system (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, 55, “The table of FIG. 2 indicates a relationship between each of the AT gear positions of the step-variable transmission portion 20 and operation states of the respective engagement devices CB of the step-variable transmission portion 20, namely, a relationship between each of the AT gear positions and a combination of ones of the engagement devices CB, which are to be placed in theirs engaged states to establish the each of the AT gear positions”).
Regarding claim 19, Tabata discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the performing the driving system balance control includes: determining the torque increment based on to an increment lookup table for each control level, in which torque increments are tabulated corresponding to the residual values and control levels of the internal combustion system and the electric driving system, to reflect a driving system balance control level (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 55, 42, “calculate the cumulative fatigue-damage degree, such that the remaining life is estimated based on the cumulative fatigue-damage degree, by the remaining-life calculating portion. The cumulative fatigue-damage degree is a value obtained by integrating fatigue damage degrees in all regions or levels of the load, and is calculated, for example, in accordance with Miner's law or modified Miner's law. For the estimation of the remaining life, the load distribution does not necessarily have to be used, and the estimation of the remaining life may be made in any one of various manners”).
Regarding claim 20, Tabata discloses a system for controlling the driving systems in the hybrid vehicle, the system comprising:
a user input interface configured to receive setting information and to transmit the setting information about whether a driving system balance control function is activated, to the driving system controller (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 21, 38, 40, 41, 39, 67, “FIG. 1 is a view showing also an input/output system of the electronic control apparatus 90, and is a functional block diagram for explaining major control functions and control portions of the electronic control apparatus 90. For example, the electronic control apparatus 90 includes a so-called microcomputer incorporating a CPU, a ROM, a RAM and an input-output interface”);
a driving system state information provider that provides the driving system state information related to the driving systems of the hybrid vehicle to the driving system controller (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 21, 38, 40, 41, 39, “it is possible to estimate the remaining life or lives of a selected one or ones of the components, which are expected to be shorter than those of the other components through experimentation or simulation. Further, it is possible to employ any of various arrangements such as an arrangement in which the remaining life of a predetermined one of the component elements is obtained and the obtained remaining life of the predetermined component element is determined as the remaining life of the vehicle component as a whole”); and
the driving system controller of claim 1 in the hybrid vehicle and a subordinate controller operatively connected to the driving system controller and configured to control a powertrain apparatus based on driving system balance control of the driving system controller in the hybrid vehicle (See at least fig 1-15, ¶ 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 60, 61, 62, 76, 83, 86, 42, “the remaining-life calculating portion is configured to obtain the load distribution that represents the relationship between the magnitude and the frequency ( such as a total number of instances, a total length of time and a total number of rotations) of the load (such as a torque and a rotational speed) applied to the vehicle component, for example, based on the remaining-life-related data, and to compare the obtained load distribution with the strength information ( such as fatigue limit or endurance limit) that is predefined as the load distribution representing a given limit of endurance of the vehicle component”).
Tabata fails to explicitly disclose driving system state information.
However, Kyes teaches driving system state information (See at least fig 1-36, ¶ 9, 16, 48, 49, 50, 107, 111, 144, 94, “monitoring operational components of vehicle, including electrical components and other components of a vehicle, to generate information on a state of an operational component over time and to generate a prediction of whether and/or when an operational component is likely to fail.”).
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 the system of Tabata and include driving system state information as taught by Kyes because it would allow the system monitoring and predicting vehicle component replacement before actual component failure thereby maximizing maintainability and operational status for each vehicle in a fleet of vehicles (Kyes ¶ 6).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS A MARTINEZ BORRERO whose email is luis.martinezborrero@uspto.gov and telephone number is (571)272-4577. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00-5:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, HUNTER LONSBERRY can be reached on (571)272-7298. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/LUIS A MARTINEZ BORRERO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665