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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 USC § 103.
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, 2, and 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over unpatentable over Kinoshita et al., (US Pub. 20190277880A1), hereinafter Kinoshita in view of Glevarec et al., (US Pub. 20200088521A1), hereinafter Glevarec.
Regarding Claim 1, Kinoshita discloses a sensor device comprising: when it is assumed that three axes that are orthogonal to each other are a first axis, a second axis, and a third axis (Para [0074], and [0075], where angular velocity sensor 110 is a sensor that measures an angular velocity in a sensor coordinate system that is a three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system associated with the IMU 100… the angular velocity sensor 110 detects an angular velocity around the X axis and outputs it as a first angular velocity signal, and an Y-axis angular velocity sensor detects the angular velocity around the Y axis and outputs it as a second angular velocity signal. 114 and a Z-axis angular velocity sensor 116), (para [0102], where on the surface of the circuit board 9 (surface on the side of the inner case 8), a connector 10, a multi-axis inertial sensor 17 in which three-axis angular velocity sensors and three-axis acceleration sensors are accommodated, and a high-accuracy angular velocity sensor 18);
a first axis angular speed sensor that detects an angular speed around the first axis and outputs a first angular speed signal (Fig. 1, # 110, Fig. 13, # 17 (angular speed sensors mounted into inertial sensor 17); para [0075], where angular velocity sensor 110 detects an angular velocity around the X axis);
a second axis angular speed sensor that detects an angular speed around the second axis and outputs a second angular speed signal (Fig. 1, # 114, para [0075], where an Y-axis angular velocity sensor detects the angular velocity around the Y axis and outputs it as a second angular velocity signal 114);
a third axis angular speed sensor that detects an angular speed around the third axis and outputs a third angular speed signal (Fig.1, # 116, para [0075], where a Z-axis angular velocity sensor 116 that detects an angular velocity around the Z-axis and outputs it as a third angular velocity signal);
a fourth axis angular speed sensor that detects an angular speed around a fourth axis that corresponds to the third axis and outputs a fourth angular speed signal (Fig. 3, # 18, para [0121], where the high-accuracy angular velocity sensor 18 is a gyro sensor for detecting an angular velocity of one axis in the Z-axis direction which is the direction of gravity In the vehicle on which the sensor unit 160 is mounted, when a preset straight advancing direction of the vehicle is set as an X-axis, a gravitational direction of the vehicle is set as a Z-axis, and an axis orthogonal to the X-axis and the Z-axis set as a Y-axis, the sensor unit 160 functions as a Z-axis angular velocity sensor which detects an angular velocity around the Z-axis and outputs an angular velocity signal around the Z-axis, and calculates the yaw (YAW) angle around the Z-axis of the vehicle based on the angular velocity signal around the Z-axis, e.g., Z-axis direction of the sensor 18 corresponds to the fourth axis angular speed sensor).
Kinoshita does not disclose a correction circuit that estimates a correction coefficient used for correcting an error of the fourth angular speed signal due to a shift of the fourth axis with respect to the third axis, based on the first angular speed signal, the second angular speed signal, the third angular speed signal, and the fourth angular speed signal.
Glevarec discloses a correction circuit that estimates a correction coefficient used for correcting an error of the angular speed signal due to a shift of the axis, based on the first angular speed signal, the second angular speed signal, the third angular speed signal, and the fourth angular speed signal (Fig. 2, para [0315], where filtering of the fused acceleration and angular speed signals, by means of an individual Kalman filter (receiving as an input the measurements mesn provided by the common sensors, in addition to the above-mentioned fused signals)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the applicants' invention was made to estimate a correction coefficient used for correcting an error, using a Kalman filter sensor fusion technique as taught by Glevarec, for the fourth angular speed signal (obtained from the high-accuracy angular velocity sensor 18) with respect to the third axis, based on the first angular speed signal, the second angular speed signal, the third angular speed signal, and the fourth angular speed signal in the device of Kinoshita, in order to improve measurement accuracy and reduce errors due to misalignment by fusing the measurements of the two angular speed sensors in Kinoshita.
Regarding Claim 2, Kinoshita discloses the sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the third angular speed signal is a target value (Fig. 1, # 116, para [0075], where a Z-axis angular velocity sensor 116 that detects an angular velocity around the Z-axis and outputs it as a third angular velocity signal; para [0112], where the Z-axis angular velocity sensor 116 has the bias error Bz which is smaller than the bias errors Bx and By… and is a value that makes the position error during the movement of the vehicle mounted with the positioning system 1000 for T [seconds]) of the fourth angular speed signal (Fig. 3, # 18, para [0121], where the high-accuracy angular velocity sensor 18 is a gyro sensor for detecting an angular velocity of one axis in the Z-axis direction which is the direction of gravity; para [0123], where the high-accuracy angular velocity sensor 18 and the Z-axis angular velocity sensor may share the functional role as appropriate according to design specifications and the like).
Kinoshita does not disclose a correction circuit estimates the correction coefficient by a Kalman filter arithmetic operation.
Glevarec discloses a correction circuit estimating a correction coefficient by a Kalman filter arithmetic operation (Fig. 2, para [0315], where filtering of the fused acceleration and angular speed signals, by means of an individual Kalman filter (receiving as an input the measurements mesn provided by the common sensors, in addition to the above-mentioned fused signals)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the applicants' invention was made to estimate a correction coefficient by a Kalman filter arithmetic operation, as taught by Glevarec’s discussion of using a Kalman filter sensor fusion technique, in the device of Kinoshita in order to improve measurement accuracy and reduce errors due to misalignment.
Regarding Claim 4, Kinoshita and Glevarec disclose the sensor device according to claim 1, and further Kinoshita discloses wherein the first axis angular speed sensor, the second axis angular speed sensor, and the third axis angular speed sensor are integrally mounted on a mounting substrate (circuit board 9 in Fig. 13), and
the fourth axis angular speed sensor is mounted as a separate body from the first axis angular speed sensor, the second axis angular speed sensor, and the third axis angular speed sensor on the mounting substrate (Fig. 13, #17 (angular speed sensors mounted into inertial sensor 17) and #18 (high-accuracy angular velocity sensor) are mounted as separate bodies; para [0123], where since the high-accuracy angular velocity sensor 18 installed on the circuit board 9 by itself functions as the Z-axis angular velocity sensor 116 which detects the angular velocity around the Z-axis and outputs the angular velocity signal around the Z-axis, the Z-axis angular velocity sensor is not necessarily mounted, for the multi-axis inertial sensor 17, e.g., sensor 18 and sensor 116 are independently mounted on the circuit boards).
Regarding Claim 5, Kinoshita and Glevarec disclose the sensor device according to claim 4, further Kinoshita discloses wherein the first axis angular speed sensor, the second axis angular speed sensor, and the third axis angular speed
sensor are mounted on a first surface of the mounting substrate, (Fig. 13, #17) and
the fourth axis angular speed sensor is mounted on a second surface of the mounting substrate that is in a front and back relationship with the first surface (Fig. 13, #17 (angular speed sensors 112, 114 and 117 mounted into inertial sensor 17) and #18 (high-accuracy angular velocity sensor); para [0123], where since the high-accuracy angular velocity sensor 18 installed on the circuit board 9 by itself functions as the Z-axis angular velocity sensor 116 which detects the angular velocity around the Z-axis and outputs the angular velocity signal around the Z-axis, the Z-axis angular velocity sensor is not necessarily mounted, for the multi-axis inertial sensor 17, e.g., sensor 18 and 112, 114 and 116 are independently mounted on the circuit boards).
Further Kinoshita discloses that components can be mounted on both the front and rear surfaces of the circuit board 9 (Fig. 13, #11, #17, #18); such mounting arrangements are known in the art to be efficient and compact. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the applicants' invention was made to mount the angular speed sensor for the first, second, and third axes and the angular speed sensor for the fourth axis on opposite (front and back) sides of a mounting substrate, in order to optimize the compactness of the arrangement.
Regarding Claim 6, Kinoshita and Glevarec disclose the sensor device according to claim 1, further Kinoshita discloses wherein when a bias error of the third angular speed signal is Bz [deg/sec] (Abstract, where a bias error of the Z-axis angular velocity sensor is Bz [deg/sec]) and a bias error of the fourth angular speed signal is Bz' [deg/sec], Bz' < Bz holds (para[0112], Specifically, the Z-axis angular velocity sensor 116 has the bias error Bz which is smaller than the bias errors Bx and By of the X-axis angular velocity sensor 112 and the Y-axis angular velocity sensor 114); (para [0121], where the high-accuracy angular velocity sensor 18 is a gyro sensor for detecting an angular velocity of one axis in the Z-axis direction, e.g., since the sensor 18 is a higher accuracy sensor than the accuracy of sensor 116, therefore the Bz’<Bz).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over unpatentable over Kinoshita in view of Glevarec, as applied above and further in view of McClure et al., (US Pat. 7,437,230 B2).
Regarding Claim 3, Kinoshita and Glevarec disclose the sensor device according to claim 2, further Kinoshita discloses a fourth angular speed signal, as recited in claim 1.
Kinoshita and Glevarec do not disclose when the first angular speed signal is wx,k, the second angular speed signal is wy,k, the angular speed signal is Ωz,k, an angular speed matrix Xₖ = (wx,k, wy,k, Ωz,k ) holds, the correction coefficient is C1,k, C2,k and C3,k and a correction coefficient matrix Θₖ = (C1,k, C2,k C3,k)ᵀ holds, the correction circuit corrects the fourth angular speed signal in accordance with a correction expression Y'k = XₖΘₖ.
McClure discloses implementation of a Kalman filter for performing sensor fusion of partially redundant data (col. 7, line 54 – col. 9, line 3, where the sensor fusion is between integrated rate gyro outputs (angular data) and GPS heading data) and discloses the equations used for this (e.g. col. 8, line 52, xk = A xk-1 + w). These equations are analogous to the recited equation Y'ₖ = XₖΘₖ, given by the angular speed matrix Xₖ = (wx,k, wy,k, Ωz,k ), the correction coefficient being C1,k, C2,k and C3,k, and a correction coefficient matrix Θₖ = (C1,k, C2,k C3,k)ᵀ, with the correction circuit correcting the fourth angular speed signal in accordance with a correction expression Y'ₖ = XₖΘₖ.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the applicants' invention was made to use the recited equations which are analogous to the Kalman filter equations in McClure in the device of Kinoshita and Glevarec in order to implement the Kalman filter sensor fusion of the two angular sensors using conventional equations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wikipedia’s “Kalman Filter” article gives an overview of how Kalman filters work.
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/KALERIA KNOX/
Examiner, Art Unit 2857
/ANDREW SCHECHTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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