DETAILED ACTION
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(s) 1-2, 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Takahashi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,115).
Regarding claim 1, Takahashi discloses a rear wheel steering apparatus comprising:
a rear wheel steering mechanism configured to set a control speed of a rear wheel steering actuator in accordance with a vehicle speed of a vehicle (shown in fig. 5);
an acquisition unit (103) configured to acquire traveling operation input information of the vehicle;
a correction unit (103c) configured to correct the control speed based on the traveling operation input information; and
a drive control unit configured to drive the rear wheel steering actuator based on a correction result of correction by the correction unit obtained by switching between a case where the control speed is limited and a case where the control speed is not limited (fig. 5 shows multiple limiting speeds the V=10 can be considered the non-limiting speed).
Regarding claim 2 which depends from claim 1, Takahashi discloses wherein the acquisition unit is configured to acquire:
steering speed information of front wheel steering of the vehicle (102) or
acceleration (speed option addressed) or
deceleration information of the vehicle as the traveling operation input information (speed option addressed).
Regarding claim 4 which depends from claim 1, Takahashi discloses wherein the acquisition unit is configured to acquire, as the traveling operation input information, reverse operation information indicating that a reverse operation of front wheel steering of the vehicle is performed at a predetermined speed or higher (col. 5, lines 40-50 discloses operating the rear wheels in a reverse phase for certain speeds), and the correction unit is configured to, when the reverse operation information is acquired, maximize a limit on the control speed until a target steering angle of a rear wheel obtained by rear wheel steering coincides with an actual steering angle of the rear wheel (col. 6, lines 5-11).
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.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,115) as applied to claim 1 above, and in view of Sonoda (U.S. Pat. No. 12,077,230).
Regarding claim 3 which depends from claim 1, Takahashi discloses wherein the acquisition unit is configured to acquire steering direction information of front wheel steering of the vehicle as the traveling operation input information (col. 7, lines 15-20 discloses angle can be used instead of force), and
Takahashi does not disclose the correction unit is configured to not limit the control speed when the steering direction information indicates steering to a neutral steering direction, and to limit the control speed when the steering direction information indicates steering to a non-neutral steering direction.
Sonoda, which deals in steering, teaches the correction unit is configured to not limit the control speed when the steering direction information indicates steering to a neutral steering direction, and to limit the control speed when the steering direction information indicates steering to a non-neutral steering direction (col. 4, lines 16-36 discloses that when a certain type of steering is done the rear wheels are allowed to return to neutral quicker than the front wheels).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have modified Takahashi with quick return to neutral of the Sonoda because it reduces yaw rate (col. 5, line 65- col. 6, line 3).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments submitted on 03/17/26 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 1-4 has been withdrawn. A new rejection has been made.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please review when considering a response to this office action.
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GONZALO LAGUARDA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3747 email: gonzalo.laguarda@uspto.gov
/GONZALO LAGUARDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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