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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1 and 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the NPL reference (2019).
Regarding claim 1, the NPL reference discloses:
a control device of an AC rotating machine (FIG. 9), comprising:
an inverter (VSI) that applies a voltage to the AC rotating machine;
a current detector (I_dqs^s) that detects a rotating machine current flowing through the AC rotating machine;
a first axis voltage command value calculator that calculates a voltage command value of a first axis of two rotational axes of the AC rotating machine (FIG. 9, eqs. 15, 10); and
a second axis voltage command value calculator that calculates a voltage command value of a second axis of the two rotational axes (figure 9),
wherein the first axis voltage command value calculator performs an integral calculation (1/s) using a first deviation that is a deviation (FIG. 9) between a current command value on the first axis and a detected current value of the rotating machine current on the first axis, and a second deviation (FIG. 9) (Eqs. 15, 10) that is a deviation between a current command value on the second axis and a detected current value of the rotating machine current on the second axis, and calculates the voltage command value of the first axis on the basis of a result of the integral calculation (FIG. 9, eqs. (15),(10): V_ds^r*) and wherein the first axis voltage command value calculator performs the integral calculation using a value obtained by multiplying the second deviation by a rotational angular speed (omega_r) of the AC rotating machine, an inductance (L^qq) on the second axis, and a response angular frequency (omega_cc) for adjusting a frequency response of the rotating machine current to the current command value (text associated with equation (10)).
5. Regarding claim 9, the NPL reference further discloses:
the control device of the AC rotating machine according to claim 1 (anticipated); the AC rotating machine (FIG. 9); and a driving force transmission mechanism that transmits a driving force of the AC rotating machine to a steering system of a vehicle (Section 1).
6. Regarding claim 10, the NPL reference further discloses:
wherein the first axis voltage command value calculator calculates the voltage command value of the first axis using a value obtained by multiplying the first deviation by a proportional gain, the proportional gain is switched between a first speed reference value and a second speed reference value that is less than the first speed reference value, and the first axis voltage command value calculator sets the proportional gain to a value smaller than the first speed reference value when a running speed of the vehicle is smaller than a threshold value (implicitly disclosed by explicit disclosure of utilization of machine in vehicle (Section 1)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claim(s) 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the NPL reference.
9. Regarding claim 11, the NPL reference fails to disclose:
wherein, when the current command value is equal to or less than a threshold value, or when the steering torque is equal or a less than a threshold value, or when a gradient of a graph representing a relationship between a steering torque and a torque current command value is less than a threshold value, or when an amount of change in the steering torque per unit time is smaller than a threshold value, the first axis voltage command value calculator sets the proportional gain to a value smaller than the first speed reference value. This is an example of obvious to try, because the proportional gain would either be larger, smaller, or the same as the first speed reference value. This is an identified finite number of predictable solutions with a reasonable expectations of success. Accordingly, claim 11 is obvious in light of the prior art.
10. Regarding claim 12, the NPL reference fails to disclose:
wherein the first axis voltage command value calculator performs the integral calculation using a result of passing the rotational angular speed of the AC rotating machine through a low pass filter of which a cutoff frequency is higher than an upper limit value of the steering frequency of the electric power steering device.
This is an example of applying a known technique (passing through a low pass filter) to a known device (an AC rotating machine) ready for improvement (for automotive applications) with a reasonable expectation of success (it is reasonable to believe that the control device could be arranged to provide desired controls of the electric power steering device). Accordingly, claim 12 is obvious in light of the prior art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES J BRAUCH whose telephone number is (313)446-6511. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 AM to 6 PM.
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/CHARLES JOSEPH BRAUCH/
Examiner
Art Unit 3747
/LONG T TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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