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 .
Preliminary Amendment
Receipt of the preliminary amendments filed 09/24/2024 and 05/23/2025 are acknowledged. This amendment amended claims 1-10, the specification and replaced the drawings.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 10 is dependent from claim 1, however claim 10 introduces the following elements that were previously introduced in claim 1: “a controlling circuitry”, “a rotating machine”, “an electric power steering device”, “a steering assist force”, “a steering”, “a vehicle”, “a response of the electric power steering device”. It is unclear if these elements are referring back to the previously introduced elements in claim 1 or are separate elements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
Claims 1-6, 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ko (US 2017/0183031).
With respect to claim 1, Ko discloses an input/output device (1000) comprising: a vibration factor estimation circuitry (100, paragraph 35) configured to be connected for communication to a controlling circuitry (figs. 1-2) for controlling a rotating machine (360, paragraph 16) provided in an electric power steering device (paragraphs 5, 32) provided in a vehicle to generate a steering assist force for a steering (paragraph 16), to acquire, during a steering operation of the steering (paragraphs 6, 16), response data indicating a response to a steering operation of the electric power steering device detected by the controlling circuitry (‘disturbance’; abstract, paragraphs 11-19), to extract a feature amount related to a vibration or a noise generated during the steering operation of the steering from the response data, and to estimate a vibration factor candidate (“a disturbance cause, which generates a disturbance of the steering control apparatus, is confirmed among a plurality of disturbance causes”; paragraph 11), which is a candidate for a vibration factor, based on the feature amount (“the estimated frequency calculation unit 100 functions to classify the frequencies of vibration or a disturbance generated in a vehicle due to various causes into three parameters, and to measure or calculate the parameters”; paragraph 35); and an output circuitry configured to output the vibration factor candidate (‘a disturbance offsetting compensation is performed for the disturbance cause’; paragraph 11). (Figs. 1-8, paragraphs 5-152.)
With respect to claim 2, Ko discloses a target characteristic calculation circuitry (300, “confirms a cause of a disturbance by comparing the first to third estimated frequencies” paragraph 42) configured to calculate a target characteristic of the controlling circuitry based on the vibration factor candidate. (Figs. 1-8, paragraphs 5-152.)
With respect to claim 3, Ko discloses a vibration factor selection circuitry (400) configured to select the vibration factor candidate (“to calculate different disturbance compensation rates depending on whether the disturbance determined by the disturbance cause determination unit is the internally caused disturbance or the externally caused disturbance”; paragraph 43); and an adjustment amount input circuitry (500 “performs a function of generating a final disturbance compensation current value by multiplying the main compensation current value by the calculate disturbance compensation rate, and delivering the final disturbance compensation current to the electric steering apparatus” paragraph 50) configured to input an adjustment amount of the target characteristic, wherein the target characteristic calculation circuitry calculates the target characteristic based on the vibration factor candidate selected by the vibration factor selection circuitry and the adjustment amount input by the adjustment amount input circuitry. (Figs. 1-8, paragraphs 5-152.)
With respect to claim 4, Ko discloses the target characteristic calculation circuitry (300) calculates the target characteristic based on any one or more of a torque controller characteristic (paragraph 38), an angle controller characteristic, an open loop characteristic, a sensitivity function, and a disturbance transmission characteristic of the controlling circuitry, and the vibration factor candidate. (Figs. 1-8, paragraphs 5-152.)
With respect to claim 5, Ko discloses the response data includes at least one of a steering torque applied to the steering (“steering torque value of a steering torque sensor”; paragraph 33), a rotation speed of the rotating machine, and a detection current. (Figs. 1-8, paragraphs 5-152.)
With respect to claim 8, Ko discloses the feature amount includes an amount indicating any one or more of an amplitude of the vibration, a frequency of the vibration (“to classify the frequencies of vibration or a disturbance generated in a vehicle due to various causes into three parameters, and to measure or calculate the parameters”; paragraph 35), a rotation synchronous disturbance- likeness, and a rotation synchronous disturbance degree of the response data. (Figs. 1-8, paragraphs 5-152.)
With respect to claim 10, Ko discloses a steering measurement device (‘steering control apparatus”; abstract) comprising: the input/output device (1000) according to any one of Claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above); and a controlling circuitry (figs. 1-2) configured to be connected for communication to the input/output device (1000) and to control a rotating machine (360, paragraph 16) provided in an electric power steering device (paragraphs 5, 32) for generating a steering assist force for a steering provided in a vehicle (paragraph 16), wherein the controlling circuitry transmits a response of the electric power steering device detected when the steering is steered, to the input/output device (1000) as the response data (‘disturbance’; abstract, paragraphs 11-19). (Figs. 1-8, paragraphs 5-152.)
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 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 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ko in view of Kezobo et al. (US 2017/0080970).
With respect to claims 6-7, Ko is silent regarding a voice detector. Kezobo et al. teaches of a voice detector (37) configured to detect a sound generated inside the vehicle during the steering operation of the steering, and to output the detected sound as voice data (paragraphs 34-35, 42, 50, 61, 66); the output circuitry outputs one or more of the vibration factor, the response data, the sound data, and the feature amount, including the vibration factor, in any of a numerical form, a text form, or a figure form (paragraphs 34, 51), and the input/output device further comprises a display (32) configured to display an output result of the output circuitry (paragraphs 34, 62). (Figs. 1-11, paragraphs 20-67.) It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the voice detector as described in Kezobo et al. into the invention of Ko with a reasonable expectation of success in order to detect noise excited by the mechanical vibration generated in the interior of the vehicle (paragraph 42) and therefore identification results can be confirmed by the user easily (paragraph 62.)
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ko in view of Sato et al. (CN 108700454 A; Machine Translation of Description ‘MTD’).
With respect to claim 9, Ko is silent regarding simulating the vibration. Sato et al. teaches the feature amount includes an amount indicating a similarity between the response data and simulation response data obtained by performing a simulation of the vibration (MTD paragraphs 92, 128, 135). (Figs. 1-10, paragraphs 53-135.) It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the simulation structure as described in Sato et al. into the invention of Ko with a reasonable expectation of success so that abnormal noise generated from the steering system can be accurately detected. (MTD paragraph 27.)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Gotou (US 2017/0166247) discloses a similar active suppression of a vibration component. The references cited on the PTO-892 form disclose similar features of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES A ENGLISH whose telephone number is (571)270-7014. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Saturday.
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/JAMES A ENGLISH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614
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