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 Objections
Claims 5 and 10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
-In claim 5, line 2, “an EHC” should be changed to – an electrically heated catalyst (EHC) characteristics --.
-In claim 10, line 2, “NTC characteristics” should be changed to -- negative temperature coefficient (NTC) characteristics --. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 5-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Korenaga (Patent/Publication Number US 2021/0189936).
Regarding claim 1, Korenaga discloses an in-vehicle temperature estimation device (200, 15) applied to an in-vehicle heated object (15) that is heated by current flow (155) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0019-0020]), the in-vehicle temperature estimation device comprising: a power detection unit (200, 153) for detecting power supplied to the heated object (e.g. See Paragraphs [0023] The voltage Vh(V) applied to the conductive base 151 by the pair of electrodes 152 (below, referred to as the “base applied voltage”) can be adjusted by using the electronic control unit 200 to control the voltage adjustment circuit 153. For example, it is possible to apply the voltage of the battery 50 as it is or to apply the voltage of the battery 50 boosted or lowered to any voltage. In this way, in the present embodiment, by using the electronic control unit 200 to control the voltage adjustment circuit 153, it becomes possible to control the electric power Ph(kW) supplied to the conductive base 151 (below, referred to as the “base supplied electric power”) to any electric power.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0023, 0035, 0058]); an arithmetic unit (200) for performing a computation to estimate a temperature (TEHC0, TEHC1, TEHC2) of a location in the heated object (15, 151) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0052] The harmful substances in the exhaust can be removed by the catalyst device 15 if the catalyst device 15 finishes being warmed up, that is, if the temperature of the conductive base 151 (below, referred to as the “catalyst bed temperature”) becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined activation temperature TEHC2 (for example 450° C.) at which the exhaust purification function of the catalyst supported on the conductive base 151 starts to come into play.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0052-0053, 0061]); and a temperature determination unit (200) for determining a temperature of external air outside (TIN) the heated object (e.g. See Paragraphs [0073] At step S111, the electronic control unit 200 enters into the above-mentioned formula (6) the catalyst bed temperature when the engine was stopped TEHCstop and the intake temperature (outside air temperature) TIN to calculate the current estimated bed temperature TEHCest (that is, the estimated value of the catalyst bed temperature when starting up the engine (right after engine startup)) and stores the estimated bed temperature TEHCest in the memory.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0069-0070]); wherein the arithmetic unit (200) performs a computation to estimate the temperature at the location based on the supplied power detected by the power detection unit and the temperature of the external air determined by the temperature determination unit (e.g. See Paragraphs [0070] At step S108, the electronic control unit 200 enters into the following formula (6) the catalyst bed temperature while the engine is stopped TEHCstop and the intake temperature (outside air temperature) TIN to calculate the current estimated bed temperature TEHCest (that is, the estimated value of the catalyst bed temperature while the engine is off) and stores the estimated bed temperature TEHCest in the memory. Below, the estimated bed temperature TEHCest calculated at this step S107 and stored in the memory will, in accordance with need, be referred to as the “catalyst bed temperature TEHCoff while the engine is off”.) (e.g. See Steps 109-114 and 142-145; Paragraphs [0065, 0069-0070, 0073, 0129-0130]).
Regarding claim 2, Korenaga discloses wherein the temperature of the external air includes a temperature of inflow gas flowing into the heated object (e.g. See Paragraphs [0069-0070, 0073]); wherein the temperature determination unit detects the temperature of the inflow gas; and wherein the arithmetic unit performs a computation to estimate the temperature at the location based on the supplied power and the temperature of the inflow gas (e.g. See Paragraphs [0069] At step S107, while the engine was stopped, after the catalyst bed temperature gradually converges to the outside air temperature in accordance with the time elapsed from when the internal combustion engine 10 was stopped, that is, the soak time, the electronic control unit 200 refers to the table shown in FIG. 4 set in advance by experiments etc. and calculates the rate of convergence κ of the catalyst bed temperature to the outside air temperature based on the soak time. As shown in FIG. 4, the rate of convergence κ takes a value from 0 to 1. When the rate of convergence κ is 1, it shows that the catalyst bed temperature is converging to a temperature the same as the outside air temperature.) (e.g. See Steps 109-114 and 142-145; Paragraphs [0065, 0069-0070, 0073, 0129-0130]).
Regarding claim 3, Korenaga discloses wherein the arithmetic unit performs computations to estimate temperatures of a plurality of the locations (152) in the heated object based on the supplied power and the temperature of the external air (e.g. See Paragraphs [0022-0023, 0069-0070, 0073]).
Regarding claim 5, Korenaga discloses wherein the arithmetic unit estimates the temperature at the location after a predetermined time has elapsed based on the supplied power, a current temperature at the location, external air side thermal resistance from the location to the external air of the heated object, heat capacity of the location, and the temperature of the external air (e.g. See Steps 109-114 and 142-145; Paragraphs [0065, 0069-0070, 0073, 0129-0130]).
Regarding claim 6, Korenaga discloses an adjustment unit for adjusting the external air side thermal resistance based on at least one of the temperature of the external air or a flow rate of the external air flowing into the heated object (e.g. See Steps 109-114 and 142-145; Paragraphs [0065, 0069-0070, 0073, 0129-0130]).
Regarding claim 7, Korenaga discloses wherein the heated object is an EHC (15) disposed in an exhaust path of gas discharged from an internal combustion engine (e.g. See Paragraphs [0019-0020]).
Regarding claim 8, Korenaga discloses wherein the adjustment unit adjusts the external air side thermal resistance (151, 152) based on a rotational speed of the internal combustion engine (e.g. See Paragraphs [0129] As opposed to this, the first cumulative value comprised of the cumulative value of the amount of intake air required until the catalyst bed temperature converges to the target exhaust temperature tends to become larger than the above-mentioned second cumulative value. For this reason, in the present embodiment, until the cumulative value of the amount of intake air becomes the predetermined first cumulative value at the time t4, the ignition timing is retarded while maintaining the engine load and engine rotational speed at a predetermined target load and target rotational speed so that the exhaust temperature is maintained at the predetermined target exhaust temperature.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0020, 0022, 0075, 0120, 0129]).
Regarding claim 9, Korenaga discloses wherein the heated object is configured to operate upon receiving power supply from a drive unit (30, 40) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0018, 0034]); wherein the in-vehicle temperature estimation device comprises a power control unit (Wh) for controlling the drive unit (e.g. See Paragraphs [0058-0059]); wherein the power control unit generates a temperature maintenance signal for controlling operation of the drive unit to maintain the temperature at the location within a temperature range of a predetermined temperature maintenance region based on computational results of the arithmetic unit (e.g. See Paragraphs [0076-0081]).
Regarding claim 10, Korenaga discloses wherein the heated object has NTC characteristics (κ, Ph, th, Wp) in which the higher its own temperature rises within a predetermined temperature range, the lower a resistance value becomes (e.g. See Equation 1-5; Paragraphs [0055-0060]); wherein the NTC characteristics have a small change region where a temperature characteristic of the resistance value of the heated object is smaller than a variation of the resistance value; wherein the arithmetic unit performs a computation to estimate the temperature at the location at least when the temperature of the heated object is in the temperature maintenance region and in the small change region (e.g. See Paragraphs [0092] Here, as the method of estimating the catalyst bed temperature, in addition to the method of estimation according to the engine operating state by the above-mentioned control for estimation of the catalyst bed temperature, for example, there is the method of utilizing the temperature-resistance characteristic of the conductive base 151 (in the present embodiment, a negative temperature coefficient where the resistance value falls the more the temperature rises) for estimation based on the base resistance value R detected at the time of supply of current to the conductive base 151.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0092-0093, 0123]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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; and also to overcome the claim objections set forth in this Office action, such as to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101, and 112 2nd paragraph.
Since allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant is encouraged to submit Final Formal Drawings (If Needed) in response to this Office action. The early submission of formal drawings will permit the Office to review the drawings for acceptability and to resolve any informalities remaining therein before the application is passed to issue. This will avoid possible delays in the issue process.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and consists of seven patents:
Nakayama et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 11162468), Hirooka et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2021/0222638), Matsumura et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2020/0240307), Zenner et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2019/0040782), Shimasaki et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 5740675), Kitaura et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2023/0042626), and Sato et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2020/0340380), all discloses an exhaust gas purification for use with an internal combustion engine.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner Binh Tran whose telephone number is (571) 272-4865. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors, Mark Laurenzi, can be reach on (571) 270-7878. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are (571) 273-8300 for regular communications and for After Final communications.
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Binh Q. Tran
/BINH Q TRAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3748
March 05, 2026