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 CORRESPONDENCE
This is the first Office action on the merits for Application No. 18/858,665, filed 10/21/2024. Claims 1-19 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) received on 10/21/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
New corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in this application because Figures 4, 5 and 19 do not provide a detailed description of the control logic of the invention or provide every feature of the invention specified in the claims (e.g., a labeled representation information of the control logic steps/process or an algorithm with a description). The corrected drawings should include labeled rectangular boxes that describe the invention and not only a reference numeral or character.
The Office recommends that the steps/process of the control logic of the invention should be labeled with descriptions to aid the understanding of the algorithm of the claimed invention. The MPEP states that “the drawing in a non-provisional application must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. However, conventional features disclosed in the description and claims, where their detailed illustration is not essential for a proper understanding of the invention, should be illustrated in the drawing in the form of a graphical drawing symbol or a labeled representation (e.g., a labeled rectangular box with a description). In addition, tables and sequence listings that are included in the specification are, except for applications filed under 35 U.S.C. 371, not permitted to be included in the drawings”. See MPEP 608.02(d).
Since the flow chart is critical to applicant’s invention, the pieces of the flowchart should not only be a blank rectangular box but a box describing each step of the claimed invention.
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.
Claims 3 and 19 are 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "a sporadic error” in line 9 which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether this error is the same as the one previously recited in claim 1 or not. This constitutes a double inclusion in the claim. If applicant intends to present the recited arrangement, the Office recommends that the limitation should be replaced with limitation - -the sporadic error - - for clarity.
Claim 19 recites the limitation "An electromechanical active air flow regulation system” in line 1 which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether this regulation system is the same as the one previously recited in claim 1 or not. This constitutes a double inclusion in the claim. If applicant intends to present the recited arrangement, the Office recommends that the limitation should be replaced with limitation - -The electromechanical active air flow regulation system- - for clarity. The same rationale applies to other limitations, i.e., “an obstructing mechanical member”, “a mechatronic system”, “electronic communication lines”, “a vehicle”, “a housing”, “a magnet motor”, “a control circuit”, “a movement transformation” and “a method” that appear in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-2 and 4-18 are allowed.
Claims 3 and 19 are rejected but would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art of record fails to disclose or render obvious a method for diagnosing an operation of an active air flow regulation system for a vehicle having an obstructing mechanical member, a mechatronic system provided with a housing containing a magnet motor driven by a control circuit and coupled to a movement transformation for moving the obstructing mechanical member and in combination with the remaining features recited, particularly “wherein the method comprises: storing, during an operating cycle of the active air flow regulation system, a numerical sequence S of data in a memory, the data being acquired by the control circuit inside the mechatronic system; applying an algorithmic statistical analysis model to the numerical sequence of data S stored in the memory to determine a singularity; and identifying a sporadic error associated with the singularity to provide information on a state of the active air flow regulation system”.
The closest prior art of references is Dudar (US 2018/0361846 A1) and Farmer et al. (US 2013/0338870 A1).
Dudar discloses methods and system for diagnosing a position of active grille shutters (AGS) of a vehicle includes an AGS position feedback control strategy configured to determine the position of the grille shutter position based on a plurality of AGS position sensors 115 and if the AGS position sensors lose functionality, the AGS feedback control strategy may no longer determine the grille shutter position directly from the AGS position sensors, which includes AGS mechanical type degradation, AGS position sensors 115 may be degraded or may malfunction due to damage or contamination from the environment. See Figures 2-5 and paragraph [0052]
Farmer discloses a system and method for performing diagnostics of an active grille shutter system based on at least one mechanical fault condition signal and the temperature signal by having an on-board diagnostics (OBD) module 320 configured to determine and compares these signals, see Figures 4 and 5 and paragraphs [0024];
However, neither alone nor in combination of these references, they do not teach the particular features required by claim 1. There is no motivation in the prior art for a skilled person to modify the system/method of either Dudar or Farmer to have the particular steps that are currently recited.
Claims 2 and 4-18 are allowed as being dependent upon the allowed base claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Dudar (US 10,679,437 B1) discloses an active air dam diagnostic (AAD) method for a vehicle includes a controller configured to determine whether the AAD is stuck in retracted/deployed mode based on a difference in fuel economy before and after AAD actuation (FE1 – FE2), see Figure 4.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tinh T Dang whose telephone number is (571)270-1776. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9AM - 5PM.
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/TINH T DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655 June 17, 2026
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