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 Status
Claims 1-15 are pending in the application and have been examined.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Futagami et al. (JP2012136111A) hereinafter Futagami.
Claim 1:
Futagami discloses a control system [Fig. 2] for a vehicle suspension system of a vehicle [¶6], the vehicle suspension system comprising an active roll control system [Fig. 1, Item 10; ¶¶22-23] and a variable stiffness spring system [¶26] comprising a multiple chamber air spring configured to provide a plurality of different spring stiffness modes in dependence on a chamber configuration of the multiple chamber air spring [¶26], the control system comprising one or more controllers [Fig. 2], the control system configured to: receive a total roll signal [Fig. 3, box 40] indicative of a total roll moment of the vehicle, the total roll moment determined in dependence on a lateral acceleration of the vehicle [¶38]; receive a spring stiffness signal indicative of a non-active roll moment component of the vehicle [¶40], the non-active roll moment component dependent on a current spring stiffness mode of the plurality of different spring stiffness modes of the variable stiffness spring system [¶33]; determine a target active roll moment component of the vehicle, in dependence on the total roll moment and the non-active roll moment component [box 46; ¶41]; and output an active roll control signal indicative of the target active roll moment component to the active roll control system to control the roll moment of the vehicle [¶46].
Claim 2:
Futagami, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Futagami also discloses wherein the total roll moment of the vehicle comprises a sum of the non-active roll moment component and the target active roll moment component [¶45].
Claim 3:
Futagami, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Futagami also discloses wherein the control system is further configured to: determine that a change of the current spring stiffness mode occurs; if the non-active roll moment component is increased due to the change of the current spring stiffness mode, determine a decrease in the target active roll moment component; and if the non-active roll moment component is decreased due to the change of the current spring stiffness mode, determine an increase in the target active roll moment component [¶¶38-43; Fig. 1].
Claim 4:
Futagami, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all the limitations of claim 3.
Futagami also discloses wherein the control system is further configured to determine that the change of the current spring stiffness mode occurs by one or more of: monitoring the current spring stiffness mode; and receiving a signal indicative of the change of the current spring stiffness mode [¶36].
Claim 5:
Futagami, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Futagami also discloses further configured to: receive a further spring stiffness signal indicative of a further non-active roll moment component of the vehicle, the further non-active roll moment component caused by a change in current spring stiffness mode of the variable stiffness spring system; in response to receipt of the further spring stiffness signal, determine a further target active roll moment component of the vehicle in dependence on the total roll moment and the further non-active roll moment component; and output a further active roll control signal indicative of the further target active roll moment component to the active roll control system to control the roll moment of the vehicle [¶¶42-43; Fig. 1].
Claim 6:
Futagami, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Futagami also discloses wherein the spring stiffness signal indicates that the variable stiffness spring system is operating in a soft spring stiffness mode or a firm spring stiffness mode [¶26; soft or firm is indicated by the control of the suspension].
Claim 7:
Futagami, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all the limitations of claim 5.
Futagami also discloses wherein the spring stiffness signal indicates that the variable stiffness spring system is operating in a soft spring stiffness mode or a firm spring stiffness mode [¶26; soft or firm is indicated by the control of the suspension]; and wherein when the further spring stiffness signal is indicative of the further non-active roll moment providing a reduction in the non-active roll moment component of the vehicle due to a change in the current spring stiffness mode from a firm stiffness mode to a soft stiffness mode, the control system is configured to determine a further target active roll moment component of the vehicle which is increased compared with the target active roll moment component, and when the further spring stiffness signal is indicative of the further non-active roll moment providing an increase in the non-active roll moment component of the vehicle due to a change in the current spring stiffness mode from a soft stiffness mode to a firm stiffness mode, the control system is configured to determine a further target active roll moment component of the vehicle which is decreased compared with the target active roll moment component [¶¶38-43; Fig. 1].
Claim 8:
Futagami, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Futagami also discloses wherein the total roll moment is determined according to a vehicle model [¶¶38-43; Fig. 1].
Claim 10:
Futagami discloses a vehicle suspension system of a vehicle, comprising: the control system of claim 1 [See the rejection above]; the active roll control system; and the variable stiffness spring system [¶¶22-23, 26].
Claim 11:
Futagami discloses a vehicle comprising the vehicle suspension system according to claim 10 [¶¶22-23, 26; See the rejection above].
Claim 12:
Futagami discloses a method of operation of a control system for vehicle suspension system of a vehicle [Figs. 1-3], the vehicle suspension system comprising an active roll control system [Fig. 1; ¶¶22-23] and a variable stiffness spring system [¶26] comprising a multiple chamber air spring configured to provide a plurality of different spring stiffness modes in dependence on a chamber configuration of the multiple chamber air spring [¶26], the method comprising: receiving a total roll signal [Fig. 3; box 40] indicative of a total roll moment of the vehicle [¶38], the total roll moment determined in dependence on a lateral acceleration of the vehicle [¶38]; receiving a spring stiffness signal indicative of a non-active roll moment component of the vehicle [¶40], the non-active roll moment component dependent on a current spring stiffness mode of the plurality of different spring stiffness modes of the variable stiffness spring system [¶33]; determining a target active roll moment component of the vehicle, in dependence on the total roll moment and the non-active roll moment component [¶41; box 46]; and outputting an active roll control signal indicative of the target active roll moment component to the active roll control system to control the roll moment of the vehicle [¶46].
Claim 13:
Futagami, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all the limitations of claim 12.
Futagami also discloses comprising determining that a change of the current spring stiffness mode indicative of the non-active roll moment component of the vehicle occurs by one or more of: monitoring the current spring stiffness mode; and receiving a signal indicative of the change of the current spring stiffness mode [¶36].
Claim 14:
Futagami discloses computer software which, when executed by a processor of a control system, is arranged to cause the processor perform the method according to claim 12 [¶30; See the rejection above].
Claim 15:
Futagami discloses a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more electronic processors of a control system, cause the one or more electronic processors to carry out the method according to claim 12 [¶30; See the rejection above].
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Futagami as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Mizuta (JP2006007803A) hereinafter Mizuta.
Claim 9:
Futagami, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Futagami doesn’t explicitly disclose wherein the non-active roll moment component comprises: a spring moment component due to the current spring stiffness mode of the variable stiffness spring system; and at least one other non-active moment component due to at least one further non-active element of the vehicle suspension system.
However, Mizuta does disclose wherein the non-active roll moment component comprises: a spring moment component due to the current spring stiffness mode of the variable stiffness spring system; and at least one other non-active moment component due to at least one further non-active element of the vehicle suspension system [¶¶32, 78].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the control system of Futagami with the additional elements of Mizuta to properly account for all components when modeling therefore increasing accuracy of the control system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KURT P LIETHEN whose telephone number is (313)446-6596. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri, 8 AM - 4 PM.
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KURT P. LIETHEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3747
/KURT PHILIP LIETHEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747