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 ACTION
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.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakagawa et al. (U.S. 2016/0215717).
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Re claim 1:
Nakagawa discloses a method (see Figs. 1, and 10-14 (Fig. 11 shows first normal operation control (first normal operation control is also referenced as “basic normal operation control” per Para 150) and second normal operation control per Para 154; also see Para 36 and Para 38)) for controlling a quantity of oxygen (OSAsc, oxygen storage amount - Para 95) stored in a three-way catalytic converter (20, three-way catalyst - Para 55) of an internal combustion engine (1, engine body - Para 45), wherein the three-way catalytic converter (20) is arranged in an exhaust passage (19, exhaust manifold - Para 48; 22, exhaust pipe - Para 48 (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element s 19 and 22 are collectively a type of exhaust passage as shown in Fig. 1 and as described in Para 48)) of the internal combustion engine (1), the method comprising:
feedback-controlling an air fuel ratio of the internal combustion engine (1) in accordance with an air fuel ratio setpoint in vicinity of a stoichiometric point (Paras 91-96 - “…The control system of an internal combustion engine is provided with an inflowing air-fuel ratio control means for adjusting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust purification catalyst. The inflowing air-fuel ratio control means of the present embodiment adjusts the amount of fuel supplied to a combustion chamber to thereby adjust the air fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust purification catalyst… The internal combustion engine of the present embodiment uses the output current Irup of the upstream side air-fuel ratio sensor 40 as the basis for feedback control so that the output current Irup of the upstream side air-fuel ratio sensor 40 (that is, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust purification catalyst) becomes a value corresponding to the target air-fuel ratio… The weak rich set air-fuel ratio is slightly richer than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, for example, is made 13.5 to 14.58, preferably 14 to 14.57, more preferably 14.3 to 14.55 or so… In this way, in the present embodiment, the target air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into the upstream side exhaust purification catalyst 20 is alternately set to the lean set air-fuel ratio and the weak rich set air-fuel ratio.”);
controlling the air fuel ratio setpoint so as to conform the quantity of stored oxygen (OSAsc) to a target value (Modified Fig. 11 above - A (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element A as a line depicting individual target values of quantity of stored oxygen at varying point in time))(Paras 91-96 (especially see Para 95)); and
setting the target value (Modified Fig. 11 above - A) of the quantity of stored oxygen (OSAsc) in accordance with a flow rate of gas (see Fig. 11 at “INTAKE AIR AMOUNT” and Para 152 - “…if the intake air amount increases, the flow rate of the exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust purification catalyst increases…”) entering the three-way catalytic converter (20) such that the target value (Modified Fig. 11 above - A) decreases as the flow rate of gas increases (see Modified Fig. 11 above at element A between t11 and t14 and Paras 151-157 (especially Paras 153 and 156-157)).
Re claim 2:
Nakagawa discloses the method (see Figs. 1, and 10-14) as claimed in claim 1 (as described above), wherein the setting of the target value (Modified Fig. 11 above - A) of the quantity of stored oxygen (OSAsc) is implemented by setting the target value such that the target value (Modified Fig. 11 above - A) relatively rapidly decreases with respect to increase in the flow rate of gas in a region where the flow rate of gas is relatively small (see Modified Fig. 11 above at element A between t5-t11), and the target value relatively slowly decreases with respect to increase in the flow rate of gas in a region where the flow rate of gas is relatively large (see Modified Fig. 11 above at element A between t11-t12).
Re claim 3:
Nakagawa discloses the method (see Figs. 1, and 10-14) as claimed in claim 1 (as described above), comprising substituting a flow rate of intake air of the internal combustion engine for the flow rate of gas (see Fig. 11 at “INTAKE AIR AMOUNT” and Para 152 - “…if the intake air amount increases, the flow rate of the exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust purification catalyst increases…”).
Re claim 4:
Nakagawa discloses a device (Fig. 1) for controlling a quantity of oxygen (OSAsc, oxygen storage amount - Para 95) stored in a three-way catalytic converter (20, three-way catalyst - Para 55) of an internal combustion engine (1, engine body - Para 45)(see Figs. 1, 10-14 (Fig. 11 shows first normal operation control (first normal operation control is also referenced as “basic normal operation control” per Para 150) and second normal operation control per Para 154; also see Para 36 and Para 38) and Paras 92-96 and 151-160), the device (Fig. 1) comprising:
the three-way catalytic converter (20) being arranged in an exhaust passage (19, exhaust manifold - Para 48; 22, exhaust pipe - Para 48 (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element s 19 and 22 are collectively a type of exhaust passage as shown in Fig. 1 and as described in Para 48)) of the internal combustion engine (1)(see Fig. 1);
an air fuel ratio sensor (40, upstream side air-fuel ratio sensor - Para 185) disposed on an inlet side of the three-way catalytic converter (20)(see Fig. 1); and
a controller (31, electronic control unit - Para 183) configured to control a fuel injection quantity (Paras 91-96);
wherein the controller (31) is further configured to:
feedback-control an air fuel ratio of the internal combustion engine (1) in accordance with an air fuel ratio setpoint in vicinity of a stoichiometric point (Paras 91-96 - “…The control system of an internal combustion engine is provided with an inflowing air-fuel ratio control means for adjusting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust purification catalyst. The inflowing air-fuel ratio control means of the present embodiment adjusts the amount of fuel supplied to a combustion chamber to thereby adjust the air fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust purification catalyst… The internal combustion engine of the present embodiment uses the output current Irup of the upstream side air-fuel ratio sensor 40 as the basis for feedback control so that the output current Irup of the upstream side air-fuel ratio sensor 40 (that is, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust purification catalyst) becomes a value corresponding to the target air-fuel ratio… The weak rich set air-fuel ratio is slightly richer than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, for example, is made 13.5 to 14.58, preferably 14 to 14.57, more preferably 14.3 to 14.55 or so… In this way, in the present embodiment, the target air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into the upstream side exhaust purification catalyst 20 is alternately set to the lean set air-fuel ratio and the weak rich set air-fuel ratio.”);
control the air fuel ratio setpoint so as to conform the quantity of stored oxygen (OSAsc) to a target value (Modified Fig. 11 above - A (person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize element A as a line depicting individual target values of quantity of stored oxygen at varying point in time))(Paras 91-96 (especially see Para 95)); and
set the target value (Modified Fig. 11 above - A) of the quantity of stored oxygen (OSAsc) in accordance with a flow rate of gas (see Fig. 11 at “INTAKE AIR AMOUNT” and Para 152 - “…if the intake air amount increases, the flow rate of the exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust purification catalyst increases…”) entering the three-way catalytic converter (20) such that the target value (Modified Fig. 11 above - A) decreases as the flow rate of gas increases (see Modified Fig. 11 above at element A between t11 and t14 and Paras 151-157 (especially Paras 153 and 156-157)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kobyashi et al. (U.S. 6,718,754)
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/LOREN C EDWARDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746 7/10/26
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