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 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 1, 5, 7, 8 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ura EP2280477 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Ura discloses
A motor control apparatus (fig. 2) comprising: a first motor driving portion (item 17u) configured to drive a motor (item 12); a second motor driving portion (item 17v) configured to drive the motor; a first control portion (item 18u) connected to the first motor driving portion (see fig. 2), the first control portion being configured to acquire a detection value of a first rotational position detection portion (θ1), which detects a rotational position of the motor, and monitor a phase current (Iv’) of the second motor driving portion; a second control portion (item 18v) connected to the second motor driving portion (see fig. 2), the second control portion being configured to acquire a detection value of a second rotational position detection portion (θ1), which detects the rotational position of the motor, and monitor a phase current (Iu’) of the first motor driving portion; and a third control portion (item 18w) configured to acquire a detection value of a third rotational position detection portion (θ3), which detects the rotational position of the motor, and monitor the phase current of the first motor driving portion and the phase current of the second motor driving portion [0023, 0024, 0031, 0032].
Regarding claim 5, Ura discloses
, wherein the first control portion and the second control portion are unequipped with a self-diagnosis function (There is no indication of such in Ura’s teaching).
Regarding claim 7, Ura discloses
, wherein the first control portion, the second control portion, and the third control portion are connected to a controller (item 11) of a vehicle [0020].
Regarding claim 8, Ura discloses
, wherein the controller of the vehicle is an integrated controller that determines control of a motion of the vehicle, and is equipped with a self-diagnosis function, and wherein both the first control portion and the second control portion are unequipped with the self-diagnosis function [0018].
Regarding claim 11, Ura discloses
A motor control system comprising: a motor (fig. 2, item 12); and a motor controller (item 11) configured to control the motor, the motor controller including a first motor driving portion configured to drive the motor, a second motor driving portion configured to drive the motor, a first control portion connected to the first motor driving portion, the first control portion being configured to acquire a detection value of a first rotational position detection portion, which detects a rotational position of the motor, and monitor a phase current of the second motor driving portion, a second control portion connected to the second motor driving portion, the second control portion being configured to acquire a detection value of a second rotational position detection portion, which detects the rotational position of the motor, and monitor a phase current of the first motor driving portion, and a third control portion configured to acquire a detection value of a third rotational position detection portion, which detects the rotational position of the motor, and monitor the phase current of the first motor driving portion and the phase current of the second motor driving portion, the motor control system further comprising: a vehicle controller (item 11 also acts as a vehicle controller) connected to the first control portion, the second control portion, and the third control portion [0020] (see fig. 2 for detail) (see claim 1 rejection for detail).
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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ura in a view of Shiogai et al. US 2022/0258796 A1.
Regarding claim 6, Ura does not disclose but Shiogai discloses, wherein an ASIL rating of the first control portion and an ASIL rating of the second control portion comply with ASIL-B [0074].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use ASIL and ASIL-B ratings as disclosed by Shiogai in Ura’s first and second control portions in order to achieve high functional safety and reliability (Shiogai’s paragraph 0076)
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ura in a view of Ross US 2015/0138954 A1.
Regarding claim 9, Ura does not disclose but Ross discloses, wherein the first control portion, the second control portion, the third control portion, and the controller of the vehicle establish a ring network [0043].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a ring network as disclosed by Ross in Ura’s teachings to increase fault tolerance.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ura in a view of KIM US 2023/0106917 A1.
Regarding claim 10, Ura does not disclose but KIM discloses, wherein the motor (fig. 1, item 10) is a brake motor configured to control an electric brake mechanism that provides a braking force to a vehicle (fig. 1, item 6) [0040].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a braking force as disclosed by KIM in Ura’s teachings to park the vehicle.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 are 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. Claim 2 further discloses details of generating abnormality signal.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KEZOBO et al. (US 2013/0200827 A1) disclose a motor control device.
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/BICKEY DHAKAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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