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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/20/24 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Saito et al. (US 2019/0006968).
Regarding claim 1,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
A motor control device (Fig. 1, all elements) that controls a motor (2) based on a torque command value (30) from a host controller (1), the motor control device comprising: a torque ripple compensation value computation unit (34) that calculates a torque ripple compensation value (Tcvb) for compensating for torque ripple occurring in the motor based on an electrical angular velocity of the motor and the torque command value (Tcb, ¶0037-¶0038); a ripple amplitude upper limit value calculating unit (32) that calculates a ripple amplitude upper limit value (Tcmx, ¶0045-¶0047) which is an upper limit value for an amplitude of the torque ripple compensation value (Tcvb) based on the torque command value (Tcb) and a torque upper limit value set for the motor (Tcmx, ¶0045-¶0047); and an amplitude adjustment unit (38, ¶0048) that adjusts an amplitude (Ab, ¶0038, EQN 1) of each frequency component in the torque ripple compensation value (Tcvb) based on the ripple amplitude upper limit value (Tcmx, ¶0045) and calculates an amplitude-adjusted torque ripple compensation value (Tcv, ¶0046-¶0048, ¶0051, 38 calculates Tcv and limits amplitude of Tcvb to output Tcv with limited amplitude using Tcmx), wherein a final torque command value (Tcf) for controlling the motor (2) is calculated (via 32) based on the amplitude-adjusted torque ripple compensation value (Tcv) calculated by the amplitude adjustment unit (32) and the torque command value (Tcb, is added to Tcv to output Tcsm, which is then outputted as Tcf, the final torque command, ¶0047-¶0048).
Regarding claim 2,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the torque ripple compensation value computation unit (fig. 1, 34) estimates the torque ripple corresponding to the torque command value (Tcb) by using an estimation map in which an amplitude and a phase are recorded in advance in association with each other for each order of the torque ripple (¶0084).
Regarding claim 3,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the torque ripple compensation value computation unit (fig. 1, 34) calculates a phase (γ) and the amplitude (Ab) of the torque ripple compensation value (Tcvb) for each order (m) of the torque ripple based on the electrical angular velocity (¶0038, EQN 1).
Regarding claim 4,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the torque ripple compensation value computation unit (fig. 1, 34) calculates a phase (γ) and the amplitude (Ab) of the torque ripple compensation value (Tcvb) for each order (m) of the torque ripple (¶0038) so as to offset a phase deviation and an amplitude deviation between the torque command value and a torque output of the motor (¶0077-¶0078, performed in 38).
Regarding claim 5,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the torque ripple compensation value computation unit (fig. 1, 34) calculates the torque ripple compensation value (Tcvb) such that the amplitude of the torque ripple compensation value decreases as the electrical angular velocity increases in a case where the electrical angular velocity is equal to or higher than a predetermined reference value (¶0047).
Regarding claim 6,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the ripple amplitude upper limit value calculating unit (Fig. 1, 32) calculates the ripple amplitude upper limit value (Tcmx, ¶0047-¶0048) based on a difference between the torque upper limit value (Tcv) and an absolute value of the torque command value (Tcb, ¶0042, ¶0047-¶0048, adds both Tcv and Tcb and limits amplitude to Tcmx if the added amplitude of Tcf is greater than Tcmx).
Regarding claim 7,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the torque ripple compensation value computation unit (fig. 1, 34) calculates a phase (γ) and the amplitude (Ab) of the torque ripple compensation value (Tcvb) for each order (m) of the torque ripple (¶0038, EQN 1), and the amplitude adjustment unit (38) calculates a maximum amplitude of the torque ripple compensation value (Ka, ¶0054) based on the phase (γ) and the amplitude of the torque ripple compensation value calculated (Ab, Tcvb, ¶0038) for each order (m), determines each of an amplitude-limiting order that is a target of amplitude limitation among the orders and a limited amplitude of the torque ripple compensation value for the amplitude-limiting order such that the maximum amplitude becomes equal to or lower than the ripple amplitude upper limit value (¶0047), and calculates the amplitude-adjusted torque ripple compensation value (Tcv) based on the phase and the limited amplitude of the torque ripple compensation value for the amplitude-limiting order, a phase and an amplitude of the torque ripple compensation value for an order other than the amplitude-limiting order, and a magnetic pole position of the motor (¶0047-¶0049).
Regarding claim 8,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the amplitude adjustment unit (Fig. 1, 38) determines the amplitude-limiting order sequentially from higher to lower orders (¶0043, can perform calculations on different orders than the current order, m).
Regarding claim 9,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the amplitude adjustment unit (Fig. 1, 38) determines the amplitude-limiting order in ascending order of the amplitude of the torque ripple compensation value calculated for each order (¶0043, can perform calculations on different orders than the current order, m).
Regarding claim 10,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the amplitude adjustment unit (Fig. 1, 38) determines the amplitude-limiting order in descending order of a difference from a frequency having a large influence on vibration or noise of the motor (¶0043, can perform calculations on different orders than the current order, m).
Regarding claim 11,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the amplitude adjustment unit (Fig. 1, 38) calculates the amplitude-adjusted torque ripple compensation value (Tcv) such that a maximum amplitude of an output torque of the motor corresponding to the final torque command value in a time domain is minimized (¶0053).
Regarding claim 12,
Saito discloses (Fig. 1):
wherein the torque ripple compensation value computation unit (Fig. 1, 34) calculates a ripple excess amount of the torque ripple compensation value (Tcvb) with respect to a preset residual ripple amount target value for each order of the torque ripple, and the amplitude adjustment unit (38) determines the amplitude- limiting order in ascending order of the ripple excess amount calculated for each order (¶0043, can perform calculations on different orders than the current order, m, ¶0053).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Oka et al. (US 2019/0241214) – torque control of motor
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES S LAUGHLIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7244. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eduardo Colon-Santana can be reached at 571-272-2060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/C.S.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2837 /KAWING CHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
