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
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) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hayashi (JP 2009-101776 A).
Regarding claim 7, Hayashi discloses a turning controller (50) configured to control turning of each wheel in a vehicle having three or more wheels (WFL, WFR, WRL, WRR) which are not mechanically constrained to each other and are turned independently [0023, as shown in Figure 1], the vehicle having turning actuators (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d) for turning each wheel, the turning controller comprising:
at least one processor configured to control a driving current applied to the turning actuators so that a turning angle output by the turning actuators becomes a desired value [0031, 0042]; and
at least one memory storing computer program code [0031], wherein
the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the turning controller to carry out limiting a drive of the turning actuators based on drive limit information, which is information regarding a drive limit of the turning actuators [0025: the turning controller limits the drive of the turning actuators based on a maximum value of the target steering angle; 0041: the turning controller stores in the at least one memory a control program for performing normal steering control and a turn parking assist control].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The primary reason for the indication of allowance of claim 1 is the inclusion of “the turning actuator controllers are configured to: communicate drive limit information, which is information regarding a drive limit of the turning actuator, with each other; and limit a drive of the turning actuator of own unit based on the drive limit information of the own unit and the other units.” Hayashi (JP 2009-101776 A) discloses individual drive circuits (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) that supply the driving current to the turning actuators so that the turning angle output by the turning actuators becomes a desired value. The drive supplied by each drive circuit is necessarily based on the drive output by the own unit and the other units in order to turn the vehicle into the position shown in Figure 4. However, the drive circuits disclosed by Hayashi do not communicate with a drive limit each other. The prior art of record does not disclose, suggest or make obvious to one skilled in the art a plurality of units each associated with a wheel of a vehicle having three or more wheels that are turned independently, where each unit includes a turning actuator and a turning actuator controller, where the turning actuator controllers communicate with each other to limit a drive of the turning actuators.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner
should be directed to JOSHUA CAMPBELL whose telephone number is (571) 272-8215. The examiner
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor,
Lindsay M. Low can be reached on (571) 272-1196. The fax phone number for the organization where
this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSHUA CAMPBELL/
Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/LOGAN M KRAFT/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3747