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 .
Claims
Claims 1-5 are pending in the application.
Priority Document Not Received Yet
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan on 9/28/2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the JP 2023-167706 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55. An attempt was made by the USPTO on 02/28/2025 to electronically retrieve a copy but the attempt failed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: Fig. 6 contains the terms “5F” and “5R” which do not seem to be in the specification.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Interpretation
The claims refer to “a rim”. This is assumed to mean the outer part of a steering wheel, not necessarily containing the center part of the steering wheel in the middle where the steering column and the horn are attached.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0163700 (Chang et al., hence Chang) in light of Wikipedia “Artificial Muscles” (attached as NPL-Wiki-artificial-muscles.pdf, henceforth “Artificial”). in light of “How it’s Made – Steering Wheels” (attached as NPL-Egglezos.pdf, henceforth “Egglezos”), and in light of Wikipedia “Steering Wheel” (attached as NPL-Wiki-steering-wheel.pdf, henceforth “Steering”)
As for claim 1, Chang teaches a steering wheel comprising a rim configured to be gripped by a driver (Figs. 6, 7), the rim comprising:
a surface layer that covers the core (Chang: Figs. 2A, 2B, also [0017] for the layer covering the core (steering wheel); see below for 111 being the surface layer) the rim comprising a first region, the first region being disposed along all or a part of a circumference of the rim (Figs. 2A, 2B) and comprising an artificial muscle layer, the artificial muscle layer being disposed between the core and the surface. (Chang: "In the meantime, at least one of the flexible actuator for the curved surfaces may be applied to a steering wheel."[0017]. Also see Fig. 3, where 111 is an electroactive polymer layer and can be considered part of the “artificial muscle” but can also be considered the surface under a Broadest Reasonable Interpretation. That constructions involving electroactive polymers are considered artificial muscles, see Artificial, section “Types” covering artificial muscles activated through electric field activation) and thus would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.), and configured to expand and contract by energization. ("an actuator using an electroactive polymer (EAP) has been used. The electroactive polymer is a polymer capable of repeatedly perform expansion, contraction, and bending in response to electrical stimulation." [0004])
Chang doesn’t specifically teach a separate surface layer on top of the artificial muscle layer, but adding a separate protective layer on the outer surface of a steering wheel is known in the art (See Egglezos 4:48-4:51 for mentioning a leather wrapping on higher end vehicles; also see Steering “Other designs”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the application to use a separate outside protective layer as explained in Egglezos and in Steering on the outside of the curved electroactive polymer actuator structure of Chang which is in its turn on the outside of a steering wheel. The motivation is to protect the main body of the steering wheel.
As for claim 2, Chang, in light of Egglezos, in light of Steering, and in light of Artificial, teaches wherein the artificial muscle layer comprises:
a first electrode (Chang: electrode 103, see [0037] and Fig. 3);
a dielectric configured to expand and contract by the energization (Chang: dielectric field 102 0037] and Fig.3);
and a second electrode (Chang: flexible electrode 112, see [0039] and Fig. 3), the first region comprises the first electrode, the dielectric, the second electrode, and the surface layer (Chang: under BRI the surface layer can be 111, see Fig. 3; Egglezos or Steering: Otherwise a separate protective layer is known in the art, see Egglezos or Steering from claim 1) stacked in order around the core (Chang: See Fig. 1 and [0017]. The curvature of the flexible actuator shown in Fig.1 is to assist in matching the curvature of the steering wheel, as is shown mounted in the cross-section shown in Fig. 6A. [0060] Note that the order of the layers shown in Fig.1 are in the same order as mentioned in claim 2. Also that substrate 101 is the side made to conform with the surface of the steering wheel, see [0061])
As for claim 3, Chang, in light of Egglezos, in light of Steering, and in light of Artificial, teaches wherein expanding and contracting the dielectric by the energization causes a change in at least a thickness of the artificial muscle layer. (Chang: Thus, a movement of contacting with the flexible electrode layer 112 and the electrode 103 spreads from the center portion in which the distance between the flexible electrode layer 112 and the electrode 103 is relatively smaller. As the electroactive polymer composite film 110 and the electrode 103 are brought into contact by strong electrostatic attraction in the center portion, the dielectric fluid 102 present therebetween is pushed toward the peripheral portions, changing the physical shape."[0043].)
As for claim 5, Chang teaches an information presenter configured to present predetermined information to a driver who drives a vehicle, by using a steering wheel (Chang: "In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, when the flexible actuator 100 is applied to the steering wheel 401, the flexible actuator 100 may generate vibration signals conveying various types of information, such as a warning, guidance, or direction, to the user."[0061]), the steering wheel comprising
a rim configured to be gripped by the driver (Chang: Fig. 6B), and the information presenter comprising: the steering wheel (Chang: shown in Fig. 6B);
and one or more processors (Chang: Fig. 6B shows control circuit 1000, which contains a microcontroller 1004 [0053], which in turn contains a processor [0053]), the steering wheel comprising:
a surface layer that covers [a] core (Figs. 2A, 2B, also [0017] for the layer covering the core (interpreted here as the basic steering wheel));
and an artificial muscle layer (Chang: [0037]) disposed between the core and the surface layer in a first region, the first region being disposed along all or a part of a circumference of the rim (see Fig. 6B, description in 0061]), and the artificial muscle layer being configured to expand and contract by energization (Chang: [0056]), the one or more processors being configured to control the energization of the artificial muscle layer (Chang: [0052]-[0056]), wherein the one or more processors are configured to control the energization of the artificial muscle layer to change tactile sensation of the rim to be perceived by the driver (Chang: [0051]-[0056]), to present the predetermined information to the driver. (Chang: [0061])
Chang doesn’t specifically teach a separate surface layer on top of the artificial muscle layer, but adding a separate protective layer on the outer surface of a steering wheel is known in the art (See Egglezos 4:48-4:51 for mentioning a leather wrapping on higher end vehicles; also see Steering “Other designs”). The motivation is, obviously, to protect the main body of the steering wheel.
Neither does Chang specifically teach a core that serves as a frame of the rim, but this is known in the art. See Egglezos (entire video which shows the construction of a modern steering wheel for a vehicle. The “core” can be the aluminum armature (Minutes 0:42-1:27) covered with the foam injection molding.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the application to use the “core” of an aluminum armature covered with foam injection molding as outlined in Egglezos to act as the underlying “steering wheel” of Chang on which the curved electroactive polymer actuator structure is attached to. The motivation would be to incorporate the already known technology of a standard steering wheel.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TANYA CHRISTINE SIENKO whose telephone number is (571)272-5816. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00-5:00.
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/TANYA C SIENKO/Examiner, Art Unit 3664
/KITO R ROBINSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664