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 .
Status of Claims
Pending
1-20
102
1-7, and 11-17
Response to Amendment
This office action is responsive to the amendment filed on 06April2026. As directed by the amendment: claims 1-2, 6-7, 9-12, 16-17, and 19-20 has (have) been amended, no claims has/have been cancelled, and no new claims has/have been added. Thus, claims 1-20 are presently pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 06April2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In regards to the applicant’s argument that Ravichandran does not disclose torque of the front wheel and rear wheel drive system sequentially passing through a backlash band , see arguments page 12, the examiner respectfully disagrees. In [0037] Ravichandran discloses the front and rear motor torques are shaped such that each axle enters lash sequentially, see updated rejection below.
The amendments to the claims affected the prior scope thereby necessitating further search and consideration. The instant office action has been made FINAL.
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) 1-7, and 11-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ravichandran US 20230241983.
Ravichandran discloses,
Claim(s) 1 and 11; A torque control system for a drive system of an electric vehicle, the torque control system comprising: a controller(12) that generates a front-wheel torque command and a rear-wheel torque command having torque values distributed from a required torque for electric vehicle driving([0028] Controller 12 may comprise a portion of a control system 14, [0027] 14 communicates with a 102 and 106 which are motors associated with the front and rear axle gear train); a front-wheel motor(102) operatively connected to the controller([0027] Control system 14 may communicate with 102), wherein operation of the front-wheel motor is controlled according to the front-wheel torque command generated and output by the controller([0025] electric motors 102, 106 may have independently controlled torque and/or power and/or speed, [0027] Control system 14 may communicate with one or more of electric motor 102, front axle gear train 118, electric motor 106, and rear axle gear train 120); and a rear-wheel motor(106) operatively connected to the controller([0027] Control system 14 may communicate with 106), wherein operation of the rear-wheel motor is controlled according to the rear-wheel torque command generated and output by the controller([0025] electric motors 102, 106 may have independently controlled torque and/or power and/or speed, [0027] Control system 14 may communicate with one or more of electric motor 102, front axle gear train 118, electric motor 106, and rear axle gear train 120), wherein the controller determines whether there is a change request of a direction of the required torque for the electric vehicle driving([0027] Control system 14 may receive an indication of an operator requested output (e.g., torque increase, decrease) of the drivetrain system from a human operator, or an autonomous controller), and determines, in response that the controller concludes that there is the change request of the direction of the required torque([0029] Discloses a drivers need to reverse torque and what happens when torque is reversed), the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command determined from the required torque as values for sequential zero-crossing while the required torque determined in real time changes while performing zero-crossing of passing through 0 torque for direction change([0059] As one example, during a tip-in, torque shaping and coordination may be based on whether the torque reversal requires the front and rear motor to cross the zero-torque point. If both motors will cross the zero torque point, the motor transition sequence may be based on torque capacity and driver tip-in magnitude), wherein, while one of the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command is passing through a backlash band, the controller performs torque compensation control on another of the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command, thereby allowing a torque sum of the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command to constantly satisfy the required torque([0037] At 210, the front and rear motor torques are shaped such that each axle enters lash sequentially and when one of the axles is traversing lash, the ramp-rate of the motor of the other axle increases above the torque command for a duration to compensate for the lash crossing, [0050] also discloses the sum torques of the front and rear motors is equal to the total negative torque demand. For example, if the filtered wheel torque demand is −100 pound-feet, the controller may reduce the torque generated by a first motor to 5 lb-ft and reduce the torque generated by a second motor to −105 lb-ft).
Claim(s) 2 and 12; Wherein the controller determines the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command determined from the required torque while the required torque changes, as values so that the torque sum of the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command satisfies the required torque([0127] Front wheels propulsive torque plot 1410 shows an allocation of driver demand 1438 and total rear wheels propulsive torque 1440. Total propulsive torque is equal to the sum of the total rear wheels propulsive torque and the front wheels propulsive torque).
Claim(s) 3 and 13; Wherein the controller performs torque correction for limiting a change rate of the front-wheel torque command to a preset first maximum allowable change rate in the zero-crossing of the front-wheel torque command, and performs torque correction for limiting a change rate of the rear-wheel torque command to a preset second maximum allowable change rate in the zero-crossing of the rear-wheel torque command([0040] first controller 222 controls a speed of lash transition for the first axle, a second controller 228 controls the speed of lash transition for the second axle, first and second controllers control a rate of change of torque through the axle lash based sensor feedback from torque sensors).
Claim(s) 4 and 14; Wherein the controller performs, while performing the torque correction for limiting the change rate of the front-wheel torque command to the preset first maximum allowable change rate, torque compensation for the rear-wheel torque command distributed from the required torque so that a sum of the front-wheel torque command, the change rate of which is limited, and the rear-wheel torque command distributed from the required torque satisfies the required torque([0127] In the example plot 1404, shaped rear motor torque 1424 traverse the zero torque point with shaping 1422, after which shaped rear motor torque 1424 increases to the allocation of driver demand 1418, Total propulsive torque is equal to the sum of the total rear wheels propulsive torque and the front wheels propulsive torque).
Claim(s) 5 and 15; Wherein the controller performs, while performing the torque correction for limiting the change rate of the rear-wheel torque command to the preset second maximum allowable change rate, torque compensation for the front-wheel torque command distributed from the required torque so that a sum of the rear-wheel torque command, the change rate of which is limited, and the front-wheel torque command distributed from the required torque satisfies the required torque([0127] Front wheels propulsive torque plot 1410 shows an allocation of driver demand 1438 and total rear wheels propulsive torque 1440, Total propulsive torque is equal to the sum of the total rear wheels propulsive torque and the front wheels propulsive torque).
Claim(s) 6 and 16; Wherein, in the zero-crossing of one of the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command, the controller performs torque correction for limiting a change rate of the one of the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command of the zero-crossing to a preset change rate([0040] first controller 222 controls a speed of lash transition for the first axle, a second controller 228 controls the speed of lash transition for the second axle, first and second controllers control a rate of change of torque through the axle lash based sensor feedback from torque sensors), determines a torque correction value based on a backlash estimation value of the drive system where the one of the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command performs the zero-crossing([0041] The system filters and shapes wheel torque demand using front and rear axle parameters, motor speeds and wheel speeds to estimate lash states, and, in response to a torque reversal, coordinates sequential axle lash crossings including clunk and shuffle-minimizing adjustments), and performs torque compensation for compensating for the determined torque correction value with respect to another of the one of the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command without performing the zero-crossing([0041] The motor of the first axle to cross the lash may provide compensatory torque during the traverse of the other axle lash. The system may monitor and adjust speed of the lash crossing for each axle using feedback control).
Claim(s) 7 and 17; Wherein the backlash estimation value is at least one of a backlash speed estimation value of the drive system where the one of the one of the front-wheel torque command and the rear-wheel torque command performs the zero-crossing or a backlash acceleration estimation value of the drive system where the torque command performs the zero-crossing([0055] During the estimation, driveline parameters, motor speeds and torques, and wheel speeds may be considered at 412).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 8-10, and 18-20 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
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/John C Merino/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/Erin M Piateski/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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