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 .
EXAMINER’S COMMENTS
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Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan on November 08, 2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the JP2023-190667 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Claim(s) 1-6 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipate by Nakanishi et al. (Hereinafter Nakanishi) JP 2011215436 (For examination purports English Machine Translation of Nakanishi would be use as cited reference).
Regarding claim 1, Nakanishi teaches
A sound control (Fig. 1 shows a sound control unit 30) method applied to an electric vehicle using an electric motor as a power unit for traveling (The sound control device of the present embodiment is a device mounted on an electric vehicle that is a vehicle that can be driven by an electric motor (motor)…..Pg. 7, Lines 37-38), the method comprising:
generating an interior sound to be output from a room speaker (Fig. 1 shows a sound output unit 92 (i.e. speaker)) of the electric vehicle (the sound control unit 30 according to the present embodiment includes an in-vehicle virtual engine sound for generating in the vehicle (in the vehicle, in the vehicle interior)…..Pg. 4, Lines 42-43);
estimating an environmental state of the electric vehicle based on at least one of information on driving environment of the electric vehicle and information on surrounding environment of the electric vehicle (The present invention describe that the method uses data from a plurality of sensors to estimate an environmental state of the electric vehicle, that depends on both information on driving environment and information on surrounding environment of the electric vehicle….Pg. 2, Lines 8-15);
determining whether a process condition of the interior sound is satisfied based on the estimated result of the environmental state (Sound is generated and changed differently based on given information (accelerator signal, vehicle travel information such as speed, vehicle position detected by the position detection sensor 64, time, emergency information, etc.) Take control. That is, based on given information, control is performed to change at least one of the volume, tone color, and pitch (pitch) of the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and the in-vehicle virtual engine sound to be different from each other……Pg. 4, Lines 42-Pg. 5, Lines 5); and
processing the interior sound based on information on sound process specification corresponding to the estimated result of the environmental state used for determining the process condition and outputting the processed interior sound from the room speaker when it is determined that the process condition of the interior sound is satisfied (The sound control unit 30 performs control to change the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and the out-of-vehicle virtual engine sound to be different from each other based on the traveling information of the vehicle. As an example, when the vehicle speed is increased to 80 km / h, control is performed to increase the volume of the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and control to decrease the volume of the virtual engine sound for outside the vehicle. In addition, when the vehicle speed is reduced to 20 km / h, control for lowering the volume of the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and control for increasing the volume of the virtual engine sound for outside the vehicle are performed……Pg. 5, Lines 12-18).
Regarding claim 2, Nakanishi teaches
The method according to claim 1, wherein the interior sound generated in the generating of the interior sound includes a pseudo engine sound generated based on operation information of components of the electric vehicle, and wherein the components include a gas pedal, a pseudo clutch pedal, and a pseudo shift lever (The engine simulation unit 20 performs processing (simulation calculation) for simulating the operation of the virtual vehicle constituent member. For example, the engine simulation unit 20 simulates the operation of virtual vehicle components such as a virtual engine, a virtual shift lever, a virtual clutch pedal, and a virtual accelerator pedal…..Pg. 3, Lines 32-35).
Regarding claim 3, Nakanishi teaches
The method according to claim 1, wherein the interior sound generated in the generating of the interior sound includes a pseudo engine sound generated based on operation information of components of the electric vehicle, and wherein the components include a gas pedal and pseudo shift paddles (The engine simulation unit 20 performs processing (simulation calculation) for simulating the operation of the virtual vehicle constituent member. For example, the engine simulation unit 20 simulates the operation of virtual vehicle components such as a virtual engine, a virtual shift lever, a virtual clutch pedal, and a virtual accelerator pedal…..Pg. 3, Lines 32-35).
Regarding claim 4, Nakanishi teaches
The method according to claim 1, wherein: the process condition of the interior sound includes that a visibility of the electric vehicle is low (the emergency information detection sensor 65 may detect a pedestrian as emergency information by a night vision device (night vision, nocto vision) capable of confirming the pedestrian when traveling in the dark…..Pg. 7, Lines 26-28); and when the estimated result of the environmental state is the low visibility of the electric vehicle, the sound process specification includes processing for reducing sound pressure of the interior sound (when emergency information is detected by the emergency information detection sensor 65, the sound control unit 30 performs control to change the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and the in-vehicle virtual engine sound to be different from each other….Pg. 5, Lines 33-35).
Regarding claim 5, Nakanishi teaches
The method according to claim 1, wherein: the interior sound generated in the generating of the interior sound includes a pseudo engine sound generated based on operation information of components of the electric vehicle(The engine simulation unit 20 performs processing (simulation calculation) for simulating the operation of the virtual vehicle constituent member. For example, the engine simulation unit 20 simulates the operation of virtual vehicle components such as a virtual engine, a virtual shift lever, a virtual clutch pedal, and a virtual accelerator pedal…..Pg. 3, Lines 32-35); the components include a gas pedal (a virtual accelerator pedal…..Pg. 3, Lines 32-35); the process condition of the interior sound includes that a traveling road surface of the electric vehicle is poor (he emergency information detection sensor 65 may detect, as emergency information, that the vehicle has deviated from the lane by a lane departure warning system…….Pg. 7, Lines 28-29); and when the estimated result of the environmental state is the poor traveling road surface, the sound process specification includes processing for delaying an output timing of the pseudo engine sound from the room speaker, which is caused to perform vertical motion in response to a change in accelerator position, as compared to an output timing of the pseudo engine sound from the room speaker when the estimated result of the environmental state is not the poor traveling road surface (the virtual accelerator pedal is depressed at the time t2. Is a series of instructions to switch the gear ratio of the virtual shift lever from the first speed to the second speed at time t3, depress the virtual accelerator pedal at time t4, and release the virtual clutch pedal at time t5. In this embodiment, a sound effect is determined based on such virtual operation data, and a timing for adding the sound effect to the virtual engine sound is determined based on the virtual operation data. Then, based on the traveling information of the electric vehicle and the command indicated in the virtual operation data A, the engine speed of the virtual engine is calculated…..Pg. 12, Lines 15-21).
Regarding claim 6, Nakanishi teaches
The method according to claim 1, wherein: the process condition of the interior sound includes a detection of a moving object around the electric vehicle; and when the estimated result of the environmental state is the detection of the moving object (night vision, nocto vision) capable of confirming the pedestrian when traveling in the dark…..Pg. 7, Lines 26-28), the sound process specification includes processing for reducing sound pressure of the interior sound (when emergency information is detected by the emergency information detection sensor 65, the sound control unit 30 performs control to change the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and the in-vehicle virtual engine sound to be different from each other….Pg. 5, Lines 33-35).
Regarding claim 19, Nakanishi teaches
A sound control device (Fig. 1 shows a sound control unit 30) applied to an electric vehicle using an electric motor as a power unit for traveling (The sound control device of the present embodiment is a device mounted on an electric vehicle that is a vehicle that can be driven by an electric motor (motor)…..Pg. 7, Lines 37-38), comprising:
one or more memory devices (Fig. 1 shows a storage unit 70) configured to store information on driving environment of the electric vehicle, information on surrounding environment of the electric vehicle, and information indicating a correspondence between a specific environmental state of the electric vehicle and a sound process specification (The virtual operation control unit 23 selects any one of the plurality of virtual operation data stored in the virtual operation data storage unit 74 when changing the gear ratio of the virtual engine (shifting). Perform the process. The engine rotation control unit 21 performs a process of calculating the engine speed based on the selected virtual operation data and vehicle travel information……Pg. 4, Lines 28-31); and
one or more processors (Fig. 1 shows a processing unit 10) configured to perform various processing, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
generate an interior sound to be output from a room speaker of the electric vehicle (Fig. 1 shows a sound output unit 92 (i.e. speaker)) of the electric vehicle (the sound control unit 30 according to the present embodiment includes an in-vehicle virtual engine sound for generating in the vehicle (in the vehicle, in the vehicle interior)…..Pg. 4, Lines 42-43);
estimate an environmental state of the electric vehicle based on at least one of information on driving environment of the electric vehicle and information on surrounding environment of the electric vehicle (The present invention describe that the method uses data from a plurality of sensors to estimate an environmental state of the electric vehicle, that depends on both information on driving environment and information on surrounding environment of the electric vehicle….Pg. 2, Lines 8-15);
determine whether a process condition of the interior sound is satisfied based on the estimated result of the environmental state (Sound is generated and changed differently based on given information (accelerator signal, vehicle travel information such as speed, vehicle position detected by the position detection sensor 64, time, emergency information, etc.) Take control. That is, based on given information, control is performed to change at least one of the volume, tone color, and pitch (pitch) of the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and the in-vehicle virtual engine sound to be different from each other……Pg. 4, Lines 42-Pg. 5, Lines 5); and
process the interior sound based on information on sound process specification corresponding to the estimated result of the environmental state used for the determination of the process condition and output the interior sound to the room speaker when it is determined that the process condition of the interior sound is satisfied (The sound control unit 30 performs control to change the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and the out-of-vehicle virtual engine sound to be different from each other based on the traveling information of the vehicle. As an example, when the vehicle speed is increased to 80 km / h, control is performed to increase the volume of the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and control to decrease the volume of the virtual engine sound for outside the vehicle. In addition, when the vehicle speed is reduced to 20 km / h, control for lowering the volume of the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and control for increasing the volume of the virtual engine sound for outside the vehicle are performed……Pg. 5, Lines 12-18).
Regarding claim 20, Nakanishi teaches
An electric vehicle using an electric motor as a power unit for traveling (The sound control device of the present embodiment is a device mounted on an electric vehicle that is a vehicle that can be driven by an electric motor (motor)…..Pg. 7, Lines 37-38), comprising:
a room speaker (Fig. 1 shows a sound output unit 92 (i.e. speaker));
one or more memory devices (Fig. 1 shows a storage unit 70) configured to store information on driving environment of the electric vehicle, information on surrounding environment of the electric vehicle, and information indicating a correspondence between a specific environmental state of the electric vehicle and a sound process specification (Sound is generated and changed differently based on given information (accelerator signal, vehicle travel information such as speed, vehicle position detected by the position detection sensor 64, time, emergency information, etc.) Take control. That is, based on given information, control is performed to change at least one of the volume, tone color, and pitch (pitch) of the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and the in-vehicle virtual engine sound to be different from each other……Pg. 4, Lines 42-Pg. 5, Lines 5); and
one or more processors (Fig. 1 shows a processing unit 10) configured to perform various processing, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
generate an interior sound to be output from the room speaker (the sound control unit 30 according to the present embodiment includes an in-vehicle virtual engine sound for generating in the vehicle (in the vehicle, in the vehicle interior)…..Pg. 4, Lines 42-43);
estimate an environmental state of the electric vehicle based on at least one of information on driving environment of the electric vehicle and information on surrounding environment of the electric vehicle; determine whether a process condition of the interior sound is satisfied based on the estimated result of the environmental state (The present invention describe that the method uses data from a plurality of sensors to estimate an environmental state of the electric vehicle, that depends on both information on driving environment and information on surrounding environment of the electric vehicle….Pg. 2, Lines 8-15); and
process the interior sound based on information on sound process specification corresponding to the estimated result of the environmental state used for the determination of the process condition and output the interior sound to the room speaker when it is determined that the process condition of the interior sound is satisfied (The sound control unit 30 performs control to change the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and the out-of-vehicle virtual engine sound to be different from each other based on the traveling information of the vehicle. As an example, when the vehicle speed is increased to 80 km / h, control is performed to increase the volume of the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and control to decrease the volume of the virtual engine sound for outside the vehicle. In addition, when the vehicle speed is reduced to 20 km / h, control for lowering the volume of the in-vehicle virtual engine sound and control for increasing the volume of the virtual engine sound for outside the vehicle are performed……Pg. 5, Lines 12-18).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Regarding claims 7-18 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.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Hara et al., JP 2014240239, Artificial Engine Sound Control Device, Artificial Engine Sound Control System Using The Same, Movable Body Device, And Control Method Of Artificial Engine Sound, the present invention relates an artificial engine sound control device which suppresses generation of unnatural artificial engine sound by adding traveling environments such as a road surface condition and weather.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELICA M MCKINNEY whose telephone number is (571)270-3321. The examiner can normally be reached 7AM-3PM EST M-F. 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, Fan Tsang can be reached on (571)-272-7574. 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.
/ANGELICA M MCKINNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2694
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