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 .
2. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant's Communication received on November 18, 2024 for application number 18/950,833. This Office hereby acknowledges receipt of the following and placed of record in file: Specification, Drawings, Abstract, Oath/Declaration, and Claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on November 18, 2024 was submitted in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
4. Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP 2023-222704 filed on December 28, 2023.
Disposition of Claims
Claims 1-8 are pending in this application.
Claims 1-8 are rejected.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by enough structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites enough structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting enough structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting enough structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier.
Such claim limitations are:
“Target steering angle setting unit”, “Steering angle detection unit”, “Trapezoidal screw” and “Energization control unit” in claims 1-8.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by (Fujita – JP 3050060 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Fujita discloses:
A vehicle control device (Vehicle Steering Control System: Fig. 1) comprising:
an electric steering actuator (rear wheel steering actuator 35: Figs. 1-3) configured to generate a steering force for steering a rear wheel (At least one of rear wheels 10RL, 10RR: Fig. 1);
a trapezoidal screw (trapezoidal screw 85: Fig. 3 and [0040, 0067-0069]) configured to convert rotational motion generated based on drive of the steering actuator (rear wheel steering actuator 35: Figs. 1-3) into linear motion in an axial direction for steering the rear wheel (At least one of rear wheels 10RL, 10RR: Fig. 1);
a target steering angle setting unit (θr: target steering angle of the rear wheel: [0005, 0038, 0045, 0048, 0059, 0064]) configured to set a target steering angle of the rear wheel (At least one of rear wheels 10RL, 10RR: Fig. 1) based on steering of a steering wheel (steering wheel 29: Fig. 1) by a driver;
a steering angle detection unit (rear wheel steering angle sensor 60 that detects a rear wheel steering angle: Figs. 1-3 and [0011]) configured to detect a current steering angle of the rear wheel (At least one of rear wheels 10RL, 10RR: Fig. 1); and
an energization control unit (CPU 45a and a ROM 45: Fig. 2 and [0037-0038, 0060, 0069-0070]) configured to control an energized state of the steering actuator (rear wheel steering actuator 35: Figs. 1-3), wherein the energization control unit executes control of alternately switching between an energized state in which a current is supplied to the steering actuator (rear wheel steering actuator 35: Figs. 1-3) and a cut-off state in which the current to the steering actuator (rear wheel steering actuator 35: Figs. 1-3) is cut off, when steering is being performed in a direction away from a neutral and the target steering angle of the rear wheel (At least one of rear wheels 10RL, 10RR: Fig. 1) is different from the current steering angle of the rear wheel (At least one of rear wheels 10RL, 10RR: Fig. 1), and a value of a current supplied to the steering actuator (rear wheel steering actuator 35: Figs. 1-3) in the energized state gradually increases with time ([0037-0038, 0060, 0069-0070]: “When the electric signal is supplied to the electric motor 35a and the rear wheels are steered, the steering angle of the rear wheels is maintained even if the supply of power is stopped thereafter. Even if the power supply is stopped, it does not return to neutral. Accordingly, if the rear wheel steering angle θr is set to the target rear wheel steering angle by the rear wheel steering actuator 35 described above, the energization to the electric motor 35a is stopped” and “If the vehicle travels on a rough road in this state, the rear wheel steering angle θr deviates from the target rear wheel steering angle due to the input from the road surface, so that the electric motor 35a is energized to set the rear wheel steering angle θr to the target rear wheel steering angle. The steering angle must be used. On a bad road compared to a good road, extra power needs to be supplied to the electric motor 35a” and “From 170 to S200, the rear wheel steering angle θr is gradually returned to the neutral position, and thereafter, the energization of the electric motor 35a of the rear wheel steering actuator 35 is stopped, and the rear wheel steering control is prohibited. On the other hand, when the ABS is in the operating state, regardless of whether the road is rough or not, steps S130 to S1 are performed” and “In the rear-wheel steering actuator 35 that is thus returned to the neutral position, a constant voltage value must always be supplied to maintain the rear-wheel steering angle at the target steering angle. In the case of a rear wheel steering device that detects the rear wheel steering angle and feeds back the energized voltage value in order to make the detected rear wheel steering angle the target steering angle, the rear wheel steering angle is held at the target steering angle. When traveling on a rough road in this state, the rear wheel steering angle changes at the moment of input from the road surface, so that the energization voltage value is changed so that the rear wheel steering angle becomes the target steering angle”).
Regarding claim 2, Fujita disclose the vehicle control device according to claim 1, and further on Fujita also discloses:
wherein the energization control unit controls switching between the energized state and the cut-off state based on an accumulative current supplied to the steering actuator ([0005, 0037-0038, 0040, 0059-0060, 0069-0070]).
Regarding claim 3, Fujita disclose the vehicle control device according to claim 2, and further on Fujita also discloses:
wherein the energization control unit alternately switches between the energized state and the cut-off state by repeatedly executing first control of switching from the energized state to the cut-off state at a timing when the accumulative current supplied to the steering actuator after the energized state is started reaches a threshold value, and second control of returning from the cut-off state to the energized state after a predetermined time elapses from when the cut-off state is set ([0005, 0037-0038, 0040, 0059-0060, 0069-0070]).
Regarding claim 4, Fujita disclose the vehicle control device according to claim 3, and further on Fujita also discloses:
wherein when the target steering angle changes over time, the energization control unit sets the predetermined time to be shorter as a change rate of the target steering angle increases ([0005, 0037-0038, 0040, 0059-0060, 0069-0070]).
Regarding claim 5, Fujita disclose the vehicle control device according to claim 1, and further on Fujita also discloses:
wherein the energization control unit executes control such that a change amount of the current supplied to the steering actuator per unit time is less than an upper limit value when switching from the energized state to the cut-off state and when switching from the cut-off state to the energized state ([0005, 0037-0038, 0040, 0059-0060, 0069-0070]).
Regarding claim 6, Fujita disclose the vehicle control device according to claim 2, and further on Fujita also discloses:
wherein the energization control unit executes control such that a change amount of the current supplied to the steering actuator per unit time is less than an upper limit value when switching from the energized state to the cut-off state and when switching from the cut-off state to the energized state ([0005, 0037-0038, 0040, 0059-0060, 0069-0070]).
Regarding claim 7, Fujita disclose the vehicle control device according to claim 3, and further on Fujita also discloses:
wherein the energization control unit executes control such that a change amount of the current supplied to the steering actuator per unit time is less than an upper limit value when switching from the energized state to the cut-off state and when switching from the cut-off state to the energized state ([0005, 0037-0038, 0040, 0059-0060, 0069-0070]).
Regarding claim 8, Fujita disclose the vehicle control device according to claim 4, and further on Fujita also discloses:
wherein the energization control unit executes control such that a change amount of the current supplied to the steering actuator per unit time is less than an upper limit value when switching from the energized state to the cut-off state and when switching from the cut-off state to the energized state ([0005, 0037-0038, 0040, 0059-0060, 0069-0070]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ruben Picon-Feliciano whose telephone number is (571)-272-4938. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday within 11:30 am-7:30 pm ET.
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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/RUBEN PICON-FELICIANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/GRANT MOUBRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747