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 Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: starting at line 7 of claim 6 “when the steering position during driving of the vehicle is in the neutral position, the length of the first portion extending toward the ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke differs from the length of the second portion extending toward the floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke” is duplicative language from the dependent claim 3 and should be removed. Furthermore, starting at line 12 of claim 6 “each grip in the pair of grips is rotatable to an orientation in which the short portion is positioned toward the rear of the vehicle relative to the spoke and the long portion is positioned toward the front of the vehicle relative to the spoke when the vehicle is parked, the short portion being the shorter of the first portion and the second portion, the long portion being the longer of the first portion and the second portion” is duplicative language from the dependent claim 4 and should be removed. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim (KR Patent Publication KR 20140118183 A).
With regards to Claim 1: Kim teaches a vehicle steering apparatus comprising: a spoke (110) of a steering wheel of a vehicle; and a pair of grips (121 and 122), one of which is disposed on a left portion (121) of the spoke and another of which is disposed on a right portion (122) of the spoke, each shaped in an arc, wherein the pair of grips are rotatable relative to the spoke (via 131 and 132 in Fig 5b).
With regards to Claim 2: Kim teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of grips (121 and 122) are separated and independently rotatable on the left portion and the right portion of the spoke (110).
Claims 1-2 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bowen (WIPO Patent Publication WO 2020095020 A1).
With regards to Claim 1: Bowen teaches a vehicle steering apparatus comprising: a spoke (24) of a steering wheel of a vehicle; and a pair of grips (26), one of which is disposed on a left portion (26 on the left side of Fig 4) of the spoke and another of which is disposed on a right portion (26 on the right side of Fig 4) of the spoke, each shaped in an arc, wherein the pair of grips are rotatable relative to the spoke (via Fig 4).
With regards to Claim 2: Bowen teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of grips (26) are separated and independently rotatable on the left portion and the right portion of the spoke (24).
With regards to Claim 20: Bowen teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a user input interface (50 and/or 52), provided on at least one end portion of the pair of grips (26), operable by a driver to make an input.
Claims 1 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al (CN Patent CN 116118848 A).
With regards to Claim 1: Wang et al teaches a vehicle steering apparatus comprising: a spoke (100) of a steering wheel of a vehicle; and a pair of grips (200), one of which is disposed on a left portion (200 on left side of Fig 1) of the spoke and another of which is disposed on a right portion (200 on right side of Fig 1) of the spoke, each shaped in an arc, wherein the pair of grips are rotatable relative to the spoke.
With regards to Claim 20: Wang et al teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a user input interface (221 and/or 222), provided on at least one end portion of the pair of grips (200), operable by a driver to make an input.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Monnier (FR Patent FR 2861657 A1).
With regards to Claim 1: Monnier teaches a vehicle steering apparatus comprising: a spoke (3) of a steering wheel of a vehicle; and a pair of grips (1 and 2), one of which is disposed on a left portion (1) of the spoke and another of which is disposed on a right portion (2) of the spoke, each shaped in an arc, wherein the pair of grips are rotatable relative to the spoke (via Fig 1).
Claims 1 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by He et al (CN Patent CN 115366979 A).
With regards to Claim 1: He et al teaches a vehicle steering apparatus comprising: a spoke (1) of a steering wheel of a vehicle; and a pair of grips (2L and 2R in Annotated Fig 3 below), one of which is disposed on a left portion (2L) of the spoke and another of which is disposed on a right portion (2R) of the spoke, each shaped in an arc, wherein the pair of grips are rotatable relative to the spoke (about 16).
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Annotated He Fig 3
With regards to Claim 11: He et al teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of grips (2L and 2R in Annotated Fig 3 above) are configured as a steering wheel characterized by one of corresponding ends of the pair of grips being integrally connected, and the steering wheel is rotatable to position a connecting portion (2C in Annotated Fig 3 above) of the steering wheel connecting the pair of grips toward a front of the vehicle relative to the spoke (1) when the vehicle is parked (via Fig 2).
With regards to Claim 12: He et al teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 11, wherein when a driver enters or exits the vehicle, the connecting portion (2C in Annotated Fig 3 above) of the steering wheel is positioned toward a ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke (1, via Fig 1).
With regards to Claim 13: He et al teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising: a third actuator (11) that rotates the steering wheel; and a controller (8) electrically connected to the third actuator, wherein the controller: controls the third actuator to position the connecting portion of the steering wheel toward a floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke when the driver is manually driving the vehicle; controls the third actuator to position the connecting portion (2C in Annotated Fig 3 above) of the steering wheel toward a front of the vehicle relative to the spoke (via Fig 2) when the vehicle is driving autonomously; and controls the third actuator to position the connecting portion of the steering wheel toward a ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke (via Fig 1) when the driver enters or exits the vehicle.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (KR Patent Publication KR 20140118183 A) in view of Kreutz (DE Patent Publication DE 102016115466 B4).
With regards to Claim 3: Kim teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 2, but does not teach in each grip in the pair of grips (121 and 122), when a steering position during driving of the vehicle by a driver is in a neutral position, a length of a first portion extending toward a ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke (100) differs from a length of a second portion extending toward a floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke.
Kreutz teaches a vehicle steering apparatus comprising: a spoke (7) of a steering wheel of a vehicle; and a pair of grips (8 and 9), one of which is disposed on a left portion (8) of the spoke and another of which is disposed on a right portion (9) of the spoke, each shaped in an arc, wherein the pair of grips are rotatable relative to the spoke (about 2) and when a steering position during driving of the vehicle by a driver is in a neutral position, a length of a first portion (top portions of 8 and 9 in Fig 2) extending toward a ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke differs from a length of a second portion (bottom portions of 8 and 9 in Fig 2) extending toward a floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the vehicle steering apparatus disclosed in Kim with the length of a first portion of the grips extending toward a ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke differs from a length of a second portion of the grips extending toward a floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke taught in Kreutz with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have allowed for a comfortable grip as taught by Kreutz (page 6 para 1).
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bowen (WIPO Patent Publication WO 2020095020 A1) in view of Kreutz (DE Patent Publication DE 102016115466 B4).
With regards to Claim 3: Bowen teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 2, but does not teach in each grip in the pair of grips (26), when a steering position during driving of the vehicle by a driver is in a neutral position, a length of a first portion extending toward a ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke (24) differs from a length of a second portion extending toward a floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke.
Kreutz teaches a vehicle steering apparatus comprising: a spoke (7) of a steering wheel of a vehicle; and a pair of grips (8 and 9), one of which is disposed on a left portion (8) of the spoke and another of which is disposed on a right portion (9) of the spoke, each shaped in an arc, wherein the pair of grips are rotatable relative to the spoke (about 2) and when a steering position during driving of the vehicle by a driver is in a neutral position, a length of a first portion (top portions of 8 and 9 in Fig 2) extending toward a ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke differs from a length of a second portion (bottom portions of 8 and 9 in Fig 2) extending toward a floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the vehicle steering apparatus disclosed in Bowen with the length of a first portion of the grips extending toward a ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke differs from a length of a second portion of the grips extending toward a floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke. taught in Kreutz with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have allowed for a comfortable grip as taught by Kreutz (page 6 para 1).
With regards to Claim 4: The combination of Bowen and Kreutz et al teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each grip in the pair of grips (Bowen 26) is rotatable to an orientation in which a short portion is positioned toward a rear of the vehicle relative to the spoke (per Figs 2 and 7) and a long portion is positioned toward a front of the vehicle relative to the spoke when the vehicle is parked (per Figs 2 and 7), the short portion being a shorter of the first portion and the second portion, the long portion being a longer of the first portion and the second portion.
With regards to Claim 5: The combination of Bowen and Kreutz et al teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the pair of grips (Bowen 26) are independently rotatable, and a grip among the pair of grips that is adjacent to a door, of the vehicle, that is adjacent to the vehicle steering apparatus, is placed in an orientation in which the long portion (per Kreutz top portion) extends toward the ceiling of the vehicle and the short portion (per Kreutz bottom portion) extends toward the floor of the vehicle when the driver enters or exits the vehicle.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al (CN Patent CN 115366979 A) in view of Bertrand (FR Patent FR 2779695 A1).
With regards to Claim 14: He et al teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 13, but does not teach a table storable in a column cover (instrument panel) that covers a bottom of a steering column; and a fourth actuator that actuates the table to move the table from the steering column toward a rear of the vehicle, and actuates the table to move the table toward the front of the vehicle to store the table in the column cover, wherein the controller (8): controls the fourth actuator to move the table from the steering column toward the rear of the vehicle when the vehicle is parked; and controls the fourth actuator to move the table toward the front of the vehicle to store the table in the column cover during driving or when the driver enters or exits the vehicle.
Bertrand teaches a vehicle steering apparatus comprising: a spoke (3) of a steering wheel of a vehicle; and a pair of grips (2a and 2b), each shaped in an arc, wherein the pair of grips are rotatable relative to the spoke (via Fig 3) further comprising: a table (9a) storable in a column cover (1) that covers a bottom of a steering column; and an actuator (14b) that actuates the table to move the table from the steering column toward a rear of the vehicle, and actuates the table to move the table toward the front of the vehicle to store the table in the column cover, wherein the controller: controls the actuator to move the table from the steering column toward the rear of the vehicle when the vehicle is not being manually driven such as when the vehicle is parked (via Fig 6); and controls the actuator to move the table toward the front of the vehicle to store the table in the column cover during driving or when the driver enters or exits the vehicle (via Fig 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the vehicle steering apparatus disclosed in He et al with the table and actuator taught in Bertrand with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have allowed the passenger to perform various other activities when not actively driving the vehicle.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al (CN Patent CN 115366979 A) in view of Huang et al (WIPO Patent Publication WO 2023031889 A2)
With regards to Claim 19: He et al teaches the vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising: the controller (He 8) controls the third actuator (He 11) to place the steering wheel in an orientation in which the connecting portion is positioned toward the floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke (via He Fig 1), and, the controller controls the third actuator to place the steering wheel in an orientation in which the connecting portion is positioned toward the front of the vehicle relative to the spoke (via He Fig 2).
He et al does not teach a detector that detects coupling between a tongue of a seat belt provided in the vehicle and a buckle provided for a seat of the driver, the detector being electrically connected to the controller.
Huang et al teaches a vehicle steering apparatus comprising: a detector that detects coupling between a tongue of a seat belt provided in the vehicle and a buckle provided for a seat of the driver (page 22 lines 26-34 and page 23 lines 1-9), the detector being electrically connected to the controller (130), wherein when the detector detects the coupling between the tongue and the buckle, the controller controls an actuator (113) to place the steering wheel (101) in an orientation in which the connecting portion (bottom 112 of Fig 3) is positioned toward the floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke (via Fig 14), and when the detector detects decoupling between the tongue and the buckle, the controller controls the actuator to place the steering wheel in an orientation in which the connecting portion is positioned toward the front of the vehicle relative to the spoke (via Fig 13).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the vehicle steering apparatus disclosed in He et al with the seat belt detector being electrically connected to the controller taught in Huang et al with a reasonable expectation of success because it would have allowed the passenger ingress and egress from the vehicle without being hindered by the steering assembly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 and 15-18 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.
With regards to Claim 6, the prior art of record neither shows nor teaches a vehicle steering apparatus as claimed comprising, in combination with the recited limitations: a pair of first actuators that rotate the pair of grips; and a controller electrically connected to the pair of first actuators, wherein in each grip in the pair of grips, when the steering position during driving of the vehicle is in the neutral position, the length of the first portion extending toward the ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke differs from the length of the second portion extending toward the floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke, and the controller: controls the pair of first actuators to place each grip in the pair of grips in an orientation in which one of the long portion or the short portion extends toward the ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke when the vehicle is being driven manually, controls the pair of first actuators to place each grip in the pair of grips in an orientation in which the short portion extends toward the rear of the vehicle relative to the spoke and the long portion extends toward the front of the vehicle relative to the spoke when the vehicle is parked or the vehicle is driving autonomously, and controls the pair of first actuators to place the grip that is adjacent to the door adjacent to the vehicle steering apparatus in an orientation in which the long portion extends toward the ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke and the short portion extends toward the floor of the vehicle relative to the spoke when the driver enters or exits the vehicle.
With regards to Claim 8, the prior art of record neither shows nor teaches a vehicle steering apparatus as claimed comprising, in combination with the recited limitations: a pair of position sensors that detect rotational positions of the pair of grips; and a controller electrically connected to the pair of position sensors, wherein each of the pair of grips is manually rotatable, and the controller: is electrically connected to the pair of position sensors; outputs a ready-to-drive signal when the controller determines, based on the rotational positions of the pair of grips detected by the pair of position sensors, that each grip in the pair of grips is in an orientation in which one of the long portion or the short portion extends toward the ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke; outputs a parked signal when the controller determines, based on the rotational positions of the pair of grips detected by the pair of position sensors, and outputs a door unlock authorization signal.
With regards to Claim 15, the prior art of record neither shows nor teaches a vehicle steering apparatus as claimed comprising, in combination with the recited limitations: the controller outputs a door unlock authorization signal when the controller determines, based on the rotational position of the steering wheel detected by the position sensor, that the steering wheel is in an orientation in which the connecting portion is positioned toward the ceiling of the vehicle relative to the spoke.
It would not lead to compact prosecution to make a combination of the prior art without impermissible hindsight or destroying the primary reference.
Conclusion
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/MATTHEW JOSEPH GANCI/Examiner, Art Unit 3614
/JASON D SHANSKE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3614