DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the following communications: Application filed on October 28,2024.
Claims 1-4 are presented for Examination. Claim 1 is independent.
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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: A drive device for coolant circulation through motor, inverter, and battery to control temperature rise.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
In claim 1, the limitations of "wherein the control device controls the inverter such that a d-axis current that flows through the motor is smaller when a temperature of the coolant is less than a first temperature threshold value than when the temperature of the coolant is not less than the first temperature threshold value..." sets forth a comparative limitation ("smaller") without establishing a baseline, standard, or definite measure against which the current magnitude is compared. It is unclear whether "smaller" refers to an instantaneous magnitude, an average value over time, or a predetermined discrete step-down in current value, rendering the claim scope ambiguous to one of ordinary skill in the art under Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc., 572 U.S. 898 (2014); see MPEP § 2173.05(b).
Additionally, the limitation "along with operation of the cooling device" is vague and ambiguous. It is unclear what temporal or operational relationship is required between the inverter control and the operation of the cooling device (e.g., whether the cooling device operates simultaneously, synchronously, sequentially, or merely concurrently in time).
Claim 3 recites "controls the inverter so as to cancel out a difference between the d-axis current and a q-axis current and the d-axis current command and the q-axis current command." This limitation is grammatically convoluted and mathematically ambiguous. It cannot be determined with reasonable certainty whether the control device:Calculates a single lumped difference between the combined actual currents and combined current commands:
Δ=(Id+Iq)−(Id∗+Iq∗)
Cancels a cross-coupled difference between the respective d-axis and q-axis parameters; or Separately cancels the first error difference between the d-axis current and the d-axis current command (ΔId=Id-Id∗) and the second error difference between the q-axis current and the q-axis current command (ΔIq=Iq−Iq∗ ). Because multiple inconsistent interpretations exist, the metes and bounds of the claim cannot be ascertained; see MPEP § 2173.05(e).
In claim 4 the limitations of “the drive device is able to perform external charge..." is recited purely as a statement of capability or intended result without reciting any positive structural cooperation or circuit arrangement (e.g., a charging port, rectifier, relay, or connection interface) required to perform the external charge. Functional claiming of this nature leaves the physical boundaries of the claimed "drive device" indefinite; see MPEP § 2173.05(g).
Appropriate correction is requested.
Since the independent claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) hence the dependent claims of 1 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Allowable Subject Matter
Independent claims would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Dependent claims would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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 MUHAMMAD S ISLAM whose telephone number is (571)272-8439. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am to 6:00pm.
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/MUHAMMAD S ISLAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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