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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
This action is in response to applicant’s filing on December 04, 2024. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by O’Rourke, US 2022/0203828 A1.
Regarding claim 1, O’Rourke teaches a drive system torque control apparatus of an electric vehicle comprising:
a controller configured to determine and generate torque commands to apply a driving torque to rear wheels to control the electric vehicle in a drift driving state, based on a demand torque for vehicle driving; (O’Rourke, see at least ¶ [0035] “Referring back to FIG. 1, the controller 40 is programmed to provide torque vectoring. Relevant controller inputs for torque vectoring may include yaw-rate, lateral acceleration, longitudinal acceleration, vehicle speed, accelerator-pedal position, brake-pedal position, driver demanded torque, torque available, steering wheel angle, coefficient of friction calculation and driver input based on paddle position or force, and the like.”) and
a front wheel motor and a rear wheel motor each controlled based on the torque commands generated and output by the controller to output torques to drive the electric vehicle in the drift driving state, (O’Rourke, see at least ¶ [0041] “FIG. 5 illustrates the vehicle 60 during a left-hand turn. In this example, the driver has pulled the paddle 104 to request torque vectoring. In response, the controller 40 calculates a torque differential between the wheel 74 and 76 and between the wheels 78 and 80. In this example, the torque vectoring is aggressive resulting in regenerative braking being commanded to the motors 66 and 70 and a positive torque being commanded to the motors 68 and 72. In a less aggressive example, the motor 66 and 70 may coast or provide positive torque, albeit less than the motors 68 and 72. Torque vectoring does not have to occur at both the front and the rear axles. Depending on the desired vehicle characteristics and vehicle attributes, torque vectoring may occur only at the rear axle or only at the front axle. The inner wheels can also be braked using the friction brakes.”) wherein the controller:
generates a rear wheel torque command having a torque value in a driving direction for drift driving of the electric vehicle based on the demand torque, and a front wheel torque command having a torque value in a regenerative braking direction opposite to the driving direction; (O’Rourke, see at least ¶ [0041] “FIG. 5 illustrates the vehicle 60 during a left-hand turn. In this example, the driver has pulled the paddle 104 to request torque vectoring. In response, the controller 40 calculates a torque differential between the wheel 74 and 76 and between the wheels 78 and 80. In this example, the torque vectoring is aggressive resulting in regenerative braking being commanded to the motors 66 and 70 and a positive torque being commanded to the motors 68 and 72. In a less aggressive example, the motor 66 and 70 may coast or provide positive torque, albeit less than the motors 68 and 72. Torque vectoring does not have to occur at both the front and the rear axles. Depending on the desired vehicle characteristics and vehicle attributes, torque vectoring may occur only at the rear axle or only at the front axle. The inner wheels can also be braked using the friction brakes.”) and
controls the electric vehicle to drift via a regenerative braking torque applied by the front wheel motor and the driving torque applied by the rear wheel motor based on the generated front wheel torque command and rear wheel torque command. (O’Rourke, see at least ¶ [0036] “Typically, torque vectoring is controlled solely by the controller(s) of the vehicle and the driver is not permitted to request or deny torque vectoring. To increase driver involvement, the vehicle 20 is configured to enable the driver to manually control torque vectoring. The vehicle 20 may also be programmed to automatically control torque vectoring depending upon different operating modes of the vehicle or driver-selectable option. For example, the vehicle may include a normal driving mode in which torque vectoring is automatically controlled by the controller 40, and may include another driving mode, such as sport mode or track mode, in which the driver is able to manually control torque vectoring. The driver control of torque vectoring may be ON/OFF or may also include the amount (or aggressiveness) of the torque vectoring. That is, the driver may actuate an ON/OFF input that results in the vehicle activating the torque vectoring controls, or alternatively, the driver may actuate a variable input in which the torque vectoring controls increase or decrease the amount of torque differential based on the position of the variable input. The advent of electrified vehicles has reduced driver interaction, mostly through the elimination of the transmission, and providing manually controlled torque vectoring is one way to increase the driver interaction for electric vehicles. This may provide a more satisfying driving experience on the track or other closed course.”)
Regarding claim 15, O’Rourke teaches a drive system torque control method of an electric vehicle comprising:
determining and generating, by a controller, torque commands to apply a driving torque to rear wheels to control the electric vehicle in a drift driving state based on a demand torque for vehicle driving; (O’Rourke, see at least ¶ [0035] “Referring back to FIG. 1, the controller 40 is programmed to provide torque vectoring. Relevant controller inputs for torque vectoring may include yaw-rate, lateral acceleration, longitudinal acceleration, vehicle speed, accelerator-pedal position, brake-pedal position, driver demanded torque, torque available, steering wheel angle, coefficient of friction calculation and driver input based on paddle position or force, and the like.”) and
controlling, by the controller, driving of a front wheel motor and a rear wheel motor to output torques to drive the electric vehicle in the drift driving state depending on the generated torque commands, (O’Rourke, see at least ¶ [0041] “FIG. 5 illustrates the vehicle 60 during a left-hand turn. In this example, the driver has pulled the paddle 104 to request torque vectoring. In response, the controller 40 calculates a torque differential between the wheel 74 and 76 and between the wheels 78 and 80. In this example, the torque vectoring is aggressive resulting in regenerative braking being commanded to the motors 66 and 70 and a positive torque being commanded to the motors 68 and 72. In a less aggressive example, the motor 66 and 70 may coast or provide positive torque, albeit less than the motors 68 and 72. Torque vectoring does not have to occur at both the front and the rear axles. Depending on the desired vehicle characteristics and vehicle attributes, torque vectoring may occur only at the rear axle or only at the front axle. The inner wheels can also be braked using the friction brakes.”) wherein the controller:
generates a rear wheel torque command having a torque value in a driving direction for drift driving of the electric vehicle based on the demand torque, and a front wheel torque command having a torque value in a regenerative braking direction opposite to the driving direction; (O’Rourke, see at least ¶ [0041] “FIG. 5 illustrates the vehicle 60 during a left-hand turn. In this example, the driver has pulled the paddle 104 to request torque vectoring. In response, the controller 40 calculates a torque differential between the wheel 74 and 76 and between the wheels 78 and 80. In this example, the torque vectoring is aggressive resulting in regenerative braking being commanded to the motors 66 and 70 and a positive torque being commanded to the motors 68 and 72. In a less aggressive example, the motor 66 and 70 may coast or provide positive torque, albeit less than the motors 68 and 72. Torque vectoring does not have to occur at both the front and the rear axles. Depending on the desired vehicle characteristics and vehicle attributes, torque vectoring may occur only at the rear axle or only at the front axle. The inner wheels can also be braked using the friction brakes.”) and
controls the electric vehicle to drift via a regenerative braking torque applied by the front wheel motor and the driving torque applied by the rear wheel motor based on the generated front wheel torque command and rear wheel torque command. (O’Rourke, see at least ¶ [0036] “Typically, torque vectoring is controlled solely by the controller(s) of the vehicle and the driver is not permitted to request or deny torque vectoring. To increase driver involvement, the vehicle 20 is configured to enable the driver to manually control torque vectoring. The vehicle 20 may also be programmed to automatically control torque vectoring depending upon different operating modes of the vehicle or driver-selectable option. For example, the vehicle may include a normal driving mode in which torque vectoring is automatically controlled by the controller 40, and may include another driving mode, such as sport mode or track mode, in which the driver is able to manually control torque vectoring. The driver control of torque vectoring may be ON/OFF or may also include the amount (or aggressiveness) of the torque vectoring. That is, the driver may actuate an ON/OFF input that results in the vehicle activating the torque vectoring controls, or alternatively, the driver may actuate a variable input in which the torque vectoring controls increase or decrease the amount of torque differential based on the position of the variable input. The advent of electrified vehicles has reduced driver interaction, mostly through the elimination of the transmission, and providing manually controlled torque vectoring is one way to increase the driver interaction for electric vehicles. This may provide a more satisfying driving experience on the track or other closed course.”)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-14 and 16-20 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN P SWEENEY whose telephone number is (313)446-4906. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday from 7:30AM to 5:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James J. Lee, can be reached at telephone number 571-270-5965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRIAN P SWEENEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3668
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