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 .
This is the first action on the merits for application 18/977,542. Claims 1-4 are currently pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/11/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 3, “an engine” should be changed to - -the engine- - for claim consistency (see, for reference, Claim 1, line 11, “an engine”). Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by NISHINO et al. (US 5,868,033).
Regarding Claim 1, NISHINO et al. discloses a method for controlling an automatic transmission of a vehicle (see Figs. 1-3E), comprising: operating the transmission (1) in an automatic mode whereby gear shifting of the transmission is performed automatically based on a speed of the vehicle (Fig. 3A); receiving a shifting request (Fig. 2A) from a user-operated gear shifter (6) to either: (i) upshift the transmission from a current gear to a higher gear (21); or (ii) downshift the transmission from the current gear to a lower gear (22); in response to the shifting request, operating the transmission in a semi-automatic mode whereby gear shifting of the transmission is based on user-generated shifting requests (Figs. 3B-3E); performing the upshift (23) or the downshift (41) of the transmission according to the shifting request; monitoring a speed of an engine of the vehicle (equivalent to “VEHICLE SPEED” in Figs. 3A-3E as engine speed and vehicle speed are directly proportional to each other; column 3, lines 53-62, “vehicle-speed” and “engine rotation”); and in response to the speed of the engine being at a lower speed limit of the engine or an upper speed limit of the engine, returning operation of the transmission to the automatic mode (column 3, lines 24-62, “as shown in FIGS. 3B, 3C, 3D or 3E wherein a hatched part corresponds to the operation area wherein selection of a corresponding speed ratio is not allowed. A high vehicle-speed side portion thereof corresponds to the operation area wherein upshift transmission by automatic shift is needed to prevent over-rotation of the engine when selecting a corresponding speed ratio, whereas a low vehicle-speed side portion thereof corresponds to the operation area wherein downshift transmission by automatic shift is needed to prevent vibrations of a vehicle body due to engine rotation”; column 4, line 3, “to start automatic shift”).
Regarding Claim 2, NISHINO et al. discloses prior to performing the upshift or the downshift of the transmission, calculating a predicted speed of an engine of the vehicle if the shifting request were to be fulfilled (equivalent to “VEHICLE SPEED” in Figs. 3A-3E as engine speed and vehicle speed are directly proportional to each other; column 3, lines 53-62, “vehicle-speed” and “engine rotation”); in response to the shifting request being for upshifting the transmission and the predicted speed being higher than the lower speed limit of the engine, performing the upshift of the transmission (see “ALLOWED” ranges in Figs. 3B-3E); and in response to the shifting request being for downshifting the transmission and the predicted speed being below the upper speed limit of the engine, performing the downshift of the transmission (see “ALLOWED” ranges in Figs. 3B-3E).
Regarding Claim 3, NISHINO et al. discloses after performing the upshift or the downshift of the transmission according to the shifting request: maintaining a gear engagement in response to the speed of the engine not being at the lower speed limit of the engine or the upper speed limit of the engine (“F” in Figs. 2A and 2B indicates that a current gear stage is maintained if engine/vehicle speed stays in the “ALLOWED” ranges shown in Figs. 3B-3E and no subsequent manual shift commands are issued).
Regarding Claim 4, NISHINO et al. discloses after performing the upshift or the downshift of the transmission according to the shifting request: maintaining a gear engagement in response to the speed of the engine not being at the lower speed limit of the engine or the upper speed limit of the engine (“F” in Figs. 2A and 2B indicates that a current gear stage is maintained if engine/vehicle speed stays in the “ALLOWED” ranges shown in Figs. 3B-3E and no subsequent manual shift commands are issued).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KOJIMA et al. (US 2012/0239264 A1) discloses a dual-clutch transmission control system with automatic and semi-automatic control based on engine speed (see paragraph [0068]).
BATES et al. (US 5,592,851) discloses a semi-automatic transmission with forced automatic shifting (see ABSTRACT).
DUNKLEY et al. (US 4,930,078) discloses a semi-automatic transmission control system with shifting based on engine speed limits (see ABSTRACT).
KLATT (US 4,507,736) discloses a transmission semi-automatic gear shift control system based on engine speed (see ABSTRACT).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDWIN YOUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-4781. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm (CST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jacob S Scott can be reached at (571)270-3415. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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EDWIN YOUNG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3655
/Edwin A Young/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655