DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. The specification, the abstract and the drawings are all acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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 of this title, 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.
4. Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over USPN 8,054,016 to Gottemoller, and in view of USPN 10,081,250 to Widmer.
As to claim 1, Gottemoller teaches at least one drive wheel and at least one electric motor connected to the drive wheel(col. 3: lines 23-25); an electronic power converter(fig. 3: “208”) which controls the electric motor(fig. 3: “210”); a storage device configured to store electrical energy and connected to the electronic power converter(col. 3: lines 5-12); and a dissipator device, which is connected to the electronic power converter and is configured to dissipate electrical energy(col. 6: lines 41-56).
Gottemoller does not teach an automobile comprising: a frame comprising a plurality of metal elements interconnected with one another; the automobile is characterized in that the dissipator device is configured to generate heat and is thermally coupled to at least one corresponding metal element of the frame to transmit heat to the corresponding metal element.
Widmer teaches an automobile comprising a frame comprising a plurality of metal elements interconnected with one another; the automobile is characterized in that the dissipator device is configured to generate heat and is thermally coupled to at least one corresponding metal element of the frame to transmit heat to the corresponding metal element(col. 1: lines 30-42).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Widmer into Gottemoller since Gottemoller suggests a motor control system and Widmer suggests the beneficial use of metal frame for dissipating heat generated in the motor braking/control system in the analogous art of motor control technology.
The motivation for this comes from the fact that Widmer teaches apparatus and method of metal frame for dissipating heat generated in the motor braking which can be used to improve the motor control system disclosed by Gottemoller.
As to claim 2, Gottemoller in view of Widmer teaches the automobile according to claim 1, wherein the dissipator device comprises at least one electrical resistance, which is configured to generate heat through Joule effect and is thermally coupled to at least one corresponding metal element of the frame to transmit heat through conduction, to the corresponding metal element(Widmer col. 1: lines 30-42).
As to claim 3, Gottemoller in view of Widmer teaches the automobile according to claim 2, wherein the electrical resistance is directly fixed to the corresponding metal element of the frame by means of a heat conductor fixing element(Widmer col. 1: lines 30-42).
As to claim 4, Gottemoller in view of Widmer teaches the automobile according to claim 2, wherein the dissipator device comprises a plurality of electrical reistances, which are thermally coupled to corresponding metal elements of the frame and are preferably connected to one another at least partly in parallel(Widmer col. 4: lines 63- col. 5: lines 7).
As to claim 5, Gottemoller in view of Widmer teaches the automobile according to claim 2. It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to make the electrical resistance fixed to an outer surface of the corresponding metal element of the frame because it is easily dissipating heat on outer surface.
As to claim 6, Gottemoller in view of Widmer teaches the automobile according to claim 2. It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to place the electrical resistance anywhere in the metal frame depending on its specific shape of the metal frame.
As to claim 7, Gottemoller in view of Widmer teaches the automobile according to claim 1 and comprising at least one temperature sensor, which is configured to measure a temperature of a metal element of the frame(Gottemoller col. 9: lines 48-55 wherein the temperature sensor can be used to measure the temperature in any elements including but not limiting to the metal frame).
As to claims 8-11, Gottemoller in view of Widmer teaches the automobile according to claim 7. It would be obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art to compare the detected temperature with a temperature threshold in order to generate an alarm/alert for the system because Gottemoller in view of Widmer teaches the using of a temperature sensor (Gottemoller col. 9: lines 48-55) and the comparison of the retarding energy with the energy threshold to generate a result/alert and specifically teaches the retarding temperature is proportional to the retarding energy accumulated (Gottemoller col. 11: lines 15-30).
As to claim 12, Gottemoller in view of Widmer teaches the automobile according to claim 1, wherein the drive wheel is not coupled to any mechanical brake and the braking of the drive wheel is carried out by only having the electric motor operate as generator(Gottemoller col. 1: lines 1-10).
Conclusion
5. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
USPN 8,928,260 to Crosman discloses a motor control system.
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID S LUO whose telephone number is (571)270-5251. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eduardo Colon-Santana can be reached at 571-272-2060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID LUO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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