DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6, 8, 9, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Hajiloo (U.S. Pat. No. 11,787,394).
Regarding claim 1, Hajiloo discloses a method of detecting a yaw instability in a vehicle combination, the vehicle combination comprising a tractor unit and at least one trailing unit (col. 8, lines 35-44), the method comprising:
determining a current value of a longitudinal slip of at least one wheel of at least one unit of the vehicle combination (col. 12, lines 58-67);
comparing the current value of the longitudinal slip to a threshold (col. 17, lines 25-30); and
if the current value is beyond the threshold, determining that an upcoming or ongoing yaw instability is present in the vehicle combination (col. 17, lines 18-27);
wherein the threshold is a fixed threshold determined based on the slip ratio of the wheel at a maximum longitudinal tire force (col. 17, line 29), or a variable threshold determined based on the inverse of a current value of a lateral acceleration of the tractor unit, a lateral acceleration of the trailing unit, a road wheel angle of the tractor unit, a road wheel angle of the trailing unit, and/or an articulation angle of consecutive units (fixed option addressed).
Regarding claim 2 which depends from claim 1, Hajiloo discloses comprising determining the current value of the longitudinal slip using one or more sensors on the vehicle combination (col. 11, lines 55-67 discloses using sensors).
Regarding claim 3 which depends from claim 1, Hajiloo discloses wherein the current value of the longitudinal slip is a maximum longitudinal slip value (the measurements are of instances and not averages) or an average longitudinal slip value determined from longitudinal slip values from a plurality of wheels.
Regarding claim 4 which depends from claim 1, Hajiloo discloses comprising determining that an upcoming or ongoing yaw instability is present in the vehicle combination if the current values of longitudinal slip of a plurality of wheels are all beyond the threshold (col. 17, line 29 discloses an issue when one wheel is in this state and so if multiple wheels are in that state this system would also recognize an issue).
Regarding claim 6 which depends from claim 1, Hajiloo discloses wherein the slip ratio is dependent on the tire type (friction option addressed) and/or a road surface friction coefficient (col. 2, lines 40-58).
Regarding claim 8 which depends from claim 1, Hajiloo discloses comprising determining that a jack-knife is present in the vehicle combination if the current value of the longitudinal slip of at least one wheel of the tractor unit is beyond the threshold (The comparison of the value to a threshold has been addressed above. The threshold for it to be considered a jack-knife is subjection and construed to be addressed above since this is not requiring a new or different threshold. That just leaves that this is labeling of the data with no subsequent action which is considered meaningless extrasolution activity. For this type of data labeling see Lavoie U.S. Pat. No. 9,616,923).
Regarding claim 9 which depends from claim 1, Hajiloo discloses comprising determining that trailer swing is present in the vehicle combination if the current value of the longitudinal slip of at least one wheel of the trailing unit is beyond the threshold (The comparison of the value to a threshold has been addressed above. The threshold for it to be considered a jack-knife is subjection and construed to be addressed above since this is not requiring a new or different threshold. That just leaves that this is labeling of the data with no subsequent action which is considered meaningless extrasolution activity. For this type of data labeling see Lavoie U.S. Pat. No. 9,616,923).
Regarding claim 14 which depends from claim 1, Hajiloo discloses A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors cause execution of the method steps according to claim 1 (the limitations of this claim have been addressed in claim 1).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please review when considering a response to this office action.
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GONZALO LAGUARDA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3747 email: gonzalo.laguarda@uspto.gov
/GONZALO LAGUARDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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