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 .
2. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant's Communication received on December 30, 2024 for application number 19/005,850. This Office hereby acknowledges receipt of the following and placed of record in file: Specification, Drawings, Abstract, Oath/Declaration, and Claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on November 10, 2025 was submitted in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
4. Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN 202410586016.9 filed on May 11, 2024.
Disposition of Claims
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application.
Claims 1-20 are rejected.
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.
Claims 1, 3-8, 10-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by (LI – CN 115441807 A).
Regarding claim 1, LI discloses:
A brake force control method (Braking force redistribution strategy: Abstract), comprising:
obtaining temperature data of a braking system of a vehicle and driving data of the vehicle during braking of the vehicle ([0012]: “brake temperature control method of electronic mechanical brake, based on the temperature obtained by the thermistor mounted on the stator winding to obtain the intermediate temperature, generating a brake temperature control scheme by the relationship between the intermediate temperature and the preset temperature, so as to realize the control of the EMB driving motor heating, under the conventional temperature control strategy, it can effectively improve the working environment of the driving motor in the EMB, ensure the braking efficiency of the EMB, and in the EMB driving motor high temperature abnormal working state, through the braking force redistribution strategy, can effectively control the working temperature of the driving motor, avoid the brake failure caused by the motor overheating”); and
controlling a brake force output from a brake motor in the braking system according to the temperature data and the driving data ([0028]: “Step 1035: when the middle temperature is greater than or equal to the fourth preset temperature (Treal ≥T4), generating high temperature early warning and reducing the thermoelectric semiconductor refrigerating sheet 16 of the current value, and using the braking force distribution strategy to finish the wheel braking. Specifically, when the temperature is greater than or equal to the fourth preset temperature (Treal ≥T4), BCU judges EMB drive motor stator winding 13 temperature is too high, BCU sends the motor abnormal state information to the vehicle control unit (Electronic Control Unit), ECU), the vehicle display screen prompts the EMB motor high temperature early warning, to prevent the EMB driving motor stator winding 13 burn caused by the brake of complete failure occurs. wherein, when the driver is braking, ECU obtains the speed of the pedal, position signal, through a certain algorithm, determining four wheel braking strength, and the signal is respectively transmitted to four BCU”).
Regarding claim 18, LI discloses:
A vehicle, comprising:
a processor (vehicle control unit); and a memory configured to store instructions for the processor (vehicle control unit), wherein the processor (vehicle control unit) is configured to:
obtain temperature data of a braking system of the vehicle and driving data of the vehicle during braking of the vehicle ([0012]: “brake temperature control method of electronic mechanical brake, based on the temperature obtained by the thermistor mounted on the stator winding to obtain the intermediate temperature, generating a brake temperature control scheme by the relationship between the intermediate temperature and the preset temperature, so as to realize the control of the EMB driving motor heating, under the conventional temperature control strategy, it can effectively improve the working environment of the driving motor in the EMB, ensure the braking efficiency of the EMB, and in the EMB driving motor high temperature abnormal working state, through the braking force redistribution strategy, can effectively control the working temperature of the driving motor, avoid the brake failure caused by the motor overheating”); and
control a brake force output from a brake motor in the braking system according to the temperature data and the driving data ([0028]: “Step 1035: when the middle temperature is greater than or equal to the fourth preset temperature (Treal ≥T4), generating high temperature early warning and reducing the thermoelectric semiconductor refrigerating sheet 16 of the current value, and using the braking force distribution strategy to finish the wheel braking. Specifically, when the temperature is greater than or equal to the fourth preset temperature (Treal ≥T4), BCU judges EMB drive motor stator winding 13 temperature is too high, BCU sends the motor abnormal state information to the vehicle control unit (Electronic Control Unit), ECU), the vehicle display screen prompts the EMB motor high temperature early warning, to prevent the EMB driving motor stator winding 13 burn caused by the brake of complete failure occurs. wherein, when the driver is braking, ECU obtains the speed of the pedal, position signal, through a certain algorithm, determining four-wheel braking strength, and the signal is respectively transmitted to four BCU”).
Regarding claim 3, LI disclose the method according to claim 1, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein controlling the brake force output from the brake motor according to the temperature data and the driving data comprises: determining a target temperature prediction value of the brake motor in the braking system according to the temperature data and the driving data; and controlling the brake force output from the brake motor according to the target temperature prediction value ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 4, LI disclose the method according to claim 3, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein controlling the brake force output from the brake motor according to the target temperature prediction value comprises: in a case where the target temperature prediction value is less than or equal to a first temperature threshold, controlling the brake motor to normally output the brake force ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 5, LI disclose the method according to claim 4, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein controlling the brake motor to normally output the brake force comprises: determining a first target brake force according to a brake pedal travel of the vehicle and a first preset relationship between the brake pedal travel and a normal brake force, and controlling the brake force output from the brake motor to be the first target brake force ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 6, LI disclose the method according to claim 3, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein controlling the brake force output from the brake motor according to the target temperature prediction value comprises: in a case where the target temperature prediction value is greater than a first temperature threshold, reducing the brake force output from the brake motor ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 7, LI disclose the method according to claim 6, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein reducing the brake force output from the brake motor comprises: determining a second target brake force according to a brake pedal travel of the vehicle and a second preset relationship between the brake pedal travel and a degraded brake force, and controlling the brake force output from the brake motor to be the second target brake force, wherein in the second preset relationship, a degraded brake force corresponding to a brake pedal travel is less than or equal to a normal brake force corresponding to the brake pedal travel ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 8, LI disclose the method according to claim 6, and further on LI also discloses:
determining a temperature variation trend of the brake motor within a first preset length of time after reducing the brake force output from the brake motor; and controlling the brake force output from the brake motor according to the temperature variation trend ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 10, LI disclose the method according to claim 8, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein controlling the brake force output from the brake motor according to the temperature variation trend comprises: in a case where the temperature variation trend is not an upward trend, controlling the brake force output from the brake motor to be unchanged until the vehicle stops ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 11, LI disclose the method according to claim 3, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein the temperature data comprises a first temperature value of a brake disc in the braking system and a second temperature value of the brake motor at a first moment, the driving data comprises driving environment data, driving speed and braking deceleration, and the driving environment data represents parameter data affecting a temperature of the braking system in a vehicle driving environment; and determining the target temperature prediction value of the brake motor in the braking system according to the temperature data and the driving data comprises: determining a first temperature prediction value of the brake disc at a second moment according to the first temperature value, the driving speed, the driving environment data and the braking deceleration, wherein the second moment is a future moment of the first moment; determining a second temperature prediction value of the brake motor at the second moment according to the second temperature value and the first temperature prediction value; and determining the target temperature prediction value according to the second temperature prediction value ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 12, LI disclose the method according to claim 11, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein determining a first temperature prediction value of the brake disc at a second moment according to the first temperature value, the driving speed, the driving environment data and the braking deceleration comprises: determining first temperature influence data of the vehicle driving environment on the brake disc according to the driving environment data, wherein the driving environment data at least comprises a temperature and a humidity of the vehicle driving environment; determining a second temperature influence data of the vehicle during the braking according to the driving speed and the braking deceleration, wherein the second temperature influence data is configured to represent thermal energy generated by conversion of kinetic energy into brake disc friction during the braking of the vehicle; and determining the first temperature prediction value according to the first temperature influence data, the second temperature influence data and the first temperature value ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 13, LI disclose the method according to claim 11, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein determining a second temperature prediction value of the brake motor at the second moment according to the second temperature value and the first temperature prediction value comprises: determining a radiation temperature prediction value of the temperature of the brake disc radiated to the brake motor at the second moment according to the first temperature prediction value and a temperature influence factor, wherein the temperature influence factor represents a degree of influence of the temperature of the brake disc on the temperature of the brake motor; and determining the second temperature prediction value according to the radiation temperature prediction value and the second temperature value ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 14, LI disclose the method according to claim 3, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein determining a target temperature prediction value of the brake motor in the braking system according to the temperature data and the driving data comprises: determining second temperature prediction values of the brake motor at a plurality of future moments, according to the temperature data and the driving data; and determining a maximum value of the second temperature prediction values as the target temperature prediction value ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 15, LI disclose the method according to claim 1, and further on LI also discloses:
in a case where a temperature value of the brake motor exceeds a second temperature threshold, maintaining the brake force currently output from the brake motor while a parking locking mechanism locks the vehicle, and controlling the brake force output from the brake motor to be zero, wherein the second temperature threshold is greater than a first temperature threshold, the second temperature threshold is less than a motor failure temperature value, and the motor failure temperature value is a temperature value of the brake motor when experiencing a braking failure ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 16, LI disclose the method according to claim 1, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein before controlling a brake force output from a brake motor in the braking system according to the temperature data and the driving data, the method further comprises: determining that the vehicle satisfies at least one of following preset trigger conditions: a number of times the braking is performed within a second preset length of time being greater than a preset number of times; or a temperature variation trend of a temperature value of a brake disc or the brake motor in the braking system within the second preset length of time being an upward trend ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 17, LI disclose the method according to claim 16, and further on LI also discloses:
outputting alert information, to alert a driver that there is a risk of brake force failure ([0012-0045]).
Regarding claim 20, LI disclose the vehicle according to claim 18, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein the processor is further configured to: determine a target temperature prediction value of the brake motor in the braking system according to the temperature data and the driving data; and control the brake force output from the brake motor according to the target temperature prediction value ([0012-0045]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
Claims 2, 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (LI – CN 115441807 A), in view of (Robere – US 2020/0232531 A1).
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 19, LI disclose the method and vehicle according to claim 1, 8 and 18, and further on LI also discloses:
wherein controlling the brake force output from the brake motor according to the temperature data and the driving data comprises: determining a braking demand according deceleration of the vehicle capable of ensuring braking safety during the braking, according [0012-0045]).
But LI does not explicitly and/or specifically meet the following limitations:
(A) determining a braking demand according to distance information between the vehicle and a surrounding obstacle; determining a minimum deceleration of the vehicle capable of ensuring braking safety during the braking, according ; determine a braking demand according to distance information between the vehicle and a surrounding obstacle.
However, regarding limitation (A) above, Robere discloses/teaches the following:
The third algorithm 26c begins by determining braking energy 114 according to a braking energy model 124. The calculated braking energy 114 used in the rotor temperature model 130 is an estimate of the braking energy dissipation in the braking mechanisms 18A, 18B, 18C, 18D. This calculation uses various inputs, {{{such as stopping distance, stopping time}}}, brake pad temperature, etc. The master cylinder pressure of the braking system 16, the weight distribution in the vehicle 10 and the dynamic brake proportioning for the proportional brake pressure at each wheel 14A-14D can be used to determine the brake pressure. The front and rear brake partitioning 104 is based on where the weight in the vehicle 10 is distributed, and is a known calculation. Vehicle mass can be estimated based on engine torque, and is a process well known to those skilled in the art. The mass of the vehicle 10 may change as a result of the number of passengers, load in the trunk, fuel capacity, etc. Further, those skilled in the art understand various ways to estimate the road grade in combination with the estimation of the vehicle mas ([0084]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the vehicle control method of LI incorporating additional controller communications/calculation-unit modules as taught by Robere for monitoring brake pad life with increased accuracy, as well as monitor other potential brake system failure modes for predictive purposes.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ruben Picon-Feliciano whose telephone number is (571)-272-4938. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday within 11:30 am-7:30 pm ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lindsay M. Low can be reached on (571)272-1196. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RUBEN PICON-FELICIANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/GRANT MOUBRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747