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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of species 13 associated with Figure 6A and pertaining to claims 1-6 and 8-20 in the reply filed on May 18, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claim 7 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on May 18, 2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on June 10, 2025 and January 23, 2025 has been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 2021/0031774 to Serrao et al.
Regarding claim 1, the Serrao publication teaches a transmission for a vehicle comprising: a first engagement member (left side of part 9 in Fig. 1) configured to selectively couple torque between a prime mover 2 and an output 6 through a first gear 6a; a second engagement member (right side of part 9 in Fig. 1) configured to selectively couple the torque between the prime mover and the output through a second gear 6b; and a shift actuator 8 configured to selectively activate the first engagement member and the second engagement member. See Fig. 1.
Regarding claims 2, 3 and 9, the first engagement member is an active clutch, the second engagement member is an active clutch. The term active clutch as broadly recited in the claims is interpreted as a synchronizer clutch as this is a type of active clutch. See paragraph 0045.
Regarding claims 5 and 17, the shift actuator is configured to selectively activate the first engagement member and the second engagement member in changing from one of the first gear to the second gear by closing one of the first engagement member and the second engagement member that is open so torque is simultaneously being transmitted through both a first gear path to the output that includes the first gear and a second gear path to the output that includes the second gear and then opening another one of the first engagement member and the second engagement member. See paragraphs 0052-0062 and Fig. 3.
Regarding claim 6, the transmission is a parallel axis shaft configuration. See Fig. 1.
Regarding claim 8, a vehicle comprising: at least one electric motor 2 to generate torque; a transmission in operational communication with the electric motor, the transmission located between the at least one electric motor and an axle 6, the transmission including at least a first engagement member configured to selectively couple torque between the electric motor and an output through a first gear 6a; a second engagement member configured to selectively couple the torque between the electric motor and the output through a second gear 6b; and a shift actuator 8configured to selectively activate the first engagement member and the second engagement member. See Fig. 1 and paragraphs 0043-0044.
Regarding claim 11, at least one sensor 10; a controller 4 in communication with the at least one sensor, the controller configured to control the shift actuator based at least in part on sensor information from the at least one sensor; and a memory to at least store operating instructions implemented by the controller. See paragraph 0049.
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by French Patent No. FR2946291 to Garnier et al. (A machine translation is enclosed with this action and referred to herein.
Regarding claim 18, the Garnier patent teaches a method of changing a gear in a transmission while the vehicle is under way, the method comprising: dropping a motor torque to zero; removing a first driving dog 11a from engagement; changing the speed of a prime mover 2 to synchronize the speed of one of the first driving dog and a second driving dog 12a to the speed of a selected driven dog; moving one of the first driving dog and the second driving dog into engagement with the selected driven dog; and applying motor torque through one of the first driving dog and the second driving dog. See Fig. 1 and page 3 of translation.
Regarding claim 19, using a motor controller to control motor speed. See page 3 of translation.
Regarding claim 20, synchronizing the driving dog speed to the incoming driven dog speed further comprises: one of increasing and decreasing the motor speed to the incoming driven dog speed of the driven dog. See page 3 of the translation that says there is synchronization which includes speeding up or down.
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.
Claims 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. 2021/0031774 to Serrao et al.
Regarding claim 14, the Serrao publication teaches all the elements of the claim, except for the explicit teaching that the at least one electric motor and the transmission share a same cooling system.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the subject invention to modify the Serrao device to have the at least one electric motor and the transmission share a same cooling system, as this is a known construction to have the cooling system of a motor and transmission the same so that cooling of the device as a whole is simpler and does not require two different cooling separate circuits and is known in the art.
Regarding claim 15, the Serrao publication teaches all the elements of the claim except for waste heat from a cooling system of at least the transmission and the at least one electric motor is used to heat at least one of a cabin and a battery of the vehicle.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the subject invention to modify the Serrao device to have waste heat from a cooling system of at least the transmission and the at least one electric motor is used to heat at least one of a cabin and a battery of the vehicle, as this is a known way to heat a vehicle is by taking excess heat from the engine bay of a automobile to heat the cabin in the winter, and is well known in the art.
Regarding claim 16, the Serrao device teaches all the elements of the claim except for a cooling system to cool an inverter and a battery.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the subject invention to modify the Serrao device to have a cooling system to cool an inverter and a battery, as it is well known in the art to have a motor with a battery to power it with an inverter and a cooling system to cool these parts as they are well known to be in electric vehicles in the art.
Claims 4 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. 2021/0031774 to Serrao et al. in view of European Patent No. WO2022/102354 to Kuribayashi et al. (A machine translation is enclosed with this action and referred to herein.
Regarding claims 4 and 10, the Serrao publication teaches an actuator for the clutches is a hydraulic system.
However, the Serrao publication lacks a teaching that the actuator is a rotary actuated shift drum actuator shifting system.
The Kuribayashi patent teaches an actuator that is a shift drum 3 with a motor 40 that changes the shift fork 37 positions. See Fig. 1.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the subject invention to modify the Serrao device to have the rotary shift drum of the Kuribayashi patent as it would have been substituting one known prior art element for another to provide the predictable result of a system that is easier to use without the possibility of a hydraulic failure or leak.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12 and 13 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Korean Patent No. KR100198705 to Kim teaches a two speed gearbox.
Chinese Patent No. CN106958627 to Liu et al. and Chinese Patent No. CN114508568 to Zhong et al. teaches a two speed transmission.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN HOLMES whose telephone number is (571)272-3448. The examiner can normally be reached 10AM-6PM EST M-F.
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/JUSTIN HOLMES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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