DETAILED ACTION
This Non-Final Office action is in response to the claims filed on.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
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 .
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, 3-8, 10, 11, 13-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ando et al. (US 2024/0116524).
As to claim 1 Ando discloses a chassis-integrated controller comprising:
a receiver (figure 2 #200) configured to
receive state information from each of individual chassis controllers (figure 2 #121-126) provided in a vehicle (figure 2 #100), and
receive route information of the vehicle from an advanced driver assistance system (paragraph 0089);
a control signal generator (figure 2 #200) configured to
determine a target vehicle motion for the vehicle to move according to the route information (paragraph 0089), and
generate control signals for the individual chassis controllers, to control the vehicle to move according to the target vehicle motion(paragraph 0044);
a motion limiter configured to
generate maximum curvature information of a curvature at which the vehicle is able to maneuver based on at least one of the state information or road surface information (figure 8 basted on the state information of speed, and the speed is based on a speed limit placed on all roads according to among other things road surface information. For example the speed limit will be lowered on a dirt road and higher on a paved road.); and
a transmitter configured to
transmit the maximum curvature information to the advanced driver assistance system (shown in figure 6 the arrows on the side of the figure represent the transfer/transmitting of information including the maximum curvature shown in figure 8), and
transmit the control signals to the individual chassis controllers (figure 6 also disclosed transferring the information to the vehicle control interface box which transmits to the individual controller).
As to claim 3 Ando discloses the chassis-integrated controller of claim 1, wherein the state information comprises at least one of:
failure information that indicates whether each of the individual chassis controllers has failed (paragraph 0070); and
a maximum allowable control value of each of the individual chassis controllers (shown in table 4 either call maximum, max or limit).
As to claim 4 Ando discloses the chassis-integrated controller of claim 3, wherein the failure information is failure flag information, which is received from each of the individual chassis controllers, or a period signal, which each of the individual chassis controllers periodically transmits when the individual chassis controller is in a normal state. (The flags are shown in the table values disclosed in the specification. Such as tables 10 and 11 shown in paragraphs 613-614)
As to claim 5 Ando discloses the chassis-integrated controller of claim 1, wherein the route information is generated by the advanced driver assistance system based on sensing information and the maximum curvature information, and wherein the route information comprises coordinate information on a target route for the vehicle to travel or polynomial information for calculating the target route. (shown in figure 6 the arrows on the side of the figure represent the transfer/transmitting of information including the maximum curvature shown in figure 8)
As to claim 6 Ando discloses the chassis-integrated controller of claim 5, wherein the route information is calculated by applying the maximum curvature information as a maximum turning radius of the vehicle. (shown in figure 6 the arrows on the side of the figure represent the transfer/transmitting of information including the maximum curvature shown in figure 8)
As to claim 7 Ando discloses the chassis-integrated controller of claim 1, wherein the control signal generator is further configured to
determine the target vehicle motion comprising yaw rate information of the vehicle, to control the vehicle to travel in accordance with the route information, and
generate the control signal comprising at least one of a braking torque, a front wheel steering angle, a front wheel steering torque, a rear wheel steering angle, a rear wheel steering torque, and a damping ratio. (Table 4 shows the controls to control the autonomous mode of the vehicle including yaw and motion though the velocity )
As to claim 8 Ando discloses the chassis-integrated controller of claim 1, wherein the maximum curvature information is generated based on the road surface information comprising frictional force information on a road surface on which the vehicle is traveling, and wherein in the maximum curvature information, a maximum curvature value is increased in proportion to a frictional force value. (table 4 uses slipping detection to determine the frictional force of the road and calculates the curvature accordingly)
As to claim 10 Ando discloses the chassis-integrated. controller of claim 1, wherein the maximum curvature information is generated by using upper limit curvature information, that is set based on the state information as an upper limit, such that a maximum curvature value in the maximum curvature information is proportional to a frictional force value included in the road surface information. (table 4 uses slipping detection to determine the frictional force of the road and calculates the curvature accordingly)
As to claim 11 Ando discloses a vehicle control system comprising:
an advanced driver assistance system (figure 1) configured to
generate route information comprising a target route (paragraph 0089) for
a vehicle to travel based on maximum curvature information and sensing information generated by sensors provided in the vehicle (paragraph 0044);
a chassis-integrated controller (figure 1) configured to
generate the maximum curvature information of a curvature at which the vehicle is able to maneuver based on state information and road surface information received from individual chassis controllers (figure 8 basted on the state information of speed, and the speed is based on a speed limit placed on all roads according to among other things road surface information. For example the speed limit will be lowered on a dirt road and higher on a paved road.), and
generate a control signal for each of the individual chassis controllers so that the vehicle operates in accordance with the route information (shown in figure 5); and
an individual chassis controller configured to control motions of the vehicle by receiving control signals from the chassis-integrated controller (shown in figure 2).
As to claim 13 Ando discloses the vehicle control system of claim 11, wherein the state information comprises at least one of: failure information that indicates whether each of the individual chassis controllers has failed (paragraph 0070); and a maximum allowable control value of each of the individual chassis controllers (shown in table 4 in paragraph 0142).
As to claim 14 Ando discloses the vehicle control system of claim 13, wherein the failure information is failure flag information received from each of the individual chassis controllers or a period signal that each of the individual chassis controllers periodically transmits when the individual chassis controller is in a normal state. (The flags are shown in the table values disclosed in the specification. Such as tables 10 and 11 shown in paragraphs 613-614)
As to claim 15 Ando discloses the vehicle control system of claim 11, wherein the route information comprises coordinate information on a target route for the vehicle to travel or polynomial information for calculating the target route (figure 7).
As to claim 16 Ando discloses the vehicle control system of claim 15, wherein the route information is calculated by applying the maximum curvature information as a maximum turning radius of the vehicle. (shown in the figure 7 step 5 calculation based on the actual behavior which is the actual turning radius)
As to claim 17 Ando discloses the vehicle control system of claim 11, wherein the chassis-integrated controller is further configured to:
determine a target vehicle motion comprising yaw rate information of the vehicle, to control the vehicle to travel in accordance with the route information (Table 4 discloses the output for vehicle motion control and discloses using the yaw rate), and
generate the control signal comprising at least one of a braking torque, a front wheel steering angle, a front wheel steering torque, a rear wheel steering angle, a rear wheel steering torque, or a damping ratio (Shown in table 4).
As to claim 20 Ando discloses the vehicle control system of claim 11, wherein the chassis-integrated controller generates the maximum curvature information by using upper limit curvature information, that is set based on the state information as an upper limit, such that a maximum curvature value in the maximum curvature information is proportion to a frictional force value included in the road surface information. (table 4 uses slipping detection to determine the frictional force of the road and calculates the curvature accordingly).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ando et al. (US 2024/0116524) in further view of Anderson et al (US 2014/0297116).
As to claim 2 Ando discloses the chassis-integrated controller of claim 1, wherein the individual chassis controllers comprise:
a braking controller configured to apply braking force to the vehicle (figure 2 #121);
a front wheel steering controller configured to apply front wheel steering force to the vehicle (figure 2 #122);
However is silent to the chassis controller comprising
a rear wheel steering controller configured to apply rear wheel steering force to the vehicle; and
a suspension controller configured to apply damping force to the vehicle.
Anderson discloses it is known in the art of autonomous vehicle controls to also include;
a rear wheel steering controller configured to apply rear wheel steering force to the vehicle (paragraph 0041); and
a suspension controller configured to apply damping force to the vehicle (figure 15 # 15-110).
It would be obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to uses these know controllers to offer a better ride to the vehicle.
As to claim 12 Ando discloses the vehicle control system of claim 11, wherein the individual chassis controllers comprise:
a braking controller configured to apply braking force to the vehicle (figure 2 #121);
a front wheel steering controller configured to apply front wheel steering force to the vehicle (figure 2 #122);
However is silent to the chassis controller comprising
a rear wheel steering controller configured to apply rear wheel steering force to the vehicle; and
a suspension controller configured to apply damping force to the vehicle.
Anderson discloses it is known in the art of autonomous vehicle controls to also include;
a rear wheel steering controller configured to apply rear wheel steering force to the vehicle (paragraph 0041); and
a suspension controller configured to apply damping force to the vehicle (figure 15 # 15-110).
It would be obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to uses these know controllers to offer a better ride to the vehicle.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9, 18 and 19 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHERMAN D MANLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-5539. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 7-5:30 est.
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SHERMAN D. MANLEY
Examiner
Art Unit 3747
/SHERMAN D MANLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/LOGAN M KRAFT/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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