DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This is the initial office action based on the 19/069,473 application filed March 4, 2025. Claims 1-9 are pending and have been fully considered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) dated March 4, 2025 is noted. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the IDS is being 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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vincenzi et al. (U.S. Patent No. 8,775,054, herein “Vincenzi”).
Regarding Claim 1, Vincenzi discloses a control device for an internal combustion engine, which is a control device for a spark ignition internal combustion engine (“spark ignition direct injection (SIDI) engine”), configured to directly inject fuel into a cylinder (see column 2, lines 21-28 and column 5, lines 51-55 providing that the engine may utilize “alcohol based fuels”). Vincenzi discloses that the control device (engine control module (ECM) (130)) includes a controller configured to control an injection timing when the fuel is injected into the cylinder from a fuel injection device and an ignition timing when the fuel in the cylinder is ignited by a spark (see column 3, lines 45-57), and an ambient temperature detecting part (engine coolant temperature sensor (154)) configured to detect an ambient temperature (see column 4, lines 22-29), wherein the controller executes spark ignition of the fuel in a fuel injection period in which the fuel is injected into the cylinder when the ambient temperature is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value (see column 7, line 12 - column 8, line 55, “cold start mode” activated with coolant temperature is below a threshold temperature, specifically, see column 7 lines 19-25).
Interpretation note: based upon the instant disclosure, “ambient temperature” is the temperature of the outside air and/or the temperature of the engine water (see presently pending application, page 4, line 3-5). Therefore, the claim limitation of an ambient temperature reads upon the teachings of Vincenzi.
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 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vincenzi in view of Yi et al. (U.S. Patent No. 7,992,537, herein “Yi”).
Regarding Claim 2, Vincenzi discloses the invention substantially as claimed, including wherein the system includes an engine water temperature detecting part (154) configured to detect a temperature of engine water (see column 4, lines 22-29), wherein the ambient temperature is the temperature of the engine water. Vincenzi is silent concerning inclusion of an outside temperature sensor that may sense the ambient temperature.
However, Yi discloses an example cylinder (30) of an internal combustion engine (10) including an in-cylinder direct fuel injector (66). Engine (10) can be configured as gasoline engine or a flexible fuel engine for a vehicle. For example, engine (10) can be configured to operate with a fuel including a mixture of gasoline and alcohol (see column 2, lines 15-24). Yi discloses that a control system (12) may assess various operating conditions of the engine via one or more sensors (see Figure 1) among other sensors, for example, ambient air temperature (see Yi, column, 5, lines 15-34).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the control system of Vincenzi by providing outside temperature detection used in the control injection and ignition as described in Yi in order to improve the engine operation during cold-start operation.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vincenzi.
Regarding Claim 3, Vincenzi discloses the invention substantially as claimed, including where the controller (130) executes spark ignition of the fuel in a fuel injection period (see column 7, line 12 - column 8, line 55, “cold start mode” activated with coolant temperature is below a threshold temperature, specifically, see column 7 lines 19-25), but is silent concerning the claimed range of the ambient temperature.
It nevertheless would have been an obvious matter of design choice to operate spark ignition of the fuel within an ambient temperature range of 5° C to -40° C, since Applicant has not disclosed that doing so solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose and it appears that the invention would perform equally well with at any applicable ambient temperature.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 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. Specifically, various references are cited that provide detail of relevant control systems for engines.
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/GRANT MOUBRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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