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.
Claims 1, 6-7, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oohata (US Pub No 2018/0320622).
In regard to claim 1, Oohata discloses an internal combustion engine control device (see the Title) that controls an internal combustion engine in which a current flowing through an ignition coil of an ignition device is interrupted according to a predetermined ignition timing (for example, see Paragraph 0039 (emphasis added: “the ignition timing control block 41 calculates timing at which the primary current of the ignition coil 19 flows (energization start timing), an energization amount (conduction angle) of the ignition coil 19, and ignition timing at which the primary current is interrupted”), the internal combustion engine control device comprising:
a request setting unit (comprising at least element 45, Fig 2, that delivers engine speed to element 41) that determines a request energization amount of the ignition coil on a basis of a rotation speed of the internal combustion engine (see Paragraph 0039 (emphasis added): “In the ignition timing control block 41, each piece of information from the cooling water temperature information generating unit 42, the load information generating unit 43, the rotation speed information generating unit 45, the crank angle information generating unit 46, and the cylinder discrimination information generating unit 47 is input.”);
an adjustment unit (comprising at least element 42, Fig 2, that delivers engine cooling water temperature to element 41) that adjusts an energization amount of the ignition coil according to a temperature related to the ignition device (see Paragraph 0039 (emphasis added): “In the ignition timing control block 41, each piece of information from the cooling water temperature information generating unit 42, the load information generating unit 43, the rotation speed information generating unit 45, the crank angle information generating unit 46, and the cylinder discrimination information generating unit 47 is input.”) and the request energization amount (data from both 45 and 41 both being utilized together, see Paragraph 0039, quoted above; further Examiner notes that engine temperature will also inherently be affected by engine speed); and
an ignition control unit (ignition control unit 41, Fig 2) that controls an interruption state of the ignition coil according to the energization amount of the ignition coil adjusted by the adjustment unit (based at least in part from element 42; see Paragraph 0039 (emphasis added): “On the basis of a predetermined arithmetic expression from these pieces of input information, the ignition timing control block 41 calculates timing at which the primary current of the ignition coil 19 flows (energization start timing), an energization amount (conduction angle) of the ignition coil 19, and ignition timing at which the primary current is interrupted. The primary current of the ignition coil 19 is controlled according to the energization start timing, the energization angle, and the ignition timing.”).
In regard to claim 6, Oohata discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the energization amount of the ignition coil (the output from ignition control 41 to ignition unit 19, see Fig 2) is a value obtained by aggregating a substantial energization time to the ignition coil (based on the combined outputs of elements 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, and 48, see Fig 2) that is interrupted once or a plurality of times during one combustion cycle of the internal combustion engine (Paragraph 0039: “control block 41 calculates timing at which the primary current of the ignition coil 19 flows (energization start timing), an energization amount (conduction angle) of the ignition coil 19, and ignition timing at which the primary current is interrupted”).
In regard to claim 7, Oohata discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the internal combustion engine includes a fuel injection device (with fuel injection control unit 40 and fuel injection unit 13, see Fig 2), and includes a fuel injection amount setting unit that adjusts an injection amount of fuel in the fuel injection device based on the temperature related to the ignition device (engine cooling water temperature unit 42 outputting to both ignition control 41 and fuel injection control 40, see Fig 2; also see Paragraph 0038 (emphasis added): “In the fuel injection control block 40, each piece of information from a cooling water temperature information generating unit 42, a load information generating unit 43, an air amount information generating unit 44, a rotation speed information generating unit 45, a crank angle information generating unit 46, and a cylinder discrimination information generating unit 47 is input.”).
In regard to claim 10, Oohata discloses an internal combustion engine control method (see the Abstract) of controlling an internal combustion engine in which a current flowing through an ignition coil of an ignition device is interrupted according to a predetermined ignition timing (for example, see Paragraph 0039 (emphasis added: “the ignition timing control block 41 calculates timing at which the primary current of the ignition coil 19 flows (energization start timing), an energization amount (conduction angle) of the ignition coil 19, and ignition timing at which the primary current is interrupted”), the method comprising:
determining, by a request setting unit (comprising at least element 45, Fig 2, that delivers engine speed to element 41), a request energization amount of the ignition coil on a basis of a rotation speed of the internal combustion engine (see Paragraph 0039 (emphasis added): “In the ignition timing control block 41, each piece of information from the cooling water temperature information generating unit 42, the load information generating unit 43, the rotation speed information generating unit 45, the crank angle information generating unit 46, and the cylinder discrimination information generating unit 47 is input.”);
adjusting, by an adjustment unit (comprising at least element 42, Fig 2, that delivers engine cooling water temperature to element 41), an energization amount of the ignition coil according to a temperature related to the ignition device (see Paragraph 0039 (emphasis added): “In the ignition timing control block 41, each piece of information from the cooling water temperature information generating unit 42, the load information generating unit 43, the rotation speed information generating unit 45, the crank angle information generating unit 46, and the cylinder discrimination information generating unit 47 is input.”) and the request energization amount (data from both 45 and 41 both being utilized together, see Paragraph 0039, quoted above; further Examiner notes that engine temperature will also inherently be affected by engine speed); and
controlling, by an ignition control unit (ignition control unit 41, Fig 2), an interruption state of the ignition coil according to the energization amount of the ignition coil adjusted by the adjustment unit (based at least in part from element 42; see Paragraph 0039 (emphasis added): “On the basis of a predetermined arithmetic expression from these pieces of input information, the ignition timing control block 41 calculates timing at which the primary current of the ignition coil 19 flows (energization start timing), an energization amount (conduction angle) of the ignition coil 19, and ignition timing at which the primary current is interrupted. The primary current of the ignition coil 19 is controlled according to the energization start timing, the energization angle, and the ignition timing.”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5, 8-9, and 11-12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but appear they would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
In regard to claim 2, Examiner notes the following limitations (emphasis added): “further comprising a storage unit that stores a request dwell map that defines a relationship between the rotation speed and a map energization amount, and a limit dwell map that defines a relationship between a temperature related to the rotation speed and the ignition device, and a limit energization amount that is an energization amount that can be supplied to the ignition coil, wherein the request setting unit calculates the request energization amount according to the rotation speed using the request dwell map, the adjustment unit determines a limit energization amount according to the rotation speed and the temperature related to the ignition device using the limit dwell map, sets the energization amount of the ignition coil on a basis of the request energization amount in a case where the request energization amount is equal to or less than the limit energization amount, and the energization amount of the ignition coil is set on a basis of the limit energization amount in a case where the request energization amount is larger than the limit energization amount”.
In regard to claim 3, Examiner notes the following limitations (emphasis added): “further comprising a storage unit that stores a request dwell map that defines a relationship between the rotation speed and a map energization amount, a voltage correction coefficient map that defines a relationship between a power supply voltage of the ignition device and a voltage correction coefficient, and a temperature correction coefficient map that defines a relationship between a temperature and a temperature correction coefficient related to the ignition device, wherein the request setting unit determines a map energization amount according to the rotation speed using the request dwell map, determines a voltage correction coefficient according to the power supply voltage using the voltage correction coefficient map, and determines a temperature correction coefficient according to the temperature related to the ignition device using the temperature correction coefficient map, and the adjustment unit calculates the energization amount of the ignition coil by multiplying the map energization amount by the voltage correction coefficient and the temperature correction coefficient”.
In regard to claim 4 (from which claim 5 depends), Examiner notes the following limitations (emphasis added): “further comprising a storage unit that stores a low-temperature request dwell map that defines a relationship between the rotation speed and a low- temperature map energization amount, a high-temperature request dwell map that defines a relationship between the rotation speed and a high-temperature map energization amount, and a voltage correction coefficient map that defines a relationship between a power supply voltage of the ignition device and a voltage correction coefficient, wherein the request setting unit determines a low-temperature map energization amount according to the rotation speed using the low-temperature request dwell map, and determines a high- temperature map energization amount according to the rotation speed using the high-temperature request dwell map, and the adjustment unit sets the energization amount of the ignition coil on a basis of a temperature related to the ignition device, the low-temperature map energization amount, and the high-temperature map energization amount”.
In regard to claim 8 (from which claim 9 depends), Examiner notes the following limitations (emphasis added): “wherein the temperature related to the ignition device is output using a neural network model having at least the rotation speed as an explanatory variable”.
In regard to claim 11 (from which claim 12 depends), Examiner notes the following limitations (emphasis added): “An internal combustion engine control method of controlling an internal combustion engine in which a current flowing through an ignition coil of an ignition device is interrupted according to a predetermined ignition timing, the method comprising: outputting, by an ignition device temperature estimation unit, a temperature related to the ignition device using a first neural network model having at least a power supply voltage of the ignition device and a rotation speed of the internal combustion engine as explanatory variables; outputting, by an adjustment unit, a limit energization amount that is an energization amount that can be supplied to the ignition coil using a second neural network model having the temperature related to the ignition device, the power supply voltage, and the rotation speed as explanatory variables; outputting, by a request setting unit, a request energization amount of the ignition coil using a third neural network model having at least the rotation speed and the temperature related to the ignition device as explanatory variables; adjusting, by the adjustment unit, an energization amount of the ignition coil on a basis of the limit energization amount and the request energization amount; and controlling, by an ignition control unit, an interruption state of the ignition coil according to the energization amount of the ignition coil adjusted by the adjustment unit.”.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB M AMICK whose telephone number is (571)272-5790. The examiner can normally be reached Core Hours 10-6 M-F (First Fridays Off).
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/JACOB M AMICK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
