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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 3 and 4 conflict each other:
Claim 3 calls for, “terminate the steering control in a state in which the steering wheel is rotating in the direction opposite to the departure direction”
Claim 4 calls for, “….processor operates to…………, set a speed at which the steering wheel is rotated in the direction opposite to the departure direction to be greater as the curvature becomes greater”
Claim 4 depends on claim 3 and inherits the limitations of claim 3. That is, claim 3 calls for termination of steering control while claim 4 calls for operating the control of the steering.
As such claim 4 conflicts claim 3.
The rejection applies to clams 5 and 6.
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as being anticipated by OMIKAWA (US Pub 2022/0063722).
Regarding claim 1, Omikawa discloses a driving assistance method executed by a processor (8, 11; figs. 1-7, 9, 10; abstract; sec 0033, 0034), comprising:
monitoring a traveling state of a vehicle traveling with a steering operation of a driver (sec 0030, 0034, 0035);
when it is predicted that the vehicle will depart from a lane in which the vehicle is traveling, executing steering control to maintain a relative-to-lane yaw angle at an angle within a
range in which the vehicle can travel along the lane (figs. 4-7, 9, 10; sec 0032, 0034, etc), the relative-to-lane yaw angle being an angle between a traveling direction of the vehicle and a tangent direction of the lane at a position on the lane at which the vehicle is traveling (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0032, 0034, etc); and
continuing the steering control until a predetermined time elapses from when the relative to-lane yaw angle changes from a decrease to an increase (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0032, 0034, 0040, etc), the processor operating to:
predict whether or not the vehicle traveling with the steering operation of the driver will depart from the lane in which the vehicle is traveling (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0032, 0034, 0040, etc);
when predicting that the vehicle will depart from the lane, acquire a departure direction in which the vehicle departs from the lane and a turning direction of the vehicle (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0032, 0034, 0040, etc);
determine whether or not the departure direction and the turning direction are a same direction (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0060-0065); and
when determining that the departure direction and the turning direction are the same direction, execute the steering control such that a steering wheel of the vehicle is not rotated in the departure direction and the vehicle is not departed from the lane (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0060-0065).
Regarding claim 2, Omikawa discloses the driving assistance method according to claim 1, wherein the processor operates to:
when determining that the departure direction and the turning direction are the same direction, rotate the steering wheel in a direction opposite to the departure direction; and
maintain a rotation angle of the steering wheel from a certain timing between when the relative-to-lane yaw angle starts to increase and when an increment of the relative-to-lane yaw angle reaches a predetermined angle (figs. 7-10; sec 0052-0055).
Regarding claim 3, Omikawa discloses the driving assistance method according to claim 1, wherein the processor operates to:
acquire a curvature of the lane (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0060-0065);
when the curvature is equal to or less than a predetermined value:
rotate the steering wheel in a direction opposite to the departure direction (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0060-0065);
maintain a rotation angle of the steering wheel from a certain timing between when the relative-to-lane yaw angle starts to increase and when an increment of the relative-to-lane yaw angle reaches a predetermined angle (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065), and
terminate the steering control in a state of maintaining the rotation angle (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065); and
when the curvature is greater than the predetermined value:
rotate the steering wheel in the direction opposite to the departure direction (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065);
maintain the rotation angle of the steering wheel from a certain timing between when the relative-to-lane yaw angle starts to increase and when the increment of the relative-to-lane yaw angle reaches the predetermined angle:
rotate the steering wheel in the direction opposite to the departure direction from a certain timing after starting to maintain the rotation angle (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065), and
terminate the steering control in a state in which the steering wheel is rotating in the direction opposite to the departure direction (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065).
Regarding claim 4, Omikawa discloses the driving assistance method according to claim 3, wherein the processor operates to, when the curvature is greater than the predetermined value,
set a speed at which the steering wheel is rotated in the direction opposite to the departure direction to be greater as the curvature becomes greater (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065).
Regarding claim 5, Omikawa discloses the driving assistance method according to claim 1, wherein the processor operates to:
acquire a traveling speed of the vehicle (fig. 3; sec 0034);
when the traveling speed is equal to or less than a predetermined speed:
rotate the steering wheel in a direction opposite to the departure direction (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065);
maintain a rotation angle of the steering wheel from a certain timing between
when the relative-to-lane yaw angle starts to increase and when an increment of the relative-to-lane yaw angle reaches a predetermined angle (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065); and
terminate the steering control in a state of maintaining the rotation angle (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065); and
when the traveling speed is faster than the predetermined speed:
rotate the steering wheel in the direction opposite to the departure direction (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065);
maintain the rotation angle of the steering wheel from a certain timing between when the relative-to-lane yaw angle starts to increase and when the increment of the relative-to-lane yaw angle reaches the predetermined angle (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065);
rotate the steering wheel in the direction opposite to the departure direction from a certain timing after starting to maintain the rotation angle (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065; and
terminate the steering control in a state in which the steering wheel is rotating in the direction opposite to the departure direction (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065).
Regarding claim 6, Omikawa discloses the driving assistance method according to claim 5, wherein the processor operates to, when the traveling speed is faster than the predetermined speed,
set a speed at which the steering wheel is rotated in the direction opposite to the departure direction to be greater as the traveling speed becomes faster (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065).
Regarding claim 7, Omikawa discloses a driving assistance device comprising a processor configured to: monitor a traveling state of a vehicle traveling with a steering operation of a driver (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065);
when it is predicted that the vehicle will depart from a lane in which the vehicle is traveling:
execute steering control to maintain a relative-to-lane yaw angle at an angle within a range in which the vehicle can travel along the lane, the relative-to-lane yaw angle being an angle between a traveling direction of the vehicle and a tangent direction of the lane at a position on the lane at which the vehicle is traveling (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065); and
continue the steering control until a predetermined time elapses from when the relative-to-lane yaw angle changes from a decrease to an increase (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065), the processor comprising:
a prediction unit configured to predict whether or not a vehicle traveling with a steering operation of a driver will depart from a lane in which the vehicle is traveling (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065);
an acquisition unit configured to, when the prediction unit predicts that the vehicle will depart from the lane, acquire a departure direction in which the vehicle departs from the lane and a turning direction of the vehicle (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065); and
a control unit configured to:
determine whether or not the departure direction and the turning direction are a same direction (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065); and
when determining that the departure direction and the turning direction are the same direction, execute the steering control such that a steering wheel of the vehicle is not rotated in the departure direction and the vehicle is not departed from the lane (figs. 7, 9, 10; sec sec 0030, 0034, 0035, 0060-0065).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
(KR 101573550 B1) discloses: [More specifically, when the corrected steering angle reaches the warning reference point (D, G), a warning is generated. When the corrected steering angle reaches the intervention reference point (E, H) When the modified steering angle reaches the warning reference point (F, I), the vehicle steering assist control is terminated and the driver can perform the steering control again.
Thus, the present invention can be applied to a lane-keeping support system (LKAS) in which lane information (lane width, lateral displacement of a vehicle, distance to both lanes, lane shape, relative yaw angle between a lane and a vehicle, The vehicle lane keeping performance can be predicted by predicting the vehicle's position and departure amount at the time when a specific time passes through the vehicle's perceptible state information (vehicle speed, steering angle, yaw rate) And the yaw rate and the slip angle are reduced, thereby minimizing the driver's steering disturbance.]
(JP WO2014083631 A1) discloses: {In this case, the vehicle has traveled to the end point of the provisional target locus, and a negative determination is made in step 100 and an affirmative determination is made in step 350. In step 750, the provisional trajectory control is terminated, the steering mode is shifted from the automatic steering mode to the manual steering mode, and in step 800, the vehicle deceleration control based on the target deceleration is terminated, whereby the vehicle speed is controlled. The decline ends.
In the traveling state of the vehicle shown in FIG. 13, the negative determination is made in step 100 and the positive determination is made in step 350 at time t4.
<C2. When the end condition is the driving operation of the driver>
This case is a case where at least one of a steering operation, a deceleration operation, and an acceleration operation is performed by the driver before the vehicle travels to the end point of the provisional target trajectory. In step 350, an affirmative determination is made. In step 750, the provisional trajectory control is terminated, the steering mode is shifted from the automatic steering mode to the manual steering mode, and in step 800, the vehicle deceleration control based on the target deceleration is terminated, whereby the vehicle speed is controlled. The decline ends.
For example, as shown in FIG. 15, at a time point t2 prior to the time point t4 when the vehicle travels to the end point of the provisional target locus, the provisional locus control is terminated and the steering mode is manually set from the automatic steering mode. While shifting to the steering mode, the vehicle deceleration control based on the target deceleration is completed.}
(JP 6028745 B2 ) discloses: [Next, the operation of the above-described embodiment will be described for normal steering control, termination control when the steering angular velocity is low, termination control when the steering angular velocity is high, and when termination control is not performed.
<A. Normal steering control>
When the selection switch 70 is on, an affirmative determination is made in step 150, so that steps 100, 200, and 300 are repeatedly executed, so that normal steering control, in other words, vehicle trajectory control and vehicle speed are determined. Steering characteristics are controlled. That is, in step 100, the target correction amount Δθplkat for the pinion angle for trajectory control is calculated, and in step 200, the target pinion angle θpst for controlling the steering characteristic to a desired characteristic according to the vehicle speed V is calculated. .
Further, in step 300, the final target pinion angle θpft in the normal steering control is set to the sum θpst + Δθplka of the target pinion angle θpst and the target correction amount Δθplka of the pinion angle. Then, the steering angle varying device 14 and the EPS 22 are controlled so that the pinion angle θp becomes the final target pinion angle θpft, thereby achieving the steering characteristics corresponding to the vehicle speed V and causing the vehicle to travel along the travel path. The steering angle of the left and right front wheels is controlled.]
Communication
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RONNIE MANCHO whose telephone number is (571)272-6984. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Adam Mott can be reached at 571 270 5376. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RONNIE M MANCHO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3657
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