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 .
Application status
This office action is in response to application filed on 05/29/2025 and Preliminary Amendment filed on 05/29/2025. Claims 1-5 and 9-18 are pending. Claims 6-9 are canceled. Claims 1-5 and 9-18 are rejected.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in the parent Application No. CN202310436558.3 filed on 04/19/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/29/2025, 08/07/2025, 11/20/2025, 11/26/2025, and 04/29/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 and 4 are objected to because of the following informalities:
For consistency purpose, term “comprises” in the preamble of claims 2 and 4 should be changed to “comprising”. For example, claim 2 should read as “(Currently Amended) The method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the vehicle to open the door based on the distance comprising:”, and claim 4 should read as “(Currently Amended) The method according to claim 3, wherein controlling the vehicle to perform the lock-result reminding action comprising:”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 10-14 are objected as improper dependent claim numbering according to MPEP 608.01(n)
608.01(n) Dependent Claims
IV. CLAIM FORM AND ARRANGEMENT
A series of singular dependent claims is permissible in which a dependent claim refers to a preceding claim which, in turn, refers to another preceding claim.
A claim which depends from a dependent claim should not be separated therefrom by any claim which does not also depend from said "dependent claim." It should be kept in mind that a dependent claim may refer back to any preceding independent claim. These are the only restrictions with respect to the sequence of claims and, in general, applicant’s sequence should not be changed. Following list indicates how the claims should have been numbered.
claim 1 is correct
claim 2 is correct
claim 3 is correct
claim 4 is correct
claim 5 is correct
claim 9 is correct
claim 11 should have been numbered as claim 10
claim 12 should have been numbered as claim 11
claim 13 should have been numbered as claim 12
claim 14 should have been numbered as claim 13
claim 10 should have been numbered as claim 14
claim 15 is correct
claim 16 is correct
claim 17 is correct
claim 18 is correct
Appropriate correction is required.
Specification
608.01(b) Abstract of the Disclosure [R-01.2024]
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
More specifically, abstract contains legal phraseology “comprises” which is an open-ended legal term and does not limit the scope of the claim. The abstract also contains “present application”. The abstract also contains more than 150 words. Appropriate corrections are required.
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, 9-10, 12, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hasegawa (US 20220030384 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Hasegawa teaches (Currently Amended) A method for controlling a vehicle, wherein the vehicle is provided with a plurality of ultra wide band (UWB) receivers (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0008; “As a first aspect for achieving the object above, there is provided a vehicle control system, in a vehicle performing wireless communication with a mobile terminal / [0011] In the vehicle control system, the wireless communication may include wireless communication by Ultra Wide Band (UWB), and the medium-precision position measuring processing may be processing of measuring a position of the mobile terminal with respect to the vehicle by transmitting and receiving a signal by the wireless communication between the vehicle and the mobile terminal through two UWB antennas provided in the vehicle and measuring a distance between the two UWB antennas and the mobile terminal.”), the method comprising:
determining a distance between a mobile terminal and the vehicle based on positioning signals received by the plurality of UWB receivers from the mobile terminal (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0036; “The vehicle control system 10 measures a vehicle-terminal distance M in order to permit use of the mobile terminal 100 as an electronic key. The vehicle control system 10 performs UWB communication through the narrow-area wireless communication device 60 with the mobile terminal 100 and measures a distance X between the UWB antenna 61 and the mobile terminal 100, a distance Y between the UWB antenna 62 and the mobile terminal 100, and a distance Z between the UWB antenna 63 and the mobile terminal100 based on Time of Flight (ToF).”) and (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0037; “When communication by BLE is established between the narrow-area wireless communication device 60 and the mobile terminal 100, the vehicle control system 10 repeats the measurement of the vehicle-terminal distance M through UWB communication.”);
controlling the vehicle to perform at least one of: a lighting action, a pre-start action, or a pre-start reminding action (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0082; “In step S54, the user approach handling unit 27 puts on the welcome light 84.”), in response to the distance being in a welcome control range (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0078; “In the subsequent step S51, the position measurement control unit 24 determines whether the position of the mobile terminal 100, which is measured by the second position measuring unit 23, within the second area Ar2 or not. If the position of the mobile terminal 100 is within the second area Ar2, the position measurement control unit 24 moves the processing to step S52 / [0079] In step S52, the position measurement control unit 24 measures a position of the mobile terminal 100 with respect to the vehicle 1 by using the second position measuring unit 23. In the subsequent step S53, the position measurement control unit 24 determines whether the position of the mobile terminal 100, which is measured by the second position measuring unit 23, is within the first area Ar1 or not.”); and
controlling the vehicle to be unlocked (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0087; “In step S59, the user approach handling unit 27 operates the door lock mechanism 82 and thus unlocks the doors of the vehicle 1”) and controlling the vehicle to open a door based on the distance, in response to the distance being in an unlock control range (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0086; “In step S57 in FIG. 11, the position measurement control unit 24 measures a position of the mobile terminal 100 with respect to the vehicle 1 by using the first position measuring unit 21. In the subsequent step S58, the position measurement control unit 24 determines whether the position of the mobile terminal 100, which is measured by the first position measuring unit 21, is at a door unlocking position set within the first area Ar1 or not. The door unlocking position is set in a range within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 1 within the first area Ar1.”).
Regarding claim 3, Hasegawa teaches (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: controlling the vehicle to be locked and controlling the vehicle to perform a lock-result reminding action, in response to the vehicle meeting a lock condition and the distance being in a lock control range (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0059; “Based on the position of the mobile terminal 100 measured by the second position measuring unit 23, the mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25 monitors a location state of the mobile terminal 100 in the second area Ar2. When the user withdrawal handling unit 26 recognizes that the mobile terminal 100 has moved away from the vehicle 1 (when the user U carrying the mobile terminal 100 has moved away from the vehicle 1), the user withdrawal handling unit 26 performs processing of locking a door of the vehicle 1, processing of closing the tailgate 5 of the vehicle 1 and so on as withdrawal handling processing.”) and (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0066-0075; steps S1-S12 explain the overall locking process of the vehicle doors with respect to the distance of the mobile terminal).
Regarding claim 9, Hasegawa teaches (Currently Amended) A vehicle, comprising: a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and runnable by the processor, wherein the processor, when running the computer program (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0045; “The vehicle control system 10 includes an ECU including a vehicle processor 20, a memory 40, an interface circuit, not shown, and so on. The vehicle processor 20 includes one or more processors. The vehicle processor 20 functions as a first position measuring unit 21, a medium-precision position measuring unit 22, a second position measuring unit 23, a position measurement control unit 24, a mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25, a user withdrawal handling unit 26, a user approach handling unit 27, a control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28, and a vehicle operation control unit 29 by reading and executing a vehicle control program 41 stored in the memory 40. The control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28 includes functionality of a vehicle door lock/unlock request recognizing unit of the present invention. ”), is caused to;
determine a distance between a mobile terminal and the vehicle based on positioning signals received by a plurality of ultra wide band (UWB) receivers from the mobile terminal (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0036; “The vehicle control system 10 measures a vehicle-terminal distance M in order to permit use of the mobile terminal 100 as an electronic key. The vehicle control system 10 performs UWB communication through the narrow-area wireless communication device 60 with the mobile terminal 100 and measures a distance X between the UWB antenna 61 and the mobile terminal 100, a distance Y between the UWB antenna 62 and the mobile terminal 100, and a distance Z between the UWB antenna 63 and the mobile terminal100 based on Time of Flight (ToF).”) and (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0037; “When communication by BLE is established between the narrow-area wireless communication device 60 and the mobile terminal 100, the vehicle control system 10 repeats the measurement of the vehicle-terminal distance M through UWB communication.”);
control the vehicle to perform at least one of: a lighting action, a pre-start action, or a pre-start reminding action (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0082; “In step S54, the user approach handling unit 27 puts on the welcome light 84.”), in response to the distance being in a welcome control range (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0078; “In the subsequent step S51, the position measurement control unit 24 determines whether the position of the mobile terminal 100, which is measured by the second position measuring unit 23, within the second area Ar2 or not. If the position of the mobile terminal 100 is within the second area Ar2, the position measurement control unit 24 moves the processing to step S52 / [0079] In step S52, the position measurement control unit 24 measures a position of the mobile terminal 100 with respect to the vehicle 1 by using the second position measuring unit 23. In the subsequent step S53, the position measurement control unit 24 determines whether the position of the mobile terminal 100, which is measured by the second position measuring unit 23, is within the first area Ar1 or not.”); and
control the vehicle to be unlocked (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0087; “In step S59, the user approach handling unit 27 operates the door lock mechanism 82 and thus unlocks the doors of the vehicle 1”) and control the vehicle to open a door based on the distance, in response to the distance being in an unlock control range (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0086; “In step S57 in FIG. 11, the position measurement control unit 24 measures a position of the mobile terminal 100 with respect to the vehicle 1 by using the first position measuring unit 21. In the subsequent step S58, the position measurement control unit 24 determines whether the position of the mobile terminal 100, which is measured by the first position measuring unit 21, is at a door unlocking position set within the first area Ar1 or not. The door unlocking position is set in a range within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 1 within the first area Ar1.”).
Regarding claim 10, Hasegawa teaches (Currently Amended) A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing a computer program thereon, wherein the computer program, when loaded and run by a processor (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0045; “The vehicle control system 10 includes an ECU including a vehicle processor 20, a memory 40, an interface circuit, not shown, and so on. The vehicle processor 20 includes one or more processors. The vehicle processor 20 functions as a first position measuring unit 21, a medium-precision position measuring unit 22, a second position measuring unit 23, a position measurement control unit 24, a mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25, a user withdrawal handling unit 26, a user approach handling unit 27, a control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28, and a vehicle operation control unit 29 by reading and executing a vehicle control program 41 stored in the memory 40. The control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28 includes functionality of a vehicle door lock/unlock request recognizing unit of the present invention. ”), causes the processor to;
determine a distance between a mobile terminal and a vehicle based on positioning signals received by a plurality of ultra wide band (UWB) receivers from the mobile terminal (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0036; “The vehicle control system 10 measures a vehicle-terminal distance M in order to permit use of the mobile terminal 100 as an electronic key. The vehicle control system 10 performs UWB communication through the narrow-area wireless communication device 60 with the mobile terminal 100 and measures a distance X between the UWB antenna 61 and the mobile terminal 100, a distance Y between the UWB antenna 62 and the mobile terminal 100, and a distance Z between the UWB antenna 63 and the mobile terminal100 based on Time of Flight (ToF).”) and (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0037; “When communication by BLE is established between the narrow-area wireless communication device 60 and the mobile terminal 100, the vehicle control system 10 repeats the measurement of the vehicle-terminal distance M through UWB communication.”);
control the vehicle to perform at least one of: a lighting action, a pre-start action, or a pre-start reminding action (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0082; “In step S54, the user approach handling unit 27 puts on the welcome light 84.”), in response to the distance being in a welcome control range (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0078; “In the subsequent step S51, the position measurement control unit 24 determines whether the position of the mobile terminal 100, which is measured by the second position measuring unit 23, within the second area Ar2 or not. If the position of the mobile terminal 100 is within the second area Ar2, the position measurement control unit 24 moves the processing to step S52 / [0079] In step S52, the position measurement control unit 24 measures a position of the mobile terminal 100 with respect to the vehicle 1 by using the second position measuring unit 23. In the subsequent step S53, the position measurement control unit 24 determines whether the position of the mobile terminal 100, which is measured by the second position measuring unit 23, is within the first area Ar1 or not.”); and
control the vehicle to be unlocked (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0087; “In step S59, the user approach handling unit 27 operates the door lock mechanism 82 and thus unlocks the doors of the vehicle 1”) and control the vehicle to open a door based on the distance, in response to the distance being in an unlock control range (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0086; “In step S57 in FIG. 11, the position measurement control unit 24 measures a position of the mobile terminal 100 with respect to the vehicle 1 by using the first position measuring unit 21. In the subsequent step S58, the position measurement control unit 24 determines whether the position of the mobile terminal 100, which is measured by the first position measuring unit 21, is at a door unlocking position set within the first area Ar1 or not. The door unlocking position is set in a range within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 1 within the first area Ar1.”).
Regarding claim 12, Hasegawa teaches (New) The vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the processor, when running the computer program, is caused to:
control the vehicle to be locked and control the vehicle to perform a lock-result reminding action, in response to the vehicle meeting a lock condition and the distance being in a lock control range (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0059; “Based on the position of the mobile terminal 100 measured by the second position measuring unit 23, the mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25 monitors a location state of the mobile terminal 100 in the second area Ar2. When the user withdrawal handling unit 26 recognizes that the mobile terminal 100 has moved away from the vehicle 1 (when the user U carrying the mobile terminal 100 has moved away from the vehicle 1), the user withdrawal handling unit 26 performs processing of locking a door of the vehicle 1, processing of closing the tailgate 5 of the vehicle 1 and so on as withdrawal handling processing.”) and (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0066-0075; steps S1-S12 explain the overall locking process of the vehicle doors with respect to the distance of the mobile terminal).
Regarding claim 16, Hasegawa teaches (New) The storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the computer program, when loaded and run by a processor, causes the processor to:
control the vehicle to be locked and control the vehicle to perform a lock-result reminding action, in response to the vehicle meeting a lock condition and the distance being in a lock control range (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0059; “Based on the position of the mobile terminal 100 measured by the second position measuring unit 23, the mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25 monitors a location state of the mobile terminal 100 in the second area Ar2. When the user withdrawal handling unit 26 recognizes that the mobile terminal 100 has moved away from the vehicle 1 (when the user U carrying the mobile terminal 100 has moved away from the vehicle 1), the user withdrawal handling unit 26 performs processing of locking a door of the vehicle 1, processing of closing the tailgate 5 of the vehicle 1 and so on as withdrawal handling processing.”) and (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0066-0075; steps S1-S12 explain the overall locking process of the vehicle doors with respect to the distance of the mobile terminal).
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, 11, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (US 20220030384 A1) and further in view of XIANG (CN 114435300 A).
Regarding claim 2, Hasegawa teaches the limitations of claim 1, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Hasegawa teaches (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 1, wherein controlling the vehicle to open the door based on the distance (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0086; “In step S57 in FIG. 11, the position measurement control unit 24 measures a position of the mobile terminal 100 with respect to the vehicle 1 by using the first position measuring unit 21. In the subsequent step S58, the position measurement control unit 24 determines whether the position of the mobile terminal 100, which is measured by the first position measuring unit 21, is at a door unlocking position set within the first area Ar1 or not. The door unlocking position is set in a range within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 1 within the first area Ar1.”) comprises:
acquiring posture information of a target user, in response to the distance being in an anti-collision control range, the target user being at least one of: a user carrying the mobile terminal or a user at a target orientation of the door; and
determining an open action of the door based on the posture information and controlling the vehicle to open the door according to the open action.
Hasegawa does not explicitly teach acquiring posture information of a target user, in response to the distance being in an anti-collision control range, the target user being at least one of: a user carrying the mobile terminal or a user at a target orientation of the door; and
determining an open action of the door based on the posture information and controlling the vehicle to open the door according to the open action.
XIANG, in the same field of endeavor (XIANG, Technical Field; “The invention belongs to the technical field of vehicle automatic opening and closing door, and more specifically relates to a system and method for automatically opening and closing door based on UWB technology capable of realizing user recognition”) teaches acquiring posture information of a target user (XIANG, Translated copy, page 4 and para. 1; “The invention claims a user from approaching the vehicle to the get-in stage, providing convenience for the user, especially for the double-hand holding things”), in response to the distance being in an anti-collision control range, the target user being at least one of: a user carrying the mobile terminal or a user at a target orientation of the door (XIANG, Translated copy, page 5 and para. 12; “the user regularly and regularly, carrying UWB Bluetooth entity key, or carrying the mobile phone digital key supporting UWB close to the vehicle, the first preset distance (about 5 meters) at the guest lamp opening guest (default light 1); the outside of the second preset distance (about 2 meters) outside the speaker welcome music (default music 1); at the preset range (about 1 m) of the vehicle door opening, vehicle automatic unlocking, main driving door opening (default)”, wherein the anti-collision control range is 1m, which is less that the second preset distance); and
determining an open action of the door based on the posture information and controlling the vehicle to open the door according to the open action (XIANG, Translated copy, page 5 and para. 12; “at the preset range (about 1 m) of the vehicle door opening, vehicle automatic unlocking, main driving door opening”).
Hasegawa and XIANG are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as advance locking/unlocking system as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the door opening/unlocking process of the Hasegawa with teaching of XIANG. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the overall door opening process can provide a feel good experience for the user (XIANG; page 2, para. 6). Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Regarding claim 11, Hasegawa teaches the limitations of claim 9, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Hasegawa teaches (New) The vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the processor, when running the computer program (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0045; “The vehicle control system 10 includes an ECU including a vehicle processor 20, a memory 40, an interface circuit, not shown, and so on. The vehicle processor 20 includes one or more processors. The vehicle processor 20 functions as a first position measuring unit 21, a medium-precision position measuring unit 22, a second position measuring unit 23, a position measurement control unit 24, a mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25, a user withdrawal handling unit 26, a user approach handling unit 27, a control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28, and a vehicle operation control unit 29 by reading and executing a vehicle control program 41 stored in the memory 40. The control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28 includes functionality of a vehicle door lock/unlock request recognizing unit of the present invention. ”), is caused to:
acquire posture information of a target user, in response to the distance being in an anti-collision control range, the target user being at least one of: a user carrying the mobile terminal or a user at a target orientation of the door; and
determine an open action of the door based on the posture information and control the vehicle to open the door according to the open action.
Hasegawa does not explicitly teach acquire posture information of a target user, in response to the distance being in an anti-collision control range, the target user being at least one of: a user carrying the mobile terminal or a user at a target orientation of the door; and
determine an open action of the door based on the posture information and control the vehicle to open the door according to the open action.
XIANG, in the same field of endeavor (XIANG, Technical Field; “The invention belongs to the technical field of vehicle automatic opening and closing door, and more specifically relates to a system and method for automatically opening and closing door based on UWB technology capable of realizing user recognition”) teaches acquire posture information of a target user (XIANG, Translated copy, page 4 and para. 1; “The invention claims a user from approaching the vehicle to the get-in stage, providing convenience for the user, especially for the double-hand holding things”), in response to the distance being in an anti-collision control range, the target user being at least one of: a user carrying the mobile terminal or a user at a target orientation of the door (XIANG, Translated copy, page 5 and para. 12; “the user regularly and regularly, carrying UWB Bluetooth entity key, or carrying the mobile phone digital key supporting UWB close to the vehicle, the first preset distance (about 5 meters) at the guest lamp opening guest (default light 1); the outside of the second preset distance (about 2 meters) outside the speaker welcome music (default music 1); at the preset range (about 1 m) of the vehicle door opening, vehicle automatic unlocking, main driving door opening (default)”, wherein the anti-collision control range is 1m, which is less that the second preset distance); and
determine an open action of the door based on the posture information and control the vehicle to open the door according to the open action (XIANG, Translated copy, page 5 and para. 12; “at the preset range (about 1 m) of the vehicle door opening, vehicle automatic unlocking, main driving door opening”).
Hasegawa and XIANG are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as advance locking/unlocking system as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the door opening/unlocking process via the processor of the Hasegawa with teaching of XIANG. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the overall door opening process can provide a feel good experience for the user (XIANG; page 2, para. 6). Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Regarding claim 15, Hasegawa teaches the limitations of claim 10, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Hasegawa teaches (New) The storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the computer program, when loaded and run by a processor (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0045; “The vehicle control system 10 includes an ECU including a vehicle processor 20, a memory 40, an interface circuit, not shown, and so on. The vehicle processor 20 includes one or more processors. The vehicle processor 20 functions as a first position measuring unit 21, a medium-precision position measuring unit 22, a second position measuring unit 23, a position measurement control unit 24, a mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25, a user withdrawal handling unit 26, a user approach handling unit 27, a control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28, and a vehicle operation control unit 29 by reading and executing a vehicle control program 41 stored in the memory 40. The control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28 includes functionality of a vehicle door lock/unlock request recognizing unit of the present invention. ”), causes the processor to:
acquire posture information of a target user, in response to the distance being in an anti-collision control range, the target user being at least one of: a user carrying the mobile terminal or a user at a target orientation of the door; and
determine an open action of the door based on the posture information and control the vehicle to open the door according to the open action.
Hasegawa does not explicitly teach acquire posture information of a target user, in response to the distance being in an anti-collision control range, the target user being at least one of: a user carrying the mobile terminal or a user at a target orientation of the door; and
determine an open action of the door based on the posture information and control the vehicle to open the door according to the open action.
XIANG, in the same field of endeavor (XIANG, Technical Field; “The invention belongs to the technical field of vehicle automatic opening and closing door, and more specifically relates to a system and method for automatically opening and closing door based on UWB technology capable of realizing user recognition”) teaches acquire posture information of a target user (XIANG, Translated copy, page 4 and para. 1; “The invention claims a user from approaching the vehicle to the get-in stage, providing convenience for the user, especially for the double-hand holding things”), in response to the distance being in an anti-collision control range, the target user being at least one of: a user carrying the mobile terminal or a user at a target orientation of the door (XIANG, Translated copy, page 5 and para. 12; “the user regularly and regularly, carrying UWB Bluetooth entity key, or carrying the mobile phone digital key supporting UWB close to the vehicle, the first preset distance (about 5 meters) at the guest lamp opening guest (default light 1); the outside of the second preset distance (about 2 meters) outside the speaker welcome music (default music 1); at the preset range (about 1 m) of the vehicle door opening, vehicle automatic unlocking, main driving door opening (default)”, wherein the anti-collision control range is 1m, which is less that the second preset distance); and
determine an open action of the door based on the posture information and control the vehicle to open the door according to the open action (XIANG, Translated copy, page 5 and para. 12; “at the preset range (about 1 m) of the vehicle door opening, vehicle automatic unlocking, main driving door opening”).
Hasegawa and XIANG are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as advance locking/unlocking system as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the door opening/unlocking process via the processor of the Hasegawa with teaching of XIANG. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the overall door opening process can provide a feel good experience for the user (XIANG; page 2, para. 6). Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Claim(s) 4, 13, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (US 20220030384 A1) and further in view of Jang (US 20240190384 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Hasegawa teaches the limitations of claim 3, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Hasegawa teaches (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 3, wherein controlling the vehicle to perform the lock-result reminding action (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0045; “Based on the position of the mobile terminal 100 measured by the second position measuring unit 23, the mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25 monitors a location state of the mobile terminal 100 in the second area Ar2. When the user withdrawal handling unit 26 recognizes that the mobile terminal 100 has moved away from the vehicle 1 (when the user U carrying the mobile terminal 100 has moved away from the vehicle 1), the user withdrawal handling unit 26 performs processing of locking a door of the vehicle 1, processing of closing the tailgate 5 of the vehicle 1 and so on as withdrawal handling processing.”) and (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0066-0075; steps S1-S12 explain the overall locking process of the vehicle doors with respect to the distance of the mobile terminal) comprises:
controlling at least one device of the vehicle to perform a success-locking reminding action and controlling the vehicle to send a success-locking message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being successfully locked, wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of an optical display device and an acoustic reminding device; and
controlling the at least one device of the vehicle to perform an unsuccess-locking reminding action and controlling the vehicle to send an unsuccess-locking reminding message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being unsuccessfully locked.
Hasegawa does not explicitly teach controlling at least one device of the vehicle to perform a success-locking reminding action and controlling the vehicle to send a success-locking message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being successfully locked, wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of an optical display device and an acoustic reminding device; and
controlling the at least one device of the vehicle to perform an unsuccess-locking reminding action and controlling the vehicle to send an unsuccess-locking reminding message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being unsuccessfully locked.
Jang, in the same field of endeavor (Jang, at least one para. 0002; “Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vehicle and a mobile device for enhancing a security of a digital key.”) teaches controlling at least one device of the vehicle to perform a success-locking reminding action (Jang, at least one para. 0129; “the first display device 122 may display information on functions being performed in the vehicle and information input by the user.”) and controlling the vehicle to send a success-locking message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being successfully locked (Jang, at least one para. 0275; “The second display device 220 may display operation performance information corresponding to the control command transmitted to the vehicle 1. For example, the second display device 220 may display door locking completion or failure information corresponding to the locking command of the door, may display door unlocking completion or failure corresponding to the unlocking command of the door”), wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of an optical display device and an acoustic reminding device (Jang, at least one para. 0135; “In an embodiment, the first input device 121 and the first display device 122 may be implemented as a touch screen. Also, the first input device 121 and the first display device 122 may be provided as an input device and a display device of an audio video navigation (AVN) device.”); and
controlling the at least one device of the vehicle to perform an unsuccess-locking reminding action (Jang, at least one para. 0129; “the first display device 122 may display information on functions being performed in the vehicle and information input by the user.”) and controlling the vehicle to send an unsuccess-locking reminding message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being unsuccessfully locked (Jang, at least one para. 0275; “The second display device 220 may display operation performance information corresponding to the control command transmitted to the vehicle 1. For example, the second display device 220 may display door locking completion or failure information corresponding to the locking command of the door, may display door unlocking completion or failure corresponding to the unlocking command of the door”).
Hasegawa and Jang are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as advance locking/unlocking system as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the door locking process of the Hasegawa with teaching of Jang. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the user can be accurately informed. Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Regarding claim 13, Hasegawa teaches the limitations of claim 12, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Hasegawa teaches (New) The vehicle according to claim 12, wherein the processor, when running the computer program (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0045; “The vehicle control system 10 includes an ECU including a vehicle processor 20, a memory 40, an interface circuit, not shown, and so on. The vehicle processor 20 includes one or more processors. The vehicle processor 20 functions as a first position measuring unit 21, a medium-precision position measuring unit 22, a second position measuring unit 23, a position measurement control unit 24, a mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25, a user withdrawal handling unit 26, a user approach handling unit 27, a control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28, and a vehicle operation control unit 29 by reading and executing a vehicle control program 41 stored in the memory 40. The control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28 includes functionality of a vehicle door lock/unlock request recognizing unit of the present invention. ”), is caused to:
control at least one device of the vehicle to perform a success-locking reminding action and control the vehicle to send a success-locking message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being successfully locked, wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of an optical display device and an acoustic reminding device; and
control the at least one device of the vehicle to perform an unsuccess-locking reminding action and control the vehicle to send an unsuccess-locking reminding message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being unsuccessfully locked.
Hasegawa does not explicitly teach control at least one device of the vehicle to perform a success-locking reminding action and control the vehicle to send a success-locking message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being successfully locked, wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of an optical display device and an acoustic reminding device; and
control the at least one device of the vehicle to perform an unsuccess-locking reminding action and control the vehicle to send an unsuccess-locking reminding message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being unsuccessfully locked.
Jang, in the same field of endeavor (Jang, at least one para. 0002; “Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vehicle and a mobile device for enhancing a security of a digital key.”) teaches control at least one device of the vehicle to perform a success-locking reminding action (Jang, at least one para. 0129; “the first display device 122 may display information on functions being performed in the vehicle and information input by the user.”) and control the vehicle to send a success-locking message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being successfully locked (Jang, at least one para. 0275; “The second display device 220 may display operation performance information corresponding to the control command transmitted to the vehicle 1. For example, the second display device 220 may display door locking completion or failure information corresponding to the locking command of the door, may display door unlocking completion or failure corresponding to the unlocking command of the door”), wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of an optical display device and an acoustic reminding device (Jang, at least one para. 0135; “In an embodiment, the first input device 121 and the first display device 122 may be implemented as a touch screen. Also, the first input device 121 and the first display device 122 may be provided as an input device and a display device of an audio video navigation (AVN) device.”); and
control the at least one device of the vehicle to perform an unsuccess-locking reminding action (Jang, at least one para. 0129; “the first display device 122 may display information on functions being performed in the vehicle and information input by the user.”) and control the vehicle to send an unsuccess-locking reminding message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being unsuccessfully locked (Jang, at least one para. 0275; “The second display device 220 may display operation performance information corresponding to the control command transmitted to the vehicle 1. For example, the second display device 220 may display door locking completion or failure information corresponding to the locking command of the door, may display door unlocking completion or failure corresponding to the unlocking command of the door”).
Hasegawa and Jang are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as advance locking/unlocking system as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the door locking process via the processor of the Hasegawa with teaching of Jang. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the user can be accurately informed. Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Regarding claim 17, Hasegawa teaches the limitations of claim 16, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Hasegawa teaches (New) The storage medium according to claim 16, wherein the computer program, when loaded and run by a processor (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0045; “The vehicle control system 10 includes an ECU including a vehicle processor 20, a memory 40, an interface circuit, not shown, and so on. The vehicle processor 20 includes one or more processors. The vehicle processor 20 functions as a first position measuring unit 21, a medium-precision position measuring unit 22, a second position measuring unit 23, a position measurement control unit 24, a mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25, a user withdrawal handling unit 26, a user approach handling unit 27, a control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28, and a vehicle operation control unit 29 by reading and executing a vehicle control program 41 stored in the memory 40. The control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28 includes functionality of a vehicle door lock/unlock request recognizing unit of the present invention. ”), causes the processor to:
control at least one device of the vehicle to perform a success-locking reminding action and control the vehicle to send a success-locking message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being successfully locked, wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of an optical display device and an acoustic reminding device; and
control the at least one device of the vehicle to perform an unsuccess-locking reminding action and control the vehicle to send an unsuccess-locking reminding message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being unsuccessfully locked.
Hasegawa does not explicitly teach control at least one device of the vehicle to perform a success-locking reminding action and control the vehicle to send a success-locking message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being successfully locked, wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of an optical display device and an acoustic reminding device; and
control the at least one device of the vehicle to perform an unsuccess-locking reminding action and control the vehicle to send an unsuccess-locking reminding message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being unsuccessfully locked.
Jang, in the same field of endeavor (Jang, at least one para. 0002; “Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vehicle and a mobile device for enhancing a security of a digital key.”) teaches control at least one device of the vehicle to perform a success-locking reminding action (Jang, at least one para. 0129; “the first display device 122 may display information on functions being performed in the vehicle and information input by the user.”) and control the vehicle to send a success-locking message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being successfully locked (Jang, at least one para. 0275; “The second display device 220 may display operation performance information corresponding to the control command transmitted to the vehicle 1. For example, the second display device 220 may display door locking completion or failure information corresponding to the locking command of the door, may display door unlocking completion or failure corresponding to the unlocking command of the door”), wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of an optical display device and an acoustic reminding device (Jang, at least one para. 0135; “In an embodiment, the first input device 121 and the first display device 122 may be implemented as a touch screen. Also, the first input device 121 and the first display device 122 may be provided as an input device and a display device of an audio video navigation (AVN) device.”); and
control the at least one device of the vehicle to perform an unsuccess-locking reminding action (Jang, at least one para. 0129; “the first display device 122 may display information on functions being performed in the vehicle and information input by the user.”) and control the vehicle to send an unsuccess-locking reminding message to the mobile terminal, in response to the vehicle being unsuccessfully locked (Jang, at least one para. 0275; “The second display device 220 may display operation performance information corresponding to the control command transmitted to the vehicle 1. For example, the second display device 220 may display door locking completion or failure information corresponding to the locking command of the door, may display door unlocking completion or failure corresponding to the unlocking command of the door”).
Hasegawa and Jang are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as advance locking/unlocking system as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the door locking process via the processor of the Hasegawa with teaching of Jang. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the user can be accurately informed. Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Claim(s) 5, 14, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (US 20220030384 A1) and further in view of Park (US 20230060470 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Hasegawa teaches the limitations of claim 3, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Hasegawa teaches (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 3 (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0066-0075; steps S1-S12 explains the locking process of the vehicle doors with respect to the distance of the mobile terminal), further comprising:
determining a time of duration of received positioning signals, in response to the vehicle meeting the lock condition;
acquiring an in-vehicle image of the vehicle, in response to the time of duration exceeding a predetermined duration; and
controlling the vehicle to be locked and sending an abnormal reminder to a target terminal, in response to the in-vehicle image showing that no passengers remain in the vehicle, wherein the target terminal is a terminal other than the mobile terminal.
Hasegawa does not explicitly teach determining a time of duration of received positioning signals, in response to the vehicle meeting the lock condition;
acquiring an in-vehicle image of the vehicle, in response to the time of duration exceeding a predetermined duration; and
controlling the vehicle to be locked and sending an abnormal reminder to a target terminal, in response to the in-vehicle image showing that no passengers remain in the vehicle, wherein the target terminal is a terminal other than the mobile terminal.
Park, in the same field of endeavor (Park, at least one para. 0002; “Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vehicle and a control method thereof, and more specifically, to a vehicle and a control method thereof that may provide a smart door lock system of the vehicle.”) teaches determining a time of duration of received positioning signals, in response to the vehicle meeting the lock condition (Park, at least one para. 0144; “the processor 410 may be configured to generate a control signal for locking the doors 15 of the vehicle 10, in response to a state where the strength of the communication with the remote control device 100 is less than the preset strength lasting longer than a predetermined period of time. Here, the predetermined period of time may refer to a period of time during which the communication is highly likely to cut off, and may be a value set empirically or experimentally.”);
acquiring an in-vehicle image of the vehicle, in response to the time of duration exceeding a predetermined duration (Park, at least one para. 0139; “That is, the processor 410 may be configured to identify whether the doors 15 of the vehicle 10 are open, the side mirrors 14 are folded, an occupant exists in the vehicle 10, and/or the engine of the vehicle 10 is turned on, based on sensing data acquired from the detector 340. For instance, the processor 410 may be configured to identify whether an occupant including a driver is present in the vehicle 10, based on the sensing data of at least one of the weight sensor or the motion detection sensor included in the detector 340.”); and
controlling the vehicle to be locked and sending an abnormal reminder to a target terminal, in response to the in-vehicle image showing that no passengers remain in the vehicle (Park, at least one para. 0145; “Also, in response to the warning message being transmitted to the user terminal 500, the processor 410 may be configured to generate a control signal for locking the doors 15 of the vehicle 10 and/or a control signal for folding the side mirrors 14, based on a response to the warning message not being received from the user terminal 500 for a predetermined period of time.”, wherein the specific process is explained via S130, S140, S150, S170, and S180), wherein the target terminal is a terminal other than the mobile terminal (Park, at least one para. 0051; “For example, the user terminal 500 may include all types of wired/wireless communication device capable of input/output”) and (Park, at least one para. 0052; “Meanwhile, for instance, the remote control device 100 may be referred to as a smart key, a digital key, etc.”).
Hasegawa and Park are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as advance locking/unlocking system as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the door locking process of the Hasegawa with teaching of Park. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the passenger/occupant safety can be optimized. Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Regarding claim 14, Hasegawa teaches the limitations of claim 12, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Hasegawa teaches (New) The vehicle according to claim 12, wherein the processor, when running the computer program (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0045; “The vehicle control system 10 includes an ECU including a vehicle processor 20, a memory 40, an interface circuit, not shown, and so on. The vehicle processor 20 includes one or more processors. The vehicle processor 20 functions as a first position measuring unit 21, a medium-precision position measuring unit 22, a second position measuring unit 23, a position measurement control unit 24, a mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25, a user withdrawal handling unit 26, a user approach handling unit 27, a control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28, and a vehicle operation control unit 29 by reading and executing a vehicle control program 41 stored in the memory 40. The control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28 includes functionality of a vehicle door lock/unlock request recognizing unit of the present invention. ”), is caused to:
determine a time of duration of received positioning signals, in response to the vehicle meeting the lock condition;
acquire an in-vehicle image of the vehicle, in response to the time of duration exceeding a predetermined duration; and
control the vehicle to be locked and send an abnormal reminder to a target terminal, in response to the in-vehicle image showing that no passengers remain in the vehicle, wherein the target terminal is a terminal other than the mobile terminal.
Hasegawa does not explicitly teach determine a time of duration of received positioning signals, in response to the vehicle meeting the lock condition;
acquire an in-vehicle image of the vehicle, in response to the time of duration exceeding a predetermined duration; and
control the vehicle to be locked and send an abnormal reminder to a target terminal, in response to the in-vehicle image showing that no passengers remain in the vehicle, wherein the target terminal is a terminal other than the mobile terminal.
Park, in the same field of endeavor (Park, at least one para. 0002; “Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vehicle and a control method thereof, and more specifically, to a vehicle and a control method thereof that may provide a smart door lock system of the vehicle.”) teaches determine a time of duration of received positioning signals, in response to the vehicle meeting the lock condition (Park, at least one para. 0144; “the processor 410 may be configured to generate a control signal for locking the doors 15 of the vehicle 10, in response to a state where the strength of the communication with the remote control device 100 is less than the preset strength lasting longer than a predetermined period of time. Here, the predetermined period of time may refer to a period of time during which the communication is highly likely to cut off, and may be a value set empirically or experimentally.”);
acquire an in-vehicle image of the vehicle, in response to the time of duration exceeding a predetermined duration (Park, at least one para. 0139; “That is, the processor 410 may be configured to identify whether the doors 15 of the vehicle 10 are open, the side mirrors 14 are folded, an occupant exists in the vehicle 10, and/or the engine of the vehicle 10 is turned on, based on sensing data acquired from the detector 340. For instance, the processor 410 may be configured to identify whether an occupant including a driver is present in the vehicle 10, based on the sensing data of at least one of the weight sensor or the motion detection sensor included in the detector 340.”); and
control the vehicle to be locked and send an abnormal reminder to a target terminal, in response to the in-vehicle image showing that no passengers remain in the vehicle (Park, at least one para. 0145; “Also, in response to the warning message being transmitted to the user terminal 500, the processor 410 may be configured to generate a control signal for locking the doors 15 of the vehicle 10 and/or a control signal for folding the side mirrors 14, based on a response to the warning message not being received from the user terminal 500 for a predetermined period of time.”, wherein the specific process is explained via S130, S140, S150, S170, and S180), wherein the target terminal is a terminal other than the mobile terminal (Park, at least one para. 0051; “For example, the user terminal 500 may include all types of wired/wireless communication device capable of input/output”) and (Park, at least one para. 0052; “Meanwhile, for instance, the remote control device 100 may be referred to as a smart key, a digital key, etc.”).
Hasegawa and Park are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as advance locking/unlocking system as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the door locking process via the processor of the Hasegawa with teaching of Park. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the passenger/occupant safety can be optimized. Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Regarding claim 18, Hasegawa teaches the limitations of claim 16, upon which the instant claim depends, as discussed supra. Further, Hasegawa teaches (New) The storage medium according to claim 16, wherein the computer program, when loaded and run by a processor (Hasegawa, at least one para. 0045; “The vehicle control system 10 includes an ECU including a vehicle processor 20, a memory 40, an interface circuit, not shown, and so on. The vehicle processor 20 includes one or more processors. The vehicle processor 20 functions as a first position measuring unit 21, a medium-precision position measuring unit 22, a second position measuring unit 23, a position measurement control unit 24, a mobile-terminal location state recognizing unit 25, a user withdrawal handling unit 26, a user approach handling unit 27, a control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28, and a vehicle operation control unit 29 by reading and executing a vehicle control program 41 stored in the memory 40. The control operation execution instruction recognizing unit 28 includes functionality of a vehicle door lock/unlock request recognizing unit of the present invention. ”), causes the processor to:
determine a time of duration of received positioning signals, in response to the vehicle meeting the lock condition;
acquire an in-vehicle image of the vehicle, in response to the time of duration exceeding a predetermined duration; and
control the vehicle to be locked and send an abnormal reminder to a target terminal, in response to the in-vehicle image showing that no passengers remain in the vehicle, wherein the target terminal is a terminal other than the mobile terminal.
Hasegawa does not explicitly teach determine a time of duration of received positioning signals, in response to the vehicle meeting the lock condition;
acquire an in-vehicle image of the vehicle, in response to the time of duration exceeding a predetermined duration; and
control the vehicle to be locked and send an abnormal reminder to a target terminal, in response to the in-vehicle image showing that no passengers remain in the vehicle, wherein the target terminal is a terminal other than the mobile terminal.
Park, in the same field of endeavor (Park, at least one para. 0002; “Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vehicle and a control method thereof, and more specifically, to a vehicle and a control method thereof that may provide a smart door lock system of the vehicle.”) teaches determine a time of duration of received positioning signals, in response to the vehicle meeting the lock condition (Park, at least one para. 0144; “the processor 410 may be configured to generate a control signal for locking the doors 15 of the vehicle 10, in response to a state where the strength of the communication with the remote control device 100 is less than the preset strength lasting longer than a predetermined period of time. Here, the predetermined period of time may refer to a period of time during which the communication is highly likely to cut off, and may be a value set empirically or experimentally.”);
acquire an in-vehicle image of the vehicle, in response to the time of duration exceeding a predetermined duration (Park, at least one para. 0139; “That is, the processor 410 may be configured to identify whether the doors 15 of the vehicle 10 are open, the side mirrors 14 are folded, an occupant exists in the vehicle 10, and/or the engine of the vehicle 10 is turned on, based on sensing data acquired from the detector 340. For instance, the processor 410 may be configured to identify whether an occupant including a driver is present in the vehicle 10, based on the sensing data of at least one of the weight sensor or the motion detection sensor included in the detector 340.”); and
control the vehicle to be locked and send an abnormal reminder to a target terminal, in response to the in-vehicle image showing that no passengers remain in the vehicle (Park, at least one para. 0145; “Also, in response to the warning message being transmitted to the user terminal 500, the processor 410 may be configured to generate a control signal for locking the doors 15 of the vehicle 10 and/or a control signal for folding the side mirrors 14, based on a response to the warning message not being received from the user terminal 500 for a predetermined period of time.”, wherein the specific process is explained via S130, S140, S150, S170, and S180), wherein the target terminal is a terminal other than the mobile terminal (Park, at least one para. 0051; “For example, the user terminal 500 may include all types of wired/wireless communication device capable of input/output”) and (Park, at least one para. 0052; “Meanwhile, for instance, the remote control device 100 may be referred to as a smart key, a digital key, etc.”).
Hasegawa and Park are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field as advance locking/unlocking system as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have modified the door locking process via the processor of the Hasegawa with teaching of Park. One of the ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the passenger/occupant safety can be optimized. Furthermore, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Conclusion
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/U.P.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3665 /CHRISTIAN CHACE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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