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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maki et al. (U.S. Publication 2014/0100765) in view of Thibault (WO 2022/029208).
Regarding claim 1, Maki discloses the same invention substantially as claimed such as a method for managing temperature of a piston of an engine of a vehicle, the method being executed by a controller of the vehicle, the method comprising: determining a piston temperature of the piston (paragraph 39); determining at least one of: an engine load of the engine (paragraph 39), and an engine speed (RPM) of the engine (paragraph 39); in response to: the piston temperature being above a first piston temperature threshold; and at least one of: the engine load being above an engine load threshold, and the engine speed being above an engine speed threshold, modifying, by the controller, at least one engine operation value of the engine (spark timing varied from controller 12 mentioned in paragraph 28), the at least one engine operation value being modified such that increasing of the piston temperature is limited (paragraph 28), but is silent to disclose that in response to the piston temperature being above a second piston temperature threshold, causing coolant fluid to flow from a coolant container to an air intake flow path fluidly connected to the piston, the first piston temperature threshold being greater than the second piston temperature threshold. However, Thibault teaches the use of a coolant container assembly (450) connected with the system controller (500) that selectively routes coolant to an air intake flow path (444) based on a piston temperature being above certain thresholds (paragraphs 303-309) for the purpose of preventing detonation. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Maki by incorporating selectively routing coolant from a container to the intake air flow path as taught by Thibault to reduce intake air temperature as taught by Thibault for the purpose of reducing detonation. Examiner notes that Maki uses multiple ways to reduce piston temperature such as varying ignition timing and using piston cooling jets. Therefore, Thibault is used to cool intake air by coolant in addition to these methods since Maki does not teach away.
Regarding claim 2, Maki and Thibault disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the at least one engine operation value is at least one of: an ignition timing of the engine (Maki, paragraph 28); an air-to-fuel ratio; an exhaust valve position; a fuel injection timing; a fuel injection quantity; and a boost pressure from a turbocharger of the vehicle.
Regarding claim 3, Maki and Thibault disclose method of claim 1, wherein an amount of coolant flowing to the air intake flow path is based at least in part on at least one of the piston temperature and the engine speed (Thibault, paragraphs 303-319).
Regarding claim 4, Maki and Thibault disclose method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that a fluid level of coolant fluid in the coolant container is below a minimum fluid level; and in response to determining that the fluid level is below the minimum fluid level, causing fluid to stop flowing from the coolant container to the air intake flow path (Thibault, paragraphs 303-319).
Regarding claim 5, Maki and Thibault disclose method of claim 1further comprising: determining that the coolant container is empty; and subsequent to determining that the coolant container is empty, in response to the piston temperature being above a third piston temperature threshold, modifying the at least one engine operation value, the third piston temperature threshold being less than the first piston temperature threshold (Thibault, paragraphs 303-319).
Regarding claim 6, Maki and Thibault disclose method of claim 1, wherein causing coolant fluid to flow comprises: determining an amount of coolant fluid to cause to flow based at least in part on at least one of: the piston temperature; ambient temperature; primary plenum temperature; time spent above a predetermined engine load; and time spent above a predetermined engine speed (Thibault, paragraphs 303-319).
Regarding claim 7, Maki and Thibault disclose method of claim 6, wherein determining the amount of coolant fluid to cause to flow is further based at least in part on at least one of: the engine speed; and the engine load (Thibault, paragraphs 303-319).
Regarding claim 8, Maki and Thibault disclose method of claim 1, wherein determining the at least one of the piston temperature, the engine load, and the engine speed comprises: determining the piston temperature, and determining at least one of the engine speed and the engine load (Thibault, paragraphs 303 and 319).
Regarding claim 9, Maki and Thibault disclose method of claim 1, wherein determining the piston temperature comprises determining an estimated piston temperature based on a plurality of engine operational parameters (Maki, paragraph 39 mentions engine speed, engine load, engine coolant temperature, and spark timing as the engine operational parameters).
Regarding claim 10, Maki and Thibault disclose method for managing temperature of a piston of an engine of a vehicle, the method being executed by a controller of the vehicle, the method comprising: determining at least one of: a piston temperature of the piston, an engine load of the engine, and an engine speed of the engine; and in response to the at least one of: the piston temperature being above a piston temperature threshold, the engine load being above an engine load threshold, and the engine speed being above an engine speed threshold, causing an amount of coolant fluid to flow from a coolant container to an air intake flow path fluidly connected to the piston, causing the amount of coolant fluid to flow comprises determining the amount of coolant fluid based at least in part on at least one of: a primary plenum temperature; a time spent above a predetermined engine load; and a time spent above a predetermined engine speed. Refer to the rejections of claims 1 and 6 for further details since the limitations are similar.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to PTO-892.
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/SYED O HASAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747 7/10/2026
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