DETAILED ACTION
This is the first office action on the merits of the instant application, which was filed April 16, 2025, claiming priority to DE 102024110822.3, filed April 17, 2024. The application contains Claims 1-20.
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 .
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 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7 and 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim (US 2019/0393820 A1).
Kim teaches, according to claim 1, an electronic steering system for a vehicle, the system comprising: a first inverter coupled to a first winding set of an electric motor, the first inverter to provide first power to the first winding set; a second inverter coupled to a second winding set of the electric motor, the second inverter to provide second power to the second winding set; and a third inverter including: first power electronics coupled to the first winding set, the first power electronics to provide third power to the first winding set; second power electronics coupled to the second winding set, the second power electronics to provide fourth power to the second winding set; and a control device to: cause the third inverter to provide the third power, the fourth power, and a portion of the first power, or a portion of the second power based on an unavailability of either of the first inverter or the second inverter (Kim, at least para. [0006], “Various aspects of the present disclosure provide a motor control apparatus and method for a vehicle. If at least one of a winding, an inverter or a controller of a single power supply line has malfunctioned or is broken, the motor control apparatus and method allows electric power that has been supplied via the malfunctioning power supply line to be supplied via another power supply line, thereby maintaining the power output of the motors at a reliable level, so that redundancy can be obtained in the operation of a variety of motors provided in the vehicle.”; and para. [0028], “Referring to FIG. 1, the motor control apparatus 100 for a vehicle includes a motor 110 including a plurality of windings, a plurality of inverter 120 supplying electric power to one of the plurality of windings to drive the motor 110 and a plurality of controllers 130 controlling the plurality of inverters to control the operation of the motor 110.”; and para. [0047], “The plurality of controllers 130 may determine that the first line has malfunctioned, based on a current value detected by the first sensor 141 provided on the first line. The plurality of controllers 130 may control the plurality of inverters 120 to increase amounts of current supplied via the second line, the third line and the fourth line, so that a total amount of current equal to 100% of the rate current is supplied to the motor 110. That is, the same amount of electric power as in the case of a normal operating state may be provided by boosting amounts of current supplied via the normal supply lines.”)
Regarding claim 2, the electric motor operates in a first mode based on a total power output equal to at least 66% of an actuator power demand, the total power output provided by ones of the first inverter, the second inverter, or the third inverter that are available (Kim, at least para. [0035], “In this case, each of the four inverters 121, 123, 125 and 127 may be controlled to provide 25% of rated current of the motor 110. However, this is illustrative only, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. As long as a total amount of current supplied by the four inverters 121, 123, 125 and 127 is 100% of rated current, the current supplied by each of the inverters may be differently controlled as required.”).
Regarding claim 3, after one of the remaining inverters becomes unavailable, the electric motor operates in a second mode, based on a power output from an available one of the inverters to the electric motor equal to at least 33% of an actuator power demand (Kim, at least para. [0035], “In this case, each of the four inverters 121, 123, 125 and 127 may be controlled to provide 25% of rated current of the motor 110. However, this is illustrative only, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. As long as a total amount of current supplied by the four inverters 121, 123, 125 and 127 is 100% of rated current, the current supplied by each of the inverters may be differently controlled as required.”).
Regarding claim 4, the third inverter provides 33% of an actuator power demand to each of the first winding set and the second winding set (Kim, at least para. [0035], “In this case, each of the four inverters 121, 123, 125 and 127 may be controlled to provide 25% of rated current of the motor 110. However, this is illustrative only, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. As long as a total amount of current supplied by the four inverters 121, 123, 125 and 127 is 100% of rated current, the current supplied by each of the inverters may be differently controlled as required.”).
Regarding claim 5, the inverters are to be connected to the winding sets to provide each winding set of the electric motor a power output of 50% maximum of an actuator power demand (Kim, at least para. [0035], “In this case, each of the four inverters 121, 123, 125 and 127 may be controlled to provide 25% of rated current of the motor 110. However, this is illustrative only, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. As long as a total amount of current supplied by the four inverters 121, 123, 125 and 127 is 100% of rated current, the current supplied by each of the inverters may be differently controlled as required.”).
Regarding claim 6, the third inverter can be selectively coupled to a third winding set of the electric motor (Kim, at least para. [0031], “In the present disclosure, the windings may be coil groups respectively comprised of coils wound on the motor. A case in which the motor 110 includes twelve (12) coils wound on the stator and eight (8) magnetic bodies provided on the rotor will be taken as an example. In a case in which three-phase power is applied to the motor 110, the twelve coils may be categorized by a multiple of three to provide windings. For example, in a case in which the motor 110 includes two windings, power of U, V and W phases is applied to one winding comprised of six coils, while power of U′, V′ and W′ phases is applied to the other winding comprised of six coils.”; and para. [0032], “The plurality of inverters 120 may generate electric current by converting a direct current (DC) voltage into an alternating current (AC) voltage and provide the generated electric current to one winding among the plurality of windings of the motor, under the control of the plurality of controllers 130…”).
Regarding claim 7, a separate control logic unit is assigned to each inverter, and wherein the control logic units are coupled to one another (Kim, at least FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 9, the electric motor is 3n-phase, wherein n is greater than or equal to 1 (Kim, at least para. [0031], “In the present disclosure, the windings may be coil groups respectively comprised of coils wound on the motor. A case in which the motor 110 includes twelve (12) coils wound on the stator and eight (8) magnetic bodies provided on the rotor will be taken as an example. In a case in which three-phase power is applied to the motor 110, the twelve coils may be categorized by a multiple of three to provide windings. For example, in a case in which the motor 110 includes two windings, power of U, V and W phases is applied to one winding comprised of six coils, while power of U′, V′ and W′ phases is applied to the other winding comprised of six coils.”).
Regarding claim 10, the first inverter, the second inverter, and the third inverter are coupled to two different supply circuits of the vehicle (Kim, at least para. [0041], “[0041] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of windings, the plurality of inverters and the plurality of controllers may be set as a plurality of power supply lines, each of which consists of a single winding, a single inverter and a single controller…”).
Kim teaches, according to claim 11, a method for operating an electronic steering system for a vehicle, the method comprising:
detecting an unavailability of a first inverter coupled to a first winding set or an unavailability of a second inverter coupled to a second winding set (Kim, at least para. [0047], “The plurality of controllers 130 may determine that the first line has malfunctioned, based on a current value detected by the first sensor 141 provided on the first line...”; a first line provided by way of example in a multiple circuit system); and
selectively coupling a third inverter to either the first winding set or the second winding set corresponding to the unavailable inverter or to at least one additional third winding set (Kim, at least para. [0047], “…The plurality of controllers 130 may control the plurality of inverters 120 to increase amounts of current supplied via the second line, the third line and the fourth line, so that a total amount of current equal to 100% of the rate current is supplied to the motor 110…”).
Claims 12-18 and 20 parallel the limitations of claims 1-7 and 9, and stand rejected on the same grounds.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 8 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Hafner et al. (US 2020/0285233 A1).
Kim teaches the elements of claims 1 and 12 above, respectively but does not expressly teach, as Hafner teaches, causing generation of a notification for a driver of the vehicle upon detection or identification of a steering faut (Hafner et al., at least para [0091], “…Upon identifying the steering fault, the torque ECU 315 can instruct the ADAS ECU 300 to instruct the HMI ECU 310 to provide an alert to the user…”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the teaching of Hafner et al. into the system of Kim for the purpose of keeping the vehicle operator apprised of conditions and prepared for any variations in the responsiveness of the electronic steering system. 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/DONALD J WALLACE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665
