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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant Amendments and Remarks filed on 07/22/2026 in response to the Non-Final office action mailed on 05/05/2026 have been fully considered and are addressed as follows:
Regarding the Claim Rejections under 35 USC § 103: With respect to the previous claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant has amended the independent claims and these amendments have changed the scope of the original application. Therefore, the Office has supplied new grounds of rejection attached below in the FINAL office action.
Regarding amended claim 1, Applicant alleges that “Sun does not determine that the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition, nor does Sun use a reference regeneration intensity less than a regeneration intensity threshold as the target regeneration intensity when such a condition is met. Instead, Sun teaches increasing recovery intensity as adhesion decreases and adopting a strong recovery mode at an upper limit, which is contrary to the claimed proactive reduction of regeneration intensity to avoid vehicle instability” (pg. 13 of Applicant Amendments and Remarks filed on 07/22/2026). Examiner disagrees.
Initially, Sun determines that the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition. Sun teaches the adhesion coefficient which is equivalent to the claimed “road surface adhesion capability” and the “instability boundary condition” is not further defined in the specification. Therefore, Examiner interprets the term “instability boundary condition” as any boundary condition associated with instability under the broadest reasonable interpretation. Sun teaches that the corresponding energy recovery intensity increases by 5% (i.e., “using a reference regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity”) when the adhesion coefficient decreases from 1.0 to 0.1 (i.e., “when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition”). See Sun at pg. 3, ln. 32-36.
Further, the claimed limitation does not specify whether the reference regeneration intensity is increased or decreased. The alleged “claimed proactive reduction of regeneration intensity” is not found anywhere in the claim.
For at least the foregoing reasons, and the rejections outlined below, the prior art rejections are maintained.
FINAL OFFICE ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 12 is indicated as “Previously Presented” but claim 12 is amended. Therefore, the status identifier is incorrect. Examiner treated claim 12 as amended as shown in the Amendments to the Claims received on 07/22/2026.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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.
Claim 19 is 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.
The term “likely” in claim 19 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “likely” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
The term “likely” is interpreted as including any degree of likelihood.
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 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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 8, and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fracchia et al. (US 2019/0263268 A1, hereinafter “Fracchia”) in view of Sun et al. (CN 113320394 A, hereinafter “Sun”). The rejections below are based on the machine translation of Sun.
Regarding claim 1, Fracchia discloses a method comprising:
obtaining regeneration intensity reference information of a vehicle, wherein the regeneration intensity reference information comprises driving configuration information of the vehicle and a road surface adhesion capability of a road on which the vehicle is located (Fracchia at para. [0024]: “said one or more electrical signals indicative of a surface indicator comprise information relating to at least one of: a coefficient of friction; a surface drag; a terrain roughness; wheel slip; a longitudinal acceleration; a lateral acceleration; a steering input; and an ambient temperature. The coefficient of friction may be a coefficient of friction between one or more wheels of the vehicle and the surface on which the vehicle is travelling“; para. [0124]: “the control system 200 receives one or more signals from the sensors, subsystems and HMI devices 150. The control system 200 processes the input signals to determine one or more surface indicators and driving condition indicators, for example as described in relation to FIG. 2”);
determining (Fracchia at para. [0126]: “the second controller 220 may receive one or more of the driving condition indicators (e.g. a vehicle speed) and identify a target vehicle deceleration on the data map that corresponds to the driving condition indicators in combination with the selected surface type”),
determining a target regeneration torque of the vehicle based on (Fracchia at para. [0128]: “The control signal may, for example, operate the first and second electric motors 102, 104 to produce a regenerative braking torque corresponding to the target vehicle deceleration”); and
performing energy regeneration based on the target regeneration torque (Fracchia at para. [0128]: “The control signal may, for example, operate the first and second electric motors 102, 104 to produce a regenerative braking torque corresponding to the target vehicle deceleration”).
However, Fracchia does not explicitly state:
a target regeneration intensity,
wherein adjusting the configured regeneration intensity comprises using a reference regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition, and wherein the reference regeneration intensity is less than a regeneration intensity threshold.
Nevertheless, Fracchia at least suggests the idea of determining a target vehicle deceleration based on the road condition and the driving condition (Fracchia at para. [0126]), and the target vehicle deceleration is proportional to a target regeneration intensity in general.
In the same field of endeavor, Sun teaches:
a target regeneration intensity (Sun at pg. 2: ln. 11-12: “the ESC controller adjusts the energy recovery intensity and switches the energy recovery mode according to the result of road condition recognition”; pg. 8, ln. 41-45: “When the vehicle selects the intelligent adjustment mode, when the vehicle is performing energy recovery, the energy recovery system can automatically switch to the most suitable recovery mode in real time according to the road conditions and road surface types recognized in real time to adapt to the current road conditions and road surface types. ; So as to take into account the recovery efficiency and vehicle dynamic performance”; pg. 9, ln. 1-7: “Regarding the classification of the recovery intensity in the pure coasting recovery mode, the strong, medium and light classifications are calculated based on the utilization rate of the maximum recovery potential; when the actual recovery torque accounts for between 70% and 100% of the vehicle maximum recovery potential torque, it is called strong recovery Mode: When the actual recovery torque of the vehicle is between 30% and 70% of the maximum recovery potential torque, it is called the medium recovery mode; when the actual recovery torque accounts for less than 0-30% of the vehicle's maximum recovery potential torque, it is called the light recovery mode”; The strong recovery mode, the medium recovery mode, and the light recovery mode (i.e., “target regeneration intensity”)),
wherein adjusting the configured regeneration intensity comprises using a reference regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition, and wherein the reference regeneration intensity is less than a regeneration intensity threshold (Sun at pg. 3, ln. 32-36: “the adhesion coefficient of the vehicle tires on dry asphalt pavement, wet asphalt pavement, wet cobblestone pavement, snow pavement, and icy pavement decreases from 1.0 to 0.1; the adhesion coefficient corresponding to the road surface type For every decrease of 0.1, the corresponding energy recovery intensity increases by 5%; when the energy recovery intensity exceeds the preset range, the energy recovery mode is switched; if the upper limit of the energy recovery intensity is reached, the strong recovery mode is adopted”; The corresponding energy recovery intensity increases by 5% (i.e., “using a reference regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity”) when the adhesion coefficient decreases from 1.0 to 0.1 (i.e., “when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition”), and the corresponding energy recovery intensity is less than the upper limit (i.e., “the reference regeneration intensity is less than a regeneration intensity threshold”) until when the recovery mode is switched to the strong recovery mode).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia by adding the target regeneration intensity of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. Modifying Fracchia by replacing the target vehicle deceleration of Fracchia with the target regeneration intensity of Sun is obvious to one skilled in the art since the target vehicle deceleration and the target regeneration intensity are closely related to each other (See Sun at pg. 5, ln. 21-25). The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Regarding claim 2, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 1.
Sun further teaches:
wherein determining the target regeneration intensity further comprises:
determining a configured regeneration intensity of the vehicle based on the driving configuration information (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 16-24: “The VCU control module comprehensively judges and estimates the current working conditions according to the working status of the vehicle (vehicle speed, motor speed, gear, battery status, etc.). When the drive motor is used as a power generation mode, the torque potential for energy recovery can be carried out; at the same time, VCU The control unit sends the value of the potential recovery torque of the motor to the CAN bus in real time for the ESC to obtain; According to the above, the ESC control unit obtains the driver’s total braking demand torque issued by the eBooster control unit and the potential recovery torque of the motor issued by the VCU control unit from the CAN bus in real time, and then according to the energy recovery logic and calibration MAP done in the design stage”); and
adjusting the configured regeneration intensity based on the road surface adhesion capability, to obtain the target regeneration intensity (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 41-45: “When the vehicle selects the intelligent adjustment mode, when the vehicle is performing energy recovery, the energy recovery system can automatically switch to the most suitable recovery mode in real time according to the road conditions and road surface types recognized in real time to adapt to the current road conditions and road surface types. ; So as to take into account the recovery efficiency and vehicle dynamic performance”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the configured regeneration intensity of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Regarding claim 3, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 2.
Sun further teaches:
wherein adjusting the configured regeneration intensity comprises using the configured regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity when the road surface adhesion capability does not meet the instability boundary condition (pg. 3, ln. 28-30; “If the adjustment level is within the preset range of the current energy recovery mode, adjust the energy recovery intensity in the current energy recovery mode”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the configured regeneration intensity of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Regarding claim 5, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 1.
Sun further teaches:
wherein determining the target regeneration torque comprises:
obtaining a basic regeneration torque based on the target regeneration intensity and a current vehicle speed of the vehicle (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 16-20: “The VCU control module comprehensively judges and estimates the current working conditions according to the working status of the vehicle (vehicle speed, motor speed, gear, battery status, etc.). When the drive motor is used as a power generation mode, the torque potential for energy recovery can be carried out; at the same time, VCU The control unit sends the value of the potential recovery torque of the motor to the CAN bus in real time for the ESC to obtain”);
obtaining regeneration torque reference information corresponding to the vehicle, wherein the regeneration torque reference information affects a deceleration value of the vehicle under the basic regeneration torque (Sun at pg. 5, ln. 21-23: “According to the above, the ESC control unit obtains the driver’s total braking demand torque issued by the eBooster control unit and the potential recovery torque of the motor issued by the VCU control unit from the CAN bus in real time”);
adjusting the basic regeneration torque based on the regeneration torque reference information to obtain an adjustment result (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 23-24: “then according to the energy recovery logic and calibration MAP done in the design stage The figure is calculated to obtain the actual braking energy recovery request torque”); and
obtaining the target regeneration torque based on the adjustment result (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 24-26: “after the ESC control unit calculates, the actual recovery request torque is sent to the CAN bus for the VCU control unit to receive, and recover it through the power motor, and then Electric energy is stored in the power battery”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the regeneration torque reference information of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Regarding claim 6, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 5.
Sun further teaches:
further comprising controlling, using an accelerator pedal of the vehicle, acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle (Sun at pg. 10, ln. 19-20: “After receiving the current recovery torque request from the CAN bus, the VCU control unit performs recovery operation through the power motor, and stores the recovered electric energy in the power battery”), wherein obtaining the basic regeneration torque comprises obtaining the basic regeneration torque based on the target regeneration intensity, the current vehicle speed, and an accelerator pedal opening of the vehicle (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 13-14: “The eBooster control unit comprehensively judges and calculates the driver's total braking torque demand based on the received PTS signal and brake hydraulic signal”; pg. 8, ln. 16-20: “The VCU control module comprehensively judges and estimates the current working conditions according to the working status of the vehicle (vehicle speed, motor speed, gear, battery status, etc.). When the drive motor is used as a power generation mode, the torque potential for energy recovery can be carried out; at the same time, VCU The control unit sends the value of the potential recovery torque of the motor to the CAN bus in real time for the ESC to obtain”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the controlling of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Regarding claim 8, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 5.
Sun further teaches:
wherein obtaining the target regeneration torque comprises:
obtaining an adjusted regeneration torque based on the adjustment result (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 24-26: “after the ESC control unit calculates, the actual recovery request torque is sent to the CAN bus for the VCU control unit to receive, and recover it through the power motor, and then Electric energy is stored in the power battery”);
using a maximum allowable regeneration torque of a motor of the vehicle as the target regeneration torque when the adjusted regeneration torque is greater than the maximum allowable regeneration torque (Sun at pg. 11, ln. 6-10): “The calibrated pavement of the three recycling modes based on the intelligent adjustment of the slope is based on dry asphalt; when the system recognizes the road surface type, the dry asphalt is used as the initial reference value, and the adhesion coefficient corresponding to the road surface type decreases by 0.1, corresponding When the adjusted recovery intensity value exceeds a certain range, the recovery mode will be automatically and intelligently switched; if the upper limit of 100% is exceeded, the strong recovery mode can be used”; and
using the adjusted regeneration torque as the target regeneration torque when the adjusted regeneration torque is less than the maximum allowable regeneration torque (Sun at pg. 10, ln. 32-38: “when the uphill is identified, if the dynamic slope is greater than 10%, because the slope is too large, the energy recovery system enters the waiting mode; When the slope is between 5% and 10%, the light recovery mode is automatically entered, and this range corresponds to the proportion of the light recovery range. As the slope increases or decreases, the reference nominal value of the light recovery is adjusted inversely; when When [sic] the slope is 0-5%, the medium recovery mode is automatically entered, and this range corresponds to the proportion of the medium recovery range”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the maximum allowable regeneration torque of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Regarding claim 14, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 1.
Fracchia further discloses:
further comprising controlling, using an accelerator pedal of the vehicle, acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle, wherein obtaining the regeneration intensity reference information comprises obtaining the regeneration intensity reference information when the vehicle meets an energy regeneration condition, and wherein the energy regeneration condition comprises an accelerator pedal opening of the vehicle being less than an opening threshold, a gear being a traveling gear or a stability control function not being enabled (Fracchia at para. [0024]: “said one or more electrical signals indicative of a surface indicator comprise information relating to at least one of: a coefficient of friction; a surface drag; a terrain roughness; wheel slip; a longitudinal acceleration; a lateral acceleration; a steering input; and an ambient temperature. The coefficient of friction may be a coefficient of friction between one or more wheels of the vehicle and the surface on which the vehicle is travelling“; “being less than an opening threshold” includes both open and closed accelerator); para. [0124]: “the control system 200 receives one or more signals from the sensors, subsystems and HMI devices 150. The control system 200 processes the input signals to determine one or more surface indicators and driving condition indicators, for example as described in relation to FIG. 2”).
Regarding claim 15, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 1.
Fracchia further discloses:
further comprising:
controlling, using an accelerator pedal of the vehicle, acceleration of the vehicle (Fracchia at para. [0050]: “The control inputs include a positive torque demand, or acceleration demand, that is generated when the accelerator pedal is depressed, for example depressed past a threshold travel position”); and
controlling, using a brake pedal of the vehicle, deceleration of the vehicle (Fracchia at para. [0049]: “the brakes 140, 142, 144, 146 may be used when the required deceleration exceeds the negative torque capable of being delivered by the electric motors 102, 104”),
wherein obtaining the regeneration intensity reference information comprises obtaining the regeneration intensity reference information when the vehicle meets an energy regeneration condition (Fracchia at para. [0024]: “said one or more electrical signals indicative of a surface indicator comprise information relating to at least one of: a coefficient of friction; a surface drag; a terrain roughness; wheel slip; a longitudinal acceleration; a lateral acceleration; a steering input; and an ambient temperature. The coefficient of friction may be a coefficient of friction between one or more wheels of the vehicle and the surface on which the vehicle is travelling“; para. [0124]: “the control system 200 receives one or more signals from the sensors, subsystems and HMI devices 150. The control system 200 processes the input signals to determine one or more surface indicators and driving condition indicators, for example as described in relation to FIG. 2”), and
wherein the energy regeneration condition comprises an accelerator pedal of the vehicle not being pressed, a gear being a traveling gear, or a stability control function not being enabled (Fracchia at para. [0024]: “said one or more electrical signals indicative of a surface indicator comprise information relating to at least one of: a coefficient of friction; a surface drag; a terrain roughness; wheel slip; a longitudinal acceleration; a lateral acceleration; a steering input; and an ambient temperature. The coefficient of friction may be a coefficient of friction between one or more wheels of the vehicle and the surface on which the vehicle is travelling“; “being less than an opening threshold” includes both open and closed accelerator).
Regarding claim 16, Fracchia discloses an apparatus comprising:
a memory configured to store instructions; and
one or more processors coupled to the memory and configured to (Fracchia at claim 3: “wherein the one or more controllers comprise at least one electronic processor and at least one electronic memory device electrically coupled to the at least one electronic processor”):
obtain regeneration intensity reference information of a vehicle, wherein the regeneration intensity reference information comprises driving configuration information of the vehicle and a road surface adhesion capability of a road on which the vehicle is located (Fracchia at para. [0024]: “said one or more electrical signals indicative of a surface indicator comprise information relating to at least one of: a coefficient of friction; a surface drag; a terrain roughness; wheel slip; a longitudinal acceleration; a lateral acceleration; a steering input; and an ambient temperature. The coefficient of friction may be a coefficient of friction between one or more wheels of the vehicle and the surface on which the vehicle is travelling“; para. [0124]: “the control system 200 receives one or more signals from the sensors, subsystems and HMI devices 150. The control system 200 processes the input signals to determine one or more surface indicators and driving condition indicators, for example as described in relation to FIG. 2”);
determine (Fracchia at para. [0126]: “the second controller 220 may receive one or more of the driving condition indicators (e.g. a vehicle speed) and identify a target vehicle deceleration on the data map that corresponds to the driving condition indicators in combination with the selected surface type”),
determine a target regeneration torque of the vehicle based on (Fracchia at para. [0128]: “The control signal may, for example, operate the first and second electric motors 102, 104 to produce a regenerative braking torque corresponding to the target vehicle deceleration”); and
perform energy regeneration based on the target regeneration torque (Fracchia at para. [0128]: “The control signal may, for example, operate the first and second electric motors 102, 104 to produce a regenerative braking torque corresponding to the target vehicle deceleration”).
However, Fracchia does not explicitly state:
a target regeneration intensity,
wherein adjusting the configured regeneration intensity comprises using a reference regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition, and wherein the reference regeneration intensity is less than a regeneration intensity threshold.
Nevertheless, Fracchia at least suggests the idea of determining a target vehicle deceleration based on the road condition and the driving condition (Fracchia at para. [0126]), and the target vehicle deceleration is proportional to a target regeneration intensity in general.
In the same field of endeavor, Sun teaches:
a target regeneration intensity (Sun at pg. 2: ln. 11-12: “the ESC controller adjusts the energy recovery intensity and switches the energy recovery mode according to the result of road condition recognition”; pg. 8, ln. 41-45: “When the vehicle selects the intelligent adjustment mode, when the vehicle is performing energy recovery, the energy recovery system can automatically switch to the most suitable recovery mode in real time according to the road conditions and road surface types recognized in real time to adapt to the current road conditions and road surface types. ; So as to take into account the recovery efficiency and vehicle dynamic performance”; pg. 9, ln. 1-7: “Regarding the classification of the recovery intensity in the pure coasting recovery mode, the strong, medium and light classifications are calculated based on the utilization rate of the maximum recovery potential; when the actual recovery torque accounts for between 70% and 100% of the vehicle maximum recovery potential torque, it is called strong recovery Mode: When the actual recovery torque of the vehicle is between 30% and 70% of the maximum recovery potential torque, it is called the medium recovery mode; when the actual recovery torque accounts for less than 0-30% of the vehicle's maximum recovery potential torque, it is called the light recovery mode”; The strong recovery mode, the medium recovery mode, and the light recovery mode (i.e., “target regeneration intensity”)),
wherein adjusting the configured regeneration intensity comprises using a reference regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition, and wherein the reference regeneration intensity is less than a regeneration intensity threshold (Sun at pg. 3, ln. 32-36: “the adhesion coefficient of the vehicle tires on dry asphalt pavement, wet asphalt pavement, wet cobblestone pavement, snow pavement, and icy pavement decreases from 1.0 to 0.1; the adhesion coefficient corresponding to the road surface type For every decrease of 0.1, the corresponding energy recovery intensity increases by 5%; when the energy recovery intensity exceeds the preset range, the energy recovery mode is switched; if the upper limit of the energy recovery intensity is reached, the strong recovery mode is adopted”; The corresponding energy recovery intensity increases by 5% (i.e., “using a reference regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity”) when the adhesion coefficient decreases from 1.0 to 0.1 (i.e., “when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition”), and the corresponding energy recovery intensity is less than the upper limit (i.e., “the reference regeneration intensity is less than a regeneration intensity threshold”) until when the recovery mode is switched to the strong recovery mode).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of Fracchia by adding the target regeneration intensity of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. Modifying Fracchia by replacing the target vehicle deceleration of Fracchia with the target regeneration intensity of Sun is obvious to one skilled in the art since the target vehicle deceleration and the target regeneration intensity are closely related to each other (See Sun at pg. 5, ln. 21-25). The motivation to modify the apparatus of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Regarding claim 17, Fracchia discloses a computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that are stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and that, when executed by one or more processor, cause an apparatus to (Fracchia at claim 3: “wherein the one or more controllers comprise at least one electronic processor and at least one electronic memory device electrically coupled to the at least one electronic processor”):
obtain regeneration intensity reference information of a vehicle, wherein the regeneration intensity reference information comprises driving configuration information of the vehicle and a road surface adhesion capability of a road on which the vehicle is located (Fracchia at para. [0024]: “said one or more electrical signals indicative of a surface indicator comprise information relating to at least one of: a coefficient of friction; a surface drag; a terrain roughness; wheel slip; a longitudinal acceleration; a lateral acceleration; a steering input; and an ambient temperature. The coefficient of friction may be a coefficient of friction between one or more wheels of the vehicle and the surface on which the vehicle is travelling“; para. [0124]: “the control system 200 receives one or more signals from the sensors, subsystems and HMI devices 150. The control system 200 processes the input signals to determine one or more surface indicators and driving condition indicators, for example as described in relation to FIG. 2”);
determine (Fracchia at para. [0126]: “the second controller 220 may receive one or more of the driving condition indicators (e.g. a vehicle speed) and identify a target vehicle deceleration on the data map that corresponds to the driving condition indicators in combination with the selected surface type”),
determine a target regeneration torque of the vehicle based on (Fracchia at para. [0128]: “The control signal may, for example, operate the first and second electric motors 102, 104 to produce a regenerative braking torque corresponding to the target vehicle deceleration”); and
perform energy regeneration based on the target regeneration torque (Fracchia at para. [0128]: “The control signal may, for example, operate the first and second electric motors 102, 104 to produce a regenerative braking torque corresponding to the target vehicle deceleration”).
However, Fracchia does not explicitly state:
a target regeneration intensity,
wherein adjusting the configured regeneration intensity comprises using a reference regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition, and wherein the reference regeneration intensity is less than a regeneration intensity threshold.
Nevertheless, Fracchia at least suggests the idea of determining a target vehicle deceleration based on the road condition and the driving condition (Fracchia at para. [0126]), and the target vehicle deceleration is proportional to a target regeneration intensity in general.
In the same field of endeavor, Sun teaches:
a target regeneration intensity (Sun at pg. 2: ln. 11-12: “the ESC controller adjusts the energy recovery intensity and switches the energy recovery mode according to the result of road condition recognition”; pg. 8, ln. 41-45: “When the vehicle selects the intelligent adjustment mode, when the vehicle is performing energy recovery, the energy recovery system can automatically switch to the most suitable recovery mode in real time according to the road conditions and road surface types recognized in real time to adapt to the current road conditions and road surface types. ; So as to take into account the recovery efficiency and vehicle dynamic performance”; pg. 9, ln. 1-7: “Regarding the classification of the recovery intensity in the pure coasting recovery mode, the strong, medium and light classifications are calculated based on the utilization rate of the maximum recovery potential; when the actual recovery torque accounts for between 70% and 100% of the vehicle maximum recovery potential torque, it is called strong recovery Mode: When the actual recovery torque of the vehicle is between 30% and 70% of the maximum recovery potential torque, it is called the medium recovery mode; when the actual recovery torque accounts for less than 0-30% of the vehicle's maximum recovery potential torque, it is called the light recovery mode”; The strong recovery mode, the medium recovery mode, and the light recovery mode (i.e., “target regeneration intensity”)),
wherein adjusting the configured regeneration intensity comprises using a reference regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition, and wherein the reference regeneration intensity is less than a regeneration intensity threshold (Sun at pg. 3, ln. 32-36: “the adhesion coefficient of the vehicle tires on dry asphalt pavement, wet asphalt pavement, wet cobblestone pavement, snow pavement, and icy pavement decreases from 1.0 to 0.1; the adhesion coefficient corresponding to the road surface type For every decrease of 0.1, the corresponding energy recovery intensity increases by 5%; when the energy recovery intensity exceeds the preset range, the energy recovery mode is switched; if the upper limit of the energy recovery intensity is reached, the strong recovery mode is adopted”; The corresponding energy recovery intensity increases by 5% (i.e., “using a reference regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity”) when the adhesion coefficient decreases from 1.0 to 0.1 (i.e., “when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition”), and the corresponding energy recovery intensity is less than the upper limit (i.e., “the reference regeneration intensity is less than a regeneration intensity threshold”) until when the recovery mode is switched to the strong recovery mode).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the product of Fracchia by adding the target regeneration intensity of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. Modifying Fracchia by replacing the target vehicle deceleration of Fracchia with the target regeneration intensity of Sun is obvious to one skilled in the art since the target vehicle deceleration and the target regeneration intensity are closely related to each other (See Sun at pg. 5, ln. 21-25). The motivation to modify the product of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Regarding claim 18, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches computer program product of claim 17.
Sun further teaches:
wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to further determine the target regeneration intensity by:
determining a configured regeneration intensity of the vehicle based on the driving configuration information (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 16-24: “The VCU control module comprehensively judges and estimates the current working conditions according to the working status of the vehicle (vehicle speed, motor speed, gear, battery status, etc.). When the drive motor is used as a power generation mode, the torque potential for energy recovery can be carried out; at the same time, VCU The control unit sends the value of the potential recovery torque of the motor to the CAN bus in real time for the ESC to obtain; According to the above, the ESC control unit obtains the driver’s total braking demand torque issued by the eBooster control unit and the potential recovery torque of the motor issued by the VCU control unit from the CAN bus in real time, and then according to the energy recovery logic and calibration MAP done in the design stage”); and
adjusting the configured regeneration intensity based on the road surface adhesion capability to obtain the target regeneration intensity (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 41-45: “When the vehicle selects the intelligent adjustment mode, when the vehicle is performing energy recovery, the energy recovery system can automatically switch to the most suitable recovery mode in real time according to the road conditions and road surface types recognized in real time to adapt to the current road conditions and road surface types. ; So as to take into account the recovery efficiency and vehicle dynamic performance”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the product of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the configured regeneration intensity of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the product of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Regarding claim 19, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches computer program product of claim 18.
Sun further teaches:
wherein the instability boundary condition indicates that the vehicle is likely to experience an instability phenomenon before the instability phenomenon occurs, wherein the instability boundary condition is met when the road surface adhesion capability indicates that the vehicle is located on a low-adhesion road, and wherein the low-adhesion road has a road surface adhesion coefficient less than a coefficient threshold (Sun at pg. 3, ln. 32-34: “the adhesion coefficient of the vehicle tires on dry asphalt pavement, wet asphalt pavement, wet cobblestone pavement, snow pavement, and icy pavement decreases from 1.0 to 0.1; the adhesion coefficient corresponding to the road surface type”; The adhesion coefficient of 0.1 indicates that the vehicle tires are on a road with decreased adhesion (i.e., “the vehicle is located on a low-adhesion road”), and the adhesion coefficient of 0.1 (i.e., “road surface adhesion coefficient”) is lower than 1.0 (i.e. “less than a coefficient threshold”)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the product of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the instability boundary condition of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the product of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Examiner note: As stated above, the term “likely” is indefinite, and the term is interpreted as “any degree of likelihood.” In this regard, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, Examiner interpreted that the limitation “the instability boundary condition indicates that the vehicle is likely to experience an instability phenomenon before the instability phenomenon occurs” is satisfied when the instability boundary condition is met as claimed.
Regarding claim 20, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches computer program product of claim 18.
Sun further teaches:
wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to further adjust the configured regeneration intensity by using the configured regeneration intensity as the target regeneration intensity of the vehicle when the road surface adhesion capability does not meet the instability boundary condition (pg. 3, ln. 28-30; “If the adjustment level is within the preset range of the current energy recovery mode, adjust the energy recovery intensity in the current energy recovery mode”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the product of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the adjusting the configured regeneration intensity of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the product of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Mizuno (US 2022/0258754 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 2.
Sun further teaches:
wherein determining the configured regeneration intensity comprises obtaining, based on a correspondence between the driving configuration information and an energy regeneration intensity, the configured regeneration intensity (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 16-24: “The VCU control module comprehensively judges and estimates the current working conditions according to the working status of the vehicle (vehicle speed, motor speed, gear, battery status, etc.). When the drive motor is used as a power generation mode, the torque potential for energy recovery can be carried out; at the same time, VCU The control unit sends the value of the potential recovery torque of the motor to the CAN bus in real time for the ESC to obtain; According to the above, the ESC control unit obtains the driver’s total braking demand torque issued by the eBooster control unit and the potential recovery torque of the motor issued by the VCU control unit from the CAN bus in real time, and then according to the energy recovery logic and calibration MAP done in the design stage”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the correspondence of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
However, Fracchia in view of Sun does not explicitly state:
wherein the driving configuration information comprises at least one of a driving mode or a road mode.
In the same field of endeavor, Mizuno teaches:
wherein the driving configuration information comprises at least one of a driving mode or a road mode (Mizuno at para. [0039]: “regular driving may be used as a first driving mode, while sports driving may be used as a second driving mode. The driving operation strength is an index of the degree of driving performed by a driver”; claim 2: “a limit value setter configured to set a first limit value and a second limit value as a limit value used for limiting a degree of deceleration of the vehicle during coasting, the second limit value being smaller than the first limit value, wherein in the case where the vehicle stops accelerating in the first driving mode, the motor controller is configured to limit the regenerative torque of the driving motor based on the first limit value, and in the case where the vehicle stops accelerating in the second driving mode, the motor controller is configured to limit the regenerative torque of the driving motor based on the second limit value”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the driving mode of Mizuno with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Mizuno is to improve drivability.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Saitoh et al. (US 2009/0112386 A1, hereinafter “Saitoh”).
Regarding claim 7, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 5.
Sun further teaches:
wherein the regeneration torque reference information comprises at least one of historical energy regeneration information of a logged-in account of the vehicle, a quantity of passengers in the vehicle, or slope information of the road (Sun at pg. 10, ln. 25-26: “The logic design of the aforementioned ESC control unit for reclaiming judgment based on the road information currently identified is as follows”; pg. 10, ln. 33: “When the identified road type is slope, it is divided into two types: uphill and downhill”), and wherein adjusting the basic regeneration torque comprises:
determining (Sun at pg. 10, ln. 33-39: “when the uphill is identified, if the dynamic slope is greater than 10%, because the slope is too large, the energy recovery system enters the waiting mode; When the slope is between 5% and 10%, the light recovery mode is automatically entered, and this range corresponds to the proportion of the light recovery range. As the slope increases or decreases, the reference nominal value of the light recovery is adjusted inversely; when When [sic] the slope is 0-5%, the medium recovery mode is automatically entered, and this range corresponds to the proportion of the medium recovery range”); and
adjusting the basic regeneration torque based on (Sun at pg. 8, ln. 16-20: “The VCU control module comprehensively judges and estimates the current working conditions according to the working status of the vehicle (vehicle speed, motor speed, gear, battery status, etc.). When the drive motor is used as a power generation mode, the torque potential for energy recovery can be carried out; at the same time, VCU The control unit sends the value of the potential recovery torque of the motor to the CAN bus in real time for the ESC to obtain”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the slope information of Sun with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun is to improve energy utilization.
However, Fracchia in view of Sun does not explicitly state:
an adjustment coefficient.
In the same field of endeavor, Saitoh teaches:
an adjustment coefficient (Saitoh at para. [0096]: “The rolling resistance is given according to the following expression (2). Rolling resistance [kN]=Rolling resistance coefficientx(Total weight of vehicle [kN]xcos(gradient)) (2)”; claim 1: “a basic target torque determining means which determines, on the basis of an operational state of an accelerator pedal, a basic target torque which is a basic target torque of the electric motor and which becomes a regenerative torque in the case where the operational state of the accelerator pedal of the vehicle is an OFF state; a gradient grasping means which grasps the gradient of a road surface on which the vehicle is traveling; a target acceleration determining means which determines, on the basis of the gradient of the road surface grasped by the gradient grasping means, a target acceleration which is a target acceleration of the vehicle in the case where the operational state of a brake pedal of the vehicle and the operational state of the accelerator pedal thereof are the OFF state when the vehicle is traveling on a down-slope road and which is a target acceleration for restraining an increase in the speed of the vehicle more than an acceleration generated in the vehicle in the case where it is assumed that the operational state of the brake pedal of the vehicle and the operational state of the accelerator pedal thereof are the OFF state and that the vehicle is traveling on the down-slope road in a state wherein the electric motor is generating an output torque of the basic target torque”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the adjustment coefficient of Saitoh with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Saitoh is to improve energy utilization.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Wu et al. (CN 108515960 A, hereinafter “Wu”). The rejections below are based on the machine translation of Wu, a copy of which are attached to this Office Action as also indicated in the 892 form.
Regarding claim 9, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 8.
However, Fracchia in view of Sun does not explicitly state:
further comprising obtaining the maximum allowable regeneration torque based on a chargeable power of a battery of the vehicle and based on at least one of a regenerative capability or a rotational speed of the motor.
In the same field of endeavor, Wu teaches:
further comprising obtaining the maximum allowable regeneration torque based on a chargeable power of a battery of the vehicle and based on at least one of a regenerative capability or a rotational speed of the motor (Wu at pg. 3, ln. 10-13: “monitoring the energy recovery signal in real time when the battery is charged, wherein The energy recovery signal includes at least: a battery power, a battery temperature, and a motor temperature signal; and when any of the energy recovery signals exceeds a preset signal threshold, the process of energy recovery is stopped”; pg. 6, ln. 7-9: “The vehicle attribute information includes at least: motor state, battery state, vehicle weight, vehicle coasting resistance, and engine drag drag [sic] torque. Generally, the maximum regenerative torque allowed by the current vehicle is calculated according to the motor state and the battery state”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the maximum allowable regeneration torque of Wu with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Wu is to improve safety.
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao et al. (CN 112622644 A, hereinafter “Cao”). The rejections below are based on the machine translation of Cao, a copy of which are attached to this Office Action as also indicated in the 892 form.
Regarding claim 10, Fracchia in view of Sun teaches the method of claim 1.
However, Fracchia in view of Sun does not explicitly state:
wherein after determining the target regeneration torque, the method further comprises:
determining an allocation ratio among motors of the vehicle; and
dividing the target regeneration torque into regeneration torques based on the allocation ratio, wherein the regeneration torques are in one-to-one correspondence with the motors, and wherein performing the energy regeneration comprises controlling the motors to perform the energy regeneration based on the regeneration torques.
In the same field of endeavor, Cao teaches:
wherein after determining the target regeneration torque, the method further comprises:
determining an allocation ratio among motors of the vehicle (Cao at pg. 3, ln. 56-57: “based on the vehicle's driving state information and driving road condition information, determine the required torque at the wheel end of the vehicle and the target torque distribution coefficient”; pg. 4, ln. 2-3: “The torque distribution coefficient is used to indicate the proportion of torque distributed to each wheel end of the vehicle”); and
dividing the target regeneration torque into regeneration torques based on the allocation ratio, wherein the regeneration torques are in one-to-one correspondence with the motors (Cao at pg. 4, ln. 25-27: “Perform torque distribution for at least two drive motors based on the target torque distribution coefficient, the entire wheel end required torque limit, and the wheel end required torque limit corresponding to each drive motor”), and wherein performing the energy regeneration comprises controlling the motors to perform the energy regeneration based on the regeneration torques (Cao at pg. 6, ln. 33-36: “Combining the position of the vehicle's center of gravity and the preset power distribution coefficient mapping table, the strategy of preferential output acceleration or recovery torque of the drive motor that is biased to the higher load side determines the optimal torque distribution coefficient corresponding to the vehicle in the power mode”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the allocation ratio of Cao with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao is to improve driving performance.
Regarding claim 11, Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao teaches the method of claim 10.
Cao further teaches:
wherein determining the allocation ratio comprises:
determining the allocation ratio to be a fixed allocation ratio when the road surface adhesion capability meets an instability boundary condition (Cao at pg. 3, ln. 51-54: “The driving road condition information of the vehicle refers to the information used to characterize the road condition of the road on which the vehicle is located. It can specifically include but is not limited to the road surface type (such as desert, mountain, rock, mud, etc.), weather information (such as wet Sliding, snowing, icing, etc.), congestion, etc.”; pg. 6, ln. 7-14: “a preset torque control mode mapping table may be queried based on the vehicle's driving state information and driving road condition information to determine the vehicle's target torque control mode, and then based on the torque control mode The preset corresponding relationship with the torque distribution coefficient determines the target torque distribution coefficient corresponding to the target torque control mode. Among them, the torque control mode mapping table records the corresponding torque control modes under different driving state information and driving road condition information. The general torque control mode of the embodiment of the present application may include, but is not limited to, an economy mode, a power mode, and a stability mode, for example”; pg. 6, ln. 36-39: “Combining the wheel speed difference and turning angle of each wheel of the vehicle and the preset stability distribution coefficient mapping table, the optimal torque distribution coefficient corresponding to the vehicle in the stability mode is determined”); or
determining the allocation ratio based on the driving configuration information when the road surface adhesion capability does not meet the instability boundary condition (Cao at pg. 6, ln. 28-36: “after obtaining the required torque limit at the whole wheel end, filter the required torque limit at the whole wheel end, and combine the driving speed of the vehicle and the filtered whole wheel end demand Torque limit and preset economic distribution coefficient mapping table, with the strategy of minimizing the conversion loss from electrical power to mechanical power under the same torque or outputting the maximum total torque under the same power, to determine the optimal torque distribution corresponding to the vehicle in the economic mode Coefficient: Combining the position of the vehicle's center of gravity and the preset power distribution coefficient mapping table, the strategy of preferential output acceleration or recovery torque of the drive motor that is biased to the higher load side determines the optimal torque distribution coefficient corresponding to the vehicle in the power mode”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun by adding the allocation ratio of Cao with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao is to improve driving performance.
Regarding claim 12, Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao teaches the method of claim 11.
Fracchia further discloses:
wherein the motors comprise a front motor and a rear motor (Fracchia at FIG. 1 and para. [0046]: “the first and second electric motors 102, 104 are also operable to generate negative torque that resists rotation of the wheels, which can be used to decelerate the vehicle 100”).
Cao further teaches:
wherein determining the allocation ratio comprises:
determining a driving mode of the vehicle based on the driving configuration information (Cao at pg. 6, ln. 7-14: “a preset torque control mode mapping table may be queried based on the vehicle's driving state information and driving road condition information to determine the vehicle's target torque control mode, and then based on the torque control mode The preset corresponding relationship with the torque distribution coefficient determines the target torque distribution coefficient corresponding to the target torque control mode. Among them, the torque control mode mapping table records the corresponding torque control modes under different driving state information and driving road condition information. The general torque control mode of the embodiment of the present application may include, but is not limited to, an economy mode, a power mode, and a stability mode, for example”);
determining, when the driving mode is energy saving and a motor enabling status of the vehicle is dual- motor enabled (pg. 3, ln. 27-29: “Of course, it can be understood that the vehicles applied in the embodiments of the present application are limited to the above-mentioned electric four-wheel drive vehicles, and can also be applied to other vehicles with at least two sets of independent drive systems”; pg. 6, ln. 28-33: “after obtaining the required torque limit at the whole wheel end, filter the required torque limit at the whole wheel end, and combine the driving speed of the vehicle and the filtered whole wheel end demand Torque limit and preset economic distribution coefficient mapping table, with the strategy of minimizing the conversion loss from electrical power to mechanical power under the same torque or outputting the maximum total torque under the same power, to determine the optimal torque distribution corresponding to the vehicle in the economic mode Coefficient”; pg. 7, ln. 17-19: “when the vehicle enters a two-wheel drive (2Wheel Drive, 2WD) state, it can also be determined according to the rotating speed and temperature of the driving motor, the economic mode permission state, and the current output torque”; In Cao reference, the descriptions prior to the two-wheel drive state presupposes the vehicle is in the four-wheel drive state), total regeneration efficiencies of the front motor and the rear motor at different allocation ratios based on a first motor drive efficiency of the front motor and a second motor efficiency of the rear motor (pg. 9, ln. 11-14: “if the wheel end required torque corresponding to the front drive motor of the vehicle is greater than the wheel end reference torque, and the wheel end required torque of the vehicle's rear drive motor is less than the wheel end reference torque, then the wheel end required torque and wheel end required torque corresponding to the front drive motor can be obtained”), and using, when the total regeneration efficiency is highest, a first allocation ratio as an allocation ratio between the front motor and the rear motor (Cao at pg. 6, ln. 28-36: “after obtaining the required torque limit at the whole wheel end, filter the required torque limit at the whole wheel end, and combine the driving speed of the vehicle and the filtered whole wheel end demand Torque limit and preset economic distribution coefficient mapping table, with the strategy of minimizing the conversion loss from electrical power to mechanical power under the same torque or outputting the maximum total torque under the same power, to determine the optimal torque distribution corresponding to the vehicle in the economic mode Coefficient: Combining the position of the vehicle's center of gravity and the preset power distribution coefficient mapping table, the strategy of preferential output acceleration or recovery torque of the drive motor that is biased to the higher load side determines the optimal torque distribution coefficient corresponding to the vehicle in the power mode”); and
obtaining, when the driving mode is comfort or sport (Cao at pg. 6, ln. 36-39: “Combining the wheel speed difference and turning angle of each wheel of the vehicle and the preset stability distribution coefficient mapping table, the optimal torque distribution coefficient corresponding to the vehicle in the stability mode is determined”), a first ratio between a front-wheel vehicle speed of front wheels of the vehicle and a rear-wheel vehicle speed of rear wheels of the vehicle, and a second ratio between a front load of a vehicle body and a rear load of the vehicle body (Cao at pg. 6, ln. 52-54: “The above-mentioned stability distribution coefficient mapping table records the corresponding relationship between the wheel speed difference and rotation angle of each wheel of the vehicle and the optimal torque distribution coefficient”), and determining a second allocation ratio between the front motor and the rear motor based on at least one of the first ratio or the second ratio (Cao at pg. 6, ln. 54-56: “Each of the above-mentioned distribution coefficient mapping tables can be obtained by analyzing a large amount of historical data or carrying out a prototype test, and is finally determined based on the correction coefficient of the efficiency of the drive motor”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao by adding the driving mode of Cao with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao is to improve driving performance.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao and Crombez et al. (US 2019/0337391 A1, hereinafter “Crombez”).
Regarding claim 13, Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao teaches the method of claim 11.
However, Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao does not explicitly state:
wherein the motors comprise a front motor, a rear left motor, and a rear right motor, and wherein determining the allocation ratio comprises:
obtaining a front-to-rear ratio among the front motor, the rear left motor, and the rear right motor based on the driving configuration information;
determining a steering direction of the vehicle based on steering wheel angle information;
determining a third ratio between the rear left motor and the rear right motor based on the steering direction;
determining a fourth ratio between the rear left motor and the rear right motor based on road surface adhesion statuses of wheels on left and right sides;
determining a left-to-right ratio between the front motor and the rear motors based on at least one of the third ratio or the fourth ratio; and
determining the allocation ratio among the front motor, the rear left motor, and the rear right motor based on the front-to-rear ratio and the left-to-right ratio.
In the same field of endeavor, Crombez teaches:
wherein the motors comprise a front motor, a rear left motor, and a rear right motor (Crombez at para. [0028]: “each wheel 154a, 154b, 154c, 154d, receives different, asymmetric torque. Similarly, during regenerative braking modes, EMs 120, 123 (and later-described Ems 190a, 190b, 190c, 190d)”), and wherein determining the allocation ratio comprises:
obtaining a front-to-rear ratio among the front motor, the rear left motor, and the rear right motor based on the driving configuration information (Crombez at para. [0012]: “generating the torque split ratio by the predetermined lookup table that maps a plurality of torque split ratios to respective lateral accelerations, among other vehicle, road, and wheel dynamics and conditions”; claim 1: “generate a torque split ratio responsive to unequal friction coefficients detected for each wheel during braking);
determining a steering direction of the vehicle based on steering wheel angle information (Claim 3: “generate the unequal friction coefficients for each wheel in response to detected: vehicle conditions that include one or more of lateral and longitudinal accelerations, steering angle, yaw rate, and vehicle speed and configuration”);
determining a third ratio between the rear left motor and the rear right motor based on the steering direction (Crombez at para. [0012]: “generating the torque split ratio by the predetermined lookup table that maps a plurality of torque split ratios to respective lateral accelerations, among other vehicle, road, and wheel dynamics and conditions”; claim 1: “generate a torque split ratio responsive to unequal friction coefficients detected for each wheel during braking; The torque split ratio is determined for each individual motors, and thus the torque split ratio includes “third ratio”);
determining a fourth ratio between the rear left motor and the rear right motor based on road surface adhesion statuses of wheels on left and right sides (Crombez at para. [0012]: “generating the torque split ratio by the predetermined lookup table that maps a plurality of torque split ratios to respective lateral accelerations, among other vehicle, road, and wheel dynamics and conditions”; claim 1: “generate a torque split ratio responsive to unequal friction coefficients detected for each wheel during braking; claim 3: “generate the unequal friction coefficients for each wheel in response to detected: vehicle conditions that include one or more of lateral and longitudinal accelerations, steering angle, yaw rate, and vehicle speed and configuration, and road conditions that include one or more of ice, snow, water, polishing, and flushing”; The torque split ratio is determined for each individual motors, and thus the torque split ratio includes “fourth ratio”);
determining a left-to-right ratio between the front motor and the rear motors based on at least one of the third ratio or the fourth ratio (Crombez at para. [0012]: “generating the torque split ratio by the predetermined lookup table that maps a plurality of torque split ratios to respective lateral accelerations, among other vehicle, road, and wheel dynamics and conditions”; claim 1: “generate a torque split ratio responsive to unequal friction coefficients detected for each wheel during braking; The torque split ratio is determined for each individual motors, and thus the torque split ratio includes “left-to-right ratio”); and
determining the allocation ratio among the front motor, the rear left motor, and the rear right motor based on the front-to-rear ratio and the left-to-right ratio (Crombez at para. [0012]: “generating the torque split ratio by the predetermined lookup table that maps a plurality of torque split ratios to respective lateral accelerations, among other vehicle, road, and wheel dynamics and conditions”; claim 1: “generate a torque split ratio responsive to unequal friction coefficients detected for each wheel during braking).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao by adding the allocation ratio of Crombez with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify the method of Fracchia in view of Sun further in view of Cao and Crombez is to improve energy efficiency.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JISUN CHOI whose telephone number is (571)270-0710. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/JISUN CHOI/Examiner, Art Unit 3666
/SCOTT A BROWNE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666
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