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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant has elected claims 1-9, which are being examined on the merits below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea (mathematical relationships) without significantly more. Claim 1 recites:
A method for designing a tire tread pattern of a tire capable of reducing pitch noise, comprising the following steps: (This falls within the statutory categories of invention. Intended use in the preamble is not entitled to receiving patentable weight, and amounts to generally linking the use of the exception to a technical field regardless in this case as per MPEP 2106.05(h))
generating a plurality of discrete points on a circumferential surface of a tire using a pseudo-random point generator; (as noted previously, the link to a tire is generally linking the use of the exception to a technical field/field of use as per MPEP 2106.05(h). Generating points using a pseud-random point generator is mathematical in nature, as it is generating numerical values according to a mathematical algorithm. The numerical values are coordinate values, integrating them into a framework of numerical geometry, but this remains within the scope of mathematical relationships.)
connecting each of the discrete points and the neighboring discrete points to form triangles according to the Voronoi geometry principle, extending perpendicular bisectors of sides of each of the triangles so that the perpendicular bisectors are intersected to form a Voronoi diagram; (Voronoi diagrams are generated by partitioning planes according to a mathematical algorithm. The connection methodology described is a mathematical, in this case numerical geometry based, algorithm for relating coordinate points to each other. This is within the scope of mathematical relationships.)
reducing the Voronoi diagram by a reduction ratio with each of the discrete points as a center to form a plurality of tread blocks not having concave corners on the circumferential surface of the tire, (reducing the Voronoi diagram in this manner is a further mathematical algorithm accomplished by using a numerical ratio to decimate (i.e. eliminate) points according to geometric features (properties of the numerical coordinate data in the mathematical geometric system). The entire reduction step is mathematical in nature, resulting in a new Voronoi diagram (itself a set of mathematical relationships) that has been altered by a mathematical algorithm.)
dividing the circumferential surface of the tire into raised portions and recessed portions by means of the tread blocks to form a tire tread pattern of the tire. (the resulting geometric features of the object being modeled after the mathematical algorithms are accomplished are aspects of the numerical geometry. That these aspects of numerical geometry represent tread blocks of a tire is merely generally linking the use of the exception to a technical field/field of use – that of tires. See MPEP 2106.05(h))
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim only recites the following additional element: generally linking the use of the exception to the technical field of tires. Limitations that amount to merely indicating a field of use or technological environment in which to apply a judicial exception cannot integrate a judicial exception into a practical application. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, limitations that amount to merely indicating a field of use or technological environment in which to apply a judicial exception do not amount to significantly more than the exception itself. The claim is not patent eligible.
Claim 2 recites numerical constraints on the number of points, within the scope of mathematical relationships.
Claim 3 recites a numerical constraint on the reduction ratio, within the scope of mathematical relationships.
Claim 4 describes the relative position of the points on the modeled structure in terms of numerical geometry and geometric features, within the scope of mathematical relationships.
Claims 5, 6, 7, and 9 describe a particular geometric structure being modeled and the distribution of points on that structure. Claims 7 and 9 also describe numerical ratio constraints. These are all within the scope of mathematical relationships
Claim 8 describes a particular ratio of points generated in various areas of the structure, presumably to be followed by the pseudo-random generator, within the scope of mathematical relationships.
In view of the above, claims 1-9 are ineligible.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 1-9 distinguish over the prior art. The prior arts of record, alone or in combination, do not disclose “reducing the Voronoi diagram by a reduction ratio with each of the discrete points as a center to form a plurality of tread blocks not having concave corners on the circumferential surface of the tire, dividing the circumferential surface of the tire”, in combination with the remaining claimed elements. Pseudo-random generation of seed points and then meshing a tire based on Voronoi diagrams alone is arguably obvious over a variety of references, but none teach or suggest the reduction feature as claimed (and quoted above). The most pertinent prior art is listed below:
JP 6514566 B2 is the most pertinent prior art, as it discusses Voronoi regions being generated on a tire in detail. It discusses "dimple arrangement area R is Voronoi-divided on the basis of multiple generatrices S located in the dimple arrangement area R, and is so formed as to be along the contour 54." This is similar to the first step of the independent claim (though the seed points are not pseudo-randomly generated), but the reference does not reduce the mesh to form tread blocks in a tread pattern.
Park (Park, D. W. (2008). Prediction of pavement fatigue and rutting life using different tire types. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 12(5), 297-303.) is the closest prior art pertaining to the mesh reduction feature claimed, and discloses decimating data regarding tire contact stress generating with a mesh. The reference's decimation "resulted in a mesh configuration where the finest mesh size is approximately 5 mm (0.2 inch) in the direction of wheel travel." The reference does not decimate with any consideration given to tire tread blocks, however, unlike the claimed mesh reduction.
CN 120451451 A discloses calculating curvature in CAD modeling using Voronoi area, and notes that its CAD can be used for modeling leakage conditions in tires. It does not conduct meshing based on generating Voronoi diagrams at pseudo-randomly generated points.
Sotomayor (Sotomayor, O. (2013). Numerical Modeling of Random 2D and 3D Structural Foams Using Voronoi Diagrams: A Study of Cell Regularity and Compression Response (Doctoral dissertation).) measures regularity levels of geometries generated by means of pseudo random seeds and spatial Voronoi tessellations. This is equivalent to the first step of the independent claim, albeit applied to foams as opposed to tires. However, it does not disclose the specific reduction that avoids tread blocks having concave corners and generates a tread tire pattern (or similar mesh reduction that would be reasonable to apply to a tire)
CN 114393955 A discusses dividing a tire in three dimensions into cells based on Thiessen polygons (aka Voronoi), but does not reduce the resulting cell structure in the manner claimed.
WO 2018224754 A1 discusses structuring a tire with beams such that "the beams are oriented to form a Voronoi structure, with a Delaunay triangulation", but again is silent regarding mesh reduction.
Cho (Cho, J. R., Kim, K. W., Yoo, W. S., & Hong, S. I. (2004). Mesh generation considering detailed tread blocks for reliable 3D tire analysis. Advances in engineering software, 35(2), 105-113.) discusses automatically meshing tires to specifically consider detailed tread blocks, but does not reduce the mesh after generating it.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BIJAN MAPAR whose telephone number is (571)270-3674. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday, 11:00-8:30.
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/BIJAN MAPAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2189