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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/19/2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Interpretation
The element “power storage device” is interpreted as including but not limited to: batteries, supercapacitors, flywheels, and mechanical or thermal storage systems.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP2011229211A (“Deguchi”, machine translation provided).
Claim 1:
An electric vehicle comprising: a first motor connected to one of front wheels and rear wheels; a second motor connected to the other of the front wheels and the rear wheels; a power storage device capable of exchanging power with the first motor and the second motor (Deguchi at least the abstract, FIG. 5); a connection release mechanism that connects and disconnects the first motor and the one of the wheels; and a control unit programmed to, when output of braking force is required during traveling, control the connection release mechanism such that the first motor is disconnected from the one of the wheels, and thereafter perform power running control on the first motor and regenerative control on the second motor. (Deguchi at least “front two wheels or the rear two wheels of the vehicle while adjusting the power transmission state by the power connection / disconnection means. In order to control the current in a direction in which the second electric motor provided is applied with a driving force in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the vehicle, regeneration by the first electric motor provided on one of the front two wheels or the rear two wheels of the vehicle is performed. The braking force and power consumption by the other second electric motor of either the front two wheels or the rear two wheels of the vehicle can be adjusted according to the braking force and the regenerative power amount due to braking.”)
Claim 2:
wherein the control unit is programmed to, when output of braking force is required during traveling, set braking power required by the vehicle, perform regenerative control on the second motor such that the braking power is output, and perform power running control on the first motor such that surplus power exceeding a maximum power inputtable into the power storage device among electric power generated by the regenerative control of the second motor is consumed. (Deguchi at least “capacity stored in the power storage device becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value determined in accordance with the maximum allowable value of the capacity of the power storage device, and braking greater than or equal to the predetermined value is performed by the braking request determination means. When requested, the current is controlled in a direction in which a driving force is applied to one of the front two wheels or the rear two wheels of the vehicle in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the vehicle. A state in which the power consumption increases relative to the power consumption when the power is controlled in the direction in which the driving force is applied in the direction opposite to the direction in which the driving force is applied and the maximum allowable value of the capacity of the power storage device is exceeded. The so-called overcharge state can be avoided. Further, the power consumption of the power storage device by one of the motors of the front two wheels or the rear two wheels of the vehicle is performed by controlling the current to the motor in a direction in which a driving force is applied in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the vehicle. Since the wheel exerts a load in the braking direction on the road surface, for example, even when regenerative braking is performed by the other motor of either the front two wheels or the rear two wheels of the vehicle, the same direction as this regenerative braking A braking force can be applied to the vehicle to stabilize the behavior of the vehicle.… adjusting the power transmission state by the power connection / disconnection means. In order to control the current in a direction in which the second electric motor provided is applied with a driving force in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the vehicle, regeneration by the first electric motor provided on one of the front two wheels or the rear two wheels of the vehicle is performed. The braking force and power consumption by the other second electric motor of either the front two wheels or the rear two wheels of the vehicle can be adjusted according to the braking force and the regenerative power amount due to braking.”)
Claim 3:
wherein the control unit is programmed to, when output of braking force is required during traveling, set braking power required by the vehicle, perform regenerative control on the second motor such that the braking power is output, and perform power running control on the first motor such that surplus power exceeding a maximum power inputtable into the power storage device among electric power generated by the regenerative control of the second motor is consumed. (Deguchi at least “When regenerative braking is performed on the hybrid unit provided on the other of the front two wheels or the rear two wheels, the power An electric motor provided to brake and drive either the front two wheels or the rear two wheels individually while adjusting the power transmission state by connecting / disconnecting means is applied with a driving force in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the vehicle. It is a regeneration control device characterized by controlling current in a direction to give.”)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following is considered relevant art: US20160339779A1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLIVER TAN whose telephone number is (703)756-4728. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-7.
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/O.T./Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/NAVID Z. MEHDIZADEH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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