Patent Application 18534567 - APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING BRAKE - Rejection
Patent Application 18534567 - APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING BRAKE
Title: APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING BRAKE SYSTEM IN CASE OF STEERING SYSTEM FAILURE
Application Information
- Invention Title: APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING BRAKE SYSTEM IN CASE OF STEERING SYSTEM FAILURE
- Application Number: 18534567
- Submission Date: 2025-05-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Effective Filing Date: 2023-12-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Filing Date: 2023-12-09T00:00:00.000Z
- National Class: 701
- National Sub-Class: 070000
- Examiner Employee Number: 89051
- Art Unit: 3747
- Tech Center: 3700
Rejection Summary
- 102 Rejections: 1
- 103 Rejections: 0
Cited Patents
No patents were cited in this rejection.
Office Action Text
DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 10-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Yamakado (U.S. Pat. No. 10,384,673).
Regarding claim 1 and 11, Yamakado discloses an apparatus for controlling a brake system, the apparatus comprising:
one or more controllers (30) configured to: generate a first control signal for controlling a difference between a control target and a vehicle state to be equal to or less than a threshold through state-feedback control (col. 20, lines 35-50 discloses many variables which are given targets); and
convert the first control signal into braking torques for wheels including front-left, front-right, rear-left and rear-right wheels, and distribute a braking pressure to actuators of the wheels through the brake system to generate the braking torques for the front-left, front-right, rear-left and rear-right wheels (col. 4, lines 55-67 discloses that this application is for discussing braking force distribution and col. 2, lines 5-15 discloses this includes right and left wheels. Claim 10 discusses manipulating braking forces between wheels).
Regarding claim 2 and 12 which depends from claim 1 and 11 respectively, Yamakado discloses wherein the one or more controllers are configured to:
generate a second control signal based on a disturbance generated by an external factor;
generate a third control signal by adding the first control signal and the second control signal; when
a value of the third control signal is a positive number, apply the brake torques to the front-left and rear-left wheels; and when the value of the third control signal is a negative number, apply the brake torques to the front-right and rear-right wheels (col. 3, lines 20-35 is discussing the determinations that lead to over and understeering which lead to the appropriate braking forces to be applied shown in col. 8, lines 45-55 to perform as claimed here).
Regarding claim 3 and 13 which depends from claim 1 and 11 respectively, Yamakado discloses wherein the control target includes a target yaw rate which is a yaw rate of a vehicle when steering is performed in a normal state during driving of the vehicle (col. 7, lines 48-65 discusses how to control the yaw).
Regarding claim 4 and 14 which depends from claim 3 and 13 respectively, Yamakado discloses wherein the target yaw rate is determined by using a yaw rate map generated by collecting data from yaw rates generated according to manipulation of the vehicle (equation 2 would allow for map generation).
Regarding claim 5 and 15 which depends from claim 3 and 13 respectively, Yamakado discloses wherein the target yaw rate is determined according to a driving speed of the vehicle and an amount of steering manipulation using a 2-degree of freedom (DOF) transverse vehicle dynamics model (the discussion in col. 7-8 is about steering and yaw and the variables effecting them).
Regarding claim 6 and 16 which depends from claim 1 and 11 respectively, Yamakado discloses wherein the state-feedback control uses a state space model in which a steering geometry model is applied to a 3-DOF transverse vehicle dynamics model (fig. 8).
Regarding claim 7 and 17 which depends from claim 6 and 16 respectively, Yamakado discloses wherein:
a longitudinal element of the steering geometry model is applied to the 3-DOF transverse vehicle dynamics model, in the 3-DOF transverse vehicle dynamics model, a size and a sign of a scrub radius are determined by a slope of a king-pin axis, a horizontal offset of a wheel center, and an effective wheel size, and a value of the scrub radius is applied by changing a negative scrub radius value to a positive scrub radius value by mounting a spacer between one of the wheels and a brake disk or changing the slope of the king-pin axis (these are the standard definition of the terms).
Regarding claim 10 and 20 which depends from claim 1 and 11 respectively, Yamakado discloses wherein the brake system includes at least one of an integrated dynamic brake (IDB) system, an anti-lock brake system (ABS) in the IDB (stability option addressed), and an electronic stability control (ESC) logic (abstract discusses the electronic stability control).
Regarding claim 18 which depends from claim 17, Yamakado discloses wherein: the first control signal is an input of the state-feedback control in the state space model, and in the input of the state-feedback control, a control gain is determined by placing a representative pole at a location where a control stability is secured (col. 25, lines 63-67 discloses using a GVC gain to improve stability but the entire disclosure is about control and so where gains are used in their functions it can be said to relate to this limitation).
Regarding claim 19 which depends from claim 12, Yamakado discloses comprising: when a value of the third control signal is a positive number, applying the brake torques to the front-left and rear-left wheels; and when the value of the third control signal is a negative number, applying braking torques to the front-right and rear-right wheels (col. 3, lines 20-35 is discussing the determinations that lead to over and understeering which lead to the appropriate braking forces to be applied shown in col. 8, lines 45-55 to perform as claimed here).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8, 9 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 8 requires the consideration of variables in their model that are not discussed in this context in the prior art and so overcomes the prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please review when considering a response to this office action.
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/GONZALO LAGUARDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
