Appeal No. 2002-1867
Application No. 08/859,635
disclosed by Davidian, as broadly claimed, we agree with the
examiner that the instant claimed subject matter would have been
obvious in view of Davidian.
Taking instant claim 1 as exemplary, Davidian clearly
discloses a method for spacing control for a vehicle having an
arrangement for determining an intended spacing from a vehicle
traveling in front. As the safety distance is calculated in
calculation module 90 with inputs such as vehicle speed (from
sensor 12) and driving ability test (element 60), it is clear to
us that the spacing control in Davidian is based, at least in
part, on vehicle speed, and that an algorithm within module 90
calculates distance (i.e., spacing control) from the vehicle
speed and other factors, one of those factors being driver
ability, wherein reaction time of the driver is taken into
account. The calculation is adapted to a normal driving
characteristic of a particular driver (one whose reaction time
has been tested) in order to produce an intended spacing, or
distance, which is different for a driver (the same or another
driver) having a different reaction time result, all other
factors being equal.
While Davidian does not mention a “transfer function,” a
transfer function is merely an algorithm which takes certain
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