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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/24/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/24/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant, once again alleges that Miron does not teach or suggest leaving a device for in-situ work performance. In response, applicant appears to argue against the references individually and one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). In this case, the combination of Yan and Jiang teaches a device that carries equipment and configured to perform in situ work on a line. The combination of Yan and Jiang, however, does not disclose, teach or suggest an arrangement to couple/decouple/leave/ recouple/remove of the device on the line. Miron is relied upon solely to teach an arrangement for delivery of a device, similar to the device as taught by the combination of Yan and Jiang, onto a line, and is configured to selectably couple the flying mechanism to the device for lifting the device to the line, decouple the flying mechanism from the device to leave the device for the in-situ work performance upon the line without the flying mechanism coupled to the device, and recouple the flying mechanism to the device for removing the device from the line (pg. 27 through pg. 28).
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6, 8, 10-13, 16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (CN 210577389 and its English Translation) in view of Jiang et al. (CN 110165599 and its English Translation), and further in view of Miron et al. (WO 2019/171231).
Regarding claims 1-4, 6, 8, 10-13, 16 and 18-20, Yan teaches an arrangement for delivery and work upon a line, the arrangement comprising:
a device in situ performance of work on a line, the device comprising:
a body (2)
a saddle portion (the bottom portion of the sensor platform 2) receiving the line therein;
a counterbalance (3) system to stabilize the device relative to the line and comprising the first portion extending from the body of the device in a first direction substantially perpendicular to the direction along which the line extends and a second section portion attached to the first portion an extending in a second direction substantially parallel to the direction along which the line extends;
a motive portion (4) engaging the line and moving the device along the line;
an operation portion that comprises a mechanism operating to perform a work task at a location along the line (implicit imaging portion to perform inspection of the line);
Yan further teaches a selectably engageable portion (Fig. 2, top mount of the sensor platform); a flying portion (1) configured to selectably engage the selectably engageable portion of the device to: decouple the flying mechanism from the device to leave the device including the counterbalance system; decouple the flying mechanism form device to leave the device including the counterbalance system (Figs. 2-3);
wherein the body is configured to be at least primarily located above the line and the saddle portion is configured to be located above the line such that the saddle portion is pulled toward the line by gravity (Fig. 1) [claim 2];
wherein the second portion is at lower elevation than an elevation of the line when the line is received within the saddle portion [claim 3];
wherein the counterbalance system provides a stand for the device when the device is located on ground (Fig. 1) [claim 4];
wherein the flying mechanism is a drone (Fig. 1) [claim 6];
wherein the motive portion comprises a wheel to engage the line ad a motor to rotate the wheel (4) [claim 8];
wherein the device comprises a controller (6) to control at least one of the motive portion or the operation portion (Fig. 4) [claim 10];
wherein the controller is autonomous to control at least one of the motive portion or the operation portion once the line is received within the saddle portion (implicit feature of the autonomous unmanned patrol robot) [claims 11, 18];
wherein the controller receives instructions from a location remote from the device to control at least one of the motive portion or the operation portion once the line is received within the saddle portion (pg. 4, 2nd to last paragraph) [claims 12, 19]; and
wherein the controller is configured to operate in a remote control mode to receive instructions from a location remote from the device to control at least one of the motive portion or the operation portion once the line is received within the saddle portion and an autonomous mode to control at least one of the motive portion or the operation portion once the line is received within the saddle portion (pg. 5, 3rd paragraph) [claim 13].
Yan does not specifically teach the device is configured for carrying a deliverable piece of equipment and in situ performance of installation work to install a piece of equipment on the line, and the mechanism operating to perform the work task to install the piece of equipment at a delivered location along the line.
Jiang teaches an arrangement for delivery and work upon a line, comprising: a device (Fig. 1, four-wheel driving robot) is configured for carrying a deliverable piece of equipment and in situ performance of installation work to install a piece of equipment on the line, and a mechanism operating (6) to perform the work task to install the piece of equipment at a delivered location along the line.
It would have been obvious to one having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yan’s device to include a spacer installation operation as taught in order to facilitate a safer operation in installing spacers in a high-voltage line.
Yan, as modified by Jiang, does not specifically teach a selectably engageable portion and a flying mechanism configured to selectable engage the selectably engageable portion of the device to selectably couple the flying mechanism to the device for lifting the device to the line, decouple the flying mechanism from the device to leave the device for the in-situ work performance upon the line without the flying mechanism coupled to the device, and recouple the flying mechanism to the device for removing the device from the line.
Miron teaches an arrangement for delivery a device upon a line, comprising: a selectably engageable portion (19); and a flying mechanism (10) configured to selectable engage the selectably engageable portion of the device to selectably couple the flying mechanism to the device for lifting the device to the line, decouple the flying mechanism from the device to leave the device for the in-situ work performance upon the line without the flying mechanism coupled to the device, and recouple the flying mechanism to the device for removing the device from the line (pg. 27 through pg. 28).
It would have been obvious to one having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate flying mechanism as taught by Miron in order to facilitate the deployment and the retrieval of the robotic device on the line.
Claim(s) 1, 9, 14, 16 and 20-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lavoie et al. (US Pub. No. 2019/0260191) in view of Jiang, and further in view of Miron (cited above).
Regarding claims 1, 9, 14, 16 and 20-21 Lavoie teaches a device in situ performance of work on a line, the device comprising:
a body (22);
a saddle portion (20) receiving the line therein;
a counterbalance (25, 27-28) system to stabilize the device relative to the line and comprising the first portion extending from the body of the device in a first direction substantially perpendicular to the direction along which the line extends and a second section portion attached to the first portion an extending in a second direction substantially parallel to the direction along which the line extends;
a motive portion (40) engaging the line and moving the device along the line;
an operation portion (30) that comprises a mechanism operating to perform a work task at a location along the line;
a battery (28) to power at least one of the motive portion or the operation portion [claim 9];
wherein the operation portion comprises a driver (42) [claims 14, 21].
Lavoie does not specifically teach the device is configured for carrying a deliverable piece of equipment and in situ performance of installation work to install a piece of equipment on the line, and the mechanism operating to perform the work task to install the piece of equipment at a delivered location along the line.
Jiang teaches an arrangement for delivery and work upon a line, comprising: a device (Fig. 1, four-wheel driving robot) is configured for carrying a deliverable piece of equipment and in situ performance of installation work to install a piece of equipment on the line, and a mechanism operating (6) to perform the work task to install the piece of equipment at a delivered location along the line.
It would have been obvious to one having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lavoie’s device to include a spacer installation operation as taught in order to facilitate a safer operation in installing spacers in a high-voltage line.
Lavoie, as modified by Jiang, does not specifically teach a selectably engageable portion; and a flying mechanism configured to selectable engage the selectably engageable portion of the device to selectably couple the flying mechanism to the device for lifting the device to the line, decouple the flying mechanism from the device to leave the device including the counterbalance system for the in situ work performance upon the line without the flying mechanism coupled to the device, and recouple the flying mechanism to the device including the counterbalance system for removing the device from the line.
Miron teaches an arrangement for delivery a device upon a line, comprising: a selectably engageable portion (19); and a flying mechanism (10) configured to selectable engage the selectably engageable portion of the device (11) to selectably couple the flying mechanism to the device for lifting the device to the line, decouple the flying mechanism from the device to leave the device for the in situ work performance upon the line without the flying mechanism coupled to the device, and recouple the flying mechanism to the device for removing the device from the line (pg. 27 through pg. 28).
It would have been obvious to one having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate flying mechanism as taught by Miron in order to facilitate the deployment and the retrieval of the device on a line.
Claim(s) 15 and 22-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lavoie in view of Jiang and Miron, and further in view of Ebner et al. (US Pub. No. 2019/0262982).
Regarding claims 15 and 22-23, Lavoie, as modified by Jiang and Miron, teaches all the claimed limitations except for the driver is a hand power tool, however the conversion from a motorized drive assembly to a hand power tool would have been well-known as evidenced by Ebner (para. 38). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute a hand power tool for said driver in order to facilitate the driving of the operation portion when the power switched off.
Conclusion
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MINH Q. PHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2852
/MINH Q PHAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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