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 .
Claim Status
Claims 1-6 are pending. Claims 1-6 are amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments in light of the amendment, see page 11, filed 10/31/2025, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-6 under 35 USC 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 1-6 under 35 USC 101 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed on 10/31/2025 with respect to the amended recitations have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In particular, in response to arguments on pages 14-15 of the remarks that the prior art does not disclose the amended recitation “calculate patterns of combination of a respective location of parking sections for charging, vehicle postures for parking in the parking sections for charging, and an order of charging of vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged according to which a moving time required for the arm mechanism to move as a charging schedule”, it is respectfully submitted that primary reference MATSUMOTO discloses the amended recitation as described in the rejection below. Applicant has not specifically commented on or argued against the relevant portions of MATSUMOTO relied upon in the rejection.
Regarding the amended recitations “in accordance with the charging schedule, a vehicle-to-be-charged among the vehicles-to-be-charged is made to autonomously travel from an uncharged vehicle parking area to charging area, the charging system performs charging of the vehicle-to-be- charged which has been made to autonomously travel to the charging area, and after the charging is completed, the charging system makes the vehicle autonomously travel from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area”, it is noted that primary reference MATSUMOTO discloses an autonomous vehicle made to travel to the charging area as described in the rejection, but does not disclose the autonomous vehicle traveling to “an charged vehicle parking area” after charging is completed. Newly applied reference YOON (US Pub. No. 2020/0198489) is relied upon to teach the amended recitation “after the charging is completed, the charging system makes the vehicle autonomously travel from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area” as described in the rejection below. It is therefore respectfully submitted that MATSUMOTO in view of YANG and YOON teaches the charging system of claim 1, the non-transitory medium of claim 5, and charging system generation method of claim 6.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, in the amended recitation “calculate patterns of combination of a respective location of parking sections for charging, vehicle postures for parking in the parking sections for charging, and an order of charging of vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged according to which a moving time required for the arm mechanism to move as a charging schedule”, it is not clear if the “patterns of combination” includes only the “respective location of parking sections”, or if it also includes “vehicle postures for parking” and “an order of charging of vehicles”. For examination purposes, the “patterns of combination” is interpreted as including “respective location of parking sections”, “vehicle postures for parking”, and “an order of charging of vehicles”.
Regarding claim 1, it is also not clear if the relative clause “according to which a moving time required for the arm mechanism to move as a charging schedule” applies to only the “order of charging of vehicles” or the “patterns of combination”. For examination purposes, the relative clause is interpreted as applying to the “patterns of combination”.
Regarding claim 1, the recitation “according to which a moving time required for the arm mechanism to move as a charging schedule” appears to be an incomplete fragmented phrase. For examination purposes, the recitation is broadly interpreted as the charging schedule is related to a moving time for the arm mechanism.
Claims 2-4 are dependent from claim 1 and are therefore rejected for the same reasons as independent claim 1.
Independent claims 5-6 are amended similarly to claim 1 and are therefore rejected for the same reasons as independent claim 1.
Claims 2-4 recites the limitation "the central processing unit" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, the limitation is interpreted as referring to the “processor” of claim 1.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 5-6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, lines 12-13, “the vehicle information about vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged” should be changed to --vehicle information about the vehicles being charged and the vehicles-to-be-charged--.
In claim 1, line 24, --the-- should be inserted before “charging area”.
In claim 1, line 27, “an charged vehicle parking area” should be changed to --a charged vehicle parking area”.
In claim 5, lines 13-14, “the vehicle information about vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged” should be changed to --vehicle information about the vehicles being charged and the vehicles-to-be-charged--.
In claim 5, line 14, --schedule-- should be inserted after “the charging”.
In claim 5, line 23, --the-- should be inserted before “charging area”.
In claim 5, lines 25-26, “an charged vehicle parking area” should be changed to --a charged vehicle parking area”.
In claim 6, lines 13-14, “the vehicle information about vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged” should be changed to --vehicle information about the vehicles being charged and the vehicles-to-be-charged--.
In claim 6, line 14, --schedule-- should be inserted after “the charging”.
In claim 6, line 23, --the-- should be inserted before “charging area”.
In claim 6, line 25-26, “an charged vehicle parking area” should be changed to --a charged vehicle parking area”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MATSUMOTO (JP2020191732A; cited on ids; English machine translation was included with previous office action; cited in previous office action) in view of YANG (KR20210072518A; English machine translation was included with previous office action; cited in previous office action) and YOON (US Pub. No. 2020/0198489; cited on IDS with date 11/16/2022).
Regarding claim 1, MATSUMOTO discloses a charging system (abstract) for charging an autonomous vehicle (50, Fig. 1; ¶ 0018: the vehicle 50 is an autonomous vehicle) comprising:
an arm mechanism (23, Fig. 1) configured to grasp a charging plug (22, Fig. 1) connected to a charging apparatus (21, Fig. 1; ¶ 0034: charging device 21 is electrically connected to the controller 30, and when charging the vehicle 50, the charging device 21 is controlled by the controller 30 so that power is supplied from the charging device 21 to the vehicle 50 side) through a charging cable (24, Fig. 1; ¶ 0033: charging connector 22 is connected to the charging device 21 via a cable 24) and automatically perform plugging/unplugging of the charging plug to and from a charge port (52, Fig. 1) of the autonomous vehicle (50, Fig. 1) parked in a charging area (¶ 0035: robot arm 23 is a multi-joint robot arm type that can rotate within a predetermined rotation range (for example, the range shown by dotted lines in the figure) and is configured to be able to grasp the charging connector 22 with a robot hand at the tip. The robot arm 23 is electrically connected to a controller 30 (see FIG. 2). When charging the vehicle 50, the robot arm 23 is controlled by the controller 30 to grasp the charging connector 22, move it toward the vehicle 50, and connect it to the charging connector of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50; ¶ 0036: the area near the robot arm 23 is a parking position for charging multiple vehicles 50); and
a processor (30, Fig. 2; ¶ 0042: controller 30 is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU) configured to:
store vehicle information including at least a type of the vehicle and information about a charge port of the vehicle (¶ 0029: the wireless communication device 12 performs wireless communication with the wireless communication device 51 and receives charging vehicle information data of the entering vehicle 50. This charging vehicle information data includes data such as the model and size of the entering vehicle 50, the position of the charging port 52, the capacity of the battery (electrical storage device), the state of charge SOC, and the time of entry into the charging facility 2. After receiving this charging vehicle information data, the wireless communication device 12 transmits it to the wireless communication device 31. As a result, the charging vehicle information of the entering vehicle 50 is input to the controller 30; ¶ 0030: On the other hand, the first camera 41 is electrically connected to the controller 30 (see FIG. 2 ), captures an image of the incoming vehicle 50 , and inputs the image data to the controller 30. If the entering vehicle 50 does not have a wireless communication device 51, the controller 30 uses this image data to obtain the vehicle model, size, and location of the charging port 52 of the entering vehicle 50 as charging vehicle information data using a method described below);
calculate patterns of combination of a respective location of parking sections for charging (¶ 0031: After acquiring the charging vehicle information data as described above, the controller 30 determines whether there is a suitable charging parking position for the entering vehicle 50 based on the charging vehicle information data and the availability of space around the automatic charging device 20, as described below. This charging parking position is a position where the entering vehicle 50 is parked for charging), vehicle postures for parking in the parking sections for charging (¶ 0081: since the charging vehicle information includes information on the size of the target vehicle 50, the position of the charging port 52, and the positions of the occupants of the target vehicle 50, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not there is a charging parking position for the target vehicle 50 depending on the availability of space, the size of the target vehicle 50, the position of the charging port 52, and the positions of the occupants of the target vehicle 50. This makes it possible to appropriately determine whether or not there is a charging parking position where the occupants can easily and safely disembark from the target vehicle 50 after parking), and an order of charging of vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged (¶ 0061: A charging schedule is created such that the vehicle 50 with the earliest charging start time is set as the vehicle 50 with the highest charging execution priority, and the vehicle 50 with the later charging start time is set as the vehicle 50 with the lowest charging execution priority; ¶ 0082: when there are multiple vehicles 50 waiting to be charged, a charging schedule can be created so that these vehicles 50 can be efficiently charged; ¶ 0094: the schedule creation unit 64A creates charging schedules for all vehicles 50 for which charging work is not being performed within the charging facility 2) according to which a moving time required for the arm mechanism to move (¶ 0035: robot arm 23 is a multi-joint robot arm type that can rotate within a predetermined rotation range (for example, the range shown by dotted lines in the figure) and is configured to be able to grasp the charging connector 22 with a robot hand at the tip. The robot arm 23 is electrically connected to a controller 30 (see FIG. 2). When charging the vehicle 50, the robot arm 23 is controlled by the controller 30 to grasp the charging connector 22, move it toward the vehicle 50, and connect it to the charging connector of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50) as a charging schedule (the disclosed charging schedule is based on the availability of parking spaces, vehicle parking positions, and an order for charging the vehicles, “according to which” the arm mechanism moves during “a moving time required for the arm mechanism to move” within the broadest reasonable interpretation);
generate, based on the vehicle information about vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged (¶ 0057: if there is no charging parking location suitable for the entering vehicle 50, image information and audio information indicating "there is no charging parking location" and "the location of a charging waiting parking location for waiting for charging" are output from the display and speaker of the input/output device 11, respectively. In this case, the entering vehicle 50 may be guided to the charging standby parking position by route guidance and voice guidance using a car navigation device, or by projection mapping; ¶ 0059: the entering vehicle 50 and the waiting vehicle 50 will be collectively referred to as the "target vehicle 50" as appropriate; ¶ 0060: the charging vehicle information of the target vehicle 50 and the charging rate SOC of vehicles 50 parked in other charging parking positions and waiting to be charged are all known, a charging schedule is created), the charging schedule (¶ 0018: a schedule creation unit 64A that creates a charging schedule for the vehicle 50 based on the entry time, capacity, charging rate SOC, and desired end time for the vehicle 50 that has not been charged by the automatic charging device 20, and the position determination unit 62A determines whether or not there is a charging parking position A4 based on the size of the vehicle 50 and the position of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50, availability, and the charging schedule; ¶ 0059: the schedule creation unit 64 creates a charging schedule based on the presence information of charging parking positions suitable for the entering vehicle 50 or waiting vehicle 50 from the position determination unit 62 and the charging vehicle information from the vehicle information acquisition unit 60); and
indicate from amongst the vehicles-to-be-charged of the respective parking sections and the respective vehicle postures for parking in the respective parking sections based on the charging schedule (¶ 0031: If a charging parking space suitable for the entering vehicle 50 is available, that information is transmitted to the user of the entering vehicle 50 via the display and speaker of the input/output device 11, and a charging schedule is created as described below. Thereafter, the entering vehicle 50 is guided to a charging parking position using a guidance method; ¶ 0057: the entering vehicle 50 may be guided to the charging standby parking position by route guidance and voice guidance using a car navigation device, or by projection mapping; ¶ 0064: In the guidance unit 65, if a charging parking position suitable for the target vehicle 50 exists, the target vehicle 50 is guided from its current position to the charging parking position by one of the methods (M4) to (M6)),
wherein in accordance with the charging schedule, a vehicle-to-be-charged among the vehicles-to-be-charged is made to autonomously travel from an uncharged vehicle parking area (¶ 0057: see above) to charging area (¶ 0098: When the guidance unit 65A receives a determination result from the position determination unit 62, it transmits data representing the charging parking position via wireless communication to the vehicle 50 for which it has determined that a charging parking position exists. As a result, the vehicle 50 automatically drives to the charging parking position), the charging system performs charging of the vehicle-to-be-charged which has been made to autonomously travel to the charging area (¶ 0100: In the automatic charging unit 67, the charging connector 22 attached to the robot arm 23 is connected to the charging connector of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50 that has arrived at the parking position for charging. Next, the charging device 21 supplies power to the battery of the target vehicle 50, and charging is performed).
MATSUMOTO fails to disclose the charging schedule according to which the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move in performing a charging operation of the vehicles-to-be-charged is reduced to a minimum.
YANG discloses the charging schedule according to which the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move in performing a charging operation of the vehicles-to-be-charged is reduced to a minimum (¶ 0017: the method further includes a moving unit which is a moving means for moving to a location where a charging vehicle is parked; the moving unit analyzes the parking locations of charging vehicles classified in the same group to determine a moving route that minimizes the charging moving route, and determines the charging order for each vehicle based on the determined moving route; ¶ 0025: The above charging step may include determining a movement path by analyzing the parking locations of charging vehicles classified in the same group and designating a route that minimizes the charging movement path, and determining a charging order for each vehicle based on the movement path; ¶ 0053: the moving unit (400) can analyze the parking locations of charging vehicles classified in the same group and determine a route that minimizes the moving path as the moving path; ¶ 0054: If a route that minimizes the charging movement path is determined as a movement path by the moving unit (400), the charging order for each vehicle can be determined based on the determined movement path. It has the advantage of minimizing the time required for charging by determining the charging order based on the charging movement path).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate reducing the moving time required for the arm mechanism to a minimum as disclosed in YANG into the charging system of MATSUMOTO to produce an expected result of a charging system including a moving time required for the arm mechanism being reduced to a minimum. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to reduce the total charging time of the charging system and therefore increase charging efficiency.
MATSUMOTO fails to disclose after the charging is completed, the charging system makes the vehicle autonomously travel from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area.
YOON discloses after the charging is completed, the charging system makes the vehicle autonomously travel from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area (¶ 0096: The vehicle autonomously drives to the first target position, performs parking in the first target position, and undergoes wireless charging in the first target position (see picture (e)). After the wireless charging is completed, the vehicle reports the completion of the wireless charging to the infrastructure and makes a request for transmission of a parking position; ¶ 0097: The infrastructure allocates a new parking space to the vehicle (see picture (f)). The infrastructure sets an empty parking space among the multiple parking spaces in the parking lot as a second target position and transmits the second target position and a guide route to the vehicle; ¶ 0098: The vehicle autonomously drives to the second target position and performs parking in the second target position (see picture (g)). After the autonomous valet parking of the electric vehicle in the empty parking space is completed, the automated valet parking procedure ends).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the vehicle autonomously traveling from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area as disclosed in YOON into the charging system of MATSUMOTO to produce an expected result of a charging system including the vehicle autonomously traveling from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to improve the efficiency of the charging system of MATSUMOTO.
Regarding claim 2, MATSUMOTO as modified by YANG and YOON teaches the charging system as applied to claim 1 but fails to disclose the central processing unit is further configured to estimate the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move for each of patterns of combination of locations of the respective charge ports, the respective parking sections, and the respective vehicle postures for parking in the respective parking sections of the plurality of vehicles including the vehicles being charged and the vehicles-to-be-charged and generate the charging schedule based on the patterns of combination according to which a smallest estimated value is obtained.
However, YANG discloses the central processing unit is configured to estimate the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move for the respective parking sections, and generate the charging schedule according to which a smallest estimated value is obtained (¶ 0017, 0025, 0053-0054), and MATSUMOTO discloses the central processing unit utilizes the locations of the respective charge ports, the respective parking sections, and the respective vehicle postures for parking in the respective parking sections of the plurality of vehicles including the vehicles being charged and the vehicles-to-be-charged (¶ 0031, 0081). Incorporating the locations of respective charge ports and the respective vehicle postures as disclosed in MATSUMOTO into the moving time estimations of YANG would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, and teaches generating the charging schedule based on the patterns of combination according to which a smallest estimated value is obtained.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate estimating the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move for each of patterns of combinations as recited into the charging system of MATSUMOTO to produce an expected result of a charging system including estimating the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move for each of patterns of combinations. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to improve the accuracy of the estimation of the moving time required.
Regarding claim 4, MATSUMOTO as modified by YANG and YOON teaches the charging system as applied to claim 1 but fails to disclose the central processing unit is further configured to: perform an optimization process using artificial intelligence to generate the charging schedule according to which the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move in performing the charging operation is reduced to the minimum.
Official notice was taken that using artificial intelligence to perform an optimization process was an old and known expedient in the art, and these features are taken to be admitted prior art because applicant either failed to traverse the examiner’s assertion of official notice or applicant’s traverse is not adequate. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to perform an optimization process using artificial intelligence for the generation of the charging schedule based on the moving time required of MATSUMOTO as modified by YANG.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the central processing unit performs an optimization process using artificial intelligence into the charging system of MATSUMOTO to produce an expected result of a charging system including performing an optimization process using artificial intelligence. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to improve the accuracy of the estimation of the moving time required and/or reduce the total charging time of the charging system and therefore increase charging efficiency.
Regarding claim 5, MATSUMOTO discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program (¶ 0042: controller 30 is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU, RAM, ROM, and an I/O interface (none of which are shown), and performs various control processes as described below in accordance with image data from the aforementioned cameras 41 to 43 and charging vehicle information data from the wireless communication device 12) for a charging system (abstract) comprising an arm mechanism (23, Fig. 1) configured to grasp a charging plug (22, Fig. 1) connected to a charging apparatus (21, Fig. 1; ¶ 0034: charging device 21 is electrically connected to the controller 30, and when charging the vehicle 50, the charging device 21 is controlled by the controller 30 so that power is supplied from the charging device 21 to the vehicle 50 side) through a charging cable (24, Fig. 1; ¶ 0033: charging connector 22 is connected to the charging device 21 via a cable 24) and automatically perform plugging / unplugging of the charging plug to and from a charge port (52, Fig. 1) of an autonomous vehicle (50, Fig. 1; ¶ 0018: the vehicle 50 is an autonomous vehicle) parked in a charging area (¶ 0035: robot arm 23 is a multi-joint robot arm type that can rotate within a predetermined rotation range (for example, the range shown by dotted lines in the figure) and is configured to be able to grasp the charging connector 22 with a robot hand at the tip. The robot arm 23 is electrically connected to a controller 30 (see FIG. 2). When charging the vehicle 50, the robot arm 23 is controlled by the controller 30 to grasp the charging connector 22, move it toward the vehicle 50, and connect it to the charging connector of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50; ¶ 0036: the area near the robot arm 23 is a parking position for charging multiple vehicles 50), the program executed by a processor (30, Fig. 2; ¶ 0042: controller 30 is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU) of the charging system configured to control the autonomous vehicle (¶ 0098: When the guidance unit 65A receives a determination result from the position determination unit 62, it transmits data representing the charging parking position via wireless communication to the vehicle 50 for which it has determined that a charging parking position exists. As a result, the vehicle 50 automatically drives to the charging parking position) and adapted to cause the charging system to perform processes of:
reading-out vehicle information including at least a type of the vehicle and information about a charge port of the vehicle from a storage unit accessible by the charging system (¶ 0029: the wireless communication device 12 performs wireless communication with the wireless communication device 51 and receives charging vehicle information data of the entering vehicle 50. This charging vehicle information data includes data such as the model and size of the entering vehicle 50, the position of the charging port 52, the capacity of the battery (electrical storage device), the state of charge SOC, and the time of entry into the charging facility 2. After receiving this charging vehicle information data, the wireless communication device 12 transmits it to the wireless communication device 31. As a result, the charging vehicle information of the entering vehicle 50 is input to the controller 30);
calculating patterns of combination of a respective location of parking sections for charging (¶ 0031: After acquiring the charging vehicle information data as described above, the controller 30 determines whether there is a suitable charging parking position for the entering vehicle 50 based on the charging vehicle information data and the availability of space around the automatic charging device 20, as described below. This charging parking position is a position where the entering vehicle 50 is parked for charging), vehicle postures for parking in the parking sections for charging (¶ 0081: since the charging vehicle information includes information on the size of the target vehicle 50, the position of the charging port 52, and the positions of the occupants of the target vehicle 50, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not there is a charging parking position for the target vehicle 50 depending on the availability of space, the size of the target vehicle 50, the position of the charging port 52, and the positions of the occupants of the target vehicle 50. This makes it possible to appropriately determine whether or not there is a charging parking position where the occupants can easily and safely disembark from the target vehicle 50 after parking), and an order of charging of vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged (¶ 0061: A charging schedule is created such that the vehicle 50 with the earliest charging start time is set as the vehicle 50 with the highest charging execution priority, and the vehicle 50 with the later charging start time is set as the vehicle 50 with the lowest charging execution priority; ¶ 0082: when there are multiple vehicles 50 waiting to be charged, a charging schedule can be created so that these vehicles 50 can be efficiently charged; ¶ 0094: the schedule creation unit 64A creates charging schedules for all vehicles 50 for which charging work is not being performed within the charging facility 2) according to which a moving time required for the arm mechanism to move (¶ 0035: robot arm 23 is a multi-joint robot arm type that can rotate within a predetermined rotation range (for example, the range shown by dotted lines in the figure) and is configured to be able to grasp the charging connector 22 with a robot hand at the tip. The robot arm 23 is electrically connected to a controller 30 (see FIG. 2). When charging the vehicle 50, the robot arm 23 is controlled by the controller 30 to grasp the charging connector 22, move it toward the vehicle 50, and connect it to the charging connector of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50) as a charging schedule (the disclosed charging schedule is based on the availability of parking spaces, vehicle parking positions, and an order for charging the vehicles, “according to which” the arm mechanism moves during “a moving time required for the arm mechanism to move” within the broadest reasonable interpretation);
generating, based on the vehicle information of vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged (¶ 0057: if there is no charging parking location suitable for the entering vehicle 50, image information and audio information indicating "there is no charging parking location" and "the location of a charging waiting parking location for waiting for charging" are output from the display and speaker of the input/output device 11, respectively. In this case, the entering vehicle 50 may be guided to the charging standby parking position by route guidance and voice guidance using a car navigation device, or by projection mapping; ¶ 0059: the entering vehicle 50 and the waiting vehicle 50 will be collectively referred to as the "target vehicle 50" as appropriate; ¶ 0060: the charging vehicle information of the target vehicle 50 and the charging rate SOC of vehicles 50 parked in other charging parking positions and waiting to be charged are all known, a charging schedule is created), the charging [schedule] (¶ 0018: a schedule creation unit 64A that creates a charging schedule for the vehicle 50 based on the entry time, capacity, charging rate SOC, and desired end time for the vehicle 50 that has not been charged by the automatic charging device 20, and the position determination unit 62A determines whether or not there is a charging parking position A4 based on the size of the vehicle 50 and the position of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50, availability, and the charging schedule; ¶ 0059: the schedule creation unit 64 creates a charging schedule based on the presence information of charging parking positions suitable for the entering vehicle 50 or waiting vehicle 50 from the position determination unit 62 and the charging vehicle information from the vehicle information acquisition unit 60); and
indicating from amongst the vehicles-to-be-charged of the respective parking sections and the respective vehicle postures for parking in the respective parking sections based on the charging schedule (¶ 0031: If a charging parking space suitable for the entering vehicle 50 is available, that information is transmitted to the user of the entering vehicle 50 via the display and speaker of the input/output device 11, and a charging schedule is created as described below. Thereafter, the entering vehicle 50 is guided to a charging parking position using a guidance method; ¶ 0057: the entering vehicle 50 may be guided to the charging standby parking position by route guidance and voice guidance using a car navigation device, or by projection mapping; ¶ 0064: In the guidance unit 65, if a charging parking position suitable for the target vehicle 50 exists, the target vehicle 50 is guided from its current position to the charging parking position by one of the methods (M4) to (M6)),
wherein in accordance with the charging schedule, a vehicle-to-be-charged among the vehicles-to-be-charged is made to autonomously travel from an uncharged vehicle parking area (¶ 0057: see above) to charging area (¶ 0098: When the guidance unit 65A receives a determination result from the position determination unit 62, it transmits data representing the charging parking position via wireless communication to the vehicle 50 for which it has determined that a charging parking position exists. As a result, the vehicle 50 automatically drives to the charging parking position), the charging system performs charging of the vehicle-to-be-charged which has been made to autonomously travel to the charging area (¶ 0100: In the automatic charging unit 67, the charging connector 22 attached to the robot arm 23 is connected to the charging connector of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50 that has arrived at the parking position for charging. Next, the charging device 21 supplies power to the battery of the target vehicle 50, and charging is performed).
MATSUMOTO fails to disclose the charging schedule according to which the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move in performing a charging operation of the vehicles-to-be-charged is reduced to a minimum.
YANG discloses the charging schedule according to which the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move in performing a charging operation of the vehicles-to-be-charged is reduced to a minimum (¶ 0017: the method further includes a moving unit which is a moving means for moving to a location where a charging vehicle is parked; the moving unit analyzes the parking locations of charging vehicles classified in the same group to determine a moving route that minimizes the charging moving route, and determines the charging order for each vehicle based on the determined moving route; ¶ 0025: The above charging step may include determining a movement path by analyzing the parking locations of charging vehicles classified in the same group and designating a route that minimizes the charging movement path, and determining a charging order for each vehicle based on the movement path; ¶ 0053: the moving unit (400) can analyze the parking locations of charging vehicles classified in the same group and determine a route that minimizes the moving path as the moving path; ¶ 0054: If a route that minimizes the charging movement path is determined as a movement path by the moving unit (400), the charging order for each vehicle can be determined based on the determined movement path. It has the advantage of minimizing the time required for charging by determining the charging order based on the charging movement path).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate reducing the moving time required for the arm mechanism to a minimum as disclosed in YANG into the non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for a charging system of MATSUMOTO to produce an expected result of a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for a charging system including a moving time required for the arm mechanism being reduced to a minimum. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to reduce the total charging time of the charging system and therefore increase charging efficiency.
MATSUMOTO fails to disclose after the charging is completed, the charging system makes the vehicle autonomously travel from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area.
YOON discloses after the charging is completed, the charging system makes the vehicle autonomously travel from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area (¶ 0096: The vehicle autonomously drives to the first target position, performs parking in the first target position, and undergoes wireless charging in the first target position (see picture (e)). After the wireless charging is completed, the vehicle reports the completion of the wireless charging to the infrastructure and makes a request for transmission of a parking position; ¶ 0097: The infrastructure allocates a new parking space to the vehicle (see picture (f)). The infrastructure sets an empty parking space among the multiple parking spaces in the parking lot as a second target position and transmits the second target position and a guide route to the vehicle; ¶ 0098: The vehicle autonomously drives to the second target position and performs parking in the second target position (see picture (g)). After the autonomous valet parking of the electric vehicle in the empty parking space is completed, the automated valet parking procedure ends).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the vehicle autonomously traveling from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area as disclosed in YOON into the charging system of MATSUMOTO to produce an expected result of a charging system including the vehicle autonomously traveling from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to improve the efficiency of the charging system of MATSUMOTO.
Regarding claim 6, MATSUMOTO discloses a charging system generation method for a charging system (abstract) that comprises an arm mechanism (23, Fig. 1) configured to grasp a charging plug (22, Fig. 1) connected to a charging apparatus (21, Fig. 1; ¶ 0034: charging device 21 is electrically connected to the controller 30, and when charging the vehicle 50, the charging device 21 is controlled by the controller 30 so that power is supplied from the charging device 21 to the vehicle 50 side) through a charging cable (24, Fig. 1; ¶ 0033: charging connector 22 is connected to the charging device 21 via a cable 24) and automatically perform plugging / unplugging of the charging plug to and from a charge port (52, Fig. 1) of an autonomous vehicle (50, Fig. 1; ¶ 0018: the vehicle 50 is an autonomous vehicle) parked in a charging area (¶ 0035: robot arm 23 is a multi-joint robot arm type that can rotate within a predetermined rotation range (for example, the range shown by dotted lines in the figure) and is configured to be able to grasp the charging connector 22 with a robot hand at the tip. The robot arm 23 is electrically connected to a controller 30 (see FIG. 2). When charging the vehicle 50, the robot arm 23 is controlled by the controller 30 to grasp the charging connector 22, move it toward the vehicle 50, and connect it to the charging connector of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50; ¶ 0036: the area near the robot arm 23 is a parking position for charging multiple vehicles 50), the charging system generation method comprising:
reading-out vehicle information including at least a type of the autonomous vehicle and information about a charge port of the vehicle from a storage unit accessible by the charging system (¶ 0029: the wireless communication device 12 performs wireless communication with the wireless communication device 51 and receives charging vehicle information data of the entering vehicle 50. This charging vehicle information data includes data such as the model and size of the entering vehicle 50, the position of the charging port 52, the capacity of the battery (electrical storage device), the state of charge SOC, and the time of entry into the charging facility 2. After receiving this charging vehicle information data, the wireless communication device 12 transmits it to the wireless communication device 31. As a result, the charging vehicle information of the entering vehicle 50 is input to the controller 30);
calculating patterns of combination of a respective location of parking sections for charging (¶ 0031: After acquiring the charging vehicle information data as described above, the controller 30 determines whether there is a suitable charging parking position for the entering vehicle 50 based on the charging vehicle information data and the availability of space around the automatic charging device 20, as described below. This charging parking position is a position where the entering vehicle 50 is parked for charging), vehicle postures for parking in the parking sections for charging (¶ 0081: since the charging vehicle information includes information on the size of the target vehicle 50, the position of the charging port 52, and the positions of the occupants of the target vehicle 50, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not there is a charging parking position for the target vehicle 50 depending on the availability of space, the size of the target vehicle 50, the position of the charging port 52, and the positions of the occupants of the target vehicle 50. This makes it possible to appropriately determine whether or not there is a charging parking position where the occupants can easily and safely disembark from the target vehicle 50 after parking), and an order of charging of vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged (¶ 0061: A charging schedule is created such that the vehicle 50 with the earliest charging start time is set as the vehicle 50 with the highest charging execution priority, and the vehicle 50 with the later charging start time is set as the vehicle 50 with the lowest charging execution priority; ¶ 0082: when there are multiple vehicles 50 waiting to be charged, a charging schedule can be created so that these vehicles 50 can be efficiently charged; ¶ 0094: the schedule creation unit 64A creates charging schedules for all vehicles 50 for which charging work is not being performed within the charging facility 2) according to which a moving time required for the arm mechanism to move (¶ 0035: robot arm 23 is a multi-joint robot arm type that can rotate within a predetermined rotation range (for example, the range shown by dotted lines in the figure) and is configured to be able to grasp the charging connector 22 with a robot hand at the tip. The robot arm 23 is electrically connected to a controller 30 (see FIG. 2). When charging the vehicle 50, the robot arm 23 is controlled by the controller 30 to grasp the charging connector 22, move it toward the vehicle 50, and connect it to the charging connector of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50) as a charging schedule (the disclosed charging schedule is based on the availability of parking spaces, vehicle parking positions, and an order for charging the vehicles, “according to which” the arm mechanism moves during “a moving time required for the arm mechanism to move” within the broadest reasonable interpretation);
generating, based on the vehicle information of vehicles being charged and vehicles-to-be-charged (¶ 0057: if there is no charging parking location suitable for the entering vehicle 50, image information and audio information indicating "there is no charging parking location" and "the location of a charging waiting parking location for waiting for charging" are output from the display and speaker of the input/output device 11, respectively. In this case, the entering vehicle 50 may be guided to the charging standby parking position by route guidance and voice guidance using a car navigation device, or by projection mapping; ¶ 0059: the entering vehicle 50 and the waiting vehicle 50 will be collectively referred to as the "target vehicle 50" as appropriate; ¶ 0060: the charging vehicle information of the target vehicle 50 and the charging rate SOC of vehicles 50 parked in other charging parking positions and waiting to be charged are all known, a charging schedule is created), the charging [schedule] (¶ 0018: a schedule creation unit 64A that creates a charging schedule for the vehicle 50 based on the entry time, capacity, charging rate SOC, and desired end time for the vehicle 50 that has not been charged by the automatic charging device 20, and the position determination unit 62A determines whether or not there is a charging parking position A4 based on the size of the vehicle 50 and the position of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50, availability, and the charging schedule; ¶ 0059: the schedule creation unit 64 creates a charging schedule based on the presence information of charging parking positions suitable for the entering vehicle 50 or waiting vehicle 50 from the position determination unit 62 and the charging vehicle information from the vehicle information acquisition unit 60); and
indicating from amongst the vehicles-to-be-charged of the respective parking sections and the respective vehicle postures for parking in the respective parking sections based on the charging schedule (¶ 0031: If a charging parking space suitable for the entering vehicle 50 is available, that information is transmitted to the user of the entering vehicle 50 via the display and speaker of the input/output device 11, and a charging schedule is created as described below. Thereafter, the entering vehicle 50 is guided to a charging parking position using a guidance method; ¶ 0057: the entering vehicle 50 may be guided to the charging standby parking position by route guidance and voice guidance using a car navigation device, or by projection mapping; ¶ 0064: In the guidance unit 65, if a charging parking position suitable for the target vehicle 50 exists, the target vehicle 50 is guided from its current position to the charging parking position by one of the methods (M4) to (M6);),
wherein in accordance with the charging schedule, a vehicle-to-be-charged among the vehicles-to-be-charged is made to autonomously travel from an uncharged vehicle parking area (¶ 0057: see above) to charging area (¶ 0098: When the guidance unit 65A receives a determination result from the position determination unit 62, it transmits data representing the charging parking position via wireless communication to the vehicle 50 for which it has determined that a charging parking position exists. As a result, the vehicle 50 automatically drives to the charging parking position), the charging system performs charging of the vehicle-to-be-charged which has been made to autonomously travel to the charging area (¶ 0100: In the automatic charging unit 67, the charging connector 22 attached to the robot arm 23 is connected to the charging connector of the charging port 52 of the vehicle 50 that has arrived at the parking position for charging. Next, the charging device 21 supplies power to the battery of the target vehicle 50, and charging is performed).
MATSUMOTO fails to disclose the charging schedule according to which the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move in performing a charging operation of the vehicles-to-be-charged is reduced to a minimum.
YANG discloses the charging schedule according to which the moving time required for the arm mechanism to move in performing a charging operation of the vehicles-to-be-charged is reduced to a minimum (¶ 0017: the method further includes a moving unit which is a moving means for moving to a location where a charging vehicle is parked; the moving unit analyzes the parking locations of charging vehicles classified in the same group to determine a moving route that minimizes the charging moving route, and determines the charging order for each vehicle based on the determined moving route; ¶ 0025: The above charging step may include determining a movement path by analyzing the parking locations of charging vehicles classified in the same group and designating a route that minimizes the charging movement path, and determining a charging order for each vehicle based on the movement path; ¶ 0053: the moving unit (400) can analyze the parking locations of charging vehicles classified in the same group and determine a route that minimizes the moving path as the moving path; ¶ 0054: If a route that minimizes the charging movement path is determined as a movement path by the moving unit (400), the charging order for each vehicle can be determined based on the determined movement path. It has the advantage of minimizing the time required for charging by determining the charging order based on the charging movement path).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate reducing the moving time required for the arm mechanism to a minimum as disclosed in YANG into the charging system generation method of MATSUMOTO to produce an expected result of a charging system generation method including a moving time required for the arm mechanism being reduced to a minimum. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to reduce the total charging time of the charging system and therefore increase charging efficiency.
MATSUMOTO fails to disclose after the charging is completed, the charging system makes the vehicle autonomously travel from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area.
YOON discloses after the charging is completed, the charging system makes the vehicle autonomously travel from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area (¶ 0096: The vehicle autonomously drives to the first target position, performs parking in the first target position, and undergoes wireless charging in the first target position (see picture (e)). After the wireless charging is completed, the vehicle reports the completion of the wireless charging to the infrastructure and makes a request for transmission of a parking position; ¶ 0097: The infrastructure allocates a new parking space to the vehicle (see picture (f)). The infrastructure sets an empty parking space among the multiple parking spaces in the parking lot as a second target position and transmits the second target position and a guide route to the vehicle; ¶ 0098: The vehicle autonomously drives to the second target position and performs parking in the second target position (see picture (g)). After the autonomous valet parking of the electric vehicle in the empty parking space is completed, the automated valet parking procedure ends).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the vehicle autonomously traveling from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area as disclosed in YOON into the charging system of MATSUMOTO to produce an expected result of a charging system including the vehicle autonomously traveling from the charging area to an charged vehicle parking area. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to improve the efficiency of the charging system of MATSUMOTO.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MATSUMOTO in view of YANG and YOON as applied to claims 1-2 and 4-6 above, and further in view of TOTSUKA (JP2019140879A; cited on IDS; English machine translation was included with previous office action; cited in previous office action).
Regarding claim 3, MATSUMOTO as modified by YANG and YOON teaches the charging system as applied to claim 2, but fails to disclose the central processing unit is further configured to calculate the estimated value by including information on standards of the charge ports in the patterns of combination.
TOTSUKA discloses a central processing unit which utilizes information on standards of the charge ports (¶ 0007, 0011, 0018, 0020, 0034, 0036). Incorporating the information on standards of the charge ports as disclosed in TOTSUKA into the moving time estimations of YANG would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, and teaches calculating the estimated value by including information on standards of the charge ports in the patterns of combination.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate calculating the estimated value by including information on standards of the charge ports as disclosed in TOTSUKA into the charging system of MATSUMOTO as modified by YANG and YOON to produce an expected result of a charging system including calculating the estimated value by including information on standards of the charge ports. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to enhance the compatibility of the charging system and/or improve the accuracy of the estimation of the moving time required.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/Manuel Hernandez/Examiner, Art Unit 2859 2/24/2026
/DREW A DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859