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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/17/2026 has been entered.
The 35 USC § 101 rejection regarding to claim 1-20 is withdrawn.
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.
Claims 1-8, 12-16, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mosebach et al. (Mosebach) US 20220245562 in view of Lai et al. (Lai) US 2022/0126448 and Pohlman et al. (Pohlman) US 2019/0216282
In regard to claim 1, Mosebach disclose A mobile cleaning robot system comprising: (Fig. 1, [0026]-[0027] a cleaning device 1)
a mobile cleaning robot including: a motor configured to drive at least a portion of the mobile cleaning robot; (Fig. 1, [0026]-[0027] a cleaning device 1, with motor-driven wheels 14) and
a motor sensor ([0017] Fig. 6, [0035] a motion sensor)
processing circuitry; and memory circuitry, including instructions, which when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations to: (Fig. 1, [0017][0026]-[0027] with a computing device 7 and a database)
receive factory test data; ([0010]-[0017] [0030] access the plurality of reference activities from the database for comparison with working activities to be performed)
determine a maintenance indication indicative of whether maintenance on the mobile cleaning robot is recommended, the maintenance indication based at least in part on the factory test data; ([0007]-[0017] [0026] [0029]-[0034] identify a working activity and communicate with the working activity indication (a work plan 7) to indicate a working activity need to be performed , the working activity is based on the reference activities from the database which is the factory test data provided) and
transmit a maintenance instruction to a user device when the maintenance indication is that maintenance on the mobile cleaning robot is recommended. ([0007]-[0017][0026] [0029]-[0034] user device 13, communicate the working activity instructions to the user device 12 when the working activity is need to be performed on the cleaning device)
But Mosebach fail to explicitly disclose “the factory test data indicative of a performance of the mobile cleaning robot during a factory test;”
Lai disclose the factory test data indicative of a performance of the mobile cleaning robot during a factory test; ([0006]-[0010] [0018] storing the robot factory test information for the robot in the factory test as a normal operation)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Lai’s diagnosing abnormality in a robot system and control into Mosebach’s invention as they are related to the same field endeavor of mobile robot. The motivation to combine these arts, as proposed above, at least because Lai’s capability to obtain robot factory test data would provide more diagnosing information to Mosebach’s system. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made that providing more diagnosing information from the factory data would improve efficiency of the maintenance of the robot.
But Lai and Mosebach fail to explicitly disclose “the motor sensor connected to the motor and configured to measure a motor current of the motor; the indication based at least in part on the motor current; the factory test data including the motor current measured by the motor sensor during the factory test;”
Pohlman disclose the motor sensor connected to the motor and configured to measure a motor current of the motor; (Fig. 3, [0025] [0031]-[0035][0041] 325, 155 and 235, current sensor connects and senses the current to the suction motor or brush roll motor)
the indication based at least in part on the motor current; (Fig. 3, [0025] [0031]-[0037] [0041] a current threshold is indicated which can be an action trigger condition)
the factory test data including the motor current measured by the motor sensor during the factory test; (Fig. 3, [0025] [0031]-[0037] [0041] data include the motor current measured by the sensor during the test with the factory test station)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Pohlman’s method of operating a cleaning system into Lai and Mosebach’s invention as they are related to the same field endeavor of mobile robot. The motivation to combine these arts, as proposed above, at least because Pohlman’s capability to obtain motor sensor data during factory test would provide more motor information to Lai and Mosebach’s system. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made that providing more motor test information would improve efficiency of the operating of the cleaning device.
In regard to claim 2, Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman disclose The mobile cleaning robot system of claim 1,
Mosebach disclose wherein the motor includes a blower motor configured to operate a vacuum blower to ingest debris from an environment; ([0003] [0010][0017] [0027]-[0031] a vacuuming activity to collect dust from the environment with the motor driven device)
In regard to claim 3, Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman disclose The mobile cleaning robot system of claim 2,
Mosebach disclose wherein the maintenance indication indicates whether the blower motor is recommended to receive maintenance. ([0003][0014] [0027]-[0034] [0038] maintenance indication indicates the component in the cleaning device is need to be changed, etc.)
In regard to claim 4, Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman disclose The mobile cleaning robot system of claim 1,
Mosebach disclose wherein the memory circuitry includes instructions, which when executed by the processing circuitry, further cause the processing circuitry to perform operations to: produce a sensor signal using a sensor of the mobile cleaning robot; produce sensor data based on the sensor signal; and transmit the sensor data from the mobile cleaning robot, the maintenance indication based at least in part on the sensor data. ([0027]-[0034] navigation device with detect property for the env. and generate a layout of the env. and communicate the data to the cleaning device, and the working order based on the detected layout data to determine the cleaning area)
In regard to claim 5, Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman disclose The mobile cleaning robot system of claim 1,
Mosebach disclose wherein the maintenance indication is determined based on fleet data from a fleet of mobile cleaning robots. ([0003] [0026] [0032]-[0034] the working order indication is based on the data from robots, the system can have serval cleaning devices)
In regard to claim 6, Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman disclose The mobile cleaning robot system of claim 1,
Mosebach disclose wherein the memory circuitry includes instructions, which when executed by the processing circuitry, further cause the processing circuitry to perform operations to: determine a cleaning frequency of the mobile cleaning robot in one or more portions of an environment; and transmit the cleaning frequency to a remote device, wherein the maintenance indication is determined at least in part on the cleaning frequency. ([0012]-[0016] [0030]-[0034] determine a repetition frequency for the working activity at the respective location and communicate the frequency to the user device and the indication is based on the frequency)
In regard to claim 7, Mosebach disclose At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium, including instructions, which when executed, cause processing circuitry to perform operations to: (Fig. 1, [0017][0026]-[0027] with a computing device 7 and a database)
receive factory test data of a mobile cleaning robot, ([0010]-[0017] [0030] access the plurality of reference activities of the cleaning device from the database for comparison with working activities to be performed)
the mobile cleaning robot including:
a motor configured to drive at least a portion of the mobile cleaning robot; (Fig. 1, [0026]-[0027] a cleaning device 1, with motor-driven wheels 14) and
a motor sensor ([0017] Fig. 6, [0035] a motion sensor)
determine a maintenance indication indicative of whether maintenance on the mobile cleaning robot is recommended, the maintenance indication based at least in part on the factory test data; ([0007]-[0017] [0026] [0029]-[0034] determine a working activity indication (a work plan 7) to indicate a working activity need to be performed , the working activity is based on the reference activities from the database which based on the factory test data) and
transmit a maintenance instruction to a user device when the maintenance indication is that maintenance on the mobile cleaning robot is recommended. ([0007]-[0017][0026] [0029]-[0034] user device 13, communicate the working activity instructions to the user device 12 when the working activity is need to be performed on the cleaning device)
But Mosebach fail to explicitly disclose “the factory test data indicative of a performance of the mobile cleaning robot during a factory test;”
Lai disclose the factory test data indicative of a performance of the mobile cleaning robot during a factory test; ([0006]-[0010] [0018] storing the robot factory test information for the robot in the factory test as a normal operation)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Lai’s diagnosing abnormality in a robot system and control into Mosebach’s invention as they are related to the same field endeavor of mobile robot. The motivation to combine these arts, as proposed above, at least because Lai’s capability to obtain robot factory test data would provide more diagnosing information to Mosebach’s system. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made that providing more diagnosing information from the factory data would improve efficiency of the maintenance of the robot.
But Lai and Mosebach fail to explicitly disclose “the motor sensor connected to the motor and configured to measure a motor current of the motor; the indication based at least in part on the motor current, wherein the factory test data includes the motor current measured by the motor sensor during the factory test;”
Pohlman disclose the motor sensor connected to the motor and configured to measure a motor current of the motor; (Fig. 3, [0025] [0031]-[0035][0041] 325, 155 and 235, current sensor connects and senses the current to the suction motor or brush roll motor)
the indication based at least in part on the motor current; (Fig. 3, [0025] [0031]-[0037] [0041] a current threshold is indicated which can be an action trigger condition)
wherein the factory test data includes the motor current measured by the motor sensor during the factory test; (Fig. 3, [0025] [0031]-[0037] [0041] data include the motor current measured by the sensor during the test with the factory test station)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Pohlman’s method of operating a cleaning system into Lai and Mosebach’s invention as they are related to the same field endeavor of mobile robot. The motivation to combine these arts, as proposed above, at least because Pohlman’s capability to obtain motor sensor data during factory test would provide more motor information to Lai and Mosebach’s system. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made that providing more motor test information would improve efficiency of the operating of the cleaning device
In regard to claim 8, Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman disclose The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7,
Mosebach disclose the instructions to further cause the processing circuitry to:
receive fleet data from a fleet of mobile cleaning robots; ([0010]-[0017] [0030] access the plurality of reference activities of the cleaning devices from the database for comparison with working activities to be performed) and
determine the maintenance instruction based at least in part on the fleet data of the fleet of mobile cleaning robots. ([0007]-[0017][0026] [0029]-[0034] determine the working activity instructions to the user device 12 when the working activity is need to be performed on the cleaning devices based on the reference activities from the database)
In regard to claim 12, Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman disclose The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7,
Mosebach disclose the instructions to further cause the processing circuitry to:
receive a motor signal based on operation of the motor of the mobile cleaning robot; ([0003][0010] [0017][0031]-[0035] environmental detection device 2 and navigation device with detect property for the env. receive signal based on the vacuum working activity in an area of the env.) and
determine the maintenance instruction based at least in part on the motor signal. ([0007]-[0017][0026] [0029]-[0034] determine the working activity instructions to the user device 12 when the working activity is need to be performed on the cleaning devices based on working activity)
In regard to claim 13, Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman disclose The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12,
Mosebach disclose wherein the maintenance indication indicates whether the motor is recommended to receive maintenance. ([0007]-[0017] [0026] [0029]-[0034] a working activity indication to indicate a working activity need to be performed)
In regard to claim 14, Mosebach and La, Pohlman disclose The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7,
Mosebach disclose the instructions to further cause the processing circuitry to:
receive a sensor signal from a sensor of the mobile cleaning robot; ([0017] [0028]-[0034] receive sensor signal from sensors of the cleaning device)
generate sensor data based on the sensor signal; ([0017] [0028]-[0034] generate sensor data based on the signal received)
transmit the sensor data to a remote device; ([0017] [0028]-[0034] communicate the data to the user device) and
determine the maintenance instruction based at least in part on the sensor data of the mobile cleaning robot. ([0007]-[0017][0026] [0029]-[0034] determine the working activity instructions when the working activity is need to be performed on the cleaning devices based on data received)
In regard to claims 15-16, 19, claims 15-16, 19 are method claims corresponding to the system claims 7-8, 14 above and, therefore, are rejected for the same reasons set forth in the rejections of claims 7-8, 14.
Claims 9-11, 17-18, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mosebach et al. (Mosebach) US 20220245562, Lai et al. (Lai) US 2022/0126448 and Pohlman et al. (Pohlman) US 2019/0216282 as applied to claim 1, further in view of Burns et al. (Burns) US 2021/0177226
In regard to claim 9, Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman disclose The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8,
But Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman fail to explicitly disclose “the instructions to further cause the processing circuitry to: determine the maintenance instruction using a trained machine learning model, the trained machine learning model trained using at least one of the factory test data or the fleet data as input to the trained machine learning model.”
Burns disclose the instructions to further cause the processing circuitry to: determine the maintenance instruction using a trained machine learning model, the trained machine learning model trained using at least one of the factory test data or the fleet data as input to the trained machine learning model. ([0066]-[0069] [0114]-[0124] [0136]-[0157] determine the maintenance operations using the regression model and predict an occurrence of a particular type of event and when the maintenance will be required for the cleaning head, for example, the model is trained using training data collected under controlled conditions as input to train the model)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Burn’s predictive maintenance of mobile leaning robot into Pohlman, Lai and Mosebach’s invention as they are related to the same field endeavor of maintenance of mobile leaning robot. The motivation to combine these arts, as proposed above, at least because Burn’s predictive maintenance of mobile leaning robot using ML model would help to predict maintenance into Pohlman, Lai and Mosebach’s system. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made that using ML model to predict maintenance would help to increase the robot working life time with needed maintenance.
In regard to claim 10, Mosebach, Lai and Burns, Pohlman disclose The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 9,
Mosebach disclose wherein the factory test data includes vacuum system test data, and wherein the fleet data includes vacuum system operational data. ([0010]-[0017] [0030]-[0035] the plurality of reference activities from the database for comparison with working activities to be performed, including vacuum reference activities and vacuum operating data)
In regard to claim 11, Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman disclose The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7,
But Mosebach and Lai, Pohlman fail to explicitly disclose “the instructions to further cause the processing circuitry to: present an order indication on the user device that is user selectable to place an order for a replacement component of the mobile cleaning robot;
and transmit, to a remote device, the order for the replacement component upon user selection of the order indication.”
Burns disclose the instructions to further cause the processing circuitry to: present an order indication on the user device that is user selectable to place an order for a replacement component of the mobile cleaning robot; ([0027] [0139] prompt the user with one click selection options to purchase new cleaning heat to replace the faulty one) and
transmit, to a remote device, the order for the replacement component upon user selection of the order indication. (Fig. 11 [0139][0140] communicate the order upon the use selection of the order with “one click” selection option which is well known to the people with the skill to finish the transaction with one click, the order will be received at the remove device)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made to incorporate Burn’s predictive maintenance of mobile leaning robot into Pohlman, Lai and Mosebach’s invention as they are related to the same field endeavor of maintenance of mobile leaning robot. The motivation to combine these arts, as proposed above, at least because Burn’s predictive maintenance of mobile leaning robot with order placing would help to provide a replacement method into Pohlman, Lai and Mosebach’s system. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention was made that providing a replacement order for the user to purchase would help to improve user experience using the device.
In regard to claims 17-18, 20, claims 17-18, 20 are method claims corresponding to the system claims 9-11 above and, therefore, are rejected for the same reasons set forth in the rejections of claims 9-11.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 filed on 2/17/2026 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the current rejection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Documents PATENT DATE INVENTOR(S) TITLE
US 20200141604 A1 2020-05-07 Chen et al.
A CONDITION BASED ENERGY SMART AIR CIRCULATION SYSTEM
Chen et al. disclose A method for improving the effectiveness of a building air circulation system having motorized blower and a contamination filter. The method including predicting a cost of operation of the system over an operational duration based on at least electricity consumption of the motor (115), and an operational cost to operate the filter (148), predicting a cost of maintenance of the system over the operational duration based on at least one of, a condition of the filter (148), a cost of a filter (148), a cost of labor to clean or replace the filter (148), and an effectiveness of the filter (148) over the operational duration, and balancing the cost of operation of the circulation system versus the cost of maintenance of the circulation system over the duration to recommend at least one of a filter use/bypass schedule, a filter maintenance schedule, and a fresh air input schedule satisfying an operation objective and an operational constraint… see abstract.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XUYANG XIA whose telephone number is (571)270-3045. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Welch can be reached at 571-272-7212. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
XUYANG XIA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2143
/XUYANG XIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2143