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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to applicant’s election of 4/27/2026. Claims 36-70 are pending. Claims 36-58 and 60 are rejected. Claims 61-70 are withdrawn from consideration. Claims 1-35 are cancelled. Claim 59 is objected to.
Priority
Applicant’s claim of priority as a national stage 371 application of application of PCT/EP2021/060514 filed 4/22/2021 which claims priority to application GB2006089.3 filed 4/24/2020 in Great Britain is acknowledged.
Election/Restriction
Applicant's election of invention I without traverse in response to the lack of unity requirement in the paper of 2/25/26 is acknowledged and made final.
Claims 61-70 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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) 36-42, 48-52, 54-57, and 60 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hognaland ‘932 (US 20160325932 ) in view of Matsumoto et al. ‘110 (JP2018067110), with citations per the machine translation, wherein Hognaland ‘932 teaches:
(Re: cl 36) A load handling device for lifting and moving one or more containers stacked in a storage system having a grid framework structure supporting a pathway arranged in a grid pattern above stacks of containers, the load handling device comprising:
i) a vehicle body (FIG. 2-4) housing a driving mechanism (driving means #10) configured and operatively arranged for moving the load handling device (#30 ) on the grid framework structure (#30 load handling device) on grid framework #14);
ii) a lifting device (#9 FIG. 4) including a lifting drive assembly and a grabber device configured, in use, to releasably grip a container and lift the container from the stack into a container-receiving space (#47), wherein the lifting drive assembly and/or the driving mechanism includes at least one motor forming an electrical load (50-motor forming electric load);
iii) a rechargeable energy storage means for providing energy to power the electrical load (#6-battery; ¶50-main battery );
and iv) a charging system (¶51-charging station #20) including a first part for charging the rechargeable energy storage means including at least one electrical charge receiving element arranged on the vehicle body and a second part for delivering energy from the rechargeable energy storage means to the electrical load (¶52- charging station hook #25, #26 connected to aperture in side body of robot #22, #23 to deliver charge from station to robot);
Matsumoto et al. ‘110 teaches any element Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
wherein: the second part of the charging system includes a DC/DC converter positioned between the rechargeable energy storage means and the electrical load such that the DC/DC converter is configured to supply a predetermined DC voltage across the to charge the capacitors (¶76-motor capacitor charging system changes 12VDC to 5VDC) to power the electrical load (¶76-motor capacitor charging system boosts voltage at booster converter #35c from 5.2v to 6v to drive the motors #12c & #12c fig 7).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to include a DC/DC converter positioned between the rechargeable energy storage means and the electrical load such that the DC/DC converter is configured to supply a predetermined DC voltage across the as taught by Matsumoto et al. ‘110 as one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize to adjust the voltage from the electrical storage device to the motor voltage.
Hognaland ‘932 further teaches:
(re: cl 37) wherein the rechargeable energy storage means is a rechargeable battery (CL 7-rechargable battery).
(re: cl 38) wherein the rechargeable energy storage means is an assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules (¶14-“supercapcitor”; CL6-capacitor).
Matsumoto et al. ‘110 teaches any element Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 39) wherein the DC/DC converter is a buck converter or a boost converter or a combination thereof (voltage booster converter circuit #35a #35 b fig 7; ¶73-buck converter #35 or voltage drop buck converter circuit #32).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to have the DC/DC converter be a buck convertor or a boost converter or a combination thereof as taught by Matsumoto et al. ‘110as one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize to adjust the voltage to the energy storage device or adjust the voltage to the propulsion device
Hognaland ‘932 further teaches:
(re: cl 40) wherein the at least one electrical charge receiving element is arranged on at least one wall of the vehicle body (¶52- charging station hook 22,25 connected to aperture in side body of robot 23,26 to deliver charge from station to robot; ¶51-“ The robot connection means 22,23 are illustrated as at least one robot hook 22 pivotably fixed to the side walls of the main battery cavity 24, thereby fixing the main battery 6 in position, and at least one robot aperture 23 present at the side of the main battery 6 facing the charging station 20,20′.”; #23).
(re: cl 41) wherein the at least one wall of the vehicle body is at least one sidewall of the vehicle body (#5, #5b fig. 2).
(re: cl 42) wherein the at least one electrical charge receiving element is duplicated on one or more walls of the vehicle body (#22,#23).
Matsumoto et al. ‘110 teaches any element Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 48) wherein the DC/DC converter is a first DC converter and the first part of the charging system comprises: a second DC/DC converter upstream of the first DC/DC converter, said second DC/DC converter being positioned between the at least one charge receiving element and the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules (¶73-input voltages stepped down to the energy storage voltages then stepped up to the respective load operating voltages; #32 upstream of #33c fig. 7).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to have a second DC/DC converter upstream of the first DC/DC converter, said second DC/DC converter being positioned between the at least one charge receiving element and the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules as Adjust the charging station voltage to the individual voltages of the energy storage devices and adjust voltage from the energy storage devices to the loads’ operating voltages as taught by Matsumoto et al..
Matsumoto et al. ‘110 teaches any element Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 49) wherein the first DC/DC converter is a boost converter and/or buck converter, and/or the second DC/DC converter is a buck converter and/or a boost converter (¶73-voltage booster circuit 35a 35 b from energy storage from the voltage drop circuit 32; 32 to 17, 35a,).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to wherein the first DC/DC converter is a boost converter and/or buck converter, and/or the second DC/DC converter is a buck converter and/or a boost converter as adjust the charging station voltage to the individual voltages of the energy storage devices and adjust voltage from the energy storage devices to the load as taught by Matsumoto et al..
Matsumoto et al. ‘110 teaches any element Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 50) wherein the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules is a first assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules and the load handling device comprises: a second rechargeable energy storage means downstream of the first assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules, said second rechargeable energy storage means being positioned between the first DC/DC converter and the electrical load such that first DC/DC converter is configured to supply a predetermined voltage across the second rechargeable energy storage means (#101 to #102 fig 12; ¶4-“Specifically, a voltage conversion circuit 103 is provided between the capacitor 101 and the battery 102, and the inter-terminal voltage of the capacitor 101 is converted into the charge voltage of the battery 102 by the voltage conversion circuit 103”).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to a second rechargeable energy storage means downstream of the first assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules, said second rechargeable energy storage means being positioned between the first DC/DC converter and the electrical load such that first DC/DC converter is configured to supply a predetermined voltage across the second rechargeable energy storage means to drive the motors whilst avoiding voltage fluctuations on the battery by replenishing the battery via the fast acting capacitors (¶4-“the quantity of electricity stored in the capacitor 101 can be taken out without being influenced by the voltage of the battery 102, and as a result, the electric power accumulated”) as taught by Matsumoto et al..
Matsumoto et al. ‘110 teaches any element Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 51) the one or more of the supercapacitor modules of the assembly are connected in series and/or parallel (¶66-capacitos 17a & 17b & 17b fig. 7 charged in parallel by parallel charging circuits 33a & 33b for supplying power to each motor and the control board ; ¶67-series connect of capacitors for higher voltage).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to include supercapacitor modules of the assembly are connected in series and/or parallel as obtain the benefit of both a high power low energy capacity energy source with a lower power high energy reserve energy source or to supply higher voltages to the drive system as taught by Matsumoto et al..
Hognaland ‘932 further teaches:
(re: cl 52) comprising: an auxiliary rechargeable energy storage means, wherein the electrical load is shared between the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules and the auxiliary rechargeable energy storage means (¶14-a hybrid capacitor.15-rechargeable batteries ; ¶13-15-interconnected power sources to charge one another then power load; CL 5-7- interconnected power sources to charge one another then power the load).
(re: cl 54) wherein the auxiliary rechargeable energy storage means is mounted to the frame ( ¶50-battery holding means #22-24;¶ 51- “22,23 battery holding means on the side of robot 1”).
(re: cl 55) the vehicle body comprises: an auxiliary charge providing element and the grabber device which includes an auxiliary charge receiving element, the auxiliary charge receiving element being configured and arranged to electrically or magnetically couple with the auxiliary charge providing element when the grabber device is in the raised position (¶51-“ and the components constituting the robot holding means 22,23 on the side of the robot 1 and the station holding means 25,26 on the side of the charging station 20. The robot connection means 22,23 are illustrated as at least one robot hook 22 pivotably fixed to the side walls of the main battery cavity 24, thereby fixing the main battery 6 in position, and at least one robot aperture 23 present at the side of the main battery 6 facing the charging station 20,20′. Likewise, the side of the charging station 20,20′ facing the robot 1 comprises at least one pivotable charge station hook 25 that may be releasably fastened to the robot aperture(s) 23 and at least one charge station aperture 26 that may be releasably receiving the pivotable robot hook(s) 22. The robot 1 is in the lateral position shown in FIG. 7 adjustable in vertical direction, i.e. perpendicular to the vehicle support 14, to ensure reliable and easy fastening of the robot and charge station hooks 22,25 into their respective robot and charge station apertures 23,26. “).
Matsumoto et al. ‘110 teaches any element Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 56) wherein the auxiliary charge providing element is a wireless charging transmitter coil, and the auxiliary charge receiving element is a wireless charging receiver coil for inductively coupling with a wireless charging transmitter coil (¶69-“ Incidentally, not necessarily the contact power supply but the wireless power supply may be used.”).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to the auxiliary charge receiving element is a wireless charging receiver coil for inductively coupling with a wireless charging transmitter coil as to charge the robotic vehicle without the need to contact the charging station electrodes as taught by Matsumoto et al..
Hognaland ‘932 further teaches:
(re: cl 57) wherein the auxiliary rechargeable energy storage means comprises: one or more batteries and/or one or more supercapacitor modules (¶14-“ east one of the auxiliary power sources, is a capacitor, for example a supercapacitor such as a double-layer capacitor, a pseudocapacitor and/or a hybrid capacitor.”; ¶15-rechargeable batteries ; ¶13-15-interconnected power sources to charge one another then power load; CL 5-7- interconnected power sources to charge one another then power the load).
Matsumoto et al. ‘110 teaches any element Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 60) wherein the at least one electrical charge receiving element comprises: a wireless charging receiver coil for inductively coupling with a wireless charging transmitter coil (¶69-“ Incidentally, not necessarily the contact power supply but the wireless power supply may be used.”).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to the auxiliary charge receiving element is a wireless charging receiver coil for inductively coupling with a wireless charging transmitter coil as to charge the robotic vehicle without the need to contact the charging station electrodes as taught by Matsumoto et al..
Claim(s) 43-47 and 58 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hognaland ‘932 (US 20160325932 ) in view of Matsumoto et al. ‘110(JP2018067110), with citations per the machine translation, in further view of Bhavaraju et al. ‘110 (US2014084817) wherein Hognaland ‘932 teaches the elements previously discussed and
Bhavaraju et al. ‘110 teaches any elements Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 43) wherein the first part of the charging system comprises: an isolating switch positioned between the at least one electrical charge receiving element and the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules, and wherein a controller is configured to be operative to actuate the isolating switch to isolate the at least one electrical charge receiving element from the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules (Ultracapacitors #28 via dc-dc converter #36; ¶47-The state of system 58 may change responsive to the voltage V.sub.dc across the DC bus through which ultracapacitors 28 and drive controller 60 are electrically coupled relative to a nominal voltage V.sub.n and relative to the load minimum and maximum operating voltages V.sub.nmin, V.sub.nmax. with ¶36-“charge shuttle 26 can activate the Power mode of operation by closing switch 42 and opening switches 38, 40. In the Power mode of operation, ultracapacitor 28 is tied to the DC bus via switch 42, while battery 30 is isolated from the bus by power converter 36”).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to have an isolating switch positioned between the at least one electrical charge receiving element and the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules, and wherein a controller is configured to be operative to actuate the isolating switch to isolate the at least one electrical charge receiving element from the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules to prevent overcharging the energy storage device whilst keeping the capacitors charged at a responsive operating voltage as taught by Bhavaraju et al..
Bhavaraju et al. ‘110 teaches any elements Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 44) wherein the controller is configured to actuate the isolating switch in response to a voltage across the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules reaching a predetermined charge voltage. old9 (¶47-The state of system 58 may change responsive to the voltage V.sub.dc across the DC bus through which ultracapacitors 28 and drive controller 60 are electrically coupled relative to a nominal voltage V.sub.n and relative to the load minimum and maximum operating voltages V.sub.nmin, V.sub.nmax. with ¶36-“charge shuttle 26 can activate the Power mode of operation by closing switch 42 and opening switches 38, 40. In the Power mode of operation, ultracapacitor 28 is tied to the DC bus via switch 42, while battery 30 is isolated from the bus by power converter 36”).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to prevent overcharging the energy storage device whilst keeping the capacitors charged at a responsive operating voltage to prevent overcharging the energy storage device whilst keeping the capacitors charged at a responsive operating voltage as taught by Bhavaraju et al..
Bhavaraju et al. ‘110 teaches any elements Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 45) wherein the second part of the charging system comprises: a bypass switch having a first position to allow electrical energy from the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules to flow through the DC/DC converter (¶36-bypass switch #42 can send bus power to power converter #36 to charge capacitor #28 fig 5; CL14-Direct flow; ¶31-34-Ultracapacitors charged #28 via dc-dc converter #36 or flows past bypass switch through to converter from supercapacitor when in regenerative mode);
and a second position to bypass the DC/DC converter such that electrical energy regenerated from the electrical load bypasses the DC/DC converter to the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules (¶33-under regeneration with switches open regeneration recharges capacitor; #42 fig. 2; Cl13).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to have a bypass switch having a first position to allow electrical energy from the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules to flow through the DC/DC converter and a second position to bypass the DC/DC converter such that electrical energy regenerated from the electrical load bypasses the DC/DC converter to the assembly of one or more supercapacitor modules to charge the capacitors from the bus or from the motors to recapture kinetic energy as taught by Bhavaraju et al..
Bhavaraju et al. ‘110 teaches any elements Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 46) comprising: a control unit configured to be operative to actuate the bypass switch from the first position to the second position (¶28-“ controller (not shown) configured to actuate switches 38, 40, 42 and to control the direction of energy flow through converter 36.”; ¶47-The state of system 58 may change responsive to the voltage V.sub.dc across the DC bus through which ultracapacitors 28 and drive controller 60 are electrically coupled relative to a nominal voltage V.sub.n and relative to the load minimum and maximum operating voltages V.sub.nmin, V.sub.nmax. with ¶36-“charge shuttle 26 can activate the Power mode of operation by closing switch 42 and opening switches 38, 40. In the Power mode of operation, ultracapacitor 28 is tied to the DC bus via switch 42, while battery 30 is isolated from the bus by power converter 36”).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to a control unit configured to be operative to actuate the bypass switch from the first position to the second position to prevent overcharging the energy storage device in regenerative braking mode as taught by Bhavaraju et al..
Bhavaraju et al. ‘110 teaches any elements Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 47) wherein the control unit is configured to be operative to actuate the bypass switch from the first position to the second position when the voltage across the electrical load exceeds a predetermined voltage (¶31-36 Switches #38, 40, 42 in fig. 2-5).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to the control unit is configured to be operative to actuate the bypass switch from the first position to the second position when the voltage across the electrical load exceeds a predetermined voltage as prevent overcharging the energy storage device in regenerative braking mode as taught by Bhavaraju et al..
Bhavaraju et al. ‘110 teaches any elements Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 58) wherein the first part of the charging system comprises: an AC/DC convertor such that the at least one electrical charge receiving element is configured for receiving power from an AC power supply (¶61-“AC distribution system, “…”AC microgrid…”an AC regenerative load 82 “…“ bi-directional AC-to-DC converter 86”).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to have the first part of the charging system comprises: an AC/DC convertor such that the at least one electrical charge receiving element is configured for receiving power from an AC power supply as to be able to charge the vehicular robot from common AC power sources as taught by Bhavaraju et al..
Claim(s) 53 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hognaland ‘932 (US 20160325932) in view of Matsumoto et al. ‘110(JP2018067110), with citations per the machine translation, in further view of Lindbo et al. ‘151 (US2016194151A1) wherein Hognaland ‘932 teaches the elements previously discussed and
Lindbo et al. ‘151 teaches any elements Hognaland ‘932 lacks including:
(re: cl 53) wherein the grabber device comprises: a frame which includes four corner sections, a top side and a bottom side and at least two gripper elements configured for engaging with a container, the lifting drive assembly which includes a winch mechanism which includes a winch cable having one end wound on a spool or reel and a second end connected to the grabber device such that the lifting drive assembly is arranged to move the grabber device in a vertical direction from a raised position within the vehicle body to a lowered position (¶18 -The hole (not illustrated), which is in the edge forming the top face of the box #10 is illustrated corresponding to the (¶17-18-pin (not illustrated) which is the counterpart comprised and the gripper plate #44 which includes the sliding clip (not illustrated) combining with the edge in order to catch the box #10, and the gripper plate #44 hang with the cable #46 of #4 and the human having the normal knowledge easily draws in this field of the invention field from the forwarding apparatus #30 equipped with the crane equipment #40 including the cantilever arm #42 laterally extended from the top of the vehicle #32 ; #44 fig. 3).
It 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, for Hognaland ‘932 to the grabber device comprises: a frame which includes four corner sections, a top side and a bottom side and at least two gripper elements configured for engaging with a container, the lifting drive assembly which includes a winch mechanism which includes a winch cable having one end wound on a spool or reel and a second end connected to the grabber device such that the lifting drive assembly is arranged to move the grabber device in a vertical direction from a raised position within the vehicle body to a lowered position to lift articles below for movement and transport onto the robot (abstract) as taught by Lindbo et al. ‘151.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 59 is objected to as being a dependent claim premised upon a rejected base claim but would be allowed if the re-written in independent form or if the limitations of an allowable claim were incorporated within the independent base claim from which this claims depend or if re-written premised upon dependence from an otherwise allowable base claim.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled "Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance."
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art neither discloses nor suggest: the elements of claim 59 in conjunction with the features of base claim 58 of: the AC/DC converter is a three phase rectifier such that the at least one electrical charge receiving element comprises: three electrical charge receiving contact surfaces for electrically coupling to three electrical charge providing contact surfaces of a three phase AC electrical power source.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL E BUTLER whose telephone number is (571)272-6937.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jacob Scott can be reached on 571-270-3415. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M.E.B/Examiner, Art Unit 3655
/JACOB S. SCOTT/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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