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 .
Status of Claims
This is Office Action is in response to the applicant’s amendment/response of 03 September 2025.
Claims 13-18 and 20-24 are currently pending and addressed below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments/amendments with respect to the rejection of claim 22 under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection of claim 22 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments/amendments with respect to the rejection of claims under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claims 13, and 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Durkos et al. (US 7953526 B2) in view Suehiro Tanigawara (JPH 01276310 A) and further in view of Ito et al. (US 4420812 A1).
a. Regarding claim 13, and similarly with respect to claim 23, Durkos et al. discloses A travel teaching recording method (column 7 lines 61-63 “an embedded computer 106 which provides program control for the entire RZTR. The embedded computer 106 has attached program memory 105 and data memory 104” and column 10 lines 32- 55 “a RZTR mower operating in the learn mode in a field 200. The learn task begins with the RZTR at location 201 under operator control. As the operator drives the RZTR along the path 208 as illustrated at location 202, the controller records data from the encoder 28 and 29 on both mower drive wheels 44 and 34 along with GPS reading taken by the GPS receiver 103…This stored path is now ready to for the RZTR to use this path in a robotic manner as discussed below.”) for an autonomous traveling body including a body, (Fig. 1, 52) a storage to store environment information and body position information when the body performs teaching travel, and a pause switch to stop or resume the teaching travel of the body and recording, the method comprising: (column 13 lines 11 – 25 “The operator may steer the RZTR over the entire field or may use the turn buttons 1410-1417 to assist executing turns that have been preprogrammed into the RZTR. These pre-programmed turns of different angles are designed to minimize any tire damage to the turf during the turn and also complete the turn with the selected blade overlap…At any time during the learn operation the operator can press the PAUSE button 1420 which suspends the learn mode until the PAUSE button is pressed a second time. Once the learn path is completed, the operator presses the END button 1421 at which time the entire path is saved in the computer data memory 104. This program or learned path can be passed to other mowers as needed to implement a team mowing project.”)
detecting whether or not an operator has performed a stopping operation of the pause switch; stopping traveling of the autonomous traveling body and controlling timing to stop recording in the storage if the stopping operation of the pause switch is detected; (column 13 lines 18-20 “At any time during the learn operation the operator can press the PAUSE button 1420 which suspends the learn mode until the PAUSE button is pressed a second time.” and column 13 lines 63-66 “at any time press the PAUSE button 1714 or END button 1715 which will cause the RZTR to come to a stop.”, and column 14 line 49 – column 15 line 2 “The operator steers the RZTR over the desired mowing path. As this is done the on board computer records the path of the mower and saves it in the data memory 104. If the operator selects the TURN button at block 2112, the RZTR will execute the selected turn. The operator may select a preprogrammed turn 2101-2123 and the RZTR will execute the turn and record this data. Both position data coming from the computer monitoring both drive wheel encoders and GPS receiver data is saved in data memory 104. These two sources of data define the path over which the RZTR has passed. This data is saved in the data memory 104 under the Client Name for future use. During the Learn Mode the operator can select PAUSE button 1420 as illustrated at block 2115 which will suspend the data storage allowing the operator freedom to take any desired action without that being saved. Re-pressing the PAUSE button 1420 at block 2115 will put the RZTR back into the Learn Mode. At any time the operator can press the END button 1421 as illustrated at block 2118 which will cause the computer to save all the collected path data and close the client learn file.” ). Examiner Notes: See “stop recording” as suspend the “learn mode”.
detecting whether or not the operator has performed a resuming operation of the pause switch; (column 15 lines 43-50 “When the operator is pleased with the operation at block 2218, the operator presses PAUSE button 1714 at block 2203 which will stop the RZTR allowing the operator to exit. Once the operator is clear of the RZTR, the operator then presses the PAUSE button again at block 1714 (or a PAUSE or RESUME button on the remote control) to resume operation at block 2206”) starting traveling of the autonomous traveling body and controlling timing to resume the recording in the storage if the resuming operation of the pause switch is detected; (column 14 line 60 – column 15 line 2 “During the Learn Mode the operator can select PAUSE button 1420 as illustrated at block 2115 which will suspend the data storage allowing the operator freedom to take any desired action without that being saved. Re-pressing the PAUSE button 1420 at block 2115 will put the RZTR back into the Learn Mode. At any time the operator can press the END button 1421 as illustrated at block 2118 which will cause the computer to save all the collected path data and close the client learn file. Computer 106 then returns to the Main Menu as illustrated at block 2121.”)
joining a record before stopping recording and a record after resuming recording so as to store the joined record in the storage; and (column 14 line 60 – column 15 line 1 “During the Learn Mode the operator can select PAUSE button 1420 as illustrated at block 2115 which will suspend the data storage allowing the operator freedom to take any desired action without that being saved. Re-pressing the PAUSE button 1420 at block 2115 will put the RZTR back into the Learn Mode. At any time the operator can press the END button 1421 as illustrated at block 2118 which will cause the computer to save all the collected path data and close the client learn file.”).
Durkos et al. fails to explicitly disclose creating information to join information of a recording stop position and information of a recording resume position by performing a linear interpolation between the information of the recording stop position and the information of the recording resume position.
Suehiro Tanigawara teaches creating information to join information of a recording stop position and information of a recording resume position (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, [0001] “the present invention divides the time tleN (for example, into three) and records the position data when the movement deviation amount of the robot is consecutively larger or equal to N times by a constant at each division time ing. Therefore, if Robo I · stops at time 5t, the displacement deviation becomes 0 from that moment, the position data after P5 is not recorded, and if the robot starts to move at time 13t, it will be recorded from the position data after P6 . Position data up to times 6 t - 13 are not recorded. Therefore, the recording switch becomes unnecessary, and the solid line 1 showing its operation becomes a straight line. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, this recorded position data is reproduced from the teaching data P, Pll as a constant value T of the operation command output period. For this reason, there is no dead time when the robot stops, and the cycle time is shortened.”). The Examiner notes: See the new timeline/time position pairing causing P6 to immediately follow P5 in the time sequence (shown in Fig. 2, Suehiro Tanigawara) would be an example of "created information".
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. to incorporate joining movement information from the stored data as taught by Suehiro Tanigawara for the purpose of removing “dead time when the robot stops, and the cycled time is shortened” ([0001], Suehiro Tanigawara).
However, Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara fails to explicitly disclose creating information to join information … by performing a linear interpolation between recorded position information.
Ito et al. teaches creating information to join information … by performing a linear interpolation between recorded position information. (Column 4 lines 51 – 60 “Each of the digital interpolation circuits 50a-50e functions to conduct linear interpolation between the teaching positions P.sub.i and P.sub.(i+1) (shown in FIG. 5) and determines the value based on each of the values Xai.about.Xei for the angular signals at the i.sub.th teaching position P.sub.i from each of the registers 31a-31e, each of the values Xa(i+1).about.Xe(i+1) for the angular signals at the (i+1).sub.th teaching position P.sub.(i+1) from each of the registers 32a.about.32e”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara to incorporate linear interpolating position data as taught by Ito et al. so that “the playback operation can be performed smoothly”. (Column 2 lines 5-6, Ito et al.).
b. Regarding claim 24, Durkos et al. discloses A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to perform a travel teaching recording method (column 7 line 61 – column 8 line 2 “an embedded computer 106 which provides program control for the entire RZTR. The embedded computer 106 has attached program memory 105 and data memory 104 providing means for electronic storage of coded information which can be decoded and executed by the embedded computer orchestrating the operation of the RCS 131. The data memory 104 provides means for electronic storage of variables, collected data and various random data utilized by the RCS 131 to direct the operation of the entire RZTR mower.” and column 10 lines 32- 55 “a RZTR mower operating in the learn mode in a field 200. The learn task begins with the RZTR at location 201 under operator control. As the operator drives the RZTR along the path 208 as illustrated at location 202, the controller records data from the encoder 28 and 29 on both mower drive wheels 44 and 34 along with GPS reading taken by the GPS receiver 103…This stored path is now ready to for the RZTR to use this path in a robotic manner as discussed below.”) for an autonomous traveling body, including a body, (Fig. 1, 52) a storage to store environment information and body position information when the body performs teaching travel, and a pause switch to stop or resume the teaching travel of the body and the recording, the program causes the computer to perform: (column 13 lines 11 – 25 “The operator may steer the RZTR over the entire field or may use the turn buttons 1410-1417 to assist executing turns that have been preprogrammed into the RZTR. These pre-programmed turns of different angles are designed to minimize any tire damage to the turf during the turn and also complete the turn with the selected blade overlap…At any time during the learn operation the operator can press the PAUSE button 1420 which suspends the learn mode until the PAUSE button is pressed a second time. Once the learn path is completed, the operator presses the END button 1421 at which time the entire path is saved in the computer data memory 104. This program or learned path can be passed to other mowers as needed to implement a team mowing project.”)
detecting whether or not an operator has performed a stopping operation of the pause switch; stopping traveling of the autonomous traveling body and controlling timing to stop recording in the storage if the stopping operation of the pause switch is detected; (column 13 lines 18-20 “At any time during the learn operation the operator can press the PAUSE button 1420 which suspends the learn mode until the PAUSE button is pressed a second time.” and column 13 lines 63-66 “at any time press the PAUSE button 1714 or END button 1715 which will cause the RZTR to come to a stop.”, and column 14 line 49 – column 15 line 2 “The operator steers the RZTR over the desired mowing path. As this is done the on board computer records the path of the mower and saves it in the data memory 104. If the operator selects the TURN button at block 2112, the RZTR will execute the selected turn. The operator may select a preprogrammed turn 2101-2123 and the RZTR will execute the turn and record this data. Both position data coming from the computer monitoring both drive wheel encoders and GPS receiver data is saved in data memory 104. These two sources of data define the path over which the RZTR has passed. This data is saved in the data memory 104 under the Client Name for future use. During the Learn Mode the operator can select PAUSE button 1420 as illustrated at block 2115 which will suspend the data storage allowing the operator freedom to take any desired action without that being saved. Re-pressing the PAUSE button 1420 at block 2115 will put the RZTR back into the Learn Mode. At any time the operator can press the END button 1421 as illustrated at block 2118 which will cause the computer to save all the collected path data and close the client learn file.” ) . Examiner Notes: See “stop recording” as suspend the “learn mode”.
detecting whether or not the operator has performed a resuming operation of the pause switch; (column 15 lines 43-50 “When the operator is pleased with the operation at block 2218, the operator presses PAUSE button 1714 at block 2203 which will stop the RZTR allowing the operator to exit. Once the operator is clear of the RZTR, the operator then presses the PAUSE button again at block 1714 (or a PAUSE or RESUME button on the remote control) to resume operation at block 2206”) starting traveling of the autonomous traveling body and controlling timing to resume the recording in the storage if the resuming operation of the pause switch is detected; (column 14 line 60 – column 15 line 2 “During the Learn Mode the operator can select PAUSE button 1420 as illustrated at block 2115 which will suspend the data storage allowing the operator freedom to take any desired action without that being saved. Re-pressing the PAUSE button 1420 at block 2115 will put the RZTR back into the Learn Mode. At any time the operator can press the END button 1421 as illustrated at block 2118 which will cause the computer to save all the collected path data and close the client learn file. Computer 106 then returns to the Main Menu as illustrated at block 2121.”)
and joining the record before stopping recording and a record after resuming recording so as to store the joined record in the storage; and (column 14 line 60 – column 15 line 1 “During the Learn Mode the operator can select PAUSE button 1420 as illustrated at block 2115 which will suspend the data storage allowing the operator freedom to take any desired action without that being saved. Re-pressing the PAUSE button 1420 at block 2115 will put the RZTR back into the Learn Mode. At any time the operator can press the END button 1421 as illustrated at block 2118 which will cause the computer to save all the collected path data and close the client learn file.”).
Durkos et al. fails to explicitly disclose creating information to join information of a recording stop position and information of a recording resume position by performing a linear interpolation between the information of the recording stop position and the information of the recording resume position.
Suehiro Tanigawara teaches creating information to join information of a recording stop position and information of a recording resume position (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, [0001] “the present invention divides the time tleN (for example, into three) and records the position data when the movement deviation amount of the robot is consecutively larger or equal to N times by a constant at each division time ing. Therefore, if Robo I · stops at time 5t, the displacement deviation becomes 0 from that moment, the position data after P5 is not recorded, and if the robot starts to move at time 13t, it will be recorded from the position data after P6 . Position data up to times 6 t - 13 are not recorded. Therefore, the recording switch becomes unnecessary, and the solid line 1 showing its operation becomes a straight line. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, this recorded position data is reproduced from the teaching data P, Pll as a constant value T of the operation command output period. For this reason, there is no dead time when the robot stops, and the cycle time is shortened.”) The Examiner notes: See the new timeline/time position pairing causing P6 to immediately follow P5 in the time sequence (shown in Fig. 2, Suehiro Tanigawara) would be an example of "created information".
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. to incorporate joining movement information from the stored data as taught by Suehiro Tanigawara for the purpose of removing “dead time when the robot stops, and the cycled time is shortened” ([0001], Suehiro Tanigawara).
However, Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara fails to explicitly disclose creating information to join information … by performing a linear interpolation between recorded position information.
Ito et al. teaches creating information to join information … by performing a linear interpolation between recorded position information. (Column 4 lines 51 – 60 “Each of the digital interpolation circuits 50a-50e functions to conduct linear interpolation between the teaching positions P.sub.i and P.sub.(i+1) (shown in FIG. 5) and determines the value based on each of the values Xai.about.Xei for the angular signals at the i.sub.th teaching position P.sub.i from each of the registers 31a-31e, each of the values Xa(i+1).about.Xe(i+1) for the angular signals at the (i+1).sub.th teaching position P.sub.(i+1) from each of the registers 32a.about.32e”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara to incorporate linear interpolating position data as taught by Ito et al. so that “the playback operation can be performed smoothly”. (Column 2 lines 5-6, Ito et al.).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Durkos et al. (US 7953526 B2) in view of Suehiro Tanigawara (JPH 01276310 A), in view of Ito et al. (US 4420812 A1), and further in view of Ebrahimi Afrouzi et al. (US 20200069134 A1).
a. Regarding claim 14, Durkos et al. in view of Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. discloses The travel teaching recording method for an autonomous traveling body according to claim 13,
However, Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. fails to explicitly discloses wherein the timing to stop recording is a predetermined time after stopping traveling of the autonomous traveling body.
Ebrahimi Afrouzi et al. teaches wherein the timing to stop recording is a predetermined time after stopping traveling of the autonomous traveling body. ([0148] “…In some embodiments, path learning may be completed by, for example, pressing an end button on the robot or on any other device capable of communicating with the processor of the robot, voice activation, or autonomously upon detecting no movement of the robot for a predetermined amount of time.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. to incorporate a predetermined time to complete a path learning as taught by Ebrahimi Afrouzi et al. for the purpose of reducing excessive data.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Durkos et al. (US 7953526 B2) in view of Suehiro Tanigawara (JPH 01276310 A), in view of Ito et al. (US 4420812 A1), and further in view of Foster et al. (US 20170339820 A1).
a. Regarding claim 16, Durkos et al. in view of Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. discloses The travel teaching recording method for an autonomous traveling body according to claim 13,
However, Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. fails to explicitly disclose editing stored information after the operator has performed the stopping operation of the pause switch until stopping recording.
Foster et al. teaches editing stored information after the operator has performed the stopping operation of the pause switch until stopping recording. ([0040] “Once the drive recording is stopped, the mapping system 60 may complete the shape 140, for example by adding a line between the points 142 and 139. The operator may then instruct the mapping system 60 of the type of feature or boundary was being mapped, annotate the map, and so on.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the stored recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. to incorporate further editing features of a recording as taught by Foster et al. for the purpose of allowing the user to edit stored information and further modify the desired instructions.
Claims 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Durkos et al. (US 7953526 B2) in view of Suehiro Tanigawara (JPH 01276310 A), in view of Ito et al. (US 4420812 A1), and further in view of Iriyama T (JP 2008021239 A).
a. Regarding claim 15, Durkos et al. in view of Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. discloses The travel teaching recording method for an autonomous traveling body according to claim 13,
However, Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. fails to explicitly disclose wherein the timing to stop recording is simultaneous with stopping traveling of the autonomous traveling body.
Iriyama T teaches wherein the timing to stop recording is simultaneous with stopping traveling of the autonomous traveling body. (Fig. 6, [0060] “it can be seen that the teaching operation of the robot has stopped due to an emergency stop or the like because the servo is in an OFF state. At this time, the memory 1 stores the position coordinates (position coordinates at the timing “5” in FIG. 6A) immediately before the robot teaching operation stops). Examiner Notes: when the robot is stopped, no new positions (at timing “5”) are stored in memory 1 as shown in Fig. 6 of Iriyama T. and the position at stopping is retained/stored in memory 2.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. to incorporate stopping/resuming recording corresponding to movement of the robot as taught by Iriyama T for the purpose reducing excessive data.
b. Regarding claim 17, Durkos et al. in view of Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. discloses The travel teaching recording method for an autonomous traveling body according to claim 13,
However, Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. fails to explicitly disclose wherein the timing to resume recording is simultaneous with starting traveling of the autonomous traveling body.
Iriyama T teaches wherein the timing to resume recording is simultaneous with starting traveling of the autonomous traveling body. (Fig. 6, [0061] “Specifically, when the servo transitions from the off state to the on state (at timing “9” in FIG. 6A), the position coordinates stored in the memory 2 are read into the teaching operation terminal 300 and taught. The position coordinates read into the operation terminal 300 are valid until the servo transitions to the off state again (timing “9” to “11” in FIG. 6A).”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. to incorporate stopping/resuming recording corresponding to the movement of the robot as taught by Iriyama T for the purpose reducing excessive data.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Durkos et al. (US 7953526 B2), in view of Suehiro Tanigawara (JPH 01276310 A), in view of Ito et al. (US 4420812 A1), in view of Gunzel et al. (US 20220080970 A1), and further in view of Saho H (JP 2015041277 A).
a. Regarding claim 18, Durkos et al. in view of Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. teaches The travel teaching recording method for an autonomous traveling body according to claim 13,
Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. fails to explicitly disclose wherein the timing to resume recording is a predetermined time after starting traveling of the autonomous traveling body.
Gunzel et al. teaches wherein the timing to resume recording is a ([0038] “The backup assistance system 1 enables travel in reverse on a previously traveled trajectory 20. By way of example, the recording of the trajectory 20 can be started manually or automatically when the vehicle 50 is moving at a speed of less than 35 km/h, for example. By way of example, a trajectory 20 of 50 meters can be recorded. Sensor data 10 from a sensor system 51 in the vehicle are obtained and recorded to record the trajectory 20.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. to incorporate automatically recording after initiating travel as taught by Gunzel et al. for the purpose of increasing usability and functionality of the teaching recording.
However, Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara, Ito et al., and Gunzel et al. fails to explicitly disclose wherein the timing to resume recording is a predetermined time
Saho H teaches wherein the timing to resume recording is a predetermined time ([0010] “provide a drive recorder capable of recording image data at an appropriate timing based on position information of a recording point”, and [0012] “Further, it is conceivable to perform processing of recording image data constantly, and recording the image data acquired while the predetermined time has elapsed from the above time point, in a mode different from that of the normal time. Alternatively, a process may be considered in which the quality of image data to be recorded is improved for a predetermined time from the above time point. In these processes, instead of starting the process from the above time point, for example, the process may be started from a time point that is a predetermined time after the above time point.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara, Ito et al. and Gunzel et al. to incorporate recording at a predetermined time as taught by Saho H for the purpose of allowing the user to create the desired teaching recording.
Claims 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Durkos et al. (US 7953526 B2) in view of Suehiro Tanigawara (JPH 01276310 A), in view of Ito et al. (US 4420812 A1), and further in view of Iriyama T (JP 2008021239 A).
a. Regarding claim 20, Durkos et al. in view of Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. discloses The travel teaching recording method for an autonomous traveling body according to claim 13,
However, Durkos et al. in view of Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. fails to explicitly disclose wherein the timing to stop recording is simultaneous with the operator performing the stopping operation of the pause switch.
Iriyama T teaches wherein the timing to stop recording is simultaneous with the operator performing the stopping operation of the pause switch. (Fig. 6, [0060] “it can be seen that the teaching operation of the robot has stopped due to an emergency stop or the like because the servo is in an OFF state. At this time, the memory 1 stores the position coordinates (position coordinates at the timing “5” in FIG. 6A) immediately before the robot teaching operation stops). Examiner Notes: when the robot stopped, no new positions (at timing “5”) stored in memory 1 as shown in Fig. 6 of Iriyama T. and the position at stopping is retained/stored in memory 2.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. to incorporate stopping/resuming recording corresponding to movement of a robot as taught by Iriyama T for the purpose reducing excessive data.
b. Regarding claim 21, Durkos et al. in view of Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. discloses The travel teaching recording method for an autonomous traveling body according to claim 13,
However, Durkos et al. in view of Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. fails to explicitly disclose wherein the timing to resume recording is simultaneous with the operator performing the resuming operation of the pause switch.
Iriyama T teaches wherein the timing to resume recording is simultaneous with the operator performing the resuming operation of the pause switch. (Fig. 6, [0061] “Specifically, when the servo transitions from the off state to the on state (at timing “9” in FIG. 6A), the position coordinates stored in the memory 2 are read into the teaching operation terminal 300 and taught. The position coordinates read into the operation terminal 300 are valid until the servo transitions to the off state again (timing “9” to “11” in FIG. 6A).”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara and Ito et al. to incorporate stopping/resuming recording corresponding to movement of a robot as taught by Iriyama T for the purpose reducing excessive data.
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Durkos et al. (US 7953526 B2), in view of Suehiro Tanigawara (JPH 01276310 A), in view of Ito et al. (US 4420812 A1), and further in view of Kiyono et al. (US 4788447 A).
a. Regarding claim 22, Durkos et al. discloses A travel teaching recording method for an autonomous traveling body including a body, (Fig. 1, 52) a storage to store environment information and body position information when the body performs teaching travel, (column 7 line 61 – column 8 line 2 “an embedded computer 106 which provides program control for the entire RZTR. The embedded computer 106 has attached program memory 105 and data memory 104 providing means for electronic storage of coded information which can be decoded and executed by the embedded computer orchestrating the operation of the RCS 131. The data memory 104 provides means for electronic storage of variables, collected data and various random data utilized by the RCS 131 to direct the operation of the entire RZTR mower.” and column 10 lines 32- 55 “a RZTR mower operating in the learn mode in a field 200. The learn task begins with the RZTR at location 201 under operator control. As the operator drives the RZTR along the path 208 as illustrated at location 202, the controller records data from the encoder 28 and 29 on both mower drive wheels 44 and 34 along with GPS reading taken by the GPS receiver 103…This stored path is now ready to for the RZTR to use this path in a robotic manner as discussed below.”) and a record pause switch to stop or resume recording of the environment information and the body position information and (column 13 lines 11 – 25 “The operator may steer the RZTR over the entire field or may use the turn buttons 1410-1417 to assist executing turns that have been preprogrammed into the RZTR. These pre-programmed turns of different angles are designed to minimize any tire damage to the turf during the turn and also complete the turn with the selected blade overlap…At any time during the learn operation the operator can press the PAUSE button 1420 which suspends the learn mode until the PAUSE button is pressed a second time. Once the learn path is completed, the operator presses the END button 1421 at which time the entire path is saved in the computer data memory 104. This program or learned path can be passed to other mowers as needed to implement a team mowing project.”)
stopping traveling of the autonomous traveling body (column 13 lines 18-20 “At any time during the learn operation the operator can press the PAUSE button 1420 which suspends the learn mode until the PAUSE button is pressed a second time.” and column 13 lines 63-66 “at any time press the PAUSE button 1714 or END button 1715 which will cause the RZTR to come to a stop.”, and column 14 line 49 – column 15 line 2 “The operator steers the RZTR over the desired mowing path. As this is done the on board computer records the path of the mower and saves it in the data memory 104. If the operator selects the TURN button at block 2112, the RZTR will execute the selected turn. The operator may select a preprogrammed turn 2101-2123 and the RZTR will execute the turn and record this data. Both position data coming from the computer monitoring both drive wheel encoders and GPS receiver data is saved in data memory 104. These two sources of data define the path over which the RZTR has passed. This data is saved in the data memory 104 under the Client Name for future use. During the Learn Mode the operator can select PAUSE button 1420 as illustrated at block 2115 which will suspend the data storage allowing the operator freedom to take any desired action without that being saved. Re-pressing the PAUSE button 1420 at block 2115 will put the RZTR back into the Learn Mode. At any time the operator can press the END button 1421 as illustrated at block 2118 which will cause the computer to save all the collected path data and close the client learn file.” ).
detecting whether or not an operator has performed a stopping operation of the record pause switch while the record pause switch is enabled; controlling timing to stop recording in the storage if the stopping operation of the record pause switch is detected while the record pause switch is enabled; (column 13 lines 11 – 25 “The operator may steer the RZTR over the entire field or may use the turn buttons 1410-1417 to assist executing turns that have been preprogrammed into the RZTR. These pre-programmed turns of different angles are designed to minimize any tire damage to the turf during the turn and also complete the turn with the selected blade overlap…At any time during the learn operation the operator can press the PAUSE button 1420 which suspends the learn mode until the PAUSE button is pressed a second time. Once the learn path is completed, the operator presses the END button 1421 at which time the entire path is saved in the computer data memory 104. This program or learned path can be passed to other mowers as needed to implement a team mowing project.”)
detecting whether or not the operator has performed a resuming operation of the record pause switch while the record pause switch is enabled; controlling timing to resume recording in the storage if the resuming operation of the record pause switch is detected while the record pause switch is enabled; and (column 15 lines 43-50 “When the operator is pleased with the operation at block 2218, the operator presses PAUSE button 1714 at block 2203 which will stop the RZTR allowing the operator to exit. Once the operator is clear of the RZTR, the operator then presses the PAUSE button again at block 1714 (or a PAUSE or RESUME button on the remote control) to resume operation at block 2206”)
joining the record before stopping recording and a record after resuming recording so as to store the joined record in the storage; and (column 14 line 60 – column 15 line 1 “During the Learn Mode the operator can select PAUSE button 1420 as illustrated at block 2115 which will suspend the data storage allowing the operator freedom to take any desired action without that being saved. Re-pressing the PAUSE button 1420 at block 2115 will put the RZTR back into the Learn Mode. At any time the operator can press the END button 1421 as illustrated at block 2118 which will cause the computer to save all the collected path data and close the client learn file.”).
Durkos et al. fails to explicitly disclose creating information of a recording stop position and information of a recording resume position by performing a linear interpolation between the information of the recording stop position and the information of the recording resume position.
Suehiro Tanigawara teaches creating information to join information of a recording stop position and information of a recording resume position (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, [0001] “the present invention divides the time tleN (for example, into three) and records the position data when the movement deviation amount of the robot is consecutively larger or equal to N times by a constant at each division time ing. Therefore, if Robo I · stops at time 5t, the displacement deviation becomes 0 from that moment, the position data after P5 is not recorded, and if the robot starts to move at time 13t, it will be recorded from the position data after P6 . Position data up to times 6 t - 13 are not recorded. Therefore, the recording switch becomes unnecessary, and the solid line 1 showing its operation becomes a straight line. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, this recorded position data is reproduced from the teaching data P, Pll as a constant value T of the operation command output period. For this reason, there is no dead time when the robot stops, and the cycle time is shortened.”) The Examiner notes: See the new timeline/time position pairing causing P6 to immediately follow P5 in the time sequence (shown in Fig. 2, Suehiro Tanigawara) would be an example of "created information".
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. to incorporate joining movement information from the stored data as taught by Suehiro Tanigawara for the purpose of removing “dead time when the robot stops, and the cycled time is shortened” ([0001], Suehiro Tanigawara).
Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara fails to explicitly disclose creating information to join information … by performing a linear interpolation between recorded position information.
Ito et al. teaches creating information to join information … by performing a linear interpolation between recorded position information. (Column 4 lines 51 – 60 “Each of the digital interpolation circuits 50a-50e functions to conduct linear interpolation between the teaching positions P.sub.i and P.sub.(i+1) (shown in FIG. 5) and determines the value based on each of the values Xai.about.Xei for the angular signals at the i.sub.th teaching position P.sub.i from each of the registers 31a-31e, each of the values Xa(i+1).about.Xe(i+1) for the angular signals at the (i+1).sub.th teaching position P.sub.(i+1) from each of the registers 32a.about.32e”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the teaching recording of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara to incorporate linear interpolating position data as taught by Ito et al. so that “the playback operation can be performed smoothly”. (Column 2 lines 5-6, Ito et al.).
However, Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigwara and Ito et al. fails to explicitly disclose a , and stopping traveling of the
Kiyono et al. teaches a (Column 2 lines 1-6 “a motor vehicle provided with a plurality of switches for actuating apparatuses of said motor vehicle, … at least one stop mode switch which is allowed to be operated only in a stop state of said motor vehicle;”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention with reasonable expectations of success to modify the operation of the pause switch of Durkos et al. in combination with Suehiro Tanigawara to incorporate limiting functionality of a switch during movement of the vehicle as taught by Kiyono et al. for the purpose of “providing switch control device …which improves operating efficiency of the stop mode switches … to ensure driving safety of the motor vehicle.” (Column 1 lines 60-65, Kiyono et al.)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kimura et al. (US 5461700 A1) teaches a robot by moving a robot member and sampling its position at predetermined times. Only position data changed more than a predetermined difference from the last stored position data are recorded as instruction data and the instruction data are played back as position data at predetermined times independent of the time required to move the robot member in the teaching steps.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MISA HUYNH NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5604. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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, Anne Antonucci can be reached at (313) 446-6519. 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.
/MISA H NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3666
/ANNE MARIE ANTONUCCI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666