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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I, claims 1-11, 20 in the reply filed on 8/4/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that all groups are classified in the same section/class/subclass. This is not found persuasive because not only group V requires a different section/class/subclass, but all groups require employing different search queries even if they are classified together. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL. Claims 1-11 are currently pending examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hoobler US 2022/0400925 A1.
Re claim 1, Hoobler discloses a docking station 200 for a mobile cleaning robot 100 [fig. 2], the docking station comprising:
a base 204 configured to receive the mobile cleaning robot;
a housing 206 connected to the base; and
a pad cleaning system 426 connected to the housing, the system comprising:
a reservoir 432 configured to retain liquid therein; and
an agitator 442 [also 1142 in fig. 11] located at least partially within the reservoir, the agitator engageable with a cleaning pad 309 [also 1109] of the mobile cleaning robot.
Re claim 2, Hoobler further discloses a clean tank 412 user-releasably connectable to the housing, the clean tank arranged to store liquid for delivery to the reservoir [“cleaning head 442 can include a nozzle configured to discharge a fluid (from the water tank 412”]; and a disposal tank 416 user-releasably connectable to the housing, the disposal tank arranged to receive liquid from the reservoir [“dirty water tank 416, which can be configured to receive and store dirty water, such as from the robot 300 or the pad cleaning system 426 therein”].
Re claim 3, Hoobler further discloses a debris bin 413 located at least partially within the housing; an evacuation port 218 connected to the base and connected to the debris bin [fig. 2]; and a blower 418 connected to the debris bin and operable to generate an evacuation stream to draw debris out of the mobile cleaning robot, through the evacuation port, and into the debris bin.
Re claim 4, Hoobler further discloses a debris exhaust duct [connecting between blower and debris bag] connected to the blower and connected to the debris bin; a fluid exhaust duct connected to the blower and connected to the disposal tank [“evacuation fan 418 can be connected to the dirty water tank 416”]; and a blower valve 420 actuatable to direct the evacuation stream generated by the blower through the debris exhaust duct or through the fluid exhaust duct [¶40 “ evacuation fan 418 can be connected to the vacuum suction diverter valve 420 and to the evacuation system 414. The evacuation fan 418 can be operable to draw or extract debris (and optionally fluid) from a debris bin of the mobile cleaning robot 300 or from the cleaning tray 432. Debris can be routed to the debris bag 413. The vacuum suction diverter valve 420 can optionally divert flow of debris or fluids to the evacuation system 414 or the dirty water tank 416, such as depending on the mode of operation“].
Re claim 5, Hoobler further discloses a fluid pipe [implied] connected to the reservoir 432 and connected to the disposal tank 416, the blower 418 operable to draw the evacuation stream through the reservoir, the fluid pipe, and the disposal tank when the blower valve is actuated to direct the evacuation stream through the fluid exhaust duct ¶40.
Re claim 6, Hoobler further discloses discloses wherein the blower valve includes a barrel valve [¶ 40, “[t]he vacuum suction diverter valve 420 can optionally divert flow of debris or fluids to the evacuation system 414 or the dirty water tank 416, such as depending on the mode of operation used by the robot 300 or by a sensor (such as in the evacuation duct 430) where the sensor is in communication with the controller 424 and where the controller 424 can operate the vacuum suction diverter valve 420”].
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) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoobler US 2022/0400925 A1 in view of Lewis US 2018/0116478 A1.
Re claims 7-8, Hoobler discloses the invention as discussed above but fail to teach wherein the evacuation port is movable with respect to the base and the housing.
Lewis teaches an evacuation port 192 [NOTE: the port’s location is not claimed] in the robot cleaner movable with respect to the base and housing of the docking station [“the movable barrier 192 is a flap that moves between an open position and a closed position in response to a difference in air pressure at the evacuation port 109 and within the debris bin 108”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the port of Lewin in the system of Hoobler in order to yield the predictable result of a barrier when the blower is off.
Claim(s) 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoobler US 2022/0400925 A1 in view of Nguyen CA 3123772 A1.
Re claim 20, Hoobler discloses the invention as discussed above but fail to teach wherein the disposal tank includes a float valve operable to close when the disposal tank is filled with liquid.
Nguyen teaches a float valve [410, 412, fig. 7] operable to close when the disposal tank 401 is filled with liquid.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the float valve of Nguyen with the tank in the docking station of Hoobler in order to yield the predictable result of shutting off the tank to avoid fluid spilling.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art of record does not show or fairly render obvious the combination set forth in the claims. In particular, the prior art does not show wherein a blower is operable to move the evacuation port to engage a debris port of the mobile cleaning robot when the mobile robot is docked on the base or wherein the blower is operable to move the evacuation port with respect to the base and the housing to engage a debris port of the mobile cleaning robot when the mobile robot is docked on the base.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Carlos A. Rivera whose telephone number is (571)270-5697. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM -4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Keller can be reached at (571) 272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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C. A. R.
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3723
/C. A. RIVERA/ Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723