DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 14-15 and 21 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 14 recites the limitation “a data storage module (139B)” in Line 4.
Claim 14 recites the limitation “a data storage module (139B)” in Line 2.
For purpose of examination the limitation of Claim 14, Line 4 is interpreted as reciting: the data storage module.
Claim 15 recites the limitation “an image processing module (137B)” in Line 5.
Claim 15 recites the limitation “an image processing module (137B)” in Line 3.
For purpose of examination the limitation of Claim 15, Line54 is interpreted as reciting: the image processing module.
Claim 21 is missing a period at the end of the claim. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-2, 4-7 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 2022/0212555) in view of Braunstein (US 2023/0168684).
Claim 1: Zhang teaches an autonomous charging system (100) (Fig.1), comprising:
an end-user device (102) adapted to define a charging location (Par.116 and 118);
a server-based computing system (105) for reception of the charging location from the end user device (102) (Par.116-118);
and at least one charging robot (101) adapted to charge an electric vehicle (EV) parked at the charging location (Par.99-100), the at least one charging robot (101) comprising:
a chassis (Par.100);
a plurality of wheels (Fig.2; 207);
a power source (power module) (Par.127) comprising a plurality of rechargeable batteries (Par.170);
a plug (304) that couples to the electric vehicle (Par.133 and 138);
a plurality of sensors comprising a location tracker adapted to track the location of the at least one charging robot (101) (Par.100); and
an obstacle detector adapted to detect one or more obstacles present in a predefined route leading the at least one charging robot (101) to the charging location for charging the electric vehicle (Par.100);
a data transmitting and receiving module configured to send and receive data over a wireless network (104) (Par.97); and
a processor (209) in communication with the server-based computing system (105) (Par.129-130), the processor (209) is configured to process at least:
a navigation module to navigate the charging robot (101) to the charging location for charging the electric vehicle (Par.100-101); and
a status monitoring module for monitoring a battery status of the at least one charging robot (101) (Par.133; Measures the power level of the power source of the charging robot.).
Zhang does not explicitly teach a prime mover coupled to a wheel shaft; at least one telescopic charging arm configured with the plug; an arm-controlling module for controlling the movements of the telescopic charging arm; and a data storage module including data received from the plurality of sensors to guide the navigation module.
Braunstein teaches an autonomous charging system (100) (Fig.1), comprising:
at least one charging robot (104) comprising:
a prime mover (traction motor) coupled to a wheel shaft (Par.48);
at least one telescopic charging arm (108) configured with the plug (124) (Par.50 and 56);
an arm-controlling module for controlling the movements of the telescopic charging arm (108) (Par.62-63); and
a data storage module (404) including data received from a plurality of sensors to guide a navigation module (Par.46, 122 and 124).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Braunstein in the system of Zhang to have had stored and accessed data to enable the charging robot to operate autonomously (Par.46); and have had automatically connected the charging robot to an energy transfer port of the electric vehicle (Par.63).
Claim 2: Zhang in view of Braunstein teach the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Zhang teaches wherein the obstacle detector further comprising: a vision sensor adapted to capture one or more images (Par.100); and an image processing module that compares the captured images with a plurality of images stored in a database to identify the obstacle (Par.100, Lines 16-22; The images are analyzed to identify any obstacles in the route such as people.).
Claims 4-5, 7 and 11-12: Zhang in view of Braunstein teach the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein the telescopic charging arm further comprising: a plurality of segments comprising a primary segment, and one or more secondary segments; an arm-moving mechanism that moves the plurality of segments between a non-working position, a first working position, and a second working position; and a cable reel for housing at least a portion of a cable; wherein one of the secondary segments forming the telescopic charging arm is configured to have the plug; wherein the arm moving mechanism comprises at least a lead screw mechanism, a scissor lift mechanism, an inflating arm mechanism, a pneumatic or hydraulic mechanism, a gear drive mechanism or a belt and pulley mechanism; wherein a first end of the cable reel is coupled to the power source and a second end of the cable reel is coupled to the plug.
Braunstein teaches wherein the telescopic charging arm (108) further comprising: a plurality of segments comprising a primary segment, and one or more secondary segments (Par.56);
an arm-moving mechanism that moves the plurality of segments between a non-working position (stowed), a first working position, and a second working position (Par.56; One or more lengths achieve one or more working positions.);
a cable reel for housing at least a portion of a cable (126) (Par.57);
wherein the arm moving mechanism (108) comprises at least a pneumatic or hydraulic mechanism (Par.62);
wherein a first end of the cable reel is coupled to a power source (112) and a second end of the cable reel is coupled to the plug (124) (Par.50).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Braunstein in the system of Zhang to have had a cable in an automatic charging arm that permits energy transfer between the charging robot and the electric vehicle (Par.50) and have had allowed said cable to extend and retract with the movement of the arm thereby preventing a break in the electrical connection (Par.57-58).
Claim 6: Zhang in view of Braunstein teach the limitations of claim 4 as disclosed above. Zhang teaches wherein the plug (304) is adapted to have at least: a male port (Fig.3A).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 2022/0212555) in view of Braunstein (US 2023/0168684) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Fagenson (US 2022/0299330).
Claim 3: Zhang in view of Braunstein teach the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein the at least one charging robot further comprising at least a pair of screens to display at least pre-stored data in the form of images, frames of images forming a video, or advertising content rendered from third parties.
Fagenson teaches a charging station (100) comprising at least a pair of screens (210) (Fig.2B) to display at least pre-stored data in the form of images, frames of images forming a video, or advertising content rendered from third parties (Par.23 and 27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Fagenson in the system of Zhang to have had provided display of information of commercial enterprises near the charging location (Par.23) thereby increasing revenue.
Claims 8-10 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 2022/0212555) in view of Braunstein (US 2023/0168684) as applied to claims 4 and 12, and further in view of Fagan (US 2020/0189413).
Claims 8-10: Zhang in view of Braunstein teach the limitations of claim 4 as disclosed above. The combination of Zhang in view of Braunstein does not explicitly teach wherein the one or more secondary segments rest inside the primary segment of the telescopic charging arm at a non-working position; teach wherein the telescopic charging arm with the primary segment and nested secondary segments arranged there inside rotates about a pivot to achieve the first working position; the one or more secondary segments of the telescopic charging arm get extended outside the primary segment to achieve the second working position after the first working position or directly after the non-working position.
Fagan teaches a charging arm (300A) (Fig.2B) further comprising: a plurality of segments comprising a primary segment (304A), and one secondary segment (307A) (Par.86);
wherein the one secondary segment (307A) rests inside the primary segment (302A) of the charging arm (300A) at a non-working position (Fig.1) (Par.85);
the charging arm (300A) with the primary segment (304A) and nested secondary segment (307A) arranged there inside rotates about a pivot to achieve a first working position (Par.86);
the one secondary segment (307A) of the charging arm (300A) get extended outside the primary segment (304A) to achieve the second working position after the first working position or directly after the non-working position (Par.86).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Fagan in the combination of Zhang in view of Braunstein to have had retracted the charging arm into a compact form when not in use (Par.77) thereby not interfering when other elements during travel and protecting the charging arm from damage.
Claim 13: Zhang in view of Braunstein teach the limitations of claim 12 as disclosed above. Zhang does not explicitly teach one or more secondary segments carry a portion of cable therewith when extended outside the primary segment and wherein the extended portion of the cable is configured to automatically retract after the secondary segments are retracted to achieve the non-working position
wherein the one or more secondary segments carry a portion of cable (126) therewith when extended outside the primary segment and wherein the extended portion of the cable (126) is configured to automatically retract after the secondary segments are retracted to achieve the non-working position (stowed) (Par.50 and 56).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Braunstein in the system of Zhang to have had a cable in an automatic charging arm that permits energy transfer between the charging robot and the electric vehicle (Par.50) and have had allowed said cable to extend and retract with the movement of the arm thereby preventing a break in the electrical connection (Par.57-58).
The combination of Zhang in view of Braunstein does not explicitly teach the one or more secondary segments are retracted inside the primary segment to achieve the non-working position.
Fagan teaches one secondary segment (307A) rests inside a primary segment (302A) of the charging arm (300A) at a non-working position (Fig.1) (Par.85).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Fagan in the combination of Zhang in view of Braunstein to have had retracted the charging arm into a compact form when not in use (Par.77) thereby not interfering when other elements during travel and protecting the charging arm from damage.
Claims 14-16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 2022/0212555) in view of Braunstein (US 2023/0168684) and Tsukamoto (US 2024/0157822; Foreign priority date 11/11/2022).
Claim 14: Zhang teaches a method for charging an electric vehicle (Par.4-5) comprising:
receiving, a charging location from a server-based computing system (105) over a wireless network (Par.97 and 123) (Fig.1);
receiving, a location of at least one charging robot (101) from a location tracker configured therewith (Par.108);
conforming a virtual route from a plurality of predefined routes leading the at least one charging robot (101) to the charging location for charging the electric vehicle (Par.124);
changing the conformed route upon detecting one or more obstacles by an obstacle detector and generating an alternate route to pass the obstacle (Par.45 and 131);
automatically navigating at least one charging robot (101) to follow the route and alternate route generated (Par.100 and 130-131);
determining a charging status of the electric vehicle (Par.125) and/or the at least one charging robot (101) using a status monitoring module (Par.133); and
transmitting the charging status to the end user device via the wireless network (Par.119-120 and 125).
Zhang does not explicitly teach receiving, by a data storage module, the charging location; receiving, by the data storage module, a location of at least one charging robot; receiving by an arm controlling module, an arm controlling instructions for a telescopic charging arm from an end-user device; controlling by an arm controlling module, the movements of the telescopic charging arm using an arm-controlling module, wherein the movement of the telescopic charging arm is between a non-working position, a first working position, and a second working position thereof; coupling a plug configured with the telescopic charging arm to an electric vehicle.
Braunstein teaches receiving, by a data storage module (404), a charging location (Par.124; The memory stores data required to generate a route between the charging location and the charging robot. Thereby, it includes data for the location of both.);
receiving, by the data storage module (404), a location of at least one charging robot (104) (Par.124);
receiving by an arm controlling module, an arm controlling instructions for a telescopic charging arm (108) (Par.62-63);
controlling by an arm controlling module, the movements of the telescopic charging arm (108) using an arm-controlling module (Par.62), wherein the movement of the telescopic charging arm (108) is between a non-working position (stowed), a first working position, and a second working position thereof (Par.56; One or more lengths achieve one or more working positions.);
coupling a plug (124) configured with the telescopic charging arm (108) to an electric vehicle (102) (Par.51).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Braunstein in the system of Zhang to have had stored and accessed data to enable the charging robot to operate autonomously (Par.46); and have had automatically connected the charging robot to an energy transfer port of the electric vehicle (Par.63).
The combination of Zhang in view of Braunstein does not explicitly teach the arm controlling module receiving instructions from an end-user device.
Tsukamoto teaches an arm controlling module (22) receiving instructions from an end-user device (Par.22).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Schneider in the combination of Zhang in view of Tsukamoto to have had driven a charging arm to perform a charging operation only when a user requests receiving charge (Par.15).
Claim 15: Zhang in view of Braunstein and Tsukamoto teach the limitations of claim 14 as disclosed above. Zhang teaches wherein the step of detecting the obstacle by the obstacle detector further comprising steps of: receiving by an image processing module one or more images captured by a vision sensor configured with the charging robot (101) (Par.12, 15 and 100); comparing by the image processing module, the one or more captured images with a plurality of images stored in a database using an image processing module (Par.15); and determining by an image processing module, parameters of the detected obstacle such as dimensions, shape etc. based on the compared data (Par.15 and 100, The images are analyzed and it can be determined what the obstacle is; including if its people).
Claim 16: Zhang in view of Braunstein and Tsukamoto teach the limitations of claim 14 as disclosed above. Zhang teaches a plurality of predefined data comprising the plurality of predefined processing instructions (Par.123), a plurality of images (Par.100), a map with a plurality of predefined routes and sub routes (Par.100 and 124); and a charging status (Par.125 and 133).
Zhang does not explicitly teach storing the data in a database.
Braunstein teaches receiving and storing data in database (Par.124).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Braunstein in the system of Zhang to have had stored and accessed data to enable the charging robot to operate autonomously (Par.46).
Claim 18: Zhang in view of Braunstein and Tsukamoto teach the limitations of claim 14 as disclosed above. Zhang teaches wherein the at least one charging robot (101) comprising:
a chassis (Par.100);
a plurality of wheels (Fig.2; 207);
a power source (power module) (Par.127) comprising a plurality of rechargeable batteries (Par.170);
a plug (304) that couples to the electric vehicle (Par.133 and 138);
a plurality of sensors comprising a location tracker adapted to track the location of the at least one charging robot (101) (Par.100); and
an obstacle detector adapted to detect one or more obstacles present in a predefined route leading the at least one charging robot (101) to the charging location for charging the electric vehicle (Par.100);
a data transmitting and receiving module configured to send and receive data over a wireless network (104) (Par.97); and
a processor (209) in communication with the server-based computing system (105) (Par.129-130), the processor (209) is configured to process at least:
a navigation module to navigate the charging robot (101) to the charging location for charging the electric vehicle (Par.100-101); and
a status monitoring module for monitoring a battery status of the at least one charging robot (101) (Par.133; Measures the power level of the power source of the charging robot.).
Zhang does not explicitly teach a prime mover coupled to a wheel shaft; at least one telescopic charging arm configured with the plug that coupled to an electric vehicle; an arm-controlling module for controlling the movements of the telescopic charging arm; and a data storage module including data received from the plurality of sensors to guide the navigation module.
Braunstein teaches an autonomous charging system (100) (Fig.1), comprising:
at least one charging robot (104) comprising:
a prime mover (traction motor) coupled to a wheel shaft (Par.48);
at least one telescopic charging arm (108) configured with a plug (124) that couples to an electric vehicle (102) (Par.50 and 56);
an arm-controlling module for controlling the movements of the telescopic charging arm (108) (Par.62-63); and
a data storage module (404) including data received from a plurality of sensors to guide a navigation module (Par.46, 122 and 124).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Braunstein in the system of Zhang to have had stored and accessed data to enable the charging robot to operate autonomously (Par.46); and have had automatically connected the charging robot to an energy transfer port of the electric vehicle (Par.63).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 2022/0212555) in view of Braunstein (US 2023/0168684) and Tsukamoto (US 2024/0157822; Foreign priority date 11/11/2022) as applied to claim 14, and further in view of Fagenson (US 2022/0299330).
Claim 17: Zhang in view of Braunstein and Tsukamoto teach the limitations of claim 14 as disclosed above. Zhang does not explicitly teach displaying at least pre- stored data in the form of images, frames of images forming a video, or advertising content rendered by third parties on an at least a pair of screens.
Fagenson teaches a charging station (100) comprising at least a pair of screens (210) (Fig.2B) displaying at least pre-stored data in the form of images, frames of images forming a video, or advertising content rendered from third parties (Par.23 and 27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Fagenson in the system of Zhang to have had provided display of information of commercial enterprises near the charging location (Par.23) thereby increasing revenue.
Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 2022/0212555) in view of Braunstein (US 2023/0168684) and Tsukamoto (US 2024/0157822; Foreign priority date 11/11/2022) as applied to claim 14, and further in view of Fagan (US 2020/0189413).
Claims 19-20: Zhang in view of Braunstein and Tsukamoto teach the limitations of claim 14 as disclosed above. Zhang does not explicitly teach further comprising a step of carrying a portion of cable of a cable reel configured with the telescopic charging arm when one or more secondary segments of the telescopic charging arm are expanded; and a step of retracting the extended portion of the cable, once the secondary segments are retracted.
Braunstein teaches wherein carrying a portion of cable (126) of a cable reel configured with a telescoping charging arm (108) when one or more secondary segments of the telescoping charging arm (108) are expanded and wherein the extended portion of the cable (126) (Par.56-57); retracting the extended portion of the cable (126) after the one or more secondary segments are retracted (Par.50 and 56).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Braunstein in the system of Zhang to have had a cable in an automatic charging arm that permits energy transfer between the charging robot and the electric vehicle (Par.50) and have had allowed said cable to extend and retract with the movement of the arm thereby preventing a break in the electrical connection (Par.57-58).
The combination of Zhang in view of Braunstein does not explicitly teach one or more secondary segments of the telescopic charging arm expanding outside a primary segment; the secondary segments retracted inside the primary segment.
Fagan teaches one secondary segment (307A) of a charging arm (300A) expanding outside a primary segment (302A) (Fig.2A); and one secondary segment (307A) retracted inside the primary segment (302A) of the charging arm (300A) at a non-working position (Fig.1) (Par.85).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Fagan in the combination of Zhang in view of Braunstein to have had retracted the charging arm into a compact form when not in use (Par.77) thereby not interfering when other elements during travel and protecting the charging arm from damage.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 2022/0212555) in view of Braunstein (US 2023/0168684) and Tsukamoto (US 2024/0157822; Foreign priority date 11/11/2022) as applied to claim 14, and further in view of Ehrenhalt (US 2022/0258632).
Claim 21: Zhang in view of Braunstein and Tsukamoto teach the limitations of claim 14 as disclosed above. Zhang does not explicitly teach further comprising a step of decoupling the plug from the electric vehicle in response to charging being complete.
Ehrenhalt teaches a step of decoupling a plug (212) from an electric vehicle in response to charging being complete (Par.88).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Ehrenhalt in the system of Zhang to have had made the charging robot available to other users once charging is complete on the current electric vehicle (Par.88).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Van der Merwe et al. (US 2019/0377349) describes maintaining an obstacle image database trained to identify objects based on parameters such as size, shape and speed (Par.85).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHALI ALEJANDRA TORRES RUIZ whose telephone number is (571)270-1262. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00am-6:00pm.
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, Julian Huffman can be reached at 571-272-2147. 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.
/JOHALI A TORRES RUIZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859