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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/14/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the first direction" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(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, 8-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Goergen et al. US Pub 2022/0063429 (hereinafter Goergen).
Regarding claim 1, Goergen discloses a charging system for a material handling vehicle,
the charging system comprising:
a mounting assembly arm (see fig. 3, element 34; a charging arm); and
a charger plate assembly moveably (¶¶ 0041, 0046; the entire charging arm 50 can be operable to retract or extend or move along one or more axis) coupled to a distal end of the mounting assembly arm (see fig. 4A-5 below),
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the charger plate assembly (fig. 4B) including a first charger plate electrical contact (fig. 4B, elements 42a, 42b, 43c, 42d) that is configured to electrically couple with a second vehicle electrical contact (fig. 3, element 33; charging plates and ¶ 0040) of a charging port of the material handling vehicle,
wherein, when the first charger plate electrical contact electrically couples with the second vehicle electrical contact, the charger plate assembly is configured to move (¶ 0045; the driving direction of the electrical vehicle…the contact plate is first exposed to the cleaning pad and as the EV moves forward) relative to the mounting assembly arm to cause a scrubbing action between the first charger plate electrical contact and the second vehicle electrical contact (¶¶ 0045-0047; for cleaning the electric vehicle contact plate and a charging arm with the charging plate for transmitting power to the cleaned contact plate).
Regarding claim 2, Goergen discloses wherein the charger plate assembly is pivotally coupled to distal end of the mounting assembly arm (see fig. 3, 5; the entire charging arm 50 can be operable to retract or extend or move along one or more axis).
Regarding claim 3, Goergen discloses wherein contact between the first charger plate electrical contact and the second vehicle electrical contact causes the charger plate assembly to pivot from a first rotational position to a second rotational position to cause the scrubbing action between the first charger plate electrical contact and the second vehicle electrical contact (¶¶ 0045-0047 and claim 5; cleaning the EV contact plate prior to contact with the charging arm).
Regarding claim 4, Goergen discloses the charging system further comprising a biasing element (fig. 5, element 56; one of the springs) configured to bias the charger plate assembly to the first rotational position (¶ 0040).
Regarding claim 5, Goergen discloses wherein the mounting assembly arm is configured to move along a first direction to change a distance between the charger plate assembly and the charging port of the material handling vehicle (¶¶ 0041-0042, 0045-0046; ensure direct contact between the charging plate and the contact plate).
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Regarding claim 6, Goergen discloses the charging system further comprising: a base configured to movably support the mounting assembly arm; and a first actuator coupled between the base and the mounting assembly arm, the first actuator being configured to extend and retract to change the distance between the charger plate assembly and the charging port of the material handling vehicle (see fig. 5 above).
Regarding claim 8, Goergen discloses the charging system further comprising a second actuator coupled between the charger plate assembly and the mounting assembly arm, the second actuator being configured to selectively adjust a position of the charger plate assembly along a second direction that is different from the first direction (see fig. 5 below and ¶ 0046).
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Regarding claim 9, Goergen discloses the charging system further comprising a first sensor coupled to the charger plate assembly, the first sensor being configured to sense a distance between the charger plate assembly and a charging port of a material handling vehicle (¶ 0042; the entire charging arm 34 can be initially positioned in the area of the contact plate 33 using information from one or more sensors or switches as previously, and then moved towards the contact plate).
Regarding claim 10, Goergen discloses the charging system further comprising a second sensor coupled to the charger plate assembly, the second sensor being configured to detect a target arranged on a material handling vehicle (¶ 0042; an autonomous EV to assist in properly positioning the EV to align the contact plates with the charging arms).
Regarding claim 11, Goergen discloses wherein the first charger plate electrical contact and the second vehicle electrical contact are configured for at least one of transferring electrical power for charging a battery of the material handling vehicle (¶ 0032; directly from the charging plate to the EV contact plate to charge one or more batteries at the EV 12) and transmitting electrical communications between the material handling vehicle and the charging system (¶ 0031, 0036).
Regarding claim 12, Goergen discloses wherein at least one of the first charger plate electrical contact and the second vehicle electrical contact is configured as a spring-biased contact (see fig. 3-5).
Regarding claim 13, Goergen discloses a charging system for a material handling vehicle, the material handling vehicle including a battery (¶ 0031; the EV includes a truck with a battery compartment further comprising one or more batteries) and a charging port having a first vehicle electrical contact electrically coupled to the battery (¶ 0032; an electric vehicle contact plate… directly from the charging plate to the EV contact plate to charge one or more batteries), the charging system comprising:
a mounting assembly arm (¶ 0032 and fig. 3; the charging arm); and
a charger plate assembly pivotally coupled to rotate relative to the mounting assembly arm to move between a first orientation and a second orientation (¶¶ 0041, 0046; the entire charging arm 50 can be operable to retract or extend or move along one or more axis as shown below),
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the charger plate assembly including a second charger plate electrical contact electrically coupled to a power source (¶ 0032; the movable charging arm coupled to the power source),
the second charger plate electrical contact (fig. 4a-5, element 55b) being configured to couple to the first vehicle plate electrical contact (fig. 4B, elements 42a, 42b, 43c, 42d) of the material handling vehicle for charging (¶ 0032).
Regarding claim 14, Goergen discloses wherein, in the first orientation, a head plane defined by the charger plate assembly is angled relative to a mounting plane defined by the mounting assembly arm (¶¶ 0031-0032, 0035), wherein, in the second orientation, the head plane is parallel to the mounting plane (see fig. 3-5), and
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wherein a biasing element (fig. 5, element 56; one of the springs) is positioned between the charger plate assembly and the mounting assembly arm to bias the charger plate assembly to the first orientation (¶ 0040).
Regarding claim 15, Goergen discloses wherein, as the charging port is brought into contact with the charger plate assembly, the second charger plate electrical contact of the charger plate assembly slides (¶¶ 0041, 0047) across the first vehicle electrical contact of the charging port to cause sliding frictional contact therebetween to passively clean each of the second charger plate electrical contact and the first vehicle electrical contact (¶¶ 0045-0047).
Regarding claim 16, Goergen discloses wherein at least one of the first vehicle electrical contact and the second charger plate electrical contact is configured as a plurality of electrical contacts (fig. 4B, elements 42a, 42b, 42c, 42c and ¶ 0044).
Regarding claim 17, Goergen discloses a method of charging a material handling vehicle, the material handling vehicle including a battery (abstract; one or more batteries) and a charging port having a first vehicle electrical contact electrically coupled to the battery (fig. 3-5 and abstract),
the method comprising:
moving (actively/passively) a mounting assembly arm toward the material handling vehicle to engage a charger plate assembly with the charging port (¶ 0036; the charging arms 15 can be automatically adjusted based on the location of the contact plate 19 on the EV 12), the charger plate assembly (¶ 0035; the charging plate 19 includes four contact plates) having a second charger plate electrical contact configured to electrically couple to the first charger plate electrical contact (¶¶ 0035-0036, 0040-0046; the charging plate and EV contact plate);
moving the charger plate assembly relative to the mounting assembly arm (¶ 0042; an autonomous EV to assist in properly positioning the EV to align the contact plates with the charging arms); and
sliding the second charger plate electrical contact across the first vehicle electrical contact to cause sliding frictional contact therebetween (¶¶ 0045-0047; for cleaning the electric vehicle contact plate and a charging arm with charging plate for transmitting power to the cleaned contact plate).
Regarding claim 18, Goergen discloses wherein engaging the charging port with the charger plate assembly causes pivoting movement of the charger plate assembly about the mounting assembly arm (see fig. 5 above), and
wherein the pivoting movement of the charger plate assembly about the mounting assembly arm causes the sliding between the first vehicle electrical contact and the second charger plate electrical contact (¶¶ 0045-0047).
Regarding claim 19, Goergen discloses wherein the sliding frictional contact between the first vehicle electrical contact and the second charger plate electrical contact is configured to remove contaminants from each of the first vehicle electrical contact and the second charger plate electrical contact (¶¶ 0045-0047; for cleaning the electric vehicle contact plate and a charging arm with charging plate for transmitting power to the cleaned contact plate).
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.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goergen in view of Hau et al. US Patent 11,634,043 (hereinafter Hau).
Regarding claim 20, Goergen fails to disclose the method further comprising: determining that a charge of the battery is below a threshold; and navigating the material handling vehicle toward the charger plate assembly, based on a determination that the charge is below the threshold.
However, Hau further discloses the method further comprising:
determining that a charge of the battery is below a threshold (col. 13, lines 8-11; the battery manager 240 checks the charge level of the battery and determines that the battery needs to be charged based on an indication that the charge level is below a threshold charge level); and
navigating the material handling vehicle toward the charger plate assembly (abstract; autonomously charged), based on a determination that the charge is below the threshold (col. 13, lines 8-11).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Goergen to incorporate with the teaching of Hau by autonomously charging the vehicle when the charge level of the battery is below a threshold, because it would be advantageous to maximize battery lifespan and further improve usability.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 7, the prior art fails to teach or suggest further inclusion of the charging system further comprising a pair of guide rails supported on the base, wherein the mounting assembly arm is coupled to the guide rails by a plurality of wheels arranged within the guide rails.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZIXUAN ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)272-6739. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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/ZIXUAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 11/25/2025