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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The phrase “despite disablement of the door close button due to lapse of the robot opening standby time” in line 5 contradicts with the written description because paragraph 0024 clearly discloses “the door close button is deactivated despite the elapse of the robot open standby time”. The examiner requests applicant to correct the claim limitations in accordance to the filed disclosure.
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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KIM et al. US 2022/0017332 A1.
Regarding claim 1, KIM et al. disclose
A robot interlocking elevator control system (figs. 1-3, items 130 and 140) comprising: an autonomous vehicle (item 100) autonomously moving in a building [0064]; and an elevator controller (item 130) controlling operation of an elevator installed in the building and an elevator door upon boarding/alighting of the autonomous vehicle with respect to the elevator through communication with the autonomous vehicle [0092, 0093, 0118, 0119], wherein the autonomous vehicle sends a platform standby signal, an under-boarding signal, a boarding completion signal, an under-alighting signal and an alighting completion signal to the elevator controller according to step in performing boarding or alighting operation with respect to the elevator [0118], and
KIM does not explicitly say “the elevator controller selects, as an opening standby time of the elevator door, any one of a general opening standby time set for shared use of the elevator by both human passengers and robots and a robot opening standby time set for exclusive use of the elevator by the robots, and determines whether disablement of a door close button of the elevator is to be set or released, depending on reception of a signal sent from the autonomous vehicle and whether the elevator allocated to the autonomous vehicle is set to a shared mode allowing shared use of the elevator by human passengers and robots or a robot exclusive mode allowing exclusive use of the elevator by the robots”. However, KIM discloses the elevator controller that communicates with the autonomous vehicle and performs operation of boarding and alighting. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select different standby times based on the elevator modes and to operate the door close button to improve safety and efficiency of the elevator control system in KIM’s teachings.
Regarding claim 2, KIM et al. disclose
A robot interlocking elevator control method of a robot interlocking elevator control system (figs. 1-3) including: an autonomous vehicle (fig. 1, item 100) autonomously moving in a building [0064]; and an elevator controller (item 130) controlling operation of elevators installed in the building [0092, 0093, 0118, 0119] and an elevator door upon boarding/alighting of the autonomous vehicle with respect to the elevator through communication with the autonomous vehicle, the robot interlocking elevator control method comprising: remotely calling, by the autonomous vehicle, an elevator; allocating, by the elevator controller, an elevator to the autonomous vehicle; sending, by the autonomous vehicle, a platform standby signal to the elevator controller after arrival at a platform for the allocated elevator; opening, by the elevator controller, a door of the allocated elevator, followed by sending a boarding permission signal to the autonomous vehicle; starting, by the autonomous vehicle, boarding operation with respect to the allocated elevator in response to the boarding permission signal while sending an under-boarding signal to the elevator controller during the boarding operation; sending, by the autonomous vehicle, a boarding completion signal to the elevator controller upon completion of the boarding operation with respect to the allocated elevator; controlling, by the elevator controller, the allocated elevator receiving the autonomous vehicle through the boarding operation of the autonomous vehicle to move to a departure floor of the autonomous vehicle; opening, by the elevator controller, the door of the allocated elevator upon arrival of the allocated elevator at the departure floor, followed by sending an alighting permission signal to the autonomous vehicle; starting, by the autonomous vehicle, alighting operation with respect to the allocated elevator in response to the alighting permission signal while sending an under-alighting signal to the elevator controller during the alighting operation; and sending, by the autonomous vehicle, an alighting completion signal to the elevator controller upon completion of the alighting operation with respect to the allocated elevator [0118-0125].
KIM does not explicitly say “ wherein the elevator controller selects, as an opening standby time of the elevator door, any one of a general opening standby time set for shared use of the elevator by both human passengers and robots and a robot opening standby time set for exclusive use of the elevator by the robots, and determines whether disablement of a door close button of the elevator is to be set or released, depending on reception of a signal sent from the autonomous vehicle and whether the elevator allocated to the autonomous vehicle is set to a shared mode allowing shared use of the elevator by human passengers and robots or a robot exclusive mode allowing exclusive use of the elevator by the robots”. However, KIM discloses the elevator controller that communicates with the autonomous vehicle and performs operation of boarding and alighting. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select different standby times based on the elevator modes and to operate the door close button to improve safety and efficiency of the elevator control system in KIM’s teachings.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 and 7-8 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. Claims 3-5 and 7-8 disclose details about different failure.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
FANG (US 2018/0111791 A1) discloses systems and methods for automatically entering and leaving a ride apparatus.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BICKEY DHAKAL whose telephone number is (571)272-3577. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-4:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jessica Han can be reached at 5712722078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BICKEY DHAKAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896