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 § 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)(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.
Claims 1-8 and 11-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Davis US 5,515,934.
Regarding claim 1, Davis discloses
A robot cleaner (fig. 1) for cleaning a stair (column 1, lines 23-30, column 8, lines 22-31, 52-61), comprising: a main body (item 20) configured to rotate around a first shaft (horizontal center shaft) (column 6, lines 46-22); at least one leg each (item 28) configured to rotate around a second shaft (item 58); and at least one connector (item 62) each configured to connect each leg to the main body (column 6, lines 28-61), wherein each connector comprises a first end (top portion) attached to the first shaft and a second end (bottom portion) attached to the second shaft (column 5, lines 10-48. See fig. 5A and 5B for details. Fig. shows connections among different shafts and both the ends of the connector), wherein the robot cleaner is configured to climb the stair by first lifting the main body onto a tread of the stair through rotations of the main body and the at least one connector and then lifting the at least one leg onto the tread through rotations of the at least one connector and the at least one leg (column 6, lines 46-61, column 8, lines 24-51. Fig. 13A-13H shows the main body 20 placed on to a tread of the stair).
Regarding claim 2, Davis discloses
, wherein the at least one leg comprises a first leg (item 28) and a second leg (item 26), wherein the at least one connector comprises a first connector (item 62) configured to connect the first leg to the main body and a second connector (item 62 on other side) configured to connect the second leg to the main body, wherein lifting the at least one leg onto the tread through rotations of the at least one connector and the at least one leg comprises: lifting the first leg onto the tread through rotations of the first leg with the first connector; and lifting the second leg onto the tread through rotations of the second leg with the second connector (column 6, lines 4-61, column 8, lines 24-51. Fig. 13A-13H shows the main body 20 placed on to a tread of the stair).
Regarding claim 3, Davis discloses
, further comprising at least one first motor (item 54) configured to drive the main body and the at least one connector through the first shaft (column 5, lines 18-32, 53-67, column 6, lines 1-3).
Regarding claim 4, Davis discloses
, wherein the at least one first motor comprises two motors configured to rotate in opposite directions to drive the main body to rotate relative to the at least one connector (column 5, lines 18-32, 53-67, column 6, lines 46-54).
Regarding claim 5, Davis discloses
, wherein the at least one first motor is configured to drive the at least one connector to rotate with the at least one leg relative to the main body in order to lift the at least one leg onto the tread (column 5, lines 18-32, 53-67, column 6, lines 46-54).
Regarding claim 6, Davis discloses
, further comprising a second motor (item 76) configured to drive each leg and the corresponding connector through the second shaft (column 5, lines 18-67, column 6, lines 1-3).
Regarding claim 7, Davis discloses
wherein the second motor is configured to drive the connector to rotate together with the main body relative to the leg in order to lift the main body onto the tread (column 5, lines 18-67, column 6, lines 1-3. Fig. 13A-13H shows the main body 20 placed on to the tread of the stair).
Regarding claim 8, Davis discloses
, wherein the second motor is configured to drive the leg to rotate relative to the corresponding connector in order to align the leg with the corresponding connector (column 5, lines 33-47).
Regarding claim 11, Davis discloses
, wherein each leg comprises at least one of mecanum wheels, omni-direction wheels, or universal wheels (fig. 1 shows four wheels (82)), configured to move the robot cleaner laterally on the tread (column 5, lines 49-51).
Regarding claim 12, Davis discloses
A robot cleaner (fig. 1) for cleaning a stair (column 1, lines 23-30, column 8, lines 22-31, 52-61), comprising: a main body (item 20) configured to rotate around a first shaft (horizontal center shaft) (column 6, lines 28-61);
a first leg (item 28) connected to a first side (left side in fig. 1) of the main body through a first connector (item 62 on left side) and configured to rotate around a second shaft (item 58 on left side in fig. 1) (column 5, lines 10-48, column 6, lines 28-36); and a second leg (item 28) connected to a second side (right side in fig. 1) of the main body through a second connector (item 62 on right side in fig. 1) and configured to rotate around a third shaft (item 58 on right side), the second side opposing the first side (the second side is right side and the first side is left side) (column 5, lines 10-48, column 6, lines 28-36), wherein the robot cleaner is configured to climb the stair by first lifting the main body onto a tread of the stair through rotations of the main body and the first and second connectors and then lifting the first and second legs onto the tread through rotations of the first and second leg and the respective first and second connectors (column 6, lines 46-61, column 8, lines 24-51. Fig. 13A-13H shows the main body 20 placed on to a tread of the stair using the first and the second leg using respective connectors).
Regarding claim 13, Davis discloses
, wherein: the first connector comprises a first end attached to the first shaft on the first side and a second end attached to the second shaft; and the second connector comprises a third end attached to the first shaft on the second side and a fourth end attached to the third shaft (column 5, lines 10-48. See fig. 5A and 5B for details).
Regarding claim 14, Davis discloses
: a first motor configured to drive the main body and the first connector through the first shaft, and a second motor configured to drive the main body and the second connector through the first shaft (column 5, lines 18-32, 53-67, column 6, lines 46-54).
Regarding claim 15, Davis discloses
, wherein the first motor and the second motor are configured to rotate in opposite directions to drive the main body to rotate relative to the first connector and the second connector (column 5, lines 18-32, 53-67, column 6, lines 46-54).
Regarding claim 16, Davis discloses
, wherein the first motor is configured to drive the first connector to rotate with the first leg relative to the main body in order to lift the first leg onto the tread, and the second motor is configured to drive the second connector to rotate with the second leg relative to the main body in order to lift the second leg onto the tread (column 6, lines 46-61, column 8, lines 24-51. Fig. 13A-13H shows the main body 20 placed on to a tread of the stair).
Regarding claim 17, Davis discloses
a third motor (item 54) configured to drive the first leg and the first connector through the second shaft, and a fourth motor (item 76) configured to drive the second leg and the second connector through the third shaft (column 5, lines 53-67).
Regarding claim 18, Davis discloses
, wherein the third motor and the fourth motor are configured to drive the first connector and the second connector to rotate together with the main body relative to the corresponding leg in order to lift the main body onto the tread (column 6, lines 46-61, column 8, lines 24-51. Fig. 13A-13H shows the main body 20 placed on to a tread of the stair using the first and the second leg using respective connectors).
Regarding claim 19, Davis discloses
, wherein: the third motor is configured to drive the first leg to rotate relative to the first connector in order to align the first leg with the first connector, and the fourth motor is configured to drive the second leg to rotate relative to the second connector in order to align the second leg with the second connector (column 5, lines 53-67).
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 9 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davis in a view of Panigrahi et al. US 2024/0034117 A1.
Regarding claim 9, Davis does not disclose but Panigrahi et al. disclose a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor configured to sense information of the stair or a surrounding environment [0070].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a LiDAR sensor as disclosed by Panigrahi in David’s teachings in order for the robot to traverse the stair structure (Panigrahi’s paragraph 0070)
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davis in a view of MA CN 111387882A.
Regarding claim 10, Davis does not disclose but MA discloses, wherein each connector comprises a linear actuator configured to adjust a length of the connector (support section 2) according to a height of the stair.
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adjust a length of the connector according to a height of the stair as disclosed by MA in David’s teachings in order for the robot to adapt to different steps of the step height. MA and Davis do not mention “a linear actuator” but mentions adjusting a length which is inherently done by a linear actuator.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
MAILEY et al. (US 2016/0362147 A1) disclose a dynamically stable stair climbing home robot.
YE (CN 217365656 U) discloses a stair cleaning robot.
Lei Zhang (A New……Robot) discloses
A New Compact Stair-Cleaning Robot
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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/BICKEY DHAKAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896
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