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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119
(a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/17/2023, 4/18/2023, and 11/04/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Preliminary Amendment
The preliminary amendment to the claims and specification received on 4/17/2023 are acceptable and made of record in accordance with MPEP 714.01 (e). Applicant’s statement of “no new matter entered” is acknowledged.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-10 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. CN 111509442 [see machine translated FOR document upload for text and drawings].
Regarding claim 1, Li discloses an electric charging point for an electric vehicle, comprising:
a charging terminal support [drawing 1 and 2 (see reproduced); 8];
a charging terminal [7] designed for connection to a battery terminal [coupled to 5] of the electric vehicle [1], the charging terminal [7] being arranged on the support [8] in such a way that the contact plane between the at least one charging terminal and the battery terminal is vertical [drawing 1, contact place is vertical. Page 5, para. 2];
a housing [6] surrounding the support [8], the housing having a front opening [drawing 2, see openings in 6 at each contact 7], facing the charging terminal [7], the housing [6] being movable with respect to the support [as the vehicle 1 moves backwards, 4 pushes against 6 causing 6 to move backwards towards 8] in a direction perpendicular to the contact plane [as seen in drawing 2], between a neutral position in which the opening is located at a neutral distance with respect to the contact plane [drawing 2 shows the neutral position before pushing occurs], and a charging position in which the opening is located at a charging distance with respect to the contact plane, the charging distance being smaller than the neutral distance [after 6 moves backwards and pushes against 8, 5 will come into full contact with 7, automatically rendering the charging distance smaller than the neutral distance. Page 5, para. 3 and 4. See abstract].
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Regarding claim 2, Li discloses the electric charging point of claim 1, further comprising means for translatably guiding [11] the housing [6. Page 5 para. 3].
Regarding claim 3, Li discloses the electric charging point of claim 2, further comprising a return means [10 + 18] connected to the housing and configured to return the housing [6] to the neutral position when no charging operation is underway [Page 5 para. 3].
Regarding claims 4 and 10, Li discloses the electric charging point of claim 3 and 1 respectively, further comprising a flap [4], the flap being movable [as the vehicle 1 moves] between a protection position, in which the flap covers the charging terminal, and a connection position, in which the flap does not cover the charging terminal [4 helps to cover 7 when 7 is extended outside of 6 and engaged into 5. Page 5 para. 2 and 3].
Regarding claims 7 and 13, Li discloses the electric charging point of claims 6 and 1 respectively, further comprising a housing bearing surface [11] on the housing [6. Page 5 para. 3].
Regarding claims 8 and 14, Li discloses the electric charging point of claims 7 and 1 respectively, further comprising a shock absorption means [drawing 3; 14 + 16 + 20] arranged between the support [8] and the charging terminal [7].
Regarding claim 12, Li discloses the electric charging point of claim 4, wherein the flap [4] comprises two horizontal sections [shown in drawing 2].
Regarding claims 9 and 15, Li discloses the electric charging point of claims 8 and 1 respectively, further comprising a positioning sensor located and configured to sense a position of the electric vehicle relative to the charging point [drawing 4, para. 1 The torsion spring functions as a mechanical sensor: When the automobile leaves, the back moving spring pushes the inner shell to reset; the receptor component is separated from the electrode plate; the torsion spring makes the electrode plate reset].
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C.
102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 5, 6, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. CN 111509442 [see machine translated FOR document upload for text and drawings] in view of Shibata et al US 6346793.
Regarding claim 5, Li discloses the electric charging point of claim 4, but is silent on: further comprising connecting means between the flap and the housing such that the movement of the housing causes movement of the flap move [objection: superfluous addition of the word “move” after flap. Please delete as appropriate].
further comprising connecting means between the flap and the housing such that the movement of the housing causes movement of the flap move [Figs. 12A and 12B, terminal covers 23 move backwards when pushed by the battery housing. Col. 8 lines 3-25].
Li and Shibata are analogous means of protecting charging terminals. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to utilize a modified design as taught by Shibata with Li’s charging device to allow for protection of Li’s terminals from damage [Shibata, col. 8 lines 42-52].
Regarding claim 6, Li discloses the electric charging point of claim 5, wherein the flap comprises two horizontal sections [Figs. 12A and 12B, terminal covers 23].
Regarding claim 11, Li discloses the electric charging point of claim 10, further comprising connecting means [Fig. 12A, e.g. pin 26] between the flap and the housing such that movement of the housing causes movement of the flap [col. 7 lines 35-54].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 10023060 (as cited as EP 3240137 in the 4/17/2023 search report) discloses an automatic power supply device which enables to perform an automatic power supply with a simple configuration, with respect to a moving body. The automatic power supply device that includes a terminal for a power supply, and supplies power to a rechargeable battery which is placed in the moving body through a power receiver which is disposed in the moving body, the automatic power supply device includes a mechanism that drives a power supplier including the power supply terminal, and a mechanism that automatically charges the moving body. The automatic power supply device includes a cavity in a portion of a housing shape of the automatic power supply device, in a measurement area of an environment recognition sensor which is included in the moving body. As illustrated in FIG. 6B, autonomous moving device 1 is stopped at the stop position, before the contact with automatic power supply device 11, and before safety stop area 4 of autonomous moving device 1 detects the housing of automatic power supply device 11.
Most notably, col. 7 lines 21-37 states: After autonomous moving device 1 arrives at automatic power supply device 11, automatic power supply device 11 obtains the arrival information through the communication, and drives power supplier 12, as illustrated in FIG. 6C, and presses power supply terminal 13 against power receiver 5 of autonomous moving device 1. Thereafter, automatic power supply device 11 starts the power supply, thereby, the power supply to rechargeable battery 6 of the autonomous moving device 1 from automatic power supply device 11 is realized.
This represents the movement of the support (i.e. 12) against a stationary housing (i.e. 11), which is contrary to the claim 1 limitation, “…the housing being movable with respect to the support…”.
US 20090315501 discloses a station (110) has two side-wall barriers (114) mounted on a base (112), and a stop unit (116) mounted on the base against the barriers to form a docking space for receiving a robot (140) to be recharged. A supporting arm (118) i.e. cantilever, is set on the stop unit, and a charging connector (122) is mounted on a free end of the supporting arm to provide electrical connection between the robot and a power source. A transmitter (124) is set on an upper surface of the supporting arm to allow the robot to navigate along a predetermined path and to dock into a docking space of the station.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD V MURALIDAR whose telephone number is (571)272- 8933. The examiner can normally be reached M - W 9:30 am to 6:30 PM.
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unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Drew Dunn can be contacted at 571-272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273- 8300.
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RICHARD V. MURALIDAR
Primary Examiner Art Unit 2859
/RICHARD V MURALIDAR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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