DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The amendment filed on July 28, 2026 has been entered. The following has occurred: Claim 11 has been amended; Claims 12 and 15 have been canceled.
Claims 11, 13, 14, and 16-20 are pending.
Response to Amendment
Claim Interpretation and 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and 112(b) are withdrawn in light of the amendment.
35 U.S.C. 102 rejection is withdrawn in light of the amendment.
35 U.S.C. 103 rejection is modified in light of the amendment.
Priority
The present application claims a National Stage Entry of PCT/EP2022/052143, filed on January 1, 2022, and claims priority to French Application FR2101065, filed on February, 4, 2021.
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 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Di et al. (CN 208738531U, translation previously provided) in view of Bodin (EP 3273547B1, translation previously provided).
Claim 11, Di discloses a vehicle comprising: an electric battery and an electrical socket configured to supply electricity to said battery (page 1, background technique, para. 5, discloses an electric vehicle can be parked autonomously and requires automatic quick charging device. Page 3 para. 11 discloses “vehicle end charging socket 21” the electric vehicle receiving an electrical charge which includes a battery), said socket being placed in a bodywork element, delimiting said vehicle, so as to be accessible from outside of said vehicle (page 3 para. 11, “the robot arm sends the charging gun head 22 component to the charging socket interface,” which for an external robotic arm to access the socket, the socket is placed in a bodywork element accessible from the outside of the vehicle),
wherein the socket comprises an adapter including a wall forming a funnel to route an end piece of an electrical supply nozzle to face said socket (page 3, para. 1, 3, and 6-9, disclosing a positioning structure comprising a “positioning member 11” mounted on the charging socket 21, and a “guiding member 12” mounted on the charging gun head 22 (the nozzle end piece)), such that said end piece can penetrate into a receiving area of said socket to ensure electrical charging of the battery (page 3 para. 11 and 13, discloses the positioning and guiding members cooperate “to align the charging gun head 22 with the center of the charging socket 21 to ensure smooth insertion” so that it is “fully coupled to start charging”),
wherein said wall delimits a flared end opening and a reduced end opening placed around the receiving area of the socket, said flared end opening being placed further toward the outside of the vehicle than the reduced end opening (page 3 para. 4 disclosing the positioning portion 112 is concavely disposed and the side surface of the positioning portion 112 is an inner tapered surface. An inner tapered surface that is concavely disposed to receive an external plug forms a funnel geometry), and
wherein the wall forming the funnel has inclined faces connecting the flared end opening and the reduced end opening (Di page 3, para. 4, discloses inner taper surface which constitutes inclined faces. A concavely disposed inner tapered surface designed to receive an external plug forms a funnel with inclined faces connecting a wider, flared opening facing the outside environment and a narrower, reduced opening positioned around the socket).
Di further discloses the use of magnetized area and magnets on the end piece to guide movement to route the plug to the receiving walls (Di page 3 para. 8 and 11 discloses an absorbing member 114 which may be a permanent magnet or a pure iron on the positioning member, and a second absorbing member 123 which is an electromagnet on the guide body, which are attracted to each other to achieve suction and hold the plug).
Di differ from the claimed invention in that Di discloses the magnets are distributed at the four corners of the locator body.
However, Di does not explicitly disclose the specifics,
said inclined faces open out on two receiving walls that are coplanar with the reduced end opening and that cover two magnetized areas of the socket which are placed on either side of the receiving area, said inclined faces being configured to guide movement of two end magnets of the end piece of the supply nozzle so as to route them toward the two receiving walls.
Bodin is in the same field of electrical connector devices for charging vehicles which specifically teaches,
said inclined faces open out on two receiving walls that are coplanar with the reduced end opening and that cover two magnetized areas of the socket which are placed on either side of the receiving area, said inclined faces being configured to guide movement of two end magnets of the end piece of the supply nozzle so as to route them toward the two receiving walls (Bodin page 4, para. 30 teaches electrical plug device having guide surface 40, 41 which cooperate in a complementary manner. In para. [0027], “the first plug element 3 and the second plug element 4 are each provided with at least one magnet 35, 36… which hold the first plug element 3 and the second plug element 4 in the contact position”; teaches the use of exactly two magnetized areas placed on either side of the receiving area to guide and hold end piece. Figs. 3 and 4 show two magnets arranged on opposite sides of the central axis. Bodin para. [0007], teaches the plug elements are configured to be “rotationally symmetrical on opposite end faces which are adjacent to one another in the contact position”. To have opposite end faces be adjacent to one another in a contact position requires the matching faces, including the magnetic receiving walls, to be coplanar to ensure flush physical and magnetic contact).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling of the invention to modify the charging device system of Di with four-corner magnetic positioning structure to utilize design of two magnetized areas on either side of the receiving area, as taught by Bodin for the motivation of simplifying the manufacturing process and reduces the cost of magnetic materials while still providing sufficient magnetic attraction to ensure proper alignment and mating.
Claim 13, the combination of Di and Bodin makes obvious of the vehicle as claimed in claim 11, wherein a portion of the wall delimiting the reduced end opening surrounds the receiving area so as to leave no space with respect to said receiving area (page 3 para. 9 discloses the positioning member 11 is fixedly mounted on the end of the charging socket 21. The fixedly mounted directly to the end of the socket surrounds the receiving area and leaves no functional space between the guide taper and the socket opening).
Claim 14, the combination of Di and Bodin makes obvious of the vehicle as claimed in claim 13, wherein the portion of the wall delimiting the reduced end opening is in contact with a secondary wall delimiting the receiving area (page 3 para. 9 discloses the positioning member 11 is fixedly mounted on the end of the charging socket 21. The mounting directly to the socket end requires physical contact with the wall delimiting the socket).
Claim 16, the combination of Di and Bodin make obvious of the vehicle as claimed in claim 11, wherein the two receiving walls are placed in the same plane, corresponding to a plane in which the reduced end opening is inscribed (Bodin para. [0007] teaches the plug elements configured to be rotationally symmetrical on opposite end faces which are adjacent to one another in the contact position. Arranging the magnetic receiving walls in the same planar end face is a standard engineering practice to ensure flush and even magnetic contact). The rationales to modify/combine the teaching of Di with/and the teaching of Bodin are presented in the examining of claim 15 and incorporated herein.
Claim 17, the combination of Di and Bodin make obvious of the vehicle as claimed in claim 11, wherein the two receiving walls each have a circular contour for accommodating one of the end magnets of cylindrical form of the end piece of the supply nozzle (Bodin para. [0007] teaches the plug elements and contact loops are circular ring-shaped and para. [0029] indicates rotationally symmetrical. It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the field to use cylindrical magnets and corresponding circular contours to allow for rotational symmetry and ease of insertion).
Claim 19, Di discloses the vehicle as claimed in claim 11,
However, Di fails to expressly teach, wherein the wall forming the funnel is configured to be fastened to the electrical socket of the vehicle without modifying a structure of said vehicle.
Nonetheless, Bodin is in the field of electrical plug device which specifically teaches (italic emphasis), wherein the wall forming the funnel is an added-on adapter configured to be fastened to the electrical socket of the vehicle without modifying a structure of said vehicle (Bodin para. [0023] teaches a housing 20 with which the first plug element 3 is fastened in an opening of the wall 5 of the vehicle body 1.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling of the invention to modify the design of the positioning member of Di as a modular add-on adapter to allow existing vehicles to be retrofitted for automated robotic charging without requiring costly modifications to the vehicle’s underlying bodywork.
Claims 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Di et al. (CN 208738531U, translation previously provided), in view of Bodin (EP 3273547B1, translation previously provided), and further in view of Zhu (CN 107878229A, translation previously provided).
Claim 18, the combination of Di and Bodin make obvious of the vehicle as claimed in claim 11.
The combination fails to expressly teach, wherein the wall forming the funnel comprises two planar stops that are placed in the flared end opening and that are aligned along a vertical axis, and said two stops are configured to block travel of two movable rods of the end piece of the supply nozzle, springs being wound around said rods.
Nonetheless, Zhu is in the analogous field of robotic vehicle charging which specifically teaches, wherein the wall forming the funnel comprises two planar stops that are placed in the flared end opening and that are aligned along a vertical axis, and said two stops are configured to block travel of two movable rods of the end piece of the supply nozzle, springs being wound around said rods (Zhu page 5 para. 2-3, teaches a charging plug 3 comprising a plurality of guiding tubes 13 movably connected with a contact head 14 wherein a spring 12 for providing the elastic force is disposed between the bottom of the guide tube 13 and the contact head 14. when the plug is inserted into the socket, the contact heads hit the socket interface, causing the heads to move linearly and compress the springs to ensure a tight electrical connection).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling of the invention to modify the robotic vehicle charging system of Di to incorporate the spring-loaded contact rods for charging and to provide corresponding planar stops on the outer face (flared opening) of the funnel guide. This combination provides a controlled, elastic mating/connection force that prevents the robotic arm from applying excessive mechanical stress and crushing the electrical socket during automated insertion.
Claim 20, Di discloses the vehicle of claim 11. Di further discloses,
the method comprising:
placing the end piece of the supply nozzle in front of the flared end opening in the wall forming the funnel, pushing said end piece forward toward the receiving area of the socket (Di page 3 para. 11 discloses the robot arm sends the charging gun head 22 component to the charging socket interface and then advances in the direction of the charging socket),
sliding the two magnets of the second rods along the inclined faces connecting the flared end opening and the reduced end opening until said two magnets reach receiving walls covering two magnetized areas of the socket (Di page 3 para. 11-12 discloses the inner and outer tapered surfaces of the positioning member 11 and the guiding member 12 cooperate with each other to align the electromagnet of the second adsorbing member 124 is energized, and is attracted to the permanent magnet 114), and
charging the battery of the vehicle (Di page 3 para. 13 “charging gun head is inserted into the charging stand and is fully coupled to start charging).
Di discloses the magnets are distributed at the four corners of the locator body, however, not two areas.
Di fails to expressly teach (italic emphasis), two magnets reach receiving walls covering two magnetized areas of the socket,
bringing the two first rods into contact against two stops that are placed at the same level as the flared end opening, pressing the end piece into the receiving area of the socket, causing a movement of the first rods relative to the end piece, and therefore a compression of the springs.
Bodin is in the field of electrical plug device which specifically teaches (italic emphasis), two magnets reach receiving walls covering two magnetized areas of the socket (Bodin page 4, para. 30 teaches plug device having guide surface 40, 41 which cooperate in a complementary manner. In para. [0027] and Figs. 3 and 4 indicates two magnets (35, 36) arranged on the opposite sides (either side) of the plug/socket to hold the elements in a contact position).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling of the invention to modify the charging device system and method of Di with four-corner magnetic positioning structure to utilize design of two magnetized areas on either side of the receiving area, as taught by Bodin for the motivation of simplifying the manufacturing process and reduces the cost of magnetic materials while still providing sufficient magnetic attraction to ensure proper alignment and mating.
Still, the combination fails to expressly teach, bringing the two first rods into contact against two stops that are placed at the same level as the flared end opening, pressing the end piece into the receiving area of the socket, causing a movement of the first rods relative to the end piece, and therefore a compression of the springs.
Nonetheless, Zhu is in the analogous field of robotic vehicle charging which specifically teaches, bringing the two first rods into contact against two stops that are placed at the same level as the flared end opening, pressing the end piece into the receiving area of the socket, causing a movement of the first rods relative to the end piece, and therefore a compression of the springs (Zhu page 5, para. 2-3 teaches pressing the charging plug into the socket such that the contact head 14 can move linearly in the guide tube 13, compressing the spring 12 to ensure the contact head is closely connected with the electrical contact 7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling of the invention to modify the charging device system and method of Di to include the above-mentioned for a robotic arm utilizing a tapered guide, magnetic alignment, and spring-loaded contracts to safely and automatically charge an electric vehicle.
Response to Remarks
35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 Rejections:
The Applicant’s remarks are fully considered, however are found to be unpersuasive.
The Examiner asserts that the applicant’s arguments are directed towards amended claim limitations and are, therefore, considered moot. However, the Examiner has responded to the amended amendments, which the arguments are directed to, in the rejection above, thereby addressing the applicant’s arguments. The Examiner asserts Bodin teaches the receiving walls covering the magnets are coplanar with the reduced end opening (Bodin para. [0007], teaches the plug elements are configured to be “rotationally symmetrical on opposite end faces which are adjacent to one another in the contact position”. To have opposite end faces be adjacent to one another in a contact position requires the matching faces, including the magnetic receiving walls, to be coplanar to ensure flush physical and magnetic contact).
Relevant Prior Art Not Relied Upon
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure. The additional cited art, including but not limited to the excerpts below, further establishes the state of the art at the time of Applicant’s invention and shows the following was known:
M. Behl, J. DuBro, T. Flynt, I. Hameed, G. Lang and F. Park, "Autonomous Electric Vehicle Charging System," 2019 Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium (SIEDS), Charlottesville, VA, USA, 2019, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/SIEDS.2019.8735620.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WENREN CHEN whose telephone number is (571)272-5208. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10AM - 6PM.
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/WENREN CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3626
