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 .
Status
In response to the amendment filed on 01/16/2026, claims 1, 3, and 10 have been amended, and claim 2 is cancelled. Claims 1 and 3-10 are pending and under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/20/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
In response to the double patenting rejection in the previous Non-final Office action dated on 10/16/2025, Applicant has amended claim 1. As a result, the nonstatutory double patenting of claim 1 over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,612,295, provisional nonstatutory double patenting of claim 1 over claims 1, 17, and 19 of copending Application No. 18/270989 in view of WO 2020125774A1, and provisional nonstatutory double patenting of claim 1 over claims 1 and 2 of copending Application No. 18/276863 have been withdrawn.
CLAIM INTERPRETATION
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “a wet cleaning module, configured to clean at least part of the cleaning surface”, “a lifting structure, … configured to enable the wet cleaning module to move upward or downward”, and “a driving assembly, … configured to provide power for lifting of the lifting structure, and/or, to provide a cleaning liquid for the wet cleaning module” in claim 1.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (CN 111375575A, cited on 08/10/2023 IDS, hereinafter Li ‘575), in view of Li (CN 112137518A, hereinafter Li ‘518).
Regarding claim 1, Li ‘575 discloses an autonomous cleaning device, comprising:
a mobile platform (fig. 1, vehicle body 10), configured to move autonomously on a cleaning surface (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 2:21, a marble cleaning device comprises a vehicle body. The cleaning device cleans a surface); and
a cleaning module, disposed on the mobile platform and comprising (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 2:21-38, the cleaning device comprises a wiping assembly [corresponds to the recited cleaning module] along with a lifting chamber, and drive assembly):
a wet cleaning module (this element is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). The wet cleaning module includes a cleaning head 410 and a driving unit 420 as described in ¶ 0092 of the instant application), configured to clean at least part of the cleaning surface in a wet cleaning mode (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 7:37-8:21 and fig. 2, water is sprayed to a cleaning block 21 from a cleaning block nozzle. The cleaning block 21 cleans the surface and is equivalent to the cleaning head of the wet cleaning module. A motor 37 drives the cleaning block 21 to rotate through transmission of gears. It enables reciprocating movement of the cleaning block 21 on the cleaning surface);
a lifting structure (this element is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). Fig. 21 shows the lifting structure comprises connection rods), connected to the wet cleaning module and configured to enable the wet cleaning module to move upward or downward relative to the mobile platform (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 8:1-40, a lifting chamber 20 includes a spline shaft 22, a spline sleeve 19, a sliding block 23, and a lift limiting block 80 to move the cleaning block 21 upward and downward. The lift limiting block is coupled with chevron connections 79 which are equivalent to the connection rods); and
a driving assembly (this element is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). Specification of the instant application states, in ¶ 0012-31, the driving assembly may include in each embodiment a motor and a gear set, a clutch, a cable gear, a cable, a clean liquid pump, or a driving wheel and a vibration member), connected to the lifting structure and configured to provide power for lifting of the lifting structure (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 7:37-8:40 and fig. 1, an activation of a motor 37 leads to rotation of gears to lift the cleaning block 21), and/or to provide a cleaning liquid for the wet cleaning module (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 4:5-32, a cleaning liquid supply assembly provides cleaning water to the cleaning block for the wet cleaning),
wherein the driving assembly comprises: a motor, configured to provide a driving force, wherein the motor is configured to provide power for providing clean liquid to the wet cleaning module, and provide power for driving the lifting structure to raise and lower (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 7:37-8:40 and figs. 1, 2, 4, a motor 37 meshes with a right driving gear 40 when a right electromagnet 72 is electrified and a series of gear 33, drive shaft 38, and spline shaft 43 move to drive a cleaning liquid pump 34 to spray cleaning liquid to the cleaning block 21; The motor 37 meshes with a left driven gear 45 when a left electromagnet 68 is off and a series of blocks 23, 24 and spline shaft 22 move to slide the cleaning block 21 downward and slide upward after finishing the cleaning); and
a gear set, connected to an output shaft of the motor and configured to output the driving force for the forward rotation and the reverse rotation from the motor (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 6:38-7:24, the drive assembly comprises the motor 37 and the rotation of a main drive shaft 38 from the motor results in transmitting driving force to gears 41, 42, 44, 45), but does not disclose the motor is configured to provide a driving force for forward rotation and reverse rotation, wherein the motor provides power for providing clean liquid in forward rotation and provide power for driving the lifting structure in reverse rotation.
Li ‘518 teaches, in an analogous cleaning device field of endeavor, the motor is configured to provide a driving force for forward rotation and reverse rotation, wherein the motor provides power for providing clean liquid in forward rotation and provide power for driving the lifting structure in reverse rotation (Li ‘518 English translation, p. 7:31-8:6, when a motor 41 starts reverse rotation, a series of motor shaft 18, bevel gears 40, 38, shaft 30, belt wheel 35, transmission belt 34, cam shaft 24, cam 23, and rod 25 move to rotate a cleaning disc 29. When the motor 41 starts forward rotation, a series of motor shaft 43, disc 44, rack 16, air baffle plate 45, fans 60 move to generate and pass hot air to ground. Li ‘518 teaches the forward and reverse rotation of the motor 41 activate two different functions: rotating cleaning disc and providing hot air. Li ‘518 can be combined with Li ‘575 to teach forward rotation and reverse rotation of a motor can activate the wet cleaning module to move upward or downward and spraying clean liquid to the wet cleaning module. Specification of the instant application does not explain whether it is necessary to have the forward rotation for providing the clean liquid and the reverse rotation for driving the lifting structure. Each function can be driven by either forward or reverse rotation of the motor).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the autonomous cleaning device of Li ‘575 to provide the driving force of the motor via the forward rotation and the reverse rotation as taught by Li ‘518. The cleaner performs various cleaning functions to reduce human worker’s working quantity (Li ‘518 English translation, p. 8:7-13).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li ‘575 in view of Li ‘518, as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Woo (KR 101803892B1).
Regarding claim 3, Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518 teaches the autonomous cleaning device as in the rejection of claim 1, but does not disclose the driving assembly further comprises: a clutch, meshed with the gear set, to provide the driving force when the clutch is in reverse engagement with the gear set, and not to provide the driving force when the clutch is in forward non-engagement with the gear set.
Woo teaches, in an analogous wet cleaning device field of endeavor, the driving assembly further comprises: a clutch, meshed with the gear set, to provide the driving force when the clutch is in reverse engagement with the gear set, and not to provide the driving force when the clutch is in forward non-engagement with the gear set (Woo English translation, p. 5: 28-32 and fig. 3b, clutch packs 30, 60 are meshed with a set of gears 22, 23, 24. The clutch pack provides a mop 70 to rotate in a forward direction and a reverse direction. While Li ‘575 teaches the driving assembly comprises the set of gears, the clutch packs of Woo can be combined to allow a power transmission device to rotate in forward and reverse directions).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the driving assembly of Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518 to provide the clutch as taught by Woo so that the driving assembly of the cleaner can be operated in multiple directions for adding convenience and effectiveness of cleaning.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li ‘575 in view of Li ‘518 and Woo, as applied to claim 3 above, and in further view of Sato (JP 2000007172A).
Regarding claim 4, Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518 and Woo teaches the autonomous cleaning device as in the rejection of claim 3, wherein the clutch comprises: a first clutch gear and a second clutch gear oppositely disposed (Woo fig. 3b, the clutch comprises the clutch pack 30 and the clutch pack 60 [correspond to the recited second and first clutch gears respectively] disposed oppositely with each other), and the second clutch gear is provided with teeth (Woo English translation, p. 6:11-14, the clutch pack 30 comprises a plurality of locking pieces 32 [correspond to the recited teeth]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the clutch of Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518 and Woo to provide the first and second clutch gears as taught by Woo so that the cleaner can adjust the direction of operation for convenience.
Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518 and Woo does not disclose the teeth provide the driving force when the second clutch gear is in reverse engagement with the gear set, and not to provide the driving force when the second clutch gear is in forward non-engagement with the gear set.
Sato teaches, in a printer field of endeavor and capable of solving primary problem, the teeth provide the driving force when the second clutch gear is in reverse engagement with the gear set, and not to provide the driving force when the second clutch gear is in forward non-engagement with the gear set (Sato English translation, p. 4:9-26, a printer of Sato comprises a set of gears and clutches for paper feeding. Two clutch gears 9 are meshed with a drive gear 8. When the clutch gear 9 rotates in a counterclockwise direction, teeth of the clutch gear 9 are locked by locking claws 10 [correspond to the recited reverse engagement] and a paper feed roller 5 is rotated in clockwise. When the clutch gear 9 is driven to rotated in a clockwise direction, the teeth of the clutch gear, the paper feed roller 5 will be idle [correspond to the recited forward non-engagement]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the clutch of Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518 and Woo to provide the driving force or non-driving force as taught by Sato in order to provide selective rotational force to a component of the device as needed.
Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Woo, and Sato does not disclose second clutch gear is provided with teeth arranged at an oblique angle in a counterclockwise direction. However, Woo teaches the clutch pack 30 comprises the locking pieces 32 (Woo English translation, p. 6:11-14) and Sato teaches the clutch gear 9 comprises teeth (Sato English translation, p. 4:15-18). The teeth are locked to provide the directional rotation. Although Woo and Sato do not disclose the shape and direction of the teeth, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teeth of Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Woo, and Sato to arrange them at the oblique angle in the counterclockwise direction so that the clutch can provide the directional rotation in order to operate the cleaner effectively.
Claims 5, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li ‘575 in view of Li ‘518, Woo, and Sato, as applied to claim 4 above, and in further view of Klotz et al. (US 2018/0141207, hereinafter Klotz).
Regarding claim 5, Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Woo, and Sato teaches the autonomous cleaning device as in the rejection of claim 4, but does not disclose the driving assembly further comprises: a cable gear, meshed with the first clutch gear to be driven by the first clutch gear to rotate.
Klotz teaches, in a robotic mechanical device field of endeavor and capable of solving primary problem, the driving assembly further comprises: a cable gear, meshed with the first clutch gear to be driven by the first clutch gear to rotate (¶ 0034 and fig. 2, Klotz discloses a machine comprising a set of gears and a clutch. A transmission assembly comprises a worm gear 14 driven by the output of the clutch 12. Klotz teaches a gear can be meshed with a clutch in a power transmission system. Klotz discloses the worm gear, instead of a cable gear. However, specification of the instant application discloses the cable gear is simply the gear wherein an end of a cable can be wound around it).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the driving assembly to provide the cable gear driven by the first clutch gear to rotate as taught by Klotz in order to provide power and rotation transmission to the device beyond the clutch arrangement.
Regarding claim 7, Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Woo, Sato, and Klotz teaches the autonomous cleaning device as in the rejection of claim 5, wherein the driving assembly further comprises: a clean liquid pump, meshed with the gear set to be driven by the gear set to provide the cleaning liquid to the wet cleaning module (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 7:37-8:40 and fig. 2, a cleaning liquid pump 34 is connected to the set of gears through a pump drive shaft 53, and the pump provides the cleaning liquid to the cleaning block 21 through cleaning block nozzle 58).
Regarding claim 8, Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Woo, Sato, and Klotz teaches the autonomous cleaning device as in the rejection of claim 7, wherein the gear set further comprises:
a first-stage transmission gear, connected to the output shaft of the motor and configured to output the driving force from the motor (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 7:37-8:40 and fig. 1, a motor 37 drives a right driving gear 40 [corresponds to the recited first-stage transmission gear] through a main drive shaft 38);
a second-stage transmission gear, meshed with the first-stage transmission gear and configured to output the driving force from the motor to the cable gear (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 7:37-8:40 and fig. 1, a left driving gear 44, which works along with the right driving gear 40 thus it corresponds to the recited first-stage transmission gear, is meshed to a bevel gear 42 [corresponds to the recited second-stage transmission gear] to rotate. The gear 42 is associated with the lifting chamber 20 for lifting the cleaning block 21. Thus, the gear 42 can be configured to output the driving force to a cable gear); and
a third-stage transmission gear, configured to output the driving force from the motor to the clean liquid pump (Li ‘575 English translation, p. 7:37-8:40 and fig. 1, a right driven gear 33 [corresponds to the recited third-stage transmission gear] transmits the driving force to the cleaning liquid pump 34 through the cleaning liquid pump driving shaft 35), wherein the third-stage transmission gear is meshed with the second-stage transmission gear (Woo, fig. 3b, the gear set comprises an interlocking gear 22 [corresponds to the recited first-stage transmission gear], a power transmission gear 23 [corresponds to the recited second-stage transmission gear], and an interlocking gear 24 [corresponds to the recited third-stage transmission gear] and each gear is meshed to the subsequent gear).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the gear set of Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Sato, and Klotz to provide the gear meshed to the subsequent gear as taught by Woo so that it may reduce loss of power transmission force among the gears.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li ‘575 in view of Li ‘518, Woo, Sato, and Klotz, as applied to claim 5 above, and in further view of Scott et al. (US 2018/0111513, hereinafter Scott).
Regarding claim 6, Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Woo, Sato, and Klotz teaches the autonomous cleaning device as in the rejection of claim 5, but does not disclose the lifting structure further comprises: a cable, with one end being wound around the cable gear and the other end being connected to the lifting structure to be driven by the gear set to pull up or down the lifting structure.
Scott teaches, in a mechanical device field of endeavor and capable of solving primary problem, the lifting structure further comprises: a cable, with one end being wound around the cable gear and the other end being connected to the lifting structure to be driven by the gear set to pull up or down the lifting structure (¶ 0017 and 0026 and fig. 3, an end of a lifting cable 74 is wound around a pulley 70 coupled to a gear 42. The other of the cable is connected to a seatback 18 to pull up the seatback. Scott teaches a cable can be attached to a gear and a lifting structure and as an actuator rotates clockwise or counterclockwise, the lifting structure can be moved up or down).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the lifting structure of Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Woo, Sato, and Klotz to provide the cable as taught by Scott in order to enable lifting and lowering of a structure by a simple mechanism utilizing the cable instead of connecting a plurality of links.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li ‘575 in view of Li ‘518, Woo, Sato, and Klotz, as applied to claim 8 above, and in further view of Tang (US 2013/0167319).
Regarding claim 9, Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Woo, Sato, and Klotz teaches the autonomous cleaning device as in the rejection of claim 8, but does not disclose the output shaft of the motor comprises an output gear, meshed with the first-stage transmission gear and configured to output the driving force from the motor.
Tang teaches, in an analogous cleaning device field of endeavor, the output shaft of the motor comprises an output gear, meshed with the first-stage transmission gear and configured to output the driving force from the motor (fig. 6 and ¶ 0077, an output shaft of a motor 16 is a gear 17. The gear 17 is meshed with a rack 18 [corresponds to the recited first-stage transmission gear] to output the driving force of the motor).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the output shaft of the motor to be the output gear as taught by Tang in order to transmit the driving force of motor directly to the set of gears. It may reduce the power loss from the motor.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li ‘575 in view of Li ‘518, Woo, Sato, Klotz, and Tang, as applied to claim 9 above, and in further view of Sun et al. (KR 20120088314A, hereinafter Sun).
Regarding claim 10, Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Woo, Sato, Klotz, and Tang teaches the autonomous cleaning device as in the rejection of claim 9, but does not disclose the driving assembly further comprises: a driving wheel, connected to the output shaft of the motor; and a vibration member, connected to the driving wheel to reciprocate under rotation of the driving wheel.
Sun teaches, in an analogous autonomous cleaning device field of endeavor, the driving assembly further comprises: a driving wheel, connected to the output shaft of the motor (fig. 2, Sun discloses a robot cleaner having a mop mounting plate for wet cleaning. The cleaner comprises a disc 220 [corresponds to the recited driving wheel] is connected to the motor 210 through a shaft of the motor 210); and a vibration member, connected to the driving wheel to reciprocate under rotation of the driving wheel (fig. 2, the crank mounting part 240 [corresponds to the recited vibration member] is connected to the disc 220 [corresponds to the recited driving wheel] through a crank 230 and reciprocates).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the driving assembly of Li ‘575 as modified by Li ‘518, Woo, Sato, Klotz, and Tang to provide the driving wheel and the vibration member as taught by Sun so that the cleaning mop moves asymmetrically for effective scrubbing on the floor surface.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection(s) of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. §102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Li ‘518.
Applicant argues Li ‘575 and Tanaka do not teach or suggest the amended claim limitations that the driving assembly comprises: a motor, configured to provide a driving force for forward rotation and reverse rotation, wherein the motor is configured to, in forward rotation, provide power for providing clean liquid to the wet cleaning module, and in reverse rotation, provide power for driving the lifting structure to raise and lower and a gear set, connected to an output shaft of the motor and configured to output the driving force for the forward rotation and the reverse rotation from the motor.
Examiner acknowledges Tanaka discloses the motor provides driving force for forward rotation and reverse rotation, but the driving force is used to reciprocating a dust removing mechanism, not necessarily to perform two distinctively different functions.
Regarding the amended claim limitations, Li ‘575 already teaches the cleaning device performs the cleaning liquid application and the up and down movement of the cleaning block; however, the two different functions are achieved by actuating the motor to engage with two different driving gears while the motor rotates in the same direction. However, Li ‘518 teaches the cleaning device performs two different functions of rotating a cleaning disc and blowing hot air by switching rotational direction of the motor in a forward direction and a reverse direction. Therefore, combination of Li ‘575 and Li ‘518 teaches that the power transmission system of Li ‘575 can be replaced with the power transmission system of Li ‘518, which is activated by the forward or reverse rotation of the motor so that the clean liquid application and the lifting structure movement are activated by the forward or reverse rotation of the motor.
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 SUKWOO JAMES CHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7402. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00a-5:00p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached at (313) 446-6546. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/S.J.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/DAVID S POSIGIAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723