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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 2, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 6 and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Du et al. (USPGPub 2022/0354050).
Regarding claims 1 and 10: Du discloses an autonomous lawn mower (as seen in figures 1-61), comprising:
a movable machine body (as seen in figure 16, at 10) being movable through unmanned driving with moving devices (as seen in figure 16, via wheel at 20 and unnumbered forward wheel);
at least one lawn mowing work unit (as seen in figure 4, generally 31) mounted on the movable machine body (i.e., as seen in figure 16); and a machine body cover (as seen in figures 16 and 17, at 41) that covers an upper surface and a peripheral surface of the movable machine body, wherein the at least one lawn mowing work unit includes:
a cutting blade (as seen in figure 4, at 32);
a prime mover (as seen in figure 4, generally 3) configured to drive the cutting blade;
at least one contact member capable of ground/surface contact (as seen in figure 4, “sliding member” in area of 411 and 413 and as seen in figures 5-7 and 25), which is located within an area between the moving devices in a front-and-rear direction (as seen in figures 16 and 17), and is configured to prevent contact of the cutting blade with a ground surface (i.e., as seen in figure 25; also, page 1, paragraph [0012] and page 10, [0144]); and
an adjustment mechanism (as seen in figure 8, at 45) configured to allow the lawn mowing work unit to be moved upward and downward with respect to the movable machine body (as seen in figures 6 and 7), and wherein the ground-contact member and the cutting blade are located inside the machine body cover (as seen between figures 4 and 16).
Regarding claim 2: Du discloses the autonomous lawn mower of claim 1. Further, Du discloses wherein the at least one contact member is arranged on a front side of the at least one lawn mowing work unit in a traveling direction of the movable machine body (as seen in figure 4, area of 411 and 413).
Regarding claims 5 and 6: Du discloses the autonomous lawn mower of claim 1. Further, Du discloses wherein the contact member can contain elements disposed at a position offset from a central line of a work range of the cutting blade in a front-and-rear direction in the lawn mowing work unit and disposed on both of a right side and a left side in front of a work range of the cutting blade (as seen in figure 41, at 410 and opposing unnumbered member below reference numeral 32).
Regarding claims 11 and 12: Du discloses the autonomous lawn mower of claim 10. Further, Du discloses wherein the contact member is a plate body facing the ground surface (as seen in figure 4, at 411) and has an embodiment wherein it is brought into contact with the ground surface at a protruding portion (as seen in figure 40, at 4147) that protrudes downward from an outer peripheral portion of the plate body in an annular manner (when employed as seen in figures 41 or 42).
Regarding claim 13: Du discloses the autonomous lawn mower of claim 1. Further, Du discloses wherein the contact member is mounted to a housing configured to support the prime mover (as seen in figures 4 and 60).
Regarding claim 14: Du discloses the autonomous lawn mower of claim 1. Further, Du discloses wherein the movable machine body includes a controller, and wherein, after the controller acquires information regarding unevenness, the controller is capable of reduces a speed of the movable machine body (page 8, paragraph [0134]).
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 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Du et al. (USPGPub 2022/0354050) in view of Fuse et al. (USPGPub 2019/0357433).
Regarding claim 3: Du discloses the autonomous lawn mower of claim 1 substantially as discussed above but fails to show the use of a plurality of lawn mowing work units. However, Fuse teaches that it is well known in the autonomous lawn mower art to provide such a mower having a plurality of lawn mowing work units (as seen in figure 2, at 30). Further, Fuse discloses wherein each of the plurality of lawn mowing work units includes the contact member (as seen in figure 5, at 41) and the adjustment mechanism(as seen in figure 5, at 27), and wherein each of the lawn mowing work units is movable upward and downward through intermediation of the adjustment mechanism independently of both of the movable machine body and other lawn mowing work unit (as seen in figure 9; also, page 3, paragraph [0049]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the device of Du with the teachings of Fuse in order to provide an autonomous lawn mower having a greater cutting path and thus allowing for more efficient and effective operation of the mower.
Regarding claim 4: Du as modified by Fuse discloses the autonomous lawn mower of claim 2. Further, Fuse discloses wherein the ground-contact members of the plurality of lawn mowing work units are located within the area between the moving devices in the front-and-rear direction (as seen in figure 2).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Du et al. (USPGPub 2022/0354050) in view of Johnson (USP 4,141,200).
Regarding claim 9: Du discloses the autonomous lawn mower of claim 1 substantially as discussed above but fails to show the use of a rolling type ground contact member. However, Johnson teaches that it is well known in the agricultural art to provide such a rolling ground-contact member (as seen in figure 1, at 38) in concert with a cutter adjustment assembly of an agricultural device. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the device of Du with the teachings of Johnson in order to provide an autonomous lawn mower having a greater ability to move over a given surface with the obvious benefits of a rolling ground contact type device which would be less suspectable to “tripping” due to uneven surfaces. Further, inasmuch as the references disclose these elements as art recognized equivalents, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the exercise art to substitute one for the other. In re Fout, 675 F.2d 297, 301, 213 USPQ 532, 536 (CCPA 1982).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest in an autonomous lawn mower in combination with other claimed features/limitations the adjustment mechanism is in at least one of a plurality of modes for adjusting a mowing height when the ground-contact member is constantly in contact with the ground surface.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bernini (USPGPub 2021/0084811) discloses a robot lawn mower having a ground sensed adjustment to a cutter means.
Svensson et al. (USPGPub 2022/0217904) discloses an autonomous lawn mower having a plurality of cutter devices on an adjustment means and under a common cover.
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/ROBERT E PEZZUTO/ Examiner, Art Unit 3671