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
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 1-2, 4, 7, 10-14, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by O’Hora (USPUB 2019/0118782).
As to Claim 1, O’Hora discloses a system for charging electric vehicles, the system comprising: a rail structure (Figure 4, Element 404); a mobile base unit supported by the rail structure, the mobile base unit including a movable base connected to the rail structure, a drive motor configured to move the movable base along the rail structure, and a robotic arm secured to the movable base, the movable base defining a first battery compartment (Paragraph 34); a first battery charge station connected to a power source and defining a second battery compartment; and a first battery movable between a first position in which the first battery is received in the first battery compartment and electrically and mechanically coupled to the mobile base unit to provide power to the drive motor and the robotic arm, and a second position in which the first battery is received in the second battery compartment and electrically and mechanically coupled to the first battery charge station to charge the first battery, wherein the movable base moves the first battery from the first position to the second position (Paragraphs 34-35).
As to Claim 2, O’Hora discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the first battery compartment is horizontally aligned with the second battery compartment (Figure 5).
As to Claim 4, O’Hora discloses the system of claim 1, further comprising: first and second guide members disposed within the first battery compartment and configured to align and support the first battery within the first battery compartment, the first guide members located at an upper portion of the first battery compartment and the second guide members located at a lower portion of the first battery compartment; and third and fourth guide members disposed within the second battery compartment and configured to align and support the first battery within the second battery compartment, the third guide members located at an upper portion of the second battery compartment and the fourth guide members located at a lower portion of the second battery compartment (Figure 6, guide members on each side of the battery to align and slide into the charger or vehicle).
As to Claim 7, O’Hora discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the first battery includes a body and first and second locking members, the first locking member extends from a first end of the body toward the first battery charge station and the second locking member extends from a second opposite end of the body toward the mobile base unit (Paragraph 43).
As to Claim 10, O’Hora discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the robot arm includes a plurality of segments connected to each other such that the robot arm has multiple degrees of freedom (Figure 5, joints and rotation member of 410).
As to Claim 11, O’Hora discloses the system of claim 1, further comprising a sensor configured to measure a distance between the first battery charge station and the mobile base unit (Paragraph 40).
As to Claim 12, O’Hora discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the movable base is connected to the rail structure by a gear assembly including gear wheels (Paragraph 36).
As to Claim 13, O’Hora discloses a system for charging a plurality of electric vehicles, the system comprising: a rail structure; a mobile base unit supported by the rail structure, the mobile base unit including a movable base connected to the rail structure, a drive motor configured to move the movable base along the rail structure, and a robotic arm secured to the movable base; a first battery charge station connected to a power source and aligned with the movable base; and a first battery movable between a first position in which the first battery is electrically and mechanically coupled to the mobile base unit to provide power to the drive motor and the robotic arm, and a second position in which the first battery is electrically and mechanically coupled to the first battery charge station to charge the first battery; and a controller configured to: obtain a charge request from one or more electric vehicles; obtain a current power level of the first battery; determine a power level required to perform the charge request; and move the first battery from the first position to the second position using the movable base in response to the current power level being less than the determined power level (Paragraphs 27-28 and 34-35).
As to Claim 14, O’Hora discloses the system of claim 13, further comprising a sensor configured to measure a distance between the first battery charge station and the mobile base unit (Paragraph 40).
As to Claim 16, O’Hora discloses the system of claim 13, wherein: the movable base defines a first battery compartment, the first battery is received in the first battery compartment when the first battery is in the first position; and the first battery charge station defines a second battery compartment that is aligned with the first battery compartment, the first battery is received in the second battery compartment when the first battery is in the second position (Figure 5).
As to Claim 17, O’Hora discloses the system of claim 16, further comprising: first and second guide members disposed within the first battery compartment and configured to align and support the first battery within the first battery compartment, the first guide members located at an upper portion of the first battery compartment and the second guide members located at a lower portion of the first battery compartment; and third and fourth guide members disposed within the second battery compartment and configured to align and support the first battery within the second battery compartment, the third guide members located at an upper portion of the second battery compartment and the fourth guide members located at a lower portion of the second battery compartment (Figure 6, guide members on each side of the battery to align and slide into the charger or vehicle).
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.
Claims 3 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over O’Hora.
As to Claim 3, O’hora discloses the system of claim 1, but does not expressly disclose wherein the robotic arm hangs below the movable base. However, changing the height of a base or increasing the arm length only requires routine skill in the art, and one having ordinary skill in the art would look to allow for increase range on the robotic arm in order to allow for a greater range to access the batteries.
As to Claim 15, O’hora discloses the system of claim 14, but does not expressly disclose wherein the robotic arm hangs below the movable base. However, changing the height of a base or increasing the arm length only requires routine skill in the art, and one having ordinary skill in the art would look to allow for increase range on the robotic arm in order to allow for a greater range to access the batteries.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 20 is allowed.
Claims 5-6, 8-9, and 18-19 are 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT J GRANT whose telephone number is (571)270-5820. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am - 5:30pm.
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/ROBERT GRANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859