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 .
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.
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response application 18/387685 filed on 11/07/23.
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 1-17 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kang et al. (US Pub. 2021/0170610).
As to claim 1 the prior art teaches an unmanned charging device for a smart logistics vehicle, the unmanned charging device comprising:
a charging body configured to enable a mobile robot to dock therewith, the charging body having an inner space (see fig 4, 9-13 paragraph 0009-0011, 0207-0210, 0228-0236);
and a charging terminal unit inserted into the inner space of the charging body, the charging terminal unit having a front support at a front side thereof, the charging terminal unit being configured to enable charging of the mobile robot (see fig 4, 9-14 paragraph 0248-0256),
wherein, when the mobile robot approaches the charging body in response to reception of a charging request, a sensing unit of the mobile robot is supported by the front support, thereby causing the mobile robot to be adjusted in position, and wherein docking of the mobile robot with the charging terminal unit is performed in a position-adjusted state of the mobile robot (see fig 4, 9-16 paragraph 0277-0284 and 0303-0310).
As to claim 2 the prior art teaches wherein: the charging body comprises a position recognizer configured to recognize a position of the mobile robot;
and the position recognizer recognizes the sensing unit of the mobile robot, thereby recognizing the position of the mobile robot (see fig 4 paragraph 0129-0136).
As to claim 3 the prior art teaches wherein the charging body comprises a display configured to display state information comprising at least one of operation state information of the charging body or a charged state of the mobile robot (see fig 4 paragraph 0135-0141).
As to claim 4 the prior art teaches wherein: the charging body comprises an anti-slip sheet at a bottom surface of the charging body, the anti-slip sheet extending outwards and configured to prevent slip of the mobile robot (see fig 4-9 paragraph 0140-0146);
and the anti-slip sheet senses whether or not the mobile robot is safely seated when the mobile robot approaches the charging body in response to reception of the charging request (see fig 4-9 paragraph 0145-0151).
As to claim 5 the prior art teaches wherein the front support has a tapered shape gradually increasing in cross-sectional area as the front support extends in the inner space of the charging body in an inward direction (see fig 4, 9-12 paragraph 0214-0220).
As to claim 6 the prior art teaches wherein the front support has a tapered shape, and the sensing unit of the mobile robot has an inverted tapered shape such that the sensing unit is adjusted in position in a state of being supported by the front support having the tapered shape (see fig 4, 9-13 paragraph 0253-0261).
As to claim 7 the prior art teaches wherein: the charging terminal unit is spaced apart from the charging body in the inner space of the charging body, thereby forming a gap (see fig 4, 9-15 paragraph 0200-0266);
and when the sensing unit of the mobile robot is supported by the front support, the charging terminal unit is tilted in a support direction towards the gap, thereby enabling the mobile robot to be adjusted in position (see fig 4, 9-15 paragraph 0205-0212).
As to claim 8, the prior art teaches further comprising: a cover attached to a front surface of the charging body while being open at a central portion thereof such that the cover is disposed at an outside of the charging terminal unit, wherein the cover regulates a tilted position of the charging terminal unit (see fig 4, 9-15 paragraph 0210-0216).
As to claim 9 the prior art teaches further comprising: a rear support provided in rear of the front support, the rear support moving to the gap together with the charging terminal unit when the sensing unit of the mobile robot is supported by the front support (see fig 4, 10-16 paragraph 0280-0290).
As to claim 10 the prior art teaches wherein the rear support has a tapered shape gradually increasing in cross-sectional area as the rear support extends in an outward direction in the inner space of the charging body (see fig 4, 12-16 paragraph 0288-0295).
As to claim 11 the prior art teaches further comprising: a compression spring provided in rear of the front support and elastically supported in the forward and rearward directions of the charging terminal unit, the compression spring being configured to urge the charging terminal unit in a forward direction, wherein the compression spring is configured to alleviate impact generated during docking of the mobile robot with the charging terminal unit (see fig 4, 12-16 paragraph 0284-0300).
As to claim 12 the prior art teaches wherein: the charging terminal unit comprises a communication terminal configured to take charge of controller area network (CAN) communication of the charging body (see fig 1-4 paragraph 0100-0105);
and the communication terminal monitors a charged state of the mobile robot based on the CAN communication (see fig 1-4 paragraph 0104-0110).
As to claim 13 the prior art teaches wherein start and end of charging of the mobile robot is determined based on a charged state of the mobile robot monitored by the communication terminal (see fig 3-6 paragraph 0112-0118).
As to claim 14 the prior art teaches wherein the communication terminal includes an end having a protrusion shape, wherein the end of the communication terminal is brought into close contact with a front surface of the mobile robot when the mobile robot docks with the charging body (see fig 3-7 paragraph 0125-0130).
As to claim 15 the prior art teaches further comprising: a power supply terminal disposed over the communication terminal while being spaced apart from the communication terminal, wherein the power supply terminal enables the mobile robot to be charged when the mobile robot docks with the charging terminal unit (see fig 3-8 paragraph 0140-0145).
As to claim 16 the prior art teaches an unmanned charging method for a smart logistics vehicle, the smart logistics vehicle comprising a charging body configured to enable a mobile robot to dock therewith and having an inner space, the smart logistics vehicle also comprising a charging terminal unit inserted into the inner space of the charging body and having a front support at a front side thereof, the charging terminal unit being configured to enable charging of the mobile robot, the unmanned charging method comprising:
receiving a charging request by the mobile robot, thereby causing the mobile robot to approach the charging body (see fig 4, 9-15 paragraph 0009-0011, 0207-0210, 0228-0236);
supporting a sensing unit of the mobile robot by the front support, thereby adjusting a position of the mobile robot (see fig 4, 9-15 paragraph 0248-0256);
and docking the mobile robot with the charging terminal unit in a position- adjusted state of the mobile robot (see fig 4, 9-15 paragraph 0277-0284 and 0303-0310).
As to claim 17 the prior art teaches wherein adjusting a position of the mobile robot comprises spacing the charging terminal unit from the charging body in the inner space of the charging body, thereby forming a gap, and tilting the charging terminal unit in a support direction of the sensing unit of the mobile robot when the sensing unit of the mobile robot is supported by the front support, to move the charging terminal unit to the gap, thereby adjusting a position of the mobile robot (see fig 4, 9-16 paragraph 0260-0270).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BINH C TAT whose telephone number is 571 272-1908. The examiner can normally be reached on flex 7:00Am-8PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jack Chiang can be reached on 571 272-7483. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 703-872-9306.
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/BINH C TAT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2851
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