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
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Scheiwiller (WO 2016054529).
Scheiwiller teaches a cleaning machine for cleaning a cleaning surface along an intended direction of use, the cleaning machine comprising: a driving assembly comprising: a pair of drive wheels (23; rear wheels), wherein each wheel of the pair of drive wheels is configured to be driven independently of the other wheel of the pair of drive wheels; a rear motor (page 8, lines 1-2) operably coupled to the pair of drive wheels, wherein the rear motor is disposed to drive at least one wheel of the pair of drive wheels (page 8, lines 1-2); a multi-directional wheel (23; front wheels) disposed forward along the intended direction of use of the pair of drive wheels; and a front motor operably coupled to the multi-directional wheel (page 7, lines 33-35), wherein the front motor is disposed to steer the multi-directional wheel; a cleaning element (40) disposed to come into contact with the cleaning surface, wherein the cleaning element is disposed forward of the pair of drive wheels along the intended direction of use of the cleaning machine; and a controller assembly disposed to control at least one of the rear motor, the front motor, or a combination thereof (page 7, lines 20-26).
With regards to claim 2, the controller assembly comprises: a rear controller connected to the rear motor, wherein the rear controller is disposed to communicate with the rear motor; and a front controller connected to the front motor, wherein the front controller is disposed to communicate with the front motor (page 7, lines 20-26; control members operate the drive motor and there can be a drive motor for each wheel).
With regards to claim 3, the multi-directional wheel comprises: a first multi-directional wheel on a first side of the cleaning machine; and a second multi-directional wheel disposed on a second side of the cleaning machine opposite the first side of the cleaning machine (page 7, lines 26-29; figure 4).
With regards to claim 4, the front motor comprises: a first front motor operably connected to the first multi-directional wheel, wherein the first front motor is configured to turn the first multi-directional wheel in response to a first signal received from the controller assembly; and a second front motor operably connected to the second multi-directional wheel, wherein the second front motor is configured to turn the second multi-directional wheel in response to a second signal received from the controller assembly (page 7, lines 20-26 states that the controller operates the drive motor, page 8, lines 1-2 state that each wheel can have an individual hub motor).
With regards to claim 5, the cleaning element comprises a scrubber; and wherein the multi-directional wheel is disposed forward of the scrubber along the intended direction of use of the cleaning machine (figure 5).
With regards to claim 12, the rear motor comprises: a first rear motor; and a second rear motor (page 8, lines 1-2); wherein a first drive wheel of the pair of drive wheels is operably connected to the first rear motor of the pair of motors; and wherein a second wheel of the pair of drive wheels is operably connected to the second rear motor of the pair of motors.
With regards to claim 13, a sensor (25; steering mechanism senses the degree of rotation of the wheel since it turns the wheels) connected to the controller assembly, wherein the sensor is disposed to detect a degree of rotation of the multi-directional wheel.
With regards to claim 14, a propulsion system for a cleaning machine with a cleaning element, the propulsion system comprising: a rear wheel assembly comprising: a first rear wheel (23); a first rear motor operably connected to the first rear wheel (page 8, lines 1-2), wherein the first rear motor is disposed to drive the first rear wheel; a second rear wheel (23; page 7, lines 26-29; figure 4) , wherein the second rear wheel is configured to be driven independently of the first rear wheel; and a second rear motor operably connected to the second rear wheel, wherein the second rear motor is disposed to drive the second rear wheel (page 8, lines 1-2); a front wheel assembly comprising: a multi-directional wheel (23; page 7, lines 23-29) disposed forward along an intended direction of use of the cleaning machine of the rear wheel assembly; and a front motor operably coupled to the multi-directional wheel, wherein the front motor is disposed to turn the multi-directional wheel (page 8, lines 1-2); and a controller assembly (page 7, lines 20-26) connected to each of the first rear motor, to the second rear motor and to the front motor, wherein the controller assembly is disposed to control each of the first rear motor, the second rear motor, and the front motor.
With regards to claim 15, the multi-directional wheel comprises: a first multi-directional wheel; and a second multi-directional wheel (page 7, lines 26-29); and wherein the front motor comprises: a first front motor operably connected to the first multi-directional wheel, wherein the first front motor is configured to turn the first multi-directional wheel in response to a first signal received from the controller assembly; and a second front motor operably connected to the second multi-directional wheel, wherein the second front motor is configured to turn the second multi-directional wheel in response to a second signal received from the controller assembly (page 7, lines 20-page 8, line 2).
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.
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(s) 6-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Scheiwiller (‘529)in view of Knowlton (USPN 5802665).
With regards to claim 6-7 and 9, Scheiwiller teaches all the essential elements of the claimed invention however fails to teach that the scrubber comprises a rotational axis about which the scrubber rotates, wherein a pivot axis of the multi-directional wheel is disposed approximately parallel with the rotational axis of the scrubber (claim 6) and that the scrubber comprises a cylindrical brush that defines a rotational axis about which the cylindrical brush rotates, wherein a pivot axis of the multi-directional wheel is disposed approximately perpendicular to the rotational axis of the cylindrical brush (claim 7), wherein the cylindrical brush comprises a bristles that has a width defined along a centerline axis of the broom from a first end to a second end (claim 9). The multi-directional wheels can be caster wheels (page 7, lines 33-34) which means they have a vertical pivot axis.
Knowlton teaches a floor cleaning apparatus with a cylindrical brush (46) (claim 7) having a rotational axis parallel to the surface being cleaned (figure 1a) and a scrubber (420) with a rotational axis that is perpendicular to the surface being cleaned (figure 8A) (claim 6). The cylindrical brush is a broom (46) with a width defined along a centerline axis of the broom from a first end to a second end (figure 2a) (claim 9). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the cleaning element of Scheiwiller so that it can be either a cylindrical brush or a scrubbing brush as taught by Knowlton (wherein the cylindrical brush would be perpendicular to the pivot axis of Scheiwiller caster wheels and the scrubber would have a rotational axis that is parallel to the pivot axis of Scheiwiller caster wheels) since both brushes are capable of cleaning a surface equally well.
With regards to claim 8, Scheiwiller teaches all the essential elements of the claimed invention however fails to teach a hopper configured to receive debris from the cleaning element, wherein the hopper comprises: a bin defining a cavity therein; and an inlet defining an opening disposed to receive debris from the cleaning element, wherein the opening defines a width extending along a transverse direction of the cleaning machine; wherein the cleaning element defines a width, wherein the width of the cleaning element is greater than the width of the opening of the inlet of the hopper.
Knowlton teaches a hopper (figure 7a) with a bin (352) having an opening (354) to received debris from a cleaning element (48). The opening is a width along a transverse direction of the cleaning machine and the width of the cleaning element is greater than the width of the inlet of the hopper (the width of the cleaning element extends the entire width of the machine (as shown in figure 2a), thus the hopper inlet width must inherently be less since the hopper is located within the housing of the machine).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Scheiwiller so that it comprises a hopper as taught by Knowlton to collect the debris after being swept by the cleaning element.
With regards to claim 10, while the references do not teach the shape of the hopper, it would have been obvious to modify the shape of the hopper so that the sidewalls have a curved, concave shape and that the width of the opening of the inlet is defined between a point along the first sidewall closest to the second sidewall and a point along the second sidewall closest to the first sidewall. Modifying the shape of the sidewalls so that they are curved and concave would not alter the function of the device but would provide more area in the bin for debris and having the opening be along the closest sidewalls would prevent debris from coming out of the bin.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is 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:
Claim 11 includes the limitation wherein the multi-directional wheel comprises: a first multi-directional wheel on a first side of the cleaning machine; and a second multi-directional wheel disposed on a second side of the cleaning machine opposite the first side of the cleaning machine; wherein the first multi-directional wheel is disposed partially within the first concavity of the first sidewall, wherein the second multi-directional wheel is disposed partially within the second concavity of the second sidewall; wherein the width of the opening of the inlet is defined between a point along first sidewall closest to the second sidewall and a point along second sidewall closest to the first sidewall.
None of the prior art teach this limitation nor would it have been obvious to modify the prior art to achieve the claimed invention. Therefore, this claim is free from the prior art.
Relevant Prior Art
The applicant is advised to review WO 2023285923 as relevant prior art. Even though it was not used in a rejection in this action, it is considered close prior art and in combination with a cleaning element, could be used to reject at least claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAY LYNN KARLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1268. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th (6am-5pm).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Carter can be reached at 571-272-4475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHAY KARLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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