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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recited the limitation “an electrical connector at the proximal end configured to be connected to a battery of a aircraft…” in line 9-10. The aircraft was preciously introduced in the claim and should be recited in lines 9-10 as “the aircraft”. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 12-13 and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by TIRPAK et al. (US 2018/0039286 A1, hereinafter TIRPAK).
Regarding claim 12, TIRPAK discloses a method of charging an aircraft, comprising:
providing an aircraft (See Fig.1, Item#110) having a charging tether (See Fig.1, Item#116) with a tether electrical connector (See Fig.1, Item#115 and Pars.4 and 23, disclose a mating device comprising electrical contacts to receive power when in contact with electrical contacts 125 and 126 on the charging dock) and comprising a tether magnetic element (See Par.15, discloses the mating device 115 may be metallic or magnetic such that it will couple in a particular orientation with a magnetic coupler of the UAV docking station);
providing a charging station having a charging port configured to mate with the tether electrical connector (See Fig.1, Items#125 and 126 and Par.29 disclose electrical contacts that mate with mating device 115 of the UAV) and a controllable magnetic element (See Fig.1, Items#123-1 and 123-2 and Par.28, disclose magnetic couplers in the ground station are electromagnets i.e. controllable magnets);
moving the aircraft into a position such that the tether electrical connector is proximate to the charging port (See Fig.4A, Steps#405-420, disclose exchanging communication between the aircraft and the ground station and hovering in the aircraft above the ground station);
engaging the controllable magnetic element to attract the tether magnetic element of the tether electrical connector toward the charging port (See Par.28, discloses the electromagnets of magnetic couples 123 are activated to engage mating device 115); and
when the tether electrical connector is electrically connected to the charging port, disengaging the controllable magnetic element (See Pars.18 and 28, disclose controlling the electromagnets to be deactivated to disengage the tether from the ground station magnetic couplers in situations such as during take off. Figs.4A-4B, disclose engaging the tether of the UAV to the ground station and performing charging. It is understood that the tether and the ground station contacts 125-126 are electrically connected, when the UAV is taking off after charge completion, the magnetic coupler is deactivated to disengage the tether).
Regarding claim 13, TIRPAK discloses the method of claim 12 as discussed above, further comprising the step of landing (See Fig.4B, Step#S440-445) and powering down the aircraft after the tether electrical connector is electrically connected to the charging port (See Fig.4B, Step#S450, the propulsion system is powered down after the tether is connected to the magnetic coupling in step#S430-435 and landing the UAV in step#S450).
Regarding claim 15, TIRPAK discloses the method of claim 12 as discussed above, further comprising the step of detecting when the tether electrical connector is electrically connected to the charging port with a sensor connected to a computing device (See Par.16, discloses the mating device may be determined to have reached the surface of the docking pad based on the mating device being sensed to have coupled with a magnetic coupler of the UAV docking station, also Par.51, discloses the mating device having been magnetically coupled with the magnetic coupler of the UAV docking station may be sensed based on the electrical connection through such electrical contacts being present. This connection may be sensed by the UAV docking station and/or the UAV. The processing and computing system 331 is interpreted as the computing system which identifies the coupling) and disengaging the controllable magnetic element with the computing device (See Fig.5, Step#550 and Par.57, discloses disengaging the magnetic element by deactivating the electromagnet).
Regarding claim 16, TIRPAK discloses the method of claim 15 as discussed above, wherein the controllable magnetic element is disengaged via a relay See (TIRPAK, Par.28, discloses the electromagnets are controlled to engage and disengage from the mating device 115, it is inherent that the electromagnet comprises a switching element i.e. a relay to activate and deactivate the electromagnet).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 7 and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TIRPAK in view of NG (US 2021/0292007 A1, hereinafter NG).
Regarding claim 1, TIRPAK discloses a system for charging a battery in an aircraft, comprising:
a ground station (See Fig.1, Item#120 and Par.19, disclose a docking station) comprising:
a charging port comprising a plurality of electrical contacts positioned on a surface of the ground station (See Fig.1, Items#125 and 126 and Par.29 disclose electrical contacts that mate with mating device 115 of the UAV); and
at least one ground station magnetic element positioned on the surface of the ground station (See Fig.1, Items#123-1 and 123-2 and Par.28, disclose magnetic couplers in the charging/ground station are either permanent magnets or electromagnets. Magnetic couplers 123-1 and 123-2 have electrical contacts 125 and 126 to connect to UAV tether connector 115 to exchange power and data);
a tether having a proximal and distal end, configured to be connected at the proximal end to the aircraft (See Fig.1, Item#116 and Par.24, disclose a tether comprising a distal end connected to UAV 110), comprising:
an electrical connector at the proximal end configured to be connected to a battery of a aircraft (See Fig.1, discloses an end of the tether 116 connected to a connector of UAV 110. Fig.3, discloses the mating device 323 provides its output to UAV battery 313);
at least one tether magnetic element positioned at the distal end (See Par.15, discloses the mating device may be metallic or magnetic such that it will couple in a particular orientation with a magnetic coupler of the UAV docking station); and
a tether charging connector positioned at the distal end, configured to electrically connect to the charging port when the at least one tether magnetic element is connected to the at least one ground station magnetic element (See Fig.1, Item#115 and Pars.4 and 23, disclose a mating device comprising electrical contacts to receive power when in contact with electrical contacts 125 and 126 on the charging dock).
TIRPAK also discloses the ground station is charged via solar panel or other power source separate from the electric grid (See Par.38). However, TIRPAK does not explicitly disclose an electrical connector configured to be connected to a source of power.
NG discloses a ground station for providing power to an aircraft, wherein the ground station comprises an electrical connector configured to be connected to a source of power (See Fig.1a and Par.35, disclose a ground station 150 for providing power to a UAV 110, the ground station further comprising a connector configured to receive power from a source of power comprising grid, battery or a generator. It is inherent that the ground station comprises a connector to receive power from the external sources).
TIRPAK and NG are analogous art since they both deal with stations for providing power to aircraft.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by TIRPAK with the teachings of NG by adding an electrical connector to the charging station for the benefit of extending the operating time of the ground station by allowing the charging station to receive power from an external power source such as gird.
Regarding claim 7, TIRPAK and NG disclose the system of claim 1 as discussed above, However, TIRPAK and NG do not disclose wherein the tether comprises 20 gauge multi-core wire
The examiner explains that selecting a proper wiring gauge is a common step in designing a device and the selection is made based on the amperage capacity that the device will draw.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention disclosed by TIRPAK and NG by selecting a proper wiring gauge (including 20 AWG) for the benefit of providing a tether which can handle the charging current and data communication without being exposed to overheating.
Regarding claim 10, TIRPAK and NG disclose the system of claim 1 as discussed above, wherein the ground station magnetic element comprises an electromagnet (See TIRPAK, Fig.1, Items#123-1 and 123-2 and Par.28, disclose magnetic couplers in the ground station are electromagnets), and wherein the ground station further comprises a relay configured to enable or disable the electromagnet (See TIRPAK, Par.28, discloses the electromagnets are controlled to engage and disengage from the mating device 115, it is inherent that the electromagnet comprises a switching element i.e. a relay to activate and deactivate the electromagnet).
Regarding claim 11, TIRPAK and NG disclose the system of claim 1 as discussed above, further comprising a computing device electrically connected to the ground station, configured to control the electromagnet (See TIRPAK, Pars.18 and 28, disclose controlling the electromagnets to be deactivated to disengage the tether from the ground station magnetic couplers in situations such as during takeoff. TIRPAK, Fig.3, Item#331, discloses the processing system interpreted as the computing device to control the electromagnets).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TIRPAK in view of COWDEN (US 2022/0127014 A1, hereinafter COWDEN).
Regarding claim 14, TIRPAK discloses the method of claim 12 as discussed above, further comprising the step of, moving the aircraft away from the charging station, causing the tether electrical connector to disengage from the charging port (See TIRPAK, Pars.18 and 28, disclose controlling the electromagnets to be deactivated to disengage the tether from the ground station magnetic couplers in situations such as during takeoff).
However, TIRPAK does not disclose moving the aircraft away from the station when the battery of the aircraft is fully charged.
COWDEN discloses a drone docking station and docking module further comprising moving the aircraft away from the station when the battery of the aircraft is fully charged (See Par.37, discloses if the aircraft is otherwise ready to continue its mission, recharging is complete, data transfer is complete, and/or all processes are complete, the drone will disengage from the docking platform and take off).
TIRPAK and COWDEN are analogous art since they both deal with ground stations providing power to aircraft.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by TIRPAK with the teachings of COWDEN by moving the aircraft away from the station when the battery of the aircraft is fully charged for the benefit of continuing to perform the operation of the aircraft.
Claim(s) 2-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TIRPAK in view of NG and in further view of LIN et al. (US 11,974,410, hereinafter LIN).
Regarding claims 2-3, TIRPAK and NG disclose the system of claim 1 discussed above, TIRPAK further discloses the ground station comprising a plurality of different charging port configurations to accommodate different aircrafts (See TIRPAK, Par.30).
However, TIRPAK does not disclose wherein the charging port comprises a central conductive element and at least one circular conductive element concentric with the central conductive element.
LIN discloses a connection port comprising a central conductive element (See Fig.1B, Item#191) and at least one circular conductive element concentric with the central conductive element (See Fig.1B, Items#192-2+192-3 and 192-1+192-4, and Col.7, lines 1-15, disclose 2 circular conductors around the circular conductive element 191).
TIRPAK, NG and LIN are analogous art since they all deal with devices comprising electrical connection ports.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by TIRPAK and NG with the teachings of LIN by adopting the charging port configuration comprising a central conductor and a plurality of circular conductors for the benefit of providing a connector/port assembly with increased alignment flexibility and sealing capability.
Regarding claims 4 and 6, TIRPAK and NG disclose the system of claim 1 as discussed above, However, TIRPAK and NG do not disclose wherein the tether charging connector comprises a plurality of conductive elements arranged in a linear array.
LIN discloses a connector comprising a plurality of conductive elements arranged in a linear array (See Fig.1C, Items#199-1 to 199-5, disclose a plurality of conductive elements arranged linearly, Col.8, lines 20-25, disclose the plurality of conductors are pogo pins).
TIRPAK, NG and LIN are analogous art since they all deal with devices comprising electrical connection ports.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by TIRPAK and NG with the teachings of LIN by adopting the connector configuration comprising a plurality of conductors arranged in a linear configuration and comprising POGO pins for the benefit of providing a connector/port assembly with increased alignment flexibility and sealing capability.
Regarding claim 5, TIRPAK, NG and LIN disclose the system of claim 4 as discussed above, wherein, the charging port comprises a central conductive element (See Fig.1B, Item#190) and K circular conductive elements concentric with the central conductive element (See Fig.1B, Items# Items#192-2+192-3 and 192-1+192-4 disclose two circular conductive elements concentric with conductor 191); and
wherein the tether charging connector comprises a plurality of 2K + 1 conductive elements arranged in a linear array (See Fig.1C, discloses a connector comprising 5 pins arranged in a linear array).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TIRPAK in view of NG and in further view of BERANGER et al. (US 11,738,651, hereinafter BERANGER).
Regarding claim 8, TIRPAK and NG disclose the system of claim 1 as discussed above, However TIRPAK and NG do not explicitly disclose wherein the battery of the aircraft is selected from a lithium ion battery or a lithium polymer battery.
BERANGER discloses an aircraft comprising a lithium ion battery (See Col.7, lines 25-27).
TIRPAK, NG and BERANGER are analogous art since they all deal with aircrafts.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by TIRPAK and NG with the teachings of BERANGER by using a lithium ion battery for the aircraft for the benefit of providing the drone with a battery that has high energy density while maintaining a smaller and lighter package.
Claim(s) 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TIRPAK in view of LIZUKA et al. (US 2013/0162053 A1, hereinafter LIZUKA).
Regarding claims 17-18, TIRPAK discloses the method of claim 15 as discussed above, wherein the electrical connection between the aircraft tether connector and the ground station port is sensed (See Par.51).
However, TIRPAK does not disclose that the connection is sensed using a current sensor or a proximity sensor.
LIZUKA discloses a power distribution apparatus comprising a sensor for measuring a connection between a plug and a socket, the sensor comprising a current sensor or a proximity sensor (See Par.31-33 and Fig.1, Item#2, disclose a connection sensor comprising a hall element or optical sensor interpreted as the proximity sensor and a resistive-type sensor interpreted as a current sensor i.e. measuring voltage through a resistor to determine current flow).
TIRPAK and LIZUKA are analogous art since they both deal with power connectors.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by TIRPAK with the teachings of LIZUKA by using a connection sensor comprising a current sensor for the benefit of providing a highly reliable connection detector or using a proximity sensor for the benefit of providing a highly reliable sensor with no mechanical wear as that experiences by physical pins.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TIRPAK in view of NG and in further view of LIZUKA.
TIRPAK and NG disclose the system of claim 1 as discussed above, However, TIRPAK and NG do not disclose further comprising a current sensor configured to detect a current passing through the charging port.
LIZUKA discloses a power distribution apparatus comprising a sensor for measuring a connection between a plug and a socket, the sensor comprising a current sensor (See Par.31-33 and Fig.1, Item#2, disclose a connection sensor comprising a resistive-type sensor interpreted as a current sensor i.e. measuring voltage through a resistor to determine current flow).
TIRPAK, NG and LIZUKA are analogous art since they all deal with power connectors.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by TIRPAK and NG with the teachings of LIZUKA by using a connection sensor comprising a current sensor for the benefit of providing a highly reliable connection detector.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED H OMAR whose telephone number is (571)270-7165. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am -7:00 PM EST.
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/AHMED H OMAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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