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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 12/11/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 14, are directed toward newly added subject matter. Accordingly, a new ground(s) of rejection is provided below.
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 8, line 1, “The transit vehicle of claim 4” should read “The transit vehicle of claim 5”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-12, and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Friedrich (U.S. Patent No. 10000218; hereinafter Friedrich) and further in view of Hicok et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2019/0265703; hereinafter Hicok).
Regarding claim 1, Friedrich teaches a transit vehicle comprising a control system configured to switch an operation of the transit vehicle between a first mode of operation in which the transit vehicle is guided along a fixed pathway by a guide source and a second mode operation in which the transit vehicle is steered by an operator of the transit vehicle (Friedrich: Col. 5, lines 42-44; i.e., bi-modal vehicles first change from rail-mode to road-mode, pass these areas in a controlled manner in road-mode and then change back to the rail-mode; Col. 8, lines 14-17; i.e., bi-modal vehicles being able to readily cross rails in road-mode at access sections near connection points, to drive into the rail track area and to be positioned manually per steering wheel; the bi-modal vehicles switch between rail-mode and road-mode);
and a control panel including a steering wheel for control of the transit vehicle in the second mode of operation (Friedrich: Col. 8, lines 14-17; i.e., bi-modal vehicles being able to readily cross rails in road-mode at access sections near connection points, to drive into the rail track area and to be positioned manually per steering wheel).
Friedrich does not explicitly teach a first mode of operation in which the transit vehicle is guided along a fixed, railless pathway; and a control panel including a lever for acceleration and speed control of the transit vehicle in the first mode of operation.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Hicok teaches a first mode of operation in which the transit vehicle is guided along a fixed, railless pathway (Hicok: Par. 116; i.e., example non-limiting systems may develop a virtual rail, or such a virtual rail may be predefined for the vehicle; Par. 123; i.e., the example non-limiting embodiment plots a “rail” and navigates the vehicle along the virtual rail); and a control panel including a lever for acceleration and speed control of the transit vehicle in the first mode of operation (Hicok: Par. 237; i.e., when the foot pedal is pressed, the shuttle activates and/or continues AV mode… If the safety driver provides immediate commands (braking, accelerating, steering) … the shuttle follows those commands. If the safety driver removes his or her foot without assuming control over the shuttle, the vehicle slows to a safe stop; the foot pedal is a lever used to decelerate the vehicle).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the transit vehicle of Friedrich to have further incorporated a first mode of operation in which the transit vehicle is guided along a fixed, railless pathway; and a control panel including a lever for acceleration and speed control of the transit vehicle in the first mode of operation, as taught by Hicok. Doing so would allow the transit vehicle to deviate from the fixed pathway based on road conditions or obstacles (Hicok: Par. 29; i.e., the vehicle in some embodiments is not confined to this virtual rail (for example, it may deviate from it when conditions warrant)).
Regarding claim 2, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 1. Hicok further teaches wherein the guide source comprises a global navigation satellite system (Hicok: Par. 335; i.e., the shuttle (50) preferably includes GPS sensors (76), including GPS and/or assisted GPS (“aGPS”)).
Regarding claim 3, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 1. Friedrich further teaches wherein the guide source comprises an optical guidance system (Friedrich: Col. 5, lines 24-28; i.e., bi-modal vehicles may drive up to the rail track area in road-mode and there be exactly positioned over the rails using known optical… guidance systems, for example lane departure assistant and lane detection).
Regarding claim 5, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 1. Friedrich further teaches the vehicle further comprising an operational switch configured to switch the transit vehicle from the first mode of operation to the second mode of operation (Friedrich: Col. 6, lines 48-50; i.e., the engagement and disengagement of the track guidance systems is controlled manually, for example by activation of a direction indicator or the steering wheel by the driver).
Regarding claim 6, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 5. Friedrich further teaches wherein the operational switch comprises a sensor configured to determine when an operator touches the steering wheel (Friedrich: Col. 6, lines 48-50; i.e., the engagement and disengagement of the track guidance systems is controlled manually, for example by activation of a direction indicator or the steering wheel by the driver; a sensor must be used to determine activation of the steering wheel).
Regarding claim 7, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 5. Friedrich further teaches wherein the operational switch comprises a sensor configured to determine when an operator turns the steering wheel (Friedrich: Col. 6, lines 48-50; i.e., the engagement and disengagement of the track guidance systems is controlled manually, for example by activation of a direction indicator or the steering wheel by the driver; a sensor must be used to determine activation of the steering wheel).
Regarding claim 8, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 5. Friedrich further teaches the vehicle further comprising a second operational switch configured to switch the transit vehicle from the second mode of operation to the first mode of operation (Friedrich: Col. 6, lines 48-50; i.e., the engagement and disengagement of the track guidance systems is controlled manually, for example by activation of a direction indicator or the steering wheel; the direction indicator and steering wheel are first and second operational switches).
Regarding claim 9, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 1. Friedrich further teaches wherein the control system is further configured to switch the operation of the transit vehicle between the first mode of operation, the second mode of operation, and a third mode of operation in which the transit vehicle operates autonomously (Friedrich: Col. 5, lines 3-6; i.e., bi-modal vehicles which may run autonomously, safely and non-stop on various sections of the integrated path network using rail wheels and, respectively, road wheels; Col. 4, lines 3-6; i.e., the activation and deactivation of the first and second track guidance systems may be controlled …. automatically; the transit vehicle can be controlled manually in rail-mode or a road-mode, or autonomously in either mode).
Regarding claim 10, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 9. Hicok further teaches the vehicle further comprising at least one of LIDAR, radar, or machine vision configured to operate with the transit vehicle in the third mode of operation (Hicok: Par. 295; i.e., Controller (100) provides autonomous driving outputs in response to an array of sensor inputs including, for example: … one or more Light Detection and Ranging (“LIDAR”) sensors).
Regarding claim 11, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 1. Hicok further teaches the vehicle further comprising a body having front and rear wheels (Hicok: Par. 423; i.e., “Shuttles” as used herein includes any suitable vehicle, including … articulated buses; as displayed in Figure 52, an articulated bus has front and rear wheels).
Regarding claim 12, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 11. Hicok further teaches wherein the body further comprises intermediate wheels and one or more articulation joints between body portions (Hicok: Par. 423; i.e., “Shuttles” as used herein includes any suitable vehicle, including … articulated buses; as displayed in Figure 52, an articulated bus has intermediate wheels and an articulation joint between the front and rear body portions).
Regarding claim 14, Friedrich teaches a method of operating a transit vehicle, the method comprising: operating the transit vehicle in a first mode of operation in which the transit vehicle is guided along a fixed pathway by a guide source; and operating the transit vehicle in a second mode operation in which the transit vehicle is steered by an operator of the transit vehicle (Friedrich: Col. 5, lines 42-44; i.e., bi-modal vehicles first change from rail-mode to road-mode, pass these areas in a controlled manner in road-mode and then change back to the rail-mode; Col. 8, lines 14-17; i.e., bi-modal vehicles being able to readily cross rails in road-mode at access sections near connection points, to drive into the rail track area and to be positioned manually per steering wheel; the bi-modal vehicles switch between rail-mode and road-mode).
Friedrich does not explicitly teach a first mode of operation in which the transit vehicle is guided along a fixed, railless pathway.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Hicok teaches a first mode of operation in which the transit vehicle is guided along a fixed, railless pathway (Hicok: Par. 116; i.e., example non-limiting systems may develop a virtual rail, or such a virtual rail may be predefined for the vehicle; Par. 123; i.e., the example non-limiting embodiment plots a “rail” and navigates the vehicle along the virtual rail).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the transit vehicle of Friedrich to have further incorporated a first mode of operation in which the transit vehicle is guided along a fixed, railless pathway, as taught by Hicok. Doing so would allow the transit vehicle to deviate from the fixed pathway based on road conditions or obstacles (Hicok: Par. 29; i.e., the vehicle in some embodiments is not confined to this virtual rail (for example, it may deviate from it when conditions warrant)).
Regarding claim 15, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the method according to claim 14. Hicok further teaches wherein operating the transit vehicle in the first mode of operation comprises guiding the transit vehicle along the fixed, railless pathway with a global navigation satellite system (Hicok: Par. 335; i.e., the shuttle (50) preferably includes GPS sensors (76), including GPS and/or assisted GPS (“aGPS”), to assist in … path planning functions).
Regarding claim 16, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the method according to claim 14. Hicok further teaches wherein operating the transit vehicle in the first mode of operation comprises guiding the transit vehicle along the fixed, railless pathway with an optical guidance system (Hicok: Par. 362; i.e., Road Perception software detects available free space, lane markings, curb stones, speed bumps, stop lines/signs, traffic lights/lines, poles, pylons, pedestrian walks, construction, any of which may justify a departure from the rail).
Regarding claim 17, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the method according to claim 14. Hicok further teaches wherein operating the transit vehicle in the first mode of operation comprises controlling movement of the transit vehicle along the fixed, railless pathway via movement of a lever (Hicok: Par. 237; i.e., when the foot pedal is pressed, the shuttle activates and/or continues AV mode… If the safety driver provides immediate commands (braking, accelerating, steering) … the shuttle follows those commands. If the safety driver removes his or her foot without assuming control over the shuttle, the vehicle slows to a safe stop; the foot pedal is a lever used to decelerate the vehicle along the virtual rail).
Friedrich further teaches operating the transit vehicle in the second mode of operation comprises controlling movement of the transit vehicle with a steering wheel (Friedrich: Col. 8, lines 14-17; i.e., bi-modal vehicles being able to readily cross rails in road-mode at access sections near connection points, to drive into the rail track area and to be positioned manually per steering wheel).
Regarding claim 18, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the method according to claim 17. Friedrich further teaches the method further comprising switching between the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation with one or more operational switches (Friedrich: Col. 6, lines 48-50; i.e., the engagement and disengagement of the track guidance systems is controlled manually, for example by activation of a direction indicator or the steering wheel; the direction indicator and steering wheel are first and second operational switches).
Regarding claim 19, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the method according to claim 18. Friedrich further teaches wherein switching from the first mode of operation to the second mode of operation comprises touching or turning the steering wheel (Friedrich: Col. 6, lines 48-50; i.e., the engagement and disengagement of the track guidance systems is controlled manually, for example by activation of a direction indicator or the steering wheel by the driver; a sensor must be used to determine activation of the steering wheel).
Regarding claim 20, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the method according to claim 14. Friedrich further teaches operating the transit vehicle in a third mode of operation in which the transit vehicle is operated autonomously (Friedrich: Col. 5, lines 3-6; i.e., bi-modal vehicles which may run autonomously, safely and non-stop on various sections of the integrated path network using rail wheels and, respectively, road wheels; Col. 4, lines 3-6; i.e., the activation and deactivation of the first and second track guidance systems may be controlled …. automatically; the transit vehicle can be controlled manually in rail-mode or a road-mode, or autonomously in either mode).
Claims 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Friedrich in view of Hicok and further in view of Posner III et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2024/0075964; hereinafter Posner).
Regarding claim 13, Friedrich in view of Hicok teaches the transit vehicle according to claim 11 but does not teach wherein the body has a width of 9 feet to 10 feet.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Posner teaches wherein the body has a width of 9 feet to 10 feet (Posner: Par. 35; i.e., the rail vehicle has a nominal nine-foot four-inch (9′4″) width at the floor).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the transit vehicle of Friedrich and Hicok to have further incorporated wherein the body has a width of 9 feet to 10 feet, as taught by Posner. Doing so would allow the floor of the train to meet the edge of a platform with a minimized gap reducing the risk of passenger injury (Posner: Par. 35; i.e., it is typically desirable for the floor of the rail vehicle 18 to meet the edge of the platform with minimal gap therebetween in order to facilitate passengers moving between the platform 44 and the rail vehicle 18 with minimal disruption and minimal risk of injury).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRANDON Z WILLIS whose telephone number is (571)272-5427. The examiner can normally be reached Weekdays 8:00-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Erin D. Bishop can be reached at (571) 270-3713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRANDON Z WILLIS/ Examiner, Art Unit 3665