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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species A in the reply filed on March 5, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Species A and Species B fulfill the requirements about the unity of invention. This has been found persuasive and the restriction requirement dated January 9, 2026 is withdrawn.
Claims 15-34 will be examined on the merits.
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) 15, 16, 18-20, 27, 28, 30-32 and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN112869673A to Du et al. (see machine translation) in view of CN210749034U to Zhang et al. (see machine translation).
As to claims 15 and 34, Du discloses a washing method for a base station to be used cooperatively with a cleaning robot wherein the base station comprises a base station body and a washing assembly (see Du Figs. 1 and 2 disclosing a base body 100, nozzle 200 and cleaning component 300; paragraph [0039]), the washing method comprising: controlling the direction of the washing assembly across the cleaning robot (see Du paragraphs [0044], [0073]-[0076], [0084], [0087] where the washing assembly includes a drive assembly to perform a linear motion relative to the base body and cleans along the cleaning robot from one end to the other at least once).
Since Du discloses that the washing assembly moves along the length direction of the mop of the cleaning robot to clean all parts of the mop, where it can be repeated multiple times, it is reasonably expected to one of ordinary skill in the art that the washing assembly would start at one end of the mop and move in the initial running direction of the washing assembly across the mop to the other end of the cleaning assembly. Furthermore, Zhang discloses a similar washing method wherein the cleaning assembly includes a position detector to determine the position of the cleaning assembly in order to control the direction based on the position (see Zhang paragraphs [0057], [0108], [0259]-[0260]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to include acquiring the position of the washing assembly relative to the base station and control the direction of the washing assembly based on the position information as disclosed by Zhang in order to ensure that the entire mop is cleaned. Regarding the recitation of a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon wherein the computer program is configured to, when executed by a processor, implement the washing method as recited in claim 34, use of a processor and any associated programing to perform a cleaning method is well known in the art and does not provide patentable significance (see Zhang paragraphs [0057]-[0058], [0069]-[0074], [0080], [0108], [0217-0233]; see also MPEP 2144.04(III) where automating a manual activity is prima facie obvious).
As to claim 16, the combination of Du and Zhang discloses that the base station body is provided with a first side edge and a second side edge opposite each other and the washing assembly is configured to reciprocate between the firs side edge and the second side edge (see Du paragraphs [0044], [0073]-[0076], [0084], [0087]).
As to claim 18, the combination of Du and Zhang discloses that after the washing assembly arrives at the first side edge of the base station body, controlling the washing assembly to move in the direction of the second side edge of the base station body (see Du paragraphs [0044], [0073]-[0076], [0084], [0087] and Zhang paragraphs [0057], [0108], [0259]-[0260]) disclosing that the washing assembly moves across the mopping device and reverses when it reaches the second side).
As to claim 19, it is reasonably expected that the washing assembly would return to the start position at the end of the washing of the mop in order to be ready for the next washing and said recitation is not considered patentably significant.
As to claim 20, the combination of Du and Zhang discloses that the use of signals on the position detection device (see Zhang paragraph [0259]) where the positioning of the signal transmission device and sensing device would be considered an obvious design choice (see MPEP 2144.04(VI)(C) where rearrangement of parts is prima facie obvious).
As to claim 27, Du discloses a base station and a washing method for the base station wherein the base station comprises a base station body and a washing assembly, the washing assembly is movably disposed on the base station body (see Du Figs. 1 and 2 disclosing a base body 100, nozzle 200 and cleaning component 300; paragraph [0039]), the washing method comprising: controlling the direction of the washing assembly across the cleaning robot (see Du paragraphs [0044], [0073]-[0076], [0084], [0087] where the washing assembly includes a drive assembly to perform a linear motion relative to the base body and cleans along the cleaning robot from one end to the other at least once).
Since Du discloses that the washing assembly moves along the length direction of the mop of the cleaning robot to clean all parts of the mop, where it can be repeated multiple times, it is reasonably expected to one of ordinary skill in the art that the washing assembly would start at one end of the mop and move in the initial running direction of the washing assembly across the mop to the other end of the cleaning assembly. Furthermore, Zhang discloses a similar washing method wherein the cleaning assembly includes a position detector to determine the position of the cleaning assembly in order to control the direction based on the position (see Zhang paragraphs [0057], [0108], [0259]-[0260]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to include acquiring the position of the washing assembly relative to the base station and control the direction of the washing assembly based on the position information as disclosed by Zhang in order to ensure that the entire mop is cleaned. Regarding the recitation of a processor and a memory, use of a processor and memory to perform a cleaning method is well known in the art and does not provide patentable significance (see Zhang paragraphs [0057]-[0058], [0069]-[0074], [0080], [0108], [0217-0233]; see also MPEP 2144.04(III) where automating a manual activity is prima facie obvious).
As to claim 28, the combination of Du and Zhang discloses that the base station body is provided with a first side edge and a second side edge opposite each other and the washing assembly is configured to reciprocate between the firs side edge and the second side edge (see Du paragraphs [0044], [0073]-[0076], [0084], [0087]).
As to claim 30, the combination of Du and Zhang discloses that after the washing assembly arrives at the first side edge of the base station body, controlling the washing assembly to move in the direction of the second side edge of the base station body (see Du paragraphs [0044], [0073]-[0076], [0084], [0087] and Zhang paragraphs [0057], [0108], [0259]-[0260]) disclosing that the washing assembly moves across the mopping device and reverses when it reaches the second side).
As to claim 31, it is reasonably expected that the washing assembly would return to the start position at the end of the washing of the mop in order to be ready for the next washing and said recitation is not considered patentably significant.
As to claim 32, the combination of Du and Zhang discloses that the use of signals on the position detection device (see Zhang paragraph [0259]) where the positioning of the signal transmission device and sensing device would be considered an obvious design choice (see MPEP 2144.04(VI)(C) where rearrangement of parts is prima facie obvious).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17, 21-26, 29 and 33 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art is Du and Zhang as discussed above.
The cited prior art does not disclose acquiring the second relative position information of the washing assembly and the base station body, and controlling the initial running direction of the washing assembly according to the second relative position information, comprise: determining whether a distance between the washing assembly and a first side edge of the base station body is greater than or equal to a distance between the washing assembly and a second side edge of the base station body; and controlling the washing assembly to move in the direction of the first side edge of the base station body when the distance between the washing assembly and the first side edge of the base station body is greater than or equal to the distance between the washing assembly and the second side edge of the base station body, nor does the cited prior art disclose a first sensing device is disposed near the first side edge of the base station body, a second sensing device is disposed near the second side edge of the base station body, and/or a third sensing device is disposed near the preset position of the base station body; and acquiring the second relative position relationship between the washing assembly and the base station body via the sensing device and the signal transmission device comprises at least one of: determining that the washing assembly arrives at the first side edge of the base station body when the signal transmission device is detected by the first sensing device; determining that the washing assembly arrives at the second side edge of the base station body when the signal transmission device is detected by the second sensing device; or determining that the washing assembly arrives at the preset position of the base station body when the signal transmission device is detected by the third sensing device. Furthermore the cited prior art does not disclose the washing assembly comprises a first washing component and a second washing component, wherein the first washing component and the second washing component are disposed side-by-side and configured to interfere with a cleaning system of the cleaning robot to remove debris on the cleaning system; the base station further comprises a liquid discharge device, wherein a cleaning liquid discharged from the liquid discharge device is used to wash the cleaning system; and the washing method further comprises: acquiring first relative position information of the first washing component and the second washing component; acquiring a running direction of the washing assembly relative to the base station body; and controlling a working state of the washing assembly and a working state of the liquid discharge device according to the first relative position information and the running direction.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOUGLAS LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-3296. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:30pm.
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/DOUGLAS LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1714
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