DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Restriction/Election
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 78-80 filed on 8/25/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 81-97 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 8/25/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on 4/25/2024 has been fully considered.
Priority
The foreign priority claim to NL2029510 filed on 10/26/2021 is acknowledged.
Claim Interpretation
Claim 1 includes a limitation “wherein the cabin is optionally connected with a heating and cooling system through at least the low voltage system.” This is interpreted as meaning the cabin may or may not be connected with a heating and cooling system. The broadest reasonable interpretation would be to exclude the heating and cooling system. In the 102 rejection below, this is the interpretation adopted, but for the sake of compact prosecution, it is worth noting that Huissoon does not teach the cabin connected to a heating and cooling system.
However, upon further searching, Harris (US 20080243324 A1) was found which teaches such a structure (taught by at least paragraph 44 “The vehicle 100 may or may not include independently operable cabin comfort features, such as cooling, heating and convenience outlets that are powered by the auxiliary power source, e.g., battery 170”) in a way that could be obviously combined with Huissoon. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have incorporated the heating and cooling system of Harris to be connected to the cabin of Huissoon, with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this incorporation because heating or cooling the cabin allows a user to use the mobile apparatus for longer periods of time, and in more extreme hot or cold weather.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 78, and 80 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 as being unpatentable over Huissoon (US 20180163364 A1).
Regarding claim 78, Huissoon teaches a mobile apparatus, comprising:
a main-frame (10 “main frame” taught by figure 1A) with displacing means configured to displace the mobile apparatus (21, 22, 23, and 24 “displacing means” taught by figures 1A, and 1G);
a rotating sub-frame rotatably connected to the main-frame, such that the sub- frame is rotatable relative to the main frame (30 “sub frame” taught by figure 1A); and
a working arm connected to the sub-frame (40 “operating arm” taught by figure 1A),
wherein the main-frame and/or the sub-frame comprises a plurality of modules wherein each module comprises at least one of an energy storage means configured for storing energy, an energy transformation means for transforming energy to electrical energy and a power train means for driving the displacing means (taught by paragraph 59 “In an embodiment the mobile apparatus comprises a diesel engine, a petrol engine, a gas engine, an electric motor, a battery pack, a fuel cell or other type of motor or energy source, or a combination thereof. These components can be positioned in the rotatable sub-frame, but also in the main frame”);
wherein the modules are connectable through any one of a high voltage, low voltage or bus control system or a combination thereof and wherein the modules are removably mountable (taught by paragraph 44 “According to an embodiment the operating instruments are provided on the rotatable sub-frame or outside it. The control system, which can comprise a bus system, controls via the drive members the movements of the operating arm and/or the displacing means and/or the associated damping, steering and brake system”),
wherein the main-frame and/or the sub-frame comprises at least one central wiring harness comprising for the high voltage and/or low voltage electrical power which is connectable to any one of the energy storage means, energy transformation means and power train means, wherein at least one of the modules comprises a controller configured to control and run the module (taught by paragraph 44 “According to an embodiment the operating instruments are provided on the rotatable sub-frame or outside it. The control system, which can comprise a bus system, controls via the drive members the movements of the operating arm and/or the displacing means and/or the associated damping, steering and brake system”), and
wherein the mobile apparatus further comprises a cabin (taught by figure 1A) for an operator arranged on the sub-frame wherein the cabin is connected to the central wiring harness including at least the bus control system (taught by paragraph 44 “According to an embodiment the operating instruments are provided on the rotatable sub-frame or outside it. The control system, which can comprise a bus system, controls via the drive members the movements of the operating arm and/or the displacing means and/or the associated damping, steering and brake system”) and wherein the cabin is optionally connected with a heating and cooling system through at least the low voltage system.
Regarding claim 80, Huissoon teaches the mobile apparatus of claim 78, as set forth in the anticipation rejection above.
Huissoon also teaches wherein the cabin has displacement means controllable from the operator instruments in the cabin (taught by paragraph 206 “The first embodiment further comprises operating instruments 60 controllable by a driver and provided close to a driver position 70 on sub-frame 30”), and wherein the displacement means are optionally controlled wirelessly and remotely by a control center outside the cabin (taught by paragraph 58 “In an embodiment the control system is configured to transfer control signals between the rotatable sub-frame and the main frame, and vice versa, through a so-called slip ring or via a wireless communication”) and with the aid of images and videos from one or multiple cameras on the cabin (taught by paragraph 56 “In an embodiment the mobile apparatus comprises proximity sensors which transmit measurement data to the control system to prevent collisions of the mobile apparatus and the implement on the arm or in the lifting device. Such a sensor comprises for instance a laser and/or camera”).
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 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.
Claim(s) 79 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huissoon (US 20180163364 A1) in view of Lopez (US 20120181095 A1).
Regarding claim 79, Huissoon teaches the mobile apparatus of claim 78, as set forth in the anticipation rejection above.
However, Huissoon does not teach wherein the energy storage of the cabin is chargeable through solar panels and/or a wind generator.
Lopez teaches wherein the energy storage of the cabin is chargeable through solar panels and/or a wind generator (37 “photovoltaic panel” taught by figure 1-A).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have incorporated the solar panels of Lopez onto the cabin of Huissoon, with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this incorporation because the solar panels would supplement the mobile apparatus’s energy needs by gathering electricity from the sun while the mobile apparatus is outside in the sun.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS KANDAS whose telephone number is (571)272-5628. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri.
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/NICHOLAS R. KANDAS/Examiner, Art Unit 3613
/JAMES A SHRIVER II/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3613
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