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 .
This is a first action on the merits of the application. Claims 1-14 are pending.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
[0076]: In line 2, “groove 202” appears to be a typographical error for “groove 2021.” See the previous sentence and Fig. 3A.
[0078]: In lines 2 and 6, “second locking member 72” appears to be a typographical error for “second locking member 702.” See Fig. 10 and p. 16, last line.
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the reference characters in Figs. 3A and 9C are not clearly legible. A detail of Fig. 9C is presented below. See Patent Rule 1.84 (p)(1).
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Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-3 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shigeto et al. (CN111195108A).
Regarding claim 1, Shigeto discloses a self-propelled vacuum cleaner (Fig. 1; [0014]) with a main body 11 with movements controlled by a control circuit while cleaning a ground surface ([0055]) (i.e., an automatic cleaning device; a mobile platform configured to automatically move on an operation surface) comprising:
a storage section 30 (Fig. 7; [0057]) (i.e., an accommodating chamber) comprising a first chamber and a second chamber that are sequentially arranged next to each other in an advancing direction of the automatic cleaning device, wherein a depth of the first chamber is greater than a depth of the second chamber, as shown in the annotated Fig. 7 below, noting that the second chamber is closer to an infrared sensor 21 and ultrasonic sensors 23 at the front end of the main body 11 (Fig. 2; [0065]; [0072]: “forward”; “front”); and
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a dust collection box 40 (Fig. 7; [0057]) with a filter 44 ([0077]) and a dust-collecting container or receiving part 43 ([0058]) that is housed in the storage section 30 ([0057]) (i.e., a cleaning module comprising a dust box detachably assembled to the accommodating chamber).
Regarding claim 2, Shigeto discloses that the dust collection box 40 includes the receiving part 43 and a cover 41 above the receiving part ([0058]) (i.e., wherein the dust box comprises an accommodating portion and a top cover located above the accommodating portion (Fig. 10), wherein the cover 41 is supported by a shaft 50 of the receiving portion 43 (Fig. 13B; [0104]) (i.e., the top cover is fixedly connected to the accommodating portion).
Regarding claim 3, Shigeto discloses that the cover 41 includes a first portion over the receiving part 43 and a second portion protruding from the receiving part 43, as shown in the annotated Fig. 13B below (i.e., wherein the top cover comprises: a first portion covering the accommodating portion, and a second portion protruding from the accommodating portion to extend outward);
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wherein the receiving part corresponds to the storage section 30 and the second portion corresponds to the second chamber when the dust collection box 40 is housed therein (i.e., Fig. 7) (i.e., wherein when the dust box is assembled to the accommodating chamber, the accommodating portion and the first portion of the top cover are accommodated in the first chamber, and the second portion of the top cover is accommodated in the second chamber).
Regarding claims 8 and 9, Shigeto discloses that the cover 41 is symmetrical along the axis aligning with the infrared sensor 21 (Figs. 6, 7) and generally manifests a D-shape (Figs. 7, 13A) (i.e., wherein the top cover is symmetrically disposed along a central axis in the advancing direction of the automatic cleaning device; wherein the top cover has a shape of a D-shape.
Claim Objections
Claims 4-7 and 10-14 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.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
A thorough search for pertinent prior art did not locate any prior art that discloses or suggests the invention recited in claims 4-7 and 10-14.
The concept of an automatic cleaning device, comprising: a mobile platform configured to automatically move on an operation surface and comprising an accommodating chamber, the accommodating chamber comprising a first chamber and a second chamber; and a cleaning module comprising a dust box detachably assembled to the accommodating chamber, wherein the first chamber and the second chamber are sequentially arranged next to each other in an advancing direction of the automatic cleaning device, and a depth of the first chamber is greater than a depth of the second chamber (claim 1);
wherein the dust box comprises an accommodating portion and a top cover located above the accommodating portion, and the top cover is fixedly connected to the accommodating portion (claim 2);
wherein the dust box comprises: a first opening located in a first side wall of the dust box; a second opening located in a second side wall of the dust box opposite to the first side wall; and a filter detachably assembled to the second opening (claim 10);
wherein the top cover comprises: a first portion covering the accommodating portion, and a second portion protruding from the accommodating portion to extend outward; and wherein when the dust box is assembled to the accommodating chamber, the accommodating portion and the first portion of the top cover are accommodated in the first chamber, and the second portion of the top cover is accommodated in the second chamber (claim 3); wherein the first portion of the top cover comprises an edge portion protruding from an edge contour of the accommodating portion to extend outward (claim 4); or wherein a support structure is disposed below the second portion of the top cover, and is configured to support the second portion of the top cover, and the support structure and at least part of the accommodating portion are integrally molded (claim 6); or
wherein the first chamber comprises a first locking member; the second chamber comprises a second locking member; the first portion of the top cover comprises a first mating member; the second portion of the top cover comprises a second mating member; the first mating member cooperates with the first locking member for lockup; and the second mating member cooperates with the second locking member for lockup (claim 12)
is considered to define patentable subject matter over the prior art.
The closest prior art is Shigeto et al. (CN111195108A), which discloses a self-propelled vacuum cleaner (Fig. 1; [0014]) comprising a storage section 30 (Fig. 7; [0057]) (i.e., an accommodating chamber) comprising a first chamber and a second chamber (Fig. 7); and a dust collection box 40 (Fig. 7; [0057]) with a filter 44 ([0077]) and a dust-collecting container or receiving part 43 ([0058]) that is housed in the storage section 30 ([0057]).
Regarding claim 4, Shigeto discloses that the back of a cover 41 has a protrusion 53b further back than a shaft 50 (Fig. 19; [0127]) (i.e., wherein the first portion of the top cover comprises an edge portion protruding to extend outward). However, Shigeto does not suggest that the receiving part/accommodating portion has an edge contour from which the protrusion/edge portion can extend.
Regarding claim 6, Shigeto teaches a support structure of the cover 41 that is integral to the cover, but the support structure is not integral to the receiving part/accommodating portion (Fig. 15).
Regarding claim 10, Shigeto discloses that the dust collection box 40 has a second opening 46 in a first side wall (Figs. 10, 15; [0088]) and an opening 48 adjacent to the filter 44 from which the filter can rotate away to open the receiving part 43 ([0107]); Figs. 14A,B). However, Shigeto does not suggest that the opening 48 is within a wall opposite the wall comprising the opening 46.
Regarding claim 12, Shigeto does not suggest locking and mating members on sides of the storage part 30 and the dust collection box 40 corresponding to the first and second chambers, as there is an alternative locking mechanism using symmetrical locking portions 49a,b on either side of the receiving part 43 extending downward from the cover 41 (Figs. 15, 16; [0116]).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Luo et al. (CN110638377A) discloses a floor mopping robot (Fig. 1; Abstract) with a dust collection device 100 having chamber on the side of a filter 41 that is deeper than a chamber on a side of the device 100 that is opposite the filter (Fig. 2; [0044]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GABRIEL E GITMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7934. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:15-5:45pm.
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/GABRIEL E GITMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772
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