DETAILED ACTION
This is a non-final Office Action on the merits in response to communications filed by Applicant on June 21st, 2024. Claims 1-6 are currently pending and examined below.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement(s) filed on 06/21/2024 is/are being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP2021-207859, filed on 12/22/2021.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In Paragraph 0047 line 1, there appears to be a typographical error regarding the phrase “4Bare”. It is suggested that this phrase be corrected to “4B are” for the purpose of improving clarity.
In Paragraph 0066 line 2, there appears to be a typographical error regarding the phrase “11Bare”. It is suggested that this phrase be corrected to “11B are” for the purpose of improving clarity.
In Paragraph 0087 line 3, there appears to be a typographical error regarding the phrase “17Bare”. It is suggested that this phrase be corrected to “17B are” for the purpose of improving clarity.
In Paragraph 0095 line 3, there appears to be a typographical error regarding the phrase “19Bare”. It is suggested that this phrase be corrected to “19B are” for the purpose of improving clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claim recites the limitation “a program of controlling a robot”. This limitation clearly encompasses software per se and thus claim 6 is directed towards non-statutory subject matter.
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) 1, 5, and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2007319989 A ("Adachi") in view of US 2021/0373573 A1 ("Hoffmann").
Regarding claim 1, Adachi teaches a robot comprising (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position, a hand unit 205 for opening the door, an arm unit 203 for changing the position of the hand unit 205, and a control unit 10 that determines an inclination posture for moving the position of the center of gravity by tilting the robot 1 so that the force generated by the robot's own weight is applied to the door, and controls the movements of the hand unit 205, moving unit 200, and arm unit 203 based on the inclination posture.”):
a mobile base (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position,…”, ¶ 0043, “The moving unit 200 has multiple wheels 201, and based on instructions from the control unit 10, the wheels are rotated by the rotation of a motor, thereby moving the robot 1 or tilting the robot 1 to a target posture. The moving unit 200 moves forward and backward by simultaneously rotating each wheel 201. Furthermore, the moving unit 200 can change the direction of the robot 1 by rotating the left and right wheels 201 at different speeds.”);
an arm part that extends from the mobile base and is driven in such a manner as to be able to change its posture (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position, a hand unit 205 for opening the door, an arm unit 203 for changing the position of the hand unit 205,…”, ¶ 0045, “The arm unit 203 moves the position of the hand unit 205 provided at approximately the tip of the arm unit 203 based on an instruction from the control unit 10 when opening or closing the door. Although the arm portion 203 has a serial structure with three joints here, the number, length and structure of the joints are not limited to this.”);
a tool that is provided at a distal end of the arm part and is configured to be hooked on or to hold a door (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position, a hand unit 205 for opening the door, an arm unit 203 for changing the position of the hand unit 205,…”, ¶ 0044, “The hand unit 205 is used to open and close the door based on instructions from the control unit 10, and can pinch, hook, or grip the handle. The hand unit 205 may have any mechanism as long as it has a shape and function that allows it to open and close the door.”); and
a controller that controls driving of the mobile base and of the arm part (Adachi: ¶ 0041, “The control unit 10 determines the inclined posture of the robot 1 so that the force of the robot 1's own weight is applied to the door, and controls its movement by giving commands to the hand unit 205, the moving unit 200 and the arm unit 203 to achieve the inclined posture.”, ¶ 0051, “In FIG. 2, the control unit 10 includes an overall posture determination unit 210, a learning unit 211, a hand instruction unit 212, a hand control unit 213, an arm instruction unit 214, an arm control unit 215, a movement instruction unit 216, and a movement control unit 217.”), and
wherein the door has a front face that is a face facing the mobile base in a closed state, and a back face that is a rear face opposite to the front face (Adachi: Figures 4-8 door 350. The door shown in the drawings clearly has a front face that is the face in the direction of the robot when the door is closed and a back face that is opposite to the front face.), and
wherein the controller drives the mobile base and/or the arm part in a situation where the mobile base is on a back face side of the opened door, to hook the tool on the door or to make the tool hold the door (Adachi: ¶ 0001, “The present invention relates to a robot and a door opening and closing method using the robot, and more particularly to a robot that opens and closes doors at the entrances and exits of passageways and rooms, and a door opening and closing method using the robot.”, ¶ 0083, “Next, the robot 1 moves the arm unit 203 while recognizing the handle 351 of the door 350 with the door recognition unit 207 , and grasps the handle 351 with the hand unit 205 .”, ¶ 0113, “When closing the door 350, the robot 1 may be tilted in the same manner to move the center of gravity 202, thereby applying a force to the door. This allows the force generated by the robot 1's own weight to be applied to the door 350 even when the door is pulled open. Furthermore, the robot 1 can not only open doors but also close them.”. As can be seen from the cited passages, the robot is clearly configured to close an open door in addition to opening a closed door. Furthermore, the robot is configured to use the hand attached to its arm to grasp the door. Additionally, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that would recognize that the robot would be on facing the back side of the door when it is opened and ready to be closed.),
drives the mobile base and/or the arm part to move the tool hooked on or holding the door in a direction in which the door is closed and thus to decrease an opening angle of the door (Adachi: ¶ 0083, “Next, the robot 1 moves the arm unit 203 while recognizing the handle 351 of the door 350 with the door recognition unit 207 , and grasps the handle 351 with the hand unit 205 .”, ¶ 0087, “As a result, the robot 1 can control the moving part 200 so that the amount of movement of the door 350 follows the profile of the movement angle as shown in FIG. 5( b ), and can push open the door 350 .”, ¶ 0092, “In FIG. 6A, when the robot 1 is not tilted, even if gravity acts on the center of gravity 202 of the robot 1, no rotational moment is generated in the robot 1. In this state, when the door 350 is pushed by the hand unit 205, the robot 1 receives a clockwise rotation moment, and if the moment is large, the door 350 cannot be opened. In some cases, the robot 1 may fall over due to a clockwise moment generated by pushing the door 350 with the hand unit 205. In such a case, the robot 1 tilts itself so that its own weight exerts an additional force pushing the door 350 .”, ¶ 0093, “As shown in FIG. 6A, the robot 1 first grasps the handle 351 of the door 350 in a posture in which the robot 1 is not tilted.”, ¶ 0094, “Next, the robot 1 controls the arm unit 203 to attract the hand unit 205 to the side of the robot 1, and moves the moving unit 200 backward. As a result, as shown in Figure 6 (b), the position of the center of gravity 202 of the robot 1 moves closer to the door 350, and the robot 1 assumes an inclined posture around the contact point 352 so as to further push the door 350, thereby applying force to the door 350.”, ¶ 0113, “When closing the door 350, the robot 1 may be tilted in the same manner to move the center of gravity 202, thereby applying a force to the door. This allows the force generated by the robot 1's own weight to be applied to the door 350 even when the door is pulled open. Furthermore, the robot 1 can not only open doors but also close them.”. The cited paragraphs 0083, 0087, and 0092-0094 describes the methods by which a closed door is opened by the robot. In the first method, described in paragraphs 0083, and 0087, the door is gripped using the hand attached to the arm of the robot and the door is then pushed open. In the second method, described in paragraphs 0092-0094, the force applied by the forward motion of the robot is not enough to open the door and the robot is tilted to apply an extra force to the door before the door is pushed open. As stated in paragraph 0113, the door an open door can be closed in a similar manner to how a closed door is opened. One of ordinary skill in the art would see that the closing of an open door involves driving the mobile base and arm in a direction in which the door is closed. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would naturally see that this would reduce an opening angle of the door.), and
Adachi does not teach drives the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle.
Hoffmann, in the same field of endeavor, teaches drives the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle (Hoffmann: ¶ 0025, “In some cases, it may be advantageous for the fire protection robot to be able to close the door or the multiple doors again after opening them. This may be especially advantageous in the case of fire protection doors located along the navigation path. In this case, the fire protection robot may open the door in order to drive through it and then close it again in order to ensure the functioning of the fire protection door. In particular, the closing may be effected by means of the mechanical gripper unit, which pulls or pushes the door back into the closed state after the fire protection robot has driven through and may operate the door handle accordingly.”. The cited paragraph clearly teaches that the robot is configured to push the door closed. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that to push the door closed, the robot would need to interact with the front face of the door.).
Adachi teaches a robot comprising: a mobile base; an arm part that extends from the mobile base and is driven in such a manner as to be able to change its posture; a tool that is provided at a distal end of the arm part and is configured to be hooked on or to hold a door; and a controller that controls driving of the mobile base and of the arm part, and wherein the door has a front face that is a face facing the mobile base in a closed state, and a back face that is a rear face opposite to the front face, and wherein the controller drives the mobile base and/or the arm part in a situation where the mobile base is on a back face side of the opened door, to hook the tool on the door or to make the tool hold the door, drives the mobile base and/or the arm part to move the tool hooked on or holding the door in a direction in which the door is closed and thus to decrease an opening angle of the door. Adachi does not teach drives the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle. Hoffmann teaches drives the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have had the technological capabilities required to have modified the robot taught in Adachi with drives the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle taught in Hoffmann. Furthermore, Adachi already teaches that the robot is configured to push open a door and is also configured to close open doors, so modifying the robot in Adachi to push the door closed as taught in Hoffmann would not change or introduce new functionality. No inventive effort would have been required. The combination would have yielded the predictable result of a robot wherein the controller drives the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have combine the robot taught in Adachi with drives the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle taught in Hoffmann with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because the combination would have yielded predictable results.
Regarding claim 5, Adachi teaches a method of controlling a robot (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position, a hand unit 205 for opening the door, an arm unit 203 for changing the position of the hand unit 205, and a control unit 10 that determines an inclination posture for moving the position of the center of gravity by tilting the robot 1 so that the force generated by the robot's own weight is applied to the door, and controls the movements of the hand unit 205, moving unit 200, and arm unit 203 based on the inclination posture.”),
The robot comprising a mobile base (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position,…”, ¶ 0043, “The moving unit 200 has multiple wheels 201, and based on instructions from the control unit 10, the wheels are rotated by the rotation of a motor, thereby moving the robot 1 or tilting the robot 1 to a target posture. The moving unit 200 moves forward and backward by simultaneously rotating each wheel 201. Furthermore, the moving unit 200 can change the direction of the robot 1 by rotating the left and right wheels 201 at different speeds.”),
an arm part that extends from the mobile base and is driven in such a manner as to be able to change its posture (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position, a hand unit 205 for opening the door, an arm unit 203 for changing the position of the hand unit 205,…”, ¶ 0045, “The arm unit 203 moves the position of the hand unit 205 provided at approximately the tip of the arm unit 203 based on an instruction from the control unit 10 when opening or closing the door. Although the arm portion 203 has a serial structure with three joints here, the number, length and structure of the joints are not limited to this.”),
and a tool that is provided at a distal end of the arm part and is configured to be hooked on or to hold a door (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position, a hand unit 205 for opening the door, an arm unit 203 for changing the position of the hand unit 205,…”, ¶ 0044, “The hand unit 205 is used to open and close the door based on instructions from the control unit 10, and can pinch, hook, or grip the handle. The hand unit 205 may have any mechanism as long as it has a shape and function that allows it to open and close the door.”),
the door having a front face that is a face facing the mobile base in a closed state, and a back face that is a rear face opposite to the front face (Adachi: Figures 4-8 door 350. The door shown in the drawings clearly has a front face that is the face in the direction of the robot when the door is closed and a back face that is opposite to the front face.),
the control method comprising the steps of: driving the mobile base and/or the arm part in a situation where the mobile base is on a back face side of the opened door, to hook the tool on the door or to make the tool hold the door (Adachi: ¶ 0001, “The present invention relates to a robot and a door opening and closing method using the robot, and more particularly to a robot that opens and closes doors at the entrances and exits of passageways and rooms, and a door opening and closing method using the robot.”, ¶ 0083, “Next, the robot 1 moves the arm unit 203 while recognizing the handle 351 of the door 350 with the door recognition unit 207 , and grasps the handle 351 with the hand unit 205 .”, ¶ 0113, “When closing the door 350, the robot 1 may be tilted in the same manner to move the center of gravity 202, thereby applying a force to the door. This allows the force generated by the robot 1's own weight to be applied to the door 350 even when the door is pulled open. Furthermore, the robot 1 can not only open doors but also close them.”. As can be seen from the cited passages, the robot is clearly configured to close an open door in addition to opening a closed door. Furthermore, the robot is configured to use the hand attached to its arm to grasp the door. Additionally, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that would recognize that the robot would be on facing the back side of the door when it is opened and ready to be closed.),
driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to move the tool hooked on or holding the door in a direction in which the door is closed and thus to decrease an opening angle of the door (Adachi: ¶ 0083, “Next, the robot 1 moves the arm unit 203 while recognizing the handle 351 of the door 350 with the door recognition unit 207 , and grasps the handle 351 with the hand unit 205 .”, ¶ 0087, “As a result, the robot 1 can control the moving part 200 so that the amount of movement of the door 350 follows the profile of the movement angle as shown in FIG. 5( b ), and can push open the door 350 .”, ¶ 0092, “In FIG. 6A, when the robot 1 is not tilted, even if gravity acts on the center of gravity 202 of the robot 1, no rotational moment is generated in the robot 1. In this state, when the door 350 is pushed by the hand unit 205, the robot 1 receives a clockwise rotation moment, and if the moment is large, the door 350 cannot be opened. In some cases, the robot 1 may fall over due to a clockwise moment generated by pushing the door 350 with the hand unit 205. In such a case, the robot 1 tilts itself so that its own weight exerts an additional force pushing the door 350 .”, ¶ 0093, “As shown in FIG. 6A, the robot 1 first grasps the handle 351 of the door 350 in a posture in which the robot 1 is not tilted.”, ¶ 0094, “Next, the robot 1 controls the arm unit 203 to attract the hand unit 205 to the side of the robot 1, and moves the moving unit 200 backward. As a result, as shown in Figure 6 (b), the position of the center of gravity 202 of the robot 1 moves closer to the door 350, and the robot 1 assumes an inclined posture around the contact point 352 so as to further push the door 350, thereby applying force to the door 350.”, ¶ 0113, “When closing the door 350, the robot 1 may be tilted in the same manner to move the center of gravity 202, thereby applying a force to the door. This allows the force generated by the robot 1's own weight to be applied to the door 350 even when the door is pulled open. Furthermore, the robot 1 can not only open doors but also close them.”. The cited paragraphs 0083, 0087, and 0092-0094 describes the methods by which a closed door is opened by the robot. In the first method, described in paragraphs 0083, and 0087, the door is gripped using the hand attached to the arm of the robot and the door is then pushed open. In the second method, described in paragraphs 0092-0094, the force applied by the forward motion of the robot is not enough to open the door and the robot is tilted to apply an extra force to the door before the door is pushed open. As stated in paragraph 0113, the door an open door can be closed in a similar manner to how a closed door is opened. One of ordinary skill in the art would see that the closing of an open door involves driving the mobile base and arm in a direction in which the door is closed. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would naturally see that this would reduce an opening angle of the door.), and
Adachi does not teach driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle.
Hoffmann, in the same field of endeavor, teaches driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle (Hoffmann: ¶ 0025, “In some cases, it may be advantageous for the fire protection robot to be able to close the door or the multiple doors again after opening them. This may be especially advantageous in the case of fire protection doors located along the navigation path. In this case, the fire protection robot may open the door in order to drive through it and then close it again in order to ensure the functioning of the fire protection door. In particular, the closing may be effected by means of the mechanical gripper unit, which pulls or pushes the door back into the closed state after the fire protection robot has driven through and may operate the door handle accordingly.”. The cited paragraph clearly teaches that the robot is configured to push the door closed. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that to push the door closed, the robot would need to interact with the front face of the door.).
Adachi teaches a program of controlling a robot, the robot comprising a mobile base, an arm part that extends from the mobile base and is driven in such a manner as to be able to change its posture, and a tool that is provided at a distal end of the arm part and is configured to be hooked on or to hold a door, the door having a front face that is a face facing the mobile base in a closed state, and a back face that is a rear face opposite to the front face, the control method comprising the steps of: driving the mobile base and/or the arm part in a situation where the mobile base is on a back face side of the opened door, to hook the tool on the door or to make the tool hold the door; driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to move the tool hooked on or holding the door in a direction in which the door is closed and thus to decrease an opening angle of the door. Adachi does not teach driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle. Hoffmann teaches driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have had the technological capabilities required to have modified the method of controlling a robot taught in Adachi with driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle taught in Hoffmann. Furthermore, Adachi already teaches that the method of controlling a robot is configured to push open a door and is also configured to close open doors, so modifying the method of controlling a robot in Adachi to push the door closed as taught in Hoffmann would not change or introduce new functionality. No inventive effort would have been required. The combination would have yielded the predictable result of a method of controlling a robot wherein the control method comprises driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have combine the method of controlling a robot taught in Adachi with driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle taught in Hoffmann with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because the combination would have yielded predictable results.
Regarding claim 6, Adachi teaches a program of controlling a robot (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position, a hand unit 205 for opening the door, an arm unit 203 for changing the position of the hand unit 205, and a control unit 10 that determines an inclination posture for moving the position of the center of gravity by tilting the robot 1 so that the force generated by the robot's own weight is applied to the door, and controls the movements of the hand unit 205, moving unit 200, and arm unit 203 based on the inclination posture.”),
The robot comprising a mobile base (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position,…”, ¶ 0043, “The moving unit 200 has multiple wheels 201, and based on instructions from the control unit 10, the wheels are rotated by the rotation of a motor, thereby moving the robot 1 or tilting the robot 1 to a target posture. The moving unit 200 moves forward and backward by simultaneously rotating each wheel 201. Furthermore, the moving unit 200 can change the direction of the robot 1 by rotating the left and right wheels 201 at different speeds.”),
an arm part that extends from the mobile base and is driven in such a manner as to be able to change its posture (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position, a hand unit 205 for opening the door, an arm unit 203 for changing the position of the hand unit 205,…”, ¶ 0045, “The arm unit 203 moves the position of the hand unit 205 provided at approximately the tip of the arm unit 203 based on an instruction from the control unit 10 when opening or closing the door. Although the arm portion 203 has a serial structure with three joints here, the number, length and structure of the joints are not limited to this.”),
and a tool that is provided at a distal end of the arm part and is configured to be hooked on or to hold a door (Adachi: Figure 1, ¶ 0039, “In FIG. 1, the robot 1 is equipped with a moving unit 200 for moving its position, a hand unit 205 for opening the door, an arm unit 203 for changing the position of the hand unit 205,…”, ¶ 0044, “The hand unit 205 is used to open and close the door based on instructions from the control unit 10, and can pinch, hook, or grip the handle. The hand unit 205 may have any mechanism as long as it has a shape and function that allows it to open and close the door.”),
the door having a front face that is a face facing the mobile base in a closed state, and a back face that is a rear face opposite to the front face (Adachi: Figures 4-8 door 350. The door shown in the drawings clearly has a front face that is the face in the direction of the robot when the door is closed and a back face that is opposite to the front face.),
the control program comprising the steps of: driving the mobile base and/or the arm part in a situation where the mobile base is on a back face side of the opened door, to hook the tool on the door or to make the tool hold the door (Adachi: ¶ 0001, “The present invention relates to a robot and a door opening and closing method using the robot, and more particularly to a robot that opens and closes doors at the entrances and exits of passageways and rooms, and a door opening and closing method using the robot.”, ¶ 0083, “Next, the robot 1 moves the arm unit 203 while recognizing the handle 351 of the door 350 with the door recognition unit 207 , and grasps the handle 351 with the hand unit 205 .”, ¶ 0113, “When closing the door 350, the robot 1 may be tilted in the same manner to move the center of gravity 202, thereby applying a force to the door. This allows the force generated by the robot 1's own weight to be applied to the door 350 even when the door is pulled open. Furthermore, the robot 1 can not only open doors but also close them.”. As can be seen from the cited passages, the robot is clearly configured to close an open door in addition to opening a closed door. Furthermore, the robot is configured to use the hand attached to its arm to grasp the door. Additionally, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that would recognize that the robot would be on facing the back side of the door when it is opened and ready to be closed.),
driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to move the tool hooked on or holding the door in a direction in which the door is closed and thus to decrease an opening angle of the door (Adachi: ¶ 0083, “Next, the robot 1 moves the arm unit 203 while recognizing the handle 351 of the door 350 with the door recognition unit 207 , and grasps the handle 351 with the hand unit 205 .”, ¶ 0087, “As a result, the robot 1 can control the moving part 200 so that the amount of movement of the door 350 follows the profile of the movement angle as shown in FIG. 5( b ), and can push open the door 350 .”, ¶ 0092, “In FIG. 6A, when the robot 1 is not tilted, even if gravity acts on the center of gravity 202 of the robot 1, no rotational moment is generated in the robot 1. In this state, when the door 350 is pushed by the hand unit 205, the robot 1 receives a clockwise rotation moment, and if the moment is large, the door 350 cannot be opened. In some cases, the robot 1 may fall over due to a clockwise moment generated by pushing the door 350 with the hand unit 205. In such a case, the robot 1 tilts itself so that its own weight exerts an additional force pushing the door 350 .”, ¶ 0093, “As shown in FIG. 6A, the robot 1 first grasps the handle 351 of the door 350 in a posture in which the robot 1 is not tilted.”, ¶ 0094, “Next, the robot 1 controls the arm unit 203 to attract the hand unit 205 to the side of the robot 1, and moves the moving unit 200 backward. As a result, as shown in Figure 6 (b), the position of the center of gravity 202 of the robot 1 moves closer to the door 350, and the robot 1 assumes an inclined posture around the contact point 352 so as to further push the door 350, thereby applying force to the door 350.”, ¶ 0113, “When closing the door 350, the robot 1 may be tilted in the same manner to move the center of gravity 202, thereby applying a force to the door. This allows the force generated by the robot 1's own weight to be applied to the door 350 even when the door is pulled open. Furthermore, the robot 1 can not only open doors but also close them.”. The cited paragraphs 0083, 0087, and 0092-0094 describes the methods by which a closed door is opened by the robot. In the first method, described in paragraphs 0083, and 0087, the door is gripped using the hand attached to the arm of the robot and the door is then pushed open. In the second method, described in paragraphs 0092-0094, the force applied by the forward motion of the robot is not enough to open the door and the robot is tilted to apply an extra force to the door before the door is pushed open. As stated in paragraph 0113, the door an open door can be closed in a similar manner to how a closed door is opened. One of ordinary skill in the art would see that the closing of an open door involves driving the mobile base and arm in a direction in which the door is closed. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would naturally see that this would reduce an opening angle of the door.), and
Adachi does not teach driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle.
Hoffmann, in the same field of endeavor, teaches driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle (Hoffmann: ¶ 0025, “In some cases, it may be advantageous for the fire protection robot to be able to close the door or the multiple doors again after opening them. This may be especially advantageous in the case of fire protection doors located along the navigation path. In this case, the fire protection robot may open the door in order to drive through it and then close it again in order to ensure the functioning of the fire protection door. In particular, the closing may be effected by means of the mechanical gripper unit, which pulls or pushes the door back into the closed state after the fire protection robot has driven through and may operate the door handle accordingly.”. The cited paragraph clearly teaches that the robot is configured to push the door closed. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that to push the door closed, the robot would need to interact with the front face of the door.).
Adachi teaches a program of controlling a robot, the robot comprising a mobile base, an arm part that extends from the mobile base and is driven in such a manner as to be able to change its posture, and a tool that is provided at a distal end of the arm part and is configured to be hooked on or to hold a door, the door having a front face that is a face facing the mobile base in a closed state, and a back face that is a rear face opposite to the front face, the control program comprising the steps of: driving the mobile base and/or the arm part in a situation where the mobile base is on a back face side of the opened door, to hook the tool on the door or to make the tool hold the door; driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to move the tool hooked on or holding the door in a direction in which the door is closed and thus to decrease an opening angle of the door. Adachi does not teach driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle. Hoffmann teaches driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have had the technological capabilities required to have modified the program of controlling a robot taught in Adachi with driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle taught in Hoffmann. Furthermore, Adachi already teaches that the program of controlling a robot is configured to push open a door and is also configured to close open doors, so modifying the program of controlling a robot in Adachi to push the door closed as taught in Hoffmann would not change or introduce new functionality. No inventive effort would have been required. The combination would have yielded the predictable result of a program of controlling a robot wherein the control program comprises driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have combine the program of controlling a robot taught in Adachi with driving the mobile base and/or the arm part to push the front face of the door with the decreased opening angle taught in Hoffmann with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because the combination would have yielded predictable results.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2007319989 A ("Adachi") in view of US 2021/0373573 A1 ("Hoffmann") in further view of CN 113492405 A ("Li").
Regarding claim 2, Adachi in view of Hoffmann teaches initiates a motion of pushing the front face of the door (Hoffmann: ¶ 0025, “In some cases, it may be advantageous for the fire protection robot to be able to close the door or the multiple doors again after opening them. This may be especially advantageous in the case of fire protection doors located along the navigation path. In this case, the fire protection robot may open the door in order to drive through it and then close it again in order to ensure the functioning of the fire protection door. In particular, the closing may be effected by means of the mechanical gripper unit, which pulls or pushes the door back into the closed state after the fire protection robot has driven through and may operate the door handle accordingly.”. The cited paragraph clearly teaches that the robot is configured to push the door closed. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that to push the door closed, the robot would need to interact with the front face of the door.).
Adachi in view of Hoffmann does not teach wherein when the tool hooked on or holding the door comes off the door, the controller stops moving the tool in the direction in which the door is closed.
Li, in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein when the tool hooked on or holding the door comes off the door, the controller stops moving the tool in the direction in which the door is closed (Li: ¶ 0065, “When executing the sub-operation of opening the door, relevant auxiliary information such as the motor current data of the gripper can also be obtained to determine the grasping state of the gripper, so as to determine whether the door handle has slipped. Once the door handle is found to have slipped, exception processing can be performed immediately. The exception processing can be, for example, to return the robot to its initial posture, or to return the robot's mechanical gripper to its initial posture.”. One of ordinary skill in the art would see that returning the gripper to its initial posture when it is detected that the gripper has come off the door stops the gripper form moving in the direction of the door.).
Adachi in view of Hoffman teaches a robot wherein the controller initiates a motion of pushing the front face of the door. Adachi in view of Hoffman does not teach wherein when the tool hooked on or holding the door comes off the door, the controller stops moving the tool in the direction in which the door is closed. Li teaches wherein when the tool hooked on or holding the door comes off the door, the controller stops moving the tool in the direction in which the door is closed. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have had the technological capabilities required to have modified the robot taught in Adachi in view of Hoffmann with wherein when the tool hooked on or holding the door comes off the door, the controller stops moving the tool in the direction in which the door is closed taught in Li. Furthermore, the robot taught in Adachi in view of Hoffmann is already configured to determine the amount of force the robot is applying to the door when opening/closing the door and control the movement of a tool attached to an arm to open/close the door, so modifying the robot taught in Adachi in view of Hoffmann to detect when the tool comes off the door and stop the movement of the tool as taught in Li would not change or introduce new functionality to either. Adachi in view of Hoffmann is already configured to gather the information required to implement the method taught in Li. No inventive effort would have been required. The combination would have yielded the predictable result of a robot wherein when the tool hooked on or holding the door comes off the door, the controller stops moving the tool in the direction in which the door is closed.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to have combine the robot taught in Adachi in view of Hoffmann with wherein when the tool hooked on or holding the door comes off the door, the controller stops moving the tool in the direction in which the door is closed taught in Li with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because the combination would have yielded predictable results.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2007319989 A ("Adachi") in view of US 2021/0373573 A1 ("Hoffmann") in further view of JP 2012106335 A ("Kyo").
Regarding claim 3, Adachi in view of Hoffman does not teach wherein after moving the tool hooked on or holding the door in the direction in which the door is closed, the controller sets a target position of the arm part to push the front face of the door,
makes an attempt to see whether it is possible to plan a trajectory of the arm part along which the arm part is moved to the target position,
and when the trajectory is successfully planned, initiates a motion of pushing the front face of the door.
Kyo, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein after moving the tool hooked on or holding the door in the direction in which the door is closed, the controller sets a target position of the arm part to push the front face of the door (Kyo: ¶ 0001, “The present invention relates to a movement path generation method and a movement path generation apparatus for generating a movement path from a current position to a target position of a robot arm,…”, ¶ 0024, “The second robot arm control apparatus of the present invention stores the effective movement path network generated by the above-described second movement path generation method of the present invention, and the arm movement control unit uses the effective movement path network. The shortest movement path connecting the first node and the second node is extracted, and further, a movement path between the current position and the first node and between the second node and the target position is generated. The arm is moved along the movement path, and the robot arm can be moved by generating a movement path of the robot arm from any current position to any target position in real time.”. The cited passage clearly teaches setting a target position for an arm of a robot.),
makes an attempt to see whether it is possible to plan a trajectory of the arm part along which the arm part is moved to the target position (Kyo: ¶ 0056, “First, the current position (current coordinates on the moving space) is acquired (step S01), a route search is performed based on the hierarchical tree in which the effective moving route network is defined (step S02), and the node closest to the current position is searched. A route to the node closest to the target position is created (step S03). When the creation of this route fails, the process is terminated without moving the robot arm (step S04). However, when the creation of this route is successful, the current position is moved to the nearest node (step S05). Along the route, the first node is moved from the first node to the second node by linear interpolation between the connected nodes (step S06), and the second node is moved to the target position (step S07).”. As can clearly be seen, the robot determines if a trajectory for the arm along which the arm is moved to the target position is possible. It is also clear that this process is performed prior to moving the arm.),
and when the trajectory is successfully planned, initiates a motion of pushing the front face of the door (Kyo: ¶ 0055, “FIG. 6 is a flowchart when the robot arm moves according to the first embodiment.”, ¶ 0056, “First, the current position (current coordinates on the moving space) is acquired (step S01), a route search is performed based on the hierarchical tree in which the effective moving route network is defined (step S02), and the node closest to the current position is searched. A route to the node closest to the target position is created (step S03). When the creation of this route fails, the process is terminated without moving the robot arm (step S04). However, when the creation of this route is successful, the current position is moved to the nearest node (step S05). Along the route, the first node is moved from the first node to the second node by linear interpolation between the connected nodes (step S06), and the second node is moved to the target position (step S07).”. As can be seen from the cited passages, once a trajectory is successfully planed, the robot arm is moved according to the trajectory.).
Adachi in view of Hoffman teaches a robot for closing doors. Adachi in view of Hoffmann does not teach wherein after moving the tool hooked on or holding the door in the direction in which the door is closed, the controller sets a target position of the arm part to push the front face of the door, makes an attempt to see whether it is possible to plan a trajectory of the arm part along which the arm part is moved to the target position, and when the trajectory is successfully planned, initiates a motion of pushing the front face of the door. Kyo teaches wherein after moving the tool hooked on or holding the door in the direction in which the door is closed, the controller sets a target position of the arm part to push the front face of the door, makes an attempt to see whether it is possible to plan a trajectory of the arm part along which the arm part is moved to the target position, and when the trajectory is successfully planned, initiates a motion of pushing the front face of the door. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have had the technological capabilities required to have modified the robot taught in Adachi in further view of Hoffmann with wherein after moving the tool hooked on or holding the door in the direction in which the door is closed, the controller sets a target position of the arm part to push the front face of the door, makes an attempt to see whether it is possible to plan a trajectory of the arm part along which the arm part is moved to the target position, and when the trajectory is successfully planned, initiates a motion of pushing the front face of the door taught in Kyo. Furthermore, the robot taught in Adachi in view of Hoffman is already configured to push a door closed after moving the tool in the direction required to close the door. Additionally, even though the trajectory planning is not explicitly used to close a door in Kyo, such a method of planning a trajectory of a robot arm to reach a target position is easily implemented to the robot taught in Adachi in view of Hoffmann. The robot in Adachi in view of Hoffmann is already configured to determine a target position for the door and cause the arm and mobile base to move in order to achieve this target position (Adachi: ¶ 0086, “In FIG. 5( a ), the robot 1 shows a target position θ.<sub>end</sub> when opening the door 350 . This target position θ.<sub>end</sub> depends on the size of the door 350 and the environment of the door 350, and is determined by how much the door needs to be opened when the robot 1 passes through.”, ¶ 0087, “As a result, the robot 1 can control the moving part 200 so that the amount of movement of the door 350 follows the profile of the movement angle as shown in FIG. 5( b ), and can push open the door 350 .”, ¶ 0113, “When closing the door 350, the robot 1 may be tilted in the same manner to move the center of gravity 202, thereby applying a force to the door. This allows the force generated by the robot 1's own weight to be applied to the door 350 even when the door is