DETAILED ACTION
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.
(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.
Claims 1-7, 16-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) / 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Mailey et al. (Pub. No.: US 2016/0362147 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Mailey et al. disclose a home robot for cleaning (par. 2 and 107) comprising:
a device body (e.g., robot body (e.g., par. 41 and 43 and Figures 1-4));
a driving assembly configured to drive the device body to move (e.g., robot’s wheels for driving the robot along a horizontal plane (par. 41-42 and Figures 1-4 ));
a lifting mechanism connected to the device body and the driving assembly (e.g., robot’s front and rear legs (101/102 and 103/104) (par. 41 and 49) connected to the robot body and wheel (par. 41-42 and Figures 1-4 )), wherein the lifting mechanism is configured to lift the device body (e.g., wherein the robot’s front and rear legs configured to make the robot climbs a series of stars (par. 49 and 41 and Figures 12A-12F) );
a sensor configured to sense an obstacle (e.g., sensor for detecting stair, or negative / positive obstacle (par. 42)) and send sensing information associated with the obstacle (e.g., transmitting sensor data to a computer board (par. 66 and 87-88 and )); and
a controller (e.g., computer board(s) (par. 87) ) configured to:
receive the sensing information (e.g., for processing transmitted sensor data (par. 66 and 87-88));
determine obstacle information of the obstacle based on the sensing information, wherein the obstacle information comprises at least one of a type of the obstacle (e.g., for detecting stair, or negative / positive obstacle (par. 42) based on sensor data ) or
control motion of the lifting mechanism based on the obstacle information (e.g., for rotating each leg via a motor / actuator (par. 42, 66 and 88 and Figure 26) to make the robot climbs a series of stars (par. 49 and 41 and Figures 12A-12F) based on detected stair (par. 42)).
Regarding claim 2, Mailey et al. disclose a home robot for cleaning (par. 2 and 107), wherein the controller is further configured to control the device body to climb the obstacle or e.g., for rotating each leg via a motor / actuator (par. 42, 66 and 88 and Figure 26) to make the robot climbs a series of stars (par. 49 and 41 and Figures 12A-12F) based on detected stair (par. 42)).
Regarding claims 3-6, the claim limitations recited features on alternative form of rejected claim 1; therefore, Mailey et al.’s invention still read on the claimed combination alternative form.
Regarding claim 7, Mailey et al. disclose a home robot for cleaning (par. 2 and 107), wherein the obstacle comprises a step (Figures 12A-12F show a robot climbing multiple steps of a stair (par. 49-50 and Figures 12A-12F)).
Regarding claim 16, Mailey et al. disclose a home robot for cleaning configured to drive the lifting mechanism to lift the device body based on not receiving the obstacle information ( e.g., for rotating each leg via a motor / actuator (par. 42, 66 and 88 and Figure 26) to make the robot climbs a series of stars (par. 49 and 41 and Figures 12A-12F) based on sensor data (par. 42) to detect exactly where the obstacle / step starts moving under the robot (par. 70), which covers no receiving obstacle information).
Regarding claim 17, Mailey et al. disclose a home robot for cleaning (par. 2 and 107) comprising:
a device body (e.g., robot body (e.g., par. 41 and 43 and Figures 1-4));
a driving assembly configured to move the device body on a supporting surface e.g., robot’s wheels for driving the robot along a horizontal plane (par. 41-42 and Figures 1-4 ));
a lifting mechanism connected to the device body and the driving assembly (e.g., robot’s front and rear legs (101/102 and 103/104) (par. 41 and 49) connected to the robot body and wheels (par. 41-42 and Figures 1-4 )); and
a controller (e.g., computer board(s) (par. 87) ) configured to:
identify a type of an obstacle (for detecting stair, or negative / positive obstacle (par. 42) based on sensor data ); and based on the type of the obstacle being a step (e.g., detecting a stair (par. 42); Figure 12A-12F show a robot climbing multiple steps of a stair, which requires the detection of the stair step(s)), control motion of the lifting mechanism (for rotating each leg via a motor / actuator (par. 42, 66 and 88 and Figure 26) to make the robot climbs a series of stars (par. 49 and 41 and Figures 12A-12F) based on detected stair (par. 42)).
Regarding claim 18, Mailey et al. disclose a robot configured for home cleaning (par. 2 and 107), which cover vacuum cleaner.
Regarding claim 20 , Mailey et al. disclose a home robot for cleaning (par. 2 and 107) comprising:
a device body (e.g., robot body (e.g., par. 41 and 43 and Figures 1-4));
a lifting mechanism connected to the device body (e.g., robot’s front and rear legs (101/102 and 103/104) (par. 41 and 49) connected to the robot body (par. 41-42 and Figures 1-4 )); and
a controller (e.g., computer board(s) (par. 87) ) configured to:
determine obstacle information of an obstacle (e.g., for detecting stair, or negative / positive obstacle (par. 42) based on sensor data ), wherein the obstacle information comprises a height of the obstacle (Figures 12A-12F show a robot climbing multiple steps of a stair, which requires a detection of the step’s height (par. 49-50 and Figures 12A-12F)); and
control motion of the lifting mechanism based on a determination that the height of the obstacle is higher than or alternative limitation) (e.g., for rotating each leg via a motor / actuator (par. 42, 66 and 88 and Figure 26) to make the robot climbs a series of stars (par. 49 and 41 and Figures 12A-12F) based on detected stair (par. 42). Figures 12A-12B show a robot climbing a first step of a stair being higher than a ground level where the robot is located (par. 49 and 12A-12B)).
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 8-15 and 19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mailey et al. (Pub. No.: US 2016/0362147 A1) in view of Ma (CN 111265155 A – Machine Translation).
Regarding claims 8-9 and 19, Mailey et al. disclose robot’s front and rear legs (101/102 and 103/104) (par. 41 and 49) connected to the robot body and wheel (par. 41-42 and Figures 1-4 )) and configured to make the robot climbs a series of stars (par. 49 and 41 and Figures 12A-12F) by rotating each leg via a computer board and motor / actuator (par. 88, 42, 66 and 88 and Figure 26) .
However, Mailey et al. failed to disclose the specific lifting mechanism configuration and structure.
However, Ma teaches a vacuum cleaner with stair-climbing capabilities (par. 105) comprises a lifting bracket (e.g., support arm 2 (par. 51 and Figure 1)), a first end of the lifting bracket is rotatably connected to a rear end of the device body via a first rotating shaft (e.g., one end of the support arm 2 rotatably connected to the rear end of the robot main body 1 via a connecting shaft 1-3 (par. 57 and Figures 1-2)), and a second end of the lifting bracket is rotatably connected to a front end of the driving assembly via a second rotating shaft (e.g., the other end of the support arm 2 rotatably connected to a support foot 3 via a front shaft 2-2 (par. 58-59 and Figures 1-2)) (claims 8 and 19) and
wherein the lifting mechanism further comprises a first driver (e.g., first driving member 1-4 (par. 57)) and a second driver (e.g., second driving member 3-3 (par. 58)), wherein the first driver is mechanically coupled to the first rotating shaft to drive rotation of the first rotating shaft (e.g., first driving member 1-4 mechanically couples to and rotates the connecting shaft 1-3 (par. 57 and Figures 1-2)), and the second driver is mechanically coupled to the second rotating shaft to drive rotation of the second rotating shaft (e.g., second driving member 3-3 mechanically couples to and rotates the front shaft 2-2 (par. 58-60 and Figures 1-2)) (claim 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the home robot taught by Mailey et al., such that the robot’s front and rear legs are reconfigured as support arm rotatably connected (i) at one end to a rear end of the robot main body via a connecting shaft and (ii) at the other end to a support foot via a front shaft, wherein driving members / actuators mechanically couples to and rotates each shaft independently, in view of Ma, and be controlled by robot computer board as a matter of design choice because the modification does not alter the end result for the robot to climb a stair and perform a clean process.
Regarding claims 10-11, Mailey et al. disclose robot’s front and rear legs (101/102 and 103/104) (par. 41 and 49) connected to the robot body and wheel (par. 41-42 and Figures 1-4 )) and configured to make the robot climbs a series of stars (par. 49 and 41 and Figures 12A-12F) by rotating each leg via a computer board and motor / actuator (par. 88, 42, 66 and 88 and Figure 26).
However, Mailey et al. failed to disclose the specific lifting mechanism configuration and control.
However, Ma teaches a vacuum cleaner with stair-climbing capabilities (par. 105) comprises
control the first driver to drive rotation of the first rotating shaft and the second driver to drive rotation of the second rotating shaft, so that the first end of the lifting bracket moves upward relative to the second end of the lifting bracket (claim 10) (e.g., Figure 8 (step d)) shows one end of the support arm 2 rotating upward relative to the other end of the support arm 2 connected to a support foot 3 using first driving member 1-4 and second driving member 3-3 respectively connected to their shafts 1-3 / 2-2 (par. 57-59, 109 and Figure 8)),
control the second driver to drive rotation of the second rotating shaft to rotate the lifting bracket upward relative to the driving assembly (e.g., Figure 8 (step d)) shows the support arm 2 rotating upward relative to the support foot 3 using second driving member 3-3 (par. 57-59, 109 and Figure 8)), and
control the first driver to drive rotation of the first rotating shaft to lead rotation of the device body relative to the lifting bracket, causing the device body to be lifted from the first surface to a second surface of the obstacle (e.g., Figure 8 (step d)) shows the support arm 2 rotating upward via shaft 1-3 and first driving member 1-4 to put the robot main body 1 on a step surface above a ground level (par. 57-59, 109 and Figure 8)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the robot computer board taught by Mailey et al., such that the computer board is configured to control the actuators / driving members of the robot support arm and foot to put the robot main body on a step surface above a ground level, in view of Ma, with reasonable expectation of success, since doing so would have achieved the benefit of controlling a robot to perform indoor cleaning and climb-stairs to clean upper level floor (par. 6).
Regarding claims 12-13, Mailey et al. failed to specifically disclose the specific lifting mechanism configuration and control.
However, Ma teaches a vacuum cleaner with stair-climbing capabilities (par. 105) comprises:
control the second driver to drive rotation of the second rotating shaft, so that the driving assembly leaves the first surface (e.g., Figure 8 (step e-i)) shows support foot 3 rotating upward leaving the ground level by using second driving member 3-3 and shaft 2-2 (par. 57-59, 109-114 and Figure 8)), and control the first driver to drive rotation of the first rotating shaft to lead the lifting bracket and the driving assembly to rotate to a second surface of the obstacle (claim 12) (e.g., Figure 8 (step e-i)) shows support arm 2 rotating upward using shaft 1-3 and first driving member 1-4 to put the support arm 2 and support foot 3 on a step surface above a ground level (par. 57-59, 109-114 and Figure 8)).
control the first driver to drive rotation of the first rotating shaft, so that the driving assembly leaves the first surface where the device body is currently located (e.g., Figure 8 (step e-i)) shows the support arm 2 rotating upward using shaft 1-3 and first driving member 1-4 so that support foot 3 leave the ground level (par. 57-59, 109-114 and Figure 8)); and control the second driver to drive rotation of the second rotating shaft to lead the driving assembly to rotate to the second surface of the obstacle (claim 13) (e.g., Figure 8 (step e-i)) shows the support foot 3 rotating upward using second driving member 3-3 and shaft 2-2 to put the support foot 3 on a step surface above a ground level (par. 57-59, 109-114 and Figure 8)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the robot computer board taught by Mailey et al., such that the computer board is configured to control the actuators / driving members of the robot support arm and support foot to put the robot main body and support arm and foot on a step surface above a ground level, in view of Ma, with reasonable expectation of success, since doing so would have achieved the benefit of controlling a robot to perform indoor cleaning and climb-stairs to clean upper level floor (par. 6).
Regarding claim 14, Mailey et al. failed to specifically disclose the specific lifting mechanism configuration and control.
However, Ma teaches a vacuum cleaner with stair-climbing capabilities (par. 105) comprises: control the first driver to drive rotation of the first rotating shaft, so that the driving assembly leaves the first surface where the device body is currently located; and control the second driver to drive rotation of the second rotating shaft to lead the driving assembly to rotate to the second surface of the obstacle (e.g., Figure 8 (step e-i)) shows support foot 3 and support arm 2 rotating upward by using driving member 3-3 /1-4 and shafts 2-2 / 1-3 respectively to move the support arm 2 , support foot 3 and robot body 1 on a step surface from a ground level (par. 57-59, 109-114 and Figure 8)),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the robot computer board taught by Mailey et al., such that the computer board is configured to control the actuators / driving members of the robot support arm and support foot to move the robot main body and support arm and foot on a step surface from a ground level, in view of Ma, with reasonable expectation of success, since doing so would have achieved the benefit of controlling a robot to perform indoor cleaning and climb-stairs to clean upper level floor (par. 6).
Regarding claim 15, Mailey et al. disclose a home robot for cleaning (par. 2 and 107) comprising:
a mounting bracket (e.g., robot’s leg(s) having a housing / structure (par. 41 and Figure 1-2)), a third driver (e.g., a motor to power the leg threads or wheel (par. 42 and 41)), and a driving track (e.g., leg’s treads / wheel(s) (par. 42 and 41 and Figure 1-2 and 11A – 11D)),
the third driver is configured to cause rotation of the driving track (e.g., the motor(s) configured to provide power to the leg’s treads / wheel(s) to drive the robot along a horizontal plane (par. 42 and 41 and Figure 1-2 and 11A – 11D)), both the third driver and the driving track are provided on the mounting bracket (e.g., the motors and tread(s) / wheel(s) are located within the leg’s housing / structure (par. 41-42 and Figures 1-2)),
Mailey et al. failed to specifically disclose the second end of the lifting bracket is rotatably connected to a front end of the mounting bracket via the second rotating shaft.
However, Ma teaches a vacuum cleaner with stair-climbing capabilities (par. 105) comprises one end of the support arm 2 rotatably connected to a support foot 3 via a front shaft 2-2 (par. 58-59 and Figures 1-2)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the home robot taught by Mailey et al., such that the robot’s front leg and rear legs are reconfigured to be connected to each other at their respective end via a rotatable shaft, in view of Ma, and be controlled by robot computer board as a matter of design choice because the modification does not alter the end result for the robot to climb a stair and perform a clean process.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhang et al. (US 2024/0374101 A1) is directed to a robot configured to clear stair using retractable rotating arms (note: effectively filled date issue).
Long et al. (US 2024/0389811 A1) is directed to robot cleaner for climbing and cleaning stairs (note: effectively filled date issue).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jorge O. Peche whose telephone number is (571)270-1339. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Khoi H. Tran can be reached at 571 272 6919. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Jorge O Peche/Examiner, Art Unit 3656
Prosecution Insights