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 .
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 (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 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) 1-9 and 14-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO2021141773 issued to Stanley.
With respect to claims 1, 9, 14 and 21, refer to paragraph [0004] which discloses a summary of the invention which includes a vehicle having a bogie, a look ahead sensor, a vehicle body and a processor 204. The bogie includes a plurality of wheels 404. The sensors are configured to sense a real time position of the bogie relative to the tracks of the railway. Paragraph [0073] discloses an algorithm in the form of computer readable instructions stored in a memory 206. The sensors measure the lateral position of the wheels on the track [0059]. The wheels are steered by actuators [0064].
With respect to claims 2 and 15, Stanley discloses that in some embodiments a magnetic strip is installed on the top of a rail and a sensor mounted on the bogie measures a distance to the magnetic strip which inherently includes a determination as to the vertical position of the sensor as well as that of the bogie.
With respect to claims 3 and 16, Stanley discloses that a variety of sensors may be disposed on the bogie and may be associated with one or more wheels [0059].
With respect to claim 4, Stanley makes clear that a variety of the disclosed sensors may be used in a variety of locations on the rail vehicle. [0059].
With respect to claims 5, 6, 8, 17, 18 and 20, paragraph [0066] discusses how the sensors receive predetermined information from either a remote server or recalling previous data stored on onboard memory.
With respect to claims 7 and 19, Stanley discloses that sensors may detect the “speed” of a vehicle on the rail and use this information for steering the bogie. [0073/0074].
With respect to claim 22, Stanley discloses the use of a sensor comprising a radar or laser rangefinder. [0073]
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-13 and 23 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TROY CHAMBERS whose telephone number is (571)272-6874. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 0530-1400.
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TROY CHAMBERS
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3641
/Troy Chambers/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3641
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