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
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 22-28 and 32-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1), 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by ISREAL AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES LTD. WO 2015/049679 A1, hereinafter Isreal.
Regarding claim 22, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) a connecting system comprising:
a connecting device (400) configured to be connected to an unmanned underwater vehicle (300) in a body of water, the connection being at least one of a mechanical connection, an electrical connection and a data exchange connection (Pg 3 Ln 11-14, Pg 18 Ln 8-22); and
an articulated arm (520’) which is configured to be mounted to a floating vehicle (200) and is connected to the connecting device to control a position and an orientation of the connecting device in the body of water (Pg 35 Ln 6-9).
Regarding claim 23, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the articulated arm comprises an actuation assembly configured to control the position and the orientation of the connecting device with respect to the unmanned underwater vehicle (Pg 35 Ln 10 - Pg 36 Ln 18).
Regarding claim 24, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the articulated arm comprises: a support element (501’/502’) configured to be solidly coupled to the floating vehicle (200), a first elongated element (504’/520A’) extending along a first longitudinal axis and hinged to the support element about a first rotation axis (theta 1), and a second elongated element (520B’) that carries the connecting device (400), extends along a second longitudinal axis and is hinged to the first elongated element about a second rotation axis (theta 2).
Regarding claim 25, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the actuation assembly comprises: a first actuator (507’) configured to control a rotation of the first elongated element about the first 15 rotation axis, and a second actuator (520C’) configured to control a rotation of the second elongated element about the second rotation axis.
Regarding claim 26, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the first elongated element (504’/520A’) comprises a first body (504’) and a second body (520a’) hinged to each other about a third rotation axis (RA) substantially parallel to the second rotation axis.
Regarding claim 27, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the actuation assembly comprises an actuator configured to control a relative rotation of the second body with respect to the first body about the third rotation axis (Pg 35 Ln 10 - Pg 36 Ln 18).
Regarding claim 28, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the articulated arm comprises a connecting joint (depicted in Fig. 4 is (525) connected via joint to (400)) configured to connect an end (525) of the second elongated element (520B’) to the connecting device (400).
Regarding claim 32, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) further comprising a control unit (“control system”) configured to control the actuation assembly to arrange the connecting device at the unmanned underwater vehicle and to orient the connecting device towards the unmanned underwater vehicle (Pg 4 Ln 16-30).
Regarding claim 33, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the connecting device comprises a sensor (“inertial sensors”) configured to detect a relative position between the unmanned underwater vehicle and the connecting device, and the control unit is configured to control the actuation assembly as a function of the relative position detected by the sensor (Pg 4 Ln 16-30).
Regarding claim 34, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the connecting device (400) comprises a plate (depicted in Fig. 2, (400) comprises at least one plate).
Regarding claim 35, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the connecting device comprises a mechanical connector configured to releasably engage the unmanned underwater vehicle (as depicted, (400) is at least a mechanical connector, especially in the instance that (300) is untethered [0121]).
Regarding claim 36, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the connecting device comprises an inductive connector configured to be at least one of electrically connected electrically with the unmanned underwater vehicle and connected for data exchange with the unmanned underwater vehicle (Pg 3 Ln 11-14, Pg 18 Ln 8-22).
Regarding claim 37, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) a navigation assembly comprising:
a floating vehicle (200) configured to navigate on a body of water;
an unmanned underwater vehicle (300) configured to navigate in the body of water; and
a connecting system (500’) mounted to the floating vehicle and configured to connect the floating vehicle to the unmanned underwater vehicle, the connecting system comprising:
a connecting device (400) configured to be connected to the unmanned underwater vehicle, the connection being at least one of a mechanical connection, an electrical connection and a data exchange connection (Pg 3 Ln 11-14, Pg 18 Ln 8-22); and
an articulated arm (520’) connected to the connecting device to control a position and an orientation of the connecting device in the body of water (Pg 35 Ln 6-9).
Regarding claim 38, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the floating vehicle (200) is an autonomous unmanned vehicle (Pg 11 Ln 25-28).
Regarding claim 39, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) the unmanned underwater vehicle is an autonomous unmanned vehicle (Pg 9 Ln 9-11).
Regarding claim 40, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) a method of connecting an unmanned underwater vehicle (300) to a floating vehicle (200) in a body of water, the method comprising:
carrying, by the floating vehicle, an articulated arm (520’) equipped with a connecting device (400) into the body of water (Pg 35 Ln 6-9).
controlling, by the articulated arm, a position and an orientation of the connecting device in the body of water (Pg 4 Ln 16-30); and
connecting, by at least one of a mechanical connection, an electrical connection and a connection for data exchange, the connecting device to the unmanned underwater vehicle (Pg 3 Ln 11-14, Pg 18 Ln 8-22).
Regarding claim 41, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) further comprising:
detecting a relative position between the unmanned underwater vehicle and the connecting device (Pg 4 Ln 16-30); and
controlling the position and the orientation of the connecting device in the body of water as a function of the detected relative position (Pg 4 Ln 16-30).
Regarding claim 42, Isreal discloses (Fig. 15-16) a method of transferring an unmanned underwater vehicle from a first underwater work site to a second underwater work site, the method comprising:
carrying, by a floating vehicle (200), an articulated arm (520’) equipped with a connecting device (400) into a body of water (Pg 35 Ln 6-9);
controlling, by the articulated arm, a position and an orientation of the connecting device in the body of water (Pg 4 Ln 16-30);
connecting, by at least one of a mechanical connection, an electrical connection and a connection for data exchange, the connecting device to the unmanned underwater vehicle (Pg 3 Ln 11-14, Pg 18 Ln 8-22, Pg 18 Ln 8-22); and
moving the floating vehicle on the body of water while keeping the unmanned underwater vehicle connected to the floating vehicle (Pg 11 Ln 28-31).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 29-31 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 29, Isreal discloses the claimed invention substantially as claimed, as set forth above for Claim 28 except fails to explicitly state that the connecting joint is configured to enable a relative rotation of the connecting device about a third rotation axis and about a fourth rotation axis.
The prior art does not anticipate nor render obvious the combination set forth in the claim, and specifically does not show the claimed relative rotation of the connecting joint. Although Isreal discloses a connecting joint, there is no teaching in the prior art of record that would, reasonably and absent impermissible hindsight, motivate one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Isreal to incorporate the details of the connecting joint is configured to enable a relative rotation of the connecting device about a third rotation axis and about a fourth rotation axis, along with the other claimed components of the connecting system. Therefore, when viewed as a whole and for at least the foregoing reasons, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor rendered obvious the present invention as set forth in the independent claim.
Regarding claim 30, Isreal discloses the claimed invention substantially as claimed, as set forth above for Claim 24 except fails to explicitly state that the first elongated element extends along the first longitudinal axis for a length that is greater than a metacentric roll height of the floating vehicle on which the articulated arm is mounted.
The prior art does not anticipate nor render obvious the combination set forth in the claim, and specifically does not show the claimed relationship between length of the first elongated element and the metacentric roll height of the floating vehicle. Although Isreal discloses first elongated element, there is no teaching in the prior art of record that would, reasonably and absent impermissible hindsight, motivate one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Isreal to incorporate the details of the first elongated element extends along the first longitudinal axis for a length that is greater than a metacentric roll height of the floating vehicle on which the articulated arm is mounted, along with the other claimed components of the connecting system. Therefore, when viewed as a whole and for at least the foregoing reasons, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor rendered obvious the present invention as set forth in the independent claim.
Regarding claim 31, Isreal discloses the claimed invention substantially as claimed, as set forth above for Claim 24 except fails to explicitly state that the second elongated element extends along the second longitudinal axis for a length greater than a metacentric pitching height of the floating vehicle on which the articulated arm is mounted.
The prior art does not anticipate nor render obvious the combination set forth in the claim, and specifically does not show the claimed relationship between the length of the second elongated element and the metacentric pitching height. Although Isreal discloses a second elongated element, there is no teaching in the prior art of record that would, reasonably and absent impermissible hindsight, motivate one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Isreal to incorporate the details of the second elongated element extends along the second longitudinal axis for a length greater than a metacentric pitching height of the floating vehicle on which the articulated arm is mounted, along with the other claimed components of the connecting system. Therefore, when viewed as a whole and for at least the foregoing reasons, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor rendered obvious the present invention as set forth in the independent claim.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Relevant Art
The following is a listing of relevant art:
US 20210190986 A1, US 20140377004 A1, US 10766579 B1, GB 2616619 A, NL 2037803 B1, WO 2015049679 A1, EP 2468621 A1 and EP 0532096 B1 disclose connecting systems comprising connecting devices and articulated arms.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW WIBLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-9836. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, NATHANIEL WIEHE can be reached on 571-272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW WIBLIN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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