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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 includes the term “ejector-type”. This is an indefinite term.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morrison (US 12,084,972) in view of Bick et al (US 9,740,213) and Shoshan et al (US 11,186,314). Morrison discloses:
With regard to claim 1 - A non-cabin articulated truck comprising:
autonomous control means for autonomous control of the non-cabin articulated truck and its use;
a sensor 9 arranged for sensing an environment of the non-cabin articulated truck (“When the drive mechanism (2) allows the vehicle (1) to be driven autonomously, sensors (9), such as proximity sensors using lasers and radar, for example, are incorporated into the various components of the vehicle (1) so that the environment of the vehicle can be detected, understood and mapped.” – column 4, lines 7-12);
control means for controlling the non-cabin articulated truck and its use on the basis of said the sensed environment (“For example, proximity to other vehicles, workers, obstacles and the mine can be determined through the sensors (9). This information is relayed to a central processing unit that uses the information about the environment to control movement of the vehicle (1).” – column 4, lines 12-16);
position determining means for continuously determining a position of the truck (see proximity sensors in recitations above);
control means for controlling the truck and its use on the basis of the determined position;
a first vehicle module including a first frame and at least one first wheeled axle and a second vehicle module including a second frame and at least one second wheeled axle (see Fig. 5),
the first vehicle module is interconnected in an articulated manner about a vertical pin 7 and/or a vertical axis to the second vehicle module,
each of the first vehicle module and the second vehicle module is provided with a load carrying arrangement 11, 12, and
each load carrying arrangement is a dump bed having an ejector-type unloading device or a dump bed that extends in length and width of a corresponding first or second vehicle module (see Fig. 5).
Morrison fails to explicitly disclose wherein the first vehicle module and the second vehicle module are interconnected to rotate about a longitudinal axis in relation to each other. Shoshan teaches a non-cabin articulated truck comprising:
autonomous control means for autonomous control of the non-cabin articulated truck and its use;
a first vehicle module 60 including a first frame and at least one first wheeled axle and a second vehicle module 70 including a second frame and at least one second wheeled axle,
wherein the first vehicle module 60 and the second vehicle module 70 are interconnected to rotate about a longitudinal axis in relation to each other (see Fig. 3C). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the vehicle of Morrison with the teaching of Shoshan such that the first vehicle module and the second vehicle module are interconnected to rotate about a longitudinal axis in relation to each other, with a reasonable expectation of success, to accommodate for the two modules being subjected to different slopes.
With regard to claim 3, Morrison discloses wherein each of the first vehicle module and the second vehicle module includes an energy storing device for the drive motor, such as a battery (“When the vehicles (1) are electrically powered, they can use the energy stored in onboard batteries to move into position within the mine, but when parked and transporting the coarse ore (15), each vehicle can be plugged into a stationary power source (19) to recharge the batteries and supply power to the motor responsible for moving the conveyor (3).” – column 6, lines 52-58).
With regard to claim 4, Morrison discloses wherein the non-cabin articulated truck is an autonomous vehicle (“When the drive mechanism (2) allows the vehicle (1) to be driven autonomously, sensors (9), such as proximity sensors using lasers and radar, for example, are incorporated into the various components of the vehicle (1) so that the environment of the vehicle can be detected, understood and mapped.” – column 4, lines 7-12).
With regard to claim 5, Morrison discloses wherein the non-cabin articulated truck is a remotely controlled truck (“In a further embodiment, the drive mechanism is remotely or autonomously controlled.” – column 2, lines 8-9).
With regard to claim 7, Morrison discloses wherein the first vehicle module 60 and/or the second vehicle module 70 is provided with the sensor 9 for sensing the environment of the truck.
With regard to claim 8, Morrison discloses wherein the sensor 9 is arranged at a first end of the articulated non-cabin truck and/or at a second end of the articulated non-cabin truck (see Fig. 5).
With regard to claim 9, Morrison discloses wherein the sensor is arranged at a tail gate of the first load carrying arrangement and/or at a tail gate of the second load carrying arrangement. As can be seen in Fig. 5, the sensors are disposed at a back end of the vehicle. Because the claim does not specify the sensors as being arranged on the tail gate, these sensors may be gleaned to be at the tail gate.
With regard to claim 10, Morrison discloses wherein the sensor 9 is selected from at least one of the following: a radar, a lidar, a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, or any combination of two or more of these (“When the drive mechanism (2) allows the vehicle (1) to be driven autonomously, sensors (9), such as proximity sensors using lasers and radar, for example, are incorporated into the various components of the vehicle (1) so that the environment of the vehicle can be detected, understood and mapped.” – column 4, lines 7-12).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morrison (US 12,084,972) and Shoshan et al (US 11,186,314), as applied to claims 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7-10, above, and further in view of Bick et al (US 9,740,213). Morrison and Shoshan fail to explicitly disclose wherein the first wheeled axle of the first vehicle module and/or the second wheeled axle of the second vehicle module includes at least one hub motor and means for transmit a torque from the hub motor to at least one wheel.
Bick teaches:
A non-cabin articulated truck comprising:
autonomous control means for autonomous control of the non-cabin articulated truck and its use;
a sensor 8 arranged for sensing an environment of the non-cabin articulated truck (“The sensors 8 represent in particular laser scanners, with the help of which the respective automated guided vehicle 1, 1a can scan the environment.” – column 6, lines 13-15);
control means 6 for controlling the non-cabin articulated truck and its use on the basis of said the sensed environment;
position determining means for continuously determining a position of the truck (“In the electronic control devices 6, e.g., respective electronic maps of the environment are saved, so that the automated guided vehicles 1, 1a and/or their electronic control devices 6 can determine their poses by evaluating data from the sensors 8 and the digital maps, i.e. their positions and orientations within the environment.” – column 6, lines 15-21);
control means 6 for controlling the truck and its use on the basis of the determined position;
a first vehicle module 1 including a first frame and at least one first wheeled axle and a second vehicle module 1a including a second frame and at least one second wheeled axle (see the figure),
the first vehicle module 1 is interconnected in an articulated manner about a vertical pin and/or a vertical axis 12 to the second vehicle module 1a,
wherein the first wheeled axle of the first vehicle module 1 and/or the second wheeled axle of the second vehicle module 1a includes at least one hub motor 4 and means for transmit a torque from the hub motor 4 to at least one wheel.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the vehicle of Morrison and Shoshan with the teaching of Bick such that the first wheeled axle of the first vehicle module and/or the second wheeled axle of the second vehicle module includes at least one hub motor and means for transmit a torque from the hub motor to at least one wheel, with a reasonable expectation of success, to allow for individualized control of each wheel.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morrison (US 12,084,972) and Shoshan et al (US 11,186,314), as applied to claims 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7-10, above, and further in view of Ishikawa et al (US 11,767,071). Morrison and Shoshan fail to explicitly disclose wherein an actuator is arranged for turning the first vehicle module and/or the second vehicle module in relation to the vertical pin and/or the vertical axis. Ishikawa teaches an articulating work vehicle comprising a first vehicle module 1A and a second vehicle module 1B, the first vehicle module 1A being interconnected in an articulated manner about a vertical pin 33 and/or a vertical axis to the second vehicle module 1B, wherein an actuator 40 is arranged for turning the first vehicle module and/or the second vehicle module in relation to the vertical pin 33. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the vehicle of Morrison and Shoshan with the teaching of Ishikawa such that an actuator is arranged for turning the first vehicle module and/or the second vehicle module in relation to the vertical pin and/or the vertical axis, with a reasonable expectation of success, to allow for greater control of the articulation between the modules.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY WILHELM whose telephone number is (571)272-6980. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-5:30.
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/TIMOTHY WILHELM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617 September 18, 2026
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