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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/07/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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)(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) 1-8 and 11-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shitrit, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2023/0264837).
Regarding Claim 1, Shitrit teaches: A drone operable for flight (Shitrit, Para. 0001, 0003 – “an armed aerial platform” in which a “UAV”, or “unmanned aerial vehicle”, “carries a weapon”), the drone comprising:
a fuselage having a length (L) extending along an x-axis (Shitrit, Fig. 6 Below and Para. 0031 – the “UAV” includes “a rigid body 110” having a length, as shown on Fig. 6), the fuselage comprising a port side fuselage section spaced apart from a starboard side fuselage section to define a slot therebetween which extends along the length (L) of the fuselage (Shitrit, Fig. 6 and Para. 0031, 0040 – “a rigid body 110 formed with a central vertical slot 112 for receiving weapon 102”, the central vertical slot “positioned so that the weapon axis 106 passes through or near the center of gravity of the armed airborne platform”; where as shown on Fig. 6, the central vertical slot 112 is “an open-ended slot” between the port and starboard sides of the rigid body); and
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Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6
a cannon having a barrel (Shitrit, Para. 0031 – “a weapon 102 for firing a projectile from a barrel 104”), and the cannon being pivotably mounted in the slot to the port side fuselage section, and/or pivotably mounted to the starboard side fuselage section, by a trunnion mounting assembly having a trunnion axis which extends at right angles to the x-axis, such that the barrel is operable to pivot about the trunnion axis to move over, and/or be positioned at, a range of angles relative to the x-axis direction (Shitrit, Fig. 6 Above, Fig. 7, and Para. 0006, 0031-0040 – where the “weapon 102” is mounted “within central vertical slot 112” by a “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116”, or trunnion; where the weapon is mounted so as to be “pivotable about a pivot axis”, aligned with the “gimbal mechanism”, or trunnion axis, see Fig. 7, where the weapon has a pivot range of 106u to 106d about a “horizontal reference plane 126”, or x-y plane).
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Shitrit, Fig. 7
In regards to Claim 2, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 1, and Shitrit further teaches wherein:
a first end of the fuselage and a second end of the fuselage are spaced apart from one another along the length (L) of the fuselage along the x-axis (Shitrit, See Annotated Fig. 6 Below and Para. 0031 – annotated Fig. 6 illustrating length (L) of the “rigid body 110” along the x-axis);
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Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6
the fuselage extending along a y-axis, the port side of the fuselage and the starboard side of the fuselage spaced apart from one another across the width (W) of the fuselage along the y-axis (Shitrit, See Annotated Fig. 6 Below and Para. 0031 – annotated Fig. 6 illustrating width (W) of the “rigid body 110” along the y-axis);
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Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6
the y-axis being at right angles to the x-axis (Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6 and Para. 0007, 0040 – see annotated Fig. 6 showing an x-axis and y-axis above, where the “the rigid body defines a horizontal reference plane”, which constitutes two axes), the trunnion axis being aligned with and/or parallel to the y-axis (Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6 Above and Para. 0005-0006 – “the gimbal mechanism”, or trunnion, “supports the weapon so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis”, where the gimbal mechanism 116 is shown to be parallel to the width of the rigid body 110, as shown in annotated Fig. 6);
the fuselage extending along a z-axis, a crown of the fuselage and a bottom of the fuselage spaced apart from one another along a depth (D) of the fuselage along the z-axis (Shitrit, See Annotated Fig. 7 Below and Para. 0028-0031, 0040 – Fig. 7 shows a “cross-sectional view” of the “rigid body 110”, shown to have a depth extending in the up and down directions, or z-axis),
the z-axis being at right angles to the x-axis and y-axis (Shitrit, See Annotated Fig. 7 and Para. 0040, 0051 – annotated Fig. 7 illustrating the z-axis which is at a right angle with the “horizontal reference plane 126”, or x-y plane; the UAV of Shitrit is taught to adjust an “azimuth” by rotation of the UAV, where the azimuth is known in the art to be a rotation about the z-axis);
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Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 7
the fuselage defines the slot extending along the x-axis and extending between the crown and bottom (Shitrit, Fig 6 and Para. 0031, 0040-0042 – “slot 112 is advantageously implemented as an open-ended slot which is open at one end of body 110”, where the slot is “a through-slot”);
the barrel has a barrel axis (Shitrit, Para. 0031 – “a weapon 102 for firing a projectile from a barrel 104 (illustrated in FIG. 7), the barrel defining a weapon axis 106”), and the barrel has a front end and a muzzle provided towards the front end (Shitrit, See Cropped Annotated Fig. 7 Below – the annotated portion showing an illustrated muzzle of the weapon); and
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Shitrit, Cropped Annotated Fig. 7
the barrel axis is operable to be angled to either side of the x-axis to direct the muzzle to a region above the crown and to a region beneath the bottom (Shitrit, Fig. 7, and Para. 0006, 0031-0040 – where as shown in Fig. 7 above, the weapon is “pivotable about a pivot axis”, aligned with the “gimbal mechanism”, see Fig. 7, where “a range of angles of the weapon axis 106 spans a range above and below the reference plane”, i.e. the “horizontal reference plane 126” or x-y plane).
In regards to Claim 3, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 2, and Shitrit further teaches wherein the barrel is constrained to pivot in a plane of movement extending through the x-axis and z-axis (Shitrit, Fig. 7 and Para. 0006, 0031-0040 – where the weapon is “pivotable about a pivot axis”, aligned with the “gimbal mechanism”, see Fig. 7, where “a range of angles of the weapon axis 106 spans a range above and below the reference plane”/x-y plane, such that the range of angles is in the x-z plane).
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Shitrit, Fig. 7
In regards to Claim 4, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 2, and Shitrit further teaches wherein the barrel axis intersects with the trunnion axis (Shitrit, Fig. 6 Below and Para. 0005-0006, 0031 – “the gimbal mechanism”, or trunnion, “supports the weapon within the slot such that the weapon axis passes substantially through a center of gravity” and “so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis”, as shown on Fig. 6, the “weapon axis 106” extending along the barrel 104 intersects with the “gimbal mechanism 116”).
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Shitrit, Fig. 6
In regards to Claim 5, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 1, and Shitrit further teaches wherein the cannon is operable to generate a recoil force with a recoil vector from the firing of a projectile from the barrel, and the cannon is mounted such that the recoil vector passes through the centre of mass of the drone (Shitrit, Para. 0032, 0060 – “positioning of the weapon so that weapon axis 106 passes substantially through a center of gravity of the UAV 108, thereby minimizing any rotary component of a recoil impulse from firing of the weapon”).
In regards to Claim 6, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 1, and Shitrit further teaches wherein the trunnion axis extends in the slot between the port side fuselage section and the starboard side fuselage section (Shitrit, Fig. 5B Below and Para. 0006, 0031 – “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116 (best seen in FIG. 5B) supports weapon 102 within slot 112” so as to be “pivotable about a pivot axis substantially aligned with the center of gravity”; where as shown in Fig. 5B, the “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116” extends from the port side to the starboard side of the rigid body 110, or fuselage).
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Shitrit, Fig. 5B
In regards to Claim 7, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 1, and Shitrit further teaches wherein the interface between the trunnion mounting assembly and the cannon is located in the slot (Shitrit, Fig. 5B Below and Para. 0006, 0031 – “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116 (best seen in FIG. 5B) supports weapon 102 within slot 112” so as to be “pivotable about a pivot axis substantially aligned with the center of gravity”; where as shown in Fig. 5B, the “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116” interfaces with the weapon 102, or cannon, within the slot 112).
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Shitrit, Fig. 5B
In regards to Claim 8, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 1, and Shitrit further teaches wherein the trunnion mounting assembly comprises a trunnion which extends along the trunnion axis from the port side fuselage section and/or the starboard side fuselage section, or extends along the trunnion axis from the cannon (Shitrit, Fig. 5B Above and Para. 0006, 0031 – “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116 (best seen in FIG. 5B) supports weapon 102 within slot 112” so as to be “pivotable about a pivot axis substantially aligned with the center of gravity”; where as shown in Fig. 5B, the “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116” extends from the port side to the starboard side of the rigid body 110, or fuselage, the extension constituting the “pivot axis”, or trunnion axis).
In regards to Claim 11, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 1, and Shitrit further teaches wherein the port side fuselage section and the starboard side fuselage section are joined by a bracing member (Shitrit, Para. 0042 – “structural integrity between the two sides of the slot may be enhanced by providing one or more bridging element (not shown) located in such a position that it does not impede the required range of angular motion of the weapon”).
In regards to Claim 12, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 1, and Shitrit further teaches wherein the trunnion mounting assembly comprises an actuator to control the angle of the barrel axis relative to the x-axis (Shitrit, Para. 0004, 0010, 0038 – “a single-axis gimbal mechanism supporting the weapon within the slot and controlling an inclination angle of the weapon axis relative to the body”, the control implemented by a “onboard controller 120”).
In regards to Claim 13, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 12, and Shitrit further teaches further comprising a control unit (Shitrit, Para. 0038 – “onboard controller 120”) operable to control the actuator to control the angle of the barrel axis relative to the x-axis and the orientation of the drone (Shitrit, Para. 0010, 0038, 0040, 0051 – the “onboard controller 120” actuates “the gimbal mechanism to change an inclination angle of the weapon axis”, or barrel axis, “above and below the reference plane”, and “actuate the propulsion system to change an azimuthal alignment of the weapon axis” by “rotation of the entire UAV 108”).
In regards to Claim 14, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 1, and Shitrit further teaches further comprising rotors operable to generate thrust to lift the drone (Shitrit, Para. 0038 – “the present invention include configurations with 4 or 6 rotor positions, each with one or two propulsion units” in order “to provide lift”).
Regarding Claim 15, Shitrit teaches: A method of operation of a drone (Shitrit, Para. 0001, 0003, 0017 – “a method for operating a multirotor UAV”, or “an armed aerial platform”, in which the “UAV”, or “unmanned aerial vehicle”, “carries a weapon”), the drone including
a fuselage (Shitrit, Para. 0031 – “rigid body 110”) and a cannon (Shitrit, Para. 0031 – “weapon 102”),
the fuselage having a length (L) extending along an x-axis (Shitrit, Fig. 6 Below and Para. 0031 – the “UAV” includes “rigid body 110”, having a length, as shown on Fig. 6), the fuselage comprising a port side fuselage section spaced apart from a starboard side fuselage section to define a slot therebetween which extends along the length (L) of the fuselage (Shitrit, Fig. 6 and Para. 0031, 0040 – “a rigid body 110 formed with a central vertical slot 112 for receiving weapon 102”, the central vertical slot “positioned so that the weapon axis 106 passes through or near the center of gravity of the armed airborne platform”; where as shown on Fig. 6, the central vertical slot 112 is “an open-ended slot” between the port and starboard sides of the rigid body),
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Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6
the cannon having a barrel (Shitrit, Para. 0031 – “a weapon 102 for firing a projectile from a barrel 104”), and the cannon being pivotably mounted in the slot to the port side fuselage section, and/or mounted to the starboard side fuselage section, by a trunnion mounting assembly having a trunnion axis which extends at right angles to the x-axis, such that the barrel is operable to pivot about the trunnion axis to move over and/or be positioned at, a range of angles relative to the x-axis direction (Shitrit, Fig. 6 Above, Fig. 7, and Para. 0006, 0031-0040 – where the “weapon 102” is mounted “within central vertical slot 112” by a “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116”, or trunnion; where as shown in Fig. 6 above, the weapon is mounted so as to be “pivotable about a pivot axis”, aligned with the “gimbal mechanism”, see Fig. 7, where the weapon has a pivot range of 106u to 106d about a “horizontal reference plane 126”, or x-y plane);
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Shitrit, Fig. 7
the method (Shitrit, Para. 0017 – “a method for operating a multirotor UAV”) comprising:
receiving input from a user to operate the cannon (Shitrit, Para. 0015 – “receive from the user input device an input”); and
aiming the barrel in a desired direction (Shitrit, Para. 0015, 0054 – “generate the control signals for transmission to the armed aerial platform”, based on the user input, which “adjusts the alignment of the weapon to bring the weapon axis into alignment with an aim point”) by one or more of
pivoting the barrel about the trunnion axis (Shitrit, Para. 0006, 0031-0040 – the weapon is “pivotable about a pivot axis”, or trunnion axis), rotating the drone about the x-axis, rotating the drone about the y-axis, and rotating the drone about the z-axis (Shitrit, Para. 0054 – “weapon aiming process in this case typically includes adjustment of… the azimuth of the weapon axis, where the… the azimuth is adjusted by rotation of the entire UAV 108”; where adjustment of the azimuth is a rotation about the z-axis).
In regards to Claim 16, Shitrit teaches the method of Claim 15, and Shitrit further teaches wherein aiming the barrel in a desired direction by: pivoting the barrel about the trunnion axis (Shitrit, Fig. 7, and Para. 0006, 0031-0040 – where as shown in Fig. 7 below, the weapon is “pivotable about a pivot axis”, or trunnion axis, aligned with the “gimbal mechanism”, see Fig. 7, where “a range of angles of the weapon axis 106 spans a range above and below the reference plane”, i.e. the “horizontal reference plane 126” or x-y plane); and rotating the drone about one or more of the x-axis, the y-axis, and the z-axis (Shitrit, Para. 0054 – “weapon aiming process in this case typically includes adjustment of… the azimuth of the weapon axis, where the… the azimuth is adjusted by rotation of the entire UAV 108”; where adjustment of the azimuth is a rotation about the z-axis).
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Shitrit, Fig. 7
In regards to Claim 17, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 3, and Shitrit further teaches wherein the barrel axis intersects with the trunnion axis (Shitrit, Fig. 6 Below and Para. 0005-0006, 0031 – “the gimbal mechanism”, or trunnion, “supports the weapon within the slot such that the weapon axis passes substantially through a center of gravity” and “so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis”, as shown on Fig. 6, the “weapon axis 106” extending along the barrel 104 intersects with the “gimbal mechanism 116”).
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Shitrit, Fig. 6
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) 9, 10, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shitrit, in view of O’Leary (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2019/0367169).
In regards to Claim 9, Shitrit teaches the drone of Claim 1, but Shitrit does not teach wherein the cannon has a calibre in the range of 12.7mm to 40mm.
However, O’Leary teaches wherein the cannon has a calibre in the range of 12.7mm to 40mm (O’Leary, Para. 0026, 0031 – “grenade launcher 104 may be attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle 102”, where “grenade launcher 104 may be configured as any suitable grenade launcher, such as a 40 mm M203 grenade launcher issued for use with service rifles”, where 40mm is within the range 12.7mm to 40mm).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the drone of Shitrit to include wherein the cannon has a calibre in the range of 12.7mm to 40mm, as taught by O’Leary, in order to accommodate mounting standardized cannons to the drone.
In regards to Claim 10, Shitrit in view of O’Leary teaches the drone of Claim 9, and Shitrit in view of O’Leary further teaches wherein the cannon has a calibre in the range of 20mm to 40mm (O’Leary, Para. 0026, 0031 – “grenade launcher 104 may be attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle 102”, where “grenade launcher 104 may be configured as any suitable grenade launcher, such as a 40 mm M203 grenade launcher issued for use with service rifles”, where 40mm is within the range 20mm to 40mm).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the drone including the above limitations of Shitrit in view of O’Leary to further include wherein the cannon has a calibre in the range of 20mm to 40mm, as taught by O’Leary, in order to accommodate mounting standardized cannons to the drone.
Regarding Claim 18, Shitrit teaches: A drone operable for flight (Shitrit, Para. 0001, 0003 – “an armed aerial platform” in which a “UAV”, or “unmanned aerial vehicle”, “carries a weapon”), the drone comprising:
a fuselage having a length (L) extending along an x-axis (Shitrit, Fig. 6 Below and Para. 0031 – the “UAV” includes “a rigid body 110” having a length, as shown on Fig. 6), the fuselage comprising a port side fuselage section spaced apart from a starboard side fuselage section to define a slot therebetween which extends along the length (L) of the fuselage (Shitrit, Fig. 6 and Para. 0031, 0040 – “a rigid body 110 formed with a central vertical slot 112 for receiving weapon 102”, the central vertical slot “positioned so that the weapon axis 106 passes through or near the center of gravity of the armed airborne platform”; where as shown on Fig. 6, the central vertical slot 112 is “an open-ended slot” between the port and starboard sides of the rigid body); and
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Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6
a cannon having a barrel (Shitrit, Para. 0031 – “a weapon 102 for firing a projectile from a barrel 104”) and being pivotably mounted in the slot to the port side fuselage section, and/or pivotably mounted to the starboard side fuselage section, by a trunnion mounting assembly having a trunnion axis which extends at right angles to the x-axis, such that the barrel is operable to pivot about the trunnion axis to move over, and/or be positioned at, a range of angles relative to the x-axis direction (Shitrit, Fig. 6 Above, Fig. 7, and Para. 0006, 0031-0040 – where the “weapon 102” is mounted “within central vertical slot 112” by a “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116”, or trunnion; where the weapon is mounted so as to be “pivotable about a pivot axis”, aligned with the “gimbal mechanism”, or trunnion axis, see Fig. 7, where the weapon has a pivot range of 106u to 106d about a “horizontal reference plane 126”, or x-y plane),
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Shitrit, Fig. 7
wherein the barrel has a barrel axis, the barrel axis intersects with the trunnion axis (Shitrit, Fig. 6 Above and Para. 0005-0006, 0031 – “the gimbal mechanism”, or trunnion, “supports the weapon within the slot such that the weapon axis passes substantially through a center of gravity” and “so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis”, as shown on Fig. 6, the “weapon axis 106” extending along the barrel 104 intersects with the length of “gimbal mechanism 116”),
the trunnion mounting assembly comprises a trunnion which extends along the trunnion axis from the port side fuselage section and/or the starboard side fuselage section, or extends along the trunnion axis from the cannon (Shitrit, Fig. 5B Below and Para. 0006, 0031 – “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116 (best seen in FIG. 5B) supports weapon 102 within slot 112” so as to be “pivotable about a pivot axis substantially aligned with the center of gravity”; where as shown in Fig. 5B, the “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116” extends from the port side to the starboard side of the rigid body 110, or fuselage, the extension constituting the “pivot axis”, or trunnion axis).
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Shitrit, Fig. 5B
While Shitrit teaches the cannon, Shitrit does not teach the cannon has a calibre in the range of 12.7mm to 40mm.
However, O’Leary teaches the cannon has a calibre in the range of 12.7mm to 40mm (O’Leary, Para. 0026, 0031 – “grenade launcher 104 may be attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle 102”, where “grenade launcher 104 may be configured as any suitable grenade launcher, such as a 40 mm M203 grenade launcher issued for use with service rifles”, where 40mm is within the range 12.7mm to 40mm).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the drone of Shitrit to include wherein the cannon has a calibre in the range of 12.7mm to 40mm, as taught by O’Leary, in order to accommodate mounting standardized cannons to the drone.
In regards to Claim 19, Shitrit in view of O’Leary teaches the drone of Claim 18, and Shitrit in view of O’Leary further teaches wherein:
a first end of the fuselage and a second end of the fuselage are spaced apart from one another along the length (L) of the fuselage along the x-axis (Shitrit, See Annotated Fig. 6 Below and Para. 0031 – annotated Fig. 6 illustrating length (L) of the “rigid body 110” along the x-axis);
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Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6
the fuselage extending along a y-axis, the port side of the fuselage and the starboard side of the fuselage spaced apart from one another across the width (W) of the fuselage along the y-axis (Shitrit, See Annotated Fig. 6 Below and Para. 0031 – annotated Fig. 6 illustrating width (W) of the “rigid body 110” along the y-axis);
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Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6
the y-axis being at a right angle to the x-axis, the trunnion axis being aligned with and/or parallel to the y-axis (Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6 Above and Para. 0007, 0040 – see annotated Fig. 6 showing an x-axis and y-axis above, where the “the rigid body defines a horizontal reference plane”, which constitutes two axes), the trunnion axis being aligned with and/or parallel to the y-axis (Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 6 Above and Para. 0005-0006 – “the gimbal mechanism”, or trunnion, “supports the weapon so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis”, where the gimbal mechanism 116 is shown to be parallel to the width of the rigid body 110, as shown in annotated Fig. 6);
the fuselage extending along a z-axis, a crown of the fuselage and a bottom of the fuselage spaced apart from one another along a depth (D) of the fuselage along the z-axis (Shitrit, See Annotated Fig. 7 Below and Para. 0028-0031, 0040 – Fig. 7 shows a “cross-sectional view” of the “rigid body 110”, shown to have a depth extending in the up and down directions, or z-axis),
the z-axis being at a right angle to each of the x-axis and the y-axis (Shitrit, See Annotated Fig. 7 Below and Para. 0040, 0051 – annotated Fig. 7 illustrating the z-axis which is at a right angle with the “horizontal reference plane 126”, or x-y plane; the UAV of Shitrit is taught to adjust an “azimuth” by rotation of the UAV, where the azimuth is known in the art to be a rotation about the z-axis);
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Shitrit, Annotated Fig. 7
the fuselage defines the slot extending along the x-axis and extending between the crown and bottom (Shitrit, Fig 6 and Para. 0031, 0040-0042 – “slot 112 is advantageously implemented as an open-ended slot which is open at one end of body 110”, where the slot is “a through-slot”);
the barrel has a barrel axis (Shitrit, Para. 0031 – “a weapon 102 for firing a projectile from a barrel 104 (illustrated in FIG. 7), the barrel defining a weapon axis 106”), and the barrel has a front end and a muzzle provided towards the front end (Shitrit, See Cropped Annotated Fig. 7 Below – the annotated portion showing an illustrated muzzle of the weapon); and
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Shitrit, Cropped Annotated Fig. 7
the barrel axis is operable to be angled to either side of the x-axis to direct the muzzle to a region above the crown and to a region beneath the bottom (Shitrit, Fig. 7 Below and Para. 0006, 0031-0040 – where as shown in Fig. 7 above, the weapon is “pivotable about a pivot axis”, aligned with the “gimbal mechanism”, see Fig. 7, where “a range of angles of the weapon axis 106 spans a range above and below the reference plane”, i.e. the “horizontal reference plane 126” or x-y plane);
the barrel is constrained to pivot in a plane of movement extending through the x-axis and z-axis (Shitrit, Fig. 7 Below and Para. 0006, 0031-0040 – where the weapon is “pivotable about a pivot axis”, aligned with the “gimbal mechanism”, see Fig. 7, where “a range of angles of the weapon axis 106 spans a range above and below the reference plane”/x-y plane, such that the range of angles is in the x-z plane);
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Shitrit, Fig. 7
the trunnion axis extends in the slot between the port side fuselage section and the starboard side fuselage section (Shitrit, Fig. 5B Below and Para. 0006, 0031 – “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116 (best seen in FIG. 5B) supports weapon 102 within slot 112” so as to be “pivotable about a pivot axis substantially aligned with the center of gravity”; where as shown in Fig. 5B, the “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116” extends from the port side to the starboard side of the rigid body 110, or fuselage);
the interface between the trunnion mounting assembly and the cannon is located in the slot (Shitrit, Fig. 5B Below and Para. 0006, 0031 – “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116 (best seen in FIG. 5B) supports weapon 102 within slot 112” so as to be “pivotable about a pivot axis substantially aligned with the center of gravity”; where as shown in Fig. 5B, the “single-axis gimbal mechanism 116” interfaces with the weapon 102, or cannon, within the slot 112);
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Shitrit, Fig. 5B
the cannon is operable to generate a recoil force with a recoil vector from the firing of a projectile from the barrel; and the recoil vector passes through the centre of mass of the drone (Shitrit, Para. 0032, 0060 – “positioning of the weapon so that weapon axis 106 passes substantially through a center of gravity of the UAV 108, thereby minimizing any rotary component of a recoil impulse from firing of the weapon”).
In regards to Claim 20, Shitrit in view of O’Leary teaches the drone of Claim 18, and Shitrit in view of O’Leary further teaches comprising: an actuator to control the angle of the barrel axis relative to the x-axis (Shitrit, Para. 0004, 0010, 0038 – “a single-axis gimbal mechanism supporting the weapon within the slot and controlling an inclination angle of the weapon axis relative to the body”); and a control unit (Shitrit, Para. 0038 – “onboard controller 120”) operable to control the actuator to control the angle of the barrel axis relative to the x-axis and the orientation of the drone (Shitrit, Para. 0010, 0038, 0040, 0051 – the “onboard controller 120” actuates “the gimbal mechanism to change an inclination angle of the weapon axis”, or barrel axis, “above and below the reference plane”, and “actuate the propulsion system to change an azimuthal alignment of the weapon axis” by “rotation of the entire UAV 108”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hupp, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2018/0162527) teaches unmanned aerial system (UAS) includes a body and a lift and propulsion system coupled to the body, and further including a weapon coupled to the body having an aiming axis oriented in a fixed direction relative to the body.
Nelson, et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2010/0282058) teaches a system for mounting a weapon, such as an existing handheld weapon, to a UAV and operating the weapon remotely.
Choi (Korean Patent Publication 10-2383127) teaches a rifle recoil absorption device for a drone that can reduce volume by not exposing the recoil absorption device to the outside and increase the precision of aiming and shooting by mounting the rifle on a two-axis moving gimbal.
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/H.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3665
/HUNTER B LONSBERRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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