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 Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 12 recites “the steering wheel assembly in line 2. It appears claim 12 should depend from claim 11 rather than claim 9 and has been examined as such. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (USPub 2022/0274657).
With respect to claim 1, Zhang et al. disclose a wheel-legged traveling device, comprising: a main body (12) extending in a main body direction; a wheeled traveling mechanism (rear end of device comprising one pair of the wheeled-leg assemblies 14) rotatably coupled to a first end of the main body (rear end) in the main body direction, and comprising at least one driving wheel (5) to drive the wheel-legged traveling device to move (powered by motor 153; [0061-0064]); and at least one pair of legged traveling mechanisms (front end of device comprising other pair of the wheeled-leg assemblies 14) at least coupled to a second end of the main body (front end) opposite the first end in the main body direction, and the at least one pair of legged traveling mechanisms respectively arranged on two sides of the main body direction (Figs 2 and 8), to be adapted to drive the wheel-legged traveling device to move in an alternating motion manner (as disclosed in [0070], in a second wheeled mode the wheeled traveling mechanism, comprising the rear pair of wheel-legged assemblies 14, drives the device while the pair of legged traveling mechanisms located at the front can perform other actions; so the legged traveling mechanisms could be controlled to move in an alternating motion manner).
With respect to claim 2, wherein each of the wheeled traveling mechanism and the at least one pair of legged traveling mechanisms comprises a support assembly (driving apparatus 1), and the support assembly comprises: an upper leg bracket (2) rotatably coupled to the main body; and a lower leg bracket (3) rotatably coupled to an end of a corresponding upper leg bracket away from the main body (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 3, wherein the support assembly further comprises: at least one adjustment mechanism (151, 152, 153), coupled between the wheeled traveling mechanism and the main body and/or between the legged traveling mechanisms and the main body, and adapted to provide a plurality of degrees of freedom of motion to the wheeled traveling mechanism or the legged traveling mechanisms relative to the main body [0052-0057].
With respect to claim 4, wherein the adjustment mechanism comprises: a base (end face that motor 151 is mounted to) coupled to the main body; and a first motor (151), coupled to the base, and adapted to drive the upper leg bracket to rotate around a first rotation direction.
With respect to claims 13-16, the apparatus disclosed above meets the limitations.
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.
Claims 5-7 and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. in view of Li et al. (CN 116279891 A).
With respect to claim 5, Zhang et al. disclose the claimed invention discussed above but do not disclose wherein the adjustment mechanism further comprises: a connecting rod assembly, arranged between the upper leg bracket and the lower leg bracket, and comprising a first connecting rod and a second connecting rod hinged to each other, wherein an end of the first connecting rod away from the second connecting rod is rotatably coupled to the upper leg bracket, and an end of the second connecting rod away from the first connecting rod is rotatably coupled to the lower leg bracket; and a second motor, coupled to the base, and adapted to drive the lower leg bracket to rotate around a second rotation direction by driving the connecting rod assembly to move. Li et al., however, disclose an adjustment mechanism that further comprises: a connecting rod assembly, arranged between the upper leg bracket and the lower leg bracket, and comprising a first connecting rod (2321) and a second connecting rod (2322) hinged to each other, wherein an end of the first connecting rod away from the second connecting rod is rotatably coupled to the upper leg bracket (Fig 4), and an end of the second connecting rod away from the first connecting rod is rotatably coupled to the lower leg bracket (Fig 4); and a second motor (213of Li et al. or 153 of Zhang et al.), coupled to the base, and adapted to drive the lower leg bracket to rotate around a second rotation direction by driving the connecting rod assembly to move (Fig 4). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to substitute the pin/motor adjustment mechanism of Zhang et al. with the connecting rod mechanism of Li et al., since such a substitution would have yielded nothing more than predictable results, namely, that the connecting rod assembly would allow the lower leg bracket to selectively move relative to the upper leg bracket.
With respect to claim 6, wherein the adjustment mechanism further comprises: a third motor (152 of Zhang et al.), arranged between the main body and the base, and adapted to drive the base to rotate around a third rotation direction, and wherein a predetermined angle is formed between the third rotation direction and the first rotation direction (Fig 3).
With respect to claim 7, wherein the legged traveling mechanisms comprise: a driven wheel (9), coupled to the lower leg bracket (Fig 3 of Zhang et al.), and adapted to roll on the ground at least during movement of the wheel-legged traveling device driven by the driving wheel.
With respect to claims 17-19, the apparatus disclosed above meets the limitations.
Claims 8-10 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. in view of Li et al., as applied to claims 1-7 discussed above, and further in view of Gillett (USPub 2024/0181637).
With respect to claim 8, the combination of Zhang et al. and Li et al. discloses the claimed invention discussed above but does not disclose wherein the legged travelling mechanisms further comprises a mounting bracket, which is arranged between the lower leg bracket and the driven wheel and is pivotably coupled to the lower leg bracket to at least drive the driven wheel to rotate around a fourth rotation direction, and wherein the fourth rotation direction is arranged to form a predetermined non-zero angle relative to a plane formed by the third rotation direction and the first rotation direction. Gillett, however, discloses a mounting bracket (ankle joints; claim 1), which is arranged between the lower leg bracket and the driven wheel (Fig 1a) and is pivotably coupled to the lower leg bracket to at least drive the driven wheel to rotate around a fourth rotation direction ([0108], end effector able to tilt via x, y, and z axes), and wherein the fourth rotation direction is arranged to form a predetermined non-zero angle relative to a plane formed by the third rotation direction and the first rotation direction. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was filed to further modify the invention of Zhang et al. in view of the teachings of Gillett to have the driven wheel be located at the end of the lower bracket via an ankle mounting bracket, so the lower bracket and wheel can have more degrees of freedom, which increases the positioning flexibility and overall functionality of the robot.
With respect to claim 9, wherein the driving wheel comprises: a rim; and a drive motor, coupled to the rim, and adapted to drive the rim to rotate around its own axis (Fig 3 of Zhang et al.).
With respect to claim 10, wherein the drive motor comprises at least one of an in-wheel motor or a wheel-side motor (located on a side of the wheel at other end of upper bracket 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11 and 12 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DREW J BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-1362. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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DREW BROWN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/DREW J BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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