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 § 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 1-13, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Artes et. al. (US Patent Publication 2020/0150655) in view of Beach et. al. (US Patent Publication 2018/0129220).
Regarding claims 1, and 18, Artes discloses a vehicle, comprising: a frame; a drive system coupled to the frame to propel and steer the vehicle; (¶31)
an energy storage device coupled to the frame and configured to provide power to the drive system; (¶30; “it can charge its batteries”)
a lift implement coupled to the frame, the lift implement comprising a cradle to support a load and The autonomous mobile robot 100 may have … a gripping arm for gripping and transporting objects.”)
one or more sensors configured to provide sensing data indicative of an environment surrounding the vehicle; and (¶35)
a controller comprising one or more memory devices having instructions stored thereon, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: (¶29, 36)
operate the vehicle along a first path; (¶36)
determine the first path extends into a first predefined zone in the environment surrounding the vehicle; (¶39-41)
generate a second path based on the sensing data that avoids the first predefined zone; and operate the vehicle along the second path. (¶41)
Artes discloses a framework used to support an object, but appears to be silent as to a lift implement for the gripping arm.
Beach however teaches vehicle, comprising: a frame; a drive system coupled to the frame to propel and steer the vehicle; an energy storage device coupled to the frame and configured to provide power to the drive system; (abstract; ¶49)
a lift implement coupled to the frame, the lift implement comprising a cradle to support a load and a lift assembly configured to adjust a position of the cradle relative to the frame; (¶3; “an automated tactical, or outdoor, forklift … operates driving missions over … at points of load pick-up or put-down”)
one or more sensors configured to provide sensing data indicative of an environment surrounding the vehicle; and (¶41, 49)
a controller comprising one or more memory devices having instructions stored thereon, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: (¶49)
operate the vehicle along a first path; (¶4, 43)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the invention of Artes with a lift assembly configured to adjust a position of the cradle relative to the frame as taught by Beach with a reasonable expectation of success so as to allow the gripper of Artes to lift and set down objects and further because the technique for improving a particular class of devices was part of the ordinary capabilities of a person of ordinary skill in the art, in view of the teaching of the technique for improvement in other situations, would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Regarding claim 2, Artes further discloses wherein the controller is further configured to sense, via the one or more sensors, at least one indicator in the environment. (¶4, 62)
Regarding claim 3, Artes further discloses wherein the at least one indicator is a physical indicator positioned in the environment. (¶4, 62)
Regarding claim 4, Artes further discloses wherein the controller is further configured to determine, based on the at least one indicator, a boundary of the first predefined zone. (¶62)
Regarding claim 5, Artes further discloses wherein the at least one indicator comprises a plurality of indicators, and wherein the plurality of indicators at least partially define a boundary of the first predefined zone. (Fig 2B; ¶53, 62)
Regarding claim 6, Artes further discloses wherein the controller is further configured to receive a position of the first predefined zone from a user device communicably coupled to the vehicle. (¶32, 33, 50)
Regarding claim 7, Artes further discloses wherein the first predefined zone is a virtual zone. (¶5, 39)
Regarding claim 8, Artes further discloses wherein the controller is further configured to receive zone data from a user device indicating a position of the virtually first predefined zone in the environment surrounding the vehicle. (¶50-57)
Regarding claim 9, Artes further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to: determine the second path extends into a second predefined zone in the environment surrounding the vehicle; adjust the path to a third path based on the sensing data to avoid the second predefined zone; and (¶39, 41)
receive a command to override the adjustment and operate the vehicle according to the second path through the second predefined zone. (¶101-103)
Regarding claim 10, Artes discloses a system, comprising: a user device; and (¶33)
a vehicle communicably coupled to the user device (¶32),
wherein the vehicle comprises: a frame; a drive system coupled to the frame to propel and steer the vehicle; an energy storage device coupled to the frame and configured to provide power to the drive system; (¶30, 49)
a controller comprising one or more memory devices having instructions stored thereon, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: (¶3)
operate the vehicle along a first path; (¶36, 41)
receive, from an external device, a position of a first zone in an environment surrounding the vehicle, wherein the first path extends at least partially into the first zone; (¶41, 50-51, 77)
adjust the path to a second path based on the position of the first zone to avoid the first zone; and operate the vehicle along the second path. (¶51)
Artes discloses a framework used to support an object, but appears to be silent as to a lift implement for the gripping arm.
Beach however teaches vehicle, comprising: a frame; a drive system coupled to the frame to propel and steer the vehicle; an energy storage device coupled to the frame and configured to provide power to the drive system; (abstract; ¶49)
a lift implement coupled to the frame, the lift implement comprising a cradle to support a load and a lift assembly configured to adjust a position of the cradle relative to the frame; and; (¶3; “an automated tactical, or outdoor, forklift … operates driving missions over … at points of load pick-up or put-down”)
one or more sensors configured to provide sensing data indicative of an environment surrounding the vehicle; and (¶41, 49)
a controller comprising one or more memory devices having instructions stored thereon, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: (¶49)
operate the vehicle along a first path; (¶4, 43)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the invention of Artes with a lift implement coupled to the frame, the lift implement comprising a cradle to support a load and a lift assembly configured to adjust a position of the cradle relative to the frame as taught by Beach with a reasonable expectation of success so as to allow the gripper of Artes to lift and set down objects and further because the technique for improving a particular class of devices was part of the ordinary capabilities of a person of ordinary skill in the art, in view of the teaching of the technique for improvement in other situations, would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Regarding claim 11, Artes further discloses wherein the vehicle further comprises one or more sensors configured to provide sensing data indicative of an environment surrounding the vehicle. (¶35)
Regarding claim 12, Artes further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to: determine, based on the sensing data, the second path extends at least partially into a second zone, adjust the second path to a third path based at least partially on the sensing data to avoid the second zone; and operate the vehicle along the third path. (¶36, 39, 41)
Regarding claim 13, Artes further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to: identify, based at least partially on the sensing data, at least one indicator in the environment; and determine, based at least partially on the at least one indicator, a position of the second zone in the environment. (¶62)
Regarding claim 16, Artes further discloses wherein the external device is a mobile phone. (¶33)
Regarding claim 17, Artes further discloses wherein the external device is a second vehicle communicably coupled to the first vehicle by a local area mesh network established at least in part by the first vehicle and the second vehicle. (¶94)
Regarding claim 19, Artes further discloses: receiving, by the one or more processing circuits, the first predefined area from an external device. (¶50, 77)
Regarding claim 20, Artes further discloses identifying, by the one or more processing circuits, the first predefined area based on sensing data from the one or more sensors indicating at least one indicator in the environment. (¶62)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-15 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: the prior art fails to disclose or render obvious absent impermissible hindsight reasoning the system of claim 10, wherein the external device comprises: a motion sensor configured to sense movement of the user device; and a user device controller comprising one or more memory devices having instructions stored thereon, that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: establish the position of the first zone in the environment based at least partially on data from the motion sensor indicating movement of the user device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALAN D HUTCHINSON whose telephone number is (571)272-8413. The examiner can normally be reached 7-5 Mon-Thur.
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/ALAN D HUTCHINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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