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 .
Status of the Claims
This Office Action is in response to initially filed application dated 8/20/2025, claims 1-20 are currently pending and being examined in this reply.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1–3 and 9–11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0246513 A1 to Cronin et al. (“Cronin”) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0036269 A1 to Varughese et al. (“Varughese”), U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0237555 A1 to Stuckman (“Stuckman”), and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0311820 A1 to Fitz (“Fitz”).
In regards to claim 1, Cronin discloses the following limitations:
A sales system comprising:(see at least Cronin ¶ 0021, an autonomous concessions robot programmed to sell food and other items within a venue in coordination with a central server.)
a server configured to: (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0033–0034, a resort network server holding the park information database, the concession robot route database, the concession consumption database and the patron position database, and executing the concession routing software.)
specify a sellable product among products offered by the supplier, (see at least Cronin ¶ 0037, the routing software calculating an initial route and inventory for each robot, parsing sales data by hour and location and identifying the top selling items at each location for each hour.)
request a mobile robot to move to a sales area and the supplier, (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0037 and 0073, the calculated route being communicated to the robot so that it “can move to areas of the resort where there is predicted to be more demand.”)
wherein the mobile robot is configured to: (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0024 and 0027, the robot comprising a dispensing container, an electronic lock, imaging sensors, a payment terminal, a display screen, a positioning unit, a communications unit, an electric motor and a battery.)
receive the request to move to the sales area from the server, (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0028 and 0037, a communications unit for communicating with the central server, over which the calculated route is transmitted to the robot.)
move to the sales area based on the received request to move to the sales area, (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0038 and 0073, the robot moving along the communicated route and receiving updated routes as conditions change.)
and wherein the mobile robot is configured to unload the product purchased by the consumer. (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0024, 0025 and 0072, the electronic lock disengaging upon successful payment so that the dispensing container opens and the consumer takes the item, with an imaging sensor within the container capturing what was retrieved.)
Cronin does not appear to specifically disclose the following limitations:
a supplier configured to sell at least one product;
a provider terminal associated with the supplier and configured to approve unloading of a product purchased by a consumer; and
register position information of the provider terminal and a sales product of the supplier,
transmit product purchase information and position information of the consumer to the provider terminal, and
request a mobile robot to move to a sales area and the supplier,
transmit information of the product purchased by the consumer and the position information of the consumer to the server,
unload a consumer position tracking marker,
load the product purchased by the consumer from the supplier, and
track a position of the consumer to move to the position of the consumer based on signal information of the consumer position tracking marker, and
The Examiner provides Varughese to teach the following limitations:
a supplier configured to sell at least one product; (see at least Varughese ¶ 0007, a plurality of vendors at the property from which one is selected to supply the items of a consumer’s order.)
a provider terminal associated with the supplier and configured to approve unloading of a product purchased by a consumer; and (see at least Varughese ¶ 0065, a vendor communication module that transmits the order to the selected vendor for preparation and transmits a unique identifier of the party who will collect it, the prepared order being released only upon verification of that identifier.)
register position information of the provider terminal and a sales product of the supplier, (see at least Varughese ¶¶ 0012–0013, the vendor being selected by comparing the locations of the plurality of vendors against the location of the ordering party, which requires those vendor locations to be maintained; and ¶ 0057, the vendor being selected on the basis of the items in the order together with that location data.)
transmit product purchase information and position information of the consumer to the provider terminal, and (see at least Varughese ¶ 0065, the order being transmitted to the selected vendor for preparation; and ¶ 0023, the location of the selected vendor and the location of the ordering party being transmitted upon receipt of confirmation of an intent to deliver.)
request a mobile robot to move to a sales area and the supplier, (see at least Varughese ¶ 0023, the location of the selected vendor being transmitted to the collecting party so that the order may be picked up there.)
transmit information of the product purchased by the consumer and the position information of the consumer to the server, (see at least Varughese ¶ 0007, an order for delivery of one or more items to a location of the ordering device being received by the order management module, which determines the locations of the devices within the boundaries of the property.)
load the product purchased by the consumer from the supplier, and (see at least Varughese ¶ 0065, the selected vendor preparing the order for pickup by the collecting party against the transmitted identifier.)
Therefore It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the autonomous concessions robot of Cronin the fulfilling consumer orders from third-party suppliers as taught by Varughese, so that patrons may request special orders from the robot to be fulfilled later as inventory is replenished (Cronin ¶ 0023), and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
The Examiner provides Stuckman to teach the following limitations:
unload a consumer position tracking marker, (see at least Stuckman ¶¶ 0113 and 0119, a beacon device provided to a customer to receive deliveries, which the customer places at the location where delivery is to occur; and ¶¶ 0114 and 0120, a beacon code generator producing beacon data that uniquely indicates the subscriber and a beacon generator producing a wireless homing beacon carrying that data.)
track a position of the consumer to move to the position of the consumer based on signal information of the consumer position tracking marker, and (see at least Stuckman ¶ 0122, an RF receiver or transceiver on the delivery device that generates a signal strength indication and uses a directional beam antenna to “estimate the distance and direction” to the beacon device, whereupon the delivery device homes in on its location.)
Stuckman teaches the marker itself and its use as the homing signal, but describes the marker as being supplied to the customer rather than discharged from the delivery vehicle. Cronin teaches a mobile robot whose dispensing container holds articles and releases them to a consumer at the point of sale under control of an electronic lock, with an imaging sensor recording what is taken (Cronin ¶¶ 0024, 0025, 0072). Therefore It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include in the combination of Cronin and Varughese the teachings of Stuckman in order to leave the consumer holding a homing marker, which is what permits the robot to re-acquire the consumer after the trip to the supplier taught by Varughese, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
The Examiner provides Fitz to teach the following limitations:
track a position of the consumer to move to the position of the consumer based on signal information of the consumer position tracking marker, and (see at least Fitz ¶ 0035, an origin or destination that is stationary or non-stationary, a non-stationary destination being based on the location of a person who is moving; ¶ 0039, the robot identifying the current location of the non-stationary party using “a beacon emitted by the smartphone”; ¶ 0040, the robot proceeding to that current location while concurrently determining whether the location has changed and re-routing if it has; and ¶ 0043, the robot determining that it has arrived by matching its own location to the beacon.)
Therefore It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include in the combination of Cronin, Varughese, and Stuckman, the teachings of Fitz in order to provide the ability of the robot to re-acquire the customer that may be moving around a sales floor, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
In regards to claim 2, the combination discloses the following limitations:
wherein the mobile robot includes a display, and wherein the mobile robot is configured to display a portion of the specified sellable product on the display based on at least one of information of the sales area or the position information of the consumer. (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0024 and 0026, a display screen 120 that shows the item or items for sale and the price; ¶ 0072, a graphical user interface on the robot presenting a menu of available products from which the consumer selects; and ¶ 0037, the inventory carried and offered being calculated per location from the sales data for that location, such that what is displayed follows from the sales area the robot is serving.)
In regards to claim 3, the combination discloses the following limitations:
wherein the mobile robot further includes a server communication device configured to transmit a product purchase approval request signal to the server, in response to determining that the product is paid for by the consumer via the display, (see at least Cronin ¶ 0024, payment being taken at the robot and the electronic lock remaining engaged until a payment is made successfully; ¶ 0072, the payment method being selected through the displayed interface and confirmation of payment governing release of the item; and ¶ 0028, a communications unit on the robot for communicating with the central server.)
wherein the server is configured to transmit a sales approval request signal to the provider terminal, in response to receiving the product purchase approval request signal from the server communication device.(see at least Varughese ¶ 0065, the vendor communication module transmitting the order to the selected vendor for preparation upon receipt of the confirmation, with payment for the order secured from the account associated with the ordering device at that point.)
In regards to claim 9, the combination teaches the following limitations:
wherein the provider terminal includes a product unloading approval device configured to approve unloading of the product purchased by the consumer via the product unloading approval device. (see at least Varughese ¶ 0065, the order being released by the vendor to the collecting party only against the unique identifier transmitted to the vendor for that purpose.)
In regards to claim 10, the combination discloses the following limitations:
wherein the mobile robot includes a tracking marker storage device configured to obtain the consumer position tracking marker from the consumer via the tracking marker storage device and unload the product purchased by the consumer. (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0024 and 0025, a dispensing container closed by an electronic lock, opened upon successful payment so that the consumer may take the item, and monitored by an imaging sensor within the container that captures how many items are available and which items have been retrieved by the customer. The Examiner notes that Cronin discloses the storage device and the unloading function but describes the container as dispensing to the consumer rather than receiving from the consumer)
Because the beacon device of Stuckman is a durable, subscriber-coded article rather than a consumable (Stuckman ¶¶ 0114, 0120), one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that it must be recovered for reuse, and recovering it into the container the robot already carries is one of only a finite possible ways (robot recovers, customer returns, worker recovers later) to recover and re-use the beacon.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to try, by one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made, to return the beacon of Stuckman via the robot of Cronin since there are a finite number of identified, predictable potential solutions (i.e. ways to recover an item) to the recognized need (to reuse the beacon) and one of ordinary skill in the art could have pursued the known potential solutions with a reasonable expectation of success.
In regards to claim 11, the combination discloses the following limitations:
wherein the server includes a sales product database configured to store the position information of the provider terminal and product information stored in the supplier. (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0034–0035, a resort network server holding a concession consumption database into which new inventory is entered and which is updated in real time as purchases are made, retaining historical consumption and inventory levels for reference. The Examiner notes that Cronin’s database stores product information but not provider terminal position information; that portion of the limitation is addressed by Varughese below.)
wherein the server includes a sales product database configured to store the position information of the provider terminal and product information stored in the supplier. (see at least Varughese ¶¶ 0012–0013, the locations of the plurality of vendors being maintained and compared by the order management module in selecting a vendor; and ¶ 0057, the items each vendor can supply being assessed together with that location data in making the selection.)
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Cronin in view of Varughese, Stuckman, and Fitz as above, in further view of United States Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0068514 A1 to Li et al. (“Li”).
In regards to claim 4, the combination discloses the following limitations:
wherein the mobile robot includes a consumer sensing device, and wherein the mobile robot is configured to move to a consumer cluster area in the sales area via the consumer sensing device.(see at least Cronin ¶ 0023, the robot being used to count patrons in crowds and to make predictions as to where to move to sell concessions based on the number and distribution of patrons in the crowd; ¶ 0026, imaging sensors distributed on multiple sides of the robot body so as to provide a 360° view of its surroundings; and ¶¶ 0050–0051, locations being identified and flagged by patron density so that routing is directed toward them.)
The combination does not appear to specifically disclose the following limitations:
wherein the mobile robot is configured to move to a consumer cluster area in the sales area via the consumer sensing device.
The Examiner further provides Li to teach the following limitations:
wherein the mobile robot is configured to move to a consumer cluster area in the sales area via the consumer sensing device. (see at least Li ¶ 0005, a video monitor acquiring a population image of a plurality of regions and obtaining population density information by image processing, a scheduling control server allocating at least one vending robot to those regions according to that density and transmitting a scheduling instruction specifying the position of the allocated region, and the robot autonomously moving to the position of that region for selling goods; and ¶¶ 0023 and 0050, the venue being divided into n numbered regions for that purpose.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the density-driven region allocation of Li to the concessions robot of Cronin in order to supply an express mechanism for measuring consumer density and dispatching the robot to the region carrying the greatest concentration of consumers, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claims 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Cronin in view of Varughese, Stuckman, and Fitz as above, in further view of United States Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0068514 A1 to Li et al. (“Li”), and further view of United States Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0239231 A1 to Johnson (“Johnson”).
In regards to claim 5, the combination does not appear to specifically disclose the following limitations:
wherein: the mobile robot is configured to move to the consumer cluster area based on a sales validity time set by the server; and the mobile robot is configured to maintain sales in the sales area during the sales validity time in response to a request received from the server.
The Examiner provides Johnson to teach the following limitations:
wherein: the mobile robot is configured to move to the consumer cluster area based on a sales validity time set by the server; and (see at least Johnson ¶¶ 0058–0059, the next location to which the robot proceeds being selected by assessing the population density in a region about each candidate location, ¶ 0065, in which the expiry of the maximum dwell time is what causes the robot to leave its present location and proceed to that next candidate.)
the mobile robot is configured to maintain sales in the sales area during the sales validity time in response to a request received from the server. (see at least Johnson ¶ 0064, the robot pausing at a location while the system determines whether a predetermined maximum dwell time has been exceeded, and reverting to continue waiting at that location where the dwell time has not been exceeded.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the system and method as taught by the combination the bounding of the robot’s stay in a given area by a server-set time limit as taught by Johnson in order to prevent a robot from idling in an area that has stopped producing sales, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
In regards to claim 6, Johnson teaches the following limitations:
wherein: the mobile robot is configured to move to the consumer cluster area based on a sales waiting time set by the server; and (see at least Johnson ¶¶ 0058–0059 and 0065, the robot leaving its present location upon expiry of the predetermined maximum dwell time and proceeding to a candidate location selected by regional population density.)
the mobile robot is configured to wait in the consumer cluster area during the sales waiting time, after moving to the consumer cluster area. (see at least Johnson ¶ 0064, the robot pausing at the location it has navigated to and remaining there for the duration of the predetermined maximum dwell time.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the system and method as taught by the combination the bounding of the robot’s stay in a given area by a server-set time limit as taught by Johnson in order to prevent a robot from idling in an area that has stopped producing sales, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Cronin in view of Varughese, Stuckman, Fitz, Li, and in further view of United States Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0364081 A1 to Albaghajati et al. (“Albaghajati”).
In regards to claim 7, the combination teaches the following limitations:
wherein the sales area includes a plurality of consumer cluster candidate areas respectively corresponding to different regions, (see at least Li ¶¶ 0023 and 0050, the venue being divided into n regions numbered i = 1, 2, through n, among which the robots are distributed according to the scheduling scheme.)
the combination does not appear to disclose the following limitations:
wherein the sales area includes a plurality of consumer cluster candidate areas respectively corresponding to different grids, wherein the mobile robot is configured to: determine a gain value for each of the different grids respectively corresponding to the plurality of consumer cluster candidate areas, and move to a consumer cluster candidate area corresponding to a grid with a largest gain value among the plurality of consumer cluster candidate areas.
The Examiner provides Albaghajati to teach the following limitations:
wherein the sales area includes a plurality of consumer cluster candidate areas respectively corresponding to different grids, wherein the mobile robot is configured to: determine a gain value for each of the different grids respectively corresponding to the plurality of consumer cluster candidate areas, and move to a consumer cluster candidate area corresponding to a grid with a largest gain value among the plurality of consumer cluster candidate areas. (see at least Albaghajati ¶¶ 0005 and 0006, a map of the geographic region comprising a plurality of grid cells with a reward value assigned to each grid cell; ¶ 0063, an optimal movement policy determined by assigning reward values to the various areas, expressly identified as grids, of the map and calculating the path that maximizes the total reward; ¶ 0065, the optimal policy accordingly tending to move away from areas having a negative reward and toward areas having a positive reward; and ¶¶ 0055–0056, a discount factor applied iteratively to the grid cell reward values so that cells farther from the robot contribute less to the total, causing shorter paths to score higher.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the system and method as taught by the combination the region selection as a per-grid value and sending the robot to the grid scoring highest as taught by Albaghajati in order to guide a robot towards the highest scoring grid, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claims 12–14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Cronin in view of Varughese, Stuckman, Fitz, Li, and in further view of United States Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0267443 A1 to Kawata et al. (“Kawata”).
In regards to claim 12, Cronin discloses the following limitations:
A method for operating a sales system using a mobile robot, the method comprising: (see at least Cronin ¶ 0021, an autonomous concessions robot programmed to sell items within a venue in coordination with a central server.)
transmitting, by the server, a signal for requesting to move to a sales area to a mobile robot; (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0037 and 0038, the calculated route being communicated to the robot and updated routes being re-transmitted as conditions change.)
moving, by the mobile robot, to the sales area; (see at least Cronin ¶ 0073, the robot moving to areas of the venue where there is predicted to be more demand.)
specifying, by the server, a sellable product among products offered by the supplier; (see at least Cronin ¶ 0037, the routing software calculating an initial route and inventory for each robot and identifying the top selling items at each location for each hour.)
displaying, by the mobile robot, the sellable product (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0024, 0026 and 0072, a display screen on the robot showing the items for sale and their prices and presenting a selectable menu of available products.)
unloading, by the mobile robot, the product purchased by the consumer. (see at least Cronin ¶¶ 0024, 0025 and 0072, the electronic lock disengaging upon successful payment so that the dispensing container opens and the consumer takes the item.)
Cronin does not appear to disclose the following limitations:
registering, by a server, position information of a provider terminal and a sales product of a supplier;
displaying, by the mobile robot, the sellable product and an estimated reception time of the sellable product;
transmitting, by the mobile robot, product purchase information of a consumer and position information of the consumer to the server;
transmitting, by the server, the product purchase information and the position information to the provider terminal;
unloading, by the mobile robot, a consumer position tracking marker;
requesting, by the server, the mobile robot to move to the supplier including the provider terminal;
approving, by the provider terminal, unloading of a product purchased by the consumer;
loading, by the mobile robot, the product purchased by the consumer;
tracking, by the mobile robot, a position of the consumer to move to the position of the consumer based on signal information of the unloaded consumer position tracking marker; and
The Examiner provides Varughese to teach the following limitations:
registering, by a server, position information of a provider terminal and a sales product of a supplier; (see at least Varughese ¶¶ 0012–0013 and 0057, the locations of the plurality of vendors and the items each can supply being maintained and compared by the order management module in selecting a vendor for a given order.)
transmitting, by the mobile robot, product purchase information of a consumer and position information of the consumer to the server; (see at least Varughese ¶ 0007, an order for delivery of one or more items to a location of the ordering device being received by the order management module, which determines the locations of the devices within the boundaries of the property.)
transmitting, by the server, the product purchase information and the position information to the provider terminal; (see at least Varughese ¶ 0065, the order being transmitted to the selected vendor for preparation; and ¶ 0023, the location of the selected vendor and the location of the ordering party being transmitted upon receipt of confirmation of an intent to deliver.)
requesting, by the server, the mobile robot to move to the supplier including the provider terminal; (see at least Varughese ¶ 0023, the location of the selected vendor being transmitted to the collecting party so that the order may be picked up there.)
approving, by the provider terminal, unloading of a product purchased by the consumer; (see at least Varughese ¶ 0065, the prepared order being released by the vendor only against the unique identifier transmitted to the vendor for that purpose.)
loading, by the mobile robot, the product purchased by the consumer; (see at least Varughese ¶ 0065, the selected vendor preparing the order for pickup by the collecting party.)
The motivation to combine Cronin and Varughese is the same as that set forth for claim 1 above.
The Examiner provides Stuckman to teach the following limitations:
unloading, by the mobile robot, a consumer position tracking marker; (see at least Stuckman ¶¶ 0113 and 0119, a beacon device provided to a customer to receive deliveries; and ¶¶ 0114 and 0120, a beacon code generator producing beacon data uniquely indicating the subscriber and a beacon generator producing a wireless homing beacon carrying that data.)
tracking, by the mobile robot, a position of the consumer to move to the position of the consumer based on signal information of the unloaded consumer position tracking marker; and (see at least Stuckman ¶ 0122, an RF receiver or transceiver generating a signal strength indication and using a directional beam antenna to estimate the distance and direction to the beacon device, whereupon the delivery device homes in on its location.)
The motivation to combine Cronin and Stuckman is the same as that set forth for claim 1 above.
The Examiner provides Fitz to teach the following limitations:
tracking, by the mobile robot, a position of the consumer to move to the position of the consumer based on signal information of the unloaded consumer position tracking marker; and (see at least Fitz ¶¶ 0035 and 0039, the robot identifying the current location of a non-stationary party by a beacon emitted by that party’s device; and ¶¶ 0040 and 0043, the robot proceeding to that current location, determining whether the location has changed and re-routing accordingly, and determining arrival by matching its own location to the beacon.)
The motivation to combine Cronin, Stuckman and Fitz is the same as that set forth for claim 1 above.
The Examiner provides Kawata to teach the following limitations:
displaying, by the mobile robot, the sellable product and an estimated reception time of the sellable product; (see at least Kawata ¶ 0129, an arrival time display region presenting the time until the selected mobile sales robot arrives at the consumer’s position, that arrival time being calculated by the server from the queue of outstanding call requests and the position and state information of the robot and then transmitted for display.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the teachings of Albaghajati since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
In regards to claim 13, the combination teaches the following limitations:
wherein the provider terminal includes a plurality of provider terminals, and wherein the method further comprises: (see at least Varughese ¶ 0007, a plurality of vendors at the property from among which one is selected to supply the items of the order.)
primarily extracting, by the server, provider terminals capable of supplying products within a predetermined distance from the current position of the mobile robot among the plurality of provider terminals, based on the data received from the mobile robot. (see at least Varughese ¶¶ 0063 and 0069, the candidate set being limited to those parties within a predetermined distance of the selected vendor; and ¶¶ 0012–0013, vendor selection being made by comparing the locations of the plurality of vendors against the location associated with the order.)
transmitting, by the mobile robot, data about a current position and a current movable distance to the server; and (see at least Li ¶ 0062, the movement time cost for a robot to arrive at a target region being computed by path planning from that robot’s current position; and ¶¶ 0064 and 0089, the robot’s remaining energy value being available to the scheduling control server and used to bound the assignments it may be given.)
In regards to claim 14, the combination teaches the following limitations:
further comprising secondarily extracting, by the server, provider terminals within the current movable distance of the mobile robot among the primarily extracted provider terminals, based on the data received from the mobile robot. (see at least Li ¶ 0064, candidate robots being screened against the condition that the estimated energy consumption cost not exceed a safety-scaled proportion of the robot’s remaining energy value; and ¶ 0089, selection being made only from among vending robots with remaining energy greater than the energy consumption cost estimation value.)
Claims 15–20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Cronin in view of Varughese, Stuckman, Fitz, Li, Kawata, and in further view of United States Patent No. 10,332,065 B2 to Ferguson et al. (“Ferguson”).
In regards to claim 15, the combination teaches the following limitations:
further comprising: extracting, by the server, a current sellable product from sellable products registered in the secondarily extracted provider terminals; and (see at least Varughese ¶¶ 0007 and 0057, the vendor to supply the ordered items being selected from among the vendors at the property on the basis of the items in the order together with the location data.)
The combination does not appear to specifically disclose the following limitations:
determining, by the server, a one-way movement time from the current position of the mobile robot to the supplier including the secondarily extracted provider terminal for each of the secondarily extracted provider terminals;
The Examiner provides Ferguson to teach the following limitations:
determining, by the server, a one-way movement time from the current position of the mobile robot to the supplier including the secondarily extracted provider terminal for each of the secondarily extracted provider terminals; (see at least Ferguson col. 21, ll. 5–35, the processor evaluating travel time against food preparation time and controlling the vehicle and the preparation modules according to which is greater; and claim 8, evaluating a plurality of possible travel routes having different travel times to reach the destination and selecting one of them based on a travel time sufficient to prepare the food item prior to reaching the destination. Both operations require that the travel time from the vehicle’s present position to the destination be separately determined for each candidate.)
checking, by the server, a product preparation time for each product item in a list of the extracted current sellable products.(see at least Ferguson col. 21, ll. 5–35, the preparation time for the particular food item being determined and compared against travel time; and col. 21, ll. 5-35, that preparation time being expressed as a duration or a percentage against which the remaining travel time is measured.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the teachings of Ferguson since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
In regards to claim 16, the combination teaches the following limitations:
further comprising: determining, by the server, an estimated product reception time for each product item; and (see at least Ferguson col. 21, ll. 5–35, the scheduling of both travel and preparation being resolved per food order from the relationship between the travel time and the preparation time for that order.)
determining, by the server, a sum of a one-way movement time to the supplier and the product preparation time as the estimated product reception time, in response to that the product preparation time is greater than the one-way movement time to the supplier. (see at least Ferguson col. 21, ll. 5–35, where travel time is less than food preparation time the processor delays arrival at the customer location, by parking or by circling, until the food preparation is completed or is close to being completed, preparation having been begun as soon as a module became available; see also Ferguson claim 9. the time to receipt is governed by the preparation time added to the travel already undertaken rather than by the travel alone.)
In regards to claim 17, Ferguson teaches the following limitations:
further comprising: determining, by the server, an estimated product reception time for each product item; and (see at least Ferguson col. 21, ll. 5–35)
determining, by the server, twice the one-way movement time to the supplier as the estimated product reception time, in response to that the product preparation time is not greater than the one-way movement time to the supplier. (see at least Ferguson col. 21, ll. 5–35, where travel time is greater than food preparation time the processor delays food preparation until the vehicle is closer to the customer location, beginning preparation only when the remaining travel time exceeds the preparation time by a predetermined threshold; see also Ferguson claim 11. the time to receipt is governed by travel time alone, the preparation being absorbed within it.)
In regards to claim 18, Li teaches the following limitations:
further comprising determining, by the server, estimated battery consumption of the mobile robot for each product item. (see at least Li ¶ 0061, an energy consumption cost estimation function established for each robot from the time required to complete its current sale orders, the movement time required to move to the new target region and, where replenishment is required, the movement time to and from the storeroom together with the replenishment time; and ¶ 0063, that energy consumption cost estimate being calculated for each candidate robot.)
In regards to claim 19, Li teaches the following limitations:
further comprising: transmitting, by the server, determination data about the estimated product reception time for each product item and the estimated battery consumption of the mobile robot to the mobile robot. (see at least Li ¶ 0005, the scheduling control server transmitting the resulting scheduling instruction to the allocated vending robot; and ¶ 0045, adjusted scheduling instructions formed from the newly monitored data being transmitted to the corresponding robots as conditions change.)
In regards to claim 20, Li teaches the following limitations:
further comprising: determining, by the mobile robot, whether the estimated battery consumption of the mobile robot for each product item is greater than a difference between a current battery state of charge (SoC) of the mobile robot and a minimum acquisition battery remaining capacity of the mobile robot, based on the determination data received from the server; and (see at least Li ¶ 0064, the candidate being required to satisfy the condition that its estimated energy consumption cost not exceed the product of a safety proportional coefficient and its remaining energy value, that safety coefficient reserving a margin of charge below which the robot may not be dispatched; and ¶ 0089, selecting only from among vending robots with remaining energy greater than the energy consumption cost estimation value.)
specifying, by the server, the sellable product, based on the determined result. (see at least Li ¶¶ 0005 and 0064, the scheduling control server issuing the assignment only to a robot that satisfies the energy condition, such that assignments failing the condition are not made.)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is 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
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/JOSEPH M MUTSCHLER/Examiner, Art Unit 3627
/A. Hunter Wilder/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
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