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 . 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 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.
Priority/Benefit
Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s claim for benefit of provisional 63/688,646. Examiner has checked and verified that the subject matter of the instant application is supported by the earlier filed provisional. As such, the earlier filed date of 08/29/2024 is granted.
Status of Claims
This action is in response to Applicant’s filing on 08/27/2025. Claims 1-13 are pending and examined below.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 9 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1, the limitation of “raising or lowering the capture and containment system, using the lifting column linear actuator to a grabbing height of a storage door handle on a storage door, covering a storage door opening of the storage device” is awkward and needs correction.
Regarding claim 9, the limitation of “raising or lowering the capture and containment system, using the lifting column linear actuator to a grabbing height of the serving object” is awkward and needs correction.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “just inside” in claims 1 and 5 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “just inside” is not defined by the claims, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The term “just inside” is unclear as there is no indication of how much the scoop is inside the storage door opening. For instance, “just inside” is relative and could be, for example, 1 mm or 1 inch. As such, it is unclear how far the scoop advances past this opening.
Claims 2-8 ultimately depend from claim 1 and recite the same indefinite subject matter of claim 1. As such, claims 2-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 11(b) for being indefinite.
Claims 6-8 ultimately depend from claim 5 and recite the same indefinite subject matter of claim 1. As such, claims 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 11(b) for being indefinite.
Potentially Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, the examiner has performed a thorough search and has not found a piece of prior art, either alone or in combination with other prior art, that discloses, teaches, suggests, or renders obvious the claim limitations. The closest prior art, US 2023116896 by Hamilton, discloses approaching a storage device with a tidying robot, wherein the storage device contains a target object (Fig. 6, at least Paragraphs 0068, 0094; robot may approach storage locations for disposal or transfer of items (see garbage bin, baskets, etc. in 0068)), a chassis (Paragraph 0070; robot may include a chassis), a capture and containment system including: a scoop; pusher pads including a first pusher pad and a second pusher pad; pusher pad arms including a first pusher pad arm and a second pusher pad arm (Paragraphs 0070-0073; capture containment system may include a scoop and first and second pusher pads on first and second pusher arms), extending the pusher pads out and forward with respect to the pusher pad arms, and above the target object (Fig. 27A/27B item 2706; pusher arms may be extended to be above a target object), rotating the first pusher pad inward toward a front edge of the scoop in a position to grasp a first side of the target object (Fig. 27A/27B item 2708; the pusher pad arms may each rotate inward towards the front edge of the scoop), rotating the second pusher pad until the second pusher pad is in the position to grasp a second side of the target object (Fig. 27A/27B item 2708; the pusher pad arms may each rotate inward towards the front edge of the scoop), approaching the target object and coming to a stop when the target object is positioned below and between the pusher pads (Fig. 27A/27B item 2706; pusher arms may be extended to be above a target object wherein the target is between the pusher pads), lowering the pusher pads to the height of the target object (Fig. 27A/27B item 2708; the pusher pads may be lowered to be at a height of the target object), rotating the first pusher pad and the second pusher pad until the target object is contacted (Fig. 27A/27B item 2708; the pusher pad arms may each rotate inward towards the front edge of the scoop to contact the target object), retracting the pusher pad arms to move the target object into the scoop (at least Paragraph 0096; the pusher pads may extend or retract to push/pull on target objects in the shovel portion), exerting pressure on the target object with the pusher pads to hold the target object stationary in the scoop (at least Paragraph 0085; the pusher pads may exert a holding force on the target object for transport), and raising or lowering the capture and containment system to a transporting height (at least Paragraph 0085; the pusher pads and scoop may be elevated to a given height for transport).
However, Hamilton fails to disclose a gripper arm, a lifting column configured to raise and lower the capture and containment system through extension and retraction of a lifting column linear actuator, raising or lowering the capture and containment system, using the lifting column linear actuator, to a grabbing height of a storage door handle on a storage door, covering a storage door opening of the storage device, grabbing the storage door handle with the gripper arm, backing up the tidying robot until the storage door is open, driving the tidying robot forward until the scoop is just inside the storage door opening, grabbing the storage door handle with the gripper arm, and driving the tidying robot forward to close the storage door. These limitations are novel in that they allow for a complex robotic system that can open and close a storage container with a gripper arm, while also allowing for the robot to insert a capture and containment system into the storage to retrieve items. This can allow for more efficient control processes as the robot can perform all of these functions effectively at the same time, which can reduce performance time. Examiner does note that US 9827677 by Gilbertson teaches a lifting column (Fig. 2A item 210) and a gripper (Fig. 2A item 232), however, a combination of Hamilton and Gilbertson would require significant structural modifications that would not be considered obvious, not to mention that the combination still fails to teach certain limitations (see storage handle gripping, etc. above).
Claims 2-8 ultimately depend from claim 1 and contain the same potentially allowable subject matter as seen above in claim 1. As such, claims 2-8 are also potentially allowable.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-13 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 9, the claim recites similar language to that as seen in claim 1, in addition to the limitation of on condition the serving object will contact an obstruction if the pusher pads are retracted toward the scoop: raising the pusher pads grasping the serving object. However, the rationale as seen above for claim 1 can be applied here as well. Additionally, neither reference discloses, teaches, suggests, or renders obvious the limitation of on condition the serving object will contact an obstruction if the pusher pads are retracted toward the scoop: raising the pusher pads grasping the serving object. This limitation is novel in that it allows the system to operate pusher arms based on if an obstacle or obstruction is present. This can allow for the system to prevent accidental capture of unintended items on the shovel/scoop. This would allow for the robot to maintain efficiency as accidental capture may require manual removal by a person (or significant time and resources for the robot to process the item and remove it).
Claims 10-13 ultimately depend from claim 9 and contain the same allowable subject matter as seen above in claim 9. As such, claims 10-13 are also allowable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER ALLEN BUKSA whose telephone number is (571)272-5346. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 AM-4:30 PM.
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/CHRISTOPHER A BUKSA/Examiner, Art Unit 3658
