DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This action is in response to the claims filed 12/03/2025.
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/3/2025, 4/20/2026, 5/11/2026, 6/24/2026, and 8/24/2026 are 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
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.
(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) 1-3, 8-9, 11-12, and 14-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. in CN216628452 (hereinafter “Li”).
Regarding claim 1, Li discloses a robot cleaner (see paragraph [0001]) comprising: a motor (see "drive motor 21"); a shaft (12) configured to be rotated by the motor; a first member (13) configured to receive a rotational force from the shaft and including a guide protrusion protruding outwardly (see figure 2); and a second member (see "sleeve 3") including a guide groove formed on an inner side thereof (see figure 4), and the second member is coupled with the first member so that the guide protrusion slidably move along the guide groove (see figure 2), wherein the first member is configured to rotate relative to the second member, such that the guide protrusion moves along the guide groove and moves upward or downward of the second member (see paragraph [0057]), and wherein the shaft is configured to rotate together with the first member (see paragraph [0047]).
Regarding claim 2, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 1, further comprising a cleaning cloth module coupled to the first member to receive a rotational force from the first member (Fig. 2; 11 is a mop brush).
Regarding claim 3, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 2, wherein the cleaning cloth module is configured to move up or down together with the first member (because shaft 12 moves up and down).
Regarding claim 8, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the second member 3 includes a stopper 31 positioned at an end of the guide groove to stop movement of the guide protrusion.
Regarding claim 9, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the second member 3 includes a guide protrusion insertion hole, on an upper surface thereof, and configured for the guide protrusion to be inserted into the guide groove (Fig. 4; 3 has a hole through it).
Regarding claim 11, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the guide protrusion is on an outer part of an upper portion of the first member (threads on 13 are on an outer part of an upper portion).
Regarding claim 12, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 1, further comprising a gear assembly configured to transmit power of the motor to the shaft (Fig. 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 14, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 12, wherein the gear assembly includes: a power transmission gear portion 22 coupled to the motor 21, and a shaft coupling gear portion 23, 24, 25 coupled to the power transmission gear portion and the shaft (Fig. 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 15, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 14, wherein the shaft coupling gear portion 23, 24, 25 includes a shaft extension portion extending in a downward axial direction from a center thereof (Fig. 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 16, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 15, wherein the shaft coupling gear portion includes a shaft coupling opening 251 formed to pass through a center portion axially and configured to allow the shaft to be coupled thereto (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 17, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 14, wherein the shaft coupling gear portion (25), the shaft 12, and the first member 13 are configured to rotate together about a same rotation axis (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 18, Li discloses the robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the guide groove extends in a screw shape along a circumferential direction of the second member (13 is threaded)..
Claim(s) 1, 12-14, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. in CN218045012 (hereinafter “Zhang”).
Regarding claim 1, Zhang discloses (see figure 2) a robot cleaner, comprising: a motor 21; a shaft configured to be rotated by the motor (Fig. 3 2-4; abstract); a first member configured to receive a rotational force from the shaft and including a guide protrusion protruding outwardly; and a second member including a guide groove formed on an inner side thereof, and the second member is coupled with the first member so that the guide protrusion slidably move along the guide groove (they’re threaded; Fig. 3 and 4, abstract), wherein the first member is configured to rotate relative to the second member such that the guide protrusion moves along the guide groove and moves upward or downward of the second member (via screw threads), and wherein the shaft is configured to rotate together with the first member.
Regarding claims 12-14, Zhang discloses a gear assembly configured to transmit power of the motor to the shaft, wherein the motor includes a worm forming portion 211 (Fig. 2) configured to be coupled to the gear assembly, and wherein the gear assembly includes: a power transmission gear portion coupled to the motor, and a shaft coupling gear portion coupled to the power transmission gear portion and the shaft (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 19, Zhang discloses the robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the shaft includes a first magnetic body 41 disposed at a lower end thereof (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 20, Zhang discloses the robot cleaner of claim 19, further comprising: a cleaning cloth module 12 including a second magnetic body 42 coupled to the first magnetic body 41 and a shielding member 13 disposed below the second magnetic body 42 and configured to shield a magnetic force directed to a lower side of the first magnetic body, the cleaning cloth module being configured to receive a rotational power from at least one of the shaft or the first member (Fig. 3 and 4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 and 10 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.
Regarding claim 4, the prior art of record, either alone or in combination, is silent to the robot cleaner of claim 1, further comprising a unidirectional rotating body directly or indirectly coupled to the second member so that the second member is rotatable only in one direction. Li and Zhang, applied above and considered the closest art of record, could be said to have rotating bodies such that equivalent second members are rotatable on in one axis, but not only in one direction. Claims 5-7 depend on claim 4.
Regarding claim 10, the prior art of record, either alone or in combination, is silent to the robot cleaner of claim 1, wherein the second member includes a threshold extending inwardly from a lower end of an outer circumferential surface of the second member to selectively support the first member.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Relevant Prior Art:
US11612296 discloses a robotic vacuum cleaner with an axially translatable brush assembly driven by a gearing arrangement.
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/ELDON T BROCKMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
