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 .
Response to Arguments
The objections to claims 1, 12 and 14 have been withdrawn in light of cancellation of claims 1 and 12 and amendments to claim 14.
The rejection of claims 1-3, 5, 6, 8 and 10-12 has been withdrawn in light of cancellation of the claims.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 6, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 10-12, 14-16 and 18-20 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-9, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 10-12, 14-16 and 18-20 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the current amendments to claim 14.
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.
Claim(s) 14-16, 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayashi (US Patent Application Publication 2011/0251735) in view of Raz (US Patent Application Publication 2012/0280835) and further in view of Olsen (US Patent Application Publication 2013/0030641).
Regarding claim 14, Hayashi discloses an article transfer system comprising:
a driving rail (4, 6);
a plurality of vehicles (10) configured to transfer and load or unload an article along the driving rail [0028-0029];
a plurality of sensors prepared on each of the vehicles and configured to sense operation information of the vehicles [0031-0033];
a storing part (62 or 43) configured to store operation information of the vehicles, which is transmitted from the sensors [0028-0029] [0031] [0034-0035]; and
a diagnosing part (72) configured to compare the operation information stored in the storing part with a reference operation information of a vehicle, which is previously stored, to diagnose symptom of abnormality of the vehicles [0037-0039] [0041-0042];
an analyzing part (73) configured to determine that a cause of the at least one symptom of abnormality in the vehicles is in one of the vehicles when the at least one symptom of abnormality is repeatedly generated in the one of the vehicles, and that the cause of the at least one symptom of abnormality in the vehicles is from the environment external to the vehicle and including the driving rail when the at least one symptom of abnormality is repeatedly generated in a plurality of the vehicles at a same position of the driving rail, the determining using history information including historical position of the vehicles and historical occurrence of the at least one symptom of abnormality in the vehicles [0005, 0014-0015, 0037, 0040, 0044-0045];
wherein the operation information comprises information of transport operation, information of load or unload operation of the vehicles, time information, distance information, distribution information, and control sequence information of unit operation of the vehicles, wherein the operation includes at least one of forward movement, reverse movement, left turn, right turn, and stop operation of the vehicle [0031-0033],
wherein the time information is information of time for performing the unit operation [0029, 0031, 0033-0034, zone controller 32 or system controller 30 receive positioning signals from each traveling vehicle 10, where the position is detected using linear sensor 52 and reported at a cycle time in the range of 0.01 to 1 second; the time when the vehicle is stopped, in the middle of transfer or in the middle of traveling as unit operations is data generated from the sensors], the distance information is information of transport distance of the vehicles or parts of the vehicles for the unit operation [0034-0035, the position detected using linear sensor 52 is used to derive the transport distance of the vehicle indicated in absolute or relative coordinates], the distribution information is information of distribution degree of values acquired from the vehicles with respect to the same unit operation [0034-0035, 0041, data from the sensors is stored in the memory 43 correlated with the time information for each of the vehicles in each control cycle including at the times when the vehicles are stopped and dispersion in the data is calculated for each position between each of the vehicles], and the control sequence information is information of sequence of control signals provided to the vehicles to perform the unit operation [0036, control instructions are for setting the target position of each vehicle in each control cycle are detected by communication unit 60],
wherein the reference operation information includes operation information of the normally operating vehicles, operation information of abnormally operating vehicles, and operation information of operating vehicles before the abnormality [0039, the instantaneous value analysis unit 72 includes reference information that classifies detected data from the vehicles into a normal range for the normally operating vehicles, an abnormal range for the abnormally operating vehicles and a caution required range for vehicles before an abnormality],
wherein the diagnosing part diagnoses the vehicles as the vehicles having the symptom of abnormality when the operation information is equal to the operation information before the occurrence of abnormality [0044, data within the caution required condition repeatedly indicates an abnormality in which maintenance is required], and
wherein the analyzing part identifies positional patterns of abnormality occurrence by comparing historical positional data of the vehicles along the driving rail, wherein abnormalities associated with a plurality of vehicles occurring at the same position of the driving rail are indicative of an external environmental factor, and abnormalities associated with repeated occurrence in the same vehicle across different positions are indicative of vehicle-specific malfunctions [0039, 0041, instantaneous value analysis unit 72 distinguishes between abnormal conditions in the vehicles and abnormal conditions in the rails by detecting the abnormal condition at different positions on the rail or the detecting the abnormal condition using different vehicles at the same position on the rail, respectively].
Hayashi does not disclose the analyzing part comprises a comparison mechanism configured to compare positional data over time across the multiple vehicles such that the analyzing part distinguishes between the vehicle-specific malfunctions and the external environmental factor.
Raz discloses an analyzing part comprising a comparison mechanism configured to compare positional data over time across multiple vehicles to identify positional patterns of abnormality occurrence by comparing historical positional data of the vehicles, wherein abnormalities associated with a plurality of vehicles occurring at the same position are indicative of an external environmental factor [0096].
Raz teaches that identifying an external environmental factor that presents a hazard to the driver may be used to warn the driver ahead of encountering a problematic road segment, allowing the driver to drive in a more economical manner [0012].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the comparison mechanism disclosed by Raz with the analyzing part disclosed by Hayashi to allow a driver to drive in a more economical manner by providing the driver with information about an upcoming road segment.
Olsen discloses an analyzing part that comprises a comparison mechanism configured to identify abnormalities associated with repeated occurrence in a same vehicle across different positions indicative of a vehicle-specific malfunction [0057-0059, 0077-0078].
Olsen suggests that detecting a reoccurring abnormality in a same vehicle while the vehicle is in operation may provide an indication of the severity of a problem with the vehicle and thus prevent premature replacement or repair of vehicle components [0003].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the comparison mechanism disclosed by Olsen with the analyzing part disclosed by Hayashi, as modified by Raz, such that the analyzing part distinguishes between the vehicle-specific malfunctions and the external environmental factor, so that premature replacement or repair of malfunctioning vehicle components is avoided.
Regarding claim 15, Hayashi further discloses wherein the diagnosing part receives the operation information from the storing part based on a position of the vehicles on the driving rail [0031] [0035-0037].
Regarding claim 16, Hayashi further discloses wherein the diagnosing part receives the operation information from the storing part by each of the vehicles [0030] [0035] [0038] [0041].
Regarding claim 18, Hayashi further discloses a position checking unit including:
a position display part prepared on the driving rail to check position of the vehicles on the driving rail [0033]; and
a recognizing part (52) prepared on the vehicles to recognize the position display part [0033] [0034] [0048].
Regarding claim 20, Hayashi further discloses wherein the article comprises a storage container to store a good [0028, 0032, where the article is a front opening universal pod for storing a silicon wafer].
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayashi (US Patent Application Publication 2011/0251735) in view of Raz (US Patent Application Publication 2012/0280835) in view of Olsen (US Patent Application Publication 2013/0030641) and further in view of Kim (US Patent Application Publication 2002/0025244).
Regarding claim 19, Hayashi discloses the system of claim 14 as discussed above but does not disclose the system further comprising a position checking unit including a global positioning system receiver prepared on each of the vehicles to check a position of the vehicles on the driving rail.
Kim discloses an article transfer system comprising a position checking unit (132) including a global position system receiver prepared on a plurality of vehicles (110) to check a position of the vehicles on a driving rail [0051] [0054-0055].
Kim teaches when a global positioning system receiver is used to control the movement of the vehicles, the guide rails along the traveling path may be eliminated, thereby for example simplifying the system [0055].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the global position system receivers disclosed by Kim with the vehicles disclosed by Hayashi to trace the motion of the vehicles and eliminate the need for guide rails along the driving rail.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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Lindsay M. Low can be reached on (571) 272-1196. The fax phone number for the organization where
this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSHUA CAMPBELL/
Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/LOGAN M KRAFT/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3747