DETAILED ACTION
This is a Final office action in response to Claims on 01/02/2026. Claims 2-4, 9-14 and 17-18 are pending. The effective filing date of the claims is 04/04/2022.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/22/2022 was filed. The submission is 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 § 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 2-3, 9-14 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5,900,614 A Nakakawaji et al. ("Nakakawaji") in view of US 2012/0187194 A1 Svetal et al. (“Svetal”) and in further view of US 4,138,000 A Hartup (“Hartup”).
Regarding claim 10, Nakakawaji discloses a till system for goods (Nakakawaji Abstract, self-scanning checkout device), the system comprising:
a counter having an upstream end and a downstream end (Nakakawaji Col. 6, Lns. 21-25, the checkout device has a counter, and two sides, one upstream and one downstream; Col. 2, Lns. 6-15, an article placing section downstream from scanning);
an input device at a cashier station to one side of the counter between the ends (Nakakawaji Col. 6, Lns. 63-67, one cashier station is in the center of the entire device, see section 27 inf Fig. 1, Col. 7, Lns. 1-5, a keyboard can be used to input information by the cashier);
a till at the cashier station adapted to process a cash payment (Nakakawaji Col. 7, Lns. 1-5, keyboard is used to input the amount of cash money deposited in the cash register);
displacing the goods along the counter in a travel direction from the upstream end toward the downstream end (Nakakawaji Col. 19, Lns. 1-9, the basket may move from one end to another using a conveyor, see Fig. 17, moving the basket from one end to another);
a scanner between the ends operable for identifying and recording characteristics of the goods moved past the scanner and feeding data regarding the goods to the input device (Nakakawaji Col. 6, Lns. 46-55, stationary scanners are used to read article information, and article sensors are located throughout the movement to identify the article; See Fig. 1, the elements 9-11 are all sensors that read article as they move past the sensors; Col. 7, Lns. 37*46, the input/output interface is connected to the scanner for determining the registered item), the scanner not being operable during processing of a payment at the till (Nakakawaji Col. 29, Lns. 34-41, the self scanning operation is inhibited when the process is complete, see Fig. 30, where self scanning is disable ST230 before accounting (payment is accomplished));
first and second goods bays at the downstream end adapted to hold the scanned goods and transversely spaced with respect to the direction (Nakakawaji Col. 6, Lns. 27-38, the first counter is upstream, and then it is moved downstream, and is a second counter, the purchased (scanned) products are placed in the second counter downstream; See Fig. 1, section 5, there are two different bays downstream to hold scanned goods and are spaced apart from each other); and
respective separate first and second electronic payment devices at the first and second good bays for processing electronic payments for the goods in the respective bays such that, while an electronic payment is being processed for the goods in one of the bays, goods can be scanned and fed to the other of the bays (Nakakawaji Col. 6, Lns. 21-26, the settlement section has two distinct electronic cash registers (ECRs), see Fig. 1, section 2, payment device 2a and 2b; See Fig. 17, there are two separate payment area, see the two separate ECR (170) at the end of the two different bay area’s post scanning section; Col. 25, Lns. 54-59, having one cashier for two customers to continuously process items).
Nakakawaji fails to explicitly disclose a conveyor for displacing the goods and goods moved past the scanner by the conveyor and a separating element at the goods bays pivotal by a cashier in the cashier station between a first position guiding goods from the conveyor to the first goods bay and a second position guiding goods from the conveyor the second goods bay; and bumpers and floor-mounted indicia immediately downstream of the goods bays defining for respective shopping carts first and second
Svetal teaches a conveyor for displacing the goods and goods moved past the scanner by the conveyor (Svetal [0081] an input conveyor, see Fig. 11, section 510 to move the item along, [0046] conveyor moves items past a scanner, see Fig. 3, element 140, which showcases how items are scanned when being brought past along a conveyor) and a separating element at the goods bays pivotal by a cashier in the cashier station between a first position guiding goods from the conveyor to the first goods bay and a second position guiding goods from the conveyor the second goods bay (Svetal [0083] the conveyor belt includes a swinging gate to change the path of items into two bagging areas; see Fig. 11, element 550 to separate into two lanes; the gate swings when there is a new checkout process, and therefore is controlled by the cashier stations, since when one transaction ends, the gate swings to begin a new transaction). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the two goods bay found in Nakakawaji with the split lane goods bay with conveyor as taught by Svetal. The motivation for doing so would be to allow for continuous scanning while the first customer is still collecting their items from the first bagging area, by allowing the secondary customers to continue scanning and being sent to the secondary bagging area (Svetal [0006] previous actions requires the employee to pick up the items after it arrives on a conveyor, then scan, which leads to user error and slower process, versus using a conveyor to move through the reading/scan area removes this step; [0083] split bagging area for continuous conveyor scanning into separate bagging areas).
Hartup is in the field of checkout counters (Hartup Abstract, checkout counter) and teaches bumpers and floor-mounted indicia immediately downstream of the goods bays defining for respective shopping carts first and second parking stations aligned in the travel direction with the first and second goods bays (Hartup Col. 9, Lns. 60-68-Col. 10, Lns 1-5, Fig. 3, at the end of the counter is a location for the shopping cart (W); Col. 8, Lns. 59-68-Col. 9, Lns. 1-2, the checkout counter is specifically the height of a shopping cart to make a completely flat surface, and the checkout stations is made to interact with the shopping cart; Col. 9, Lns. 33-45, the checkout counter includes guide rails along the exterior of the system, and protects the system from being bumped by the shopping carts; See Fig. 3, element 32, which extends around the checkout terminal and prevent bumping by the shopping cart). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify counter of Nakakawaji with the bumpers taught by Hartup. The motivation for doing so would be to protect the terminal from potential damages from being bumped by shopping carts (Hartup Col. 9, Lns. 33-45, the checkout counter includes guide rails along the exterior of the system, and protects the system from being bumped by the shopping carts).
Regarding claim 2, Nakakawaji discloses the till system according to claim 10, further comprising: first and second support arms in the first and second goods bays for supporting the respective payment devices (Nakakawaji See Fig. 17, there are two separate payment area, see the two separate ECR (170), and two different arms connected to payment devices (175)).
Regarding claim 3, Nakakawaji discloses the till system according to claim 10, wherein the first and second payment devices laterally flank the first and second good bays (Nakakawaji See Fig. 17, there are two separate payment area, see the two separate ECR (170), and two different arms connected to payment devices (175) are to the side of the second counter, where purchased items are stored (i.e., good bay)).
Regarding claim 9, Nakakawaji discloses the till system according to claim 10. Nakakawaji fails to explicitly disclose wherein the second goods bay is directly aligned in the direction with the conveyor belt. Svetal teaches wherein the second goods bay is directly aligned in the direction with the conveyor belt (Svetal [0081] an input conveyor, see Fig. 11, section 510 to move the item along to the different bagging (goods bay) area, section 526). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the movement of item in Nakakawaji with the conveyor system aligned with the goods bay taught by Svetal. The motivation for doing so would be to remove the need for an employee interaction with the reading of items, and allows for the automated reading by moving the items on a conveyor through a scan area, and a straight line is the most efficient path (Svetal [0006] previous actions requires the employee to pick up the items after it arrives on a conveyor, then scan, which leads to user error and slower process, versus using a conveyor to move through the reading/scan area removes this step).
Regarding claim 11, Nakakawaji discloses a method of operating a system (Nakakawaji Abstract, self-scanning checkout device) having:
a counter having an upstream end and a downstream end (Nakakawaji Col. 6, Lns. 21-25, the checkout device has a counter, and two sides, one upstream and one downstream; Col. 2, Lns. 6-15, an article placing section downstream from scanning);
an input device at a cashier station between the ends (Nakakawaji Col. 6, Lns. 63-67, one cashier station is in the center of the entire device, see section 27 inf Fig. 1, Col. 7, Lns. 1-5, a keyboard can be used to input information by the cashier);
a till at the cashier station adapted to process a cash payment (Nakakawaji Col. 7, Lns. 1-5, keyboard is used to input the amount of cash money deposited in the cash register);
displacing goods along the counter in a travel direction from the upstream end toward the downstream end (Nakakawaji Col. 19, Lns. 1-9, the basket may move from one end to another using a conveyor, see Fig. 17, moving the basket from one end to another);
a scanner between the ends (Nakakawaji Col. 6, Lns. 46-55, stationary scanners are used to read article information, and article sensors are located throughout the movement to identify the article; See Fig. 1, the elements 9-11 are all sensors that read article as they move past the sensors; Col. 7, Lns. 37*46, the input/output interface is connected to the scanner for determining the registered item);
first and second goods bays at the downstream end (Nakakawaji Col. 6, Lns. 27-38, the first counter is upstream, and then it is moved downstream, and is a second counter, the purchased (scanned) products are placed in the second counter downstream; See Fig. 1, section 5, there are two different bays downstream to hold scanned goods and are spaced apart from each other);
and
respective separate first and second electronic payment devices at the first and second good bays for processing electronic payments for the goods in the respective bays (Nakakawaji Col. 6, Lns. 21-26, the settlement section has two distinct electronic cash registers (ECRs), see Fig. 1, section 2, payment device 2a and 2b; See Fig. 17, there are two separate payment area, see the two separate ECR (170) at the end of the two different bay area’s post scanning section; Col. 25, Lns. 54-59, having one cashier for two customers to continuously process items), the method comprising the steps of:
a) displacing the goods of a first customer past the scanner (Nakakawaji Col. 8, Lns. 14-25, moving the items through a scanner to identify items);
b) identifying characteristics of the goods of the first customer moved past the scanner and feeding data representing the identified characteristics of the goods to the input device (Nakakawaji Col. 8, Lns. 14-25, moving the items through a scanner to identify items; Col. 6, Lns. 63-67, one cashier station is in the center of the entire device, see section 27 inf Fig. 1, Col. 7, Lns. 1-5, a keyboard can be used to input information by the cashier);
c) guiding the scanned goods of the first customer downstream of the scanner to the first goods bay (Nakakawaji Col. 19, Lns. 1-9, the basket may move from one end to another using a conveyor, see Fig. 17, moving the basket from one end to another; See Fig. 1, section 5, there are two different bays downstream to hold scanned goods and are spaced apart from each other);
d) when all of the goods of the first customer have been scanned, closing the sale and (Nakakawaji Col. 19, Lns. 15-20, when the scanning is complete, the cashier may send the total to the payment (ECR) for the customer to complete the payment);
e) while the first customer is processing a payment for the sale at the payment device of the first goods bay (Nakakawaji Col. 29, Lns. 34-41, the self scanning operation is inhibited when the process is complete, see Fig. 30, where self scanning is disable ST230 before accounting (payment is accomplished)), repeating steps a) and b) with the goods of a second customer and guiding the goods of the second customer downstream to the second goods bay and thereafter executing steps c) and d) (Nakakawaji Col. 25, Lns. 49-59, one cashier for two customers, there are two distinct checkout lanes, that allows for the second customer guides their goods to a second goods bay among the entirety of the till system, the till system as a whole is both elements combined, because a singular cashier is required; Col. 34, Lns. 65-67-Col. 35, Lns 1-2).
Nakakawaji fails to explicitly disclose a conveyor for displacing the goods and goods moved past the scanner by the conveyor; bumpers and floor-mounted indicia immediately downstream of the goods bays defining for respective shopping carts first and second parking stations aligned in the travel direction with the first and second goods bays;
a separating element at the goods bays pivotal by a cashier in the cahier station between a first position guiding goods from the conveyor to the first goods bay and a second position guiding goods from the conveyor the second goods bay; goods of a first customer with the separator in the first position and when goods of the first customer have been scanned, closing the sale and pivoting the separator into the second position; and f) inhibiting displacement and scanning of the goods of the second customer on the conveyor while a cash payment is being made at the till.
Svetal teaches a conveyor for displacing the goods and goods moved past the scanner by the conveyor (Svetal [0081] an input conveyor, see Fig. 11, section 510 to move the item along, [0046] conveyor moves items past a scanner, see Fig. 3, element 140, which showcases how items are scanned when being brought past along a conveyor) and a separating element at the goods bays pivotal by a cashier in the cahier station between a first position guiding goods from the conveyor to the first goods bay and a second position guiding goods from the conveyor the second goods bay (Svetal [0083] the conveyor belt includes a swinging gate to change the path of items into two bagging areas; see Fig. 11, element 550 to separate into two lanes; the gate swings when there is a new checkout process, and therefore is controlled by the cashier stations, since when one transaction ends, the gate swings to begin a new transaction); goods of a first customer with the separator in the first position and when goods of the first customer have been scanned, closing the sale and pivoting the separator into the second position (Svetal [0083] the conveyor belt includes a swinging gate to change the path of items into two bagging areas; see Fig. 11, element 550 to separate into two lanes; the gate swings when there is a new checkout process, and therefore is controlled by the cashier stations, since when one transaction ends, the gate swings to begin a new transaction); and f) inhibiting displacement and scanning of the goods of the second customer on the conveyor while a cash payment is being made at the till (Svetal [0078] there is a determination if the customer has completed their transaction, this is determined by if the payment is complete, if the payment is complete, then customer 1 is finished and then customer 2 may proceed; see Fig. 10, steps 432 to 440 to show completion of customer 1, or step 432 to 434 to continue the belt for customer 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the movement of item in Nakakawaji with the conveyor system taught by Svetal. The motivation for doing so would be to remove the need for an employee interaction with the reading of items, and allows for the automated reading by moved the items on a conveyor through a scan area (Svetal [0006] previous actions requires the employee to pick up the items after it arrives on a conveyor, then scan, which leads to user error and slower process, versus using a conveyor to move through the reading/scan area removes this step).
Hartup teaches bumpers and floor-mounted indicia immediately downstream of the goods bays defining for respective shopping carts first and second parking stations aligned in the travel direction with the first and second goods bays (Hartup Col. 9, Lns. 60-68-Col. 10, Lns 1-5, Fig. 3, at the end of the counter is a location for the shopping cart (W); Col. 8, Lns. 59-68-Col. 9, Lns. 1-2, the checkout counter is specifically the height of a shopping cart to make a completely flat surface, and the checkout stations is made to interact with the shopping cart; Col. 9, Lns. 33-45, the checkout counter includes guide rails along the exterior of the system, and protects the system from being bumped by the shopping carts; See Fig. 3, element 32, which extends around the checkout terminal and prevent bumping by the shopping cart). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify counter of Nakakawaji with the bumpers taught by Hartup. The motivation for doing so would be to protect the terminal from potential damages from being bumped by shopping carts (Hartup Col. 9, Lns. 33-45, the checkout counter includes guide rails along the exterior of the system, and protects the system from being bumped by the shopping carts).
Regarding claim 12, Nakakawaji discloses the method according to claim 11. Nakakawaji fails to explicitly disclose wherein the first goods bay is aligned in the direction with the conveyor belt and guiding goods into second goods bay entails deflecting them transversely from the direction into the second goods bay.
Svetal teaches wherein the first goods bay is aligned in the direction with the conveyor belt (Svetal [0081] an input conveyor, see Fig. 11, section 510 to move the item along to the different bagging (goods bay) area, section 526) and guiding goods into second goods bay entails deflecting them transversely from the direction into the second goods bay (Svetal [0083] the conveyor belt includes a swinging gate to change the path of items into two bagging areas; see Fig. 11, element 550 to separate into two lanes; the arm guides the items to the correct bay). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the two goods bay found in Nakakawaji with the split lane goods bay with conveyor as taught by Svetal. The motivation for doing so would be to allow for continuous scanning while the first customer is still collecting their items from the first bagging area, by allowing the secondary customers to continue scanning and being sent to the secondary bagging area (Svetal [0006] previous actions requires the employee to pick up the items after it arrives on a conveyor, then scan, which leads to user error and slower process, versus using a conveyor to move through the reading/scan area removes this step; [0083] split bagging area for continuous conveyor scanning into separate bagging areas).
Regarding claim 13, Nakakawaji discloses the method according to claim 11, wherein a cashier at the cashier station pre-selects the status of the goods bay to be shown on a display (Nakakawaji Col. 19, Lns. 15-20, the cashier effects the ECR payment; Col. 9, Lns. 39-46, the cashier may be alerted to different happenings in the checkout lane, and may start or stop the registration of items if there is an alert of a possible dishonest action; Col. 7, Lns. 37-42, the buzzer is an alert that displays the status of the counter).
Regarding claim 14, Nakakawaji discloses the method according to claim 13, wherein the payment transaction of the customer is documented by the display (Nakakawaji Col. 7, Lns. 16-25, customer display of information about the scanned items and total cost).
Regarding claim 17, Nakakawaji teaches the method according to claim 13. Nakakawaji fails to explicitly disclose wherein the display indicates by color the status of the respective goods bay. Svetal teaches wherein the display indicates by color the status of the respective goods bay (Svetal [0061] an indicator light projector to activate or deactivate based on its determination). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the till system of Nakakawaji with the light indicators taught by Svetal. The motivation for doing so would be to provide clear feedback to a user of a till system, to continue as normal or perform corrective actions (Svetal [0042] light indicators provide placement feedback to user).
Regarding claim 18 Nakakawaji teaches the method according to claim 17. Nakakawaji fails to explicitly disclose wherein each display shows green with the respective pay is open and available for use, yellow when the other customer is processing a cash transaction, and red for a temporary lock of the respective bay. Svetal teaches wherein each display shows green with the respective pay is open and available for use, yellow when the other customer is processing a cash transaction, and red for a temporary lock of the respective bay (Svetal [0061] green indicates open, yellow indicates a blockage and red indicates all paths blocked). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the till system of Nakakawaji with the light indicators of Svetal. The motivation for doing so would be to provide clear feedback to a user of a till system, to continue as normal or perform corrective actions (Svetal [0042] light indicators provide placement feedback to user).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakakawaji in view of Svetal and Hartup, and in further view of US 2002/0096564 A1 Bellis et al. (“Bellis”).
Regarding claim 4, Nakakawaji discloses the till system according to claim 10, wherein each of the payment devices comprises a printer (Nakakawaji Col. 7, Lns. 29-35, the printer for a receipt of payment). Nakakawaji fails to explicitly disclose each of the payment devices comprises a respective card reader. Bellis is in the field of self-checkout systems (Bellis Abstract, self-checkout system) and teaches each of the payment devices comprises a respective card reader (Bellis [0019] the electronic transfer of funds including a strip card reader). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the payment in Nakakawaji with the card reader of Bellis. The motivation for doing so would be to provide multiple options for customer payment (Bellis [0005] the terminal may accept any standard payment including credit card readers).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/02/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The amended claim language states that the displacement and scanning of the second customers goods are stopped on the conveyor while a cash payment at the till is being made. Applicant asserts that this means the system is conditional on the type of payment chosen, however, Examiner does not agree with this assessment. The claim limitation merely states when payment is being processed, the conveyor is paused, and has no mention of what happens when the customer chooses the secondary option of the electronic payment method downstream of the chute, it allows for the conveyor to continue. Therefore, when Svetal teaches that a signal transaction occurs at a time, which is showcased by the scanning of customer 1 items, and customer 1 ends when payment is processed, and hen customer 2 scanning continues AFTER the payment, is able to teach the amended claim limitation. (See Svetal [0078]; Fig. 10).
Svetal is able to teach lights along the conveyor, with different colors to showcase the status, and therefore teaches the visual status display at the main register. See Svetal Fig. 11, element 502, which showcases lights along the conveyor. Examiner does not see this suggested amendments in the claims limitations.
Therefore, the 103 rejection is able to teach the amended language of the claims.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 7,325,731 B2 Tashiro teaches a self-checkout terminal; US 10,420,428 B2 Seljeseth teaches a checkout counter with different loading areas (Abstract); US 4,676,343 A Humble et al. teaches a dual bagging area (Abstract).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/JESSICA E SULLIVAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3627
/AARON TUTOR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627