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
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 6-23, 27-34, and 37 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 1, 15, 23, 34, and 37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan Gorumkonda (US Patent No. 10,958895). Relative to claims 1, 6, and 15-16, Krishnan discloses:
Claim 1) A warehouse goods reorganization method, executed by a server, and comprising:
obtaining a type of a warehouse goods reorganization requirement (Col. 3, lines 1-2; Col. 17, lines 1-8);
generating a warehouse goods reorganization task according to the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement (Col. 8, lines 10-12; Col. 8, lines 30-33),
the warehouse goods reorganization task comprising indicating information about goods to be reorganized, information about a source container in which the goods to be reorganized are currently located (management module 110 identifies operations to be completed involving inventory items stored or to be stored, the operations include information about the inventory items or goods, source and/or target containers such as inventory holders and pallet holders to be processed, management module 110 knows where items, inventory holders, sort pallets, stations are located, Col. 8, lines 31-40)
information about a corresponding target container (Col. 8, lines 24-40);
controlling a first robot (112-1)(Fig. 9) to transport the source container (924) from a storage region (induction portion of inventory area, 102) to a workstation (pick/stow station 900) according to the warehouse goods reorganization task (mobile drive unit 112 transports sort pallets 924 from induction area of storage area 102 to the pick/stow station, 900; Col. 17, lines 9-13)(Fig. 9);
transmitting the warehouse goods reorganization task to a second robot (920)(Fig. 9) to cause the second robot (920) to perform a goods handling operation to move the goods to be organized from the source container (924) to the target container (926)(robot 920 moves tote 916 with goods from sort pallet 924 to another location in station, such as near conveyor, goods from tote 916 may be transferred to another tote 918, robot 920 then transports the tote 918 with the transferred goods to the inventory holder 926, robot 920 may also transfer goods from a tote 918, to another tote 918 to be placed on the inventory holder 926; Col. 17, lines 35-54; Col. 17, lines 5-6)(Fig. 9); and
the type of the warehouse sorting requirement comprises at least one of storage density improvement and outbound efficiency improvement (Col. 3, lines 1-2, Col. 17, lines 1-9); and
Claim 15) the determining warehouse goods reorganization task according to the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement comprises:
generating, if the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement is outbound efficiency improvement, the warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of historical outbound information of goods and planned outbound information of goods (Col. 3, lines 1-2, Col. 17, lines 1-9).
Krishnan does not expressly disclose: controlling, after the goods to be organized are moved from the source container to the target container, the first robot to transport the target container from the workstation to the storage region for storage.
Krishnan teaches: controlling, after the goods to be organized are moved from the source container to the target container, the first robot to transport the target container from the workstation to the storage region for storage as an obvious matter of design choice based on the needs of the system.
The inventory holders (926, 114)(Fig. 1, 9) are to be stored in the inventory area or storage region such as storage region 102 for retrieval (Col. 17, lines 1-4; Col. 6, lines 12-15). The inventory holders (926, 114) can be moved from storage area 102 to other areas in the warehouse such as the pick/stow station 900 using the mobile drive units. Inventory holders 114 are transported by mobile drive units 112 between storage and pick stations (or pick/stow station), implying that once inventory holders are processed at a station, the inventory holder (114, 926) is returned to storage. Also, the pick/stow station 900 is designated for picking and stowing items for processing items to be picked and shipped out, and items to be transferred to inventory holders for stowing operations within the facility (Col. 17, lines 1-8).
It is obvious that the mobile drive unit 112 moves an inventory holder (114, 926) located at a pick/stow station 900 that has received transferred totes of items (see totes 918) back to the inventory or storage area 102 for stowage. Moreover, the disclosure includes consolidating items between totes, such as totes 918 on inventory holders, to be moved to the inventory storage area (Col. 17, lines 1-6; Col. 18, lines 39-44).
Additionally, it is obvious that the same mobile drive unit 112 that transferred the source container 924 to the pick/stow station 900 may be used to transport the inventory holder 926 with the received items to the inventory area or storage area 102. The management unit 110 selects components, such as specific mobile drive units 112 to facilitate operations (Col. 8, lines 5-11). The management module may select the mobile drive unit 112 to move the inventory holder 926 to the storage area 102 based on the current status of the system, including locations and statuses of mobile drive units 112 in the facility.
Selecting the same robot 112 to move the source pallet 924 to the pick/stow station 900, and to move the inventory holder 926 from the pick/stow station 900 to the inventory or storage area has no patentable significance. See MPEP §2144.01
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the method of Krishnan to include controlling the first robot to transport the target container from the workstation to the storage region as an obvious matter of design choice based on the needs of the system since it is implied that processed inventory holders are transported from the pick/stow station back to the storage area for storage. Also, the first mobile drive unit 112-1 can transport the target container 114, 926 from the pick/stow station to the storage area based on the current status of the system and locations and statuses of the mobile drive units to reduce delays and promote efficiency.
Relative to claim 23, the disclosure of Krishnan includes:
A warehouse sorting method, comprising:
obtaining, by a first robot and a second robot (112), warehouse goods reorganization task generated by a server (server is included in management module 110; Col. 21, lines 45-48) according to a type of a warehouse goods reorganization requirement (Col. 7, lines 34-40; Col. 8, lines 10-12);
the warehouse goods reorganization task indicating information about the goods to be reorganized, information about a source container in which the goods are currently located, and information about a corresponding target container (management module 110 identifies operations to be completed involving inventory items stored or to be stored, the operations include information about the inventory items or goods, source and/or target containers such as inventory holders and pallet holders to be processed, management module 110 knows where items, inventory holders, sort pallets, stations are located, Col. 8, lines 31-40)
transporting, by the first robot (112-1), the source container (924) from a storage region (inventory area or storage area 102) to a workstation (900) according to the warehouse goods reorganization task (Col. 17, lines 9-13)(Fig. 9);
moving, by the second robot (920)(Fig. 9), the goods to be reorganized from the
source container (924) to the corresponding target container (926) according to the warehouse goods reorganization task (robot 920 moves tote 916 with goods from sort pallet 924 to another location in station, such as near conveyor, goods from tote 916 may be transferred to another tote 918, robot 920 then transports the tote 918 with the transferred goods to the inventory holder 926, robot 920 may also transfer goods from a tote 918, to another tote 918 to be placed on the inventory holder 926; Col. 17, lines 35-54; Col. 17, lines 5-6)(Fig. 9);
the type of the warehouse sorting requirement comprises at least one of storage density improvement and outbound efficiency improvement (Col. 3, lines 1-2, Col. 17, lines 1-9).
Krishnan does not expressly disclose: transporting, by the first robot, the target container from the workstation to the storage region for storage, after the goods to be organized are moved from the source container to the target container.
Krishnan teaches: Krishnan teaches: transporting, by the first robot, the target container from the workstation to the storage region for storage, after the goods to be organized are moved from the source container to the target container as an obvious matter of design choice based on the needs of the system.
The inventory holders (926, 114)(Fig. 1, 9) are to be stored in the inventory area or storage region such as storage region 102 for retrieval (Col. 17, lines 1-4; Col. 6, lines 12-15). The inventory holders (926, 114) can be moved from storage area 102 to other areas in the warehouse such as the pick/stow station 900 using the mobile drive units. Inventory holders 114 are transported by mobile drive units 112 between storage and pick stations (or pick/stow station), implying that once inventory holders are processed at a station, the inventory holder (114, 926) is returned to storage. Also, the pick/stow station 900 is designated for picking and stowing items for processing items to be picked and shipped out, and items to be transferred to inventory holders for stowing operations within the facility (Col. 17, lines 1-8).
It is obvious that the mobile drive unit 112 moves an inventory holder (114, 926) located at a pick/stow station 900 that has received transferred totes of items (see totes 918) back to the inventory or storage area 102 for stowage. Moreover, the disclosure includes consolidating items between totes, such as totes 918 on inventory holders, to be moved to the inventory storage area (Col. 17, lines 1-6; Col. 18, lines 39-44).
Additionally, it is obvious that the same mobile drive unit 112 that transferred the source container 924 to the pick/stow station 900 may be used to transport the inventory holder 926 with the received items to the inventory area or storage area 102. The management unit 110 selects components, such as specific mobile drive units 112 to facilitate operations (Col. 8, lines 5-11). The management module may select the mobile drive unit 112 to move the inventory holder 926 to the storage area 102 based on the current status of the system, including locations and statuses of mobile drive units 112 in the facility.
Selecting the same robot 112 to move the source pallet 924 to the pick/stow station 900, and to move the inventory holder 926 from the pick/stow station 900 to the inventory or storage area has no patentable significance. See MPEP §2144.01
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the method of Krishnan to include transporting, by the first robot, the target container from the workstation to the storage region as an obvious matter of design choice since it is implied that processed inventory holders are transported from the pick/stow station back to the storage area for storage.
Also, the first mobile driving unit 112-1 can transport the target container 114,926 from the pick/stow station 900 to the storage area based on the current status of the system and locations and statuses of the mobile drive units to reduce delays and promote efficiency.
Relative to claim 34, the disclosure of Krishnan includes:
A server, comprising:
at least one processor, and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor (included in management module 110; Col. 8, lines 1-10; Col. 21, lines 15-18, Col. 21, lines 40-50), the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations of:
obtaining a type of a warehouse goods reorganization requirement (Col. 3, lines 1-2; Col. 17, lines 1-8);
generating a warehouse goods reorganization task according to the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement (Col. 8, lines 10-12; Col. 8, lines 30-33),
the warehouse goods reorganization task comprising indicating information about to be sorted goods to be reorganized, information about a source container in which the goods to be reorganized are currently located (Col. 8, lines 31-40), and information about a corresponding target container (Col. 8, lines 24-40);
controlling a first robot (112-1) to transport the source container (924) from a storage region to a workstation (900) according to the warehouse goods reorganization task (mobile drive units 112 transport sort pallets 924 from induction area of storage area 102 to the pick/stow station, 900; Col. 17, lines 9-13)(Fig. 9);
transmitting the warehouse goods reorganization task to a second robot (920) to cause the second robot to perform a goods handling operation to move the goods to be organized from the source container to the target container (robot 920 moves tote 916 with goods from sort pallet 924 to another location in station, such as near conveyor, goods from tote 916 may be transferred to another tote 918, robot 920 then transports the tote 918 with the transferred goods to the inventory holder 926 or target container, robot 920 may also transfer goods from a tote 918, to another tote 918 to be placed on the inventory holder 926; Col. 17, lines 35-54; Col. 17, lines 5-6)(Fig. 9); and
the type of the warehouse requirement comprises at least one of storage density improvement and outbound efficiency improvement (Col. 3, lines 1-2, Col. 17, lines 1-9).
Krishnan does not expressly disclose: controlling, after the goods to be organized are moved from the source container to the target container, the first robot to transport the target container from the workstation to the storage region for storage.
Krishnan teaches: controlling, after the goods to be organized are moved from the source container to the target container, the first robot to transport the target container from the workstation to the storage region for storage as an obvious matter of design choice based on the needs of the system.
The inventory holders (926, 114)(Fig. 1, 9) are to be stored in the inventory area or storage region such as storage region 102 for retrieval (Col. 17, lines 1-4; Col. 6, lines 12-15). The inventory holders (926, 114) can be moved from storage area 102 to other areas in the warehouse such as the pick/stow station 900 using the mobile drive units. Inventory holders 114 are transported by mobile drive units 112 between storage and pick stations (or pick/stow station), implying that once inventory holders are processed at a station, the inventory holder (114, 926) is returned to storage. Also, the pick/stow station 900 is designated for picking and stowing items for processing items to be picked and shipped out, and items to be transferred to inventory holders for stowing operations within the facility (Col. 17, lines 1-8).
It is obvious that the mobile drive unit 112 moves an inventory holder (114, 926) located at a pick/stow station 900 that has received transferred totes of items (see totes 918) back to the inventory or storage area 102 for stowage. Moreover, the disclosure includes consolidating items between totes, such as totes 918 on inventory holders, to be moved to the inventory storage area (Col. 17, lines 1-6; Col. 18, lines 39-44).
Additionally, it is obvious that the same mobile drive unit 112 that transferred the source container 924 to the pick/stow station 900 may be used to transport the inventory holder 926 with the received items to the inventory area or storage area 102. The management unit 110 selects components, such as specific mobile drive units 112 to facilitate operations (Col. 8, lines 5-11). The management module may select the mobile drive unit 112 to move the inventory holder 926 to the storage area 102 based on the current status of the system, including locations and statuses of mobile drive units 112 in the facility.
Selecting the same robot 112 to move the source pallet 924 to the pick/stow station 900, and to move the inventory holder 926 from the pick/stow station 900 to the inventory or storage area has no patentable significance. See MPEP §2144.01
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the method of Krishnan to include controlling the first robot to transport the target container from the workstation to the storage region as an obvious matter of design choice based on the needs of the system since it is implied that processed inventory holders are transported from the pick/stow station back to the storage area for storage. Also, the first mobile drive unit 112-1 can transport the target container 114, 926 from the pick/stow station to the storage area based on the current status of the system and locations and statuses of the mobile drive units to reduce delays and promote efficiency.
Relative to claim 37, the disclosure of Krishnan includes:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a processor, are configured to implement operations of:
obtaining a type of a warehouse goods reorganization requirement (Col. 3, lines 1-2; Col. 17, lines 1-8);
generating a warehouse goods reorganization task according to the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement, the warehouse goods reorganization task indicating information about-goods to be reorganized, information about a source container in which the goods to be reorganized are currently located, and information about a corresponding target container (management module 110 identifies operations to be completed involving inventory items stored or to be stored, the operations include information about the inventory items or goods, source and/or target containers such as inventory holders and pallet holders to be processed, management module 110 knows where items, inventory holders, sort pallets, stations are located, Col. 8, lines 31-40);
controlling a first robot (112-1) to transport the source container (924) from a storage region to a workstation (900) according to the warehouse goods reorganization task (mobile drive unit 112 transports sort pallets 924 from induction area of storage area 102 to the pick/stow station, 900; Col. 17, lines 9-13)(Fig. 9);
transmitting the warehouse goods reorganization task to a second robot (920) to cause the second robot (920) to perform a goods handling operation to move the goods to be organized from the source container to the target container (robot 920 moves tote 916 with goods from sort pallet 924 to another location in station, such as near conveyor, goods from tote 916 may be transferred to another tote 918, robot 920 then transports the tote 918 with the transferred goods to the inventory holder 926, robot 920 may also transfer goods from a tote 918, to another tote 918 to be placed on the inventory holder 926; Col. 17, lines 35-54; Col. 17, lines 5-6)(Fig. 9); and
the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement comprises at least one of storage density improvement and outbound efficiency improvement (Col. 3, lines 1-2, Col. 17, lines 1-9).
Krishnan does not expressly disclose: controlling, after the goods to be organized are moved from the source container to the target container, the first robot to transport the target container from the workstation to the storage region for storage;
Krishnan teaches: controlling, after the goods to be organized are moved from the source container to the target container, the first robot to transport the target container from the workstation to the storage region for storage as an obvious matter of design choice based on the needs of the system.
The inventory holders (926, 114)(Fig. 1, 9) are to be stored in the inventory area or storage region such as storage region 102 for retrieval (Col. 17, lines 1-4; Col. 6, lines 12-15). The inventory holders (926, 114) can be moved from storage area 102 to other areas in the warehouse such as the pick/stow station 900 using the mobile drive units. Inventory holders 114 are transported by mobile drive units 112 between storage and pick stations (or pick/stow station), implying that once inventory holders are processed at a station, the inventory holder (114, 926) is returned to storage. Also, the pick/stow station 900 is designated for picking and stowing items for processing items to be picked and shipped out, and items to be transferred to inventory holders for stowing operations within the facility (Col. 17, lines 1-8).
It is obvious that the mobile drive unit 112 moves an inventory holder (114, 926) located at a pick/stow station 900 that has received transferred totes of items (see totes 918) back to the inventory or storage area 102 for stowage. Moreover, the disclosure includes consolidating items between totes, such as totes 918 on inventory holders, to be moved to the inventory storage area (Col. 17, lines 1-6; Col. 18, lines 39-44).
Additionally, it is obvious that the same mobile drive unit 112 that transferred the source container 924 to the pick/stow station 900 may be used to transport the inventory holder 926 with the received items to the inventory area or storage area 102. The management unit 110 selects components, such as specific mobile drive units 112 to facilitate operations (Col. 8, lines 5-11). The management module may select the mobile drive unit 112 to move the inventory holder 926 to the storage area 102 based on the current status of the system, including locations and statuses of mobile drive units 112 in the facility.
Selecting the same robot 112 to move the source pallet 924 to the pick/stow station 900, and to move the inventory holder 926 from the pick/stow station 900 to the inventory or storage area has no patentable significance. See MPEP §2144.01
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the method of Krishnan to include controlling the first robot to transport the target container from the workstation to the storage region as an obvious matter of design choice based on the needs of the system since it is implied that processed inventory holders are transported from the pick/stow station back to the storage area for storage. Also, the first mobile drive unit 112-1 can transport the target container 114, 926 from the pick/stow station to the storage area based on the current status of the system and locations and statuses of the mobile drive units to reduce delays and promote efficiency.
Claim(s) 6 and 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan in view of Yang, Cheng-cheng (CN 110 472 916 A). Relative to claim 6, Krishnan discloses all claim limitations as described above, but does not expressly disclose: instructing, if the source container is cleared, the first robot to carry the cleared source container to a region configured to place empty containers or use the cleared source container as a target container for warehouse goods reorganization sorting.
Yang teaches: instructing, if the source container is cleared (see empty boxes), the first robot to carry the cleared source container to a region configured to place empty containers or use the cleared source container as a target container for warehouse goods reorganization sorting (robot 3 picks up empty boxes from the station where goods were picked from, the station including an automatic receiving and sending platform, the robot transports the empty containers to the smart shelves, system also includes recycling empty boxes; Page 18, Para. 4 of the English translation of the Specification; Page 20, Para. 5, beginning with “S5”, see “empty box is recycled), for the purpose of providing a system and method for transporting goods for automatic distribution, shipping, and unloading that reduces labor costs, increases storage density, and minimizes delays (Page 2, Para. 1-4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the method of Krishnan with the step of instructing the cleared source container to carry the cleared source container to a region as taught in Yang for the purpose of providing a system and method for transporting goods for automatic distribution, shipping, and unloading that reduces labor costs, increases storage density, and minimizes delays.
Relative to claim 27, the disclosure of Krishnan includes all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose:
if the source container is cleared, instructing the first robot to carry the cleared source container to a region configured to place empty containers, or using the cleared source container as a target container for warehouse goods reorganization sorting.
Yang teaches: instructing, if the source container is cleared (see empty boxes), the first robot to carry the cleared source container to a region configured to place empty containers or use the cleared source container as a target container for warehouse goods reorganization sorting (robot 3 picks up empty boxes from the station where goods were picked from, the station including an automatic receiving and sending platform, the robot transports the empty containers to the smart shelves, system also includes recycling empty boxes; Page 18, Para. 4 of the English translation of the Specification; Page 20, Para. 5, beginning with “S5”, see “empty box is recycled), for the purpose of providing a system and method for transporting goods for automatic distribution, shipping, and unloading that reduces labor costs, increases storage density, and minimizes delays (Page 2, Para. 1-4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the method of Krishnan with the step of instructing the cleared source container to carry the cleared source container to a region as taught in Yang for the purpose of providing a system and method for transporting goods for automatic distribution, shipping, and unloading that reduces labor costs, increases storage density, and minimizes delays.
Claim(s) 7-8, and 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan Gorumkonda (US Patent No. 10,958895) in view of Diankov et al (US PG. Pub. 2020/0223066). Relative to claims 7-8, and 12-14, Krishnan discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose:
Claim 7) the obtaining a type of a warehouse goods reorganization requirement comprises: determining the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement according to at least one of a goods inventory state, a goods container state, an inbound requirement, and an outbound requirement of the storage region; or obtaining the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement inputted by the user;
Claim 8) the generating a warehouse sorting task according to the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement comprises:
generating, if the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement is storage density improvement, the warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of a storage requirement of goods and a current storage state of the goods;
Claim 12) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the current storage state of the goods comprises:
determining a type of a target container corresponding to the goods according to current storage state of the goods to be reorganized; and
generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the determined type of the target container;
Claim 13) the determining a type of a target container corresponding to the goods according to current storage state of the to-be-sorted goods comprises at least one of:
if goods to be placed in a same target container currently only occupy one type of goods containers in the storage region, a goods container of the type is superior to goods containers of other types to be used as the target container of the goods; and,
if goods to be placed in a same target container currently occupy a plurality of types of goods containers in the storage region, the type of the target container is selected from the plurality of types of goods containers according to at least one of number of goods currently stored by each of the plurality of types of goods containers and inbound times of the goods; or
Claim 14) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization information according to current storage state of the goods comprises:
for the goods to be placed in a same target container, if the target container is selectable from a plurality of selectable goods containers, the target container is determined according to space occupied by the goods and remaining space of each selectable goods container; or
generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the determined target container.
Diankov teaches:
Claim 7) the obtaining a type of a warehouse goods reorganization requirement comprises: determining the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement according to at least one of a goods inventory state (Para. 0111), a goods container state (Para. 0111, when number of partially filled containers is above a threshold, the system initiates an action), an inbound requirement, and an outbound requirement of the storage region (Para. 0074); or obtaining the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement inputted by the user;
Claim 8) the generating a warehouse sorting task according to the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement comprises:
generating, if the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement is storage density improvement, the warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of a storage requirement of goods and a current storage state of the goods (Para. 0111);
Claim 12) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the current storage state of the goods comprises:
determining a type of a target container corresponding to the goods according to current storage state of the goods to be reorganized (Para. 0054; 0094, goods may be grouped and stored in certain containers or container types); and
generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the determined type of the target container (Para. 0048; 0054; 0094, robotic system generates tasks to be performed based on the state of the system);
Claim 13) the determining a type of a target container corresponding to the goods according to current storage state of the to-be-sorted goods comprises at least one of:
if goods to be placed in a same target container (pallet, bin, or rack) currently only occupy one type of goods containers in the storage region, a goods container of the type is superior to goods containers of other types to be used as the target container of the goods (see end of Para. 0054; 0093-0094); and,
if goods to be placed in a same target container (pallet, bin, or rack) currently occupy a plurality of types of goods containers in the storage region (designated area may be a storage area), the type of the target container is selected from the plurality of types of goods containers according to at least one of number of goods currently stored by each of the plurality of types of goods containers and inbound times of the goods (Para. 0094; 0075); and
Claim 14) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization information according to current storage state of the goods comprises:
for the goods to be placed in a same target container, if the target container (i.e., pallet, bin, or rack) is selectable from a plurality of selectable goods containers, the target container (pallet bin, or rack) is determined according to space occupied by the goods and remaining space of each selectable goods container (Para. 0094); and
generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the determined target container (Para. 0094; 0048).
Diankov teaches: determining the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement according to an inventory state, a goods container state, an inbound requirement, or an outbound requirement; generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of a storage requirement of goods and a current storage state; determining a type of a target container corresponding to the goods; a goods container of the type is superior to goods containers of other types to be used as the target container of the goods; the target container is selectable from a plurality of selectable goods containers and the target container is determined according to space occupied by the goods and remaining space of each selectable goods container; or generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the determined target container as described above, for the purpose of providing a robotic system that can perform complex tasks with limited human intervention, and can effectively manage operations and interactions between robots (Para. 0005).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the system of Krishnan with the:
determining the type of the warehouse goods reorganization requirement according to an inventory state, a goods container state, an inbound requirement, or an outbound requirement; generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of a storage requirement of goods and a current storage state; determining a type of a target container corresponding to the goods; a goods container of the type is superior to goods containers of other types to be used as the target container of the goods; the target container is selectable from a plurality of selectable goods containers and the target container is determined according to space occupied by the goods and remaining space of each selectable goods container; or generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the determined target container as described above as taught in Diankov for the purpose of providing a robotic system that can perform complex tasks with limited human intervention, and can effectively manage operations and interactions between robots.
Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan and Diankov as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Grissom (US PG. Pub. No. 2013/0226649). Relative to claim 9-10, Krishnan in view of Diankov discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose:
Claim 9) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of a storage requirement of goods and a current storage state of the goods comprises:
obtaining a number of savable goods containers through warehouse goods reorganization according to a total number of goods containers currently occupied by goods stored in the storage region and a total number of goods containers estimated to be occupied by the stored goods after the warehouse goods reorganization;
calculating an estimated warehouse goods reorganizing time required for warehouse goods reorganization; and
generating, if the number of the savable goods containers and the
estimated warehouse goods reorganizing time meet a preset condition, the
warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of the storage requirement of the goods and the current storage state of the goods; or
Claim 10) generating warehouse goods reorganization warning information if the number of the savable goods containers and the estimated warehouse sorting time do not meet the preset condition.
Relative to claim 9, Grissom teaches:
the generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of a storage requirement of goods and a current storage state of the goods comprises:
obtaining a percentage of savable goods containers (slots for holding items) through warehouse goods reorganization according to a total number of goods containers currently occupied by goods stored in the storage region and a total number of goods containers estimated to be occupied by the stored goods after the warehouse goods reorganization (Para. 0032, system scores sort slot assignments based on efficiency and includes a percentage of space used, and a ratio of storable inventory in units of the item to the desired number stored);
calculating an estimated warehouse goods reorganizing time required for warehouse goods reorganization (Para. 0032); and
generating, if the percentage of the savable goods containers and the estimated warehouse goods reorganizing time meet a preset condition, the warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of the storage requirement of the goods and the current storage state of the goods (Para. 0032; 0036).
Grissom teaches obtaining a percentage of savable goods containers through warehouse goods reorganization, and calculating an estimated warehouse goods reorganizing time as described above, for the purpose of providing an improved system for the computerized placement and organization of items in a warehouse that efficiently determines slot assignments thereby improving the movement of items in a warehouse (Para. 0003).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the method of Krishnan in view of Diankov with the steps of obtaining a percentage of savable goods containers through warehouse goods reorganization, and calculating an estimated warehouse goods reorganizing time as described above, as taught in Grissom, for the purpose of providing an improved system for the computerized placement and organization of items in a warehouse that efficiently determines slot assignments thereby improving the movement of items in a warehouse.
Relative to claims 9-10, Krishnan in view of Diankov and Grissom discloses all claim limitations as mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose:
claim 9) obtaining a number of savable goods containers according to a total number of goods containers currently occupied in the storage region, and a number of containers that are estimated to be occupied with goods after the warehouse gods reorganization; or
generating, if the number of the savable containers and the estimated warehouse goods reorganization task does not meet a preset condition according to at least one or a storage requirement and current storage state; or
generating warning information if the number of the savable goods containers and the estimated warehouse sorting time do not meet the preset condition.
Grissom teaches: obtaining a number of savable goods containers according to the total number of containers currently occupied with goods and the number of containers that are estimated to have goods after warehouse sorting as an obvious matter of design choice based on the user’s preference.
Grissom can calculate the actual number of saved containers using the scores provided by the multiple slot assignments using the calculated percentages of reduced slots to calculate the actual number of slots that are reduced based on the calculated percentage of improved space utilization since taking a known percentage of saved containers and determining a number of saved containers based on a calculated percentage is both implied and well-known using basic mathematic calculations. See MPEP §2144.01
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 method of Krishnan in view of Diankov and Grissom to: calculate the actual number of saved containers as an obvious matter of design choice since calculating a number of reduced slots based on a calculated percentage of reduced slots is implied and well-known in the art using basic mathmatics.
Relative to claim 10, Grissom also teaches generating sorting warning information if the number of the savable goods containers, and the estimated warehouse sorting time do not meet the preset condition as an obvious matter of design choice.
The system considers various constraints and score thresholds and rejects assignments when the scores do not meet requirements in terms of efficiency (Para. 0032). It is obvious that an assignment falls below a threshold and is rejected, that a warning may be issued in addition to the rejection to indicate that an assignment falls below a threshold, and to determine another sequence instead since providing warning messages if certain criteria are not met is known in the field of computer technology and based on routine optimization. See MPEP §2144.01; §2144.05
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 method of Krishnan in view of Diankov and Grissom to generating a warning if the number of the savable goods containers, and the estimated warehouse sorting time does not meet the preset condition as an obvious matter of design choice since providing warning messages if certain criteria are not met is known in the field of computer technology and based on routine optimization.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan and Diankov as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Battles et al (US PG. Pub. No. 2017/0043953). Relative to claim 11, Krishnan in view of Diankov discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose:
generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the storage requirement of goods comprises:
obtaining at least one of identity information of the goods and attribute information of the goods;
determining corresponding storage requirement according to at least one of the identity information of the goods and the attribute information of the goods; and
generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the storage requirement, the attribute information of the goods comprises at least one of the following: a production data, an original attribute, and information about an owner of the goods; and the storage requirement of the goods comprise at least one of the following: independent storage, mixed storage, and sequential storage.
Battles teaches: generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the storage requirement of goods comprises:
obtaining at least one of identity information of the goods and attribute information of the goods (Para. 0021);
determining corresponding storage requirement according to at least one of the
identity information of the goods and the attribute information of the goods (Para. 0026); and
generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the storage requirement, the attribute information of the goods comprises at least one of the following: a production data, an original attribute, and information about an owner of the goods (attributes may be items are high-velocity, size and shape of items, Para. 0052; 0084); and
the storage requirement of the goods comprise at least one of the following: independent storage, mixed storage, and sequential storage (Para. 0026).
Battles teaches: obtaining at least one of identity information and attribute information of the goods; determining corresponding storage requirement according to at least one of the identity and attribute information; and generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the storage requirement as mentioned above, for the purpose of providing an automated materials handling facility that requires less labor, lowers costs, minimizes time to complete a flow of items, and reduces errors (Para. 0002).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify Krishnan in view of Diankov with the obtaining at least one of identity information and attribute information of the goods; determining corresponding storage requirement according to at least one of the identity and attribute information; and generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to the storage requirement described above, as taught in Battles for the purpose of providing an automated materials handling facility that requires less labor, lowers costs, minimizes time to complete a flow of items, and reduces errors.
Claim(s) 16-18, 22, and 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan in view of (Mountz et al (US Pub. No. 2014/0100715). Relative to claims 16-18, 22 and 33 Krishnan discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, including:
Krishnan does not expressly disclose:
Claim 16) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of historical outbound information of goods and planned outbound information of goods comprises:
generating, if a number of times that first goods and second goods appear in a same outbound order meets a preset times requirement and an outbound number of the first goods and the second goods in the same outbound order meets a preset outbound number requirement, the warehouse goods reorganization task comprising information of goods reorganizing at least a part of the first goods and at least a part of the second goods in the storage region to a same target container;
Claim 17) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to planned outbound information of goods comprises:
generating, if an outbound number corresponding to all goods in an outbound order that is not finished is less than an accommodation capacity of a single goods container, the warehouse goods reorganization task comprising information of sorting all the goods corresponding to the outbound order to a same container;
Claim 18) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to
planned outbound information of goods comprises: generating, if an outbound number of first goods in an outbound order that is not finished or a plurality of adjacent outbound orders exceeds an accommodation capacity of a single goods container and the first goods are currently distributed in a plurality of goods containers, the warehouse goods reorganization task comprising information of reorganizing the first goods in at least two goods containers among the plurality of goods containers to a same target container; and the plurality of adjacent outbound orders are a plurality of outbound orders in which a difference between outbound times corresponding to any two outbound orders is less than a preset time difference.
Mountz teaches:
Claim 16) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to at least one of historical outbound information of goods and planned outbound information of goods comprises:
generating, if a number of times that first goods and second goods appear in a same outbound order meets a preset times requirement and an outbound number of the first goods and the second goods in the same outbound order meets a preset outbound number requirement, the warehouse goods reorganization task comprising information of goods reorganizing at least a part of the first goods and at least a part of the second goods in the storage region to a same target container (Para. 0048);
Claim 17) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to planned outbound information of goods comprises:
generating, if an outbound number corresponding to all goods in an outbound order that is not finished is less than an accommodation capacity of a single goods container, the warehouse goods reorganization task comprising information of sorting all the goods corresponding to the outbound order to a same container (Para. 0114);
Claim 18) the generating the warehouse goods reorganization task according to
planned outbound information of goods comprises: generating, if an outbound number of first goods in an outbound order that is not finished or a plurality of adjacent outbound orders exceeds an accommodation capacity of a single goods container and the first goods are currently distributed in a plurality of goods containers, the warehouse goods reorganization task comprising information of reorganizing the first goods in at least two goods containers among the plurality of goods containers to a same target container (Para. 0114); and the plurality of adjacent outbound orders are a plurality of outbound orders in which a difference between outbound times corresponding to any two outbound orders is less than a preset time difference (Para. 0119).
Mountz teaches: generating the warehouse goods reorganization task comprising reorganizing part of the first goods and part of the second goods in the storage region to a same target container; generating the warehouse goods reorganization task to sort all the goods corresponding to the outbound order to a same container; generating the warehouse goods reorganization task to reorganize the first goods in at least two goods containers to a same target container as described above, for the purpose of providing a modern inventory system that makes more efficient use of resources, space, equipment, and manpower (Para. 0001).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the system of Krishnan with: reorganizing part of the first goods and part of the second goods in the storage region to a same target container; sorting all the goods corresponding to the outbound order to a same container; and reorganizing the first goods in at least two goods containers to a same target container as described above, as taught in Mountz for the purpose of providing a modern inventory system that makes more efficient use of resources, space, equipment, and manpower.
Claim(s) 22 and 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan in view of Mountz (EP 2 309 380 A1). Relative to claims 22 and 33, Krishnan discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose:
Claim 22) the warehouse goods reorganization task further comprises at least one of goods recorded information of the target container and goods recorded information of the source container, to cause the robot to start an alternative operation in a case of determining that at least one of goods actual information of the target container does not match the goods recorded information and goods actual information of the source container does not match the goods recorded information; or
Claim 33) the warehouse goods reorganization task further comprises at least one of goods recorded information of the target container and goods recorded information of the source container, and the method further comprises:
starting an alternative operation in a case of determining that at least one of goods actual information of the target container does not match the goods recorded information and goods actual information of the source container does not match the goods recorded information.
Mountz teaches:
Claim 22) the warehouse goods reorganization task further comprises at least one of goods recorded information of the target container and goods recorded information of the source container, to cause the robot (mobile drive unit 20) to start an alternative operation in a case of determining that at least one of goods actual information of the target container does not match the goods recorded information and goods actual information of the source container does not match the goods recorded information (Para. 0091-0092, if the inventory holder does not have enough space to receive a replenishment quantity or the space required on inventory holder for the replenishment quantity of goods is insufficient, then the system additional inventory holders 30 as needed), and
Claim 33) the warehouse goods reorganization task further comprises at least one of goods recorded information of the target container and goods recorded information of the source container, and the method further comprises:
starting an alternative operation in a case of determining that at least one of goods actual information of the target container does not match the goods recorded information and goods actual information of the source container does not match the goods recorded information (Para. 0092).
Mountz ‘380 discloses: causing the robot to start an alternative operation in a case of determining that at least one of goods actual information of the target container does not match the goods recorded information; and starting an alternative operation in a case of determining that at least one of goods actual information of the target container does not match the goods recorded information described above for the purpose of providing a modern inventory system that can process large numbers of diverse inventory requests, reduces back-log, reduces space, and minimizes delays (Para. 0002).
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 method of Krishnan with the starting an alternative operation when determining that goods actual information of the target container does not match the goods recorded information, as taught in Mountz ‘380 for the purpose of providing a modern inventory system that can process large numbers of diverse inventory requests, reduces back-log, reduces space, and minimizes delays.
Claim(s) 19-20, 28-29, and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan in view of Zhang (CN 111 284 974 A) . Relative to claims 19-20, Krishnan discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, including:
Krishnan does not expressly disclose:
Claim 19) the warehouse goods reorganization task further comprises at least one of space recorded information of the target container and space recorded information of the source container, to cause the robot to start an alternative operation in a case of determining that at least one of space actual information of the target container does not match the space recorded information and space actual information of the source container does not match the space recorded information (based on detection of the capacity or number of items already loaded in a target storage position, the system selects a new target storage position if the original target storage position is near its limit, the target placing device places the item in a new target position; See Page 9, Para. 4-6, of the English translation of the specification); and
Claim 20) the space recorded information comprises at least one of the following: size information of goods in the container, information about space occupied by goods in the container, information about remaining space in the container, and information about available space in the container (Page 9, Para. 4-6 of the English translation of the specification).
Zhang teaches: the robot starts an alternative operation if the actual space information of the target container does not match the space recorded information as mentioned above, and the space recorded information comprises size of goods in the container, space occupied by goods in the container, remaining space in the container, and available space in the container described above for the purpose of providing a system and method for picking and placing items that improves overall efficiency, sorting accuracy, and reduces manual labor (Page 2, Para. 1-4).
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 system of Krishnan so that the robot starts an alternative operation if the actual space information of the target container does not match the space recorded information as mentioned above, and the space recorded information comprises size of goods in the container, space occupied by goods in the container, remaining space in the container, and available space described above as taught in Zhang for the purpose of providing a system and method for picking and placing items that improves overall efficiency, sorting accuracy, and reduces manual labor.
Relative to claims 28-29 and 32, the disclosure of Krishnan includes all claim limitations provided above, but does not expressly disclose:
Claim 28) the warehouse goods reorganization task further comprises at least one of space recorded information of the target container and space recorded information of the source container, and the method further comprises:
starting an alternative operation in a case of determining that at least one of space actual information of the target container does not match the space recorded information and space actual information of the source container does not match the space recorded information;
Claim 29) the space recorded information comprises at least one of the following: size information of goods in the container, information about space occupied by goods in the container, information about remaining space in the container, and information about available space in the container; or
Claim 32) the starting an alternative operation comprises at least one of the following: reporting mismatching information to the server, adjusting positions of goods in the target container through a mechanical arm, and issuing warning information.
Zhang teaches:
Claim 28) the warehouse goods reorganization task further comprises at least one of space recorded information of the target container and space recorded information of the source container Page 9, Para. 5, system detects actual space or number of items currently loaded in the target storage position), and the method further comprises:
starting an alternative operation in a case of determining that at least one of space actual information of the target container does not match the space recorded information and space actual information of the source container does not match the space recorded information (See Page 9, Para. 4-5 of the English translation of the specification);
Claim 29) the space recorded information comprises at least one of the following: size information of goods in the container, information about space occupied by goods in the container, information about remaining space in the container, and information about available space in the container (See Page 9, Para. 4-5 of the English translation of the specification); and
Claim 32) the starting an alternative operation comprises at least one of the following: reporting mismatching information to the server, adjusting positions of goods in the target container through a mechanical arm, and issuing warning information (see Page 9, Para 4; Page 12, Para. 3 of the English translation of the Specification).
Zhang teaches: the warehouse sorting task information comprises at least one of space recorded information of the target container and space recorded information of the sorted-out container, the robot starts an alternative operation if the actual space information of the target container does not match the space recorded information as mentioned above for the purpose of providing a system and method for picking and placing items that improves overall efficiency, sorting accuracy, and reduces manual labor (See Page 2, Para. 1-4 of the English translation of the specification).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the method of Krishnan with the robot starting an alternative operation if the actual space information of the target container does not match the space recorded information, the space recorded information comprises: size of goods in the container, space occupied, remaining space in the container, and available space in the container described above, as taught in Zhang for the purpose of providing a system and method for picking and placing items that improves overall efficiency, sorting accuracy, and reduces manual labor.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan and Zhang as applied to claim 19 above, and further in view of Wang (CN 107 341 629 A). Relative to claim 21, Krishnan in view of Zhang discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose: determining space recorded information of each goods container through machine learning according to a volume of goods, information about goods placed in a container body, space information in a container body, and value changes of an inventory storage situation.
Wang teaches: determining space recorded information of each goods container through machine learning according to a volume of goods, information about goods placed in a container body, space information in a container body, and value changes of an inventory storage situation (See Page 4, Para. 8-9 of the English translation of the Specification), for the purpose of providing a warehousing or logistics system that is more effectively allocates resources, is more compact, requires less labor, and reduces time (see English translation of the specification, Page 1, Para. 2 to Page 2, Para. 1-2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the method of Krishnan with determining space recorded information of each goods container through machine learning according to a volume of goods as taught in Wang, for the purpose of providing a warehousing or logistics system that is more effectively allocates resources, is more compact, requires less labor, and reduces time.
Claim(s) 30-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krishnan and Zhang as applied to claim 28 above, and further in view of Kim (KR 2019-0104933 A). Relative to claims 30-31, Krishnan in view of Zhang discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose:
Claim 30) photographing at least one of internal space of the target container and internal space of the source container through a visual sensor, and determining the space actual information by analyzing a photographed image; or
Claim 31) the determining the space actual information by analyzing a photographed image comprises: determining the space actual information according to at least one of multi-dimensional information and depth information corresponding to the photographed image.
Kim teaches:
Claim 30) photographing at least one of internal space of the target container and internal space of the source container through a visual sensor (space within a shelf 930 is sensed using a camera), and determining the space actual information by analyzing a photographed image (the camera determines the storage capacity or fullness of the shelf; See Page 12, Para. 11-12 of the English translation of the specification)(Fig. 9B); and
Claim 31) the determining the space actual information by analyzing a photographed image comprises: determining the space actual information according to at least one of multi-dimensional information and depth information corresponding to the photographed image (See Page 12, Para. 10-12 of the English translation of the Specification).
Kim teaches: photographing an internal space of the target container or the source container through a visual sensor, and determining the space actual information according to multi-dimensional or depth information corresponding to the photographed image described above, for the purpose of providing an inventory management robot and control method for accurately and automatically counting the quantity of goods on a shelf (See Page 2, Para. 1-8 of the English translation of the Specification).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the method of Krishnan in view of Zhang with photographing an internal space of the target container or the source container through a visual sensor, and determining the space actual information according to multi-dimensional or depth information corresponding to the photographed image described above, as taught in Kim for the purpose of providing an inventory management robot and control method for accurately and automatically counting the quantity of goods on a shelf.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
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/YOLANDA R CUMBESS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651