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) 11-12, and 24-25 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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 6-10, and 20-22 are withdrawn and are not considered in this action.
Claim Objections
Claims 11, 24, and 25 objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 11, in the second to last line, before “placing”, it appears Applicant should insert “and”.
Similar changes should be made to claims 24-25.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang Jingang (CN 106 379 681 A). Relative to claim 11, Huang discloses:
A goods transferring method, executed by a robot (see robot in Fig. 1) and comprising:
acquiring a transferring task sequence to perform a first transferring task (Page 5, Para. 2 of the English translation of the specification), a first target object position is acquired from the first transferring task (Page 6, Para. 4 of the English translation of the Specification, beginning with “When the management center”); and performing a second transferring task when the first transferring task is performed (Page 5, Para. 5 of the English translation of the specification; Page 15, Para. 5; Page 16, Para. 4 of the English translation of the Specification, robot can remove container with upper arm from a space on the shelf 14 and place another container onto the shelf with lower arm),
a second target object position is acquired from the second transferring task, the first target object position is the same as the second target object position (a second container is placed onto the shelf where a first container was removed by the robot, Page 16, Para. 4, the positions of the containers and instructions to pick and place are determined by the system, Page 16, Para. 1-2),
the first transferring task is a goods taking task, and the second transferring task is a returning task (Page 16, Para. 4, a first container is removed from the shelf 14 and a second container is placed on the shelf 14), and
the second transferring task is received during performance of the first transferring task (Page 12, Para. 2 of the English translation of the Specification; Page 17, Para. 1);
the robot comprises a movable base (1)(Fig. 1), a robot shelving unit (4)(Fig. 1) mounted on the movable base (1), a first object transferring mechanism (2)(Fig. 1) and a second transferring mechanism (2)(Fig. 1), the first object transferring mechanism (2) and the second transferring mechanism (2) are mounted on the robot shelving unit (4)(Fig. 10);
when the first object transferring mechanism and the second transferring mechanism are set in the same layer, the performing the second transferring task when the first transferring task is performed comprises: taking out, by the first transferring mechanism, a target object;
aligning, by moving the movable base in a horizontal direction, the second transferring mechanism with a vacant storage space vacated after the first transferring mechanism performs goods taking; placing, by the second transferring mechanism, a to-be-placed target object into the vacant storage space; and
when the first object transferring mechanism (2) and the second transferring mechanism (2) are set in different layers (see arms 2 arranged one above the other), the performing the second transferring task when the first transferring task is performed comprises:
taking out, by the first transferring mechanism (2), a target object (15)(a first arm 2 removes a container 15 from the shelf 14, Page 15, Para. 25);
aligning, by moving the second transferring mechanism in a lifting direction, the second transferring mechanism with a vacant storage space vacated after the first transferring mechanism performs goods taking (the second arm 2 moves to the position of the shelf 14 where the first container 15 was removed; Page 15, Para. 5 of the English translation of the Specification); and placing, by the second transferring mechanism (2), a to-be-placed target object into the vacant storage space (the other arm 2 is capable of moving another container to the vacant space of the shelf 14 where the first container was removed from, and vice versa, both arm can pick and place items; Page 15, Para. 5; see also Page 11, Para. 4).
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) 24 and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang. Relative to claim 24, the disclosure of Huang includes:
A warehousing system (Abstract), comprising:
a robot (Page 3, Para. 5, “smart warehouse robot”),
a shelving unit (14)(Fig. 5), and an operating platform (Page 14, Para. 3), the robot is communicatively connected to the server (Page 12, Para. 2);
the server allocates the first transferring task and the second transferring task to the robot (Page 12, Para. 2); and
the robot performs operations of:
acquiring a transferring task sequence to perform a first transferring task, a first target object position (position of a first container 15) is acquired from the first transferring task (Page 5, Para. 2 of the English translation of the specification); and
performing a second transferring task when the first transferring task is performed (Page 15, Para. 5), a second target object position is acquired from the second transferring task, the first target object position is the same as the second target object position, the first transferring task is a goods taking task, and the second transferring task is a returning task (a first container is removed from one location on shelf and another container is placed onto the location where the first container was removed; Page 15, Para. 5; Page 16, Para. 4), and
the second transferring task is received during performance of the first transferring task (Page 15, Para. 5);
the robot comprises a movable base (1),
a robot shelving unit (4) mounted on the movable base (1), a first object transferring mechanism and a second transferring mechanism, the first object transferring mechanism and the second transferring mechanism are mounted on the robot shelving unit (4)(Fig. 10);
when the first object transferring mechanism and the second transferring mechanism are set in the same layer, the performing the second transferring task when the first transferring task is performed comprises: taking out, by the first transferring mechanism, a target object;
aligning, by moving the movable base in a horizontal direction, the second transferring mechanism with a vacant storage space vacated after the first transferring mechanism performs goods taking; placing, by the second transferring mechanism, a to-be-placed target object into the vacant storage space;
when the first object transferring mechanism and the second transferring mechanism are set in different layers, the performing the second transferring task when the first transferring task is performed comprises:
taking out, by the first transferring mechanism (2), a target object (15);
aligning, by moving the second transferring mechanism (2) in a lifting direction, the second transferring mechanism (2) with a vacant storage space vacated after the first transferring mechanism (2) performs goods taking; and
placing, by the second transferring mechanism (2), a to-be-placed target object into the vacant storage space (upper of lower arm 2 is capable of removing a container from a position on the shelf 14 and the other arm can move another container to the space of the shelf 14 where the first container was removed from, and vice versa; Page 15, Para. 5; Page 16, Para. 4).
Huang does not expressly disclose: the warehouse system comprises a server.
Huang teaches the warehouse system comprises a server as an obvious matter of design choice.
Huang discloses a warehouse management center 16 that receives and analyzes goods orders, determines the positions of the containers, generates routes and dispatches the warehousing robots to transfer the goods (Page 8, Para. 6). The warehouse management center 16 therefore functions as a server.
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 Huang with the server since the warehouse management center 16 essentially functions as a server.
Relative to claim 25, the disclosure of Huang includes:
A warehouse management center (16) configured to control a robot to (Page 13, Para. 3 of the English translation of the Specification, see Ref. 16):
acquire a transferring task sequence to perform a first transferring task (Page 12, Para. 2),
a first target object position is acquired from the first transferring task (Page 12, Para. 2); and
performing a second transferring task when the first transferring task is performed, a second target object position is acquired from the second transferring task, the first target object position is the same as the second target object position, the first transferring task is a goods taking task, and the second transferring task is a returning task (a first container is removed from one location on shelf by an arm 2 and another container is placed onto the location by another arm 2 where the first container was removed; Page 15, Para. 5; Page 16, Para. 4), and
the second carrying transferring task is received during performance of the first transferring task (Page 12, Para. 2);
the robot comprises a movable base (1), a robot shelving unit (4) mounted on the movable base (1), a first object transferring mechanism (2) and a second transferring mechanism (2)(Fig. 1),
the first object transferring mechanism (2) and the second transferring mechanism (2) are mounted on the robot shelving unit (4)(Fig. 10);
when the first object transferring mechanism and the second transferring mechanism are set in the same layer, the robot being controlled to perform the second transferring task when the first transferring task is performed comprises:
taking out, by the first transferring mechanism, a target object; aligning, by moving the movable base in a horizontal direction, the second transferring mechanism with a vacant storage space vacated after the first transferring mechanism performs goods taking; placing, by the second transferring mechanism, a to-be-placed target object into the vacant storage space;
when the first object transferring mechanism (2) and the second transferring mechanism (2) are set in different layers (see robot arms 2 placed one above the other, Fig. 1), the robot being controlled to perform the second transferring task when the first transferring task is performed comprises:
taking out, by the first transferring mechanism (2), a target object (15)(Page 15, Para. 5);
aligning, by moving the second transferring mechanism (2) in a lifting direction, the second transferring mechanism (2) with a vacant storage space vacated after the first transferring mechanism (2) performs goods taking (other arm 2 moves toward the vacant space on shelf where the previous container was removed); and
placing, by the second transferring mechanism (2), a to-be-placed target object into the vacant storage space (Page 15, Para. 5, Page 16, Para. 4 of the English translation of the Specification).
Huang does not expressly disclose: a non-transitory computer storage medium, having a computer program stored thereon, the program, when being executed by a processor, is configured to control the robot.
Huang teaches: a non-transitory computer storage medium, having a computer program stored thereon, the program, when being executed by a processor, is configured to control the robot as an obvious matter of design choice, since the disclosure implies that the warehouse management center 16 is implemented using computer-based control of the warehouse system. See MPEP §2144.01
It would have been understood to one of the ordinary skill in the art that the control logic of such a computer based warehouse management center would be implemented as a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, which when executed causes the computer to perform and control and dispatch functions. See MPEP §2144.01
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Manpat (US PG. Pub. 2018/0057265). Relative to claim 12, Huang discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose: the robot periodically or aperiodically reports at least one piece of information of position information and vacant slot information to a server; or
when receiving a requirement of a server, the robot reports at least one piece of information of position information and vacant slot information to the server.
Manpat teaches: when receiving a requirement of a server (114)(Fig. 1)(see “server” and computing device which send instructions for storing and receiving a product; Para. 0018), the robot (RDU) reports at least one piece of information of position information and vacant slot information to the server (RDU reports its location using GPS, Para. 0031), for the purpose of providing a system for optimizing the movement of products by a robotic drive unit in a warehouse environment that improves travel speed for retrieving and storing items, and improves cost efficiency (Para. 0001; 0018).
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 Huang with the reporting at least one piece of information of position information and vacant slot information to the server as taught in Manpat for the purpose of providing a system for optimizing the movement of products by a robotic drive unit in a warehouse environment that improves travel speed for retrieving and storing items, and improves cost efficiency.
Relative to claim 12, Kumar in view of Manpat discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, including indicating a locations of vacant shelves (Para. 0061; 0065).
Kumar in view of Manpat not disclose: the robot periodically or aperiodically reports at least one piece of information of position information and vacant slot information to a server.
Kumar in view of Manpat teaches: the robot periodically or aperiodically reports at least one piece of information of position information and vacant slot information to a server as an obvious matter of design choice.
The system of Manpat includes the server (computing system) that periodically determines locations of vacant shelves for receiving an item (Para. 0061, system determines whether a shelf nearest an intersection point is vacant). The computing system also knows the locations of items in shelves (Para. 0053), which implies a location of a shelf where no items are currently stored is also known.
The RDU’s have sensors such as cameras to send various information to the computing system, including the position of the RDU. The RDU’s may be modified so that the cameras report positions of vacant shelves in the facility while performing storing and retrieving tasks to assist in path planning for the RDU’s to optimize system performance.
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 Kumar in view of Manpat, so that the robot periodically or aperiodically reports at least one piece of information of position information and vacant slot information to a server as an obvious matter of design choice since the system knows the locations of the vacant shelves, and to optimize system performance.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Bullock (US 5,104,277): Fig. 1, Col. 8, lines 22-45.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOLANDA RENEE CUMBESS whose telephone number is (571)270-5527. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6.
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/YOLANDA R CUMBESS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
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