DETAILED ACTION
Remarks
This non-final office action is in response to the application filled on 08/07/2023. Claims 1-20 are pending and examined below.
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
As of date of this action, IDS filled has been annotated and considered.
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, 2, 4, 6, 8-10, 12, 14, 16-18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0339875 (“Czinger”), and further in view of US 2025/0011089 (“Matsumura”).
Regarding claim 1 (and similarly claim 9 and 17), Czinger discloses a computer-implemented method for assembling products using mobile assembling units (see at least fig 23, where panels are transported on an assembly line and automated robots are performing manufacturing work e.g., laser cutting), the method comprising:
generating an assembling sequence to assemble one or more products using the mobile assembling units (see at least fig 19A-B, where sequence of assembling products is shown. See also [0056]), wherein the assembling sequence comprises an order of operations performed by the mobile assembling units (see at least fig 19A-B, where designated component assembly is performed at designated station. see also [0048], where “the robotic device can move to different assembly stations as needed to 3-D print different parts or components on a dynamic, substantially real-time basis.”; See also [0167]), wherein the array of part chambers forms an assembling floor (see at least fig 23, where the sequence of assembling work forms an assembling floor); and
programming the mobile assembling units to move over the array of part chambers in a particular path (see at least [0112], where “the control system 1500 may generate instructions that are provided to the robotic device to autonomously move to another assembly station or other location.”).
Czinger does not disclose the following limitations:
the mobile assembling units to pick designated parts from designated part chambers in an array of part chambers; and
selectively pick the designated parts from the designated part chambers of the array of part chambers.
However, Matsumura discloses a method wherein the mobile assembling units to pick designated parts from designated part chambers in an array of part chambers (see at least [0023], where “a retrieval order for retrieving an article; specify an owner of the storage order or the retrieval order”; see also [0026], where “a robot to store articles in or pick articles from the AGV racks.”); and
selectively pick the designated parts from the designated part chambers of the array of part chambers (see at least [0204], where “the picking robot 81) picking an article is designated”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Czinger to incorporate the teachings of Matsumura by including the above feature for increasing assembly efficiency by picking designated parts from chamber.
Regarding claim 2 (and similarly claim 10 and 18), Czinger further discloses a method comprising: programming one or more mobile assembling units of the mobile assembling units to assemble two or more parts forming a final product or a component of the final product using the selectively picked designated parts by the mobile assembling units (see at least fig 25-27, where mobile robots are assembling parts forming a final product).
Regarding claim 4 (and similarly claim 12 and 20), Matsumura further discloses a method wherein each part chamber in the array of part chambers is assigned to store a designated part, wherein each part chamber in the array of part chambers is assigned to store a designated number of the designated part (see at least fig 5, where products are stored and retrieved by product name).
Regarding claim 6 (and similarly claim 14), Matsumura further discloses a method wherein each mobile assembling unit of the mobile assembling units contains one or more robotic arms configured to pick one or more parts from a part chamber in the array of part chambers (see at least [0048-49]).
Regarding claim 8 (and similarly claim 16), Matsumura further discloses a method wherein the array of part chambers is configured in a three-dimensional manner (see at least fig 8, where racks are 3D manner).
Claim(s) 3, 5, 11, 13 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0339875 (“Czinger”), and in view of US 2025/0011089 (“Matsumura”), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2021/0395012 (“Liu”).
Regarding claim 3 (and similarly claim 11 and 19), Czinger further discloses a method comprising: identifying types of products to be assembled and a number of products with different specifications to be assembled (see at least fig 26 and fig 27, where two different assembling e.g. suspension and dropping a body on a chassis are performed. So, it is obvious that the method identifies types of products and number of products to be assembled for continuous flow in the factory floor); and
generating the assembling sequence based on the identified types of products to be assembled, the number of products with different specifications to be assembled, and how the part chambers in the array of part chambers are to be filled (see at least [0056], where “The processes may occur in a particular sequence (e.g., step A occurs before step B) or may occur in series without regard to sequence (e.g., step A before step B or step B before step A may both be plausible).”; see also [0167], [0178] and [0220], where “Automated constructors 2504, 2506, in turn, may apply panels 2522 or other components in sequence after the extrusions are assembled.”).
Czinger in view of Matsumura does not disclose the following limitation:
identifying how part chambers in the array of part chambers are to be filled based on the identified types of products to be assembled and the number of products with different specifications to be assembled.
However, Liu discloses a method wherein identifying how part chambers in the array of part chambers are to be filled based on the identified types of products to be assembled and the number of products with different specifications to be assembled (see at least [0076], where “The pre-replenishment amount may be an integral multiple of the storage specification of the picking shelf, or less than the storage specification of the picking shelf. The type of picking shelf is determined according to the pre-replenishment amount and the storage specification. For example, if the pre-replenishment amount is an integral multiple of the storage specification of the picking shelf, the picking shelf can be a tray shelf, which is convenient to accommodate a whole tray of items.”; see also [0110], where “the information about the picking order may include the type and quantity of items required for the order.”; see also [0126]. Czinger discloses a method wherein parts to be assembled and different specifications to be assembled, see citation above).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Czinger in view of Matsumura to incorporate the teachings of Liu by including the above feature for avoiding disruption during assembling by maintaining the parts inventory.
Regarding claim 5 (and similarly claim 13), Matsumura further discloses a method comprising: identifying when a part chamber in the array of part chambers contains a quantity of the designated part (see at least fig 5, where quantity of product is assigned).
Czinger in view of Matsumura does not disclose the following limitations:
identifying when…chambers contains a quantity of the designated part that is below a threshold value; and
instructing a mobile assembling unit of the mobile assembling units to refill the part chamber with additional units of the designated part in response to the quantity of the designated part contained in the part chamber being below the threshold value.
However, Liu discloses a method wherein identifying when…chambers contains a quantity of the designated part that is below a threshold value (see at least [0074]); and
instructing a mobile assembling unit of the mobile assembling units to refill the part chamber with additional units of the designated part in response to the quantity of the designated part contained in the part chamber being below the threshold value (see at least [0075], where “if the control server 201 detects that a certain item to be picked is out of stock, that is, the inventory amount of the item is less than or equal to the lower threshold of the set security inventory threshold of the item, a replenishment task for the item that needs replenishment is generated. Optionally, the control server 201 is further configured to determine the pre-replenishment amount of the item according to the difference between the security inventory threshold and the inventory amount, and determine at least one of the actual replenishment amount of the item and the picking shelf 207 according to the pre-replenishment amount and the storage specification of the item to be picked, and generate the replenishment task for the item according to the actual replenishment amount of the item.”).
Claim(s) 7 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0339875 (“Czinger”), and in view of US 2025/0011089 (“Matsumura”), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2026/0216902 (“Kalouche”).
Regarding claim 7 (and similarly claim 15), Matsumura further discloses a method wherein part chambers adjacent to each other in the array of part chambers form a path for movement of the mobile assembling units (see at least fig 8, where racks are adjacent to each other and mobile robot is moving in between the racks).
Matsumura does not disclose chambers form a rail for movement.
However, Kalouche discloses a method wherein chambers form a rail for movement (see at least [0117], where “storage structure 114 includes the first set of rails 122 and the second set of rails 124, the combination of the first and second set of rails forms a horizontally oriented grid 126 having a plurality of grid spaces 127. Rails 122, 124 allow one or more robots to move about the grid 126 above the stacks 112 of bins 110.”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Czinger in view of Matsumura to incorporate the teachings of Kalouche by including the above feature for avoiding separate rail for robot movement.
Conclusion
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/SOHANA TANJU KHAYER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3657
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