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
IDS filled 08/29/2023 is not considered because of a reference number 200564130 is missing a digit. In the interest of advancing prosecution application number has been corrected to reflect 2005-064130 and it has been included in the attached PTO-892 form.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “322a in Fig. 4 and 6” has been used to designate both “protrusion 322a and an upper end 322e (as per Fig. 7 and 8)”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kobayashi (US20230140281A1) in view of Sebastian et al. (US20230183000A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kobayashi discloses a transport vehicle (1) for traveling along a travel path (100) to transport an article (200), the transport vehicle (1) comprising:
a compartment (2) configured to accommodate the article (200);
a holder (10) configured to hold the article (200); and
a lifter (6) configured to lift and lower (paragraph [0030] lines 36-37) the holder (10) between the compartment (2) and a transfer area below (300) the travel path (100), wherein:
the article (200) comprises an article body (201) and a handle (202) protruding upward from the article body and holdable by the holder (It can be seen in Fig. 1)
the handle (202) has a lower surface facing the article body (It can be seen in Fig. 3) from above and a side surface continuous with the lower surface and facing toward one location in a first direction being is a predetermined horizontal direction (It can be seen in Fig. 3),
the holder (10) comprises a holder body (11, paragraph [0034], lines 33-34), a holding part (12) supported in a manner movable in the first direction (X-direction it can be seen in Fig. 1) relative to the holder body (11), and
a holding part driver (7) configured to drive (paragraph [0055], lines 34-35) the holding part (12),
the holding part (12) comprises a supported portion supported by the holder body (See attached annotated Fig. 1), a base extending downward from the supported portion (See attached annotated Fig. 1), and
an extension extending from the base in the first direction (See attached annotated Fig. 1), the extension comprises, on an upper surface of the extension (See attached annotated Fig. 1), a mount area on which the lower surface of the handle is placeable (See attached annotated Fig. 1).
Kobayashi fails to disclose and the extension comprises a protrusion located opposite to the base across the mount area in the first direction, and the protrusion protrudes upward from the mount area.
Sebastian et al. teaches the extension (extended part 210a and 220a of arm 210 and 220) comprises a protrusion (231 and 232, paragraph [0039], line 51) located opposite to the base (210 and 220) across the mount area (201) is in the first direction (X), and the protrusion (231 and 232, paragraph [0039], line 51) protrudes upward from the mount area (AS per BRI, Y will become Z if we see at Fig. 3A from left to right considering as a bottom view, Sebastian et al. teaches a concept of protrusion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior of filling date of applicant’s claim to modify Kobayashi by incorporating the extension comprises a protrusion located opposite to the base across the mount area in the first direction, and the protrusion protrudes upward from the mount area in view of Sebastian et al. in order to verify that the object being retrieved remains retained within the load area during the traveling movement (paragraph [0039], lines 56-60).
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Regarding claim 2, Kobayashi discloses the transport vehicle (1) according to claim 1, wherein: the article (200) comprises a pair of the handles (It can be seen in Fig. 3), the pair of handles comprise a first handle and a second handle (It can be seen in Fig. 3),
the first handle and the second handle are spaced from each other in the first direction (It can be seen in Fig. 3),
the holder (10) comprises a pair of the holding parts (It can be seen in Fig. 1), the pair of holding parts are driven by the holding part driver (7, paragraph [0055], lines 34-35), to approach and separate from each other in the first direction (See FIG. 2), the lower surface of the first handle is placeable on the mount area in a first holding part of the pair of holding parts(It can be seen in Fig. 1), and the lower surface of the second handle is placeable on the mount area in a second holding part of the pair of holding parts (It can be seen in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Kobayashi discloses all the limitations of claim 2. It also discloses the first holding part (See attached annotated Fig. 1) and the second holding part (See attached annotated Fig. 1) placed between the first handle and the second handle in the first direction are driven by the holding part driver (7) to perform a separating operation (See attached annotated Fig. 1, paragraph [0055], lines 34-35) in which the first holding part and the second holding part separate from each other in the first direction (in Fig. 1, it can be seen), the mount area (See below attached annotated Fig. 9) in the first holding part faces the lower surface of the first handle from below after the separating operation (it can be seen in Fig. 1, also, in Fig. 6 to 10), and the mount area in the second holding part (See below attached annotated Fig. 9) faces the lower surface of the second handle from below after the separating operation (it can be seen in Fig. 1, also, in Fig. 6 to 10, second holding part of Fig. 1 will perform mounting operation in same manner).
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Regarding claim 4, Kobayashi explicitly discloses the holder (10) comprises a sensor (Fig. 2, 50 and 40, Fig. 6 to 10, 46, 47) configured to detect the lower surface of the handle being placed on the mount area (It can be seen in Fig. 10, lower surface of the handle being placed on the mount area).
Regarding claim 6, Kobayashi discloses first and second holding part (See above attached annotated Fig. 1) except for a plurality of the first holding parts are arranged in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction when viewed in a vertical direction, a plurality of the second holding parts are arranged in the second direction, the plurality of first holding parts hold the first handle, and the plurality of second holding parts hold the second handle.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Kobayashi by duplicating first and second holding part in order to achieve proper balance and weight distribution of the article during lifting operation. Since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. (St. Regis Paper Co. V. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8).
Regarding claim 7, Kobayashi discloses first holding parts (See above attached annotated Fig. 1) and second holding parts (See above attached annotated Fig. 1) comprises, in the mount area (See attached annotated Fig. 9) of the first and second holding parts (See attached annotated Fig. 9), a sensor (46, 47) configured to detect the lower surface of the handle being placed (It can be seen in Fig. 6 to 10, and Fig. 10, lower surface of the handle being placed, paragraph [0046] and [0047]).
It fails to disclose a plurality of first and second holding parts. (it is a duplication of parts, See rejection of claim 6).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Other cited prior arts show transport vehicle to transfer article. Also, Kim et al. (US 20240063041 A1) the holder (140) comprising the sensor (150) to detect the lower surface of the wafer placed on mounting area or not.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAIMIN G PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-0052. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Saul Rodriguez can be reached at 517-272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAIMIN G PATEL/Examiner, Art Unit 3652
/SAUL RODRIGUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3652