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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 02/10/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to amendments and remarks filed on 02/10/2026. Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1 and 18 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments appear to be directed solely to the amended subject matter which have been considered and addressed as detailed below under Claim Rejections. Specifically, regarding the arguments pertaining to “setting the target position”, “the anti-sway position command”, and “moving path”, these features can be found in Yu (CN 111422740 A) as described in the rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. The limitations of claims 13 and 14 appear to have been rolled up into independent claim 1. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 8, and 13-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moran (US 20150203334 A1) in view of Yu (CN 111422740 A) and Kono (JP 2015030622 A).
Regarding claim 1, Moran teaches a motor control architecture of automated cranes (par. 5, crane control system), comprising:
(par. 49, master control 90) and a slave driver (par. 47, slave control) of respectively controlling a master motor (par. 49, master actuator 92) and a slave motor (par. 49, slave actuator 94) (par. 55 and claim 7, monitoring device 84 is an encoder; par. 42, "A single monitoring device 84 may be used to monitor all the hoists and trolleys or multiple monitoring devices 84 may be used"),
a trolley (Fig. 1, trolley 12, 14) (par. 36 Fig. 1, trolley control 54a, 54b) of controlling a trolley motor (par. 33, trolley actuator 24) for enabling the trolley to move on the trolley rail along a Y-axis direction (see Fig. 1);
a hoist arranged at one side of the trolley (par. 34, hoist 30), comprising a hoist driver (hoist control 54c, 54d) of driving a hoist motor (par. 34, hoist actuator 40) for enabling a rope on a hoist mechanism connected to the hoist motor to rise and fall along a Z-axis direction and continuously calculating a rope length information of the rope (see Fig. 1);
a human machine interface (HMI), configured to receive an external operation to input a target position (par. 38, key pad 58);
and a controller connected to the master driver, the slave driver, the trolley driver, the hoist driver, and the HMI, configured to perform a path planning process to generate a position command based on the target position (par. 39 Fig. 7a, program logic controller PLC); par. 50, “Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82. The motion controller 82 may be a proportional ("P") controller, a proportional-integral ("PI") controller, a proportional-integral-derivative ("PID") controller or any other similar device”), and computing an anti-sway position command based on the rope length information in accompanying with the position command (par 37, “The key pad 58 may include any number of automatic trolley controls 56a, 56b, . . . , 56N that have one or more functions assigned to each control. The controls may be associated, for example, with any number or combinations of pre-set locations 57 located incrementally along the front top beam 20 and the rear top beam 22 of the crane 10, as shown in FIG. 1”);
wherein the master driver and the slave driver are configured to respectively perform a full closed-loop computation based on the anti-sway position command, the position feedback of one of the two main encoders, and the auxiliary position feedback of the auxiliary encoder (claim 6, “monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave with a monitoring device; providing feedback regarding one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave to the program logic controller; and determining if one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave are within a parameterized tolerance”);
wherein the master driver is configured to control the master motor to rotate based on a speed command and a torque command generated by the full closed-loop computation, and the slave driver is configured to follow the speed command and the torque command of the master driver to control the slave motor to rotate (par. 51, “par 51, "Based on the movement of the master control 90, a signal is sent to the master and slave actuators to move their associated hoists or trolleys”; par 51, "The slave actuator 94 follows the master actuator 92 and moves its associated hoists or trolleys in the same direction and within a parameterized tolerance value (e.g., speed) as the master actuator 92”);
Moran fails to teach a travel disposed across a main rail, comprising drivers for enabling the travel to move on the main rail along an X-axis direction; and a trolley disposed on a trolley rail that is arranged upon the travel; wherein the controller is configured to obtain a current position, the target position, and position information of forbidden region and obstacle, perform a position to position (P2P) calculation based on the current position, the target position, and the position information of the forbidden region and the obstacle to generate an optimized relay position, and perform the path planning process and anti-sway control based on the current position, the optimized relay position, and the target position to generate a cyclic synchronous position command to control each motor driver. Moran only teaches to obtain a current position (claim 6, “providing feedback regarding one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave to the program logic controller”) and a target position (key pad 58), and to move to the target position using anti-sway control (par. 57, "The above method and system can be used with any type of anti-sway technology"). Moran has no mention of forbidden regions, obstacles, or relay positions.
However, Yu teaches a travel disposed across a main rail, comprising drivers for enabling the travel to move on the main rail along an X-axis direction; and a trolley disposed on a trolley rail that is arranged upon the travel (par. 7, bridge crane—these are the basic parts of a bridge crane, which is well known in the art); wherein the controller is configured to obtain a current position, the target position, and position information of forbidden region and obstacle (par. 20, “The setting sub-module is used to set the starting point, obstacle point, and end point of the work according to the condition of the two-dimensional map model on the human-computer interaction interface”), perform a position to position (P2P) calculation based on the current position, the target position, and the position information of the forbidden region and the obstacle to generate an optimized relay position (par. 21, “The algorithm sub-module is used to design the Dijkstra algorithm to plan the optimal path according to the set working point”), and perform the path planning process and anti-sway control based on the current position, the optimized relay position, and the target position to generate a cyclic synchronous position command to control each motor driver (par. 17, “The crane control module is used to receive the optimal path operation planned by the upper computer, and calculate the compensation speed amount in real time according to the change of the operation speed to achieve the anti-sway effect and realize the path planning function based on the anti-sway”).
Yu also teaches a human machine interface (HMI), configured to receive an external operation to input a target position (par. 45, “the host computer man-machine interface can be controlled according to input control instructions Set the beginning and end points and other functions”), which could replace Moran’s HMI in order to take a target position as input.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Moran to incorporate the teachings of Yu. Yu teaches a standard bridge crane that is well known in the art. While Moran teaches a gantry crane with wheels, the problem they are trying to solve, namely synchronization of two parallel motors as well as preventing sway, is applicable to a bridge crane as well. The bridge of a bridge crane needs to be controlled to move at the same time, just as Moran’s trolley. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that Moran’s solutions are transferrable to a bridge crane. Additionally, Moran, in combination with Yu, would teach the monitoring device also monitoring the added travel (Moran, par. 42, “A single monitoring device 84 may be used to monitor all the hoists and trolleys or multiple monitoring devices 84 may be used”). Yu also states that the features such as forbidden areas and anti-sway control increase safety for the operator, improve the labor environment, and improve working energy consumption (Yu, par. 8).
Both Moran and Yu fail to teach the auxiliary encoder generates an auxiliary position feedback indicating a position of the travel.
However, Kono teaches the auxiliary encoder (par. 44 and Fig. 3, rangefinder 116) generates an auxiliary position feedback indicating a position of the travel (par. 44, “The range finder 116 is a high precision position sensor provided separately from the motor encoder 114, and generates a second position detection value Xfb2 indicating the position X1”).
Kono also teaches the master driver and the slave driver are configured to respectively regard a position error value of the position feedback of one of the two main encoders and the auxiliary position feedback of the auxiliary encoder to be a source of a PID control process to compensate the torque command to generate a compensated torque command, and respectively control the master motor and the slave motor to operate based on the compensated torque command (par. 44, “The absolute position correction unit 130 generates a position correction value Xc based on the second position detection value Xfb2”).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Moran in view of Yu to incorporate the teachings of Kono. Kono teaches using an auxiliary encoder (rangefinder 116) along with a main encoder on the motor (motor encoder 114), and uses the auxiliary encoder detection value to correct the main encoder detection value (par. 44, “The absolute position correction unit 130 generates a position correction value Xc based on the second position detection value Xfb2”). Therefore, Kono uses the auxiliary encoder for increased accuracy. Kono also states that using the auxiliary encoder makes high-speed control possible (par. 55). Using multiple sensors for one part of the crane is already well-known in the art. It would have been obvious that using more sensors can lead to higher accuracy.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 1. Moran further teaches the travel comprises (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave").
Moran fails to teach a first wheel set controlled and a second wheel set, the main rail comprises a first rail enabling the first wheel set to move and a second rail enabling the second wheel set to move.
However, Yu teaches a first wheel set and a second wheel set, the main rail comprises a first rail enabling the first wheel set to move and a second rail enabling the second wheel set to move (par. 7, bridge crane—these are the basic parts of a bridge crane, which is well known in the art).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Moran to incorporate the teachings of Yu. Yu teaches a standard bridge crane that is well known in the art. While Moran teaches a gantry crane with wheels, the problem they are trying to solve, namely synchronization of two parallel motors as well as preventing sway, is applicable to a bridge crane as well. The bridge of a bridge crane needs to be controlled to move at the same time, just as Moran’s trolley. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that Moran’s solutions are transferrable to a bridge crane.
Alternatively, Kalan (US 5133465) more explicitly teaches a first wheel set and a second wheel set (column 3 line 45, “a pair of I-beam members 16B which support parallel tracks 16T”), the main rail comprises a first rail enabling the first wheel set to move and a second rail enabling the second wheel set to move (column 3 line 46, “The bridge tracks 16T support a moveable carriage or trolley 18 which is moved by a wound rotor electric motor TM”). However, as stated above, these are basic parts of a bridge crane and would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 1. Moran further teaches the path planning process comprises obtaining a current position (par. 41, “PLC 80 obtains data regarding the position of the front and rear hoist members 30a and 30b, the front trolleys 12a, 14a, and the rear trolleys 12b, 14b from a monitoring device 84”), (par. 37, “The key pad 58 may include any number of automatic trolley controls 56a, 56b, . . . , 56N that have one or more functions assigned to each control. The controls may be associated, for example, with any number or combinations of pre-set locations 57 located incrementally along the front top beam 20 and the rear top beam 22 of the crane 10, as shown in FIG. 1”), wherein the anti-sway position command is a cyclic synchronous position (CSP) command (par. 7-9, known anti-sway systems).
Moran fails to teach the path planning process comprises a relay position.
However, Yu teaches the path planning process comprises a obtaining a current position (par. 21, “The setting sub-module is used to set the starting point”), relay position (par. 16, “The host computer module is used to simulate the construction of a two-dimensional map model according to the on-site safety area, dangerous area, etc., and at the same time, the Dijkstra algorithm is designed to plan the optimal path; the host computer man-machine interface can be controlled according to input control instructions Set the beginning and end points and other functions”) and the target position (par. 21, “The setting sub-module is used to set the…end point”), wherein the anti-sway position command is a cyclic synchronous position (CSP) command (par. 17, “The crane control module is used to receive the optimal path operation planned by the upper computer, and calculate the compensation speed amount in real time according to the change of the operation speed to achieve the anti-sway effect and realize the path planning function based on the anti-sway”).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono to further incorporate the teachings of Yu in order to increase safety for the operator, improve the labor environment, and improve working energy consumption (par. 8).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 13. Moran fails to teach the path planning process further comprises obtaining position information of a forbidden region or an obstacle.
However, Yu teaches the path planning process further comprises obtaining position information of a forbidden region or an obstacle (par. 19, “The signal receiving sub-module is used to set the size boundary, safe area, and obstacle area of the two-dimensional map model on a scale according to the working area of the bridge crane”).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono to further incorporate the teachings of Yu in order to increase safety for the operator, improve the labor environment, and improve working energy consumption (par. 8).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 1. Moran further teaches a communication interface, wherein the master driver and the slave driver have a wired connection or a wireless connection through the communication interface (Figs. 7A and 7B, master and slave communicate through the PLC).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 15. Moran further teaches the travel comprises (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave"; Fig. 7A – 7B).
Moran fails to teach a first wheel set and a second wheel set, the main rail comprises a first rail for the first wheel set to move and a second rail for the second wheel set to move.
However, Yu teaches a first wheel set and a second wheel set, the main rail comprises a first rail for the first wheel set to move and a second rail for the second wheel set to move (par. 7, bridge crane—these are the basic parts of a bridge crane, which is well known in the art).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Moran to incorporate the teachings of Yu. Yu teaches a standard bridge crane that is well known in the art. While Moran teaches a gantry crane with wheels, the problem they are trying to solve, namely synchronization of two parallel motors as well as preventing sway, is applicable to a bridge crane as well. The bridge of a bridge crane needs to be controlled to move at the same time, just as Moran’s trolley. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that Moran’s solutions are transferrable to a bridge crane.
Alternatively, Kalan (US 5133465) teaches a first wheel set and a second wheel set (column 3 line 45, “a pair of I-beam members 16B which support parallel tracks 16T”), the main rail comprises a first rail for the first wheel set to move and a second rail for the second wheel set to move (column 3 line 46, “The bridge tracks 16T support a moveable carriage or trolley 18 which is moved by a wound rotor electric motor TM”). However, as stated above, these are basic parts of a bridge crane and would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 15. Moran further teaches the travel comprises (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave"; Fig. 7A – 7B).
Moran fails to teach a first wheel set and a second wheel set, the main rail comprises a first rail for the first wheel set to move and a second rail for the second wheel set to move.
However, Yu teaches a first wheel set and a second wheel set, the main rail comprises a first rail for the first wheel set to move and a second rail for the second wheel set to move (par. 7, bridge crane—these are the basic parts of a bridge crane, which is well known in the art).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Moran to incorporate the teachings of Yu. Yu teaches a standard bridge crane that is well known in the art. While Moran teaches a gantry crane with wheels, the problem they are trying to solve, namely synchronization of two parallel motors as well as preventing sway, is applicable to a bridge crane as well. The bridge of a bridge crane needs to be controlled to move at the same time, just as Moran’s trolley. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that Moran’s solutions are transferrable to a bridge crane.
Alternatively, Kalan teaches a first wheel set and a second wheel set (column 3 line 45, “a pair of I-beam members 16B which support parallel tracks 16T”), the main rail comprises a first rail for the first wheel set to move and a second rail for the second wheel set to move (column 3 line 46, “The bridge tracks 16T support a moveable carriage or trolley 18 which is moved by a wound rotor electric motor TM”). However, as stated above, these are basic parts of a bridge crane and would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Claim(s) 2-7 and 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moran in view of Yu and Kono as applied above, and further in view of Miyata (US 20220073320 A1).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 1. Moran further teaches the master driver comprises: a travel first automatic position regulator (APR), configured to receive the anti- sway position command and the position feedback generated by the full closed-loop computation to generate the speed command (par. 50, “step 114 (trolley function), the operator moves the master control 90 to direct the master actuator 92 and the slave actuator 94 to move in a certain direction (see FIG. 6B). Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82”; par. 57, “The above method and system can be used with any type of anti-sway technology”);
a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command from the travel first APR to generate the torque command correspondingly; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command; and a master inverter circuit, configured to receive the first voltage command from the first inner-loop control module and control the master motor to rotate based on the first voltage command (claim 3, “the program logic controller outputs the signal to the first and second actuators”).
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command from the travel first APR to generate the torque command correspondingly; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command from the travel first APR to generate the torque command correspondingly; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Moran in view of Yu, Kono, and Miyata teaches the motor control architecture of claim 2, wherein the slave driver comprises:
a speed computation module, configured to receive a slave position feedback of the slave motor from a slave main-encoder of the slave motor to generate a speed feedback correspondingly (claim 6, “monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave with a monitoring device; providing feedback regarding one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave to the program logic controller);
a hysteresis limiter, configured to receive the speed command from the travel first APR to be a reference speed and generate a second speed command correspondingly 36 based on the reference speed and the speed feedback (claim 8, “the step of enabling is repeated if one of the velocity and position of one of the master and the slave is not within the parameterized tolerance”);
a travel second ASR, configured to receive the second speed command from the hysteresis limiter to generate a second torque command correspondingly;
a second inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command from the travel first ASR to be a reference torque, receive the second torque command from the travel second ASR, and generate a second voltage command based on the reference torque and the second torque command; and a slave inverter circuit, configured to receive the second voltage command from the second inner-loop control module and control the slave motor to rotate based on the second voltage command (claim 3, “the program logic controller outputs the signal to the first and second actuators”).
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command from the travel first APR to generate the torque command correspondingly; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a crane control system with a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command from the travel first APR to generate the torque command correspondingly; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches motor control architecture of claim 1. Moran further teaches the master driver comprises:
a first full closed-loop computation module, configured to receive master position feedback of the master motor from a master main-encoder of the master motor, receive the auxiliary position feedback from the auxiliary encoder, and generate first position feedback correspondingly (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave");
a travel first automatic position regulator (APR), configured to receive the anti- sway position command and the first position feedback to generate the speed command of the master motor (par. 50, “step 114 (trolley function), the operator moves the master control 90 to direct the master actuator 92 and the slave actuator 94 to move in a certain direction (see FIG. 6B). Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82”; par. 57, “The above method and system can be used with any type of anti-sway technology”);
a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the master motor from the travel first APR and generate the torque command of the master motor based on the speed command of the master motor and speed feedback of the master motor;
a PID controller, configured to receive the master position feedback from the master main-encoder, receive a slave position feedback from the slave driver, and generate a master torque compensation value of controlling the master motor and a slave torque compensation value of controlling the slave motor (par. 39 Fig. 7a, program logic controller PLC); par. 50, “Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82. The motion controller 82 may be a proportional ("P") controller, a proportional-integral ("PI") controller, a proportional-integral-derivative ("PID") controller or any other similar device”), and computing an anti-sway position command based on the rope length information in accompanying with the position command”);
a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the master motor from the travel first ASR, receive the master torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command and the master torque compensation value of the master motor;
and a master inverter circuit, configured to receive the first voltage command from the first inner-loop control module and control the master motor to rotate based on the first voltage command (claim 3, “the program logic controller outputs the signal to the first and second actuators”).
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the master motor from the travel first APR and generate the torque command of the master motor based on the speed command of the master motor and speed feedback of the master motor; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the master motor from the travel first ASR, receive the master torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command and the master torque compensation value of the master motor, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the master motor from the travel first APR and generate the torque command of the master motor based on the speed command of the master motor and speed feedback of the master motor; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the master motor from the travel first ASR, receive the master torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command and the master torque compensation value of the master motor (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Moran in view of Yu, Koto, and Miyata teaches the motor control architecture of claim 4. Moran further teaches the slave driver comprises:
a second full closed-loop computation module, configured to receive the slave position feedback from a slave main-encoder of the slave motor, receive the auxiliary position feedback from the auxiliary encoder, and generate a second position feedback correspondingly (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave");
a travel second APR, configured to receive the anti-sway position command and the second position feedback to generate a speed command of the slave motor (par. 50, “step 114 (trolley function), the operator moves the master control 90 to direct the master actuator 92 and the slave actuator 94 to move in a certain direction (see FIG. 6B). Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82”; par. 57, “The above method and system can be used with any type of anti-sway technology”);
a travel second ASR, configured to receive the speed command of the slave motor from the travel second APR and generate a torque command of the slave motor based on the speed command of the slave motor and speed feedback of the slave motor;
a second inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the slave motor from the travel second ASR, receive the slave torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a second voltage command based on the torque command and the slave torque compensation value of the slave motor;
and a slave inverter circuit, configured to receive the second voltage command from the second inner-loop control module to control the slave motor to rotate based on the second voltage command (claim 3, “the program logic controller outputs the signal to the first and second actuators”).
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a travel second ASR, configured to receive the speed command of the slave motor from the travel second APR and generate a torque command of the slave motor based on the speed command of the slave motor and speed feedback of the slave motor; a second inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the slave motor from the travel second ASR, receive the slave torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a second voltage command based on the torque command and the slave torque compensation value of the slave motor, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a travel second ASR, configured to receive the speed command of the slave motor from the travel second APR and generate a torque command of the slave motor based on the speed command of the slave motor and speed feedback of the slave motor; a second inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the slave motor from the travel second ASR, receive the slave torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a second voltage command based on the torque command and the slave torque compensation value of the slave motor (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 1. Moran further teaches the master driver comprises:
a first full closed-loop computation module, configured to receive a master position feedback of the master motor from a master main-encoder of the master motor, receive the auxiliary position feedback from the auxiliary encoder, and generate a first position feedback correspondingly (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave");
a travel first automatic position regulator (APR), configured to receive the anti- sway position command and the first position feedback to generate the speed command of the master motor (par. 50, “step 114 (trolley function), the operator moves the master control 90 to direct the master actuator 92 and the slave actuator 94 to move in a certain direction (see FIG. 6B). Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82”);
a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the master motor from the travel first APR, and generate the torque command of the master motor based on the speed command of the master motor and speed feedback of the master motor;
a first PID controller, configured to receive the master position feedback from the master main-encoder, receive a slave position feedback from the slave driver, calculate an average value of the master position feedback and the slave position feedback, and generate a master torque compensation value based on a position error value of the average value and the master position feedback (par. 39 Fig. 7a, program logic controller PLC); par. 50, “Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82. The motion controller 82 may be a proportional ("P") controller, a proportional-integral ("PI") controller, a proportional-integral-derivative ("PID") controller or any other similar device”), and computing an anti-sway position command based on the rope length information in accompanying with the position command);
a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the master motor from the travel first ASR, receive the master torque compensation value from the first PID controller, and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command and the master torque compensation value of the master motor;
and a master inverter circuit, configured to receive the first voltage command from the first inner-loop control module to control the master motor to rotate based on the first voltage command (claim 3, “the program logic controller outputs the signal to the first and second actuators”).
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the master motor from the travel first APR, and generate the torque command of the master motor based on the speed command of the master motor and speed feedback of the master motor; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the master motor from the travel first ASR, receive the master torque compensation value from the first PID controller, and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command and the master torque compensation value of the master motor, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the master motor from the travel first APR, and generate the torque command of the master motor based on the speed command of the master motor and speed feedback of the master motor; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the master motor from the travel first ASR, receive the master torque compensation value from the first PID controller, and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command and the master torque compensation value of the master motor (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Moran in view of Yu, Kono, and Miyata teaches the motor control architecture of claim 6. Moran further teaches the slave driver comprises:
a second full closed-loop computation module, configured to receive the slave position feedback from a slave main-encoder of the slave motor, receive the auxiliary position feedback from the auxiliary encoder, and generate a second position feedback correspondingly (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave");
a travel second APR, configured to receive the anti-sway position command and the second position feedback to generate a speed command of the slave motor (par. 50, “step 114 (trolley function), the operator moves the master control 90 to direct the master actuator 92 and the slave actuator 94 to move in a certain direction (see FIG. 6B). Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82”; par. 57, “The above method and system can be used with any type of anti-sway technology”);
a travel second ASR, configured to receive the speed command of the slave motor from the travel second APR and generate a torque command of the slave motor based on the speed command of the slave motor and speed feedback of the slave motor;
a second PID controller, configured to receive the slave position feedback from the slave main-encoder, receive the master position feedback from the master driver, calculate an average value of the slave position feedback and the master position feedback, and generate a slave torque compensation value based on a position error value of the average value and the slave position feedback (par. 39 Fig. 7a, program logic controller PLC); par. 50, “Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82. The motion controller 82 may be a proportional ("P") controller, a proportional-integral ("PI") controller, a proportional-integral-derivative ("PID") controller or any other similar device”), and computing an anti-sway position command based on the rope length information in accompanying with the position command);
a second inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the slave motor from the travel second ASR, receive the slave torque compensation value from the second PID controller, and generate a second voltage command based on the torque command and the slave torque compensation value of the slave motor;
and a slave inverter circuit, configured to receive the second voltage command from the second inner-loop control module to control the slave motor to rotate based on the second voltage command (claim 3, “the program logic controller outputs the signal to the first and second actuators”).
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a travel second ASR, configured to receive the speed command of the slave motor from the travel second APR and generate a torque command of the slave motor based on the speed command of the slave motor and speed feedback of the slave motor; a second inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the slave motor from the travel second ASR, receive the slave torque compensation value from the second PID controller, and generate a second voltage command based on the torque command and the slave torque compensation value of the slave motor, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a travel second ASR, configured to receive the speed command of the slave motor from the travel second APR and generate a torque command of the slave motor based on the speed command of the slave motor and speed feedback of the slave motor; a second inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the slave motor from the travel second ASR, receive the slave torque compensation value from the second PID controller, and generate a second voltage command based on the torque command and the slave torque compensation value of the slave motor (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 8. Moran further teaches the master driver comprises:
a first full closed-loop computation module, configured to receive a master position feedback of the master motor from a master main-encoder of the master motor, receive the master auxiliary position feedback from the master auxiliary-encoder, and generate a first position feedback correspondingly (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave");
a travel first automatic position regulator (APR), configured to receive the anti- sway position command and the first position feedback to generate the speed command of the master motor (par. 50, “step 114 (trolley function), the operator moves the master control 90 to direct the master actuator 92 and the slave actuator 94 to move in a certain direction (see FIG. 6B). Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82”);
a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the master motor from the travel first APR and generate the torque command of the master motor based on the speed command of the master motor and speed feedback of the master motor;
a PID controller, configured to receive the master auxiliary position feedback from the master auxiliary-encoder, receive the slave auxiliary position feedback from the slave auxiliary-encoder, and generate a master torque compensation value of controlling the master motor and a slave torque compensation value of controlling the slave motor (par. 39 Fig. 7a, program logic controller PLC); par. 50, “Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82. The motion controller 82 may be a proportional ("P") controller, a proportional-integral ("PI") controller, a proportional-integral-derivative ("PID") controller or any other similar device”), and computing an anti-sway position command based on the rope length information in accompanying with the position command”);
a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the master motor from the travel first ASR, receive the master torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command and the master torque compensation value of the master motor;
and a master inverter circuit, configured to receive the first voltage command from the first inner-loop control module to control the master motor to rotate based on the first voltage command (claim 3, “the program logic controller outputs the signal to the first and second actuators”).
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the master motor from the travel first APR and generate the torque command of the master motor based on the speed command of the master motor and speed feedback of the master motor; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the master motor from the travel first ASR, receive the master torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command and the master torque compensation value of the master motor, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a travel first automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the master motor from the travel first APR and generate the torque command of the master motor based on the speed command of the master motor and speed feedback of the master motor; a first inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the master motor from the travel first ASR, receive the master torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a first voltage command based on the torque command and the master torque compensation value of the master motor (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Moran in view of Yu, Kono, and Miyata teaches the motor control architecture of claim 9. Moran further teaches the slave driver comprises:
a second full closed-loop computation module, configured to receive a slave position feedback of the slave motor from a slave main-encoder of the slave motor, receive the slave auxiliary position feedback from the slave auxiliary-encoder, and generate a second position feedback correspondingly (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave");
a travel second APR, configured to receive the anti-sway position command and the second position feedback to generate a speed command of the slave motor (par. 50, “step 114 (trolley function), the operator moves the master control 90 to direct the master actuator 92 and the slave actuator 94 to move in a certain direction (see FIG. 6B). Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82”);
a travel second ASR, configured to receive the speed command of the slave motor from the travel second APR and generate a torque command of the slave motor based on the speed command of the slave motor and speed feedback of the slave motor;
a second inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the slave motor from the travel second ASR, receive the slave torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a second voltage command based on the torque command and the slave torque compensation value of the slave motor;
and a slave inverter circuit, configured to receive the second voltage command from the second inner-loop control module to control the slave motor to rotate based on the second voltage command (claim 3, “the program logic controller outputs the signal to the first and second actuators”).
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a travel second ASR, configured to receive the speed command of the slave motor from the travel second APR and generate a torque command of the slave motor based on the speed command of the slave motor and speed feedback of the slave motor; a second inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the slave motor from the travel second ASR, receive the slave torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a second voltage command based on the torque command and the slave torque compensation value of the slave motor, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a travel second ASR, configured to receive the speed command of the slave motor from the travel second APR and generate a torque command of the slave motor based on the speed command of the slave motor and speed feedback of the slave motor; a second inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the slave motor from the travel second ASR, receive the slave torque compensation value from the PID controller, and generate a second voltage command based on the torque command and the slave torque compensation value of the slave motor (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 1. Moran further teaches the trolley driver comprises:
a trolley full closed-loop computation module, configured to receive a position feedback of the trolley motor from a trolley main-encoder of the trolley motor, receive a trolley auxiliary position feedback from a trolley auxiliary-encoder, and generate a trolley position feedback correspondingly, wherein the trolley auxiliary-encoder is arranged with respect to the trolley rail and configured to detect the trolley to generate the trolley auxiliary position feedback (par. 55, “While the trolleys 12a, 12b, 14a, 14b are in motion, the velocity or position of each trolley 12a, 12b, 14a, 14b is monitored by the monitoring device 84. The monitoring device 84 provides data to the PLC 80 relating to the speed at which each trolley 12a, 12b, 14a, 14b is traveling along the top beams 20, 22”);
a trolley automatic position regulator (APR), configured to receive the anti-sway position command and the trolley position feedback to generate a speed command of the trolley (par. 55, “The motion controller 80 processes the data from the monitoring device 84”; par. 57, “The above method and system can be used with any type of anti-sway technology”);
a trolley automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the trolley from the trolley APR and generate a torque command of the trolley based on the speed command of the trolley;
a trolley inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the trolley from the trolley ASR and generate a voltage command based on the torque command of the trolley;
and a trolley inverter circuit, configured to receive the voltage command from the trolley inner-loop control module to control the trolley motor to rotate based on the voltage command (claim 3, “the program logic controller outputs the signal to the first and second actuators”).
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a trolley automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the trolley from the trolley APR and generate a torque command of the trolley based on the speed command of the trolley; a trolley inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the trolley from the trolley ASR and generate a voltage command based on the torque command of the trolley, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a trolley automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the trolley from the trolley APR and generate a torque command of the trolley based on the speed command of the trolley; a trolley inner-loop control module, configured to receive the torque command of the trolley from the trolley ASR and generate a voltage command based on the torque command of the trolley (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moran in view of Yu and Kono as applied above, and further in view of Lin (CN 110146720 A).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 1, wherein software or hardware for performing the full closed-loop computation comprises:
an encoder gear-rate computation module, configured to compute a ratio of a pulse feedback of the auxiliary encoder generated while the master motor or the slave motor rotates and a resolution of a master motor-encoder or a slave motor-encoder corresponding to one of the master motor and the slave motor which is rotating (par 10, “The first Hall sensor and the second Hall sensor convert the large wheel axle moving speed on both sides of the crane into an electrical pulse signal, and then send the electrical pulse signal to the data processing module”);
and a low-pass filter, configured to compute a difference value of the auxiliary position feedback of the auxiliary encoder and the ratio, and perform a filtering process to the difference value to generate an equivalent position feedback, wherein the speed command is generated based on the equivalent position feedback (par. 56, “The acceleration difference calculated by Hall sensor 1 and acceleration sensor 2 is calculated by low-pass filtering”—although this is used for acceleration, it could also have been for position as well).
The combination of Moran in view of Yu, Kono, and Lin are analogous art because both relate to bridge cranes and sensing displacement.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Kono to incorporate the teachings of Lin in order to ensure safety (abstract).
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moran in view of Yu, Thorsen and Kono.
Regarding claim 18, Moran teaches a motor control architecture of automated cranes (par. 5, crane control system), comprising:
(par. 49, master actuator 92) and a slave motor (par. 49, slave actuator 94) (par. 55 and claim 7, monitoring device 84 is an encoder; par. 42, "A single monitoring device 84 may be used to monitor all the hoists and trolleys or multiple monitoring devices 84 may be used"),
a trolley (Fig. 1, trolley 12, 14) (par. 36 Fig. 1, trolley control 54a, 54b) of controlling a trolley motor (par. 33, trolley actuator 24) for enabling the trolley to move on the trolley rail along a Y-axis direction (see Fig. 1);
a hoist arranged at one side of the trolley (par. 34, hoist 30), comprising a hoist driver (hoist control 54c, 54d) of driving a hoist motor (par. 34, hoist actuator 40) for enabling a rope on a hoist mechanism connected to the hoist motor to rise and fall along a Z-axis direction and continuously calculating a rope length information of the rope (see Fig. 1);
a human machine interface (HMI), configured to receive an external operation to input a target position (par. 38, key pad 58);
and a controller connected to the travel driver, the trolley driver, the hoist driver, and the HMI, configured to perform a path planning process to generate a position command based on the target position (par. 39 Fig. 7a, program logic controller PLC); par. 50, “Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82. The motion controller 82 may be a proportional ("P") controller, a proportional-integral ("PI") controller, a proportional-integral-derivative ("PID") controller or any other similar device”), and computing an anti-sway position command based on the rope length information in accompanying with the position command; par 37, “The key pad 58 may include any number of automatic trolley controls 56a, 56b, . . . , 56N that have one or more functions assigned to each control. The controls may be associated, for example, with any number or combinations of pre-set locations 57 located incrementally along the front top beam 20 and the rear top beam 22 of the crane 10, as shown in FIG. 1”), and computing an anti-sway position command based on the rope length information in accompanying with the position command (par. 57, “The above method and system can be used with any type of anti-sway technology”);
wherein the travel driver is configured to perform a full closed-loop computation based on the anti-sway position command, the position feedback of the main encoder, and the travel auxiliary position feedback of the auxiliary encoder, and control both the master motor and the slave motor based on a speed command and a torque command generated by the full closed-loop computation (claim 6, “monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave with a monitoring device; providing feedback regarding one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave to the program logic controller; and determining if one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave are within a parameterized tolerance”);
Moran fails to teach a travel disposed across a main rail, comprising a travel driver of controlling both a master motor and a slave motor for enabling the travel to move on the main rail along an X-axis direction; and a trolley disposed on a trolley rail that is arranged upon the travel; wherein the controller is configured to obtain a current position, the target position, and position information of forbidden region and obstacle, perform a position to position (P2P) calculation based on the current position, the target position, and the position information of the forbidden region and the obstacle to generate an optimized relay position, and perform the path planning process and anti-sway control based on the current position, the optimized relay position, and the target position to generate a cyclic synchronous position command to control each motor driver. Moran only teaches to obtain a current position (claim 6, “providing feedback regarding one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave to the program logic controller”) and a target position (key pad 58), and to move to the target position using anti-sway control (par. 57, "The above method and system can be used with any type of anti-sway technology"). Moran has no mention of forbidden regions, obstacles, or relay positions.
However, Yu teaches a travel disposed across a main rail, comprising a travel driver of controlling both a master motor and a slave motor for enabling the travel to move on the main rail along an X-axis direction; and a trolley disposed on a trolley rail that is arranged upon the travel (par. 7, bridge crane—these are the basic parts of a bridge crane, which is well known in the art); wherein the controller is configured to obtain a current position, the target position, and position information of forbidden region and obstacle (par. 20, “The setting sub-module is used to set the starting point, obstacle point, and end point of the work according to the condition of the two-dimensional map model on the human-computer interaction interface”), perform a position to position (P2P) calculation based on the current position, the target position, and the position information of the forbidden region and the obstacle to generate an optimized relay position (par. 21, “The algorithm sub-module is used to design the Dijkstra algorithm to plan the optimal path according to the set working point”), and perform the path planning process and anti-sway control based on the current position, the optimized relay position, and the target position to generate a cyclic synchronous position command to control each motor driver (par. 17, “The crane control module is used to receive the optimal path operation planned by the upper computer, and calculate the compensation speed amount in real time according to the change of the operation speed to achieve the anti-sway effect and realize the path planning function based on the anti-sway”).
Yu also teaches a human machine interface (HMI), configured to receive an external operation to input a target position (par. 45, “the host computer man-machine interface can be controlled according to input control instructions Set the beginning and end points and other functions”), which could replace Moran’s HMI in order to take a target position as input.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Moran to incorporate the teachings of Yu. Yu teaches a standard bridge crane that is well known in the art. While Moran teaches a gantry crane with wheels, the problem they are trying to solve, namely synchronization of two parallel motors as well as preventing sway, is applicable to a bridge crane as well. The bridge of a bridge crane needs to be controlled to move at the same time, just as Moran’s trolley. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that Moran’s solutions are transferrable to a bridge crane. Additionally, Moran, in combination with Yu, would teach the monitoring device also monitoring the added travel (Moran, par. 42, “A single monitoring device 84 may be used to monitor all the hoists and trolleys or multiple monitoring devices 84 may be used”). Yu also states that the features such as forbidden areas and anti-sway control increase safety for the operator, improve the labor environment, and improve working energy consumption (Yu, par. 8).
Yu fails to explicitly teach a travel driver of controlling both a master motor and a slave motor, as Yu only broadly teaches a bridge crane and does not go into specifics. However, this is already well known in the art.
Thorsen teaches a travel disposed across a main rail, comprising a travel driver, for enabling the travel to move on the main rail along an X-axis direction (column 1 line 19, “a cross shaft drive is used in which the opposite drive wheels engaging each of the parallel rails are mechanically connected together, so that under all crane traveling conditions the two wheels operate at the same rotational speed”; see Fig. 1); and a trolley (Fig. 1, trolley 7) disposed on a trolley rail that is arranged upon the travel (see Fig. 1).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Moran to incorporate the teachings of Thorsen. Thorsen describes standard bridge crane compositions that are well known in the art. While Moran teaches a gantry crane with wheels, the problem they are trying to solve, namely synchronization of two parallel motors as well as preventing sway, is applicable to a bridge crane as well. The bridge of a bridge crane needs to be controlled to move at the same time just as Moran’s trolley. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that Moran’s solutions are transferrable to a bridge crane.
Moran, Yu, and Thorsen fail to teach the auxiliary encoder generates an auxiliary position feedback indicating a position of the travel.
However, Kono the auxiliary encoder (par. 44 and Fig. 3, rangefinder 116) generates an auxiliary position feedback indicating a position of the travel (par. 44, “The range finder 116 is a high precision position sensor provided separately from the motor encoder 114, and generates a second position detection value Xfb2 indicating the position X1”).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Moran in view of Yu and Thorsen to incorporate the teachings of Kono. Kono teaches using an auxiliary encoder (rangefinder 116) along with a main encoder on the motor (motor encoder 114), and uses the auxiliary encoder detection value to correct the main encoder detection value (par. 44, “The absolute position correction unit 130 generates a position correction value Xc based on the second position detection value Xfb2”). Therefore, Kono uses the auxiliary encoder for increased accuracy. Kono also states that using the auxiliary encoder makes high-speed control possible (par. 55). Using multiple sensors for one part of the crane is already well-known in the art. It would have been obvious that using more sensors can lead to higher accuracy.
Claim(s) 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moran in view of Yu, Thorsen, and Kono as applied above, and further in view of Miyata.
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Moran in view of Yu, Thorsen, and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 18. Moran further teaches the travel driver comprises:
a travel full closed-loop computation module, configured to receive the position feedback of the travel from the main encoder, receive the travel auxiliary position feedback from the auxiliary encoder, and generate a travel position feedback correspondingly (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave");
a travel automatic position regulator (APR), configured to receive the anti-sway position command and the travel position feedback to generate the speed command of the travel (par. 50, “step 114 (trolley function), the operator moves the master control 90 to direct the master actuator 92 and the slave actuator 94 to move in a certain direction (see FIG. 6B). Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82”; par. 57, “The above method and system can be used with any type of anti-sway technology”);
a travel automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the travel from the travel APR and generate the torque command of the travel based on the speed command of the travel to control both the master motor and the slave motor to rotate.
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a travel automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the travel from the travel APR and generate the torque command of the travel based on the speed command of the travel to control both the master motor and the slave motor to rotate, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a travel automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the travel from the travel APR and generate the torque command of the travel based on the speed command of the travel to control both the master motor and the slave motor to rotate (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Moran in view of Yu, Thorsen, and Kono teaches the motor control architecture of claim 18. Moran further teaches the trolley driver comprises:
a trolley closed-loop computation module, configured to receive a position feedback of the trolley motor from a trolley main-encoder of the trolley motor, receive a trolley auxiliary position feedback from a trolley auxiliary-encoder, and generate a trolley position feedback correspondingly, wherein the trolley auxiliary-encoder is arranged with respect to the trolley rail and configured to detect the trolley to generate the trolley auxiliary position feedback (claim 13, "a monitoring device for monitoring one of the velocity and the position of the master and the slave");
a trolley automatic position regulator (APR), configured to receive the anti-sway position command and the trolley position feedback to generate a speed command of the trolley (par. 50, “step 114 (trolley function), the operator moves the master control 90 to direct the master actuator 92 and the slave actuator 94 to move in a certain direction (see FIG. 6B). Synchronized movement of the master and slave actuators is controlled by a motion controller 82”; par. 57, “The above method and system can be used with any type of anti-sway technology”);
and a trolley automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the trolley from the trolley APR and generate a torque command of the trolley based on the speed command of the trolley to control the trolley motor to rotate.
Although Moran does not explicitly teach a trolley automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the trolley from the trolley APR and generate a torque command of the trolley based on the speed command of the trolley to control the trolley motor to rotate, it can be implied that these features are implemented in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Furthermore, Miyata teaches a trolley automatic speed regulator (ASR), configured to receive the speed command of the trolley from the trolley APR and generate a torque command of the trolley based on the speed command of the trolley to control the trolley motor to rotate (par. 42, “The electric motors 28a, 28b are assumed to include reducers. The inverter 29 is a device that adjusts the rotation speed or rotation torque of the electric motors 28a, 28b”). It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that Moran would include these features in order for the motors to perform the speed commands.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Blondel (US 20210130139 A1) teaches a method for controlling a bridge crane that avoids forbidden areas while reducing sway
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINATO LEE HORNER whose telephone number is (571)272-5425. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christian Chace can be reached at (571) 272-4190. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M.L.H./Examiner, Art Unit 3665 /CHRISTIAN CHACE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665