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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to the application filed on 10/31/2023.
Claims 1-5 are currently pending and have been examined.
The IDS received on 10/31/2025 has been considered by the examiner. Claims 1-5 are presented for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Specifically, claims 1-5 are directed to an abstract idea without additional elements amounting to significantly more than the abstract idea.
With respect to Step 2A Prong One of the framework, the claims recites an abstract idea. Claim 1 includes elements for “e.g., managing logistics, assigning articles to supports, providing instructions to workers.”
The limitations above recite an abstract idea. More particularly, the elements above recite certain methods of organizing human activity related to managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people because the elements describe a logistics or warehouse operation that handles a high volume and variety of goods. Further, the elements above recite mental processes because the elements describe observations or evaluations that could be practically performed in the mind or by using pen and paper. As a result, claim 1 recites an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One.
Claims 1-5 further describe the process for selecting and viewing organizational information and further recite certain methods of organizing human activity and/ mental processes for the same reasons as stated above. As a result, claims 1-5 recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One.
With respect to Step 2A Prong Two of the framework, claims 1-5 does not include additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Claim 1 includes additional elements that do not recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One. The additional elements include e.g., a control system, reader, writer, transporter. When considered in view of the claim as a whole, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because the computing device amounts to no more than a general computing component that is used as a tool to perform the recited abstract idea, and the step for gathering information is an insignificant extra solution activity to the recited abstract idea. As a result, claim 1 does not include any additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application under Step 2A Prong Two.
Claims 1-5 do not include any additional elements beyond those included with respect to the claims from which claims 1-5 depend. As a result, claims 1-5 do not include any additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application under Step 2A Prong Two for the same reasons as stated above.
With respect to Step 2B of the framework, the claims does not include additional elements amounting to significantly more than the abstract idea. As noted above, claim 1 includes additional elements that do not recite an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One. The additional elements include conveyors, readers, printers, control systems and a step for operation assistance information. The additional elements do not amount to significantly more than the recited abstract idea because the additional elements the computing device amounts to no more than a general computing component that is used as a tool to perform the recited abstract idea, and the step for operation assistance information is a well-understood, routine, and conventional computer function in view of MPEP 2105.06(d)(II). Further, looking at the additional elements as an ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present when considering the additional elements individually. As a result, claim 1 does not include any additional elements that amount to significantly more than the recited abstract idea under Step 2B.
Claims 1-5 do not include any additional elements beyond those included with respect to the claims from which claims 1-5 depend. As a result, claims1-5 do not include any additional elements that amount to significantly more than the recited abstract idea under Step 2B for the same reasons as stated above.
Therefore, the claims are directed to an abstract idea without additional elements amounting to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, the claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 10-025022 A (Patent Literature 1).
Regarding Claim 1: A loading assistance device for assisting in loading of a plurality of articles each with identification information indicating a category of the article onto supports based on the article category, the identification information being readable, the loading assistance device comprising (at least see JP 10-025022 Problem To Be Solved; Fig. 1; [0015]):
an infeed unit to which the plurality of articles are transported (at least see JP 10-025022 Figs. 1-2; [0015]-[0016]; “[0015]In FIG. 1, the sorting information 11 for automatic reading (FIG. 2) and the sorting i information 12 for visual recognition (FIG. 2) are substantially simultaneously printed by the e printing device 20 on the articles 10 of the same type that are conveyed by the conveyor 14. Thereafter, the sorting information 11 for automatic reading is read by a reading device e 30, and the article 10 is primarily sorted to a predetermined chute 13 by a sorting device 40 based on the sorting information. Further, the article 10 is secondarily sorted manually from the chute 13 to, for example, a basket cart (not shown) or the like based on the sorting g information for visual recognition 12.”);
a work area in which an operator performs the loading (at least see JP 10-025022 Fig. 2; [0015] and [0024]);
a transporter configured to transport the plurality of articles from the infeed unit to the work area along a predetermined transport path (at least see JP 10-025022 Fig. 1; [0017] and [0026]);
a reader located along the transport path; the reader configured to read the identification information on the plurality of articles (at least see JP 10-025022 [0017]-[0018[);
a writer located between the reader and the work area along the transport path, the writer configured to write operation assistance information on a surface of each of the plurality of articles (at least see JP 10-025022 Fig. 2; [0012]-[0013] and [0024]); and
a control system configured to control the reader and the writer (at least see JP 10-025022 [0023]), and
wherein: the work arca comprises, along the transport path, a plurality of work sections in which the supports are placed (at least see JP 10-025022 [0023]-[0024]),
the operation assistance information includes section specification information specifying a work section of the plurality of work sections for each of the plurality of articles to undergo the loading (at least see JP 10-025022 [0018]), and
the control system generates the section specification information to be written on each of the plurality of articles based on the identification information read by the reader to allow articles in a same category to be preferentially loaded onto a same support of the supports (at least see JP 10-025022 [0001] and [0012]-[0014]).
Regarding Claim 2: The loading assistance device according to claim 1, wherein: the infeed unit collectively receives articles in an article group, and the article group includes a set of articles of the plurality of articles, upon the article group being transported to the infeed unit, the control system obtains category total information indicating a total quantity per category being a quantity of articles in each article category included in the article group transported to the infeed unit, the operation assistance information includes passage order information indicating a relationship between the total quantity per category and a transport order of a target article among the articles in the same article category, where the target article is each of the plurality of articles transported by the transporter, and the control system determines the transport order of the target article based on the identification information on the target article read by the reader and the identification information on an article of the plurality of articles read by the reader before the identification information on the target article is read, and generates the passage order information based on the transport order and the total quantity per category indicated by the category total information (at least see JP 10-025022 [0016] “[0018]That is , the printing device 20 prints the barcode as the sorting information for auto mastic reading 11 at a predetermined position (the le corner in FIG. 2) on the side surface of the article 10, and A predetermined identification symbol such as a 0 mark or a barcode is printed as the sorting information for visual recognition 12 at a position (in FIG. 2, any fi g. 2) specified for each sorting destination on the left side surface of the article 10 in the transport direction A.”).
Regarding Claim 3: The loading assistance device according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one of a registered dimensional information obtainer or a measurement device, the registered dimensional information obtainer configured to obtain dimensional information about each article in each article category preregistered, the dimensional information indicating outer dimensions of each of the plurality of articles, the measurement device configured to obtain the dimensional information by measuring outer dimensions of each of the plurality of articles transported by the transporter at a position on the transport path upstream from the writer, wherein the operation assistance information includes conveyor transportability information indicating whether, after each of the plurality of articles supported on the support in the work area is unloaded from the support for a shipment operation, the article is allowed to be transported by a shipment conveyor for article transportation to a shipment work arca in which the shipment operation is performed, and wherein when the outer dimensions of each of the plurality of articles indicated by the dimensional information obtained from at least one of the registered dimensional information obtainer or the measurement device are within a predetermined allowable range, the control system generates the conveyor transportability information indicating that a target article is allowed to be transported by the shipment conveyor, where the target article is each of the plurality of articles transported by the transporter, and when the outer dimensions of each of the plurality of the articles indicated by the dimensional information are out of the predetermined allowable range, the control system generates the conveyor transportability information indicating that the target article is prohibited from being transported by the shipment conveyor (at least see JP 10-025022 [0025]; “[0016]The transport conveyor 14 is formed of a roller conveyor a belt conveyor, or the lik e, and continuously transports, along a predetermined transport direction (direction of arrow w A), the articles 10 of the same type introduced by the introduction conveyor 16 from , for example, a storage shelf 15 or the like of an automated warehouse”).
Regarding Claim 4: he loading assistance device according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one of a registered dimensional information obtainer or a measurement device, the registered dimensional information obtainer configured to obtain dimensional information about each article in each article category preregistered, the dimensional information indicating outer dimensions of each of the plurality of articles, the measurement device configured to obtain the dimensional information by measuring outer dimensions of each of the plurality of articles transported by the transporter at a position on the transport path upstream from the writer and, wherein: the plurality of articles are cartons accommodating items, the operation assistance information includes reusability information indicating whether each of the cartons being the plurality of articles is reusable, and when the outer dimensions of each of the plurality of articles indicated by the dimensional information obtained from at least one of the registered dimensional information obtainer or the measurement device are within a predetermined reusable range, the control system generates the reusability information indicating that the carton being a target article is reusable, where the target article is each of the plurality of articles transported by the transporter, and when the outer dimensions of each of the plurality of articles indicated by the dimensional information arc out of the predetermined reusable range, the control system generates the reusability information indicating that the carton being the target article is nonreusable (at least see JP 10-025022 [0017]; “[0017]The printing device 20 is an inkjet printer. Alternatively, it is composed of a laser printer or the like, and is provided on the slightly do wnstream side of the storage shelf 15 in the carrying path of the article 10 by the carrying conveyor 14. The printing device 20 is operated based on a detection signal of the article 1 0 from an upstream side detection device 50 to be described later, and prints sorting infor mation for automatic reading (first sorting information) 11 and sorting information for visu al recognition (second sorting information) 12 on the side surface of the article 10 on the t ransport conveyor 1.4 substantially at the same time as shown in FIG. 2 a or 2”).
Regarding Claim 5: The loading assistance device according to claim 1, wherein: the plurality of articles are cartons accommodating items, and the writer is a printer configured to print the operation assistance information on surfaces of the cartons (at least see JP 10-025022 [0025]; “[0025]In the above-described embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2 a or 2 b, the visual recognition sorting information 12 is obtained by printing the 0 mark in a single color at different positions at the specified position on the left side surface of the article 10 in the transport direction A. For example, the 0 mark may be printed in a different color for each sorting destination using a plurality of colors, and may be used as the sorting information for visua I recognition 12 without changing the printing position.”).
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon, which is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, are cited in the Notice of Reference Cited form (PT0-892).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FATEH M OBAID whose telephone number is (571)270-7121. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 A.M to 4:30 P.M.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ryan Zeender can be reached at (571) 272-6790. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FATEH M OBAID/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627