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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-8 in the reply filed on 2/9/26 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/6/23, 10/09/24, and 12/08/25 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ariizumi (US 20120265333 A1).
Re-claim 1, Ariizumi teaches --A taking-out apparatus comprising:
--a holding portion configured to be accommodated in a conveyance shelf and configured to hold an accommodation box that accommodates an article; --a moving apparatus configured to move the holding portion in a uniaxial direction intersecting a vertical direction;
(see e.g. [0002] The present invention relates to an automated storage system, particularly, automated storage system includes article storage racks having a plurality of storage spaces for storing articles; a stacker crane having a travelling carriage which can travel along a travelling path established on the front side of the article storage racks, a platform which can freely move up and down along masts stood from the travelling carriage, and a transfer device equipped on the platform for freely transferring the articles between the platform and the storage spaces; and a controller provided on a ground side for controlling the operation of the stacker crane;)
--a lifting apparatus configured to move the holding portion and the moving apparatus in the vertical direction; and
(see e.g. Figs. 2, 3 lifting mast 19.
- [0012] a platform which can freely move up and down along lifting masts stood from the travelling carriage).
Furthermore, Ariizumi anticipates --a housing supporting the holding portion, the moving apparatus, and the lifting apparatus.
(see e.g. [0046] The stacker crane 3 has a travelling carriage 18 runnable along a rail 17 provided on the floor surface F of the travelling path on the front surface side of the article rack 2, a platform 20 which is freely lifted along a pair of front and rear lifting masts 19 stood from the travelling carriage 18, and a fork device 21 provided on the platform 20 for freely transferring an article W between the space 11 and the stacker crane 3.)
The Examiner notes that the stacker crane, the travelling carriage, the platform, the lifting mast taught by Ariizumi perform the same functions as the claimed taking-out apparatus, holding portion, moving apparatus, and lifting apparatus.
Therefore, since each individual element and its function are shown in the prior art , the results render the claim obvious.
Re-claim 2, Ariizumi teaches --the taking-out apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the holding portion includes an arm that is configured to insert into a groove along the uniaxial direction formed on an upper surface of a shelf plate portion of the conveyance shelf on which the accommodation box is placed.
(see e.g. [0046] a fork device 21 provided on the platform 20 for freely transferring an article W between the space 11 and the stacker crane 3.
[0047] The stacker crane 3 is arranged to be able to carry the article W between the space 11 of the pair of article storage racks 2 and the entering/dispatching conveyer 8 or the frame 14 in the water tank 13 by performing the loading/unloading operation by the protruding or retrieving operation of the fork device 21 with the aid of the transferring motor M3 or the lifting operation of the platform 20 after positioning the fork device 21 to the transferring position for the space 11 to be transferred).
Re-claim 3, Ariizumi teaches -- The taking-out apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a taking-out apparatus controller configured to control the holding portion, the moving apparatus, and the lifting apparatus, wherein the taking-out apparatus controller is configured to control the holding portion to hold the accommodation box, the moving apparatus to move the holding portion in the uniaxial direction, and then the lifting apparatus to move to a predetermined height.
(see e.g. [0012] a ground controller provided on a ground side for controlling the operation of the stacker crane;
[0045] The frame for receiving an article 14 is normally held at the article receiving height, but is arranged to be automatically lifted down to the height under the water, once the article 14 is fired and the fired article W, to which an initial extinction has been performed by the stacker crane 3 in the rack 11, is mounted on the frame 14 by the stacker crane 3.
[0046] The stacker crane 3 has a travelling carriage 18 runnable along a rail 17 provided on the floor surface F of the travelling path on the front surface side of the article rack 2, a platform 20 which is freely lifted along a pair of front and rear lifting masts 19 stood from the travelling carriage 18, and a fork device 21 provided on the platform 20 for freely transferring an article W between the space 11 and the stacker crane 3).
Claims 4, 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ariizumi (US 20120265333 A1), in view of ANDO (US 20140039679 A1).
Re-claim 4, although Ariizumi teaches [0076] an image pick-up device, such as an infrared camera
Ariizumi does not explicitly teach the limitation as claimed.
However ANDO teaches --The taking-out apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a camera that is provided on the housing and is configured to acquire an image of an inside of the accommodation box that has been taken out from the conveyance shelf by being held by the holding portion and moved by the moving apparatus.
(see e.g. Abstract --An article take-out apparatus including, acquiring a reference container image including an open end face of a container by imaging operation by an camera, setting an image search region corresponding to a storage space of the container based on the reference container image
0049] According to the present embodiment, the following functions and effects can be exhibited:
(1) Due to a imaging operation by the camera 12, a reference container image including the open end face 17a of the container 17 is acquired (step SR1).
[0053] According to the present invention, a search region is set on the plane which includes the open end face of the container using the image from the camera, and the points included in the search region among the 3D points of the surfaces of articles measured by the 3D measuring device are used as the basis to recognize the positions of the articles)
[0032] At step SR6, the inside from the inside walls 17b of the container 17 on the reference container image, that is, the region at the inside of the image open end face region IG, is set as the image search region. )
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Ariizumi, and include the steps cited above, as taught by ANDO, as the method of recognizing the article positions, (see e.g. [0046]).
Re-claim 5, Ariizumi does not explicitly teach the limitation as claimed.
However ANDO teaches 5. The taking-out apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a sensor that is provided on the housing and is configured to detect that the article has been taken out by a picking robot from the accommodation box that has been taken out from the conveyance shelf by being held by the holding portion and moved by the moving apparatus.
(see e.g. [0002] The present invention relates to an article take-out apparatus which recognizes the positions of articles stored in bulk in a container and takes out the recognized articles by using a robot.
[0006] One aspect of the present invention is an article take-out apparatus including: a 3D measuring device measuring surface positions of a plurality of articles stored in bulk in a storage space of a container, the container having a planar shaped open end face and inside wall parts, the inside wall parts being connected to the open end face and forming the storage space; a camera taking an image of a region including the open end face of the container; a robot having a hand capable of taking out an article from inside the container; an image acquiring unit acquiring an image of the container taken by the camera; a
[0018] A plurality of articles 20 are stored in bulk the storage space 17c inside the container 17. An article 20 can be gripped by the hand 15. The robot 13 can then be operated to take out the article 20 from the container 17. Above the center part of the container 17, the 3D measuring device 11 and the camera 12 are set.
[0051] a position recognizing unit 14G which recognizes the positions of the articles 20 inside the container by using the 3D points judged to be included in the search region among the plurality of 3D points measured by the 3D measuring device 11 (step SE8), and a robot controlling unit 14H which controls the robot 13 so as to take out an article 20 based on recognized positions of articles 20 (step SE9).
[0047] At step SE9, the recognized article positions are used as the basis to move the robot 13, and articles 20 are gripped and taken out by the hand 15 provided at the robot 13. If a plurality of article positions are recognized, the respective article positions can be used as the basis to take out a plurality of articles 20. By repeating the above steps SE1 to SE9, the work of taking out the articles 20 inside the container 17 is carried out.
The Examiner notes that the system taught by ANDO is able to determine when an article has been taken out by a picking robot since the position of articles are being acquired by the image acquiring unit continuously.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Ariizumi, and include the steps cited above, as taught by ANDO, in order to prevent mistaken recognition of positions of 3D points of the inside wall 17b as positions of articles 20. (see e.g. [0050]).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ariizumi (US 20120265333 A1), in view of ANDO (US 20140039679 A1), in further view of Official Notice (as evidenced by Brown (US 20160170576 A1).
Re-claim 6, Ariizumi, in view of ANDO, do not explicitly teach 6. The taking-out apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the sensor is configured to detect that a lower end of the article has moved upward from an upper end of the accommodation box.
However Official Notice is taken that it is old and well known in the art to determine position of an item in relation to a container using sensor data. Specifically determining the removal of an item from a container by tracking of movement of the item is old and well known. For example, Brown et al. teach --
(see e.g. [0029] FIG. 3c illustrates a container according to one embodiment. In response to touch event 353, the application can scroll through the items within the data table, thereby updating the contents of container 310 such that items 311 and 312 have been removed from container 310 In one embodiment, the application can monitor the position of selected items within the data table. ---As item 313 reaches the boundary of container 310 (e.g., the top edge of the space within container 310 that is configured to display items of the data table), the application can determine that the removal of item 313 from container 310 is imminent.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ariizumi (US 20120265333 A1), in view of CHIHARA et al. (US 20190034727 A1).
Re-claim 7, Ariizumi does not explicitly teach the limitations as claimed.
However, CHIHARA et al. teach --A taking-out system comprising: an automatic guided vehicle;
(see e.g. [0026] In the following embodiments, a picking system where a shelf is carried to a working station by an automated guided vehicle and a picking robot installed in the working station ships an article stored on the shelf or stores a carried-in article may also be adopted, and a picking system where a picking robot is moved to a position of a shelf by automated traveling and ships an article stored on the shelf or stores a carried-in article is stored may also be adopted. The picking robot is a double arm robot equipped with a 3D camera for example.
[0030] The shelf 200 and a workbench 204 are carried by an automated guided vehicle 202 for example.)
a conveyance shelf including: a shelf bottom plate forming a shelf bottom in contact with the automatic guided vehicle, a leg portion extending downward from the shelf bottom plate and having a height allowing the automatic guided vehicle to be arranged below the shelf bottom plate, a support member extending upward from the shelf bottom plate, a plurality of shelf plate portions provided on the support member and arranged apart from each other in a vertical direction, and a plurality of accommodation boxes arranged on the plurality of shelf plate portions; the taking-out apparatus according to claim 1;
(see e.g. Fig. 2 – [0030] [0003] In an automated warehouse, work for imaging an article with an arm robot after an automated guided vehicle (AGV) for carrying a shelf reaches and stops, inserting fingers among the shelves after a recognition process and extracting the article is performed.)
--a picking robot that is configured to take out an article from the accommodation box taken out from the conveyance shelf; and
(see e.g. [0028] When the in-warehouse work is warehousing, robot arm operation for extracting an article is equivalent to operation for extracting an article from a carry-in box 215 and robot arm operation for housing the article is equivalent to operation for housing the article extracted from the carry-in box 215 in a housing on a shelf. Prior to the robot arm operation, housing information including an article to be housed and its storage destination is provided to the picking robot beforehand.)
[0026] In the following embodiments, a picking system where a shelf is carried to a working station by an automated guided vehicle and a picking robot installed in the working station ships an article stored on the shelf or stores a carried-in article may also be adopted, and a picking system where a picking robot is moved to a position of a shelf by automated traveling and ships an article stored on the shelf or stores a carried-in article is stored may also be adopted. The picking robot is a double arm robot equipped with a 3D camera for example.)
--a control apparatus that is configured to control the taking-out apparatus, the automatic guided vehicle, and the picking robot.
[0026] In the following embodiments, a picking system where a shelf is carried to a working station by an automated guided vehicle and a picking robot installed in the working station ships an article stored on the shelf or stores a carried-in article may also be adopted, and a picking system where a picking robot is moved to a position of a shelf by automated traveling and ships an article stored on the shelf or stores a carried-in article is stored may also be adopted. The picking robot is a double arm robot equipped with a 3D camera for example.
[0047] The processor 501 controls the picking robot 210.
[0003] In an automated warehouse, work for imaging an article with an arm robot after an automated guided vehicle (AGV) for carrying a shelf reaches and stops, inserting fingers among the shelves after a recognition process and extracting the article is performed.)
Note: The picking system, the picking robot and the automated guided vehicle in CHIHARA et al. are controlled by the processor.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Ariizumi, and include the steps cited above, as taught by CHIHARA et al., in order to o reduce operation time in in-warehouse work. (see e.g. [0006]).
Re-claim 8, --The taking-out system according to claim 7, wherein a plurality of the taking-out apparatuses are provided for the picking robot.
ANDO teaches [0002] The present invention relates to an article take-out apparatus which recognizes the positions of articles stored in bulk in a container and takes out the recognized articles by using a robot.
It is considered an obvious variation of ANDO to include a plurality of taking out apparatuses for the picking robot.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUNA CHAMPAGNE whose telephone number is (571)272-7177. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Florian 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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/LUNA CHAMPAGNE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
March 3, 2026