DETAILED ACTION
Receipt is acknowledged of Applicant’s Response, dated 14 January 2026, which papers have been made of record.
Claims 1-15 are currently presented for examination, of which claims 9-15 have been withdrawn from consideration.
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 Group I, claims 1-8, in the reply filed on 14 January 2026 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4-5, and 7-8
Claims 1-2, 4-5, and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by United States Patent Application Publication 2020/0231386 to Shiu et al. (hereinafter “Shiu”).
Regarding claim 1, Shiu discloses a device (see claim 1) for transporting workpieces, the device comprising: a manufacturing execution system (see paragraph [0056]; work management system 100); a driverless transport vehicle (automated guided vehicle/AGV; see paragraph [0002]; automated guided vehicles disclosed) controllable indirectly or directly by the MES (see paragraph [0052]; work management system can command AGVs through controllers 101a-c); a workpiece holder (pallet jacks or tuggers; see paragraph [0050]) for receiving a workpiece (boxes, pallets, other containers; see paragraph [0050]); a docking station (locations 105/107 for picking/dropping of items; see paragraph [0053], [0055] and [0075], locations may correspond to loading dock sections) for receiving the workpiece holder, the docking station being reachable by the driverless transport vehicle (see paragraph [0053]; AGVs can pick up and drop off items at locations 105); and a position sensor (sensors 230 and 231 capable of detecting items present in pick/drop locations, cooperating with machine readable targets; see paragraph [0075] and [0077]) connected indirectly or directly to the MES (optical sensor can submit information to work management system; see paragraph [0075]), the position sensor being configured for detecting a position of the workpiece holder at the docking station (see paragraphs [0075] and [0077]; “the sensors can be used to determine when items that need to be picked up or dropped off are present,” optical sensor understood to be capable of detecting items in locations including pallets and palletized items, as well as AGV).
Regarding claim 2, Shiu discloses the limitations of claim 1, and further Shiu discloses that the position sensor (230, 231, including unnumbered target; see paragraph [0075]) is disposed or configured on the docking station (locations 105/107 may include targets, understood to be part of position sensors).
Regarding claim 4, Shiu discloses the limitations of claim 1, and further Shiu discloses that the docking station (locations 105/107; see Fig. 1) comprises a wireless local area network gateway (network connection extends from wireless network not 103 through at least pick/drop locations 105; see paragraph [0055], pick/drop locations may correspond to any network location) for communicating with the MES (see paragraph [0052]; wireless network 103 communicated with controllers and AGVs).
Regarding claim 5, Shiu discloses the limitations of claim 1, and further Shiu discloses that the docking station comprises an identification sensor configured to identify the workpiece holder (see paragraph [0075]; sensor 230 may detect code present on a pallet such that work management system can identify item).
Regarding claim 6, Shiu discloses the limitations of claim 1, and further Shiu discloses that the docking station comprises a height sensor (optical sensor 230 may include a camera capable of detecting height of objects) configured to detect a height of the workpiece holder (see paragraph [0148]; cameras may capture area on items having computer readable code including information including items size and configuration; lower camera view 1160 may be used to capture area where vehicle is expected to be traveling or positioned rather than high camera view 1150; and see paragraph [0088]; databases may be provided with information including AGV size where different AGVs are used, AGVs understood to include tuggers, pallet jacks, and forklifts per paragraph [0050]).
Regarding claim 7, Shiu discloses the limitations of claim 2, and further Shiu discloses that the docking station (locations 105/107) includes a plurality of receptacle spaces for the workpiece holder (see paragraph [0055]; locking dock bays, storage areas, processing equipment and Fig. 1; multiple locations 105 shown schematically grouped together), each receptacle space having a respective position sensor (each drop/pick location 105/107 may be provided with a respective readable target; see paragraph [0075]) for detecting the position of the workpiece holder (see paragraph [0075]; where pallet has computer readable code on a label, the optical sensor 230 can communicate the code to the system hub).
Regarding claim 8, Shiu discloses the limitations of claim 7, and further Shiu discloses that the docking station (locations 105/107) has a modular configuration and comprises a plurality of modules (see paragraph [0055]; pick/drop locations may comprise mail processing equipment, loading dock bays, vehicles, storage areas, or the like, and see Fig. 1; mail processing equipment segments 104a-104c shown schematically having different configurations), each module having a respective receptacle space (see Fig. 1; multiple spaces 105 and 107 shown schematically, understood to be different receptacle spaces for holding items during pick up and drop off).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, the prior art of record does not explicitly disclose or fairly teach “wherein the position sensor is configured as a switch, the switch being activatable by the workpiece holder only when the workpiece holder is situated in a parked position at the docking station at which the workpiece holder is accessible to the driverless transport vehicle,” and further in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
United States Patent Application Publication 2013/0184849 to Chan (hereinafter “Chan”) teaches an automated handling system including a plurality of automated guided vehicles .
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/DARRELL C FORD/Examiner, Art Unit 3726