The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species B (Fig. 2) in the reply filed on 3/24/26 is acknowledged. Claims 4-6, 15-17, 19 and 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. It is noted that applicant has indicated claims 4 and 6 as being drawn to non-elected subject matter. However, since claims 5, 15-17, 19 and 20 depend from claim 4, they are included in the withdrawn claims.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign mentioned in the description: 13. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the telescopic load handling means and load handling organs (claim 3) must be shown or the features canceled from the claim. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-3, 7-14, 18 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, line 10 recites “several … apparatus”. It is assumed applicant is using the term apparatus in the plural. However, later references are made to “the … apparatus” (e.g., lines 16, 19, 32, etc.), in which it is unclear whether applicant is using that term in the singular or plural. It is suggested that applicant either use the clearly plural term --apparatuses-- and/or clearly refer to --the several … apparatus(es)-- when referring to the term in the plural, and recite --an … apparatus of the several apparatus(es)-- (or similar language) when referring to the term in the singular.
Note that this applies throughout the claims, not just claim 1.
Also in claim 1, lines 9-10, the recitation “the storage racking aisle” lacks antecedent basis;
lines 10 and 18, it is unclear if the recitations “transport units” are intended to refer to the transport units previously recited;
line 12, “removed” should apparently be --removing--;
line 13, the recitation “the storage rack” (singular) lacks antecedent basis;
line 15, “on” should apparently be --one--;
lines 20 and 25, --at least one-- should be inserted before “removal” and “supply”;
lines 20, 31 and 37-38, the recitations “the exchange systems” (plural) lacks clear antecedent basis, as “at least one exchange system” has previously been recited;
lines 22 and 30, it is unclear if the recitations “storage entry … apparatus” are intended to refer to one of the several such apparatuses previously recited;
line 26, the recitation “the racking” lacks clear and proper antecedent basis;
line 29, the recitation “the same aisle …” lacks antecedent basis;
lines 34, 35 and 37, it is unclear if the recitations “a … storage rack level” are intended to refer to “the at least one … level” previously recited;
and lines 36-37, the recitation “a … units” is grammatically incorrect.
The remaining claims are similarly indefinite. The examiner will not point every occurrence of indefinite language, but the following issues are noted:
Claim 2, lines 2 and 3, the recitations “the outside” and “the center … aisle” lack antecedent basis. In addition, it is not clear which storage racks are “not arranged on the outside”. Further still, it is not clear whether “a racking storage aisle” was intended to refer to or is distinct from the “storage racking aisle” set forth in claim 1. Also, it is unclear how or in what manner the variously named aisles (i.e., “racking storage aisle/storage racking aisle”, “center storage racking aisle”, “wing storage racking aisle”) are distinct from one another, as they appear to be only nominally recited without any apparent structural or functional differences. Finally, absent any spatial relationship being set forth, it is unclear what is meant by “transverse conveyance locations in the storage racks themselves”.
Claim 3, the recitation “single level service type” (emphasis added) is vague.
Claim 7, it is not clear whether the recitation “at least two wing aisles” is intended to refer to or is distinct from the “adjacent wing … aisle” previously recited in claim 2 from which this claim depends.
Claim 8, the recitations “the lift”, “the … footprint” and “the … lifts” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 9, line 2, --at-- should be inserted before “least” and --the-- should be inserted before “slow”.
Claim 10, it is not clear which of the “designated levels” are being referenced.
Claim 11, the recitation “the rack space opposite side” is unclear and lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 12, it is unclear what is meant by “dedicated level(s)”.
Claims 13 and 14, the recitations “the system operation time” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 18, the recitation “further comprising a storage-entry feeding line and a removal-from storage feeding line” is unclear, as such feeding lines have previously been recited.
Claim 21, the recitations “the exchange systems for change of levels and/or aisles” and “the roaming … apparatus” lack clear and proper antecedent basis, and the term “optionally” renders the scope of the claim unclear.
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, 3, 8-13, 18 and 21 (as best understood in light of the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth above) are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gruber (WO 2017/190168, cited by applicant).
Gruber shows a storage system for transport units 3 comprising:
a plurality of storage racks 13 with multiple storage rack levels 2, 5 for storage of the transport units;
at least one storage-entry feeding line 9 (or 10);
at least one removal-from storage feeding line 10 (or 9);
at least one removal-from-storage lift 19a (or 19b) is used to transfer the transport units to the removal-from-storage feeding line;
at least one supply-to-storage lift 19b (or 19a) is used to transfer the transport units from the at least one storage-entry feeding line;
several storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus 8 that travel along the storage racking aisle and have means 33-39 for carrying transport units and for displacing these to and from the storage racks for placing the transport units into storage in, and remov[ed]ing from storage from, the storage rack via a load handling means and for discharging to and supplying from the at least one removal-from-storage lift and the at least one supply-to-storage lift;
at least one exchange system 12 for vertical change of aisle level by the storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus; and
at least one control 16 for the control of the system and its components;
wherein the control is operable to control the storage and retrieval of transport units by controlling movement of the storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus and of the removal-from-storage lift and of the supply-to-storage lift and of the at least one exchange system[s] and is further operable to:
use at least one first storage rack level 1 for dedicated storage of fast mover transport units, which is serviced by storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus 8 present on each such level and each such level is directly connected to the at least one removal-from-storage lift and the at least one supply-to-storage lift (Figs. 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 15-17), both removal-from-storage lift and supply-to-storage lift having interfacing rack conveyors 20, 21 arranged within the footprint of the racking;
and additionally is operable to:
use at least one second storage rack level 4 for dedicated storage of slow mover transport units or reserve transport units within the same aisle 14 as the first storage rack level for dedicated storage of fast mover transport units, which is serviced by storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus that change levels via the exchange systems;
wherein the storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus of the first storage rack level for dedicated storage of fast mover transport units are controlled to have a high probability of being in a first storage rack level for dedicated storage of fast mover transport units and only leave such first storage rack level temporarily to enter second storage rack level for dedicated storage of slow mover transport units or reserve transport units to retrieve a slow mover transport units or reserve transport units and transport such to a first storage rack level via the exchange systems (i.e., “a storage and retrieval device 8 is provided on each guideway 6 in the high-performance storage facility, … a storage-and-retrieval device 8 can be temporarily made available from the high-performance storage facility without significant fluctuations in performance in the high-performance storage facility, … however, it is also possible for a storage and retrieval device 8 to be provided in the replenishment storage on one or a few guideways 7, and for this storage and retrieval device 8 / these storage and retrieval devices 8 to be temporarily made available in the high-performance storage. Preferably, however, a number of the storage and retrieval devices 8 in the high-performance storage is higher than the number of storage and retrieval devices 8 in the replenishment storage to achieve a high storage throughput”).
Re claim 3, the several storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatuses are of the single level service type and have a central load carrying area 34 with adjacent telescopic load handling means 36-38, extendable to both sides of the apparatus and each having at least two load engaging organs 39 for storage or retrieval (Fig. 4).
Re claim 8, the interfacing rack conveyors are located adjacent the lift in the racking footprint such that they source and/or discharge the neighboring lifts to decouple their operation from that of the storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus (Fig. 1).
Re claim 9, the control is operable to use the least one first storage rack level for temporarily buffering and/or consolidating slow mover transport units.
Re claim 10, the control is operable to use the dedicated levels for temporarily buffering and/or consolidating slow mover transport units.
Re claim 11, the control is operable to use the rack space opposite side of the removal-from-storage lift and of the supply-to-storage lift for temporarily buffering and/or consolidating slow mover transport units.
Re claim 12, the control is operable to control at least one storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus to be dedicated to slow mover transport units and slow mover transport units retrieved from the second storage rack level are buffered to dedicated level(s).
Re claim 13, the control is operable to control the storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus of the first storage rack level for dedicated storage of fast mover transport units to have a high probability of greater than 80% of being in a first storage rack level for dedicated storage of fast mover transport units when compared to [the] a system operation time (i.e., “it is also possible after a second method measure to dynamically change the "logical" separation between the first storage area 1 and the second storage area 4 during operation of the storage system by the computer system. For example, … there may be a higher performance requirement for the high-performance warehouse than in the current assortment, it proves to be an advantage if storage locations from the replenishment store are used In this procedure, the computer system uses an ABC analysis to evaluate the access frequency to the piece goods 3 (article). Access frequency in this context means the number ben -saturated (sic) product per unit of time. The articles are stored either in the high-performance bearing (A) or in the replenishment bearing (B, B '), depending on their access frequencies. While high-frequency packaged goods 3, so-called A-articles, and medium-frequency packaged goods, so-called B-articles, are mainly stored in high-performance warehouses, low-access goods, so-called C-articles, are mainly stored in the replenishment store. In the field of e-commerce, steep ABC curves are common Fluctuations in Access Frequency: If an item is needed most frequently today, it can be infrequently used the next day, which will often require another item the next day, or 20% in a single day. Annual needs for an article and the remaining 80% distributed over the rest of the year are needed. In other words, at certain operating times, it is necessary for the high power range to be configured larger than for other operating times. Accordingly, the configuration of the replenishment area results. In other words, this configuration (a first storage area 1 as a high-performance storage (A) or high-performance storage (A) and supply storage (B ')) and the second storage area 4 as a replenishment storage) is based on an "ABC analysis".
Re claim 18, Gruber’s storage system further comprises a storage-entry feeding line 20 and a removal-from storage feeding line 21 for consolidation of slow mover transport units (e.g., Figs, 6, 17).
Re claim 21, the exchange systems for change of levels and/or aisles of the roaming storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus comprises a “very narrow aisle” (as broadly recited) forklift truck 46 with lift platform 54 adapted to carry a roaming storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus (Fig. 13) [, optionally with attached storage and retrieval conveyors].
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gruber.
To whatever extent the limitation may be given patentable weight in light of the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth above, Gruber does not appear to explicitly disclose that the control is operable to control the storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus of the first storage rack level for dedicated storage of fast mover transport units to have a high probability of greater than 90% of being in a first storage rack level for dedicated storage of fast mover transport units when compared to [the] a system operation time.
However, Gruber does disclose a probability of greater than 80%, as noted above with respect to claim 13.
It would have obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the system of Gruber such that the control was operable to control the storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatus of the first storage rack level for dedicated storage of the fast mover transport units so as to have a high probability of greater than 90% of being in a first storage rack level for dedicated storage of fast mover transport units when compared to a system operation time, to increase the chances that the storage-entry and removal-from-storage apparatuses for the fast mover transport units would spend most of their time in the respective levels when compared to the handling of slow mover transport units in other levels, as it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are met, discovering an optimum or workable range involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Although the prior art does not clearly render claims 2 and 7 unpatentable and has therefore not been applied, this is not intended to indicate that these claims may contain allowable subject matter. Because these claims so seriously fail to meet the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as noted above in par. 6, it is not possible to properly apply the art to these claims without disregarding portions of the express wording of the claims and thus resorting to speculation and conjecture as to the particular invention defined therein. See Ex Parte Lyell, 17 USPQ2d 1548, 1552.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James Keenan whose telephone number is (571)272-6925. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Thurs.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at 571-270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/James Keenan/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3652
5/20/26
Prosecution Insights