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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-2,10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rogers et al (US-11883957) in view of Liu (CN-105775544).
Referring to claim 1. Rogers et al (herein “Rogers”) discloses a “Autonomous Robot Vehicle For Checking And Counting Stock In A Warehouse”. See Figs. 1-3 and respective portions of the specification. Rogers further discloses a transport device (1), comprising: a main part (9) supporting or pulling an object (supports chassis); a wheel (7) mounted to the main part, the wheel rolling over a traveling surface; and a reader (2) fixed with respect to the main part, the reader reading an identifier (bar code) in a direction tilted with respect to a first direction and a second direction, the identifier being mounted to a surface of the object, the surface crossing the first direction (See at least Col. 7 L. 3 – L. 20, Col. 8 L. 10-45). Rogers further discloses wherein the mast (11) can provided as a fork lift device. Moreover, Rogers discloses Lidar debris detectors detecting debris in a moving direction mounted in the front of the vehicle. It is broadly construed and generally understood that these sensors that detect debris could detect the wheel of the objects (See at least Col. 4 L. 50-55). Liu discloses a “Storage System And Method For Extracting Goods With Simple Locating Function”. See Figs. 1-8 and respective portions of the specification. Liu further discloses an automated guided vehicle (AGV, See Fig.1) comprising wheels (1-1), chassis (1-2), platform lifting motor (1-8-2), platform (1-8-3) and further discloses identifiers (codes) are mounted on surfaces of objects whose surfaces cross the vehicle travel direction, and that the AGV moves relative to such objects while reading codes. As the vehicle moves forward, the fixed, reader (1-7-6) reads different vertical portions of the object surface do to the geometric relationship between the fixed tilted reader and the forward motion of the vehicle (See Specification), as such Liu teaches that the surface read the reader changes along the second direction perpendicular to the traveling surface. It should be noted (See Fig. 2) that the reader (2) can be adjusted to be tilted and fixed in place (fixed and tilted). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liu with Rogers, so that identifiers were read while the vehicle moves, so that objects could be scanned in a second direction while the vehicle was in transit in a traveling direction and a load support device / forklift arms were included for supporting or pulling an object.
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Referring to claim 2. Rogers doesn’t disclose wherein the transport device comprises a lifting device for supporting an object from below, the lifting device movable along the second direction. Liu discloses a lifting device (1-7-0) supporting the object from below, and the lifting device is movable along the second direction. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Liu and provide a lifting device movable along the second direction to accommodate objects of different heights and so that objects could be lifted into a better viewing position.
Referring to claim 10. Rogers discloses wherein the reader (2) includes at least one selected from a barcode reader and a camera (See Col. 3 L. 65 – Col. 4 L. 7).
Referring to claim 11. Rogers discloses a support member (22) fixed with respect to the main part, the support member including a pair of first posts (11, telescopic arms) extending a long the second direction, the pair of first posts being positioned respectively at two ends of the transport device in a third direction, the third direction crossing a plane parallel to the first and second directions, and a second post (18) fixed to the pair of first posts, the second posts extending a long a third direction, the reader (2)being fixed to a center in the third direction of the second post (See at least Fig. 3).
Referring to claim 12. Rogers discloses wherein the position of the area of the surface changes downward as the transport device moves in the first direction. It should be noted that this is broadly construed and generally understood based on the positioning and geometric relationships of the readers and the transport vehicles movement.
Referring to claim 13. Rogers et al (herein “Rogers”) discloses a “Autonomous Robot Vehicle For Checking And Counting Stock In A Warehouse”. See Figs. 1-3 and respective portions of the specification. Rogers further discloses a transport device (1), comprising: a main part (9) supporting or pulling an object (supports chassis) from below; a wheel (7) mounted to the main part, the wheel rolling over a traveling surface; and a reader (2) fixed with respect to the main part, the reader reading an identifier (bar code) in a direction tilted with respect to a first direction and a second direction, the identifier being mounted to a surface of the object, the surface crossing the first direction (See at least Col. 7 L. 3 – L. 20, Col. 8 L. 10-45). Rogers further discloses wherein the mast (11) can provided as a fork lift device. Moreover, Rogers discloses Lidar debris detectors detecting debris in a moving direction mounted in the front of the vehicle. It is broadly construed and generally understood that these sensors that detect debris could detect the wheel of the objects (See at least Col. 4 L. 50-55). Liu discloses a “Storage System And Method For Extracting Goods With Simple Locating Function”. See Figs. 1-8 and respective portions of the specification. Liu further discloses an automated guided vehicle (AGV, See Fig.1) comprising wheels (1-1), chassis (1-2), platform lifting motor (1-8-2), platform (1-8-3) and further discloses identifiers (codes) are mounted on surfaces of objects whose surfaces cross the vehicle travel direction, and that the AGV moves relative to such objects while reading codes. As the vehicle moves forward, the fixed, reader (1-7-6) reads different vertical portions of the object surface do to the geometric relationship between the fixed tilted reader and the forward motion of the vehicle (See Specification), as such Liu teaches that the surface read the reader changes along the second direction perpendicular to the traveling surface. It should be noted (See Fig. 2) that the reader (2) can be adjusted to be tilted and fixed in place (fixed and tilted). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liu with Rogers, so that identifiers were read while the vehicle moves, so that objects could be scanned in a second direction while the vehicle was in transit in a traveling direction and a load support device / forklift arms were included for supporting or pulling an object.
Referring to claims 14. Rogers in view of Liu disclose the combination as described above in detail. Claim 14 merely recites the control logic inherently performed during normal use of the automated guided vehicle (transport device) in the cited references. As discussed above the combination discloses a control means to perform control operations that include positioning the vehicle relative to an object, coordinating movement of the vehicle, and controlling reading of an identifier mounted on an object. No additional steps, constraints or technical effects are recited beyond those necessarily executed by the disclosed combination, and there the claim lacks patentable distinction
Referring to claim 15. Rogers in view of Liu disclose the combination as described above in detail. Claim 15 merely recites a control method comprising changing a reading area of a surface along a second direction by moving a transport device along a first direction, such that the reading area is read by the reader. These method steps correspond directly to the operational steps that are necessarily executed when the transport device of the cited references is used for its disclosed purpose of reading identifiers on objects while moving relative to those objects. during normal use of the automated guided vehicle (transport device) in the cited references. Thus, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have necessarily performed the steps recited in claim 15 during normal use of the transport device disclosed by the combination of cited references. Claim 15 therefore merely recites the inherent operational method of the known system and does not impose any additional steps, constraints or technical effects recited beyond those necessarily executed by the disclosed combination, and there the claim lacks patentable distinction.
Referring to claim 16. Rogers in view of Lu disclose the combination as disclosed above in detail. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program, with a program causing a computer to function as the control device to perform the method of claim 15, as implementing a known control logic on a computer-readable medium is routine and does not impart patentable distinction.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 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.
Conclusion
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/TERRELL H MATTHEWS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653