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) 1-7, 9, 10, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2020-104768, as cited by applicant, in view of WO 2018/150153.
Regarding claim 1, JP ‘768 teaches a working equipment arranged to be mounted to a vehicle, 1, the working equipment comprising:
- a movable arm, A3, for loading and unloading a load carrying object, X, such as a container, to/from said vehicle, wherein the movable arm has a first end connected to said vehicle and a second end arranged to connect the movable arm to the load carrying object during the loading or unloading, see figure 14;
- a lift frame assembly, E, comprising a lift frame with an attachment part, E2, arranged to be attached to the second end of the movable arm, A3, a pair of upper connectors, E4 and E5, mounted at opposite sides of an upper part of the lift frame, and a pair of lower connectors, E6, mounted at opposite sides of a lower part of the lift frame, see figures 5, wherein said pairs of upper and lower connectors are adapted to attach said upper and lower parts of the lift frame to a corresponding upper part and lower part, respectively, of the load carrying object, see figure 7;
- an actuator system, A10, arranged to operate movements of the working equipment;
- a sensor system, arranged to monitor the movements of the working equipment, see figure 11 and the English translation, reproduced below which states:
“FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the cargo handling arm in this embodiment. The procedure shown in FIG. 11 is executed by the control device G2 when mounting the standard container X on the chassis 3 and storing the used adapter E when mounting the adapter E on the stand of the support post A11. The sequence control is performed. The procedure of FIG. 11 starts when the standard container X is pulled up onto the chassis and is in a horizontal posture, and then the slide cylinder A12 extends to a predetermined stroke, for example. The predetermined stroke is, for example, a value at which the distance between the adapter E and the support post A11 becomes a predetermined distance. The arrival of the predetermined stroke can be detected by an appropriate sensor such as a stroke sensor that detects the stroke of the slide cylinder A12, a proximity sensor that detects that the adapter E or the hook arm A8 has passed a predetermined position, or a distance sensor.”, and
- a control unit, G2, configured to generate control instructions to control the operation of the actuator system in response to a loading/unloading command for the loading and/or unloading of the load carrying object and sensor signals received from the sensor system,
-wherein the lift frame assembly comprises a set of actuators, E3, configured to change the positions of the upper connectors, E4 and E5, relative to the attachment part along parallel movement axes close to the opposite sides of the lift frame, and parallel to a symmetry axis of the lift frame, see figure 5.
The JP ‘768 reference does not teach that the control unit, G2, controls said actuators. WO ‘153 teaches a lift frame for a container with connectors for connecting the lift frame to the container. WO ‘153 further teaches that the attachments can be actuated to spread, and the actuators are controlled by a control unit that is configured to generate instructions to control said set of actuators to change the positions of the upper connectors along the movement axes during an attachment procedure for attaching said lift frame to said load carrying object in response of an attachment command, and sensor signals from the sensor system, see quoted portion of reference below:
“The present invention adaptor 50 uses electronic controls with wired and/or wireless communications from crane driver to devices that need operation.”
”It is important to be sure that all eight of the connectors 4 are engaged with the corner fittings 8 before the containers start to be lifted. This is achieved by all the connectors being fitted with known blocking pins 46 and with electronic switches that signal to a main control box that they have engaged correctly before lifting.” See page 17, paragraph 3+.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to replace the manual actuators, E3, taught by JP ‘768, with the automatically controlled actuators of WO ‘153 in order to achieve the predictable result of enabling automatic control of the lift frame by an operator from the cab of the vehicle.
Regarding claim 2, WO ‘153 teaches wherein the attachment procedure is performed in dependence of sensor signals obtained from the sensor system regarding the positions of the connectors relative the load carrying object, and wherein said sensor signals include one or many of image signals, distance signals, and movement signals, see cited paragraph above.
Regarding claim 3, WO ‘153 further teaches during the attachment procedure, the changing of the positions of the connectors along the movement axes until the connectors are in positions to be attached, or one or both upper connectors already being attached, to the load carrying object, are performed by individually changing the positions of the upper connectors such that they are at the same level, either before attachment or when one or both upper connectors are attached, see quoted portion of the reference below:
“… whereas the connectors 4 are in general controlled and operated together with one instruction, it is envisaged that additional controls would be provided to enable the connectors 49 to be operated independently of connectors 4 or similarly connectors 4" be operated independently of connectors 4.” See page 16, paragraph 3+.
Regarding claim 4, JP ‘768 teaches the attachment procedure is adapted to the type of load carrying object, e.g. the height of the load carrying object, where the actuators, E3, are used to change the height of the connectors, e$ and E5, based on the location of the corresponding upper part of the load carrying object.
Regarding claim 5, JP ‘768 teaches the second end is provided with a hook, F, and the attachment part is a bar, E2, and wherein the lift frame is arranged to be stowed at the vehicle, see support post A11, during transport, or when the hook is used to load a load carrying object to the vehicle.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of JP ‘768 and WO ‘153 teaches said attachment procedure is part of an autonomous or semiautonomous loading sequence, using the control device, G2, taught by JP ‘768 and the attachment control taught by the WO ‘153 reference.
Regarding claim 7, JP ‘768 teaches said lift frame is an H-shaped lift frame, see figure 5.
Regarding claim 9, JP ‘768 teaches said symmetry axis is parallel to the opposite sides of the lift frame (16) and in a plane defined by the upper and lower parts of the lift frame, see figure 5.
Regarding claim 10, JP ‘768 teaches the attachment procedure comprises:
-attaching the upper connectors, E4 and E5, to the load carrying object, X;
-changing the positions of the upper connectors along movement axes until the lower connectors, E6, are in positions to be attached to the load carrying object, and
-attaching the lower connectors to the load carrying object, see quoted portion of reference below:
”Specifically, in the process in which the adapter E descends at the rear of the vehicle as the cargo handling arm A3 rotates, the upper connecting members E4 and E5 of the adapter E are first hooked in the recess X1 on the front side of the standard container X. When it is confirmed that the upper connecting members E4 and E5 have been hooked, the lift cylinder A10 is further extended, and the left and right lower connecting members E6 are extended when the left and right expansion/contraction mechanisms E3 are extended and the stopper E8 hits the bottom plate of the standard container X. Is manually connected to the standard container X.”
Regarding claim 11, the combination of JP ‘768 and WO ‘153 teaches the attachment procedure is specifically intended to determine the type of the load carrying object, and comprises:
- adapting the distances between said upper connectors and said attachment part to fit the size, e.g. the height, of said load carrying object;
- attaching the upper connectors to the load carrying object, and
-attaching the lower connectors to the load carrying object.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 12-14 are 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.
Regarding claims 8 and 12, the prior art was not found to teach a control unit that during attachment of the lift frame to the load carrying object the lift frame lifts a front end of the object from the ground, as claimed. The JP ‘768 reference does not teach this, nor does any other prior art.
Regarding claims 13 and 14, the examiner was unable to find a control procedure for individually adjusting the connectors of the lift frame, as claimed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Prior art cited on the PTO-892 show additional examples of lift frames on vehicle for loading containers onto a vehicle similar to the claimed invention. They are included to show the general state of the prior art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAITLIN S JOERGER whose telephone number is (571)272-6938. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5 (CST).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at (571)272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-5565.
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/KAITLIN S JOERGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
10 February 2026