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 § 112
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 1-10 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.
Regarding claim 1, line 10-11: the limitation “depending on the type of article” renders the claim indefinite because the scope of the claim is unclear as it would appear the support pin heights could change if the article changes.
Regarding claim 8, lines 1-2: the limitation “the first article” has a lack of antecedent basis rendering the claim indefinite. It appears claim 7 should depend on claim 6.
Regarding claim 8, line 3: the limitation “the second article” has a lack of antecedent basis rendering the claim indefinite. It appears claim 7 should depend on claim 6.
Regarding claim 8, line 5: the limitation “the third article” has a lack of antecedent basis rendering the claim indefinite. It appears claim 7 should depend on claim 6.
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, 2 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oguro (JP 2010126278) in view of Han (KR 20170000059).
Regarding claim 1, Oguro discloses an apparatus for transferring an article, the apparatus comprising:
a vehicle (3) moving along a moving rail (2) installed on a ceiling;
a main body (12) connected to the vehicle and providing an interior space in which an article is located;
a hoist module (24) provided in the main body, and for hoisting a belt (paragraph 0028 of translation) by winding or unwinding the belt;
a hand unit (4) fixed at one end of the belt and for gripping the article; and
a drop preventing member (28) provided in the main body, and for preventing the article from dropping during moving of the vehicle, wherein the drop preventing member includes support pins (35).
Regarding claim 2, Oguro also discloses a plate (28) on which the support pins are installed, and the support pins include: first support pins (35) supporting a first article.
Regarding claim 10, Oguro also discloses a third detection unit for detecting whether a gripper of the hand unit is gripping a flange of the article (paragraph 0005 and 0041 of translation).
Oguro does not disclose (claim 1) the support pins provided at different heights depending on types of article and (claim 2) second support pins for supporting a second article and a third article with a larger area than the first article, and the first support pins have lower heights than the second support pins.
Regarding claim 1, Han teaches a drop preventing member (230, 280) provided in the main body, and for preventing the article from dropping, wherein the drop preventing member includes support pins (240, 290) provided at different heights depending on types of article (fig 2).
Regarding claim 2, Han also teaches first support pins (241, 291) and second support pins (242, 292) for supporting a second article and a third article with a larger area than the first article, and the first support pins have lower heights than the second support pins (fig 2).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the apparatus of Oguro to include the support pins provided at different heights depending on types of article and second support pins for supporting a second article and a third article with a larger area than the first article, and the first support pins have lower heights than the second support pins as taught by Han in order to allow for articles of different sizes to be transported (paragraph 0010 of translation).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-20 are allowed.
Claims 3-9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 18, Oguro is considered the closest prior art and discloses an apparatus for of transferring an article, the apparatus comprising:
a vehicle (3) moving along a moving rail (2) installed on a ceiling;
a main body (12) connected to the vehicle and providing an interior space in which an article is located;
a hoist module (24) provided in the main body, and for hoisting a belt (paragraph 0028 of translation) by winding or unwinding the belt;
a hand unit (4) fixed at one end of the belt and for gripping the article; and
a drop preventing member (28) provided in the main body, and for preventing the article from dropping during moving of the vehicle;
a first detection unit provided in the main body and for detecting an article (paragraph 0005, 0036 and 0041); and
wherein the drop preventing member includes:
a plate (28) positioned in a lower portion of the interior space by a driving unit (29);
first support pins (35) provided on the plate and supporting a first article.
Han teaches first support pins (241, 291) and second support pins (242, 292) provided on a plate (230, 280), supporting a second article and a third article with a larger area than the first article, and having higher heights than the first support pins (fig 2).
The primary reason for the allowance of claim 18 is the inclusion of a control unit for determining a type of article according to a detection signal of the first detection unit, the first detection unit detects the article at a home position where the article waits for a period of time before the hoist module seats the article on the drop preventing member in combination with the rest of the claim limitations is not taught nor fairly suggested by the prior art.
Conclusion
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 Keith R Campbell whose telephone number is (571)270-1015. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:00pm EST.
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, Gene Crawford can be reached at (571) 272-6911. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KRC/Examiner, Art Unit 3651 4/2/2026
/GENE O CRAWFORD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3651
Prosecution Insights