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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in the third line from the bottom, after the word “section” and before the word “and”, a comma should be inserted for better form and grammar. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-6 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 6, lines 14-16, the phrase “wherein, in movement processing that moves a medium being stored in a medium storage as a movement origin, to the medium storage as a movement destination, the control section controls so as to” is unclear and indefinite.
For example, is the medium being moved from one medium storage to another, such as is done during a reconciliation process performed on a each medium storage, or is each medium storage both a movement destination and a movement origin, meaning that each medium storage is a recycling storage where banknotes/medium are both deposited to or withdrawn/dispensed from? Also, what is controlled by the control section?
For the purposes of examination, it is construed that each medium storage is a recycling type cassette to which medium/banknotes are deposited to when banknotes are received during a deposit transaction and dispensed from during a withdrawal transaction. The controller is construed as controlling the conveying sections and switching sections so as to move banknotes to and from each cassette to and from the input/output section, as needed to perform a particular transaction.
Regarding Claim 2, line 6, the phrase “the control section controls so as to” is unclear and indefinite. What is controlled?
Claim 3, line 2 exhibits the same phrase and issue.
See also Claim 4 at line 2, Claim 5, line 3 and Claim 6, lines 4 and 5, exhibiting the same phrase and issue.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wakabayashi et al (US 2016/0335830 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Wakabayashi discloses
a medium handling device, i.e., banknote deposit/withdrawal device (10), as illustrated in figure 2, for example, comprising:
an input/output section, i.e., deposit/withdrawal section (12), as illustrated in figure 2, that inputs and outputs paper leaf-shaped mediums, i.e., as mentioned at abstract, for example;
a first conveyance section (21), as illustrated in figure 6, connected to the input/output section (12), that conveys the mediums/banknotes, as mentioned at paragraph 69;
a recognition section, i.e., the verification section (14), as illustrated in figure 6, provided to the first conveyance section (21), as illustrated in figure 6, that recognizes the conveyed mediums, as mentioned at paragraphs 82-91;
a second conveyance section (22), connected to the first conveyance section (21) through a connection section, i.e., temporary holding switching section (20), that conveys the mediums/banknotes, as illustrated in figure 6, for example;
a plurality of medium/banknote storages (17, 17a-17e) connected to the second conveyance section (22), that store reusable mediums/banknotes, as mentioned at paragraph 6, for example; and
a control section, i.e., main control section (9) and banknote control section (11), as illustrated in figures 1, 2 and 12 and as mentioned at paragraphs 61 and 62, for example, that utilizes recognition results of the recognition section (14) to control a conveyance path of the mediums configured by the first conveyance section (21), i.e., as illustrated in figure 6, the connection section (20), and the second conveyance section (22), as mentioned at paragraphs 65, 83, 96 and 123, for example,
wherein, in movement processing that moves a medium/banknote being stored in a medium storage (17, 17a-17e) as a movement origin, to the medium storage as a movement destination, i.e., interpreted as meaning that the medium storages (17, 17a-17e) both accept and dispense banknotes, the control section (9, 11) controls (the system) so as to:
convey mediums fed out from the medium storage (17, 17a-17e) to the input/output section (12),
store the mediums in the input/output section (12), i.e., construed as being the state of the banknotes placed within the input/output section (12) during either a deposit or a withdrawal transaction, as mentioned at paragraphs 63 and 64, for example,
feed out the mediums from the input/output section (12) and convey (the banknotes/media) by the first conveyance section (21), as mentioned at paragraph 64, mentioning that conveyance section (13) conveys banknotes/media (BL), and noting that first and second conveying and the switching sections (20-22) are elements of conveyance section (13), as illustrated in figure 4, for example,
acquire a respective recognition result for each medium, using the
recognition section (14) and
convey each medium to one of the medium storages (17, 17a-17e) according to the recognition result, as mentioned at paragraphs 65, 83, 96 and 123, for example. See also paragraphs 72, 73 and 82-91, for example.
Regarding Claim 2, Wakabayashi discloses
further comprising a temporary holding section (15) that temporarily stores mediums and feeds out the mediums either in a same order or in a reverse order relative to when the mediums were stored, as mentioned at paragraphs 92-102, noting in particular paragraphs 95 and 100, and as illustrated in figure 6, wherein:
the connection section (20) is configured by a temporary holding switching section that switches the conveyance path of the mediums between the first conveyance section (21), the second conveyance section (22), and the temporary holding section (15); and
in the movement processing, the control section (9, 11) controls (the system) so as to:
convey, by the first conveyance section (21), the mediums fed out from the input/output section (12) and stored in the temporary holding section (15), acquire and store the respective recognition result for each medium using the recognition section (14), as mentioned at paragraphs 65, 83, 96 and 123, for example, and
convey the mediums that have been fed out from the temporary holding section (15) to one of the medium storages (17, 17a-17e) according to the recognition result stored for each medium, noting the memory (11m) mentioned in paragraphs 58 and 62 and as illustrated in figure 2, for example.
Regarding Claim 3, Wakabayashi discloses
wherein, in the movement processing, the control section (9, 11) controls (the system) so as to:
convey the mediums fed out from the input/output section (12) by the first conveyance section (21),
acquire the respective recognition result using the recognition section (14) for each of the mediums, and
convey the medium to one of the medium storages (17, 17a-17e) according to the recognition result, as mentioned at paragraph 62, for example.
Regarding Claim 4, Wakabayashi discloses
wherein:
in take-in processing to take in mediums from outside, the control section (9, 11) controls (the system) so as to:
introduce the mediums into the input/output section (12),
feed out the mediums from the input/output section (12) to the first conveyance section (21), convey the mediums by the first conveyance section (21), acquire the respective recognition result for each medium using the recognition section (14), and
convey the mediums to one of the medium storages (17, 17a-17e) according to the recognition result;
in dispensing processing to dispense the medium outside, the control section (9, 11) controls (the system) so as to:
feed out the mediums from the medium storage (17, 17a-17e) to the second conveyance section (22), convey the mediums to the input/output section (12) by the second conveyance section (22) and the first conveyance section (21), and
dispense the mediums from the input/output section (12); and
in the movement processing, the control section controls (the system) so as to:
after the medium has been conveyed from the medium storage (17, 17a-17e), which is the movement origin, to the input/output section (12) by processing equivalent to part of the dispensing processing, convey the medium to the medium storage (17, 17a-17e), which is the movement destination, by processing equivalent to part of the take-in processing, noting that Wakabayashi’s system is able to process each banknote as a part of each transaction.
Regarding Claim 5, Wakabayashi discloses
further comprising a first medium storage, i.e., any one of (17, 17a-17e)
connected to the first conveyance section (21), that stores reusable mediums,
wherein, in the movement processing, the control section (9, 11) controls (the system) so as to convey the medium according to the recognition result, i.e., via the verification/recognition section (14), to one out of the medium storage or the first
medium storage, i.e., any one of (17, 17a-17e).
Regarding Claim 6, Wakabayashi discloses
further comprising a reject box (16), as illustrated in figure 9, for example, connected to the first conveyance section (21), that stores rejected mediums that are mediums recognized as not being reusable using the recognition section (14),
wherein, in the movement processing, according to the recognition result, the control section (9, 11) controls (the system) so as to convey the mediums that can be reused to one of the medium storages (17, 17a-17e), and to convey the rejected mediums to the reject box (16), as mentioned at paragraphs 105 and 106 and as illustrated in figure 9, for example.
Conclusion
Applicant is encouraged to contact the Examiner should there be any questions about this rejection or in an endeavor to explore potential amendments or potential allowable subject matter.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Fukuda ‘292 is cited as teaching a medium handling device as illustrated in figures 1-37, for example.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY ALAN SHAPIRO whose telephone number is (571)272-6943. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday generally between 8:30AM and 6:30PM.
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, Anita Y Coupe can be reached at 571-270-3614. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEFFREY A SHAPIRO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
July 29, 2026
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