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.
Claim 9 is 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 9, second to last line, the phrase “by conveying without temporary holding to the storage box” is unclear and indefinite because it is not clear if the temporary holding section or the conveyance path retention section is omitted.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, 6-8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi et al (US 2016/0335830 A1) in view of Mori (US 2010/0217432 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Wakabayashi teaches
a medium processing device, i.e., banknote deposit/withdrawal device (10), as illustrated in figure 2, for example, comprising:
a pay-in section, i.e., banknote deposit/withdrawal section (12), as illustrated in figure 2, into which a medium is introduced, i.e., as illustrated in figure 2, for example;
a feed-out section, i.e., take-in/discharge port (12c), as illustrated in figure 2, that is driven by a first drive source, implied/suggested by motors (M1, M2) as illustrated in figure 4, for example, so as to feed out the medium from the pay-in section (12);
a first conveyance section (21), as illustrated in figure 6, as mentioned at paragraph 69, that is connected to the pay-in section (12) and driven by a second drive source, implied/suggested by motors (M1, M2), as illustrated in figure 4, for example, driven independently of the first drive source, i.e., implied/suggested by (M1, M2) so as to convey the medium, i.e., banknotes (BL), as illustrated in figure 2a, for example;
a classification section, i.e., verification section (14), as illustrated in figure 6, that is provided to the first conveyance section (21) and classifies the conveyed medium, as mentioned at paragraphs 82-91;
a second conveyance section (22), as illustrated in figures 4 and 6, for example, that is connected to the first conveyance section (21), and driven by a third drive source, i.e., implied/suggested by motors (M1, M2), for driving independently of the first drive source and the second drive source so as to convey the medium, noting that banknotes travel throughout the apparatus via sections (20-22) of conveyance section (13) from deposit/withdrawal section (12), as illustrated in figure 6, for example;
a storage box, (17, 17a-17e) that is connected to the second conveyance section (22), i.e., via the branch conveyance sections for each storage box as seen in figure 2, for example, and stores the medium; and
a control section, i.e., banknote control section (11), as mentioned at paragraphs 61 and 62, that, when determined that an abnormal medium is present in the first conveyance section (21), stops driving of the first drive source, i.e., suggested/implied by motors (M1, M2), so as to stop the feed-out section (12c), as mentioned at paragraphs 127, 128, 152, 181, 311 and 312, for example, and
also stops driving of the second drive source, i.e., suggested/implied by motors (M1, M2), so as to stop the first conveyance section (12c), and
conveys the medium present in the second conveyance section (22) to the storage box, i.e., storage boxes (17, 17a-17e) or reject box (16), and stores the medium therein, as mentioned at paragraph 181 and as illustrated in figures 8, 9, 11a and 11b.
Regarding Claim 1, Wakabayashi does not expressly teach first, second and third drive sources.
Regarding Claim 1, Wakabayashi does not expressly teach, but Mori teaches first, second and third drive sources, i.e., conveying motors (11, 23, 33) of each module (M1, M2, M3) all controlled by module (M1) control CPU (10), module (M2) control CPU (20) and module (M3) control CPU (3), as illustrated in figure 1. Note that the modules (M1, M2, M3) and control CPUs (10, 20, 30) communicate with each other through local area network (50) and discriminating device (6) and discriminating CPU (6a), as illustrated in figures 1 and 2, for example.
Regarding Claim 1, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided, first, second and third drive sources, as taught by Mori for the purpose of driving the conveyor mechanisms of the transporter sections of Wakabayashi using common motors controlled, sequenced and coordinated by a controller, as is common in the banknote sorting/processing art.
Regarding Claim 2, Wakabayashi teaches wherein:
in cases in which the abnormal medium has been determined to be a reject medium that should be returned to a user based on a classification result of the classification section, i.e., verification section (14), as illustrated in figure 2, the control section (11, 11m) stores the medium present in the second conveyance section (22) in the storage box (17, 17a-17e) before then conveying the reject medium using the first conveyance section (21) so as to return the reject medium to the pay-in section (12), as mentioned at paragraph 127, 128, 131, 132, 139, 149, 150, 181 and 234, for example.
Regarding Claim 5, see the rejection of Claims 1 and 2, above.
Regarding Claim 6, Wakabayashi teaches further comprising:
a third conveyance section, i.e., temporary holding switching section (22), that is connected to the classification section (14) in the first conveyance section (21) at an opposite side to the pay-in section side (12) and that temporarily holds the abnormal medium, i.e., in temporary holding section (15), wherein,
the control section (11) conveys the abnormal medium to the third conveyance section (22) when determined that the abnormal medium is present in the first conveyance section (21), as illustrated in figures 2, 4 and 6, for example.
Regarding Claim 7, Wakabayashi teaches wherein:
the second conveyance section (22) is connected to the first conveyance section (21) at a position where the abnormal medium in the first conveyance section (21) does not reach the second conveyance section (22) when driving of the second drive source, as taught by Mori, has been stopped and the first conveyance section (21) has been stopped, noting that if both first and second conveyance sections are stopped, no medium/banknotes will reach either of the conveyance sections, whether or not it is abnormal.
Regarding Claim 8, Wakabayashi discloses wherein:
a plurality of the storage boxes (17, 17a-17e) are provided; and
the first conveyance section (21) and the second conveyance section (22) form a conveyance path for the medium/banknotes having a substantially straight line shape along an array direction in which the plurality of storage boxes (17, 17a-17e) have been arrayed, as illustrated in figures 2, 4 and 6, for example.
Regarding Claim 10, see the rejection of Claim 1, above.
Claim(s) 3-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi et al (US 2016/0335830 A1) in view of Mori (US 2010/0217432 A1) and further in view of Gutierrez-Vazquez et al (US 2008/0048390 A1).
Regarding Claim 3, Wakabayashi teaches the system as described above.
Regarding Claim 3, Wakabayashi teaches
a guide section, i.e., display section (6), as illustrated in figure 1, that presents specific information to a user of the medium processing device, as mentioned at paragraphs 54, 56, 116, 131, 133 (teaching display of instructions) and 206, as well as occurrence of a jam at paragraph 318, for example.
Regarding Claims 3 and 4, Wakabayashi does not expressly teach further comprising:
wherein, in cases in which the abnormal medium is a jammed medium stuck in the first conveyance section, the control section stores the medium present in the second conveyance section in the storage box before then presenting guidance with the guide section to remove the jammed medium.
Regarding Claims 3 and 4, Wakabayashi does not expressly teach, but Gutierrez-Vazquez teaches further comprising:
wherein, in cases in which the abnormal medium is a jammed medium stuck in the first conveyance section, the control section stores the medium present in the second conveyance section in the storage box, as taught by Wakabayashi, before then presenting guidance with the guide section to remove the jammed medium, as illustrated in figure 9, showing screen (48), text content (49), a video section (50) and instruction window (53), as illustrated in paragraphs 59-61, for example.
Regarding Claim 3, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided, wherein, in cases in which the abnormal medium is a jammed medium stuck in the first conveyance section, the control section stores the medium present in the second conveyance section in the storage box before then presenting guidance with the guide section to remove the jammed medium, as taught by Gutierrez-Vazquez, for the purpose of instructing a user of Wakabayashi’s medium processing apparatus on how to unjam the machine.
Regarding Claim 4, Wakabayashi does not expressly teach wherein the control section displays on the guide section a jammed medium removal screen emphasis displaying a portion indicating the first conveyance section as a place where the jammed medium is present.
Regarding Claim 4, Wakabayashi does not expressly teach, but Gutierrez-Vazquez teaches wherein the control section, i.e., processor (40), as illustrated in figure 8, displays on the guide section, i.e., interface (46) with display (47), as illustrated in figure 1 and as mentioned at paragraphs 24, 50-52, 56 and 59-61, for example, a jammed medium removal screen emphasis displaying a portion indicating the first conveyance section as a place where the jammed medium is present, i.e., via video section (50), as mentioned at paragraphs 50 and 51 mentioning visual instruction and video clips, for example.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wakabayashi et al (US 2016/0335830 A1) in view of Mori (US 2010/0217432 A1) and further in view of Fukuda et al (US 2019/0172292 A1).
Regarding Claim 9, Wakabayashi teaches the system as described above.
Regarding Claim 9, Wakabayashi teaches wherein:
the control section (11) conveys a normal medium, which in pay-in processing has been introduced to the pay-in section (12) and determined to be normal based on a classification result of the classification section (14), by conveying directly, using the temporary holding section (15) or the conveyor section (22s), to the storage box (17, 17a-17e) using the second conveyance section (22), as mentioned at paragraph 138, for example.
Regarding Claim 9, Wakabayashi does not expressly teach, but Fukuda teaches wherein:
the control section (15) conveys a normal medium, which in pay-in processing has been introduced to the pay-in section, i.e., depositing unit (21), as illustrated in figure 7, and determined to be normal based on a classification result of the classification section, i.e., recognition unit (24), by conveying directly without temporary holding, i.e., noting that the temporary storage (34) has been omitted in figure 6, to the storage box (31, 311-313, 32, 321-323) using the second conveyance section, i.e., lower path (4112), as mentioned at paragraph 160, 167 and 191-194.
Note that it has been held that omission of an element and its function in a combination where the remaining elements perform the same functions as before involves only routine skill in the art. See In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184.
Regarding Claim 9, before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have provided, wherein:
the control section conveys a normal medium, which in pay-in processing has been introduced to the pay-in section and determined to be normal based on a classification result of the classification section by conveying directly without temporary holding using the second conveyance section, as taught by Fukuda, in Wakabayashi’s medium processing apparatus, for the purpose of reducing the time used in the process where it is not desired to provide the user with the opportunity to cancel the transaction. Note that as taught by Fukuda, omitting the temporary storage (34) does not change the operation of any of the other elements in medium processing apparatus (1).
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.
Uchikawa ‘419 is cited as teaching a video instruction video displayed to provide guidance for clearing a jam or other maintenance procedures, as illustrated in figures 5a and 6a-6d.
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
August 8, 2026
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