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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gonzales et al (US PG. Pub. 2018/0002126) in view of Nagafuchi et al (US PG. Pub. 2019/0315587). Relative to claim 1, Gonzales discloses:
A transfer device (1000)(Fig. 1) comprising:
An RFID reader for reading an RFID tag attached to the roll transporter 1000, motivator 1200, platform 1110, or any pallets, racks, or bins accommodating a bobbin 125 (Para. 0089-0090);
a fork unit (1100, 1165, 1155)(Fig. 4) chucking the bobbin in the X-axis direction corresponding to the width direction or the lateral direction (see rotation of members 1155, 1165, around axis 1140, Para. 0054)(Fig. 4, 9),
a traveling drive unit (not shown but included) connected to the fork unit (1100, 1165) at the top of the fork unit, elevating the fork unit in the Z-axis direction corresponding to the height direction or the elevating direction (drive unit may include: linear actuators, pneumatic actuators, hydraulic actuators, mechanical actuators (such as chain drives, gear drives, rack-and-pinion drives), combinations thereof, and the like; Para. 0055), and moving the fork unit (1100, 1165) in the Y-axis direction corresponding to the longitudinal direction or the traveling direction (see movement of member 1165A along top of roll 125, Para. 0056)(Fig. 8); and
a control unit (on-board controller) for controlling Z-axis centering of the fork unit (1100, 1165, 1155), X-axis centering of the fork unit, and Z-axis elevation and Y-axis movement of the fork unit, respectively, to automatically control lifting of the bobbin (Para. 0055; 0081).
Gonzales does not expressly disclose:
the reader is a barcode reader for reading a barcode attached to a box accommodating a bobbin that is loaded with raw materials;
the fork unit for chucking the bobbin is provided with a distance sensor for sensing a distance to the bobbin, and a chucking sensor for sensing the bobbin chucking; or
the control unit controls the Z-axis centering of the fork unit in conjunction with the barcode reader and the distance sensor, and the X-axis centering in conjunction with the chucking sensor, to automatically control lifting of the bobbin.
Nagafuchi teaches:
the fork unit (see Ref. 44 of robot 41)(Fig. 6) for chucking the bobbin (10) is provided with a distance sensor for sensing a distance to the bobbin (Para. 0101, camera 48 is used to capture separation distance between Ref. 43a and roll 10), and a chucking sensor for sensing the bobbin chucking (camera 48 also detects central position of roll 10)(Para. 0095); and
the control unit (100) controls the Z-axis centering of the fork unit (44) in conjunction with the distance sensor (Para. 0101), and X-axis centering in conjunction with the chucking sensor to automatically control lifting of the bobbin (10)(Para. 0036; 0101; 0095, distance and chucking sensors are included with camera 48), for the purpose of providing a roll conveying device and method for conveying a roll in an appropriate winding posture to the target position in order to increase work efficiency (Para. 0007; 0009).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the device of Gonzales so that the fork unit is provided with a distance sensor and chucking sensor, and the control unit controls the Z-axis centering and x-axis centering of the fork unit in conjunction with the distance and chucking sensors described above, as taught in Nagafuchi for the purpose of providing a roll conveying device and method for conveying a roll in an appropriate winding posture to the target position in order to increase work efficiency.
Relative to claim 1, Gonzales in view of Nagafuchi does not expressly disclose:
the reader is a barcode reader for reading a barcode attached to a box accommodating a bobbin, the bobbin is loaded with raw materials, or the control unit controls the Z-axis centering of the fork unit in conjunction with the barcode reader.
Gonzales in view of Nagafuchi can be modified so that the reader comprises a barcode reader for reading a barcode on a box accommodating the bobbin, as an obvious matter of design choice, since barcode reading and RFID identification are known interchangeable means for identifying items within materials handling systems.
Gonzales already teaches using machine-readable identifiers to facilitate transport, storage, connection, and placement of the transported rolls 125 and related structures (Para. 0089). Applying the identifier, such as a barcode, to a box holding the article is a predictable use of a known identification method on a known container for the same purpose of identifying the roll and other structures within the transportation system (Para. 0089-0090). See MPEP §2144.06, §2144.03
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gonzales in view of Nagafuchi, so that the reader comprises a barcode reader for reading a barcode on a box accommodating the bobbin, as a matter of design choice, since barcode reading and RFID identification are known interchangeable means for identifying articles, and applying a barcode to a box is a predictable use of a known identification method to facilitate transport, storage, and placement of the transported articles.
Gonzales in view of Nagafuchi can also be modified so that the roll (Ref. 125 of Gonzalez, Ref. 10 of Nagafuchi) is a bobbin loaded with raw materials as a matter of design choice, as a bobbin represents a known form of wound material carrier for transporting raw materials, similar to a web roll. Both structures comprise wound material supported on a core and are commonly used to store and transport various materials within a materials handling facilities.
Substituting the web roll as a bobbin loaded with raw materials is a predictable use of a known equivalent article within the transport system of Gonzales and Nagafuchi. See MPEP §2141
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gonzales in view of Nagafuchi so that the roll is a bobbin loaded with raw materials since this constitutes a predictable use of a known equivalent article within the transport system.
Gonzales in view of Nagafuchi, modified as above, can be further modified so that the control unit for controls the Z-axis centering of the fork unit in conjunction with the barcode reader as an obvious matter of design choice.
Utilizing the identifying information by the barcode reader together with the sensed distance information from the distance sensor to control the vertical alignment and centering of the fork unit relative to the identified article so that the fork is properly positioned to reliably engage and transport the article, is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP §2144.05
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Gonzales in view of Nagafuchi, so that the control unit for controls the Z-axis centering of the fork unit in conjunction with the barcode reader as a matter of design choice to predictably improve reliable picking up and transporting the article.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Relative to claim(s) 2-10, the closest available prior art does not disclose:
Claim 2) the fork unit comprises: a fork unit frame has a plate-like structure; an orthogonal robot installed on the lower part of the fork unit frame; a fork arm on the lower part of the orthogonal robot; a fork inside the lower end of the fork arm to chuck the bobbin; an elevating guide shaft on the upper part of the fork unit frame, as claimed;
Claim 4) a conveyor unit for putting the box thereon; the conveyor unit comprises: a free roller lane for moving the box in the Y-axis direction; a box stopper located at the rear end of the Y-axis of the free roller lane; a cargo alignment sensor disposed adjacent to the box stopper; an entry guide block at the front end of the Y-axis of the free roller lane for guiding the entry path of a transport vehicle; and a transport vehicle end stopper disposed adjacent to the box stopper, as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOLANDA RENEE CUMBESS whose telephone number is (571)270-5527. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6.
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/YOLANDA R CUMBESS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
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