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 § 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) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Masuda et al. (US 20180111754 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Masuda et al. discloses a stacker crane (11) comprising:
a mast (31);
a carriage (37) provided so as to be capable of being raised and lowered with respect to the mast (It can be seen Fig. 2 and 4);
a movable section (15) mounted to the carriage (37) and configured to be movable with respect to the carriage (¶0043, lines 0-22); and
a movement control instrument (It can be seen in Fig. 9, Host controller 83 is connected to controller) configured to control motive power supplied to the movable section (It can be seen in Fig. 9, controller is able to control the movement of transferring device),
the movement control instrument being disposed outside the carriage (It can be seen in Fig. 4, Host controller 83 is placed in the casing 43 which is located outside of 37).
Regarding claim 2, Masuda et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
It also discloses the movement control instrument (It can be seen in Fig. 9, Host controller 83 is connected to controller which is the movement control instrument) is housed in a casing (43) that is attached to the mast (Host controller 83 is placed in the casing 43 which is attached to the mast, it can be seen in Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 3, Masuda et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 2.
It also discloses a raising and lowering control instrument (It can be seen in Fig. 9, Host controller 83 is connected to the controller) configured to control motive power supplied to a lifting section that is configured to raise and lower the carriage (It can be seen in Fig. 9, controller is able to control the raise and lower the carriage or lifting device);
a traveling section (12 and 13) on which the mast (31) is erected (Fig. 4);
and a traveling control instrument (Fig. 9, Controller) configured to control motive power supplied to the traveling section (It can be seen in Fig. 9 that controller is able to control the traveling control instrument 69. Since the controller able to control traveling movement it is noted as it can also control power required to travel),
the raising and lowering control instrument and the traveling control instrument each being housed in the casing (Host controller 83 is placed in the casing 43, it can be seen in Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 4, Masuda et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 3.
It also discloses the casing (43) is attached to the mast (31) in a direction that is orthogonal to a direction in which the traveling section travels and that is orthogonal to a direction in which the mast extends (It can be seen in Fig. 4 the direction is orthogonal to travelling direction and that is orthogonal to the direction in which the mast extended).
Regarding claim 5, Masuda et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 3.
It also discloses the stacker crane comprises a plurality of the masts that are spaced apart from each other in a direction in which the traveling section travels (It can be seen in Fig. 4),
and the casing (43) is attached to the mast (31) that is provided on a side closer to a home position which is located on one end side of a traveling path (It can be seen in Fig. 1 to 3; home position can be adjusted by ordinary skill in the art) through which the traveling section travels (It can be seen in Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 6, Masuda et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 4.
It also discloses a raising and lowering cable (41) for electrically (40) connecting the movable section and the movement control instrument (It can be seen in Fig. 5, and see ¶0052 and ¶0053),
the raising and lowering cable (41) being attached to the mast (see Fig. 4 or 5, cable 41 is attached to mast 31 via 46) on the same side as the side on which the casing is attached to the mast (It can be seen in Fig. 4 cable is attached to the mast on the same side on the casing is attached to the mast).
Regarding claim 7, Masuda et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 6.
It also discloses the stacker crane (11) comprises a plurality of the masts (It can be seen in Fig. 4) that are spaced apart from each other in the direction (See the arrow in Fig. 5 indicates the travelling direction) in which the traveling section travels (claimed structure can be seen in Fig. 4),
the carriage (37) is provided with a connector plate into which a connector for connecting the raising and lowering cable is installed (see attached annotated Fig. 5), and
in the direction in which the traveling section travels (it can be seen in Fig. 5), the connector plate is located on a side closer to the mast to which the casing is attached (claimed structure can be seen in Fig. 4 or 5).
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Regarding claim 8, Masuda et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 7.
It also discloses the connector plate (as annotated in Fig, 5) is located on a side on which the casing is located in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the traveling section travels (claimed structure can be seen in Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 9, Masuda et al. discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
It also discloses the movement control instrument (Fig. 9, 83) controls an electric current supplied to a drive unit that the movable section has. (Since the controller able to control the movement of 15, it is noted as it can also control power required for movement).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Additional cited prior arts on PTO-892 show other stacker crane which is disclosing or teaching some or all of the claimed structure of the stacker crane. Also, Ariizumi (US8807234B2) teaches about a travelling INV1, a lifting INV2 and a transferring INV3 (¶0035 or column 10 lines 50-57) which can control the motive power supply to the traveling section as claimed in claim 3 and electric current supplied to a drive unit that drives movable section as claimed in claim 9.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAIMIN G PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-0052. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Saul Rodriguez can be reached at 517-272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAUL RODRIGUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3652
/JAIMIN G PATEL/Examiner, Art Unit 3652