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 .
Response to Arguments
Claim rejections under 35 USC § 112 is withdrawn in view of amendments. Applicant’s
arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-18 filed on 05/14/2026 have been considered but they are not persuasive or moot in view of new ground of rejection provided below which was necessitated based on Applicant adding a new claim.
Applicant argues on page 3 of the Applicant’s Remarks that “Applicant submits that this dual function is not disclosed or suggested in the cited references. In particular, the Action concedes that the above emphasized elements of Claim 1 are not disclosed by Hata, and further takes the position that Hallock teaches these elements of Claim 1, i.e., that a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers a separated deformable article of the grasped at least one deformable article into the repositioning work volume adjacent the elongated platform, and two or more repositioning arms are disposed about a perimeter of the repositioning work volume at spaced apart, individually anchored positions such that the last arm and the two or more repositioning arms are configured to spread apart and lower on the surface the separated, spread apart deformable article for folding”. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Hata already teaches a series of robot arms work sequentially and picking up and holding, spread apart clothes and lowering it to surface of setting and folding line (Fig 3, Fig. 4). However, Hallock teaches at least one arm drive motor configured to move the actuatable terminal gripper toward an outlet end of the elongated platform opposite the inlet end (See at least Fig 5B, Fig 6A, Fig 6B shows moving an actuatable terminal gripper toward an end of the elongated platform), a surface adjacent the outlet end of the elongated platform and disposed at a bottom of a repositioning work volume, wherein a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers a separated deformable article of the grasped at least one deformable article into the repositioning work volume adjacent the elongated platform (See at least Fig 5B, Fig 6A, Fig 6B shows a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers an object at the outlet end). Therefore, the combination of Hata in view of Hallock discloses the feature of at least one arm drive motor configured to move the actuatable terminal gripper toward an outlet end of the elongated platform opposite the inlet end and a surface adjacent the outlet end of the elongated platform and disposed at a bottom of a repositioning work volume, wherein a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers a separated deformable article of the grasped at least one deformable article into the repositioning work volume adjacent the elongated platform, thereby efficiently complete the task. Therefore, the combination of Hata in view of Hallock discloses the feature of at least one arm drive motor configured to move the actuatable terminal gripper toward an outlet end of the elongated platform opposite the inlet end and a surface adjacent the outlet end of the elongated platform and disposed at a bottom of a repositioning work volume, wherein a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers a separated deformable article of the grasped at least one deformable article into the repositioning work volume adjacent the elongated platform, thereby efficiently complete the task. Examiner recognizes that references cannot be arbitrarily combined and that there must be some reason why one skilled in the art would be motivated to make the proposed combination of primary and secondary references. In re Nomiya, 184 USPQ 607 (CCPA 1975). However, there is no requirement that a motivation to make the modification be expressly articulated. The test for combining the references is what the combination of disclosures taken as a whole would suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art. In re McLaughlin, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971). References are evaluated by what they suggest to one versed in the art, rather than by their specific disclosures. In re Bozek, 163 USPQ 545 (CCPA 1969).
Applicant further argues on page 3 and 4 of the office action that “As illustrated in FIG. 6B of Hallock, the last arm 502b delivers an object, which is not a deformable article. In addition, the last arm 502b (and the two or more repositioning arms) is not configured to spread apart and lower on the surface a deformable article for clothing. Hallock does not disclose or suggest using the arm 502b for spreading apart and lowering on the surface a deformable article for clothing nor does Hallock describe that the arm 502b can also be used together with two or more repositioning arms for spreading apart and lowering on the surface a deformable article for clothing. Although Hata describes a cloth handling robot, Hata does not meet the recitations that a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers a separated deformable article of the grasped at least one deformable article into the repositioning work volume adjacent the elongated platform, and two or more repositioning arms are disposed about a perimeter of the repositioning work volume at spaced apart, individually anchored positions such that the last arm and the two or more repositioning arms are configured to spread apart and lower on the surface the separated, spread apart deformable article for folding as conceded in the Action and as generally recited in Claim 1”. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Hata already teaches handing deformable articles (clothes). Hata also teaches spreading apart and lowering the cloth on a surface for folding as already mentioned above (Fig. 3, Fig. 4). Hallock teaches a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers a separated deformable article of the grasped at least one deformable article into the repositioning work volume adjacent the elongated platform as discussed above. Therefore, the combination of Hata and Hallock clearly teaches the claimed invention. The same reasoning as applied to the independent claim also apply to its corresponding dependent claims.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 9-13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hata et al. (S. Hata, T. Hiroyasu, J. Hayashi, H. Hojoh and T. Hamada, "Robot system for cloth handling," 2008 34th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics, Orlando, FL, USA, 2008, pp. 3449-3454) (Hereinafter Hata) in view of Hallock et al. (US 20200171650 A1) (Hereinafter Hallock).
Regarding Claim 1, Hata teaches a system for separating and spreading apart an amassed plurality of deformable articles, comprising:
an elongated platform configured to receive thereon adjacent an inlet end the amassed plurality of deformable articles (See at least Fig 3. is showing an elongated platform configured to receive thereon adjacent an inlet end the amassed plurality of deformable articles);
a plurality of arms disposed in series along the elongated platform (See at least Fig 3. shows a plurality of arms disposed in series along the elongated platform), each one of the plurality of arms comprising an actuatable terminal gripper configured to grasp in sequence at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles initially disposed adjacent the inlet end (See at least Fig 3 is showing each one of the plurality of arms comprising an actuatable terminal gripper configured to grasp in sequence at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles initially disposed adjacent the inlet end and at least one arm drive motor configured to move the actuatable terminal gripper toward an outlet end of the elongated platform opposite the inlet end) … ;
two or more repositioning arms disposed about a perimeter of the repositioning work volume at spaced apart, individually anchored positions, the last arm and the two or more repositioning arms being configured to spread apart and lower on the surface the separated, spread apart deformable article for folding (See at least Fig 3 is showing two or more repositioning arms disposed about a perimeter of the repositioning work volume at spaced apart, individually anchored positions the repositioning arms being configured to spread apart and lower on the surface the separated, spread apart deformable article for folding, Fig.4 Operation Steps of Cloth Handling Robot System : A robot system with 3-D vision sensors set washed clothes to a pressing and folding lines.).
However, Hata does not explicitly spell out … and at least one arm drive motor configured to move the actuatable terminal gripper toward an outlet end of the elongated platform opposite the inlet end
a surface adjacent the outlet end of the elongated platform and disposed at a bottom of a repositioning work volume, wherein a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers a separated deformable article of the grasped at least one deformable article into the repositioning work volume adjacent the elongated platform; and …
Hallock teaches … and at least one arm drive motor configured to move the actuatable terminal gripper toward an outlet end of the elongated platform opposite the inlet end (See at least Fig 5B, Fig 6A, Fig 6B shows moving an actuatable terminal gripper toward an end of the elongated platform)
a surface adjacent the outlet end of the elongated platform and disposed at a bottom of a repositioning work volume, wherein a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers a separated deformable article of the grasped at least one deformable article into the repositioning work volume adjacent the elongated platform (See at least Fig 5B, Fig 6A, Fig 6B shows a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers an object at the outlet end); and …
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hata with the teachings of Hallock and include the feature of at least one arm drive motor configured to move the actuatable terminal gripper toward an outlet end of the elongated platform opposite the inlet end and a surface adjacent the outlet end of the elongated platform and disposed at a bottom of a repositioning work volume, wherein a last arm in the series of the plurality of arms delivers a separated deformable article of the grasped at least one deformable article into the repositioning work volume adjacent the elongated platform, thereby efficiently complete the task.
Regarding Claim 2, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 1. Hata further teaches the system of claim 1, wherein moving the actuatable terminal gripper toward the outlet end comprises the at least one arm drive motor of each one of the plurality of arms at least one of rotating, tilting, extending, translating, and retracting the actuatable terminal gripper (See at least Page 3453 Col 1 “ROBOT HAND - … The 7th axis is declined 18 degree to the 6th axis, and rotates along the 6th axis, as is shown in fig.15. So, the robot hand has 36 degree wider range of posture to grasp the corner of the towel.”).
Regarding Claim 9, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 1. Hata further teaches the system of claim 1, wherein each of the two or more repositioning arms comprise a gripper and at least one repositioning drive motor, the two or more repositioning arms being configured to move within the repositioning work volume for releasably engaging a separated deformable laundry article, and operate at least one of independently of and in tandem with at least one of another of the two or more repositioning arms and the last arm of the plurality of arms closest to the outlet end of the elongated platform to at least one of raise, suspend, and spread the separated deformable laundry article above the surface (See at least Fig 3. And Fig. 4 shows each of the two or more repositioning arms comprise a gripper, the two or more repositioning arms being configured to move within the repositioning work volume for releasably engaging a separated deformable laundry article, and operate at least one of independently of and in tandem with at least one of another of the two or more repositioning arms and the last arm of the plurality of arms closest to the outlet end of the elongated platform to at least one of raise, suspend, and spread the separated deformable laundry article above the surface).
Regarding Claim 10, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 9. Hata further teaches the system of claim 9, further comprising two or more repositioning sensors disposed at two or more fixed locations about the repositioning work volume (See at least Fig 3. shows sensors disposed at two or more fixed locations about the repositioning work volume), each of the two or more repositioning sensors being configured to
at least one of detect one or more features and capture one or more images of the separated deformable laundry article disposed within the repositioning work volume (See at least Page 3450 Fig 5., Fig. 6, Col 2 Para 3 and 3 “IV. VISION SYSTEMS - In the operation steps, vision systems detect the 3-D position and orientation of the towel. At the step (a), the overview vision detects the highest point of the piled towels … But in many cases, towels have no texture, and the 3-D shape of piled towels is hard to be detected. To make it easy to have stereo image processing to extract 3-D shape of towels without textures, stereo vision sensors with a pattern projector have been developed.”), and
output a signal comprising the at least one of the detected one of one or more features and captured one or more images (See at least Page 3450 Fig 5., Fig. 6, Col 2 Para 3 and 3 “IV. VISION SYSTEMS - In the operation steps, vision systems detect the 3-D position and orientation of the towel. At the step (a), the overview vision detects the highest point of the piled towels … But in many cases, towels have no texture, and the 3-D shape of piled towels is hard to be detected. To make it easy to have stereo image processing to extract 3-D shape of towels without textures, stereo vision sensors with a pattern projector have been developed.”).
Regarding Claim 11, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 10. Hata further teaches the system of claim 10, further comprising at least one controller in operable communication with the at least one repositioning drive motor of each of the two or more repositioning arms, an actuator of the gripper of each of the two or more repositioning arms, and the two or more repositioning sensors, the at least one controller configured to
determine one or more grip points at or adjacent corners of the separated deformable article based on a received output signal (See at least Fig 3, Fig 4, Page 3450 Col 1 and Col 2 “(a) Highest Point Pick-up: The over view vision system detect the highest point of piled washed towels, and the robot pick-up one towel grasping the highest point. (b) Pulling Up One End of a Towel: To get the corners of a towel, first, one end of the towel is grasped, and pulled up by a pulling up hand. When the towel is pulled up, one corner of the towel appear at the bottom of the towel. (c) Grasping One Corner: Observing a bottom corner of the pulled up towel by the hand vision, the 3-D position and the orientation of the corner is detected. The robot grasps the corner. (d) Grasping the 2nd Corner: After the first corner grasping, the robot pull up the corner, some what. Then the other corner is appeared at the bottom of the towel. The corner is also detected its 3-D position and the orientation, and grasped by the other robot. (e) Setting of the towel to the press and folding line; Grasping two corners of the towel, the robots spread the grasped towel and set it to the pressing and folding line.”), and
instruct the two or more repositioning arms to simultaneously engage and grip the two or more grip points and at least one of expand the separated deformable article, lift the separated deformable article, and lower an expanded separated deformable article onto the surface (See at least Fig 3, Fig 4, Page 3450 Col 1 and Col 2 “(a) Highest Point Pick-up: The over view vision system detect the highest point of piled washed towels, and the robot pick-up one towel grasping the highest point. (b) Pulling Up One End of a Towel: To get the corners of a towel, first, one end of the towel is grasped, and pulled up by a pulling up hand. When the towel is pulled up, one corner of the towel appear at the bottom of the towel. (c) Grasping One Corner: Observing a bottom corner of the pulled up towel by the hand vision, the 3-D position and the orientation of the corner is detected. The robot grasps the corner. (d) Grasping the 2nd Corner: After the first corner grasping, the robot pull up the corner, some what. Then the other corner is appeared at the bottom of the towel. The corner is also detected its 3-D position and the orientation, and grasped by the other robot. (e) Setting of the towel to the press and folding line; Grasping two corners of the towel, the robots spread the grasped towel and set it to the pressing and folding line.”).
Regarding Claim 12, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 10. Hata further teaches the system of claim 10, wherein the two or more repositioning sensors are positioned apart from the two or more repositioning arms (See at least Fig 3 shows repositioning sensors are positioned apart from the two or more repositioning arms, Fig 6).
Regarding Claim 13, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 10. Hata further teaches the system of claim 10, wherein the two or more repositioning sensors are each positioned on at least one base supporting one of the two or more repositioning arms (See at least Fig 3 shows repositioning sensors are positioned apart from the two or more repositioning arms, Fig 6).
Regarding Claim 15, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 1. Hata further teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the amassed plurality of deformable articles comprises household laundry (See at least Page 3449 Col 2 “III. CLOTH HANDLING ROBOT SYSTEM To replace the human handling which is shown in fig. 1, a cloth handling robot system has been experimentally introduced. The task of the cloth handling robot system is to pick up a cloth from a pile of washed clothes, and set the spread cloth to the pressing and folding machine.”).
Claim(s) 3, 4, and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hata et al. (S. Hata, T. Hiroyasu, J. Hayashi, H. Hojoh and T. Hamada, "Robot system for cloth handling," 2008 34th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics, Orlando, FL, USA, 2008, pp. 3449-3454) (Hereinafter Hata) in view of Hallock et al. (US 20200171650 A1) (Hereinafter Hallock), and further in view of Sakane et al. (US 20120228340 A1) (Hereinafter Sakane).
Regarding Claim 3, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 1.
Although Hata discloses washing cloth handling robot system with multiple working robots (See
at least Fig. 3, Fig 4), he does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 1, further comprising at least one controller in operable communication with the at least one arm drive motor, an actuator of the actuatable terminal gripper, and repositioning drive motors of the two or more repositioning arms.
Sakane teaches the system of claim 1, further comprising at least one controller in operable communication with the at least one arm drive motor, an actuator of the actuatable terminal gripper, and repositioning drive motors of the two or more repositioning arms (See at least Para [0086] “The laundry transporting robot arm 310 is a robot arm including a two-finger hand attached to the tip thereof. As represented in FIG. 2, the laundry transporting robot arm 310 is communicatively connected to the control device 900. The laundry transporting robot arm 310 is configured to move the laundries LD from a laundry basket to the washing machine 200 and move the laundries LD from the washing machine 200 to the drying machine 250 in response to a command from the control device 900…”, Para [0088] “Similarly to the laundry transporting robot arm 310, the dried laundry transporting robot arm 320 is a robot arm including a two-finger hand attached to the tip thereof. As represented in FIG. 2, the dried laundry transporting robot arm 320 is communicatively connected to the control device 900. In response to a command from the control device 900, the dried laundry transporting robot arm 320 is configured to pick up one of the dried laundries LD from the drying machine 250 and halt in a predetermined position…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hata with the teachings of Sakane and include the feature of one controller being in operable communication with the at least one arm drive motor, an actuator of the actuatable terminal gripper, and repositioning drive motors of the two or more repositioning arms, thereby making the process efficient.
Regarding Claim 4, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 3.
Although Hata discloses washing cloth handling robot system with multiple working robots (See
at least Fig. 3, Fig 4), he does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 3, wherein the at least one controller is configured to instruct the at least one arm drive motor to move the actuatable terminal gripper and grasped at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles toward the outlet end and instruct the actuator to open the actuatable terminal gripper the gripper to release the grasped at least one deformable article of the amassed plurality of deformable articles onto the elongated platform.
Sakane teaches the system of claim 3, wherein the at least one controller is configured to instruct the at least one arm drive motor to move the actuatable terminal gripper and grasped at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles toward the outlet end and instruct the actuator to open the actuatable terminal gripper the gripper to release the grasped at least one deformable article of the amassed plurality of deformable articles onto the elongated platform (See at least Para [0086] “The laundry transporting robot arm 310 is a robot arm including a two-finger hand attached to the tip thereof. As represented in FIG. 2, the laundry transporting robot arm 310 is communicatively connected to the control device 900. The laundry transporting robot arm 310 is configured to move the laundries LD from a laundry basket to the washing machine 200 and move the laundries LD from the washing machine 200 to the drying machine 250 in response to a command from the control device 900…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hata with the teachings of Sakane and include the feature of instructing the at least one arm drive motor to move the actuatable terminal gripper and grasped at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles toward the outlet end and instruct the actuator to open the actuatable terminal gripper the gripper to release the grasped at least one deformable article of the amassed plurality of deformable articles onto the elongated platform, thereby making the process efficient.
Regarding Claim 5, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 3.
Although Hata discloses washing cloth handling robot system with multiple working robots (See
at least Fig. 3, Fig 4), he does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 3, wherein the at least one controller is configured to instruct an arm drive motor of the last arm in the series of the plurality of arms to move its actuatable terminal gripper and the separated deformable article grasped therein into the repositioning work volume, and upon determining that a gripper of at least one of the two or more repositioning arms is engaged with the separated deformable article, instruct the actuator of the actuatable terminal gripper to open to release the deformable article.
Sakane teaches the system of claim 3, wherein the at least one controller is configured to instruct an arm drive motor of the last arm in the series of the plurality of arms to move its actuatable terminal gripper and the separated deformable article grasped therein into the repositioning work volume, and upon determining that a gripper of at least one of the two or more repositioning arms is engaged with the separated deformable article, instruct the actuator of the actuatable terminal gripper to open to release the deformable article (See at least Para [0086] “The laundry transporting robot arm 310 is a robot arm including a two-finger hand attached to the tip thereof. As represented in FIG. 2, the laundry transporting robot arm 310 is communicatively connected to the control device 900. The laundry transporting robot arm 310 is configured to move the laundries LD from a laundry basket to the washing machine 200 and move the laundries LD from the washing machine 200 to the drying machine 250 in response to a command from the control device 900…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hata with the teachings of Sakane and include the feature of at least one controller being configured to instruct an arm drive motor of the last arm in the series of the plurality of arms to move its actuatable terminal gripper and the separated deformable article grasped therein into the repositioning work volume, and upon determining that a gripper of at least one of the two or more repositioning arms is engaged with the separated deformable article, instruct the actuator of the actuatable terminal gripper to open to release the deformable article, thereby making the process efficient.
Claim(s) 6, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hata et al. (S. Hata, T. Hiroyasu, J. Hayashi, H. Hojoh and T. Hamada, "Robot system for cloth handling," 2008 34th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics, Orlando, FL, USA, 2008, pp. 3449-3454) (Hereinafter Hata) in view of Hallock et al. (US 20200171650 A1) (Hereinafter Hallock), Sakane et al. (US 20120228340 A1) (Hereinafter Sakane), and further in view of Sundholm (US 20160328941 A1).
Regarding Claim 6, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 3. Hata further teaches the system of claim 3, further comprising at least one sensor …, the at least one sensor configured to detect on the elongated platform at least one deformable article of the amassed plurality of deformable articles, and output a signal to the at least one controller indicative of at least one of a presence and location of the at least one deformable article relative to an actuatable terminal gripper of one of the plurality of arms (See at least Page 3450 Col 2 “IV. VISION SYSTEMS - In the operation steps, vision systems detect the 3-D position and orientation of the towel.”).
However, Hata does not explicitly spell out … disposed at least one of on, adjacent to the
elongated platform …
Sundholm teaches … disposed at least one of on, adjacent to the elongated platform (See at
Least Para [0012] “… In the solution of the invention different types of sensors can be used, which sensors can detect the presence and/or attitude of an object by means of different technologies. In the solution according to the invention the sensors can be installed e.g. on a ceiling, floor or wall…”) …
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hata with the teachings of Sundholm and include the feature of a sensor being disposed at least one of on, adjacent to the elongated platform, thereby provide precise and accurate object detection (See at least Para [0025] “… By means of the precise measurement of distance it can also be deduced whether the object is tall or short and in which attitude it is, e.g. has the object fallen or is it in a lying attitude.”).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 6. Hata further teaches the
system of claim 6, wherein the at least one controller is configured to, based on a received signal output by the at least one sensor, instruct the at least one arm drive motor to position the actuatable terminal gripper of one of the plurality of arms to grasp the detected at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles, instruct an actuator of the actuatable terminal gripper to close on the detected at least one deformable article, and instruct the at least one arm drive motor to raise the one of the plurality of arms, its closed actuatable terminal gripper, and the grasped at least one detected deformable article to a hoist height above the elongated platform, and move toward the outlet end and the repositioning work volume (See at least Fig 3, Fig 4 discloses robot arm grasp the detected at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles raise the one of the plurality of arms with closed actuatable terminal gripper and the grasped at least one detected deformable article to a hoist height above the elongated platform and move it).
Regarding Claim 8, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 7. Hata further teaches the
system of claim 7, wherein the at least one controller is further configured to, based on the received signal output from the at least one sensor, determine a state comprising at least one of
one or more of the amassed plurality of deformable articles are present on the elongated surface of the platform (See at least Page 3450 Col 2 “IV. VISION SYSTEMS - In the operation steps, vision systems detect the 3-D position and orientation of the towel.”), and
none of the amassed plurality of deformable articles are present on the surface of the elongated platform.
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hata et al. (S. Hata, T. Hiroyasu, J. Hayashi, H. Hojoh and T. Hamada, "Robot system for cloth handling," 2008 34th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics, Orlando, FL, USA, 2008, pp. 3449-3454) (Hereinafter Hata) in view of Hallock et al. (US 20200171650 A1) (Hereinafter Hallock), and further in view of Lindley et al. (US 20220048708 A1) (Hereinafter Lindley).
Regarding Claim 14, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 1.
However, Hata does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 1, wherein the elongated
platform comprises a stationary floor.
Lindley teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the elongated platform comprises a stationary
floor (See at least Para [0053] “Within the scope of the invention, the conveying system may comprise and/or be made up of a generally stationary conveying system…”, Para [0152] “The articles 10a . . . 10h may be transported, as described above, using a stationary conveying system…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hata with the teachings of Lindley and include the feature of the elongated platform comprising a stationary floor, thereby providing specific working surface for efficieny.
Claim(s) 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hata et al. (S. Hata, T. Hiroyasu, J. Hayashi, H. Hojoh and T. Hamada, "Robot system for cloth handling," 2008 34th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics, Orlando, FL, USA, 2008, pp. 3449-3454) (Hereinafter Hata) in view of Hallock et al. (US 20200171650 A1) (Hereinafter Hallock), and further in view of Alif (US2020332449A1).
Regarding Claim 16, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 1.
However, Hata does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 15, wherein the household laundry comprises two or more article types of at least one of different sizes, different shapes, different colors, and different fabrics.
Alif teaches the system of claim 15, wherein the household laundry comprises two or more article types of at least one of different sizes, different shapes, different colors, and different fabrics (See at least Para [0059] “In some embodiments, the clothing data processing assembly may be configured to determine identify the various articles of clothing to be cleaned and may be used to assist in determining: weight of the item and other attributes such as size, weight distribution, measurements, colors, fabrics type, seams, stitches, designs, folds, flaps, collars, sleeves, and any transparency.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hata with the teachings of Alif and include the feature of household laundry comprising two or more article types of at least one of different sizes, different shapes, different colors, and different fabrics, thereby provide the flexibility of handling different types/variety of clothing.
Claim(s) 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hata et al. (S. Hata, T. Hiroyasu, J. Hayashi, H. Hojoh and T. Hamada, "Robot system for cloth handling," 2008 34th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics, Orlando, FL, USA, 2008, pp. 3449-3454) (Hereinafter Hata) Alif (US2020332449A1), in view of Hallock et al. (US 20200171650 A1) (Hereinafter Hallock), and further in view of Kim (WO2017182309A1, Attached English copy is used for claim mapping).
Regarding Claim 17, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 1.
However, Hata does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 16, wherein each of the two or more article types comprises a longest dimension of between about 4cm to 500cm.
Kim teaches the system of claim 16, wherein each of the two or more article types comprises a longest dimension of between about 4cm to 500cm (See at least Page 2 Para 14 “The predetermined size may comprise a predetermined length of the cloth, such as a predetermined length of the long edge of the cloth. The rotating of the head portion may be triggered only when the long edge of the cloth has a predetermined short length, i.e. 1200 mm or less.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hata with the teachings of Kim and include the feature of each of the two or more article types comprising a longest dimension of between about 4cm to 500cm, thereby providing flexibility of handling different length of clothing.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hata et al. (S. Hata, T. Hiroyasu, J. Hayashi, H. Hojoh and T. Hamada, "Robot system for cloth handling," 2008 34th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics, Orlando, FL, USA, 2008, pp. 3449-3454) (Hereinafter Hata) in view of Hallock et al. (US 20200171650 A1) (Hereinafter Hallock), Domae et al. (Y. Domae, A. Noda, T. Nagatani and W. Wan, "Robotic General Parts Feeder: Bin-picking, Regrasping, and Kitting," 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Paris, France, 2020, pp. 5004-5010) (Hereinafter Domae), and further in view of Sun et al. (US10954081B1) (Hereinafter Sun).
Regarding Claim 18, modified Hata teaches all the elements of claim 1.
However, Hata does not explicitly spell out the system of claim 1, wherein:
the elongated platform comprises a plurality of sequential work volumes extending between the inlet end and the outlet end of the elongated platform; each one of the plurality of arms is associated with one of the plurality of sequential work volumes;
the at least one arm drive motor of each one of the plurality of arms is configured to move the actuatable terminal gripper within the associated one of the plurality of sequential work volumes to pass the at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles sequentially through the plurality of sequential work volumes;
the system further comprises at least one sensor disposed at least one of on, adjacent to, and within each of the plurality of sequential work volumes, the at least one sensor configured to detect at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles disposed within an associated one of the plurality of sequential work volumes and to output a signal indicative of at least one of a presence and location of the at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles within the associated one of the plurality of sequential work volumes; and
the system further comprises at least one controller in operable communication with the at least one sensor and the at least one arm drive motor of each one of the plurality of arms, the at least one controller configured to determine, based on a received signal from the at least one sensor in each of the plurality of sequential work volumes, a state comprising at least one of:
one or more of the amassed plurality of deformable articles are present in at least one of the plurality of sequential work volumes, and
none of the amassed plurality of deformable articles are present in the plurality of sequential work volumes, to thereby separate the plurality of deformable articles.
Sun teaches the elongated platform comprises a plurality of sequential work volumes extending between the inlet end and the outlet end of the elongated platform (See at least Fig 2A, Fig 2B shows an elongated platform comprises a plurality of sequential work volumes extending between the inlet end and the outlet end of the elongated platform); each one of the plurality of arms is associated with one of the plurality of sequential work volumes (See at least Fig 2B shows each one of the plurality of arms is associated with one of the plurality of sequential work volumes);
…
the system further comprises at least one sensor disposed at least one of on, adjacent to, and within each of the plurality of sequential work volumes (See at least Para [0064] “…Additional cameras 224 and 226 are included, in addition to cameras 214 and 216 , to provide a 3D view of the full scene, including each of the four stations/chutes 206 , 236 , 238 , and 240 …”), the at least one sensor configured to detect at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles disposed within an associated one of the plurality of sequential work volumes and to output a signal indicative of at least one of a presence and location of the at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles within the associated one of the plurality of sequential work volumes (See at least Para [0121] “If it is determined at 908 that no further effort should be made at this time to grasp the item, the process advances to 912 at which it is determined whether there are other items available to be grasped (e.g., other items are present in the chute and the system has a grasp strategy available for one or more of them).”); and
the system further comprises at least one controller in operable communication with the at least one sensor and the at least one arm drive motor of each one of the plurality of arms, the at least one controller configured to determine, based on a received signal from the at least one sensor in each of the plurality of sequential work volumes (See at least Fig. 2B, Para [0064] “…Additional cameras 224 and 226 are included, in addition to cameras 214 and 216 , to provide a 3D view of the full scene, including each of the four stations/chutes 206 , 236 , 238 , and 240 …”, Para [0121] “If it is determined at 908 that no further effort should be made at this time to grasp the item, the process advances to 912 at which it is determined whether there are other items available to be grasped (e.g., other items are present in the chute and the system has a grasp strategy available for one or more of them).”), a state comprising at least one of:
one or more of the amassed plurality of deformable articles are present in at least one of the plurality of sequential work volumes (See at least Para [0121] “If it is determined at 908 that no further effort should be made at this time to grasp the item, the process advances to 912 at which it is determined whether there are other items available to be grasped (e.g., other items are present in the chute and the system has a grasp strategy available for one or more of them).”), and
none of the amassed plurality of deformable articles are present in the plurality of sequential work volumes, to thereby separate the plurality of deformable articles (See at least Para [0121] “If it is determined at 908 that no further effort should be made at this time to grasp the item, the process advances to 912 at which it is determined whether there are other items available to be grasped (e.g., other items are present in the chute and the system has a grasp strategy available for one or more of them).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hata with the teachings of Sun and include the feature of the elongated platform comprises a plurality of sequential work volumes extending between the inlet end and the outlet end of the elongated platform; each one of the plurality of arms is associated with one of the plurality of sequential work volumes and sensor identifying whether there is article present in the work volumes, thereby provide performance efficiency (See at least Para [0119] “… Such an approach increases the likelihood of a successful grasp and is more efficient than determining the grasp has failed and starting over.”).
Domae teaches … the at least one arm drive motor of each one of the plurality of arms is configured to move the actuatable terminal gripper within the associated one of the plurality of sequential work volumes to pass the at least one of the amassed plurality of deformable articles sequentially through the plurality of sequential work volumes (See at least Page 5004 Col 2 “The system includes three sub-components that execute bin-picking (isolation), regrasping, and kitting roles. These three sub-components are connected into a pipeline which divides and conquers the multiple parts feeding problem step by step. First, one robot picks up a part from bins and places it into a flat surface to isolate it from others. Second, three robots regrasp the part and align it to the goal pose….”);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hata with the teachings of Domae and include the feature of move the actuatable terminal gripper within the associated one of the plurality of sequential work volumes to pass the article, thereby provide performance efficiency (See at least Fig. 1 “…After recognizing the pose of the placed single parts from bins, robots pick the parts and regrasp them using our efficient regrasp planning algorithm.”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Kwak (US 2019/0390396 A1) teaches spreading clothes using multiple grippers
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/SHAHEDA HOQUE/Examiner, Art Unit 3658
/Ramon A. Mercado/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3658
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