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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-17 are pending and examined below.
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.
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.
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.
Claims 1-4 and 8-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190307077 A1 (“Lert”) in view of US 20080023293 A1 (“Uratani”).
As per Claim 1, Lert discloses a handling robot, comprising:
a chassis configured to travel along a preset path (¶ 3—“The mobile robots are capable of moving in vertical planes within the aisles, as well as in horizontal planes on one or more transit decks connecting the different aisles”);
a vertical bracket arranged on the chassis (¶ 17—“each rack 104 includes a vertical (y-z) array of storage locations 106 and level changing towers at positions along the racks which in embodiments may be vertical towers”);
a handling assembly slidably connected to the vertical bracket, the handling assembly being configured to retrieve a first container from a warehouse shelf, or place the first container to the warehouse shelf (¶ 3—“Mobile robots travel within the aisles to retrieve and store containers of plants.”);
a holder connected to the vertical bracket, the holder being configured to hold a second container (¶ 23—“vertical farming system 100 can operate using only a single mobile robot, even where additional racks or storage locations are added”; ¶ 24—“Young seedlings may be stored on small vertically spaced shelves (shown in the bottom area in FIG. 3), and maturing plants are stored on shelves with larger vertical spacings.”); and
wherein the vertical bracket is arranged between the handling assembly and the holder (¶ 17—“level changing towers at positions along the racks”).
Uratani teaches additional limitations not expressly disclosed by Lert, including namely a transfer component connected to the vertical bracket, the transfer component being configured to transfer an item between the first container on the handling assembly and the second container held by the holder (¶ 36—“The linear transfer mechanism B1 generally includes a table-like guide member 1, and two transfer carriages”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lert to include the limitations as taught by Uratani to prevent power transmission loss in the drive mechanism (Uratani: ¶ 10).
As per Claim 2, Lert further discloses wherein the handling assembly is arranged in one of a front side and a rear side of the vertical bracket along a traveling direction of the chassis, the holder is arranged in the other one of the front side and the rear side of the vertical bracket (¶ 3—“The mobile robots are capable of moving in vertical planes within the aisles”).
As per Claim 3, Uratani teaches additional limitations not expressly disclosed by Lert, including namely wherein the transfer component is rotatably connected to the vertical bracket (¶ 22—“there is provided a transfer robot incorporating the above-described linear transfer mechanism…such that the transfer mechanism is rotatable about a vertical swivel axis in the transfer path,”);
wherein the transfer component is configured to pick the item from the first container on the handling assembly, rotate toward the second container held by the holder, and place the item to the second container (¶ 36—“The linear transfer mechanism B1 generally includes a table-like guide member 1, and two transfer carriages”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lert to include the limitations as taught by Uratani to prevent power transmission loss in the drive mechanism (Uratani: ¶ 10).
As per Claim 4, Uratani teaches additional limitations not expressly disclosed by Lert, including namely wherein the transfer component is rotatably connected to the vertical bracket (¶ 22—“there is provided a transfer robot incorporating the above-described linear transfer mechanism…such that the transfer mechanism is rotatable about a vertical swivel axis in the transfer path,”);
wherein the transfer component is configured to pick the item from the second container held by the holder, rotate toward the first container on the handling assembly, and place the item to the first container (¶ 36—“The linear transfer mechanism B1 generally includes a table-like guide member 1, and two transfer carriages”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lert to include the limitations as taught by Uratani to prevent power transmission loss in the drive mechanism (Uratani: ¶ 10).
As per Claim 8, Lert further discloses an identification device installed to the vertical bracket, wherein the identification device is configured to acquire image information of the item in the second container held by the holder (¶ 28—“The mobile robot 150b is for example presenting a container to an automated inspection, watering and nutrient workstation 122. This (or other) workstation 122 may also include data-gathering devices, such as a camera, spectrometer and/or other devices to measure the size, height, and healthiness attributes of the growing plants.”).
As per Claim 9, Lert further discloses wherein the image information comprises at least one of:
position information of the item; stock keeping unit information of the item to be transferred; shape of the item to be transferred; image feature point of the item to be transferred; color information of the item to be transferred; and volume information of the item to be transferred (¶ 28—“The mobile robot 150b is for example presenting a container to an automated inspection, watering and nutrient workstation 122. This (or other) workstation 122 may also include data-gathering devices, such as a camera, spectrometer and/or other devices to measure the size, height, and healthiness attributes of the growing plants.”).
As per Claim 10, Lert discloses a handling robot, comprising:
a chassis configured to travel along a preset path (¶ 3—“The mobile robots are capable of moving in vertical planes within the aisles, as well as in horizontal planes on one or more transit decks connecting the different aisles”);
a vertical bracket arranged on the chassis (¶ 17—“each rack 104 includes a vertical (y-z) array of storage locations 106 and level changing towers at positions along the racks which in embodiments may be vertical towers”);
a handling assembly slidably connected to the vertical bracket, the handling assembly being configured to retrieve a first container from a warehouse shelf, or place the first container to the warehouse shelf (¶ 3—“Mobile robots travel within the aisles to retrieve and store containers of plants.”);
a holder connected to the vertical bracket, the holder being configured to hold a second container (¶ 23—“vertical farming system 100 can operate using only a single mobile robot, even where additional racks or storage locations are added”; ¶ 24—“Young seedlings may be stored on small vertically spaced shelves (shown in the bottom area in FIG. 3), and maturing plants are stored on shelves with larger vertical spacings.”);
an identification device installed to the vertical bracket, wherein the identification device is configured to acquire image information of the item in the second container held by the holder (¶ 28—“The mobile robot 150b is for example presenting a container to an automated inspection, watering and nutrient workstation 122. This (or other) workstation 122 may also include data-gathering devices, such as a camera, spectrometer and/or other devices to measure the size, height, and healthiness attributes of the growing plants.”).
Uratani teaches additional limitations not expressly disclosed by Lert, including namely a transfer component connected to the vertical bracket, the transfer component being configured to transfer an item between the first container on handling assembly and the second container held by the holder (¶ 36—“The linear transfer mechanism B1 generally includes a table-like guide member 1, and two transfer carriages”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lert to include the limitations as taught by Uratani to prevent power transmission loss in the drive mechanism (Uratani: ¶ 10).
As per Claim 11, Lert further discloses wherein the image information comprises at least one of:
position information of the item; stock keeping unit information of the item to be transferred; shape of an item to be transferred; image feature point of an item to be transferred; color information of an item to be transferred; and volume information of an item to be transferred (¶ 28—“The mobile robot 150b is for example presenting a container to an automated inspection, watering and nutrient workstation 122. This (or other) workstation 122 may also include data-gathering devices, such as a camera, spectrometer and/or other devices to measure the size, height, and healthiness attributes of the growing plants.”).
As per Claim 12., Lert further discloses wherein the handling assembly is arranged in one of a front side and a rear side of the vertical bracket along a traveling direction of the chassis, the holder is arranged in the other one of the front side and the rear side of the vertical bracket (Fig. 2).
As per Claim 13, Uratani teaches additional limitations not expressly disclosed by Lert, including namely wherein the transfer component is rotatably connected to the vertical bracket (¶ 22—“there is provided a transfer robot incorporating the above-described linear transfer mechanism…such that the transfer mechanism is rotatable about a vertical swivel axis in the transfer path,”);
wherein the transfer component is configured to pick the item from the first container on the handling assembly, rotate toward the second container held by the holder, and place the item to the second container (¶ 36—“The linear transfer mechanism B1 generally includes a table-like guide member 1, and two transfer carriages”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lert to include the limitations as taught by Uratani to prevent power transmission loss in the drive mechanism (Uratani: ¶ 10)
As per Claim 14, Uratani teaches additional limitations not expressly disclosed by Lert, including namely wherein the transfer component is rotatably connected to the vertical bracket (¶ 22—“there is provided a transfer robot incorporating the above-described linear transfer mechanism…such that the transfer mechanism is rotatable about a vertical swivel axis in the transfer path,”).
wherein the transfer component is configured to pick the item from the second container held by the holder, rotate toward the first container on the handling assembly, and place the item to the first container (¶ 36—“The linear transfer mechanism B1 generally includes a table-like guide member 1, and two transfer carriages”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lert to include the limitations as taught by Uratani to prevent power transmission loss in the drive mechanism (Uratani: ¶ 10).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 and 15-17 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BASIL T JOS whose telephone number is (571)270-5915. The examiner can normally be reached 11:00 - 8:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, THOMAS WORDEN can be reached at (571) 272-4876. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Basil T. Jos/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3658