DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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 Information Disclosure Statements, filed 02 April 2025 and 29 July 2025 have been fully considered by the examiner. Signed copies are attached.
Claims 1-17 are pending.
Claims 1-17 are rejected, grounds follow.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 8-9, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huthmacher, Chinese Patent Application CN 113518753 (citations to machine translation courtesy Espacenet.)
Regarding Claim 1, Huthmacher teaches:
An automatic doffing ([0032] “feeding yarn bobbins from multiplying spinning positions of the melt spinning apparatus”) communication method, applied to a network device, ([0035] “wireless communication.”) comprising: receiving a doffing monitoring image ([0035] “the images captured by camera 12.1” [0036] “Camera 12.2 is thus assigned to the support spindle 9 of the doffing device 8, that is, the corresponding end of the yarn bobbin 6 is optically detected before separation.”) from a terminal device; ([0035] “The measuring device 11.1 is implemented in the form of a camera 12.1” [0036] “Measuring devices 11.2 and 11.3 are also formed by other cameras 12.2 and 12.3 set up for visual inspection of cylinder parameters.”)
sending the doffing monitoring image to a text recognition system; ([0035] “Each yarn bobbin 6 has a readable code, which is detected by scanner 13 and transmitted to database 18. In this regard, the images captured by camera 12.1 can be directly associated with each other in database 18 through the identification code of the yarn bobbin.”)
receiving an automatic doffing scheduling task from an automatic doffing system; ([0046] “The quality assessment is converted into control commands by the assessment unit 19, and the control commands are transmitted to the control device 24.”)
wherein the automatic doffing scheduling task comprises a task ([0046] “By controlling device 24, robot arm 21 will perform the removal and packaging of yarn bobbins based on quality assessment.”)generated by the automatic doffing system according to a recognition result (e.g. quality assessment associated with the identification code, see [0043]-[0045]) of the doffing monitoring image by the text recognition system; ([0044] “Optical measuring devices 11.2 and 11.3 are also wirelessly connected to database 18, so that other records of yarn bobbin 6, together with the records of the side surface, are stored with the respective identification codes of the yarn bobbin.” )
and sending the automatic doffing scheduling task to an automatic doffing device. ([0046] “The quality assessment is converted into control commands by the assessment unit 19, and the control commands are transmitted to the control device 24. By controlling device 24, robot arm 21 will perform the removal and packaging of yarn bobbins based on quality assessment.” Which may alternatively be a roving frame for storing multiple bobbins, see [0047])
Regarding Claims 8 and 16, Huthmacher teaches the discloses additional features regarding an automatic doffing system ([0043]-[0047] see citations supra), and the network communication (see [0035] and figs. 1-6 depicting wireless antennas on the controllers, robot, camera, etc.) and Claims 8 and 16 recite substantively the same subject matter discussed with respect to claim 1 above; Mutatis mutandis these claims are likewise anticipated by the disclosure of Huthmacher.
Regarding Claims 2 and 9, Huthmacher discloses all of the limitations of parent claims 1 and 8, respectively;
Huthmacher further discloses:
(claim 2 representative) wherein the doffing monitoring image is obtained by photographing using the terminal device or by taking a screenshot of a screen of the terminal device. ([0035] “images captured by camera 12.1”)
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) 3-4, 7 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huthmacher in view of Jimbo, Japanese Patent Application JP 2018/169827.
Regarding Claims 3 and 10, Huthmacher teaches all of the limitations of parent claims 2 and 8, respectively;
Huthmacher differs from the claimed invention in that:
Huthmacher does not appear to clearly articulate: (claim 3 representative) wherein the terminal device comprises at least one of a Personal Digital Assistant PDA, a screen of a doffing monitoring device, and a workshop data monitoring screen; and the method further comprises: sending the automatic doffing scheduling task to at least one of the PDA, the screen of the doffing monitoring device, and the workshop data monitoring screen.
However, Jimbo teaches an industrial automation monitoring system (see fig. 1) where terminal devices may comprise the monitoring display of the operating unit associated with a machine or workstation ([0009] “The operation monitoring system according to the present invention may be configured to include data detection means for detecting the state information consisting of color data, text data, or instruction data from the color scheme information of each of the state display device or operating device.”), which may be imaged by a camera ([0016] “an imaging device such as a CCD camera for status display devices such as signal towers and lamps, and an imaging device such as a CCD camera for detecting the status of status display devices and operating devices such as instrument pointers and 7-segment LEDs.”) and sends scheduling tasks to at least a workshop data monitoring screen ([0027] “the operation history detection unit receives the normal operation signal, derives the estimated production time from the order information and other information, subtracts the time elapsed under normal operation during the operation from the predetermined estimated production time for that operation stored in the storage unit 4, and outputs the remaining time to the display unit 9.” See figs. 2-3)
Jimbo is analogous art because it is from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention and other references of industrial automation.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have modified the teachings of Huthmacher to include capturing images of a screen of the workstation operational display, including using the data to aggregate scheduling information on a workshop data monitor, as suggested by Jimbo.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have been motivated to make this modification in order to analyze operating status of production equipment while also providing useful information to operators as suggested by Jimbo ([0007] “aims to provide an operation monitoring system that not only enables efficient production of products by storing and analyzing the operating status of production equipment, but also enables the flexible provision of information useful for production management to operators who operate and manage multiple production facilities.”)
Regarding Claim 4, Huthmacher teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 1,
Huthmacher differs from the claimed invention in that:
Huthmacher does not clearly articulate wherein the recognition result of the doffing monitoring image by the text recognition system comprises state data of a winding machine.
However, Jimbo teaches an industrial automation monitoring system (see fig. 1) where the image acquired for text recognition may include operational status information of the operating unit associated with a machine or workstation ([0009] “The operation monitoring system according to the present invention may be configured to include data detection means for detecting the state information consisting of color data, text data, or instruction data from the color scheme information of each of the state display device or operating device.”), which may be imaged by a camera ([0016] “an imaging device such as a CCD camera for status display devices such as signal towers and lamps, and an imaging device such as a CCD camera for detecting the status of status display devices and operating devices such as instrument pointers and 7-segment LEDs.”)
Jimbo is analogous art because it is from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention and other references of industrial automation.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have modified the teachings of Huthmacher to include capturing images of a screen of the workstation operational display, including using the data to aggregate scheduling information on a workshop data monitor, as suggested by Jimbo.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have been motivated to make this modification in order to analyze operating status of production equipment while also providing useful information to operators as suggested by Jimbo ([0007] “aims to provide an operation monitoring system that not only enables efficient production of products by storing and analyzing the operating status of production equipment, but also enables the flexible provision of information useful for production management to operators who operate and manage multiple production facilities.”)
Regarding Claim 7, Huthmacher in view of Jimbo teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 4,
Huthmacher further teaches:
wherein the state data of the winding machine further comprises a turning requirement, ([0034] “In the melt spinning process, the yarn produced is continuously wound to form a bobbin on a driven winding spindle 7.1.”) and the method further comprises: receiving a yarn spindle turning task from the automatic doffing system; wherein the yarn spindle turning task is generated according to the turning requirement; ([0035] “In order for the support mandrel 9 of the doffing device 8 to obtain the yarn bobbin 6 from the winding spindle 7.2, the support mandrel 9 is initially located directly in front of the winding machine 5.”)
and sending the yarn spindle turning task to a yarn spindle transfer station. (see e.g. [0036] “The dropper 8 interacts with the conveyor 14 in the transfer station 2.”)
Claim(s) 5-6 and11-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huthmacher in view of Jimbo, further in view of Wang, et al., Chinese Patent Application CN 111924664.
Regarding Claims 5 and 11, Huthmacher in view of Jimbo teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 4, and Huthmacher teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 8, respectively;
Huthmacher further teaches:
(claim 5 representative) wherein the automatic doffing system comprises an automatic doffing scheduling system, ([0046] “The quality assessment is converted into control commands by the assessment unit 19…”) and receiving the automatic doffing scheduling task from the automatic doffing system comprises: receiving the automatic doffing scheduling task from the automatic doffing scheduling system; (ibid “…and the control commands are transmitted to the control device 24.”)
and the automatic doffing scheduling task comprises at least one of identification information, doffing time and doffing sequence of the automatic doffing device that needs to be scheduled. ([0044] “records of yarn bobbin 6, together with the records of the side surface, are stored with the respective identification codes of the yarn bobbin.”)
Further, regarding Claim 11, Jimbo teaches the features regarding obtaining state data of a winding machine from monitoring image data (see rejection of claim 4 supra).
Huthmacher and Huthmacher in view of Jimbo differ from the claimed invention in that:
[wherein the automatic doffing scheduling task is a task generated by the automatic doffing scheduling system] according to the state data of the winding machine and a working state of the automatic doffing device;
the state data of the winding machine comprises at least one of winding time, remaining time and doffing time corresponding to a line type and/or a machine number;
However, Wang teaches an automatic doffing system and method (see page 1, technical field) which teaches automated scheduling (page 1 final paragraph: “adopting centralized control, including: collecting the real-time parameters of the winding production line at the current moment, generating real-time working information of the winding production line; The optimization plan of the unwinding operation is constructed with all the optimization plans as the plan database of the winding production line;”) according to state data of the winding machine including remaining time corresponding to the machine number (Page 2, 4th paragraph “the number of the winder, actual position of each winder, type of package wound by the winder and the corresponding full time”) and a working state of the automatic doffing device (ibid. “the unwinding robot is empty, half, and full. The normal moving speed, the maximum allowable moving speed, the maximum available acceleration time, the number of reels that the unwinding robot can drop” etc.)
Wang is analogous art because it is from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention and other references of industrial automation.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have modified the teachings of Huthmacher to include generating the scheduling task further based on stated data of the winding machine including remaining time and state data of the automatic doffing device, as suggested by Wang.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have been motivated to make this modification in order to optimize routing to improve doffing efficiency, as suggested by Wang (Page 4 final line-Page 5 “If the unwinding efficiency does not meet the requirements of the unwinding operation, and the winding machine exceeds the tube bursting time, it will cause package loss. Therefore, it is necessary to select optimization The unwinding path to improve the unwinding efficiency.”)
Regarding Claim 6, Huthmacher in view of Jimbo and Wang teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 5,
Huthmacher further teaches:
wherein the automatic doffing device comprises an automatic doffing robot and/or a track-type automatic doffing device, ([0036] “In this embodiment, the conveying device 14 is formed by a suspension rail frame 15, on which multiple cylindrical carriages 16 are guided”)
Wang further teaches:
and sending the automatic doffing scheduling task to the automatic doffing device comprises: when a plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks received comprise the doffing sequence, (Page 4 last paragraph “the unwinding robot It is necessary to perform unwinding operations on the winding machine in sequence according to the actual unwinding path”) sending the plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks to the automatic doffing robot and/or the track-type automatic doffing device corresponding to the identification information of the automatic doffing device according to the doffing sequence and/or the doffing time. (Page 3, 8th paragraph: “The analysis of comprehensive factors such as the position and the task of coiling with different bursting time, the analysis and comparison of the efficiency of the drop path through the calculation of the program, and the optimal working route to complete the current task. Finally, the central control device will work The path is sent to the actual unwinding robot control system, so that the efficiency of the unwinding system is maximized.”)
(in the interest of compact prosecution, examiner notes Wang also teaches an automatic doffing robot and/or track-type automatic doffing device; page 2 second paragraph “at least one unwinding robot”)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have modified the teachings of Huthmacher to include generating the scheduling task further based on stated data of the winding machine including remaining time and state data of the automatic doffing device, as suggested by Wang.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have been motivated to make this modification in order to optimize routing to improve doffing efficiency, as suggested by Wang (Page 4 final line-Page 5 “If the unwinding efficiency does not meet the requirements of the unwinding operation, and the winding machine exceeds the tube bursting time, it will cause package loss. Therefore, it is necessary to select optimization The unwinding path to improve the unwinding efficiency.”)
Regarding Claim 12, Huthmacher in view of Jimbo and Wang teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 11,
Wang further teaches:
sorting a plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks according to doffing time of the plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks, to obtain a doffing sequence of the plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks. (see Page 4, 3rd paragraph, e.g. “The solution is to optimize the unwinding path q'in the production state of q, and the unwinding robot needs to perform unwinding operations on the winding machines m3, m4, m5 according to the optimized unwinding path q', |T"-T'|≥Δt'” where “For example, at time T', there are winding machines m1 (winding type A package) and m2 (winding type B package) in sequence from T'-Δt' to T', but they have not yet finished.” Comprising sequencing future doffing tasks according to future finish times and travel time.)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have modified the teachings of Huthmacher to include generating the scheduling task further based on stated data of the winding machine including remaining time and state data of the automatic doffing device, as suggested by Wang.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have been motivated to make this modification in order to optimize routing to improve doffing efficiency, as suggested by Wang (Page 4 final line-Page 5 “If the unwinding efficiency does not meet the requirements of the unwinding operation, and the winding machine exceeds the tube bursting time, it will cause package loss. Therefore, it is necessary to select optimization The unwinding path to improve the unwinding efficiency.”)
Regarding Claim 13, Huthmacher in view of Jimbo and Wang teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 12,
Wang further teaches:
when the plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks comprise the doffing sequence, (Page 4 last paragraph “the unwinding robot It is necessary to perform unwinding operations on the winding machine in sequence according to the actual unwinding path”) sending the plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks to the network device according to the doffing sequence and/or the doffing time of the plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks; or when the plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks comprise the doffing sequence, sending the plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks with the doffing sequence to the network device. (Page 4, 6th paragraph “compare the plan database to select the actual unwinding path of the unwinding robot, construct the unwinding control plan, and control the winding production line to generate the unwinding by the central control device”)
Regarding Claim 14, Huthmacher in view of Jimbo and Wang teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 12,
Huthmacher further teaches:
wherein the automatic doffing device comprises an automatic doffing robot and/or a track-type automatic doffing device, ([0036] “In this embodiment, the conveying device 14 is formed by a suspension rail frame 15, on which multiple cylindrical carriages 16 are guided”)
Wang further teaches:
and the method further comprises: when the plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks comprise the doffing sequence, (Page 4 last paragraph “the unwinding robot It is necessary to perform unwinding operations on the winding machine in sequence according to the actual unwinding path”) sending the plurality of automatic doffing scheduling tasks to the automatic doffing robot and/or the track-type automatic doffing device corresponding to the identification information of the automatic doffing device according to the doffing sequence and/or the doffing time. (Page 3, 8th paragraph: “The analysis of comprehensive factors such as the position and the task of coiling with different bursting time, the analysis and comparison of the efficiency of the drop path through the calculation of the program, and the optimal working route to complete the current task. Finally, the central control device will work The path is sent to the actual unwinding robot control system, so that the efficiency of the unwinding system is maximized.”)
Regarding Claim 15, Huthmacher in view of Jimbo and Wang teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 11,
Huthmacher further teaches:
wherein the state data of the winding machine further comprises a turning requirement, ([0034] “In the melt spinning process, the yarn produced is continuously wound to form a bobbin on a driven winding spindle 7.1.”) and the method further comprises: generating, by the automatic doffing system, a yarn spindle turning task according to the turning requirement; ([0035] “In order for the support mandrel 9 of the doffing device 8 to obtain the yarn bobbin 6 from the winding spindle 7.2, the support mandrel 9 is initially located directly in front of the winding machine 5.”)
and sending the yarn spindle turning task to the network device and/or a yarn spindle transfer station. (see e.g. [0036] “The dropper 8 interacts with the conveyor 14 in the transfer station 2.”)
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huthmacher in view of the general background knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art as exemplified by Wikipedia – 5G (2022).
Regarding Claim 17, Huthmacher teaches all of the limitations of parent claim 16,
Huthmacher does not clearly articulate:
wherein the network device comprises a 5G base station and a 5G base station server.
However, Huthmacher teaches that the network may be wireless, and 5G (“fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks”) is a type of wireless network that one of ordinary skill in the art would be aware of as a general matter of background knowledge in the art.
Accordingly examiner finds 1) the prior art contained a device, (method, product, etc.) which differed from the claimed device by the substitution of some components (step, element etc.) with other components – the teachings of Huthmacher which differ from the claimed invention by the substitution of 5G for the undisclosed species of wireless network in Huthmacher; 2) the substituted components and their functions were known in the art – as exemplified by the teachings of “Wikipedia – 5G”; 3) one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application could have substituted one known element for another and the results of the substitution would have been predictable at least because 5G is expressly designed to be suitable for machine-to-machine communication (see “Wikipedia – 5G” Page 1 “due to increased bandwidth it… will make possible new applications in internet-of-things (IoT) and machine-to-machine areas.”) and accordingly the substitution would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application (see MPEP 2143.I.B).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sumner et al., US 4,665,686 – teaching a procedure for (manual) sequencing of doffing operations based on remaining processing time for spinning machines;
Locatelli, US Pg-Pub 2017/0146989 – teaching a monitoring system for textile machinery using wireless communication over a network to a central controller.
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/J.T.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2119
/MOHAMMAD ALI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2119
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