DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-16 are cancelled.
Claims 17-30 are pending.
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 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) 17-26 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ari et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0167080 (hereinafter Ari).
Regarding claims 17-26 and 30, Ari discloses all the limitations of the claimed invention, as outlined below:
Claim 17 - An operating apparatus to operate an industrial machine that includes a first element on one side in a predetermined arrangement direction and a second element on another side in the predetermined arrangement direction, the operating apparatus comprising: a touch panel display to display an image and usable to perform input on the image displayed; and a panel display controller configured or programmed to cause the touch panel display to display a first panel usable to perform settings regarding the first element, and a second panel usable to perform settings regarding the second element on the another side with respect to the first panel; wherein when an input to display a new one of the first panel is performed via the touch panel display, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to display the new one of the first panel on the one side with respect to the second panel having been displayed on the touch panel display; and when an input to display a new one of the second panel is performed via the touch panel display, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to display the new one of the second panel on the another side with respect to the first panel having been displayed on the touch panel display (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
Claim 18 -The operating apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the panel display controller is configured or programmed to cause the touch panel display to display a plurality of the first panel and to display a plurality of the second panel on the another side with respect to any of the plurality of first panel (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
Claim 19 - The operating apparatus according to claim 17, wherein when an input to display a new one of the first panel is performed via the touch panel display, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to display the new one of the first panel on the one side with respect to any one of a plurality of the second panel having been displayed on the touch panel display; and when an input to display a new one of the second panel is performed via the touch panel display, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to display the new one of the second panel on the another side with respect to any one of a plurality of the first panel having been displayed on the touch panel display (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
Claim 20 - The operating apparatus according to claim 17, wherein when an input to display a new one of the first panel is performed via the touch panel display, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to first display the new one of the first panel on the another side with respect to the second panel having been displayed on the touch panel display, and then, swap positions of the new one of the first panel and the second panel to display the new one of the first panel on the one side with respect to the second panel; and when an input to display a new one of the second panel is performed via the touch panel display, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to display the new one of the second panel on the another side with respect to the first panel from a time point at which displaying starts (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
Claim 21 - The operating apparatus according to claim 20, wherein when an input to display a new one of the first panel is performed via the touch panel display, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to first display the new one of the first panel on the another side with respect to any one of a plurality of the second panel having been displayed on the touch panel display, and then, move the new one of the first panel to the one side with respect to any one of the plurality of the second panel while moving the plurality of the second panel to the another side with respect to the new one of the first panel, to display the new one of the first panel on the one side with respect to any one of the plurality of the second panel; and when an input to display a new one of the second panel is performed via the touch panel display, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to display the new one of the second panel on the another side with respect to any one of a plurality of the first panel from a time point at which displaying starts (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
Claim 22 - The operating apparatus according to claim 17, wherein when an input to display a new panel is performed via the touch panel display, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to first display the new panel on the another side with respect to the second panel having been displayed on the touch panel display, then further accept, via the touch panel display, designation of whether the new panel is the first panel or the second panel, and, if the new panel is designated as the first panel, display the new panel on the one side with respect to the second panel by swapping positions of the new panel and the second panel (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
Claim 23 - The operating apparatus according to claim 22, wherein when an input to display a new panel is performed via the touch panel display, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to first display the new panel on the another side with respect to any one of a plurality of the second panel having been displayed on the touch panel display, then further accept, via the touch panel display, designation of whether the new panel is the first panel or the second panel, and, if the new panel is designated as the first panel, move the new panel to the one side with respect to any one of the plurality of the second panel while moving the plurality of the second panel to the another side with respect to the new panel, to display the new panel on the one side with respect to any one of the plurality of the second panel (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
Claim 24 - The operating apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the panel display controller is configured or programmed to display one or both of the first panel and the second panel over all or substantially all of a setting area preliminarily prescribed on the touch panel display (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
Claim 25 - The operating apparatus according to claim 24, wherein, when displaying a new one of the first panel or a new one of the second panel in the setting area, the panel display controller is configured or programmed to shrink one or both of the first panel and the second panel that have been displayed first (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
Claim 26 - The operating apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the touch panel is attachable to the industrial machine in a removable manner (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
Claim 30 - A display method for an operating apparatus to operate an industrial machine that includes a first element on one side in a predetermined arrangement direction and a second element on another side in the predetermined arrangement direction, the operating apparatus including a touch panel display to display an image and perform input on the image displayed, the display method comprising: causing the touch panel display to display a first panel to perform settings regarding the first element, and a second panel to perform settings regarding the second element on the another side with respect to the first panel; when an input to display a new one of the first panel is performed via the touch panel display, displaying the new one of the first panel on the one side with respect to the second panel having been displayed on the touch panel display; and when an input to display a new one of the second panel is performed via the touch panel display, displaying the new one of the second panel on the another side with respect to the first panel having been displayed on the touch panel display (See Figure 3A-3B and Para 0020, 0034, 0040 - - See the swapping, moving, resizing, and prioritizing of panels. It can be noted that industrial machine is outside the scope of the claim. The claim invention is directed towards a display for operating the industrial machine. The claimed first and second element are being interpreted as components/elements of the display. The claimed components/elements correspond to the display and not the industrial machine).
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 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 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 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ari et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0167080 (hereinafter Ari) in view of Nakanishi, US Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0290759 (hereinafter Nakanishi).
Regarding claim 27, Ari discloses all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Ari fails to clearly specify wherein the industrial machine is a lathe; and the first element and the second element are both machining units included in the lathe.
However, Nakanishi teaches wherein the industrial machine is a lathe; and the first element and the second element are both machining units included in the lathe (Para 0023).
The applied prior art is considered analogous art to the claimed invention because they relate to same field of endeavor. They relate to systems comprising display devices for control purposes.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the above user-friendly layout system, as taught by Ari, and incorporating the concept of configuring lathe machining systems via display/layout systems, as taught by Nakanishi.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to simplify the teaching process, as suggested by Nakanishi (See 0016-0019).
Claim 28-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ari et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0167080 (hereinafter Ari) in view of Kao et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0270466 (hereinafter Kao).
Regarding claims 28-29, Ari discloses all the limitations of the base claims as outlined above.
Ari fails to clearly specify:
Claim 28 - wherein the industrial machine is a loader device; and the first element and the second element are both transporters included in the loader device.
Claim 29 - wherein the industrial machine is an automated warehouse; and the first element and the second element are both transport carriers included in the automated warehouse.
However, Kao teaches:
Claim 28 - wherein the industrial machine is a loader device; and the first element and the second element are both transporters included in the loader device (See Para 0042-0044).
Claim 29 - wherein the industrial machine is an automated warehouse; and the first element and the second element are both transport carriers included in the automated warehouse (See Para 0042-0044).
The applied prior art is considered analogous art to the claimed invention because they relate to same field of endeavor. They relate to systems comprising display devices for control purposes.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the above user-friendly layout system, as taught by Ari, and incorporating the concept of configuring warehouse systems and transporters via display/layout systems, as taught by Kao.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to simplify the scheduling and routing process via user-friendly touch panels, as suggested by Kao (See Para 0042-0044).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Anzures et al., US Patent No. 8,736,561 – relates to graphical user interface with content display modes and display rotation heuristics.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLOS R ORTIZ RODRIGUEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-3766. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 10:00 am- 6:30 pm.
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/CARLOS R ORTIZ RODRIGUEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119
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