DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 15 and 16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Applicant should include the limitations of the preamble into the body of the claim.
When reading the preamble in the context of the entire claim, the recitation(s):
Claim 15) “using at least one hardware processor, within an automated system that comprises at least one transport conveyor and a plurality of storage conveyors, each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprising a plurality of segments configured to hold at least one item, and each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprising a portion that is aligned with a portion of the at least one transport conveyor such that items are moveable from the storage conveyor to the at least one transport conveyor, to:”; and
Claim 16) “of an automated system that comprises at least one transport conveyor and a plurality of storage conveyors, each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprising a plurality of segments configured to hold at least one item, and
each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprising a portion that is aligned with a portion of the at least one transport conveyor such that items are moveable from the storage conveyor to the at least one transport conveyor,”
is not limiting because the body of the claim describes a complete invention and the language recited solely in the preamble does not provide any distinct definition of any of the claimed invention’s limitations.
Thus, Applicant should amend the claim to include the limitations of the preamble into the claim body to be considered a limitation. See Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 182 F.3d 1298, 1305, 51 USPQ2d 1161, 1165 (Fed. Cir. 1999). See MPEP § 2111.02.
The examples below are illustrative and not limiting.
An example of claim 15 may be:
“A method comprising using at least one hardware processor within an automated system, the method comprising:
in the automated system, providing at least one transport conveyor and a plurality of storage conveyors, each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprising a plurality of segments configured to hold at least one item, and each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprising a portion that is aligned with a portion of the at least one transport conveyor such that items are moveable from the storage conveyor to the at least one transport conveyor, the method further comprising:
receiving an instruction to collect one or more items at a single destination location; and,
for each of the one or more items, identify a segment on one of the plurality of storage conveyors on which the item is held, …”
Examples of claim 16 may include, but not limited to:
“A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor of an automated system causes the processor to:
receive an instruction to collect one or more items at a single destination location; and, for each of the one or more items,
identify a segment on one of a plurality of storage conveyors on which the item is held,
control the one storage conveyor to align the identified segment with at least one transport conveyor,
move the item from the identified segment onto the at least one transport conveyor,
control the at least one transport conveyor to align the item with a single destination location, and
move the item from the at least one transport conveyor to the single destination location;
wherein:
the automated system comprises:
the at least one transport conveyor and the plurality of storage conveyors, each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprises the plurality of segments configured to hold at least one item, and
each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprises the portion that is aligned with the portion of the at least one transport conveyor such that items are moveable from the storage conveyor to the at least one transport conveyor.”
“A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein for moving items in an automated system;
wherein the automated system comprises at least one transport conveyor and a plurality of storage conveyors, each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprising a plurality of segments configured to hold at least one item, and
each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprising a portion that is aligned with a portion of the at least one transport conveyor such that items are moveable from the storage conveyor to the at least one transport conveyor;
wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor of an automated system causes the processor to:
receive an instruction to collect one or more items at a single destination location; and, for each of the one or more items,
identify a segment on one of a plurality of storage conveyors on which the item is held,
control the one storage conveyor to align the identified segment with at least one transport conveyor,
move the item from the identified segment onto the at least one transport conveyor,
control the at least one transport conveyor to align the item with a single destination location, and
move the item from the at least one transport conveyor to the single destination location.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-2, 6, 11, 13, and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gorski (US PG. Pub. 2017/0283185) in view of Wolf et al (US 2021/006,1562). Relative to claims 1-2, 6, and 11 and 13, Gorski discloses:
claim 1) A system (100a)(Fig. 1A) comprising:
at least one transport conveyor (106)(Fig. 1A);
a plurality of storage conveyors (103a-103e, 109)(Fig. 1A, 1C), each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprises a plurality of segments configured to hold at least one item (112)(Para. 0016)(see items on conveyors 103), and
each of the plurality of storage conveyors (103) comprises a portion that is aligned with a portion of the at least one transport conveyor (106), such that items are moveable from the storage conveyor (103) to the at least one transport conveyor (106)(items are transferred from Ref. 103, to exit Ref. 106 when the elevator 109, which was coupled to end of each conveyor 103, is aligned with Ref. 106 as shown in Fig. 1A, and/or the bottom ramp section Ref. 118 shown in Fig. 1C aligns with Ref. 106 to allow items to enter/exit the system, see also Fig. 1E);
at least one hardware processor (Para. 0039)(processor is included with computing environment, Ref. 303); and
one or more software modules configured to, when executed by the at least one hardware processor (Para. 0039),
receive an instruction to collect one or more items (Para. 0067), and,
for each of the one or more items, identify a segment on one of the plurality of storage conveyors (103) on which the item is held (Para. 0067, management system 318 locates items within system, including on the conveyors),
control the one storage conveyor (103) to align the identified segment (103, 109) with the at least one transport conveyor (106)(Para. 0067)(Fig. 1A), and
move the item from the identified segment (103, 109) onto the at least one transport conveyor (106)(Fig. 1A).
Claim 2) the at least one hardware processor is configured to independently control each of the at least one transport conveyor (106) and the plurality of storage conveyors (103) to move independently from each other (Para. 0042).
Claim 6) the portion of each of the plurality of storage conveyors (103) that is aligned with the portion of the at least one transport conveyor (106) moves in a direction that is parallel to a direction of movement of the portion of the at least one transport conveyor (106) with which the portion of the storage conveyor (106) is aligned (See Fig. 1A).
Claim 11) comprising one or more reading stations comprising a reader device configured to read a characteristic of an item held on a segment of at least one of the at least one transport conveyor (106) or the plurality of storage conveyors (103)(Para. 0042, see sensors 322 for identifying items in within the system).
Claim 13) the one or more software modules are further configured to, when executed by the at least one hardware processor (Para. 0039):
receive the instruction to collect the one or more items from a web application via at least one network (storage management system receives request to retrieve item from a user via an agent client 306 over a network 312, the network 312 includes the internet, Para. 0038; 0066)(Fig. 3); and
provide an identifier of the destination location to the web application via the at least one network (312)(the computing environment stores data in a data store 315 that includes item and item location data as well as other data, Para. 0043).
Gorski does not expressly disclose:
the instruction for collecting one or more items includes receiving an instruction for collecting one or more items at a single destination location;
controlling the at least one transport conveyor to align the item with the destination location,
moving the item from the at least one transport conveyor towards the single destination location; or
the identified destination provided by the software modules to the web application includes a single destination location.
Wolf teaches:
the instruction for collecting one or more items includes receiving an instruction for collecting one or more items at a single destination location (114a-n)(Para. 0044);
controlling the at least one transport conveyor (132)(Fig. 1B, 1E) to align the item with the destination location (114)(Para. 0051; 0041), and
moving the item from the at least one transport conveyor (132) towards the single destination location (114)(Fig. 1B, 1E), and
the identified destination provided by the software modules to the web application includes a single destination location (Para. 0087, 0045), for the purpose of providing an improved automated warehousing system for storing pallets and other physical goods that optimizes performance factors and is more efficient (Para. 0002, 0007, 0008).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gorski in view of Wolf, with the receiving an instruction for collecting at a single destination location; controlling the transport conveyor to align the item with the destination location, moving the item from the transport conveyor towards the single destination location described above, and the identified destination provided by the software modules to the web application includes a single destination location mentioned above, as taught in Wolfe, for the purpose of providing an improved automated warehousing system for storing pallets and other physical goods that optimizes performance factors and is more efficient.
Relative to claim 15, the disclosure of Gorski includes:
A method comprising using at least one hardware processor (included in Ref. 303)(Para. 0039), within an automated system (100a) that comprises at least one transport conveyor (106) and a plurality of storage conveyors (103), each of the plurality of storage conveyors (103) comprising a plurality of segments configured to hold at least one item (Fig. 1A), and
each of the plurality of storage conveyors (103) comprising a portion that is aligned with a portion of the at least one transport conveyor (106) such that items are moveable from the storage conveyor (103) to the at least one transport conveyor (106)(see Fig. 1A) to:
receive an instruction to collect one or more items (Para. 0067); and, for each of the one or more items,
identify a segment on one of the plurality of storage conveyors (103) on which the item is held (Para. 0067),
move the item from the identified segment (103) onto the at least one transport conveyor (106).
Gorski does not disclose:
the instruction for collecting one or more items includes receiving an instruction for collecting one or more items at a single destination location;
controlling the at least one transport conveyor to align the item with the destination location, and
moving the item from the at least one transport conveyor towards the destination location.
Wolf teaches:
the instruction for collecting one or more items includes receiving an instruction for collecting one or more items at a single destination location (114a-n)(Para. 0044);
controlling the at least one transport conveyor (132)(Fig. 1B, 1E) to align the item with the destination location (114)(Para. 0051; 0041), and
moving the item from the at least one transport conveyor (132) towards the single destination location (114)(Fig. 1B, 1E), for the purpose of providing an improved automated warehousing system for storing pallets and other physical goods that optimizes performance factors and is more efficient (Para. 0002, 0007, 0008).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gorski with the receiving an instruction for collecting at a single destination location; controlling the transport conveyor to align the item with the destination location, and moving the item from the transport conveyor towards the single destination location described above, as taught in Wolfe, for the purpose of providing an improved automated warehousing system for storing pallets and other physical goods that optimizes performance factors and is more efficient.
Relative to claim 16, the disclosure of Gorski includes:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein, wherein the instructions (see Ref. 303), when executed by a processor of an automated system (100a) that comprises at least one transport conveyor (106) and a plurality of storage conveyors (103),
each of the plurality of storage conveyors (103) comprising a plurality of segments configured to hold at least one item (Fig. 1A), and
each of the plurality of storage conveyors (103) comprising a portion that is aligned with a portion of the at least one transport conveyor (106) such that items are moveable from the storage conveyor (103) to the at least one transport conveyor (106)(Fig. 1A, 1C), cause the processor to:
receive an instruction to collect one or more items (Para. 0067); and, for each of the one or more items,
identify a segment on one of the plurality of storage conveyors (103) on which the item is held (Para. 0067),
control the one storage conveyor (103, 109) to align the identified segment with the at least one transport conveyor (106)(Para. 0042; 0067),
move the item (112) from the identified segment onto the at least one transport conveyor (106)(Fig. 1A)(Para. 0016).
Gorski does not disclose:
the instruction for collecting one or more items includes receiving an instruction for collecting one or more items at a single destination location;
controlling the at least one transport conveyor to align the item with the destination location, and
moving the item from the at least one transport conveyor towards the destination location.
Wolf teaches:
the instruction for collecting one or more items includes receiving an instruction for collecting one or more items at a single destination location (114a-n)(Para. 0044);
controlling the at least one transport conveyor (132)(Fig. 1B, 1E) to align the item with the destination location (114)(Para. 0051; 0041), and
moving the item from the at least one transport conveyor (132) towards the single destination location (114)(Fig. 1B, 1E), for the purpose of providing an improved automated warehousing system for storing pallets and other physical goods that optimizes performance factors and is more efficient (Para. 0002, 0007, 0008).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gorski with the receiving an instruction for collecting at a single destination location; controlling the transport conveyor to align the item with the destination location, and moving the item from the transport conveyor towards the single destination location described above, as taught in Wolfe, for the purpose of providing an improved automated warehousing system for storing pallets and other physical goods that optimizes performance factors and is more efficient.
Claim(s) 3 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gorski in view of Wolf as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Abou-Chakra (US 2020/0122925). Relative to claims 3 and 10, Gorski in view of Wolf discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose:
each of the at least one transport conveyor and the plurality of storage conveyors are configured to move in two directions; or
each of the plurality of storage conveyors is configured to move in two directions, and the one or more software modules are configured to, when executed by the at least one hardware processor: determine in which of the two directions to move the one storage conveyor so as to minimize movement; and control the one storage conveyor to move in the determined direction.
Abou-Chakra teaches: each of the at least one transport conveyor (4, 6)(Fig. 3) and the plurality of storage conveyors (7, 9)(Fig. 3) are configured to move in two directions (Para. 0101; 0111); and
each of the plurality of storage conveyors (7, 9) is configured to move in two directions (see Fig. 3), and
the system determines in which of the two directions to move the one storage conveyor (any one of Ref. 7, 9) so as to minimize movement (Para. 0111; 0155-0156); and
controls the one storage conveyor (7, 9) to move in the determined direction (Para. 0155-0156), for the purpose of providing a system for efficiently storing and moving stored items within a warehouse or other storage facility that reduces time required for transferring items, and can perform despite racks being inaccessible (Para. 0002-0003, 0025).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the system of Gorski in view of Wolf, so that each of the at least one transport conveyor and the plurality of storage conveyors move in two directions, and the system determines in which of the two directions to move the one storage conveyor, and controls the storage conveyor to move in the determined direction mentioned above, as taught in Abou-Chakra for the purpose of providing a system for efficiently storing and moving stored items within a warehouse or other storage facility that reduces time required for transferring items, and can perform despite racks being inaccessible.
Relative to claim 10, the disclosure of Gorski in view of Chakra does not expressly disclose: one or more software modules that are configured to, when executed by the at least one hardware processor: determine in which of the two directions to move the one storage conveyor so as to minimize movement, and control the one storage conveyor to move in the determined direction.
The system of Chakra is directed to an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) for storing and retrieving items. Even though the software is not expressly disclosed for controlling the movement of the conveyors and determining which direction the conveyors should move, it is well-known that automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), such as the ones in both Gorski, Wolf, and Abou-Chakra, employ a control device having one or more software modules that are executed by a processor for controlling the movement of the conveying devices and determining a movement direction of the conveying devices as claimed. See MPEP §2144.01, §2144.03.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system Gorski in view Gorski and Abou-Chakra to include one or more software modules that are configured to, when executed by the at least one hardware processor: determine the direction of movement of the conveyors, and control the conveyors since software modules for controlling the components of in ASRS systems is well-known.
Claim(s) 4 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gorski in view of Wolf as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Salichs et al (US 2021/0198039). Relative to claims 4 and 12, Gorski discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, including: a destination system (see Wolf, Ref. 122)(Para. 0043) comprising a plurality of destination locations (Wolf, 114a-n)(Fig. 1A) that are accessible to the at least one transport conveyor (132)(Fig. 1A); and
a building that encloses the at least one transport conveyor and the plurality of storage conveyors (See Gorski, Para. 0021).
Gorski in view of Wolf does not expressly disclose:
each of the plurality of storage conveyors is oriented to move in a direction that is orthogonal to a direction of movement of the portion of the at least one transport conveyor with which the storage conveyor is aligned.
Salichs teaches:
each of the plurality of storage conveyors (see lifts, 302) is oriented to move in a direction that is orthogonal to a direction of movement of the portion of the at least one transport conveyor (318) with which the storage conveyor is aligned (lifts 302, move orthogonal to the directions of multiple conveyors each comprising sections 318, 320 adjacent the lifts, 302)(Fig. 18)(Para. 0056); for the purpose of providing an improved system and method for storing and retrieving items in large rack-based systems, that enhances cart functionality and efficiency as well as in-rack design (Para. 0002, 0005).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the system of Gorski in view of Wolf with the storage conveyors oriented to move in a direction that is orthogonal to a direction of movement of the transport conveyor, as taught in Salichs for the purpose of an improved system and method for storing and retrieving items in large rack-based systems, that enhances cart functionality and efficiency as well as in-rack design.
Claim(s) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gorski in view of Wolf as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Bastian, II et al (US 2010/0300842). Relative to claims 7-8, Gorski discloses all claim limitations above, including:
Claim 7) each of the plurality of storage conveyors (103) comprises a horizontal loop (see circuit or ring arrangement, Para. 0018, or concentric circles, Para. 0024)(Fig. (Fig. 1B, 1E).
Gorski does not expressly disclose:
Claim 7) a holding surface of each of the plurality of storage conveyors is positioned above a holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor; or
Claim 8) a downward slide path from the holding surface of each of the plurality of storage conveyors to the holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor, and moving the item from the identified segment in the one storage conveyor onto the one segment in the at least one transport conveyor comprises pushing the item onto the downward slide path to cause the item to slide onto the holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor.
Bastian teaches:
a holding surface of each of the plurality of storage conveyors (116, 602) is positioned above a holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor (604)(see Fig. 6)(Para. 0045; 0032); and
a downward slide path (104, 300) from the holding surface of each of the plurality of storage conveyors (116, 602) to the holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor (604)(Fig. 1, 6), and moving the item (110) from the identified segment in the one storage conveyor (116, 602) onto the one segment in the at least one transport conveyor (604) comprises pushing the item onto the downward slide path to cause the item to slide onto the holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor (604)(items are loaded or diverted from each storage level having rack conveyors 116, 602, down to spur conveyor 604 via the spiral-shaped conveyors, 104, 300)(Fig. 6)(Para. 0043; 0046), for the purpose of providing a conveyor system that can allow items to be retrieved from vertical racks in a quick and efficient manner (Para. 0002-0003).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the system of Gorski in view of Wolf, so that the holding surface of the plurality of storage conveyors positioned above the at least one transport conveyor, and downward slide path mentioned above, as taught in Bastian, for the purpose of providing a conveyor system that can allow items to be retrieved from vertical racks in a quick and efficient manner.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gorski in view of Wolf and Salichs as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Pfleger (US Patent No. 4,987,992). Relative to claim 4, Gorski in view of Wolf and Salichs discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose:
each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprises a vertical loop, and a holding surface of each of the plurality of storage conveyors is positioned above a holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor, and moving the item from the identified segment onto the at least one transport conveyor comprises moving the identified segment towards the at least one transport conveyor until the item drops off the one storage conveyor onto the at least one transport conveyor.
Pfleger teaches: each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprises a vertical loop (see loop configuration of transfer unit 2)(Fig. 2)(Col. 3, lines 22-28), and
a holding surface of each of the plurality of storage conveyors is positioned above a holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor (holding surfaces 18 of unit Ref. 2 are positioned above Ref. 4)(Fig. 1), and moving the item from the identified segment onto the at least one transport conveyor (4) comprises moving the identified segment towards the at least one transport conveyor (4) until the item drops off the one storage conveyor (2) onto the at least one transport conveyor (4), for the purpose of Z.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the system of Gorski in view of Wolf and Salichs, with: each of the plurality of storage conveyors comprising a vertical loop, a holding surface of the storage conveyors is above a holding surface of the one transport conveyor, and moving the identified segment towards the transport conveyor until the item drops off the storage conveyor described above, as taught in Pfleger, for the purpose of providing a materials transfer apparatus enabling articles to be automatically and rapidly transferred from one location to another, that is more effective and versatile (Col. 1, lines 25-34; Col. 1, lines 38-40; Col. 2, lines 4-6).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gorski in view of Wolf as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Bonham et al (US 2002/0170850). Relative to claim 9, Gorski in view of Wolf discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose: moving the item from the identified segment in the one storage conveyor onto the one segment in the at least one transport conveyor comprises: pushing the item onto a downward slide path to cause the item to slide into a bin at an end of the downward slide path; and
pushing the bin onto the holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor.
Bonham teaches: moving the item from the identified segment in the one storage conveyor (12) onto the one segment in the at least one transport conveyor (46)(Fig. 2) comprises (Para. 0030): pushing the item onto a downward slide path to cause the item to slide into a bin at an end of the downward slide path (items are pushed down chutes 22 and into bin 90)(Fig. 1)(Para. 0030, 0041); and pushing the bin (90) onto the holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor (46)(Para. 0042), for the purpose of providing a conveyor sorting system for directing articles from a conveyor to a desired location that is fast, labor intensive, and less expensive (Para. 0002-0003).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the system of Gorski in view of Wolf, with the pushing the item onto a downward slide path and into a bin, and pushing the bin onto the holding surface of the at least one transport conveyor mentioned above, as taught in Bonham for the purpose of providing a conveyor sorting system for directing articles from a conveyor to a desired location that is fast, labor intensive, and less expensive.
Claim(s) 1 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vansickler et al (US PG. Pub. 2020/0319219). Relative to claims 1 and 14, the disclosure of Vansickler includes:
A system (10)(Fig. 1) comprising:
at least one transport conveyor (shuttles, 280 with shuttle transport assemblies 300a, 300b)(Fig. 7);
a storage conveyor (410c)(Fig. 16a), each storage conveyor comprising a plurality of segments configured to hold at least one item (pick and place robots 410c are configured for holding a batch of containers 03)(Fig. 16A)(Para. 0306), and
each of the plurality of storage conveyors (410c) comprises a portion that is aligned with a portion of the at least one transport conveyor (robot places containers onto 300a, 300b)(robot 410c aligns with shuttles 280 to transfer containers 03 onto shuttles 280)(Para. 0306), such that items (03) are moveable from the storage conveyor (410c) to the at least one transport conveyor (Ref. 280, 300)(Para. 0306)(Fig. 7);
at least one hardware processor (see processors 804, Para. 0183, and pick-and-place processor, Para. 0246); and one or more software modules configured to, when executed by the at least one hardware processor (Para. 0183, 0246, see computing control device 802),
receive an instruction to collect one or more items at a single destination location (destination location can be a designated analyzer which receives a shuttle 280 of containers, when analyzer is ready, instruction to collect containers is sent; Para. 0184), and,
for each of the one or more items (containers), identify a segment on one of the plurality of storage conveyors (410c) on which the item is held (Para. 0163, 0252, controller knows which containers are held by 410c),
control the one storage conveyor (410c) to align the identified segment with the at least one transport conveyor (robot 410c, aligns with shuttle 280 for transport on 300)(Fig. 7)(Para. 0306),
move the item from the identified segment onto the at least one transport conveyor (280)(containers are moved from robot 410c onto shuttle 280/shuttle transport assemblies 300a, 300b), control the at least one transport conveyor (280, 300a, 300c) to align the item with the single destination location (the shuttle 280 aligns with the analyzer, not shown, to transfer shuttles 280 to analyzers, Para. 0172)(Fig. 1B), and
move the item from the at least one transport conveyor (300) to the single destination location (shuttles, 280, are moved to designated analyzers; Para. 0096; 0166)(Fig. 7).
Vansickler does not disclose: the system includes a plurality of storage conveyors.
Vansickler can be modified to include a plurality of storage conveyors as an obvious matter of design choice. Vansickler can be modified to include multiple pick-place robots 410c, i.e., storage conveyors, for placing containers onto shuttles 280 for transport since providing additional pick-place robots 410c constitutes a duplication of parts and would not present a new or unexpected result. See MPEP §2144.VI(B)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Vansickler to include a plurality of storage conveyors, since this is a duplication of parts.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOLANDA RENEE CUMBESS whose telephone number is (571)270-5527. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6.
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/YOLANDA R CUMBESS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
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