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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 08/14/2025 and 08/09/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
"first carrying mechanism" in claim 12.
"second carrying mechanism" in claim 12.
"first lifting mechanism" in claim 12.
“second lifting mechanism” in claim 12
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claims 4 and 11 recite the limitation "the carrying mechanism" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Only “a first carrying mechanism” and “a second carrying mechanism” are previously introduced therefore it is unclear whether “the carrying mechanism” refers to the first or second carrying mechanism or both.
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.
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) 1-3 and 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BEHLING (US 20170121109 A1) in view of HEGGEBO et al.(US 20210016966 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, the target container being one of a plurality of containers stacked in a vertical direction (see Fig. 34);
if there is a container group comprising at least one container stacked above the target container, driving a first carrying mechanism (60) of a carrying robot (F see Fig. 31) to lift the container group ([0219]; Fig.34);
driving a second carrying mechanism (80) of the carrying robot to move the target container away from a first position after the lifting of the container group is completed ([0220] see Figs. 34-36), and driving the first carrying mechanism to release the container group when the first position is idle ([0222] see Fig. 34-37);
Behling does not explicitly teach in response to an outbound instruction, determining position information of a target container to be moved out indicated by the outbound instruction or updating position information of each container in the container group. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would have realized that this would have occurred due to the control system of Behling automatically controlling the carrying robot to perform an outbound operation of a target container, in other words the carrying robot must know the position of a target container to be moved out, further updating that position of the container group must also be performed in order to perform future outbound operations of the containers in the container group. It is further noted that Behling teaches an operation system (Fig. 28, [205],[206]) including command signals ([0162]) given by a command function ([0162]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the command system of Behling to send an outbound instruction including position information of a target container to a carrying robot for the purpose of efficiently performing the outbound operation of the target container with the carrying robot based on the outbound instruction and to accurately locate the target container.
Haggebo et al., teaches updating the position information of containers ([0141])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Behling with a step of determining the position information of a target container and updating position information of containers including the containers in the container group for the purpose of keeping accurate positional data of all inventory including the containers and facilitating faster outbound operations by recalling the positional data of any container as needed.
Regarding Claim 2, Behling as modified above teaches the outbound method according to claim 1, wherein the position information is represented by three-dimensional coordinates (Heggebo et al. [0138]); before driving the first carrying mechanism of the carrying robot to lift the container group, the method further comprises driving the first carrying mechanism and the second carrying mechanism to move in the vertical direction based on a coordinate of the vertical direction in the three-dimensional coordinates of the target container (Heggebo et al. [0137], [0138]; Behling [0217], see Fig. 33).
Regarding Claim 3, Behling as modified above teaches the outbound method according to claim 2, wherein before driving the first carrying mechanism of the carrying robot to lift the container group, the method further comprises driving the carrying robot to move to a corresponding carrying position in an area where the target container is located based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the target container (Haggebo [0138]; Behling [0210]).
Regarding Claim 5, Behling as modified above teaches the outbound method according to claim 1, wherein after driving the second carrying mechanism of the carrying robot to move the target container away from the first position (Behling [0220]; see Fig. 35-36), the method further comprises placing the target container on a buffer mechanism (Behling 33) of the carrying robot ([Behling [0221]; see 36]).
Regarding Claim 6, Behling as modified above teaches the outbound method according to claim 5,
Behling does not teach wherein the method further comprises updating the position information of the target container based on information of a buffer position at which the target container is placed.
Heggebo et al. teaches updating the position information of containers [0141]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further modify the apparatus of Behling in view of Heggbo et al. with a step updating the position information of containers so the apparatus is updated with the position information of the target container based on information of a buffer position at which the target container is placed for the purpose of being able to automatically tell when a container is in the buffer area.
Regarding Claim 7, Behling as modified above teaches the outbound method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises driving the second carrying mechanism of the carrying robot to move the target container away from the first position if there is no container stacked above the target container (Behling ([0219]; second carrying mechanism can carry at least one).
Claim(s) 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BEHLING (US 20170121109 A1) in view of LI (US 20230286750 A1), and HEGGEBO et al. (US 20210016966 A1).
Regarding Claim 8, Behling teaches an inbound method for warehouse goods, the method comprising: if there a container group comprising at least one container stacked above the to-be-stored position of the target container, driving a first carrying mechanism (60) of a carrying robot (F see Fig. 31) to lift the container group ([0217]; see Fig. 34);
Behling does not teach in response to an inbound instruction ([0096]), determining information of a to-be-stored position of a target container indicated by the inbound instruction ([0097]). Behling’s disclosure related to an outbound instruction of containers with the carrying robot including the first carrying mechanism. However, it well known in the art that to have carrying robots perform both inbound and outbound operations of inventory in a warehouse setting such as Behling’s has described ([0212]). In this case, the operation for an inbound operation would be the reverse of the outbound operation.
Li et al. teaches in response to an inbound instruction ([0096]), determining information of a to-be-stored position of a target container indicated by the inbound instruction ([0097]);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Behling with an inbound instruction and determine a to-be-stored position of a target container of Li for the purpose of allowing the robot to autonomously move a container to the storage location.
Behling does not explicitly teach a step of driving a second carrying mechanism of the carrying robot to move the target container from a buffer mechanism to a first position after the lifting of the container group is completed, and driving the first carrying mechanism to release the container group to above the target container after the target container is moved to the first position. However, as discussed above, the operations related to inbound and outbound would the opposite of one another in Behling. As part of an outbound operation, Behling teaches driving a second carrying mechanism (80) of the carrying robot to move a target container from a first position to a buffer mechanism ([0220], [0221]; see Fig 34-36) after lifting of the container group is completed ([218]; see Fig. 34)) and driving the first carrying mechanism to the release the container group above a container after the target container is moved to the buffer mechanism ([0222]; Fig. 37).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to reverse the steps of the method of Behling including driving a second carrying mechanism of the carrying robot to move the target container from a buffer mechanism to a first position after the lifting of the container group is completed, and driving the first carrying mechanism to release the container group to above the target container after the target container is moved to the first position for the purpose of storing containers in storage stacks in the warehouse according to an inbound instruction.
Behling does not explicitly teach updating position information of each container in the container group and position information of the target container however one of ordinary skill in the art would have realized that this would have to occur in order to successfully perform a current inbound operation and future inbound operations.
Haggebo et al. teaches, updating the position information of containers ([0141])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Behling with a step of updating position information of each container in the container group as taught by Haggebo for the purpose of keeping accurate positional data of all inventory including the containers and facilitating faster outbound operations by recalling the positional data of any container as needed.
Regarding Claim 9, Behling as modified above teaches the inbound method according to claim 8, wherein the position information is represented by three-dimensional coordinates (Haggebo et al. [138]); before driving the first carrying mechanism of the carrying robot to lift the container group, the method further comprises driving the first carrying mechanism and the second carrying mechanism to move in the vertical direction based on a coordinate of the vertical direction in the three-dimensional coordinates (Heggebo et al. [0137], [0138]; Behling [0217], see Fig. 33).
Regarding Claim 10, Behling as modified above teaches the inbound method according to claim 9, wherein before the driving the first carrying mechanism of the carrying robot to lift the container group, the method further comprises driving the carrying robot to move to a corresponding carrying position in an area where the target container is to be stored based on the three-dimensional coordinates (Haggebo [0138]; Behling [0210]).
Claim(s) 12-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BEHLING (US 20170121109 A1) in view of XIAO (CN 212923034 U).
Regarding Claim 12, Behling teaches A carrying robot configured to carry warehouse goods, comprising:
a mobile bracket (33, 142) extending in a vertical direction (see Fig. 31) and being movable ([0067]);
a first carrying mechanism (60) configured to carry a container group located above a target container (L4) or a container group (LE) stacked above a to-be-stored position of a target container ([0219]; Fig. 34), the container group comprising at least one container (Fig. 34), and the first carrying mechanism being arranged on a first side of the mobile bracket (Fig. 34);
a second carrying mechanism (80) configured to carry the target container ([0219]; Fig. 34), the second carrying mechanism being arranged on the first side of the mobile bracket and located below the first carrying mechanism (Fig. 34);
a first lifting mechanism (70) configured to drive the first carrying mechanism to move in the vertical direction ([0111]);
a second lifting mechanism (90) configured to drive the second carrying mechanism to move in the vertical direction independently of the first carrying mechanism ([0111]);
Behling does not teach a buffer mechanism fixed on a second side of the mobile bracket and configured to store the target container carried by the second carrying mechanism.
Xiao teaches a buffer mechanism (4) fixed on a second side of the mobile bracket (see Fig. 2) and configured to store the target container carried by a carrying mechanism ([0089]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the robot of Behling with the buffer mechanism of Xiao for the purpose of providing temporary storage allowing the robot to carry more containers.
Regarding Claim 13, Behling in view of Xiao teaches the carrying robot according to claim 12, wherein the first lifting mechanism comprises:
a first driving wheel (Behling 175a, 175b) configured to be driven to rotate around a horizontal direction (Behling [0156]);
a first synchronizing wheel (Behling 176a, 176b) spaced apart from the first driving wheel in the vertical direction (See Fig. 10) and rotatable around the horizontal direction ([0156], Fig. 10);
a first synchronizing belt (Behling 172a, 172b; Fig. 10) connected to the first driving wheel and the first synchronizing wheel, and configured to drive the first synchronizing wheel to rotate along with the first driving wheel (Behling [0156]; Fig.10);
a first connecting block (Behling 65, 66) connected to the first synchronizing belt (Behling See Fig. 10) and the first carrying mechanism (Behling [0018; Fig.10]), and configured to drive the first carrying mechanism to move in the vertical direction along with the first synchronizing belt (Behling [0018]);
and/or, wherein the second lifting mechanism comprises:
a second driving wheel (Behling 195a, 195b) configured to be driven to rotate around the horizontal direction (Behling [0161]);
a second synchronizing wheel (Behling 196a, 195b) spaced apart from the second driving wheel in the vertical direction (See Fig. 10) and rotatable around the horizontal direction ([0161]);
a second synchronizing belt (192a, 192b) connected to the second driving wheel and the second synchronizing wheel, and configured to drive the second synchronizing wheel to rotate along with the second driving wheel (Behling [0161]; Fig.10); and
a second connecting block (Behling 88, 85) connected to the second synchronizing belt and the second carrying mechanism (Behling See Fig. 10), and configured to drive the second carrying mechanism to move in the vertical direction along with the second synchronizing belt (Behling [0087]).
Regarding Claim 14, Behling in view of Xiao teaches the carrying robot according to claim 12, wherein the buffer mechanism comprises a plurality of buffer shelves (shelves of 4) arranged at intervals in the vertical direction (Xiao see fig 2), and the buffer shelves are fixedly connected to the mobile bracket to store the target container (Xiao [0089]; Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 15, Behling in view of Xiao teaches the carrying robot according to claim 12, wherein the first carrying mechanism comprises: a first mounting member (Behling 63) connected to the first lifting mechanism to move up or down in the vertical direction (Behling [0018]; Fig. 10); and two first telescopic arms (Behling 165, 166) both movably connected to the first mounting member (Behling [0170]; Fig.10), and the two first telescopic arms being arranged opposite to each other (Behling Fig. 10) and synchronously reciprocally translatable in a first direction relative to the first mounting member(Fig. 10) to carry the container group, wherein the first direction belongs to the horizontal direction ([0018]; See Fig. 31).
Regarding Claim 16, Behling in view of Xiao teaches the carrying robot according to claim 15,
The embodiment of Behling relied upon above show in Fig. 10 does not teaches wherein the first mounting member comprises: a top wall extending in the first direction; and two side walls extending in the first direction and connected below the top wall, the two side walls being arranged opposite to each other; wherein the two first telescopic arms are connected to opposite surfaces of the two side walls, respectively.
The embodiment of Behling as shown in Fig. 5 teaches a top wall extending in the first direction (Behling top 60 A,64); and two side walls extending in the first direction and connected below the top wall (Behling B1), the two side walls being arranged opposite to each other (Behling Fig. 5)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the telescopic arms of the embodiment of Behling in Fig. 10 with the top wall and two side walls of the embodiment of Behling in Fig. 5 so the two first telescopic arms are connected to opposite surfaces of the two side walls, respectively for the purpose of providing greater structural stability.
Regarding Claim 17, Behling in view of Xiao teaches the carrying robot according to claim 16, wherein a first end of each first telescopic arm is provided with an extension arm (Behling G13 see Fig. 10) extending towards the second carrying mechanism (Behling Fig. 10), and the first end is an end of the first telescopic arm away from the side wall in an extended state (Behling Fig. 10).
Regarding Claim 18, Behling in view of Xiao teaches the carrying robot according to claim 17, wherein one end of each extension arm away from the first telescopic arm is provided with a catch portion (Behling G15), and the catch portions are extendable and retractable in opposite directions between the two first telescopic arms to connect and disengage from one corresponding container (Behling [0178]; Fig. 31).
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BEHLING (US 20170121109 A1) in view of XIAO (CN 212923034 U) as applied to claim 12-18 above, and further in view of CHEN (CN 213084348 U).
Regarding Claim 19, Behling in view Xiao teaches of the carrying robot according to claim 12,
Behling in view of Xiao does not teach wherein the second carrying mechanism comprises: a second mounting member connected to the second lifting mechanism to move up or down in the vertical direction;
a third mounting member connected below the second mounting member, the third mounting member configured to be translatable in a horizontal direction relative to the second mounting member, or translatable and rotatable around a horizontal direction; and
two second telescopic arms both movably connected to the third mounting member, the two second telescopic arms being arranged opposite to each other and synchronously reciprocally translatable in a first direction relative to the third mounting member, wherein the first direction belongs to the horizontal direction.
Chen teaches a second mounting member (upper part of 4; see Fig 4) connected to a lifting mechanism (3) to move up or down in the vertical direction ([0056]; Fig. 4);
a third mounting member connected below the second mounting member (lower part of 4), the third mounting member configured to be translatable in a horizontal direction relative to the second mounting member ([0072]; Fig. 4), or translatable and rotatable around a horizontal direction; and
two second telescopic arms (42 of the lower part of 4) both movably connected to the third mounting member (Fig. 4), the two second telescopic arms being arranged opposite to each other and synchronously reciprocally translatable in a first direction relative to the third mounting member ([0069]), wherein the first direction belongs to the horizontal direction
connected to second
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Zhang (CN 111824649 A), Jarvis et al. (US 10683171 B2) and Cheng et al. (US 20200324972 A1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADARSH NEUPANE whose telephone number is (571)272-8816. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00am-5:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at (571) 270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ERNESTO A SUAREZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3655
/A.N./Examiner, Art Unit 3655
Prosecution Insights