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 .
Examiner’s Comment – Prior Art Date
The examiner notes that the reference CN 117756025 cited on the IDS filed 12/19/2024 was also mentioned in the international search report and written opinion (also cited in the IDS) as teaching all the limitations of the claims (the international search report described Applicant’s priority document as not providing support due to not adequately describing the currently claimed “carrier”).
However, the examiner has determined that for the purposes of USPTO examination, CN 117756025 is not considered prior art as it was published 3/26/2024 and therefore the examiner does not rely upon it in the rejections below for the following reason: Applicant has foreign priority based on Application number CN202311411761.1, which describes a specific example of the claimed carrier (e.g. see figure 1 of Application number CN202311411761.1) and therefore provides support for the claimed carrier.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5, 13-16, and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (CN116400334A; cited by Applicant) in view of Ifflaender (DE 102006054083 A1) .
Regarding claim 1, Yang teaches a method comprises:
acquiring laser point cloud data, wherein the laser point cloud data is acquired by using a laser detection device (LiDAR 30) to scan the carrier (pallet 20), at least two reflectors (40) are assembled on the carrier, the at least two reflectors are disposed on two opposite sides of the carrier (figure 1), and both of the at least two reflectors are configured to reflect laser emitted on the cargo from the laser detection device (paragraphs n14-15);
performing point cloud separation on the laser point cloud data to obtain respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors (paragraphs 36 and 38); and
performing pose detection based on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors to obtain a relative pose relative to the handling device (position and orientation in paragraphs n54 and 3-dimensional coordinate detection in paragraph n29).
PNG
media_image1.png
962
1106
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Yang implies but doesn’t explicitly teach the pose detection is cargo pose detection (implied by Yang teaching detecting the pose of the pallet in paragraphs n29 and n54, and since the cargo is on the pallet, this is an implicit detection of the cargo). Additionally, like Yang (and like the instant application), Ifflaender is directed to optical measurement of positions in a warehouse environment and teaches the pose detection is cargo pose detection (pages 5 and 3 of attached translation; for cargo, see “goods” in translation). It’s also noted that Yang teaches measuring positions of a pallet and Ifflaender teaches cargo pose detection of cargo on a pallet (page 2).
PNG
media_image2.png
530
832
media_image2.png
Greyscale
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the pose detection of Yang include cargo pose detection in order to obtain a precise positioning of the cargo to become aware of improper placement or theft of the goods (e.g. see page 7 of Ifflaender)
Regarding claim 2, Yang teaches the at least two reflectors have different reflectivities (paragraph n34), and performing the point cloud separation on the laser point cloud data to obtain the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors comprises: performing preprocessing on the laser point cloud data to obtain preprocessed point cloud data, wherein the preprocessing comprises at least one of: point cloud filtering, exception removal, data cleaning, or data transformation (paragraphs n17 and n38); and performing the point cloud separation on the preprocessed point cloud data based on a light reflecting intensity difference between the at least two reflectors to obtain the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors (paragraph n34).
Regarding claim 3, Yang teaches performing the point cloud separation on the preprocessed point cloud data based on the light reflecting intensity difference between the at least two reflectors to obtain the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors comprises: performing point cloud clustering of different reflectors on the preprocessed point cloud data by using a preset density clustering algorithm to obtain the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors (paragraphs n34-41).
Regarding claim 4, in the above combination the at least two reflectors comprise at least one first reflector disposed on a first side of the carrier and at least one second reflector disposed on a second side of the carrier opposite to the first side (figure 1 of Yang), and performing the cargo pose detection based on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors to obtain the relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device comprises: for each pair of reflectors in a plurality of pairs of reflectors composed of any one of the at least one first reflector and any one of the at least one second reflector, performing the cargo pose detection based on respective light reflecting point cloud data of a first reflector and a second reflector in the pair of reflectors to obtain a first relative pose of the cargo (see combination) relative to the handling device corresponding to the pair of reflectors (paragraphs n48 and n29 and n54 of Yang); and determining the relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device based on the first relative pose corresponding to each pair of reflectors in the plurality of pairs of reflectors (paragraphs n48 and n29 and n54 of Yang).
Regarding claim 5, Yang teaches determining the relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device based on the first relative pose corresponding to each pair of reflectors in the plurality of pairs of reflectors comprises: performing calculation processing on first relative poses corresponding to the plurality of pairs of reflectors to determine a result of the calculation processing as the relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device, wherein the calculation processing comprises: averaging or taking a mode (paragraphs n58).
Regarding claim 13, in the above combination handling device, comprising: a memory (paragraphs 121 and n72); and a processor coupled to the memory (paragraphs n72), wherein the processor is configured to execute operations (paragraph n73) comprising: acquiring laser point cloud data, wherein the laser point cloud data is acquired by using a laser detection device to scan the carrier, at least two reflectors are assembled on the carrier, the at least two reflectors are disposed on two opposite sides of the carrier, and both of the at least two reflectors are configured to reflect laser emitted on the cargo from the laser detection device; performing point cloud separation on the laser point cloud data to obtain respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors; and performing cargo pose detection based on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors to obtain a relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device (see the citations with respect to claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 14, in the above combination a computer readable storage medium, having computer program instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions are executed by one or more processors to implement steps operations comprising: acquiring laser point cloud data, wherein the laser point cloud data is acquired by using a laser detection device to scan the carrier, at least two reflectors are assembled on the carrier, the at least two reflectors are disposed on two opposite sides of the carrier, and both of the at least two reflectors are configured to reflect laser emitted on the cargo from the laser detection device; performing point cloud separation on the laser point cloud data to obtain respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors; and performing cargo pose detection based on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors to obtain a relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device (see the citations with respect to claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 15, in the above combination the relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device comprises: a placement position of the cargo relative to the handling device and a placement direction of the cargo relative to the handling device (position and orientation in the above citations); wherein the placement direction reflects a rotation direction of a coordinate system where the cargo is located relative to a coordinate system where the handling device is located (ground and forklift coordinate systems in Yang; it’s noted that the cargo and handling device are located in both coordinate systems, they simply have different coordinates that are dependent on the coordinate system used), and the placement direction is determined from a position difference between respective point cloud data corresponding to any two reflectors located at opposite positions of the carrier (paragraphs n52 and n58).
Regarding claim 16, in the above combination the point cloud filtering refers to filtering out point cloud data that is not reflected by the reflectors in the laser point cloud data by using a preset filtering algorithm; the exception removal refers to removing exceptional data appearing in the laser point cloud data; the data cleaning refers to that, by supplementing a missing value, discontinuous or missing point cloud data appearing in the laser point cloud data is correspondingly supplemented, or by clearing duplicated data, duplicated data appearing in the laser point cloud data is cleared; and the data transformation refers to transforming the laser point cloud data by format conversion and/or smoothing (paragraphs n17, n34, and n38; note that it’s still claimed in the alternative due to parent claim 2).
Regarding claim 19, Yang teaches the at least two reflectors have different reflectivities (paragraph n34), and performing the point cloud separation on the laser point cloud data to obtain the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors comprises: performing preprocessing on the laser point cloud data to obtain preprocessed point cloud data, wherein the preprocessing comprises at least one of: point cloud filtering, exception removal, data cleaning, or data transformation (paragraphs n17 and n38); and performing the point cloud separation on the preprocessed point cloud data based on a light reflecting intensity difference between the at least two reflectors to obtain the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors (paragraph n34).
Regarding claim 20, Yang teaches performing the point cloud separation on the preprocessed point cloud data based on the light reflecting intensity difference between the at least two reflectors to obtain the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors comprises: performing point cloud clustering of different reflectors on the preprocessed point cloud data by using a preset density clustering algorithm to obtain the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors (paragraphs n34-41).
Regarding claim 21, in the above combination the at least two reflectors comprise at least one first reflector disposed on a first side of the carrier and at least one second reflector disposed on a second side of the carrier opposite to the first side (figure 1 of Yang), and performing the cargo pose detection based on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors to obtain the relative pose of the cargo (see combination) relative to the handling device comprises: for each pair of reflectors in a plurality of pairs of reflectors composed of any one of the at least one first reflector and any one of the at least one second reflector, performing the cargo pose detection based on respective light reflecting point cloud data of a first reflector and a second reflector in the pair of reflectors to obtain a first relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device corresponding to the pair of reflectors (paragraphs n48 and n29 and n54 of Yang); and determining the relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device based on the first relative pose corresponding to each pair of reflectors in the plurality of pairs of reflectors (paragraphs n48 and n29 and n54 of Yang).
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou (CN112935703A; cited by Applicant) in view of Ifflaender.
Regarding claim 1, Zhou teaches a method comprises:
acquiring laser point cloud data, wherein the laser point cloud data is acquired by using a laser detection device to scan the carrier (paragraphs n10 and n43), at least two reflectors (2) are assembled on the carrier, the at least two reflectors are disposed on two opposite sides of the carrier (figure 6), and both of the at least two reflectors are configured to reflect laser emitted on the cargo from the laser detection device (paragraphs n73);
performing point cloud separation on the laser point cloud data to obtain respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors (paragraphs n145, n108, n68 and n36); and
performing pose detection based on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors to obtain a relative pose relative to the handling device (paragraphs n115, n119, and n139).
PNG
media_image3.png
444
944
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Zhou implies but doesn’t explicitly teach the pose detection is cargo pose detection (implied by Zhou teaching detecting the coordinates of the pallet legs, and since the cargo is on the pallet, this is an implicit detection of the cargo). Additionally, like Zhou (and like the instant application), Ifflaender is directed to optical measurement of positions in a warehouse environment and teaches the pose detection is cargo pose detection (pages 5 and 3 of attached translation; for cargo, see “goods” in translation). It’s also noted that Yang teaches measuring positions of a pallet and Ifflaender teaches cargo pose detection of cargo on a pallet (page 2).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the pose detection of Zhou include cargo pose detection in order to obtain a precise positioning of the cargo to become aware of improper placement or theft of the goods (e.g. see page 7 of Ifflaender)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-11 and 17-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record (taken alone or in combination) fails to anticipate or render obvious, “acquiring laser point cloud data, wherein the laser point cloud data is acquired by using a laser detection device to scan the carrier, at least two reflectors are assembled on the carrier, the at least two reflectors are disposed on two opposite sides of the carrier, and both of the at least two reflectors are configured to reflect laser emitted on the cargo from the laser detection device; performing point cloud separation on the laser point cloud data to obtain respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors; and performing cargo pose detection based on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors to obtain a relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device … wherein the at least two reflectors comprise at least one first reflector disposed on a first side of the carrier and at least one second reflector disposed on a second side of the carrier opposite to the first side, and performing the cargo pose detection based on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the at least two reflectors to obtain the relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device comprises: for each pair of reflectors in a plurality of pairs of reflectors composed of any one of the at least one first reflector and any one of the at least one second reflector, performing the cargo pose detection based on respective light reflecting point cloud data of a first reflector and a second reflector in the pair of reflectors to obtain a first relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device corresponding to the pair of reflectors; and determining the relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device based on the first relative pose corresponding to each pair of reflectors in the plurality of pairs of reflectors… wherein performing the cargo pose detection based on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the first reflector and the second reflector in the pair of reflectors to obtain the first relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device corresponding to the pair of reflectors comprises: performing template matching on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the first reflector and the second reflector; after the template matching succeeds, performing pose calculation based on the respective light reflecting point cloud data of the first reflector and the second reflector to obtain a second relative pose of the cargo relative to the laser detection device; and performing coordinate transformation on the second relative pose of the cargo relative to the laser detection device to obtain the first relative pose of the cargo relative to the handling device,” in combination with the other claimed limitations.
Additional Prior Art
Allen (US 4122957 A ) reads, “ng along and defining the bottom or one side of each bin, is a reflector means. The different reflectors for different shelf heights have been given different designations 25a, 25b, etc., in FIG. 1.”
“(2) In accordance with the present invention, the optical detector assembly 26 affixed to the truck load carriage is arranged to direct a beam of light toward the rack when the truck is positioned facing the rack, and a photosensor arranged to receive light retro-reflected back toward the truck from any one of the reflector means 25 when the photosensor lies at the same elevation as that reflector.
PNG
media_image4.png
644
482
media_image4.png
Greyscale
The forklift 2 has a first sensor 3 attached to the lower side and a second sensor 4 attached to the upper side. The first sensor 3 projects an optical signal to first reflecting plates S1, S2,... Described later, and detects a reflected wave from the first reflecting plates S1, S2,. Type sensor. The second sensor 4 projects an optical signal to second reflectors R1, R2,... Described later, and detects reflected waves from the second reflectors R1, R2,. The first sensor 3 and the second sensor 4 are retroreflective sensors.
PNG
media_image5.png
458
724
media_image5.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image6.png
394
618
media_image6.png
Greyscale
KR 20140012366 A reads “As the forklift 10 moves to the shelf frame 210 for the loading / unloading operation of the pallet 40, the operation of the forklift automatic control apparatus 100 according to the present invention will be described. The laser distance sensor 120 senses the second reflector 160 installed on the shelf frame 210 and detects the distance to the second reflector 160. [ At this time, when the detected distance reaches a predetermined distance, the movement of the forklift 10 is stopped by the control of the controller 150. [ This is for stopping at a predetermined position on the front surface of the shelf frame 210 to automatically perform the loading / unloading operation of the pallet 40. That is, it is for automatically determining the stop position for the loading / unloading operation of the pallet 40. When the forklift 10 stops, the laser distance sensor 120 installed on the fork 30 is rotated to face the first reflector 110 installed on a part of the forklift 10. This is for calculating the moving distance of the fork 30 when loading / unloading the pallet 40 with the fork 30.”
“at least one of the second reflector 160,”
“The second reflector 160 is installed on the shelf frame 210 having a plurality of shelves 211, 212, 213. And more preferably may be installed on the front surface of the lowermost layer shelf 211 of the shelf frame 210 as in the example of FIGS. The second reflector 160 may be a reference position P indicating the height (position) of each shelf 211 to 213 in the shelf frame 210, for example. More preferably, it may be a reference position indicating the working position of the pallet 40 placed on the shelves 211 to 213 for each layer.”
PNG
media_image7.png
530
626
media_image7.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image8.png
544
580
media_image8.png
Greyscale
JP 2023053451 A reads, “(4) At the position where the unmanned forklift 30 faces the frontage of the shelf 20, a plurality of reflectors 13 are attached to the wall 11 so that the laser sensor 50 can detect at least four reflectors 13. . Therefore, even if the load W blocks the laser light passing through the dead space Sd and the specific reflector 13 is not detected, the control device 43 detects the high-intensity laser point cloud of at least three reflectors 13. be able to.”
“When the cargo W is moved in and out of the shelf 20’
PNG
media_image9.png
742
516
media_image9.png
Greyscale
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RUFUS L PHILLIPS whose telephone number is (571)270-7021. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 2 -10 pm.
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, Michelle Iacoletti can be reached at (571) 270-5789. 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.
/RUFUS L PHILLIPS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2877
Prosecution Insights