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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1 September 2026 has been entered.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nanbu (JP H0923779 A) in view of Robert et al. (US Patent 10,518,915 B2) hereinafter referred to as Robert in view of Hahn et al. (US 2022/0063926 A1 or alternatively WO 2020/126315 A1) hereinafter referred to as Hahn.
** See Applicant provided translation of Nabu (IDS of 24 July 2025) for citations.
** For citation purposes, the Office is using US 2022/0063926 A1 for Hahn with the understanding that WO 2020/126315 A1 is disclosing the same subject matter and is an equivalent reference.
Regarding claim 1, Nanbu discloses an egg filling apparatus (figs. 1 and 3) for filling an egg tray (11; fig. 1) with eggs, the apparatus comprising:
an individual egg cup collection unit (88, 90 – belt conveyors) in which a plurality of individual egg cups (2; figs. 1-2) on which the eggs (4) are placed one by one are collected (fig. 1, paragraphs 0021-0022; Cups 2 have eggs placed on them one by one as seen in fig. 1 and then the cups 2 are collected on belt 90);
a filling location information acquisition unit (5, 22, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40) that acquires information on a location where an egg is to be placed in the egg tray (paragraphs 0025-0029, 0031 – Eggs are sorted based on weight information that determines which groups the eggs are sorted into and made available for transfer. This results in similar weighted eggs being placed on the same tray 11. As such, this information is used to determine where the egg is placed via the transfer mechanism 94 on a tray by ensuring that the egg is only placed on a tray designated for that weight of egg.);
an egg transfer mechanism (94) that transfers (paragraphs 0021-0023) the egg from an individual egg cup in the individual egg cup collection unit (88, 90) to the egg tray (11) based on filling location information acquired by the filling location information acquisition unit (paragraphs 0031-0033 - Eggs are sorted based on weight information that determines which groups the eggs are sorted into and made available for transfer. This results in similar weighted eggs being placed on the same tray 11. As such, this information is used to determine where the egg is placed via the transfer mechanism 94 on a tray by ensuring that the egg is only placed on a tray designated for that weight of egg); and
an individual egg cup removing mechanism (90, 91, 92; alternatively just 91 and 92) that removes only an empty individual egg cup, while leaving an individual egg cup on which an egg is placed in the individual egg cup collecting unit, by removing the empty individual egg cup from the individual egg cup collection unit (paragraphs 0021-0022, 0032 – Removing mechanism 90, 91, 92 only removes cups 2 that have had their egg removed).
Nanbu fails to disclose an egg filling apparatus for filling an egg tray, from which a defective egg has been removed in the egg tray, with eggs, a filling location information acquisition unit that acquires information of an egg storage seat from which the defective egg has been removed in the egg tray and which is to be filled with an egg, and an egg transfer mechanism that transfers the egg from an individual egg cup to the egg storage seat from which the defective egg has been removed in the egg tray, based on filling information acquired by the filling location information acquisition unit.
However, Robert teaches an egg filling apparatus (figs. 1-3) for filling an egg tray (8), from which a defective egg has been removed (col. 4 lines 4-7) in the egg tray, with eggs, a filling location information acquisition unit (20; fig. 3; col. 4 lines 20-48; col. 6 line 64 – col. 7 line 32) that acquires information of an egg storage seat (22) from which the defective egg has been removed in the egg tray and which is to be filled with an egg, and an egg transfer mechanism (12; col. 6 lines 25-48) that transfers the egg from an individual egg cup (24; col. 4 lines 13-15, 49-58) to the egg storage seat from which the defective egg has been removed in the egg tray, based on filling information acquired by the filling location information acquisition unit (col. 6 line 64 – col. 7 line 32).
Given the teachings of Roberts, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify the invention of Nanbu to include the filling location information acquisition unit features of Robert. Doing so would ensure that the final tray was completely full by filling for any removed defective eggs that might be sensed.
Nanbu discloses an individual egg cup removing mechanism that removes only an empty individual egg cup, while leaving an individual egg cup on which an egg is placed in the individual egg cup collecting unit, by removing the empty individual egg cup from the individual egg cup collection unit, but fails to disclose that it removes the empty individual egg cup by lifting.
However, Hahn teaches an individual container removing mechanism (6) that removes only an individual container (2.3), by lifting the individual container (paragraph 0059 – “Individual treated container 2.3 is subsequently lifted by robot unit 6 and fed to first inspection device 7.1 at position P3”) from the individual container collection unit (3.2; paragraph 0046 – “conveyor belt”)
Given the teachings of Hahn, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify the individual egg cup removing mechanism of Nanbu with the individual, robotic-lifting, container removing mechanism of Hahn. Both Nanbu and Hahn are concerned with the problem of removing containers from a conveyor belt (collection unit). Hahn teaches an alternative mechanism to remove individual empty containers from such a belt. Doing so has the advantage of removing the containers from the belt and placing the containers at a desired new location and doing so in a manner that better controls the cup/container’s movement and thus will help prevent damage to them and better allow for reuse.
Regarding claim 2, Nanbu as modified by Hahn discloses wherein the individual egg cup removing mechanism (Nanbu - 90, 91, 92; alternatively just 91 and 92; Hahn - 6) removes the empty individual egg cup from the individual egg cup collection unit during an egg transfer operation by the egg transfer mechanism (Nanbu - paragraphs 0021-0022 – “The gate 91 abuts on the protector 2 conveyed by the belt conveyor 90 at the rising position to generate a slip between the protector 2 and the belt conveyor 90 to prevent the movement of the protector 2 in the D direction, and allows the movement of only the protector 2 from which the egg 4 is removed by the lifting device 94…”; paragraph 0032 – “the remaining five eggs 4 are lifted by the lifting device 94 and placed in the remaining accommodating seats of the packaging container 11, while the remaining five protectors 2 from which the eggs 4 have been removed are discharged from the belt conveyor 90” ; Hahn – paragraphs 0046-0047, 0049-0050, 0059 – the robot 6 is moving the container off the belt 3.2 as other operations are happening).
Regarding claim 3, Nanbu discloses an individual egg cup replenishing mechanism (#3, 6-9, 31-35; paragraphs 0015-0019, 0021-0022, 0027-0028, 0031) that replenishes the individual egg cup collection unit with an individual egg cup on which an egg is placed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1 September 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant’s arguments rely on amendments which are deemed to have been addressed with a new grounds of rejection in further view of Hahn. Nanbu already discloses removal means for removing the empty cup from a collection unit in the form of a conveyor belt. Hahn teaches an alternative means of removing a cylindrical container from a conveyor belt by lifting an individual container off with a robot. Both arts are concerned with similar problems and Hahn provides the advantage of better controlling the movement of the removed cup/container and thus helping to prevent damage to it.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW M TECCO whose telephone number is (571)270-3694. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11a-7p.
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/ANDREW M TECCO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
