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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/27/2026 have been fully considered but are found to be unpersuasive at this time.
Regarding the amended limitation(s), please see the rejection in re-claim 1.
Applicant’s amendments have been fully reviewed and the 112(f) rejections of the previous office action have been withdrawn accordingly.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 7 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
In re-claim 7; “processor is configure” seems to contain a typographical error. It is suggested that the claim language be changed to recite; “processor is configured”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-8 and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Noguchi US-20200365025-A1 and Zahdeh US-20220402736-A1 in view of Dejong US-20090018791-A1.
1. (Currently Amended) Noguchi US-20200365025-A1 discloses
A position estimation device comprising:
a memory operable to store program software code; and
(Noguchi [0049] The storage 130 may be realized by a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a flash memory (a storage device having a non-transitory storage medium) or may be realized by a detachable storage medium such as a DVD or a CD-ROM (a non-transitory storage medium) or may be a storage medium to be mounted in a drive device. All or a part of the storage 130 may be an external device that the control device 100 can access, such as a NAS or an external storage server. The storage 130 stores, for example, information such as lane information 132 in addition to programs)
a processor operable to access said at least one memory and read said program software code and operate as instructed by the program software code, the processor configured to:
(Noguchi [0047] The controller 110 realizes the respective functions of an acquirer 112, a recognizer 114, a belt conveyor controller 116, and a display controller 118, for example, by a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) executing a program (software) stored in the storage 130.)
acquire a vehicle
(Noguchi [0096] The behavior plan generator 740 generates a target trajectory along which the vehicle M will travel in the future automatically (independently of the driver's operation) such that the vehicle M basically travels in the recommended lane determined by the recommended lane determiner 661 and further copes with situations occurring near the vehicle M. The target trajectory includes, for example, a speed element;)
(Noguchi [0098] The second controller 760 controls the travel driving force output device 800, the brake device 810, and the steering device 820 such that the vehicle M passes through the target trajectory generated by the behavior plan generator 740 at scheduled times;)
(Noguchi [0099] The speed controller 764 controls the travel driving force output device 800 or the brake device 810 on the basis of a speed element pertaining to the target trajectory stored in the memory..;)
Zahdeh US-20220402736-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for autonomous vehicle response wherein the system is configured to “…acquire a vehicle velocity";
(Zahdeh [0107] The velocity estimator 1030 )
(Zahdeh [0106] The sensors 1080 are configured to sense/detect and provide spatial positioning data (e.g., line following positions, visual position data, wheel odometry, etc.) to the position estimator 1020. )
(Zahdeh [0106] …The velocity estimator 1030 provides a velocity estimate to the position estimator 1020.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Noguchi to include acquiring a vehicle velocity with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Zahdeh, for the benefit of providing a system capable of monitoring vehicle speed and orientation within an operating environment.
(Noguchi [FIG.1]; belt conveyor 500)
(Noguchi [0103] For example, even when the vehicle is traveling to the facility to be visited including the parking lot PA by automated driving, the automated driving control device 700 according to the present embodiment ends the automated driving if a recognition result of the recognizer 730 indicates that a vehicle M is placed on the belt conveyor 500,)
Dejong US-20090018791-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for the use of driven components wherein the system is configured to “…acquire a conveyance velocity of a conveyor”;
(Dejong [0026] conveyor belt transporting steel in a steel mill or any other field involving drive trains where accurate velocity/position measurements are important… In this example, the drive train 100 includes a drive component 102 (e.g., a pulley) and a driven component 104 (e.g., a pulley) connected by a transmission component 106 (e.g., a belt)… The rotational velocity of the driven component 104 is determined by velocity of the drive component 102. An encoder 110 mounted on the driven component 104 measures the rotational velocity of the driven component 104)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Noguchi to acquire a conveyance velocity of a conveyor with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Dejong, for the benefit of providing accurate velocity/position measurements by considering the affect and velocity of a moving/conveying travel path.
determine whether the vehicle is on the conveyor; and
(Noguchi [0067; 0103] … First, the belt conveyor controller 116 determines whether or not a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in has been detected by the gate 300-in and placed on the belt conveyor 500 (step S100). The belt conveyor controller 116 waits until a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in is detected and determined to be placed on the belt conveyor 500. Upon determining that a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in is detected and determined to be placed on the belt conveyor 500, the belt conveyor controller 116 controls the belt conveyor 500 to transport the vehicle M to the stop area 310 (step S102).)
in a case where it is determined that the vehicle is on the conveyor [0067], estimate a position of the vehicle [0046] using the acquired vehicle velocity [0067]
(Noguchi [0051; 0096] The recognizer 114 recognizes a state of a vehicle M the recognizer 114 recognizes the presence or absence of a passenger who is boarding a vehicle M in the stop area 310, the presence or absence of a passenger who is alighting from the vehicle M, the position of the vehicle M, the speed of the vehicle M, the acceleration of the vehicle M, and the number of passengers who are in the vehicle M.)
(Noguchi [0067] … First, the belt conveyor controller 116 determines whether or not a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in has been detected by the gate 300-in and placed on the belt conveyor 500 (step S100). The belt conveyor controller 116 waits until a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in is detected and determined to be placed on the belt conveyor 500. Upon determining that a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in is detected and determined to be placed on the belt conveyor 500, the belt conveyor controller 116 controls the belt conveyor 500 to transport the vehicle M to the stop area 310 (step S102).)
(Noguchi [0046] Based on the positional relationships of a plurality of vehicles, the controller 420 transmits, to the control device 100, an instruction for a specific vehicle to stop, slow down or the like as necessary such that vehicles do not proceed to the same position at the same time.)
Dejong US-20090018791-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for the use of driven components wherein the system is configured to calculate “…the acquired conveyance velocity”;
(Dejong [0026] conveyor belt transporting steel in a steel mill or any other field involving drive trains where accurate velocity/position measurements are important… In this example, the drive train 100 includes a drive component 102 (e.g., a pulley) and a driven component 104 (e.g., a pulley) connected by a transmission component 106 (e.g., a belt)… The rotational velocity of the driven component 104 is determined by velocity of the drive component 102. An encoder 110 mounted on the driven component 104 measures the rotational velocity of the driven component 104)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Noguchi to acquire a conveyance velocity of a conveyor with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Dejong, for the benefit of providing accurate velocity/position measurements by considering the affect and velocity of a moving/conveying travel path.
2. (Currently Amended) Noguchi US-20200365025-A1 discloses
The position estimation device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to estimate the position of the vehicle using a detection result of an external sensor positioned outside of the vehicle [FIG.5,7,8; 0050], the acquired vehicle
(Noguchi [FIG.5,7,8; 0050] The acquirer 112 acquires a captured image of the stop area 310 from the imaging device 200 via the communication device 120, acquires a result of detection of the presence or absence of a vehicle…)
(Noguchi [0096] The behavior plan generator 740 generates a target trajectory along which the vehicle M will travel in the future automatically (independently of the driver's operation) such that the vehicle M basically travels in the recommended lane determined by the recommended lane determiner 661 and further copes with situations occurring near the vehicle M. The target trajectory includes, for example, a speed element;)
(Noguchi [0098] The second controller 760 controls the travel driving force output device 800, the brake device 810, and the steering device 820 such that the vehicle M passes through the target trajectory generated by the behavior plan generator 740 at scheduled times;)
(Noguchi [0099] The speed controller 764 controls the travel driving force output device 800 or the brake device 810 on the basis of a speed element pertaining to the target trajectory stored in the memory..;)
Zahdeh US-20220402736-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for autonomous vehicle response wherein the system is configured to “…acquire a vehicle velocity";
(Zahdeh [0107] The velocity estimator 1030 )
(Zahdeh [0106] The sensors 1080 are configured to sense/detect and provide spatial positioning data (e.g., line following positions, visual position data, wheel odometry, etc.) to the position estimator 1020. )
(Zahdeh [0106] …The velocity estimator 1030 provides a velocity estimate to the position estimator 1020.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Noguchi to include acquiring a vehicle velocity with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Zahdeh, for the benefit of providing a system capable of monitoring vehicle speed and orientation within an operating environment.
Dejong US-20090018791-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for the use of driven components wherein the system is configured to calculate “…the acquired conveyance velocity”;
(Dejong [0026] conveyor belt transporting steel in a steel mill or any other field involving drive trains where accurate velocity/position measurements are important… In this example, the drive train 100 includes a drive component 102 (e.g., a pulley) and a driven component 104 (e.g., a pulley) connected by a transmission component 106 (e.g., a belt)… The rotational velocity of the driven component 104 is determined by velocity of the drive component 102. An encoder 110 mounted on the driven component 104 measures the rotational velocity of the driven component 104)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Noguchi to acquire a conveyance velocity of a conveyor with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Dejong, for the benefit of providing accurate velocity/position measurements by considering the affect and velocity of a moving/conveying travel path.
4. (Currently Amended) Noguchi US-20200365025-A1 discloses
The position estimation device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to generate a control command using the estimated position of the vehicle and to output the control command, the control command being a control command for causing the vehicle to travel by the unmanned driving.
(Noguchi [0090] Results of the detection are output to the automated driving control device 700 or some or all of the travel driving force output device 800, the brake device 810, and the steering device 820)
(Noguchi [0097] … generating the target trajectory, the behavior plan generator 740 may set an automated driving event)
5. (Currently Amended) Noguchi US-20200365025-A1 discloses
The position estimation device according to claim 4, wherein the control command includes a traveling control signal for causing the vehicle to travel to a target position on the conveyor.
(Noguchi [0097] … generating the target trajectory, the behavior plan generator 740 may set an automated driving event… )
(Noguchi [0103] …even when the vehicle is traveling to the facility to be visited including the parking lot PA by automated driving, the automated driving control device 700 according to the present embodiment ends the automated driving if a recognition result of the recognizer 730 indicates that a vehicle M is placed on the belt conveyor 500, for example, by causing the behavior plan generator 740 to end the target trajectory generation process or the like)
6. (Currently Amended)
Regarding the limitation(s); the limitation is similar in scope to those disclosed in the system of claim(s) 1 and are therefore rejected under the same premise, for more information please see the rejection in re-claim(s) 1.
7. (New) Noguchi US-20200365025-A1 discloses
The position estimation device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to estimate the position of the vehicle using the vehicle [0096] when the processor determines that the vehicle is not on the conveyor [0067].
(Noguchi [0096] The behavior plan generator 740 generates a target trajectory along which the vehicle M will travel in the future automatically (independently of the driver's operation) such that the vehicle M basically travels in the recommended lane determined by the recommended lane determiner 661 and further copes with situations occurring near the vehicle M. The target trajectory includes, for example, a speed element;)
(Noguchi [0067; 0103] … First, the belt conveyor controller 116 determines whether or not a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in has been detected by the gate 300-in and placed on the belt conveyor 500 (step S100). The belt conveyor controller 116 waits until a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in is detected and determined to be placed on the belt conveyor 500. Upon determining that a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in is detected and determined to be placed on the belt conveyor 500, the belt conveyor controller 116 controls the belt conveyor 500 to transport the vehicle M to the stop area 310 (step S102).)
8. (New) Noguchi US-20200365025-A1 discloses
The position estimation device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to calculate an actual [0051] using the actual [0067].
(Noguchi [0099] The speed controller 764 controls the travel driving force output device 800 or the brake device 810 on the basis of a speed element pertaining to the target trajectory stored in the memory..;)
(Noguchi [0051; 0096] The recognizer 114 recognizes a state of a vehicle M the recognizer 114 recognizes the presence or absence of a passenger who is boarding a vehicle M in the stop area 310, the presence or absence of a passenger who is alighting from the vehicle M, the position of the vehicle M, the speed of the vehicle M, the acceleration of the vehicle M, and the number of passengers who are in the vehicle M.)
(Noguchi [0067; 0103] … First, the belt conveyor controller 116 determines whether or not a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in has been detected by the gate 300-in and placed on the belt conveyor 500 (step S100). The belt conveyor controller 116 waits until a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in is detected and determined to be placed on the belt conveyor 500. Upon determining that a vehicle M that has passed through the gate 300-in is detected and determined to be placed on the belt conveyor 500, the belt conveyor controller 116 controls the belt conveyor 500 to transport the vehicle M to the stop area 310 (step S102).)
Zahdeh US-20220402736-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for autonomous vehicle response wherein the system is configured to “…a vehicle velocity";
(Zahdeh [0107] The velocity estimator 1030 )
(Zahdeh [0106] The sensors 1080 are configured to sense/detect and provide spatial positioning data (e.g., line following positions, visual position data, wheel odometry, etc.) to the position estimator 1020. )
(Zahdeh [0106] …The velocity estimator 1030 provides a velocity estimate to the position estimator 1020.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Noguchi to include acquiring a vehicle velocity with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Zahdeh, for the benefit of providing a system capable of monitoring vehicle speed and orientation within an operating environment.
Dejong US-20090018791-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for the use of driven components wherein the system is configured to “…acquire a conveyance velocity of a conveyor”;
(Dejong [0026] conveyor belt transporting steel in a steel mill or any other field involving drive trains where accurate velocity/position measurements are important… In this example, the drive train 100 includes a drive component 102 (e.g., a pulley) and a driven component 104 (e.g., a pulley) connected by a transmission component 106 (e.g., a belt)… The rotational velocity of the driven component 104 is determined by velocity of the drive component 102. An encoder 110 mounted on the driven component 104 measures the rotational velocity of the driven component 104)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Noguchi to acquire a conveyance velocity of a conveyor with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Dejong, for the benefit of providing accurate velocity/position measurements by considering the affect and velocity of a moving/conveying travel path.
10. (New)
Regarding the limitation(s); the limitation is similar in scope to those disclosed in the system of claim(s) 7 and are therefore rejected under the same premise, for more information please see the rejection in re-claim(s) 7.
11. (New)
Regarding the limitation(s); the limitation is similar in scope to those disclosed in the system of claim(s) 8 and are therefore rejected under the same premise, for more information please see the rejection in re-claim(s) 8.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Noguchi US-20200365025-A1, Zahdeh US-20220402736-A1 and Dejong US-20090018791-A1, as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Bageshwar US-20100280699-A1.
3. (Currently Amended) Noguchi US-20200365025-A1 discloses
The position estimation device according to claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to estimate the position of the vehicle by correcting position information about the vehicle based on the acquired vehicle velocity and the acquired conveyance velocity, the position information about the vehicle being acquired using the detection result.
Regarding the limitation(s); the limitation is similar in scope to those disclosed in the system of claim(s) 1 and are therefore rejected under the same premise, for more information please see the rejection in re-claim(s) 1.
Regarding the limitation;”… correcting position information”, Bageshwar (US-20100280699-A1) discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for estimating and correcting a position of a vehicle [0018] (IMU), as shown in FIG. 1B, which provides measurements …of the vehicle 100… refers to the vehicle's position, velocity… Error estimation functionality 112 in processing functionality 102 estimates …corrects the estimated position and velocity of the vehicle ... Error estimation functionality 112 also updates estimates of the vehicle's position and velocity and landmark position in the global frame using the estimated heading angle drift error. , the position information about the vehicle being acquired using the detection result Since the images sensors 104 obtain measurements … estimation functionality 112 is able to estimate the heading angle drift error without requiring knowledge of the actual location of the landmarks.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time the instant application was effectively filed to adapt the modified system of Noguchi to include correcting position information with a reasonable expectation for success, as taught by Bageshwar, for the benefit of providing updated and accurate position data monitoring for use by control systems and autonomous operations, reducing ineffective or undesired operations.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 9 and 12 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 problem to be solved by the present invention may be regarded as method for improving conveyor systems by calculating a position of a vehicle, being conveyed, according to an actual velocity expressed in a formula representing a relationship between a vehicle velocity, a conveyor velocity, and an angular difference of direction and movement as discussed in [0059-60] of the present application.
The closest available prior art at hand;
Noguchi US-20200365025-A1 discloses in a similar invention field of endeavor, a consideration for [0096] The behavior plan generator 740 generates a target trajectory along which the vehicle M will travel in the future automatically (independently of the driver's operation) such that the vehicle M basically travels in the recommended lane determined by the recommended lane determiner 661 and further copes with situations occurring near the vehicle M. The target trajectory includes, for example, a speed element.
A solution to the problem detailed above as proposed in claim(s) 9 and 12 of the present application is neither distinctly disclosed in, nor render obvious by, the available prior art at hand, and appears therefor to involve an inventive step.
As such, it should be noted that while the combination of references discloses aspects of the claimed limitations, the disclosure fails to fully capture the structure and interplay of the elements as recited in the claims. Therefore, upon review of the evidence at hand, it is hereby concluded that the evidence obtained and made of record, alone or in combination, neither anticipates, reasonably teaches, nor renders obvious all the features of applicant’s invention as the features amount to more than a predictable use of elements in the prior art. As such, it is this examiner’s opinion that there lacks a sufficient nexus between the prior art and the instant application.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW JOHN MOSCOLA whose telephone number is (571)272-6944.
The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abby Flynn can be reached on (571) 272-9855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M.J.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3663
/TYLER J LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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