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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of prior-filed application 18/223,755 under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed June 17th, 2026 has been entered. Claims 57-60, 67-70 and 77-78 have been amended. Claim 79 has been canceled. Claims 57-78 and 80 remain pending. Applicant’s amendments to the claims overcome the objections and 112(b) rejections previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed March 18th, 2026.
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.
Claims 57-76 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) in view of Shen et al. (CN 109663737) and further in view of Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788).
Regarding claim 57, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches an object processing system (Paragraph 0001 lines 1-17) comprising:
a primary sortation system (Fig. 1 #8) that receives a plurality of objects at a plurality of infeed stations (Fig. 1 see plurality of infeed stations #10) and includes a loop conveyance system (Fig. 1 see loop conveyance system of #8) that moves the plurality of objects around a closed loop that includes a plurality of primary sortation exits (Fig. 1 #29) at which any of the plurality of objects are selectively discharged from the primary sortation system (Paragraph 0066 lines 1-6);
a secondary sortation system (Fig. 1 #9) inside the closed loop of the primary sortation system (Fig. 1 #9 inside closed loop of #8), the secondary sortation system including a plurality of vertically stacked shuttle modules (Fig. 2 #20, 21, 41), each shuttle module including a conveyance for moving a an object of the plurality of objects received at a selected primary sortation exit (Fig. 1 #29) of the plurality of primary sortation exits from a first end of the respective shuttle module (Fig. 2 first end of #20, 21, 41) to a destination location (Fig. 2 location of #6) of the respective shuttle module (Paragraph 0082 lines 1-4), each of the destination locations including a destination container (Fig. 2 #6), with each destination location being further adjacent an output conveyor (Figs. 1-2 location of #6 adjacent #42, 36, 46) such that a number of output conveyors is larger than a number of shuttle modules (Figs. 1-2 output conveyors #42 for each shuttle module #20, 21, 41, in addition to output conveyors #36, 46), each output conveyor leading to a common discharge end of each shuttle module (Figs. 1-2 see common discharge end at left side of #42, leading to #36, 46) for discharging completed destination containers (Paragraph 0074 lines 1-5); and
an empty container infeed conveyance system (Fig. 1 #22) for providing empty containers to the destination locations of each shuttle module on each of the plurality of vertically stacked shuttle modules (Paragraph 0058 lines 1-7, Paragraph 0062 lines 1-7), the empty container infeed conveyance system providing the empty containers to an entry end of each shuttle module (Fig. 2 see left entry end of each shuttle module #20, 21, 41).
Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) lacks teaching each shuttle module including a reciprocating conveyance for moving an object of the plurality of objects received at a selected primary sortation exit of the plurality of primary sortation exits from a first end of the respective shuttle module to any of a plurality of destination locations of the respective shuttle module, each of the plurality of destination locations including a destination container, each reciprocating conveyance traveling parallel to a length of the shuttle module between two rows of destination locations.
Shen et al. (CN 109663737) teaches an object processing system (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-2) comprising: each shuttle module (Fig. 1 #14) including a reciprocating conveyance (Paragraph 0080 lines 1-9, Paragraph 0091 lines 1-4) for moving an object of the plurality of objects received at a selected primary sortation exit (Fig. 1 object received at selected #12) of the plurality of primary sortation exits from a first end of the respective shuttle module to any of a plurality of destination locations of the respective shuttle module (Figs. 1, 9 #14-4 moves objects from first end of #14 to any location of #20), each of the plurality of destination locations including a destination container (Fig. 1 #20), each reciprocating conveyance traveling parallel to a length of the shuttle module between two rows of destination locations (Figs. 1, 9 #14-4 traveling parallel to length of #14 between two row of location of #20). Shen et al. (CN 109663737) explains that this configuration can perform fine sorting of express packages and it has good stability and high sorting efficiency (Paragraph 0028 lines 1-4), and further explains that the express sorting unit can be extended or branched according to the amount of parcels, which is flexible and highly scalable (Paragraph 0026 lines 1-3).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) to include each shuttle module including a reciprocating conveyance for moving an object of the plurality of objects received at a selected primary sortation exit of the plurality of primary sortation exits from a first end of the respective shuttle module to any of a plurality of destination locations of the respective shuttle module, each of the plurality of destination locations including a destination container, each reciprocating conveyance traveling parallel to a length of the shuttle module between two rows of destination locations as taught by Shen et al. (CN 109663737) in order to provide a stable sorting system with high sorting efficiency which is flexible and scalable depending on the amount of objects being sorted.
Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) lacks teaching each row of destination locations being further adjacent an output conveyor; and an empty container infeed conveyance system for providing empty containers to each of the rows of destination locations of each shuttle module, the empty container infeed conveyance system providing the empty containers to an entry end of each shuttle module opposite the discharge end of each row of destination locations
Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) teaches an object processing system (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-5) comprising: with each row of destination locations (Fig. 1A row of #112) being further adjacent an output conveyor (Fig. 1A row of #112 adjacent #120); and an empty container infeed conveyance system (Fig. 1A #118) for providing empty containers to each of the rows of destination locations of each shuttle module (Paragraph 0045 lines 13-28), the empty container infeed conveyance system providing the empty containers to an entry end of each shuttle module (Fig. 1A see #118 providing empty containers to entry end of #114) opposite the discharge end of each row of destination locations (Fig. 1A see #118 opposite discharge end of row of #112 facing #120).
Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) explains that the material handling system reduces or eliminates human interaction with articles sorted and deposited into an order container to maintain validation and integrity of the order, and in addition to the sorting or picking function, a task of placing empty containers and removing completed order containers that is often performed by a human operated is completely automated (Paragraph 0006 lines 1-15). Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) explains that a continuous supply of empty containers are supplied to the sortation conveyors, and the filled or partially filled destination containers are automatically discharged to an outfeed conveyor, therefore substantially reducing the amount of manual labor processes required to replace filled destination containers with empty containers (Paragraph 0070 lines 1-8).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) to include each row of destination locations being further adjacent an output conveyor; and an empty container infeed conveyance system for providing empty containers to each of the rows of destination locations of each shuttle module, the empty container infeed conveyance system providing the empty containers to an entry end of each shuttle module opposite the discharge end of each row of destination locations as taught by Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) in order to eliminate human interaction with articles sorted and deposited into an order container to maintain validation and integrity of the order and to reduce the amount of manual labor required in the system.
Regarding claim 58, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 57, wherein the plurality of infeed stations (Fig. 1 see plurality of infeed stations #10) receive the plurality of objects from a common source infeed conveyor (Fig. 1 plurality of #10 receive objects from conveyor #12).
Regarding claim 59, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 58, wherein the primary sortation system (Fig. 1 #8) is provided as one of a plurality of primary sortation systems (Fig. 1 #8 includes #31, 32; #3 includes #17, 18), each primary sortation system (Fig. 1 #3, 8) including a secondary sortation system (Fig. 1 #3 including #4, #8 including #9).
Regarding claim 60, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 59, wherein the common source infeed conveyor (Fig. 1 #12) is provided as one of a plurality of common source infeed conveyors (Fig. 1 see plurality of #12)
Regarding claim 61, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 57, wherein the secondary sortation system (Fig. 1 #9) includes two secondary sortation stations (Fig. 1 see two stations of #9), each of which includes a set of the plurality of vertically stacked shuttle modules (Figs. 1-2 each #9 includes #20, 21, 41) such that discharge ends of plurality of vertically stacked shuttle modules (Figs. 1-2 see discharge end at left side of #42, discharge end at left side of #42 is at #30) are located in a central region between the primary sortation exits (Fig. 1 see #30 located in central region between #29).
Regarding claim 62, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 57, wherein said loop conveyance system includes a cross-belt conveyor (Paragraph 0068 lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 63, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 57, wherein said loop conveyance system includes a plurality of powered rollers (Paragraph 0063 lines 5-11).
Regarding claim 64, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 57, wherein the plurality of vertically stacked shuttle modules of the secondary sortation system includes three vertical levels of shuttle modules (Fig. 2 see three vertical levels #20, 21, 41).
Regarding claim 65, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 57, wherein each shuttle module (Fig. 2 #20, 21, 41) includes a container removal system (Fig. 2 #44) for removing a selected completed container (Fig. 2 #6) from the respective shuttle module (Paragraph 0074 lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 66, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 65, wherein the object processing system further includes an output container conveyance system (Fig. 1 #46) for providing the selected completed container to an output area outside of the closed loop (Paragraph 0078 lines 1-6).
Regarding claim 67, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches an object processing system (Paragraph 0001 lines 1-17) comprising:
a primary sortation system (Fig. 1 #8) that receives a plurality of objects at a plurality of infeed stations (Fig. 1 see plurality of infeed stations #10) and includes a loop conveyance system (Fig. 1 see loop conveyance system of #8) that moves the plurality of objects around a closed loop that includes a plurality of primary sortation exits (Fig. 1 #29) at which any of the plurality of objects are selectively discharged from the primary sortation system (Paragraph 0066 lines 1-6);
a secondary sortation system (Fig. 1 #9) inside the closed loop of the primary sortation system (Fig. 1 #9 inside closed loop of #8), the secondary sortation system includes a plurality of vertically stacked shuttle modules (Fig. 2 #20, 21, 41), each shuttle module including a conveyance for moving a an object of the plurality of received objects at a selected primary sortation exit (Fig. 1 #29) of the plurality of primary sortation exits from a first end of the respective shuttle module (Fig. 2 first end of #20, 21, 41) to a destination location (Fig. 2 location of #6) of the respective shuttle module (Paragraph 0082 lines 1-4), with each destination location being further adjacent an output conveyor (Figs. 1-2 location of #6 adjacent #42), and wherein the output conveyors all lead to a common output area (Fig. 1 #46, Paragraph 0078 lines 1-6); and
an empty bin in-feed conveyance system (Fig. 1 #22) for providing empty bins to the destination location of each shuttle module (Paragraph 0058 lines 1-7, Paragraph 0062 lines 1-7), the empty bin in-feed conveyance system providing the empty bins to a first end of each shuttle module (Fig. 2 see left entry end of each shuttle module #20, 21, 41).
Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) lacks teaching each shuttle module including a reciprocating conveyance for moving an object of the plurality of received objects at a selected primary sortation exit of the plurality of primary sortation exits from a first end of the respective shuttle module to any of a plurality of destination locations of the respective shuttle module, each reciprocating conveyance traveling parallel to a length of the shuttle module between two rows of destination locations.
Shen et al. (CN 109663737) teaches an object processing system (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-2) comprising: each shuttle module (Fig. 1 #14) including a reciprocating conveyance (Paragraph 0080 lines 1-9, Paragraph 0091 lines 1-4) for moving an object of the plurality of objects received at a selected primary sortation exit (Fig. 1 object received at selected #12) of the plurality of primary sortation exits from a first end of the respective shuttle module to any of a plurality of destination locations of the respective shuttle module (Figs. 1, 9 #14-4 moves objects from first end of #14 to any location of #20), each reciprocating conveyance traveling parallel to a length of the shuttle module between two rows of destination locations (Figs. 1, 9 #14-4 traveling parallel to length of #14 between two row of location of #20).
Shen et al. (CN 109663737) explains that this configuration can perform fine sorting of express packages and it has good stability and high sorting efficiency (Paragraph 0028 lines 1-4), and further explains that the express sorting unit can be extended or branched according to the amount of parcels, which is flexible and highly scalable (Paragraph 0026 lines 1-3).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) to include each shuttle module including a reciprocating conveyance for moving an object of the plurality of received objects at a selected primary sortation exit of the plurality of primary sortation exits from a first end of the respective shuttle module to any of a plurality of destination locations of the respective shuttle module, each reciprocating conveyance traveling parallel to a length of the shuttle module between two rows of destination locations as taught by Shen et al. (CN 109663737) in order to provide a stable sorting system with high sorting efficiency which is flexible and scalable depending on the amount of objects being sorted.
Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) lacks teaching each row of destination locations being further adjacent an output conveyor, wherein adjacent shuttle modules share the output conveyor therebetween; and an empty bin in-feed conveyance system for providing empty bins to any of the rows of destination locations of each shuttle module, the empty bin in-feed conveyance system providing the empty bins to a first end of each row of destination locations.
Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) teaches an object processing system (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-5) comprising: each row of destination locations (Fig. 1A row of #112) being further adjacent an output conveyor (Fig. 1A row of #112 adjacent #120), wherein adjacent shuttle modules share the output conveyor therebetween (Fig. 1A see adjacent shuttle modules #114 along straight portions of #110 sharing #120); and an empty bin in-feed conveyance system (Fig. 1A #118) for providing empty bins to any of the rows of destination locations of each shuttle module (Paragraph 0045 lines 13-28), the empty bin in-feed conveyance system providing the empty bins to a first end of each row of destination locations (Fig. 1A see #118 providing empty containers to entry end of #114).
Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) explains that the material handling system reduces or eliminates human interaction with articles sorted and deposited into an order container to maintain validation and integrity of the order, and in addition to the sorting or picking function, a task of placing empty containers and removing completed order containers that is often performed by a human operated is completely automated (Paragraph 0006 lines 1-15). Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) explains that a continuous supply of empty containers are supplied to the sortation conveyors, and the filled or partially filled destination containers are automatically discharged to an outfeed conveyor, therefore substantially reducing the amount of manual labor processes required to replace filled destination containers with empty containers (Paragraph 0070 lines 1-8).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) to include each row of destination locations being further adjacent an output conveyor, wherein adjacent shuttle modules share the output conveyor therebetween; and an empty bin in-feed conveyance system for providing empty bins to any of the rows of destination locations of each shuttle module, the empty bin in-feed conveyance system providing the empty bins to a first end of each row of destination locations as taught by Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) in order to eliminate human interaction with articles sorted and deposited into an order container to maintain validation and integrity of the order and to reduce the amount of manual labor required in the system.
Regarding claim 68, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 67, wherein the plurality of infeed stations (Fig. 1 see plurality of infeed stations #10) receive the plurality of objects from a common source infeed conveyor (Fig. 1 plurality of #10 receive objects from conveyor #12).
Regarding claim 69, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 68, wherein the primary sortation system (Fig. 1 #8) is provided as one of a plurality of primary sortation systems (Fig. 1 #8 includes #31, 32; #3 includes #17, 18), each primary sortation system (Fig. 1 #3, 8) including a secondary sortation system (Fig. 1 #3 including #4, #8 including #9).
Regarding claim 70, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 69, wherein the common source infeed conveyor (Fig. 1 #12) is provided as one of a plurality of common source infeed conveyors (Fig. 1 see plurality of #12).
Regarding claim 71, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 67, wherein the secondary sortation system (Fig. 1 #9) includes two secondary sortation stations (Fig. 1 see two stations of #9), each of which includes a set of the plurality of vertically stacked shuttle modules (Figs. 1-2 each #9 includes #20, 21, 41) such that discharge ends of plurality of vertically stacked shuttle modules (Figs. 1-2 see discharge end at left side of #42, discharge end at left side of #42 is at #30) are located in a central region between the primary sortation exits (Fig. 1 see #30 located in central region between #29).
Regarding claim 72, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 67, wherein said loop conveyance system includes a cross-belt conveyor (Paragraph 0068 lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 73, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 67, wherein said loop conveyance system includes a plurality of powered rollers (Paragraph 0063 lines 5-11).
Regarding claim 74, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 67, wherein the plurality of vertically stacked shuttle modules of the secondary sortation system includes three vertical levels of shuttle modules (Fig. 2 see three vertical levels #20, 21, 41).
Regarding claim 75, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 67, wherein each shuttle module (Fig. 2 #20, 21, 41) includes a container removal system (Fig. 2 #44) for removing a selected completed container (Fig. 2 #6) from the respective shuttle module (Paragraph 0074 lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 76, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the object processing system of claim 75, wherein the object processing system further includes an output container conveyance system (Fig. 1 #46) for providing the selected completed container to an output area outside of the closed loop (Paragraph 0078 lines 1-6).
Claims 77-78 and 80 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) in view of Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788).
Regarding claim 77, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches a method of processing objects (Paragraph 0001 lines 1-17) comprising:
moving a plurality of objects along a common source infeed conveyor (Fig. 1 #12);
moving the plurality of objects toward a primary sortation system (Fig. 1 #8) that includes a closed loop conveyance system (Fig. 1 see closed loop conveyance system of #8) for moving the plurality of objects generally along a first input direction (Fig. 1 see arrows indicating counter-clockwise direction);
moving the plurality of objects on the closed loop conveyance system (Fig. 1 #31, 32, 33), the closed loop conveyance system providing that any object not diverted from the closed loop conveyance system will remain on the closed loop conveyance system (Fig. 1 any object not diverted from #8 will remain on #8);
diverting the plurality of objects at a plurality of primary sortation exits (Fig. 1 #29) of the primary sortation system to a plurality of cache diverters (Fig. 2 #43) that include a plurality of diverter conveyors (Paragraph 0075 lines 1-3);
moving the plurality of objects on the diverter conveyors (Fig. 2 #43) of the plurality of cache diverters to a plurality of conveyances (Fig. 2 see conveyors of #20, 21, 41) of a plurality of shuttle modules (Fig. 2 #20, 21, 41) in a secondary sortation system (Fig. 1 #9) inside the closed loop conveyance system (Fig. 1 #9 inside #8), each diverter conveyor (Fig. 2 #43) leading to one of the plurality of shuttle modules of the secondary sortation system (Fig. 2 each #43 leading to one of #20, 21, 41 of #9);
providing empty containers to each destination location (Fig. 2 location of #6) at a first end (Fig. 2 see left end of each shuttle module #20, 21, 41) of each shuttle module (Paragraph 0058 lines 1-7, Paragraph 0062 lines 1-7);
moving the plurality of objects on the plurality of conveyances to a destination location provided in the plurality of shuttle modules (Paragraph 0066 lines 1-6); and
moving a completed destination container (Fig. 2 #6) to a plurality of output conveyors (Figs. 1-2 #42, 36, 46) of an output conveyance system (Paragraph 0074 lines 1-5) that leads to at least one output location outside of the closed loop conveyance system (Paragraph 0078 lines 1-6).
Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) lacks teaching moving the plurality of objects on the diverter conveyors to a plurality of reciprocating conveyances of a plurality of shuttle modules; providing empty containers to each of a plurality of rows of destination locations; moving the plurality of objects on the plurality of reciprocating conveyances to a plurality of destination locations, wherein each reciprocating conveyance travels parallel to a length of a respective shuttle module between two rows of destination locations; and ejecting the plurality of objects from the plurality of reciprocating conveyances into selected containers among the plurality of destination locations of the plurality of shuttle modules.
Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) teaches a method of processing objects (Paragraph 0002 lines 1-5) comprising: moving the plurality of objects on the diverter conveyors (Fig. 3 #306) to a plurality of reciprocating conveyances (Paragraph 0047 lines 9-18) of a plurality of shuttle modules (Fig. 1A see shuttle modules formed along linear sections of #110); providing empty containers to each of a plurality of rows of destination locations (Fig. 1A rows of #112, Paragraph 0045 lines 13-28); moving the plurality of objects on the plurality of reciprocating conveyances to a plurality of destination locations (Paragraph 0047 lines 14-21), wherein each reciprocating conveyance (Paragraph 0047 lines 9-18) travels parallel to a length of a respective shuttle module between two rows of destination locations (Figs. 1A, 3 see each reciprocating conveyance traveling parallel to length of straight section of #310 between two rows of locations #112); and ejecting the plurality of objects from the plurality of reciprocating conveyances into selected containers (Paragraph 0047 lines 14-21) among the plurality of destination locations of the plurality of shuttle modules (Fig. 1A see plurality of locations of #112).
Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) explains that the material handling system reduces or eliminates human interaction with articles sorted and deposited into an order container to maintain validation and integrity of the order, and in addition to the sorting or picking function, a task of placing empty containers and removing completed order containers that is often performed by a human operated is completely automated (Paragraph 0006 lines 1-15). Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) explains that the sortation conveyor can employ carriers that discharge using various mechanisms including cross-belts, tilt trays, pushers, or bomb bays that can efficiently and effectively discharge a wide variety of articles (Paragraph 0033 lines 10-15), and provides a table showing how various kinds of sorters handle a range of product types (see Fig. 22).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) to include moving the plurality of objects on the diverter conveyors of the plurality of cache diverters to a plurality of reciprocating conveyances of a plurality of shuttle modules; providing empty containers to each of a plurality of rows of destination locations; moving the plurality of objects on the plurality of reciprocating conveyances to a plurality of destination locations, wherein each reciprocating conveyance travels parallel to a length of a respective shuttle module between two rows of destination locations; and ejecting the plurality of objects from the plurality of reciprocating conveyances into selected containers among the plurality of destination locations of the plurality of shuttle modules as taught by Engel et al. (US 2018/0085788) in order to eliminate human interaction with articles sorted and deposited into an order container to maintain validation and integrity of the order and reduce manual labor, as well as provide discharge mechanisms that can efficiently and effectively discharge a wide variety of articles.
Regarding claim 78, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the method of claim 77, wherein the common source infeed conveyor (Fig. 1 #12) is provided as one of a plurality of common source infeed conveyors (Fig. 1 see plurality of #12).
Regarding claim 80, Radwallner et al. (US 2014/0249666) teaches the method of claim 77, wherein the plurality of shuttle modules are provided as three vertical levels of shuttle modules (Fig. 2 see three vertical levels #20, 21, 41).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed June 17th, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of amended claim(s) 57, 67 and 77 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Shen et al. (CN 109663737).
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Molly K Devine whose telephone number is (571)270-7205. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:00-4:00.
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, Michael McCullough can be reached at (571) 272-7805. 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.
/MOLLY K DEVINE/Examiner, Art Unit 3653
Prosecution Insights