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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Asaria et al (US PG Pub. 2013/0317642). Relative to claim 20, Asaria discloses:
A method comprising:
associating, by at least one processor circuit programmed by at least one instruction (included in Ref. 12, 14)(Fig. 2), at least one receptacle (36)(Fig. 3) of a plurality of receptacles of a cart (32) with a task (Para. 0061-0062); and
causing, by one or more of the at least one processor circuit (Para. 0062), one or more of a plurality of lights (optical indicators) of the cart (32) to be selectively illuminated to provide an indication of the at least one receptacle (36) of the plurality of receptacles associated with the task (Para. 0120).
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 7-8, 16-17, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asaria in view of Khodl et al (US 2015/0073589). Relative to claims 1-2, 7-8, Asaria discloses:
claim 1) A cart (32)(Fig. 3) comprising:
a plurality of receptacles (36)(Fig. 3) for receiving products for transport (Para. 0071); and
a plurality of lights (optical location indicators) associated with the plurality of receptacles (36), the cart (32) is structured to selectively illuminate one or more of the plurality of lights to provide an indication of at least one receptacle (36) of the plurality of receptacles associated with a task (Para. 0118-0120, for instance if destination is a receptacle, an indicator associated with the receptacle may flash, light up, or be pointed to with a laser);
claim 2) the cart (32) is structured to selectively illuminate the one or more of the plurality of lights (indicators) to identify a particular receptacle (36) of the plurality of receptacles within which a product is to be placed or from which a product is to be retrieved in association with the task (Para. 0120);
claim 7) at least one weight sensor (weighing scale) to output signals indicative of products being placed in or removed from a receptacle (36) of the plurality of receptacles (Para. 0084); and
claim 8) at least one image sensor (camera or other vision system) to generate image data for detecting changes in a receptacle of the plurality of receptacles (Para. 0083).
Asaria does not expressly disclose: at least one of the receptacles of the plurality of receptacles being removable from the cart.
Khodl teaches: at least one of the receptacles of the plurality of receptacles being removable from the cart (14)(receptacles can be removed by humans, Para. 0218)(Fig. 4), for the purpose of providing a system and method of order picking to be used in e-commerce that is less labor intensive and that reduces costs (Para. 0003-0004).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Asaria with the receptacles being removable from the cart as taught in Khodl, for the purpose of providing a system and method of order picking to be used in e-commerce that is less labor intensive and that reduces costs.
Relative to claims 16-17, and 19, the disclosure of Asaria includes:
claim 16) a system comprising:
a plurality of carts (32), each of the carts including a plurality of receptacles (36) for receiving products for transport (Fig. 3), and a plurality of lights associated with the plurality of receptacles (36) of the respective carts (Para. 0120);
machine-readable instructions (included in Ref. 46)(Para. 0076); and
at least one processor circuit (included with Ref. 12, 14)(Fig. 2) to execute the machine-readable instructions to: associate at least one receptacle (36) of the plurality of receptacles of a first cart (32) of the plurality of carts with a task (Para. 0120); and
cause one or more of the plurality of lights (optical indicators) of the first cart (32) to be selectively illuminated to provide an indication of the at least one receptacle (36) of the plurality of receptacles of the first cart (32) associated with the task (Para. 0120);
claim 17) the task is associated with an area where products are stored (Para. 0120) and, responsive to the association of the task with the at least one receptacle (36) of the plurality of receptacles of the first cart (32), one or more of the at least one processor circuit is to cause the first cart (32) to automatically move around the area (see step 108)(Fig. 4)(Para. 0070); and
claim 19) the at least one processor circuit (included in Ref. 12, 14) is to cause the one or more of the plurality of lights (optical indicators) to be selectively illuminated to identify the at least one receptacle (36) of the plurality of receptacles of the first cart (32) within which a product is to be placed or from which a product is to be retrieved in association with the task (Para. 0120).
Asaria does not expressly disclose: at least one of the receptacles of the plurality of receptacles (36) of each cart being removable from the respective cart.
Khodl teaches: at least one of the receptacles of the plurality of receptacles being removable from the cart (14)(receptacles can be removed by humans, Para. 0218)(Fig. 4), for the purpose of providing a system and method of order picking to be used in e-commerce that is less labor intensive and that reduces costs (Para. 0003-0004).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Asaria with the receptacles being removable from the cart, as taught in Khodl for the purpose of providing a system and method of order picking to be used in e-commerce that is less labor intensive and that reduces costs.
Relative to claims 4-5, the disclosure of Asaria in view of Khodl discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose: the plurality of lights extend substantially along a length of two opposed sides of the cart; or the cart is structured to selectively illuminate one or more of the plurality of lights associated with each of two opposed faces of a first receptacle of the plurality of receptacles that spans the cart.
Asaria in view of Khodl can be modified so that the plurality of lights (20) extend substantially along a length of two opposed sides of the cart; and to selectively illuminate one or more of the plurality of lights associated with each of two opposed faces of a first receptacle that spans the cart, as a matter of design choice.
Khodl discloses an indicator system 20 with a series of visual indicators 20 or lights arranged on opposite sides of the robotic cart (14)(Fig. 4)(Fig. 4)(Para. 0027).
A person of ordinary skill in the art would know to extend a plurality of indicators substantially along the length of two opposite sides of the cart (14), as a matter of design choice, to provide a better illumination of the receptacle from multiple viewpoints of the picker, in which the picker should place or pick an item.
Similarly, modifying the cart to selectively illuminate one or more of the plurality of lights associated with each of two opposed faces of a first receptacle of the plurality of receptacles that spans the cart, would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to better indicate to the picker which receptacle the item is to be picked or placed, thereby increasing picking efficiency.
Providing a plurality of indicators (20) and extending the indicator arrangement along the sides of the robotic carts (14) of Khodl, is a duplication and rearrangement of parts and would have been obvious for the reasons above. See MPEP §2144.04 (VI).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to arrange the lights to extend substantially along the length of two opposed sides of the cart, and to selectively illuminate one or more of the plurality of lights associated with each of two opposed faces of a first receptacle, as described above, based on the user’s preference to better illuminate which location a picker should pick or place an item from multiple view points.
Claim(s) 3 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asaria and Khodl as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Rouaix et al (US Patent No. 8,423,431). Relative to claims 3 and 9, Asaria in view of Khodl discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, including: an input device such as a button that may be provided through the combination of the display device 38 and/or the input device 42 to allow a human operator to interface with the robot 32. The button may also serve as a sensor to sense products placed into or removed from the container (36)(Para. 0081; 0085).
Asaria does not expressly disclose:
claim 3) one or more of the plurality of lights is to change color based upon the task; or
claim 9) an action button to enable a user to confirm that an item has been placed in a receptacle of the plurality of receptacles.
Rouaix teaches: one or more of the plurality of lights (laser beam or other visual indicators) is to change color based upon the task (Col. 22, lines 40-56); and an action button to enable a user to confirm that an item has been stowed (Col. 39, lines 4-10; Col. 38, lines 52-55), for the purpose of providing a materials handling facility that includes a pick or put to light system, that can be used in facilities storing different items together in a single inventory area more efficiently and accurately (Col. 2, lines 21-26).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the system of Asaria in view of Khodl with the plurality of lights changing color based upon the task, and an action button to enabling a user to confirm that an item has been stowed, as taught in Rouaix, for the purpose of providing a materials handling facility that includes a pick or put to light system, that can be used in facilities storing different items together in a single inventory area more efficiently and accurately.
Relative to claim 9, Asaria in view of Khodl and Rouaix does not expressly disclose the button enables a user to confirm that an item has been placed in a receptacle of the plurality of receptacles.
Rouaix discloses a button being used to confirm that an item has been stowed in an inventory area (Col. 39, lines 4-10; Col. 38, lines 52-55). Rouaix also discloses that when an item is picked, sending an update to the product database to reflect the removal of the given item (Col. 41, lines 63-67).
A person of ordinary skill in the art would have known to modify the system so that the user presses the button to confirm that an item has been placed into the receptacle on the cart, as opposed to an inventory area, to update the status of items loaded into the receptacle in real-time, and to update the product database to reflect the removal of the item from inventory to improve inventory accuracy.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Asaria in view of Khodl and Rouaix so that the user presses the button to confirm that an item has been placed into the designated receptacle, as a matter of design choice, to update the status of items loaded into the receptacle in real-time, and to update the product database to reflect the removal of the item to improve inventory accuracy.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asaria and Khodl as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Shakes et al (US Patent No. 8,032,249). Asaria in view of Khodl discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose: at least one sensor to output signals indicating that a
corresponding one of the at least one of the removable receptacles is present on the cart.
Shakes teaches: at least one sensor to output signals indicating that a
corresponding one of the at least one of the removable receptacles is present on the cart (Col. 29, lines 45-50), for the purpose of providing a method and apparatus for enabling multi-destination item selection using motes in materials handling facilities to increase pick density and improve picking accuracy (Col. 4, lines 45-53; Col. 4, lines 64-67).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the device of Asaria in view of Khodl with the sensor outputting signals indicating that one of the removable receptacles is present on the cart as taught in Shakes, for the purpose of providing a method and apparatus for enabling multi-destination item selection using motes in materials handling facilities to increase pick density and improve picking accuracy.
Claim(s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asaria in view of Khodl as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wise (US PG. Pub. 2017/0337506). Relative to claims 10-11, Asaria in view of Khodl discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, including: the cart (32) is in communication with a graphical user-interface screen (38)(Fig. 3)(Para. 0074).
Asaria in view of Khodl does not expressly disclose: at least one processor circuit to cause the cart to automatically move around an area where products are stored and to guide a person to tasks in the area.
Wise teaches: at least one processor circuit (included in Ref. 125)(Fig. 1B) to cause the cart (180, 160)(Fig. 1A-1B) to automatically move around an area where products are stored and to guide a person (human 120)(Fig. 1B) to tasks in the area (Para. 0025-0026), for the purpose of providing an improved system and method using robots to assist humans in order fulfillment to show the human which items to pick thereby minimizing human labor (Para. 0048; 0077).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the device of Asaria in view of Khodl with the processor circuit causing the cart to automatically move around an area where products are stored and to guide a person to tasks in the area, as taught in Wise, for the purpose of providing an improved system and method using robots to assist humans in order fulfillment to show the human which items to pick thereby minimizing human labor.
Claim(s) 12-15, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asaria in view of Khodl as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Lyon et al (US PG. Pub. 2015/0081088).
Relative to claims 12-15, and 18, Asaria in view of Khodl discloses all claim limitations mentioned above, but does not expressly disclose:
claim 12) the graphical user-interface screen to provide an indication of another cart to which the person is to transition;
claim 13) the cart is associated with a particular task of the tasks in the area, and the indication of the other cart is provided responsive to completion of the particular task;
claim 14) the graphical user-interface screen is to provide an indication of a task to which the person is to transition, the task being associated with the other cart;
claim 15) the task is associated with a location in the area, and the graphical user-interface screen is to present the indication of the task during movement of the cart; or
claim 18) the task is a first task and, responsive to an indication of completion of the first task, the at least one processor circuit to associate a second task with at least one receptacle of the plurality of receptacles of a second cart of the plurality of carts.
Lyon teaches:
claim 12) the graphical user-interface screen (user interface of mobile computing device, 240)(Fig. 2) to provide an indication of another cart to which the person is to transition (instructions are displayed for the next pick cart, Para. 0051);
claim 13) the cart (pick cart, Ref. 510)(Fig. 5) is associated with a particular task of the tasks in the area (picker is instructed to pick items using the first pick cart, Para. 0051), and the indication of the other cart (next pick cart, 510) is provided responsive to completion of the particular task (Para. 0051);
claim 14) the graphical user-interface screen (see user interface of Ref. 240) is to provide an indication of a task to which the person is to transition, the task being associated with the other cart (pick instructions are provided on the mobile computing device to the picker, 0084; 0031, the next task is for the next pick cart, Para. 0051);
claim 15) the task is associated with a location in the area, and the graphical user-interface screen (see Ref. 240) is to present the indication of the task during movement of the cart (Para. 0031; 0051-0052, as picker is picking items to the cart, current picking instructions are displayed on the user interface for the first pick cart 510, instructions may be viewed in a distal or proximal picking mode, see Fig. 8 and 10); and
claim 18) the task is a first task and, responsive to an indication of completion of the first task, the at least one processor circuit (included with Ref. 610, and mobile computing device, 240 Para. 0055) to associate a second task with at least one receptacle (bin) of the plurality of receptacles of a second cart (510) of the plurality of carts (picking instructions for picking items to a bin in a next cart 510 are displayed to the picker upon completion of the picking for the first cart, Para. 0051, see Fig. 9).
Lyon teaches: the graphical user-interface screen for providing an indication of another cart to which the person is to transition, the cart being associated with a particular task; the graphical user-interface screen indicating a task to which the person is to transition; presenting the indication of the task during movement of the cart; and the processor circuit associating a second task with at least one receptacle of a second cart as described above, for the purpose of providing an improved warehouse management method using a pick platform and a mobile computing device to assist users with correctly pick items that is less complex, has greater user data interface and exchange capabilities, and maximizes picking efficiency (Para. 0003; 0021).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art on or before the time of the filing to modify the device of Asaria in view of Khodl with the: the graphical user-interface screen for indicating another cart to which the person is to transition, the cart being associated with a particular task; the graphical user-interface indicating a task to which the person is to transition; presenting the indication of the task during movement of the cart; and the processor circuit associates a second task with at least one receptacle of a second cart described above as taught in Lyon, for the purpose of providing an improved warehouse management method using a pick platform and a mobile computing device to assist users with correctly pick items that is less complex, has greater user data interface and exchange capabilities, and maximizes picking efficiency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOLANDA RENEE CUMBESS whose telephone number is (571)270-5527. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6.
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/YOLANDA R CUMBESS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
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