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 .
Specification
Claim Objections
The claims are objected to because of the following informalities:
With respect to the claim terms “Bluetooth” and “LoRa” (see e.g., claims 2, 3, 30, 31), Examiner cautions that the use of trademark in a patent claim may lead to confusion as to the scope of the claim unless the trademark itself describes the structural limitation. See MPEP 2173.05. Here, Examiner interprets the Bluetooth term as requiring the specific Bluetooth type of short-range wire-less standard and LoRa as merely requiring long-range communication elements.
Claim 20 should read “20. The method of claim 18,”
Appropriate correction is required.
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 of this title, 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 1-3, 10-11, 17, 18, 21-23 and 29-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Creel et al. (“Creel”)(US 2003/0102970) in view of Meadow (WO 2016/112037) and Moore et al. (“Moore”)(US 2016/0307154).
Creel teaches a self-inventorying tool container for a construction job site, the self-inventorying tool container and related method comprising
(re: claim 1) a tool container structure comprising an enclosure defining an internal tool volume configured to receive a plurality of trackable construction tools (fig. 2 and para. 57-64 showing toolbox configured to receive trackable tools, wherein each tool has an embedded/attached RFID tags to enable tracking), and
at least one a door coupled with the enclosure and operable to permit selective access to the internal tool volume and plurality of trackable construction tools held therein (Id. with para. 57 teaching lockable drawers);
a plurality of tags corresponding to the plurality of trackable construction tools, each tag configured to emit a short-range wireless signal and removable from the internal volume with the respective trackable tool (Id. teaching embedded/attached RFID tags configured to enable tracking and to supply pertinent tool information with para. 64 teaching that “active” RFID tags function to send and receive location signals over broader ranges);
a scanning assembly (10) arranged with the tool container and configured to detect the short-range wireless signal of each respective tag relative to the internal tool volume (fig. 2, 6 and 9 and para. 58-59, 65-66 teaching communication/scanning unit 10 configured to transmit and receive signals from RFID tags, thus Examiner regards the scanning assembly as determining a first location of a subset of tools based on a short-range wireless signal of each respective tag being disposed within the internal tool volume); and
an antenna arranged with the tool container and configured to transmit a container signal indicative of a location of each trackable tool of the plurality of trackable construction tools having a corresponding tag (Id. teaching communications antenna 11 configured to send tool information to an external remote device such as a central control unit);
(re: certain elements of claim 4) an access management system having a locking mechanism securing the at least one door to the enclosure (fig. 3 showing locking mechanisms near 8a, 8b; para. 60 teaching locking microswitches), and
a keypad coupled with an exterior of the enclosure (fig. 7, 8 showing exterior keypad 16; para. 65 teaching keypad 16 and card reader 17 configured to allow manual inputs and para. 75, 80 teaching user authentication for tool container, e.g., via RFID badge, keypad or biometric devices; para. 77 teaching tracking of tool container across jobsite).
Creel as set forth above teaches all that is claimed except for expressly teaching
(re: certain elements of claim 1) wherein said tags are beacons;
(re: claim 2) wherein the scanning assembly comprises a Bluetooth gateway and a plurality of Bluetooth Low Energy scanners associated therewith;
(re: claim 3) wherein each beacon of the plurality of beacons comprises a Bluetooth transmitter;
(re: claim 10) a construction job site comprising the self-inventorying tool container of claim 1, and
the plurality of trackable tools being construction tools, each trackable tool of the plurality of trackable construction tools having a corresponding beacon;
(re: claim 11) wherein a first subset of the plurality of trackable construction tools is disposed with the internal volume, a second subset of the plurality of trackable construction tools is disposed across the job site, and the container signal is indicative of a location of each trackable tool of the second subset of the plurality of trackable construction tools across the jobsite;
(re: claim 17) wherein the plurality of trackable construction tools comprises power or hydraulic hand-tools, including one of a drill, an impact wrench, a saw, or welding equipment;
(re: claim 18) determining, using the processing unit, a second location of a second subset of trackable construction tools of the plurality of trackable construction tools based on a short-range wireless signal of each respective beacon being disposed outside of the internal volume and within the job site;
(re: claim 21) providing a plurality of the self-inventorying tool container of claim 1, and distributing the plurality of the self-inventorying tool containers across a construction job site;
(re: claim 22) determining, using a mobile device associated with the plurality of the self-inventorying tool containers, a location of a selected trackable tool among the plurality of the self-inventorying tool containers;
(re: claim 23) wherein the method further comprises generating one or both of an audio or a visual alert at the self-inventorying tool container of the plurality of the self-inventorying tool containers associated with the selected trackable tool.
(re: claim 29) wherein the self-inventorying tool container further comprises a power pack, including one or both of a battery storage or solar capture feature, and wherein the method further comprises powering the self-inventorying tool container using the power pack, free from AC or DC connections at the job site.
(re: claim 30) wherein the self-inventorying tool container further comprises a WiFi or long-range access point, and the method further comprising providing access to said WiFi or long-range access point to personnel on the job site to support job site communications;
(re: claim 31) wherein the self-inventorying tool container further comprises a long-range environmental sensor, and the method further comprises sensing environmental conditions using said environmental sensor to support safety of the trackable tools and personnel of the job site;
(re: claim 32) wherein the self-inventorying tool container further comprises an external power connection capable of support one or more of the following power inputs: 110V AC, 12-28V DC, solar, battery DC, and the method further comprises suppling power to the self-inventorying tool container using the external power connection.
Here, it is noted that Creel already teaches that a worksite can contain multiple toolbox locations distributed throughout a worksite as well as a tag for each tool and a central controller that tracks the toolbox locations, repair order scheduling, authorized technicians, etc. (para. 73, 75 teaching a plurality of toolboxes in multiple locations at a site).
Meadow further teaches that it is well-known in the inventory tracking arts
(re: claims 1, 3)
-to use beacons based on Bluetooth technology to allow for more efficient communication between more types of devices than tags based on RFID technology (p. 2 teaching that Bluetooth is superior to RFID tags as “Bluetooth Smart is designed to provide dramatically reduced power consumption and cost while providing comparable communication capabilities”; fig. 1, 5 and p. 18, 40, 41 teaching system elements include Bluetooth based beacon with receiving/gateway and transmitting elements—such as Wi-Fi router);
(re: claims 10-11, 17, 18, 21-22, 30)
-to use multiple Bluetooth beacons to track multiple assets in a construction site context to provide a more robust inventory control and real-time tracking of assets (p. 13 teaching tracking location of multiple beacons attached to multiple assets via logical communication with a smart gateway and network server; p. 86-87, 90, 93, 95 teaching that beacons can be used to track physical assets such as construction materials and equipment on site to prevent loss with para. 95 expressly teaching “non-limiting examples” that include toolbox, chain saw, chain adjuster tool, pick up claw and barrel scoop; p. 37-38 teaching remote system including database servers for receiving beacon information that allows real-time access to tracking information; see also fig. 4 and p. 31 teaching beacon configured to communicate via mobile elements using Internet, VPN and cellular network via Wi-Fi, Near Field Communications, Bluetooth, RF, etc.);
(re: claims 29, 32)
-to power the beacons with battery as well as by an external power source for extended use (fig. 5B and p. 19-20, 44, 46 teaching power source 12 including a battery, capacitor a fuel cell or other mechanism, such as an ambient energy harvesting element- photovoltaic); and
(re: claim 31)
-to use beacons to send data related to environmental sensors—including related to seismic events-- with long range communication means for more robust sensing (p. 24, 26, 44 teaching that beacon may include one or more sensors 109 providing data related to ambient environmental conditions and including a seismic motion sensor to detect seismic events; see also p. 96 teaching a variety of environmental sensors—including temperature, humidity and pressure; p. 47, 50, 77 teaching transmitting via NRF, Wi-FI or ultra-low power communications, low power receiver or other wireless capability and use of long range antenna).
Moore further teaches that it is well-known in the inventory tracking arts
(re: claims 1-3)
-to provide a tracking tag with beacon functionality that uses Bluetooth communication protocols to more efficiently monitor the condition of objects and send sensor data during a tracking period (fig. 4, 6 showing multiple beacons and sensors and para. 2, 5-6 and 18 teaching that beacons form part of an asset management and control apparatus that uses Bluetooth communication protocols; para. 42-48 teaching that Bluetooth smart module 20 is connected to a plurality of sensors, e.g., ambient/infrared light, temperature, accelerometer and/or GPS module, via communication bus 30 and uses a low energy radio to transmit signals over short distances; para. 103-107 teaching that multiple mobile elements that inherently contain a gateway and scanners to receive data packets sent by multiple beacons, wherein para. 108 expressly teaches that location feature of beacons can be utilized to enable equipment to be located within a job site); and
(re: claim 23)
-to provide visual and audible alerts related to beacon status (fig. 6 and para. 44, 106-107 teaching that beacon related info such as battery life may be displayed and audio and visual alerts can be used to aid in locating an asset).
It would thus be obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to modify the base reference with these prior art teachings—with a reasonable expectation of success—to arrive at the claimed invention. The rationale for this obviousness determination can be found in the prior art itself as cited above from an analysis of the prior art teachings that demonstrates that the modification to arrive at the claimed invention would merely involve the substitution/addition of well-known elements (e.g., beacon based on Bluetooth technology) with no change in their respective functions. Moreover, the use of prior art elements according to their known functions is a predictable variation that would yield predictable results (e.g., benefit produced by known function), and thus cannot be regarded as a non-obvious modification when the modification is already commonly implemented in the relevant prior art. See also MPEP 2143.I (teaching that simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is known to one with ordinary skill in the art); 2144.06, 2144.07 (teaching as obvious the use of art recognized equivalences). Further, the prior art discussed and cited demonstrates the level of sophistication of one with ordinary skill in the art and that these modifications are predictable variations that would be within this skill level. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Creel for the reasons set forth above.
Claims 4-6, 12-16, 19-20 and 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Creel, Meadow and Moore (“Creel et al.”) as applied to the claims above, and further in view of Oishi (JP 2024021606)(with text citations to English translation attached hereto) and Phillips et al. (“Phillips”)(EP 3970922 B1).
Creel et al. as set forth above teach all that is claimed except for expressly teaching
(re: certain elements of claim 4) said access management system operable to cause a release of the at least one door in response to an unlock signal
and configured to cause the locking mechanism to receive the unlock signal and release the at least one door in response to a receipt of controlled access code;
(re: claim 5) wherein the unlock signal is associated with a specific worker on the job site based on a value of the controlled access code;
(re: claim 6) a processing unit configured to associate a given beacon and corresponding trackable tool removed from the internal volume with the specific worker;
(re: claim 12) wherein a third subset of the plurality of trackable construction tools is disposed outside of the jobsite, and the container signal is indicative of said trackable construction tools of the third subset being missing from the jobsite.
(re: claim 13) wherein the self-inventorying tool container further includes a processing unit configured to determine a time period for which any trackable construction tools of the second subset is disposed across the jobsite and outside of the internal tool volume;
(re: claim 14) wherein the processing unit is configured to determine a diagnostic status of the trackable tool on reentry to the internal tool volume.
(re: claim 15) wherein the diagnostic status comprises a battery life of the trackable tool.
(re: claims 16, 20) wherein the processing unit is configured to analyze a utilization metric for each trackable tool of the plurality of trackable construction tools, the utilization metric indicative of a time said trackable tool is disposed outside of the internal tool volume for a given preplanned job task.
(re: claim 19) selectively permitting access to the internal volume using an access management system having a locking mechanism configured to release the at least one door from covering the internal tool volume upon a verified code received at keypad of the self-inventorying tool container;
(re: claim 20) using the processing unit, developing a report including a utilization metric of the trackable construction tools on the job site, the utilization metric indicative of a time said trackable tool is disposed outside of the internal tool volume for a given preplanned job task;
(re: claim 24) generating one or both of an audio or visual alert at one or more self-inventorying tool containers of the plurality of self-inventorying tool containers indicative of an evacuation request for the job site;
(re: claim 25) wherein the one or both of the audio or the visual alert is sequenced to indicate one or both of an evacuation route or a severity of an evacuation event.
Here, it is noted that Creel et al. as set forth above already teaches a seismic sensor and a display panel as part of the self-inventorying tool container.
Oishi further teaches that it is well-known in the sensing and monitoring arts
(re: claims 24, 25)
-to provide an early warning alert and an evacuation route based on seismic sensor data received in a construction site to protect construction site workers (p. 3 teaching that when seismic sensor 25 detects a predetermined seismic intensity the display panel is configured to provide an earthquake warning alert as well as an evacuation route).
Phillips further teaches that it is well-known in the automated inventory arts
(re: certain elements of claims 4-6, 19)
- to provide administrative functions for an inventory system that restricts access to certain users/workers via an access control device to safeguard tool use, wherein said system records user access information-- including time, user information and tool location—as part of inventory tracking system (para. 18, 23-24 teaching implementing security protocols to restrict tool access to certain users in certain locations; para. 28, 29, 34 teaching each individual compartment may be equipped with locking device linked to an access control device 306 with user authentication via a user keypad or biometric methods, wherein); and
(re: claims 12-16, 20)
-to configure the processor to record tool usage and to monitor tool status—including location of tool during the duration of the tool access (para. 58, 80-81, 96-98 teaches that system records worker access related to tool including time, duration of access and tool location via scan of item tag or bar code, thus Examiner regards monitoring of tool location as tracking status outside of construction site; para. 104 teaching monitoring whether tools require calibration or maintenance or para. 105 teaching providing alert of unusable state of tools).
It would thus be obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination of references with these prior art teachings—with a reasonable expectation of success—to arrive at the claimed invention as these modifications are already well-known and commonly implemented in the separating arts. The rationale for this obviousness determination can be found in the prior art itself as cited above. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Creel et al. for the reasons set forth above.
Claims 26-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Creel, Meadow and Moore (“Creel et al.”) as applied to the claims above, and further in view of what is well known in the art.
Creel et al. as set forth above teach all that is claimed except for expressly teaching
(re: claim 26) generating one or both of an audio or visual alert at one or more self-inventorying tool containers of the plurality of self-inventorying tool containers in response to said self-inventorying tool container remaining open for a predefined period;
(re: claim 27) wherein the self-inventorying tool container further includes a light sensor and a light source within the internal tool volume, and the method further comprising operating the light source responsive to a level of light detected in the internal tool volume by the light sensor;
(re: claim 28) wherein the self-inventorying tool container further comprises a trackable tool charging feature integrated therein, and the method further comprises wirelessly or hard wired charging one or more trackable tools of the plurality of trackable tools.
These features, however, are well-known in the mechanical arts and Examiner takes Official Notice of such. It would thus be obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to modify the combination of references with these prior art teachings—with a reasonable expectation of success—to arrive at the claimed invention as these modifications are already well-known and commonly implemented in the mechanical arts. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Creel et al. for the reasons set forth above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 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.
Conclusion
Any references not explicitly discussed above but made of record are regarded as helpful in establishing the state of the prior art and are thus considered relevant to the prosecution of the instant application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH C RODRIGUEZ whose telephone number is 571-272-3692 (M-F, 9 am – 6 pm, PST). The Supervisory Examiner is MICHAEL MCCULLOUGH, 571-272-7805.
Alternatively, to contact the examiner, send an E-mail communication to Joseph.Rodriguez@uspto.gov. Such E-mail communication should be in accordance with provisions of the MPEP (see e.g., 502.03 & 713.04; see also Patent Internet Usage Policy Article 5). E-mail communication must begin with a statement authorizing the E-mail communication and acknowledging that such communication is not secure and may be made of record. Please note that any communications with regards to the merits of an application will be made of record. A suggested format for such authorization is as follows: "Recognizing that Internet communications are not secure, I hereby authorize the USPTO to communicate with me concerning any subject matter of this application by electronic mail. I understand that a copy of these communications will be made of record in the application file”.
Information regarding the status of an application may also be obtained from the Patent Center: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/
/JOSEPH C RODRIGUEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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September 21, 2026
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