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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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) 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2013-206970 A.
Claim 1, Yoshioka teaches an inter-floor conveyance device Fig. 1 comprising: a raising and lowering section 2 including a transfer mechanism 2A configured to move in a vertical direction across a plurality of floors Fig. 1 while holding a conveyance target W and configured to transfer the conveyance target W; and an intermediate conveyance 5 section configured to deliver the conveyance target W between the transfer mechanism 2A and each of delivery conveyance devices 3,7 configured to deliver the conveyance target W to and from an intra-floor conveyance device Fig. 1 configured to convey the conveyance target W Fig. 4.
Claim 2, Yoshioka teaches a structure K1,K2 surrounding the raising and lowering section 2 Fig. 2 and part of the intermediate conveyance section 5 Fig. 4, the intermediate conveyance section 5 being disposed across an inside of the structure K1,K2 and an outside of the structure K1,K2 Fig. 4, the intermediate conveyance section 5 being configured to, inside the structure K1,K2, deliver the conveyance target W to and from the transfer mechanism 2A and to, outside the structure K1,K2, deliver the conveyance target W to and from each of the delivery conveyance devices Fig. 1.
Claim 3, Yoshioka teaches an inner region in a horizontal plane of 5 has a quadrangular shape Fig. 4 as a whole in a predetermined vertical range of 2, the inner region of 5 being surrounded by the structure K1,K2; at least one of four corner regions of the quadrangular shape is missing in the predetermined vertical range of 2; and a conveyance path of the intermediate conveyance section 5 is at least partially disposed in a missing region corresponding to the at least one corner region which is missing Fig. 3.
Claim 4, Yoshioka teaches the intermediate conveyance section 5 includes, in the missing region, a turning part via 27 configured to turn in a horizontal plane and configured to deliver the conveyance target W to and from each of the delivery conveyance devices 3,7 Figs. 1,3-4.
Claim 5, Yoshioka teaches the inner region has a quadrangular shape Fig. 4 in at least part of a vertical range of 2, the at least part being different from the predetermined vertical range Fig. 2.
Claim 6, Yoshioka teaches an air blower 76 configured to blow air into the structure K1,K2, the air blower 76 being disposed on a wall surface provided in a certain vertical range in which the inner region has a quadrangular shape Fig. 17 P0116.
Conclusion
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/KAVEL SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651
KS
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