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 . Claims 1-8 filed on 11/27/2024 have been reviewed and considered by this office action.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP2023-202633, filed on 11/30/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on 11/27/2024 has been reviewed and considered by this office action.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 11/27/2024 have been reviewed and are considered acceptable.
Specification
The specification filed on 11/27/2024 has been reviewed and is considered acceptable.
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 (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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saski (JP2005-346636A) in view of Atsuta et al. (US PGPUB 20220379538).
Regarding Claim 1; Atsuta teaches; A molding management system that includes a server communicably connected to a terminal device and manages production of a product in a production process including an injection molding process of the product by an injection molding device, (Saski; at least Abstract; page 2; disclose an injection molding management system and method including a management server (600) connected to a control terminal device (400) which manages processes and information regarding a plurality of injection molding devices)
wherein the server includes a storage unit that stores lot identification information for identifying a lot of the product and lot related information including one or more pieces of information related to the lot of the product in association with each other and (Saski; at least page 4; disclose wherein the server includes a component information database for storing a plurality information regarding various components as well as identification information within the injection molding system)
a control unit that displays, on the terminal device, a lot search image for receiving a search operation of searching for the lot of the product from the terminal device, and (Saski; at least page 31; disclose wherein the control unit includes a manual selection display screen for displaying a plurality of selectable components that a user can select to receive information from the component database stored in the server)
the control unit, when at least one piece of information among the one or more pieces of information included in the lot related information is received via the lot search image by the search operation, displays, on the terminal device, lot information indicating the lot identified by each of one or more pieces of the lot identification information associated with the at least one piece of information received. (Saski; at least pages 4 and 31; disclose wherein based on the received selection request to view a component of the injection molding system, the server identifies and sends the requested information back to the requesting terminal so as to display the requested component and associated information).
Saski appears to be silent on; “…displaying lot information…”;
However, Atsuta teaches; “…displaying lot information…”; (Atsuta; at least Figs. 2-7; paragraph [0036]; disclose a molding injection display system and method in which an operator can make a specified selection of data to view on a screen, including information regarding lots being processed).
Saski and Atsuta are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor or similar problem solving area of, injection molding display and control systems.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the disclosed invention to have incorporated the known method of displaying lot information as taught by Atsuta with the known system of an injection molding display and control method as taught by Saski in order to better track numerically the changes in lot data based on changing factors in the injection molding process as taught by Atsuta (paragraph [0004]).
Regarding Claim 2; the combination of Saski and Atsuta teach; The molding management system according to claim 1, wherein the lot related information includes, as the one or more pieces of information, injection molding device related information related to an injection molding device that molds the product of the lot identified by the lot identification information associated with the lot related information, and the injection molding device related information includes at least one of operation state information indicating an operation state of the injection molding device and detection information detected by each of one or more sensors attached to the injection molding device. (Atsuta; at least Figs. 2-7; paragraphs [0028]-[0029] and [0035]-[0036]).
Regarding Claim 3; the combination of Saski and Atsuta teach; The molding management system according to claim 1, wherein the lot related information includes quality information about the product of the lot identified by the lot identification information associated with the lot related information. (Atsuta; at least paragraph [0029]).
Regarding Claim 4; the combination of Saski and Atsuta teach; The molding management system according to claim 1, wherein when a character string is received via the lot search image, the control unit specifies, from the one or more pieces of information, information including the character string received, and displays, on the terminal device, the lot information indicating the lot identified by each of one or more pieces of the lot identification information associated with the specified information. (Saski; at least page 24).
Regarding Claim 5; the combination of Saski and Atsuta teach; The molding management system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit displays a GUI for receiving a processing performance operation of starting, by the server, performance of predetermined processing on the lot indicated by each of one or more pieces of the lot information selected in accordance with a lot information selection operation received among one or more pieces of the lot information displayed on the terminal device. (Atsuta; at least Figs. 2-7; paragraphs [0029] and [0035]-[0037]).
Regarding Claim 6; the combination of Saski and Atsuta teach; The molding management system according to claim 5, wherein the control unit grays out the GUI when a predetermined gray-out condition is satisfied. (Atsuta; at least page 37).
Regarding Claim 7; the combination of Saski and Atsuta teach; The molding management system according to claim 1 comprising the terminal device. (Saski; at least Abstract).
Regarding Claim 8; the combination of Saski and Atsuta teach; The molding management system according to claim 1 comprising the injection molding device. (Saski; at least Abstract).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Konishi et al. (US PGPUB 20030082255): disclose a display system and method for providing molding data for each lot produced by an injection molding device.
Morimura (JP 2001289495): disclose a system and method for storing quality data for a plurality of injection molding machines wherein a management device can communicate and extract the quality data information to display.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER W CARTER whose telephone number is (469)295-9262. The examiner can normally be reached 9-6:30.
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/CHRISTOPHER W CARTER/Examiner, Art Unit 2117
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