DETAILED ACTION
Examiner’s Remarks
Regarding the amendment filed 7/14/2026:
The amendments to claims 1-3, 5-10, 16, 19 and 20 are acknowledged and accepted.
The cancelation of claims 11-15, 17 and 18
The addition of new claims 21-26 is acknowledged and accepted.
In view of the applicant’s 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(c) statement, the rejection over Hanada et al. has been withdrawn.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/14/2026 has been entered.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: CONTROLLER AND CODE READER SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING INFORMATION ABOUT WORKPIECES ON A CONVEYOR
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 21 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1 and 21 recite “the control parameter including…whether or not a captured image is output”. This wording is awkward. Suggested language is “the control parameter including…whether or not to output a captured image (also see para [0068])”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 7, 9, 16 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 7 recites “accept, from a user, a combination of code readers, among the one or more code readers, that are desired to prevent interference between the camera of one of the combination and the illuminator of the other of the combination” and “between an exposure time of the camera of the one of the combination and an illumination time of the illuminator of the other of the combination”. The phrase “the camera of one of the combination” and “the illuminator of the other of the combination” is awkward and confusing. It is not clear what the applicant is claiming. Additionally, “one or more code readers” implies there can be a singular code reader. Therefore, it is not clear what the applicant means by “a combination of code readers” in an instance of a singular code reader. Please clarify. It is not clear if the applicant intends combination to be with respect to the camera and the illuminator of each code reader. Please clarify.
Claim 9 recites “determine the control parameter corresponding to the estimated position. However, claim 1 recites “determine a the control parameter based on the length of the workpiece, the estimated position of the workpiece, and the installation information, the control parameter including at least one of….”. As such, is not clear what control parameter/which of the control parameters, corresponds to the estimated position. Please clarify. Does the applicant intend “determine the control parameter before the workpiece reaches the estimated position”? Please clarify.
Claim 16 recites “one or more of the code readers includes an image sensor…”. However, claim 1 recites one or more code readers including a camera”. Therefore, it is not clear if the applicant intends the “one or more code readers to include both a camera and an image sensor, or if the applicant intended the camera to include an image sensor. Please clarify. It is noted that para [0026] of the applicant’s specification recites that the code reader includes a capturing unit (camera) and also describes in para [0030] that the capturing unit includes an image sensor, thus implying the camera includes an image sensor.
Claim 19 recites “the first code reader includes a first image sensor…the second code reader includes a second image sensor”. Similar to claim 16, it is not clear if the applicant intends the first code reader to include both a camera and an image sensor, and the second code reader to include a camera and an image sensor. Please clarify.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6, 8, 10 and 20-26 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under the claim objection (where applicable), set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claims 1 and 21, based on the following interpretation, prior art fails to teach or reasonably suggest, either singly or in combination, acquiring a detection signal of a workpiece on a conveyor from a sensor, a conveyance speed of the conveyor, and installation information indicating a position and an orientation of each code reader in a conveyor coordinate system; calculating a length of the workpiece in a conveyance direction based on the detection signal and the conveyance speed such that the length corresponds to a conveyance distance of the workpiece while the detection signal indicates presence of the workpiece; calculating an estimated position of the workpiece in the conveyance direction based on the detection signal and the conveyance speed as a position over time updated based on the conveyance speed and a detection timing of the workpiece; for each code reader, determining a control parameter based on the length of the workpiece, the estimated position of the workpiece, and the installation information of a respective code reader of the one or more code readers, the control parameter including at least one of an exposure time, a gain, a reading region, a mask region defined such that decoding processing is not executed, whether or not to output captured image, a type of a code to be decoded, or a time limit of decoding processing, in addition to the other limitations of the claims.
Claims not specifically addressed would be allowable due to their dependency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yoshi (TW I727851) discloses controller 20 can continuously calculate the current position of the object according to the entry position of the object and the speed of the conveyor belt 23 (i.e. the moving speed of the object).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 7, 9, 16 and 19 have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection in view of the amendments to claim 1. The amendments to claim 1 and new claim 21 present new claim objections (see above).
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/SUEZU ELLIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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