DETAILED ACTIONS
This Office Action is in response to the application 18/997,278, filed on 01/21/2025.
Foreign Priority to JP2022-11028, filed 07/22/2022
Claims 1-10 have been examined are presently pending.
Definition of terms that may be used for citation purpose:
page = pg., paragraph = p., column = col., line = ln., for example page 5 = pg.5
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “front-rear moving plate and bottom plate” and “a transport vehicle” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 9 is 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. Applicant claims “a front-rear moving plate and a bottom plate (pallet) are provided at the bottom of said storage container”, however there is no illustration of this element provided. It is unclear what “front-rear” means and is therefore indefinite.
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. US-12,384,619, hereafter PARK; in view of Denenberg et al. US-6464142.
Regarding Claim 1 PARK discloses a shelf robot comprising: a rotation axis; a rotary shelf that can rotate around a rotation axis (see at least col.5 ln.45 The plurality of shelves 110 may each be disposed to have an approximately circular shape to stack the articles A around a rotation axis); a shelf rotation drive unit that causes said rotary shelf to rotate around said rotation axis (see at least col.5 ln.50, may include a rotation drive part); and a control unit (see at least col.5 ln.45, a control unit 400); wherein a plurality of storage space is set along a virtual circle centered around said rotation axis, (see at least col.1 ln.35, The shelf has an approximately cylindrical shape as a whole and may stack the articles around a periphery thereof.) and said control unit has a target storage space identifying means for identifying a storage space (referred to as a target storage space) among the plurality of storage spaces in which an item that a user wishes to remove is currently stored (see at least col.5 ln.35, the teaching target may be a shelf on which articles are loaded or a transport robot that transports articles.), a loading/unloading position determining means for determining a position (see at least col.6 ln.20, The transport robot 200, which has approached the target shelf, may load or unload the article by extending the robot arm 210 into the target shelf and retracting the robot arm 210 from the target shelf.), and a storage space moving means for moving the target storage space to the loading position by controlling the shelf rotation drive unit to rotate the rotating shelf around the rotation axis. (see at least col.9 ln.45, The teaching on the shelf rotates the shelf 110 clockwise or counterclockwise by the rotation angle corresponding to the error value). PARK doesn’t explicitly disclose determining a position for removing the item in accordance with an attribute of the user.
However, Denenberg discloses an automated will call system that explicitly includes determining a position for removing the item in accordance with an attribute of the user. (see at least col.13 ln.30, prescription retrieval procedure by entering identifying information about the patient or the prescription to be retrieved. The identifying information may include the patient name, patient identification number, shopper card, retinal scan of the patient, finger print, or the like.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine PARK's teaching with DENENBERG's teaching; and one would have been motivated to apply DENENBERG's electronic tracking and inventory management solution to achieve improved operational reliability and ensure that items are both physically aligned with the user’s attributes or preferences.
Regarding Claim 2. The teaching combination of PARK and Deneberg discloses all the limitations of the shelf robot according to claim 1. PARK discloses further wherein said plurality of storage spaces are arranged in a virtual circular pattern along a single virtual circle to form a single layer, and said layers are multiplexed concentrically around said rotation axis. (see at least Fig.2 and col.5 ln.45, As illustrated in FIG. 2, the accommodation part 100 may have multiple layers. The plurality of shelves 110 may each be disposed to have an approximately circular shape to stack the articles A around a rotation axis.)
Regarding Claim 3. The teaching combination of PARK and Deneberg discloses all the limitations of the shelf robot according to claim 1. Deneberg discloses, further includes a front plate having a carry-in/out port formed on said carrying-in/out side of the said rotary shelf, said carry- in/out port corresponding to the said carry-out position. (see at least col.6 ln.50, One embodiment of storage unit employs open shelves, while two other embodiments, one using a conveyor and the other a carousel, have an enclosed cabinet comprising a door or front panel.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine PARK's teaching with DENENBERG's teaching; and one would have been motivated to apply DENENBERG's carry in/out feature to make it easily assessable when providing article to a user.
Regarding Claim 4 The teaching combination of PARK and Deneberg discloses all the limitations of the shelf robot according to claim 3. Deneberg teaches further, wherein said control unit further has a storage object identifying means for identifying a storage object stored in said storage space, and said target storage space identifying means selects said target storage object that said user wishes to take out from among said storage objects identified by the said storage object identifying means, and identifies said storage space in which said selected target storage object is stored as the said target storage space. (see at least col.6 ln.35, sensing identifying indicia on an item intended for storage within the system, the controller correlates the identification information with the identifying indicia and assigns the item a unique storage location within the storage unit) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine PARK's teaching with DENENBERG's teaching; and one would have been motivated to apply DENENBERG's disclosure of identifying the item stored since it would make it easier to retrieve.
Regarding Claim 5. The teaching combination of PARK and Deneberg discloses all the limitations of the shelf robot according to claim 3. Deneberg discloses further, wherein said control unit further has said user judging means for judging at least one of said physical characteristics, posture, or personal identification information of said user as an attribute of said user, and the carry-in/out position determining means determines a carry-out position based on the said attribute judged by the user judging means. (see at least col.13 ln.30, prescription retrieval procedure by entering identifying information about the patient or the prescription to be retrieved. The identifying information may include the patient name, patient identification number, shopper card, retinal scan of the patient, finger print, or the like.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine PARK's teaching with DENENBERG's teaching; and one would have been motivated to apply DENENBERG's electronic tracking and inventory management solution to achieve improved operational reliability and ensure that items are both physically aligned with the user’s attributes or preferences.
Regarding Claim 6 The teaching combination of PARK and Deneberg discloses all the limitations of the shelf robot according to claim 4. Deneberg discloses further, wherein said storage object identifying means identifies said storage object stored in said storage space using code reading technology. (see at least col.8 ln.1, a scanner 50 attached to the cabinet 26 provides means for pharmacy personnel to easily input item identifying data into the system. Scanner 50 may scan bar coded data on or associated with an item.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine PARK's teaching with DENENBERG's teaching; and one would have been motivated to apply DENENBERG's code reading technology to improve the retrieval process.
Regarding Claim 7 The teaching combination of PARK and Deneberg discloses all the limitations of the shelf robot according to claim 5. Deneberg discloses further wherein, said user judging means uses image recognition technology to judge said attributes of said user. (see at least col.13 ln.30 , The identifying information may include the patient name, patient identification number, shopper card, retinal scan of the patient, finger print, or the like.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine PARK's teaching with DENENBERG's teaching; and one would have been motivated to apply DENENBERG's retinal scanning on user to better match the user with the item.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. US-12,384,619, hereafter PARK; in view of Denenberg et al. US-6464142; in further view of Barrett et al. US 20100114367.
Regarding Claim 8 The teaching combination of PARK and Deneberg discloses all the limitations of the shelf robot according to claim 1. The combination doesn’t explicitly disclose wherein, further includes an image photographing device that photographs a user who handles a storage object, and a user judging means that judges said user from an image photographed by said image photographing device, and said control unit generates a position information algorithm based on the result of the judgment by said user judging means, thereby executing the operation record required by GXP, which is a public standard aimed at ensuring the reliability of operations related to information such as who, when, and what was done.
However, Barret discloses a method for administering medication from an apparatus wherein includes an image photographing device that photographs a user who handles a storage object, and a user judging means that judges said user from an image photographed by said image photographing device, and said control unit generates a position information algorithm (see at least p.124, iris recognition means may be provided that uses pattern recognition techniques based on high-resolution images of the irises of an individual's eyes. The only biometric authentication technology designed for use in a one-to many search environment) based on the result of the judgment by said user judging means, thereby executing the operation record required by GXP, which is a public standard aimed at ensuring the reliability of operations related to information such as who, when, and what was done. (see at least p.136, eMAR data may include specifics as to who administered what medication to whom and when and in what quantity.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine PARK's teaching with the administering apparatus as taught by Barret to have more control on administering the product.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. US-12,384,619, hereafter PARK; in view of Denenberg et al. US-6464142; and in further view of HUANG et al. WO2019184757, hereafter HUANG.
Regarding Claim 10 The teaching combination of PARK and Deneberg discloses all the limitations of the shelf robot according to claim 1. The combination doesn’t explicitly disclose, wherein said control unit works using artificial intelligence technology.
However, HUANG discloses a server based automatic vending control system wherein the control unit works using artificial technology. (see at least pg.21, the vending system uses a low-cost IoT communication module and a single-chip control module, and the customer (306) completes the transaction at the mobile terminal (307) or other network terminal because Data and artificial intelligence calculation control programs are placed on the server) *Examiner notes that although the AI is on the server, the control until still “works using AI Technology”) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine PARK's teaching with the automatic vending system using artificial technology as taught by HUANG to improve the efficiency of the system using modern technology.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. US-20220063907, hereafter PARK; in view of QUI et al. JP 2020129212 A, hereafter QUI
Regarding Claim 9 PARK discloses a shelf robot comprising: a rotation axis; a rotary shelf rotatable around said rotation axis; (see at least col.5 ln.45, The plurality of shelves 110 may each be disposed to have an approximately circular shape to stack the articles A around a rotation axis) a shelf rotation drive unit for rotating said rotary shelf around said rotation axis; (see at least col.5 ln.50, may include a rotation drive part) and a control unit; (see at least col.5 ln.40, a control unit 400) wherein a plurality of storage space is set along a virtual circle centered around said rotation axis in a rotary shelf, (see at least col.1 ln.35, The shelf has an approximately cylindrical shape as a whole and may stack the articles around a periphery thereof.) PARK doesn’t explicitly disclose a storage container is installed in each of said storage spaces, a front-rear moving plate and a bottom plate (pallet) are provided at the bottom of said storage container, and said control unit can cooperate with a transport vehicle that transports a storage object stored in said storage container by transmitting the information calculated by an image, including said front-rear moving plate and/or said bottom plate (pallet), captured by an image photographing device to said transport vehicle.
However, QUI discloses an apparatus for storing and dispensing articles wherein includes a storage container is installed in each of said storage spaces (see at least Figs. 1-4 and p.XX, storage device 20 is a locker-type device (delivery box) having a plurality of storage compartments for detachably storing a storage hangar for delivery.), a front-rear moving plate and a bottom plate (pallet) are provided at the bottom of said storage container,(see at least Fig.4, the storage case 40) and said control unit can cooperate (see at least p. The storage device 20 includes a communication unit A21, a control unit 22, a storage unit 23, a communication) with a transport vehicle that transports a storage object stored in said storage container by transmitting the information calculated by an image, including said front-rear moving plate and/or said bottom plate (pallet), captured by an image photographing device to said transport vehicle. (see at least p.XX, when the control unit 22 detects the transport vehicle 50 on which the hangar 40 is mounted via a camera or a sensor that detects a beacon signal, the control unit 22 unlocks the door 20a1 of the housing unit 20a that is the housing destination of the hangar, and unlocks the door. The locked door 20a1 is opened. A hangar 40 placed on a transport vehicle) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine PARK's teaching with the information processing and storage system as taught by QUI to include a transport vehicle cooperating with the storage device to improve the efficiency of meeting product demand.
Conclusion
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JELANI A. SMITH
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3662
/JELANI A SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3662
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