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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sawada et al. (USP 3869028) in view of Kojima (JP 2020152574 A).
Regarding claim 1, Sawada discloses an automated warehouse, comprising:
a storage facility (fig.6) comprising a plurality of storing sections (fig.6, 25) in each of which articles are storable to be aligned in a first direction as a particular direction along a horizontal plane, the plurality of storing sections arranged in a second direction intersecting with the first direction as viewed vertically (seen in fig.6);
a first bogie (8) configured to travel along the first direction and transport an article in a corresponding storing section (seen in fig.6); and
at least one second bogie (27) capable of carrying the first bogie and configured to travel along the second direction outside the plurality of storing sections,
wherein:
the at least one second bogie comprises a power supply section configured to supply electric power to the first bogie (col.9, lines 57-64; mentions it having the trolley duct which is what comprises the power feeding trolley 23), and
the first bogie comprises:
a power storage device (9);
a travel driving device (col.3, lines 40-43 mention the driving device) configured to cause the first bogie to travel with use of electric power stored in the power storage device; and
a control device (col.3, lines 40-43 mention the control means) configured to control the travel driving device, the control device comprises:
a control unit configured to generate a control signal for the travel driving device (as noted above);
a heat generating device (16) configured to generate heat with use of at least either the electric power supplied from the power supply section or the electric power stored in the power storage device; and
a thermally insulated case (14) made of a heat insulation material (14).
Sawada fails to explicitly disclose the control unit and the heat generating device are stored in the thermally insulated case.
Kojima teaches within a similar field of automated warehouses and self propelled vehicles, the use of a bogie which insulates both the drive and control unit within a thermally insulated case (seen in fig.4, the case 44 insulates the drive, battery and control unit 38, 40, 42).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to made use of the known technique of insulating the elements within the bogie or simple substitution of the insulating casings, as taught by Kojima, into the bogie disclosed by Sawada in order to produce the predictable result of thermally insulating the drive, battery and control unit in order to ensure good performance of the various components by controlling the temperature to which these components are exposed.
Regarding claim 2, Sawada discloses the automated warehouse according to claim 1, wherein: the control unit actuates the heat generating device with the first bogie being on the at least one second bogie and stops the heat generating device while the first bogie is away from the at least one second bogie and is in any of the storing sections (as is understood by col.4, lines 57-64; the heater is only activated while the bogie 8 is at the location of bogie 27 and consequently, it would not be on when it is away from this location).
Regarding claim 3, Sawada discloses the automated warehouse according to claim 2, further comprising: a temperature sensor (thermostat 17) configured to detect a temperature in the thermally insulated case (detects the temperature within the thermally insulated casing), and wherein in a case where the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than a first threshold, the control unit causes the first bogie to wait with the first bogie being on the at least one second bogie until the temperature detected by the temperature sensor reaches a second threshold set to be equal to or higher than the first threshold (Considering the disclosure from col.4, lines 57-64 and col.4, lines 5-10; it is understood that the thermostat is designed to keep the battery a predetermined temperature or to reach a predetermined temperature which would read on reaching a first threshold and thereby exceeding it; the language specifically states “adapted to be maintained at a predetermined temperature”. Since the heating only occurs at the home location which is when the first bogie is on the second bogie then it follows that the first bogie would not be released until that temperature is reached or exceeded otherwise the temperature would not be maintained. Thus Sawada reads on this functionality).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sawada et al. (USP 3869028) in view of Kojima (JP 2020152574 A), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kojima (JP 2020093935 A).
Regarding claim 4, Sawada discloses a multi level storage facility with a plurality of storage floors in the up-down direction but fails to explicitly disclose at least one second bogie comprises second bogies each of which is provided for each of the plurality of storage floors and is configured to travel on a path along the second direction which path is provided in the each of the plurality of storage floors. Sawada instead appears to allow the second bogie to rise to any desired floor.
Kojima ‘935 teaches the technique or concept of a multi level storage facility in which a second bogie 16a are arranged at each level of a plurality of storage floors (seen in fig.1 and 3).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the storage facility in Sawada to instead utilize the arrangement of having multiple second bogies at each floor of the facility, as taught by Kojima in order to provide the same predictable result of allowing the first bogies to reach any of the levels of the storage facility. This is just an alternative known arrangement for a storage facility utilizing first/second bogies to navigate its floors/aisles.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS C DIAZ whose telephone number is (571)270-5461. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm.
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/THOMAS C DIAZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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