DETAILED ACTION
This non-final rejection is responsive to the claims filed 05 January 2025. Claims 1-12 are pending. Claims 1 and 7 are independent claims.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-10, and 12 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Higgins (US 2014/0229343 A1) hereinafter known as Higgins in view of Bodin (US 2008/0052200 A1) hereinafter known as Bodin.
Regarding independent claim 1, Higgins teaches:
a tagged container comprising a predefined initial weight of an item; (Higgins: Fig. 3 and ¶[0039]; Higgins teaches items with NFC tags. The item is weighed.)
a tray assembly comprising: a sensor tray comprising a first tag sensor; and a cabinet tray comprising … a weighing sensor; and (Higgins: ¶[0039]; Higgins teaches a smartphone 306 which automatically registers new items placed in the cabinet. The cabinet also includes a wooden plank 304, interpreted as the cabinet tray, that includes a scale.)
a server configured to: receive a first identification data signal corresponding to the tagged container from the first tag sensor; (Higgins: ¶[0041] and ¶[0044]; Higgins teaches transmitting item data to a server for tracking.)
store registration details of the tagged container based on the first identification data signal to obtain a registered container, wherein the registration details comprise item name, expiration date of the item, and the predefined initial weight of the item; (Higgins: Fig.4 and ¶[0044]; Higgins teaches taking the weight measurement and storing it in a database. Fig. 7 and ¶[0047], ¶[0050], and ¶[0056] further teach tracking expiration date and name of the items.)
receive, corresponding to the registered container: a second identification data signal from the second tag sensor, and a current weight data signal from the weighing sensor; (Higgins: Fig. 10 and ¶[0055]-¶[0056]; Higgins teaches detecting a scan of an item and reading its weight.)
determine a current quantity of the item within the registered container based on a comparison between the predefined initial weight of the item and the current weight data signal; and (Higgins: ¶[0057]; Higgins teaches comparing the previously recorded weight and updating the weight in memory.)
determine time remaining from the expiration date of the item based on the expiration date of the item. (Higgins: ¶[0050]; Higgins teaches tracking expiration dates and marking the items for which the date has expired.)
Higgins does not explicitly teach but Bodin teaches:
… a second tag sensor … (Bodin: ¶[0111]; Bodin teaches positioning item identifies above each shelf.)
Higgins and Bodin are in the same field of endeavor as the present invention, as the references are directed to storage units that identify tagged items and track weight and expiration data. It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person of ordinary skill in the art, to combine the smart cabinet system of Higgins with a tag reader positioned at every shelf. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Higgins to include teachings of Bodin, because the combination would allow the readers to identify an item as well as to determine an approximated location of an item, as suggested by Bodin: ¶[0050].
Regarding claim 2, Higgins in view of Bodin further teaches the smart cabinet system of claim 1.
Higgins further teaches:
wherein the server is further configured to render real-time item information through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) on a user device, wherein the real-time item information comprises the item name, the current quantity of the item, and the time remaining from the expiration date of the item. (Higgins: Fig. 7 and ¶[0041]-¶[0050]; Higgins teaches the user can log into a webpage, which can access the server and provide details about the items. Fig. 7 shows the title and the inventor bar graph. Further, expiration dates may be displayed.)
Regarding claim 3, Higgins in view of Bodin further teaches the smart cabinet system of claim 1.
Higgins further teaches:
wherein the tagged container comprises an identification tag, wherein the identification tag is one of a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, a Near-Field Communication (NFC) neodymium magnet tag, a barcode tag, or a Quick Response (QR) code tag. (Higgins: ¶[0039] and ¶[0041]; Higgins teaches an NFC tag or a barcode.)
Regarding claim 4, Higgins in view of Bodin further teaches the smart cabinet system of claim 3.
Higgins further teaches:
wherein each of the first tag sensor and the second tag sensor is one of: an RFID antenna when the identification tag is the RFID tag, an NFC sensor when the identification tag is the NFC neodymium magnet tag, a barcode scanner when the identification tag is the barcode tag, or a QR code sensor when the identification tag is the QR code. (Higgins: ¶[0039] and ¶[0041]; Higgins teaches an NFC tag or a barcode.)
Regarding claim 6, Higgins in view of Bodin further teaches the smart cabinet system of claim 1.
Higgins further teaches:
…
…
determine a current container weight of the registered container based on the current weight data signal; and (Higgins: ¶[0040]; Higgins teaches using the scale to determine the weight of the item and how much the weight has changed.)
compare the current container weight … to obtain the current quantity of the item within the registered container. (Higgins: ¶[0040]; Higgins teaches determining how much the weight of the item has decreased.)
Bodin further teaches:
wherein to determine the current quantity of the item within the registered container, the server is configured to: retrieve an empty container weight corresponding to the registered container from a database; (Bodin: ¶[0045]-¶[0046]; Bodin teaches storing data such as depleted mass or mass of the item’s empty container in a remote database.)
determine an initial container weight of the registered container, wherein the initial container weight is a sum of the empty container weight and the predefined initial weight of the item; (Bodin: ¶[0048]; Bodin teaches the net weight of the item is the depleted mass of the item subtracted from the gross weight of the item. The non-depleted mass can be calculated by subtracting the item’s tare weight from the item’s initial or gross weight.)
…
… with the initial container weight … . (Bodin: ¶[0064] and ¶[0069]; Bodin teaches determining depletion for an identified item by subtracting the current mass for a previous/prior or initial mass for the identified item.)
Regarding claim 7-10 and 12, these claims recite a method that is performed by the smart cabinet system of claims 1-4 and 6; therefore, the same rationale for rejection applies.
Claims 5 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Higgins in view of Bodin in view of Winkle (US 2018/0211208 A1) hereinafter known as Winkle.
Regarding claim 5, Higgins in view of Bodin further teaches the smart cabinet system of claim 1.
Higgins in view of Bodin does not explicitly teach but Winkle further teaches:
wherein the weighing sensor is one of a strain gauge sensor, a PU foam layer, or a polyimide material with copper conductive layer. (Winkle: ¶[0040] and ¶[0041]; Winkle teaches strain gauges.)
Winkle is in the same field of endeavor as the present invention, since it is directed to storage units that identify tagged items. It would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person of ordinary skill in the art, to substitute the scale of Higgins with a strain gauge weight sensor of Winkle. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Higgins and Bodin to include teachings of Winkle, because the combination would allow the shelf sensors to identify the quantity and type, as suggested by Winkle: ¶[0040].
Regarding claim 11, this claim recites a method that is performed by the smart cabinet system of claim 5; therefore, the same rationale for rejection applies.
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Modi (US 12,705,664 B1)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX OLSHANNIKOV whose telephone number is (571)270-0667. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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/ALEKSEY OLSHANNIKOV/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118
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