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
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.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wogdyla et al (US 2018/0002055) in view of Yamaguchi et al (US 2013/0156523).
Regarding claim 1, Wogdyla discloses a system for providing autonomous application of labels to a plurality of items transported along a conveyor, the system comprising (a system for autonomously applying labels to packages along a conveyor; abstract, paragraph [0060]): a label printing and applicator assembly positioned relative to the conveyor, the assembly comprising (label printer-applicator assembly positioned relative to the conveyor; paragraphs [0038]-[0043]): a printer for printing or encoding data on one or more of a plurality of labels (a printer which is part of label printer-applicator assembly, for printing data on labels; paragraphs [0004], [0005], claim 1 of Wogdyla); an applicator for applying the printed one or more of the plurality of labels to a desired portion on a corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items traveling along the conveyor (an applicator which is part of label printer-applicator assembly, for accurately placing (desired portion) the printed label on the packages that need to be shipped, traveling along the conveyor; paragraphs [0004], [0005], [0041], [0042], [0054]-[0060]); and one or more motors configured to move the applicator in at least one of an X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis direction relative to the conveyor and the corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items (servo motors configured to move the applicator vertically (Y-axis) relative to the conveyor and the packages on the conveyor; paragraphs [0038]-[0042], [0057]), and rotate the applicator (and also rotating the drive shaft to rotate the applicator; paragraphs [0057], [0058]); and a controller configured to communicate and exchange data with the label printing and applicator assembly over a network (a control computer configured to communicate and exchange data with the label printer-applicator assembly over a network; paragraphs [0041]-[0043], [0068], [0069]), the controller comprising a hardware processor coupled to non-transitory, computer-readable memory containing instructions executable by the processor to cause the controller to (the control computer comprising a processor executing instructions stored in a memory; paragraphs [0005], [0041]-[0043]): receive and process data from a vision system, the data comprising at least one of physical dimensions of the corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items, orientation and skew of the corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items along the conveyor, and identification of any preexisting labels and/or indicia on the corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items (receive and process data from package measurement subsystem comprising photo detectors, where the data is the height and length (physical dimensions) of the packages; paragraph [0041]); and autonomously control movement of the applicator in one or more of the X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis, and C-axis directions based, at least in part, on the processing of data to cause the applicator to apply the printed one or more of the plurality of labels to the desired portion on the corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items (autonomously control the applicator vertically (Y-axis) based on the height of the package on the conveyor, to cause the applicator to accurately place the printed labels on the package; paragraphs [0038]- [0043], [0057], [0058]).
Wogdyla fails to disclose rotating the applicator about a C-axis relative to the Z-axis direction. Yamaguchi discloses rotating the applicator about a C-axis relative to the Z-axis direction (rotating the workpiece about a C-axis relative to Z-axis direction; paragraphs [0022]-[0024]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the relevant date, to modify the system of Wogdyla to include rotating the applicator about a C-axis relative to the Z-axis direction, as taught by Yamaguchi, in order to ensure the applicator can be rotated and orientated in multiple angles, to cater to package of varied dimensions.
Regarding claim 2, Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi disclose the system of claim 1. Modified Wogdyla discloses wherein the X-axis direction corresponds to a direction along an xy-plane is substantially parallel to the direction along which the plurality of shipping items travel along the conveyor (the X- axis direction corresponds to direction along a plane where we can consider the movement of conveyor along the horizontal direction (X-axis) and the vertical direction (Y-axis) as shown in figure 2 (xy-plane), substantially parallel to the direction along which the packages travel along the conveyor; figure 2, paragraphs [0038]-[0043]).
Regarding claim 3, Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi disclose the system of claim 1. Modified Wogdyla discloses wherein the Y-axis direction corresponds to a direction along an xy-plane is substantially perpendicular to the direction along which the plurality of shipping items travel along the conveyor (the Y- axis direction corresponds to a direction along a plane where we can consider the movement of conveyor along the horizontal direction and the vertical direction as shown in figure 2, perpendicular to the direction along which the packages travel along the conveyor; figure 2, paragraphs [0038]-[0043]).
Regarding claim 4, Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi disclose the system of claim 1. Wogdyla discloses the plurality of shipping items travel along the conveyor (the direction along which the packages travel along the conveyor; figure 2, paragraphs [0038]-[0043]). Wogdyla doesn't disclose wherein the Z-axis direction corresponds to a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the direction where items are located and lies along an out of plane axis relative to the xy- plane. Yamaguchi discloses wherein the Z-axis direction corresponds to a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the direction where items is located and lies along an out of plane axis relative to the xy- plane (the Z-axis is substantially perpendicular to the direction of the table base which is on the X direction and is out of plane axis relative to XY plane; figure 1, paragraphs [0023]-[0025]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the relevant date, to modify the system of Wogdyla to include wherein the Z-axis direction corresponds to a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the direction where items are located and lies along an out of plane axis relative to the xy-plane, as taught by Yamaguchi, in order to ensure the applicator can be rotated and orientated in multiple angles, to cater to package of varied dimensions.
Regarding claim 5, Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi disclose the system of claim 1. Modified Wogdyla discloses wherein the vision system comprises a camera configured to capture one or more images of each of the plurality of shipping items traveling along the conveyor prior to traveling to the label printing and applicator assembly (the photo detectors capture data of the packages traveling along the conveyor prior to being processed by the label printer-applicator assembly; paragraph [0041]).
Regarding claim 6, Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi disclose the system of claim 5. Modified Wogdyla discloses wherein, based on processing of the one or more images, at least one of the physical dimensions of the corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items, the orientation and skew of the corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items along the conveyor, and the identification of any preexisting labels and/or indicia on the corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items is calculated (receive and process data from photo detectors to determine the height and length of the packages; paragraph [0041]). Although Wogdyla doesn't specifically mention the processing images, Wogdyla does disclose a photodetector to measure the dimensions of the packages and also an image processor and comparator (see paragraph [0078]) to process data and control the label printer-applicator assembly, so it would be obvious to one skilled in the art to include image data to accurately place labels based on the packages.
Regarding claim 14, Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi disclose the system of claim 1. Modified Wogdyla discloses wherein the label printing and applicator assembly further comprises a label assembly for feeding the plurality of labels to the printer (the label printer-applicator assembly has a system comprising motor driven pressure roller (label assembly) to feed the label material to the printer; paragraphs [0025], [0057], [0060], [0063]).
Regarding claim 15, Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi disclose the system of claim 14. Modified Wogdyla discloses wherein the label assembly comprises a linerless labels or die-cut labels (the system comprises linerless labels; paragraphs [0027], [0057], [0060]-[0063]).
Regarding claim 16, Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi disclose the system of claim 1. Modified Wogdyla discloses wherein the plurality of shipping items comprises at least one of parcels, packages, and envelopes (shipping packages; paragraph [0041]).
Claim(s) 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi, and further in view of High et al (US 2018/0346213).
Regarding claim 11, Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi disclose the system of claim 6. Wogdyla fails to disclose wherein, based on processing of the one or more images, one or more tape seams on each of the plurality of shipping items is identified. High discloses wherein, based on processing of the one or more images, one or more tape seams on each of the plurality of shipping items is identified (based on the images, tape with unique perforations applied across the seams on the top flaps of the package as shown in figure 5 (tape seam) is detected for comparison; figure 5, paragraphs [0049]-[0051]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the relevant date, to modify the system of Wogdyla to include wherein, based on processing of the one or more images, one or more tape seams on each of the plurality of shipping items is identified, as taught by High, in order to prevent package tampering during transportation.
Regarding claim 12, Wogdyla in view of Yamaguchi and High disclose the system of claim 11. Modified Wogdyla discloses wherein the controller is configured to determine placement coordinates of the printed one or more of the plurality of labels on the corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items based, at least in part, on the data received from the vision system (the control computer determines accurate placement of the printed labels on the packages based on the data received from photo detectors; paragraphs [0041]-[0043], [0058], [0068], [0069]). Although Wogdyla doesn't specifically disclose placement coordinates, it does mention location of label placement is determined dynamically, so it would be obvious to one skilled in the art to include coordinates for the location, to ensure the robot is accurately maneuvered.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-10 and 13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 7-10, the prior art does not teach or make obvious the concept of wherein a determination is made as to whether an identified preexisting label and/or indicia is required to remain visible or can be covered by the printed one or more of the plurality of labels in the manner claimed by the applicant.
Regarding claim 13, the prior art does not teach or make obvious the concept of wherein the placement coordinates are positioned outside of an area of the corresponding one of the plurality of shipping items in which one or more identified tape seams lie such that the one or more identified tape seams remain visible and uncovered after the printed one or more of the plurality of labels is applied in the manner claimed by the applicant.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES D SELLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1237. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30-5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Phillip Tucker can be reached at 571-272-1095. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
JAMES D. SELLS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1745
/JAMES D SELLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1745
Prosecution Insights