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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to communications filed on 7/31/2025. Accordingly, claims 1- 9 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1- 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP2023019126 A (hereinafter 126).
As per claim 1, 126 discloses: a control method for a moving body, comprising:
a step of acquiring first moving body information including a position and a speed of a first moving body that is a manned vehicle (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary; MV’s position information and whether vehicles are approaching and/or moving away from each other);
a step of setting a first region, where an unmanned vehicle is prohibited from entering, around the first moving body based on the firs moving body information (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary; inter-vehicle distance, LA1, unconditional stopping distance L0);
a step of acquiring second moving body information including a position of a second moving body that is an unmanned vehicle (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary; AGV and MV positional information);
a step of stopping the second moving body in a case where the position of the second moving body indicated by the second moving body information is within a predetermined distance range from the first region (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary; conditional stopping distance and unconditional stopping distance);
a step of notifying a driver of the first moving body of a retreat command to retreat to another location in a case where the second moving body has stopped (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary; possibility of collision, warning information sent to MV approaching the AGV);
a step of acquiring retreat completion information indicating that the first moving body has stopped at a retreat destination (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary; separation direction, deceleration request and after moving apart switch to normal driving); and
a step of, when the retreat completion information is acquired, setting a second region, where an unmanned vehicle is prohibited from entering, around the first moving body so as to be narrower than the first region (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary; inter-vehicle distance LA1 between AGV and MV changing).
2: control method for a moving body according to wherein the second region has a length shorter than a length of the first region in a traveling direction of the first moving body (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary).
3: further comprising: a step of setting a third region, where an unmanned vehicle is prohibited from entering, around the first moving body so as to be narrower than the first region and wider than the second region, in a case where the first moving body information indicates that the first moving body is stopped after the retreat command is notified of and before the retreat completion information is acquired (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary).
4: control method for a moving body according to wherein the third region has a length shorter than a length of the first region and longer than a length of the second region in a traveling direction of the first moving body (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary).
5: control method for a moving body according to wherein the third region has a length longer than lengths of the first region and the second region in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the first moving body (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary).
6: control method for a moving body according to further comprising: a step of, in a case where the second moving body has stopped, setting a retreat position of the first moving body based on the position and a movement destination of the second moving body; and a step of notifying the driver of the first moving body of information indicating the retreat position (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary).
7: control method for a moving body according to wherein, in the step of setting the retreat position, the retreat position is set based on at least one of the first moving body information and a movement destination of the first moving body (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary).
8: A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having stored thereon a program causing a computer to execute: a step of acquiring first moving body information including a position and a speed of a first moving body that is a manned vehicle; a step of setting a first region, where an unmanned vehicle is prohibited from entering, around the first moving body based on the first moving body information; a step of acquiring second moving body information including a position of a second moving body that is an unmanned vehicle; a step of stopping the second moving body in a case where the position of the second moving body indicated by the second moving body information is within a predetermined distance range from the first region; a step of notifying a driver of the first moving body of a retreat command to retreat to another location in a case where the second moving body has stopped; a step of acquiring retreat completion information indicating that the first moving body has stopped at a retreat destination; and a step of, when the retreat completion information is acquired, setting a second region, where an unmanned vehicle is prohibited from entering, around the first moving body so as to be narrower than the first region (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary; see claim 1 above).
9: An information processing device comprising: a moving body information acquisition unit that acquires first moving body information including a position and a speed of a first moving body that is a manned vehicle and second moving body information including a position of a second moving body that is an unmanned vehicle; a region setting unit that sets a first region, where an unmanned vehicle is prohibited from entering, around the first moving body based on the first moving body information; a stop command unit that stops the second moving body in a case where the position of the second moving body indicated by the second moving body information is within a predetermined distance range from the first region; a retreat command unit that notifies a driver of the first moving body of a retreat command to retreat to another location in a case where the second moving body has stopped; and a retreat information acquisition unit that acquires retreat completion information indicating that the first moving body has stopped at a retreat destination, wherein, when the retreat completion information is acquired, the region setting unit sets a second region, where an unmanned vehicle is prohibited from entering, around Preliminary Amendment the first moving body so as to be narrower than the first region (see 126 at least fig 1-34 and in particular fig. 12-13 and Abstract and Summary; see claim 1 above).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MACEEH ANWARI whose telephone number is 571-272-7591. The examiner can normally be reached on 9-9:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Ortiz can be reached on 571-272-1206. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
MACEEH . ANWARI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3663
/MACEEH ANWARI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3663
Prosecution Insights