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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because:
• Reference characters “320” and “323” have both been used to designate “synchronous belt” (see Paragraph 0032).
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 § 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 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujio (US 2020/0354162) in view of Bonnet (US 6390275).
Regarding claim 1, Fujio (US 2020/0354162) teaches an unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device (Paragraph 0001 lines 1-4), comprising a goods feeding conveyor (Fig. 1A #2), a tiltable tray assembly (Fig. 1A #1A), and a goods discharging conveyor (Fig. 1A #3) which are arranged in sequence in a longitudinal direction (Fig. 1A see #2, 1A, 3 arranged in sequence in longitudinal direction), wherein the tiltable tray assembly is configured to perform bidirectional sorting on goods in a lateral direction (Fig. 6 see #1A configured to perform bidirectional sorting in lateral direction);
the tiltable tray assembly comprises a tiltable tray part (Fig. 1A #10, 11), two load-bearing shaft rods (Fig. 3 #36, 37), and a support frame (Fig. 2 see support frame formed by #40a, 40b); the two load-bearing shaft rods are respectively arranged below two lateral sides of the tiltable tray part (Fig. 3 #36, 37 arranged below two lateral sides of #10, 11); the support frame is mounted between the two load-bearing shaft rods (Fig. 3 #40a, 40b mounted between #36, 37); the tiltable tray part is mounted at a top of a center of the support frame (Fig. 3 #10, 11 mounted at a top of the center of #40a, 40b); when the load-bearing shaft rods rotate, the tiltable tray part is tilted laterally (Paragraph 0029 lines 1-17);
a surface of the tiltable tray part (Fig. 1A surface of #1A) comprises a conveyor (Paragraph 0028 lines 8-17); a synchronous belt (Fig. 5 #44, 45) sleeves and is disposed between the two load-bearing shaft rods (Fig. 5 #44, 45 sleeves and is disposed between #36, 37); and the synchronous belt (Fig. 5 #44, 45) is pulled and connected to a bottom surface of the conveyor via a synchronous mounting (Fig. 2 see #44, 45 pulled and connected to a bottom surface of #10, 11 via #8a, 9b), to control the conveyor (Paragraph 0029 lines 1-17).
Fujio (US 2020/0354162) lacks teaching a surface of the tiltable tray part comprises a conveyor belt laterally sleeving; the synchronous belt is pulled and connected to a bottom surface of the conveyor belt via a synchronous rope, to control the conveyor belt to rotate.
Bonnet (US 6390275) teaches an unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device (Col. 1 lines 5-7), comprising a surface of the tiltable tray part (Fig. 1 surface of #11) comprises a conveyor belt (Fig. 1 #25) laterally sleeving (Fig. 2 see #25 laterally sleeving); the drive mechanism is actuated and connected to a bottom surface of the conveyor belt (Fig. 1 bottom surface of #25) via a synchronous rope (Fig. 1 #80 connects drive mechanism (not shown) to bottom surface of #25), to control the conveyor belt to rotate (Col. 5 lines 10-16).
Bonnet (US 6390275) explains that the tilting mechanism is equipped with a powdered conveyor belt instead of a gravity tray to provide very high sorting speed and therefore high productivity while providing package acceleration capable of exceeding 1G, while keeping the parcel in control with minimum slipping or tumbling (Col. 3 lines 30-39).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujio (US 2020/0354162) to include a surface of the tiltable tray part comprises a conveyor belt laterally sleeving; the synchronous belt is pulled and connected to a bottom surface of the conveyor belt via a synchronous rope, to control the conveyor belt to rotate as taught by Bonnet (US 6390275) in order to provide high sorting speed while keeping the goods in control with minimum slipping or tumbling.
Regarding claim 6, Fujio (US 2020/0354162) teaches a method for using the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device according to claim 1 (see claim 1 above), comprising:
in a goods conveying direction that is a longitudinal direction (Fig. 1A see longitudinal direction along #2, 1A, 3), mounting the goods feeding conveyor, the tiltable tray assembly, and the goods discharging conveyor in sequence (Fig. 1A mounting #2, 1A, 3 in sequence), and laterally arranging the tiltable tray assembly (Fig. 1A laterally arranging #1A); arranging sorting baskets (Fig. 6 #46) for two types of goods on two lateral sides of the tiltable tray assembly respectively (Fig. 6 see #46 arranged on two lateral sides of #1A);
moving the goods onto the conveyor (Fig. 1A #2 moves goods onto #1A); when the goods are in one of the two types of goods, controlling the two load-bearing shaft rods and the synchronous belt to rotate (Fig. 6 #36, 37, 44, 45 rotate), causing the tiltable tray part to tilt towards a lateral side and the synchronous mounting to pull the conveyor (Paragraph 0029 lines 1-17), causing the goods to fall into the sorting basket from the lateral side of the tiltable tray part (Fig. 6 see arrows indication goods falling into #46).
Fujio (US 2020/0354162) lacks teaching mounting a scanning module and a control system on the goods feeding conveyor; before the goods feeding conveyor conveys the goods to the tiltable tray assembly, distinguishing the types of goods by the scanning module; and moving the goods onto the conveyor belt; when the goods are in one of the two types of goods, controlling, by the control system, the two load-bearing shaft rods and the synchronous belt to rotate, causing the tiltable tray part to tilt towards a lateral side and the synchronous rope to pull the conveyor belt to rotate.
Bonnet (US 6390275) teaches a method for using the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device (Col. 1 lines 5-7) comprising: mounting a scanning module (Fig. 7 #1100) and a control system (Fig. 7 #1000) on the goods feeding conveyor (Col. 3 lines 6-12, 16-22); before the goods feeding conveyor conveys the goods to the tiltable tray assembly, distinguishing the types of goods by the scanning module (Fig. 5 #14 upstream #10, Col. 3 lines 6-12, 16-22); and moving the goods onto the conveyor belt (Fig. 5 #14 moves goods onto #25); when the goods are in one of the two types of goods, controlling, by the control system (Fig. 7 #1000), the drive mechanism to rotate (Fig. 1 drive mechanism of #80, Col. 5 lines 25-31), causing the tiltable tray part to tilt towards a lateral side and the synchronous rope (Fig. 1 #80) to pull the conveyor belt to rotate (Col. 5 lines 10-16).
Bonnet (US 6390275) explains that the tilting mechanism is equipped with a powdered conveyor belt instead of a gravity tray to provide very high sorting speed and therefore high productivity while providing package acceleration capable of exceeding 1G, while keeping the parcel in control with minimum slipping or tumbling (Col. 3 lines 30-39). Bonnet (US 6390275) additionally explains that the controller accepts package information such as weight, size, and destination and controls the drive belt and the tilting mechanism accordingly (Col. 5 lines 25-31). Bonnet (US 6390275) states that the input stations include conventional measuring devices to provide the package information to the controller (Col. 3 lines 6-12, 16-22).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujio (US 2020/0354162) to include mounting a scanning module and a control system on the goods feeding conveyor; before the goods feeding conveyor conveys the goods to the tiltable tray assembly, distinguishing the types of goods by the scanning module; and moving the goods onto the conveyor belt; when the goods are in one of the two types of goods, controlling, by the control system, the two load-bearing shaft rods and the synchronous belt to rotate, causing the tiltable tray part to tilt towards a lateral side and the synchronous rope to pull the conveyor belt to rotate as taught by Bonnet (US 6390275) in order to provide high sorting speed while keeping the goods in control with minimum slipping or tumbling, and to provide a conventional measuring device to determine information of the incoming goods.
Claims 5 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujio (US 2020/0354162) in view of Bonnet (US 6390275) and further in view of Ryan (US 7237670).
Regarding claim 5, Fujio (US 2020/0354162) lacks teaching the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device according to claim 1, wherein balls are distributed on a surface of the conveyor belt.
Ryan (US 7237670) teaches an unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device (Col. 1 lines 5-8), wherein balls (Fig. 1 #18) are distributed on a surface of the conveyor belt (Fig. 1 #18 distributed on surface of #17).
Ryan (US 7237670) explains that the balls are arranged to rotate on an axes parallel to the direction of belt travel (Col. 1 lines 42-48), and the balls rotate when the conveyor belt is stopped in order to push conveyed articles laterally across the conveyor belt (Col. 1 lines 63-67).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujio (US 2020/0354162) to include wherein balls are distributed on a surface of the conveyor belt as taught by Ryan (US 7237670) in order to convey articles laterally off conveyor belt, such that the articles may be transferred in three directions off the surface of the conveyor belt.
Regarding claim 11, Fujio (US 2020/0354162) lacks teaching the method for using the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device according to claim 6, wherein balls are distributed on a surface of the conveyor belt.
Ryan (US 7237670) teaches a method for using the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device (Col. 1 lines 5-8), wherein balls (Fig. 1 #18) are distributed on a surface of the conveyor belt (Fig. 1 #18 distributed on surface of #17).
Ryan (US 7237670) explains that the balls are arranged to rotate on an axes parallel to the direction of belt travel (Col. 1 lines 42-48), and the balls rotate when the conveyor belt is stopped in order to push conveyed articles laterally across the conveyor belt (Col. 1 lines 63-67).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujio (US 2020/0354162) to include wherein balls are distributed on a surface of the conveyor belt as taught by Ryan (US 7237670) in order to convey articles laterally off conveyor belt, such that the articles may be transferred in three directions off the surface of the conveyor belt.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujio (US 2020/0354162) in view of Bonnet (US 6390275) and further in view of Navarrete et al. (US 2023/0338991).
Regarding claim 7, Fujio (US 2020/0354162) lacks teaching the method for using the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device according to claim 6, wherein the tiltable tray assembly and the goods discharging conveyor that are adjacent to each other form a sorting unit, and a plurality of sorting units are arranged in the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device according to a quantity of types of goods to be distinguished.
Navarrete et al. (US 2023/0338991) teaches a method for using the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device (Paragraph 0001 lines 1-3), wherein the bidirectional sorting assembly (Fig. 1 #18) and the goods discharging conveyor (Fig. 1 #34) that are adjacent to each other (Fig. 1 see #18 adjacent #34) form a sorting unit (Fig. 1 see unit formed by #18, 34), and a plurality of sorting units are arranged in the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device (Fig. 4 see series of units formed by #18, 34) according to a quantity of types of goods to be distinguished (Paragraph 0015 lines 1-9).
Navarrete et al. (US 2023/0338991) explains that the articles may be passed to a left destination or a right destination according to the destination assigned to the article, or continue on to an outfeed conveyor if the article is not assigned to either destination in each sorting unit (Paragraph 0013 lines 1-15), and further explains that a longer conveyor system may be used with multiple cross conveyors and bilateral sorting destinations (Paragraph 0015 lines 1-9).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujio (US 2020/0354162) to include wherein the tiltable tray assembly and the goods discharging conveyor that are adjacent to each other form a sorting unit, and a plurality of sorting units are arranged in the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device according to a quantity of types of goods to be distinguished as taught by Navarrete et al. (US 2023/0338991) in order to provide multiple different bilateral sorting destinations.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujio (US 2020/0354162) in view of Bonnet (US 6390275), Ryan (US 7237670) and further in view of Navarrete et al. (US 2023/0338991).
Regarding claim 15, Fujio (US 2020/0354162) lacks teaching the method for using the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device according to claim 11, wherein the tiltable tray assembly and the goods discharging conveyor that are adjacent to each other form a sorting unit, and a plurality of sorting units are arranged in the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device according to a quantity of types of goods to be distinguished.
Navarrete et al. (US 2023/0338991) teaches a method for using the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device (Paragraph 0001 lines 1-3), wherein the bidirectional sorting assembly (Fig. 1 #18) and the goods discharging conveyor (Fig. 1 #34) that are adjacent to each other (Fig. 1 see #18 adjacent #34) form a sorting unit (Fig. 1 see unit formed by #18, 34), and a plurality of sorting units are arranged in the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device (Fig. 4 see series of units formed by #18, 34) according to a quantity of types of goods to be distinguished (Paragraph 0015 lines 1-9).
Navarrete et al. (US 2023/0338991) explains that the articles may be passed to a left destination or a right destination according to the destination assigned to the article, or continue on to an outfeed conveyor if the article is not assigned to either destination in each sorting unit (Paragraph 0013 lines 1-15), and further explains that a longer conveyor system may be used with multiple cross conveyors and bilateral sorting destinations (Paragraph 0015 lines 1-9).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujio (US 2020/0354162) to include wherein the tiltable tray assembly and the goods discharging conveyor that are adjacent to each other form a sorting unit, and a plurality of sorting units are arranged in the unmanned warehouse-goods sorting operation device according to a quantity of types of goods to be distinguished as taught by Navarrete et al. (US 2023/0338991) in order to provide multiple different bilateral sorting destinations.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 8-10 and 12-14 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.
Claim 2 recites “wherein driving gears are arranged at two ends of each of the two load-bearing shaft rods; driving rods are arranged between the two load-bearing shaft rods; two ends of each of the driving rods are connected to driving racks; the driving racks are meshed with the driving gears, one of the driving rods is connected to a hydraulic push rod; and the hydraulic push rod is configured to: control the one driving rod to laterally translate and drive the two load-bearing shaft rods to rotate” wherein this configuration, in combination with the remaining limitations of claim 1, was not seen in the searched prior art.
Claim 4 recites “wherein a bottom of the synchronous belt is fixedly connected with a pallet; a bottom end of the synchronous rope is fixed on the pallet; and a top end of the synchronous rope is fixed at a bottom of the conveyor belt” wherein this configuration, in combination with the remaining limitations of claim 1, was not seen in the searched prior art.
Claims 8 and 10 would be allowable for the same reasons as clams 2 and 4, respectively.
Claims 3, 9 and 12-14 would be allowable as they are dependent upon claims 2, 8 and 10.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Molly K Devine whose telephone number is (571)270-7205. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:00-4:00.
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/MOLLY K DEVINE/ Examiner, Art Unit 3653