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 § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 7, 8 & 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ouellete (US 6,318,955) in view of Frigeri (US 10,196,219).
With respect to claims 1 & 9, Ouellete discloses a depalletising system, comprising:
a zone (indicated generally in FIG. 1) for positioning a stack of layers of loose containers;
a head 24 for removing an upper layer 42 of a stack;
a removal head being suitable for moving an upper layer by sliding;
a removal head comprising at a sidewall 26 for pushing an upper layer 42; and,
an unloading support 34 movable with respect to a stack and that allows an upper layer moved by a removal head to be supported.
Ouellete does not disclose a sensor means. Frigeri discloses sensor means 8 that allow a support to reach a desired position with respect to an upper layer 2 that is to be detected before depalletising can commence. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Ouellete to include sensor means that allow a reaching of a desired position of a support with respect to an upper layer to be detected, as taught by Frigeri, which reduces the number of sensors needed in a depalletizing operation as well as removing the need for an emitter/receiver type of sensor which require restrictive mounting configurations on the depalletizer.
With respect to claim 7, Ouellete discloses wherein in a positioning zone side walls of containment of layers of stacked containers are absent.
With respect to claim 8, Ouellete discloses means 32, 32 for gripping a sheet 46 of a stack interposed between layers.
Claim(s) 2 & 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ouellete in view of Frigeri and further in view of Yoshida Akio (aka Akio) (JP 2003-192133) (English translation included with reference copy).
Ouellete’s removal head 24 is suitable for moving an upper layer by sliding (C3/L62-67) and does not disclose moving an upper layer by suction and sliding. Akio discloses a removal head 9, 15 is suitable for moving an upper layer by suction and sliding and comprising suction means 10. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Ouellete to combine suction and sliding in a single removal head, as taught by Akio, which improves on layer grippers where the bottles usually have a shape that is narrower than the bottom, so that the bottles project downward allowing the potential for bottles to easily drop.
Claim(s) 3 & 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ouellete in view of Frigeri and further in view of Sonoura (US 10,370,201).
With respect to claim 3, Ouellete teaches sensing an upper layer of a stack prior to depalletizing and does not disclose first and second sensors. Sonoura discloses a sensor means that comprise first and second sensors 32A, 32B (C5/L25-58), first and second sensors placed on a support side and intended to face a stack. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Ouellete to include first and second sensors that face a stack and allow reaching of a desired position of a support, as taught by Sonoura, which allows a depalletizing head to not only know the height of the top layer of articles on a pallet but add the ability to sense distance in two dimensions an article is to the unloading support. The distance detecting in two dimensions allows for more control of the movements in horizontal and vertical directions reducing the potential for contact with surrounding equipment.
With respect to claim 6, Ouellete does not disclose viewing means, e.g. camera or other image sensing equivalent. Sonoura discloses viewing means 50 (C6/L5-20) that allow positioning and centering of a removal head 11 vertically above an upper layer of a stack. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Ouellete to include viewing means, as taught by Sonoura, which allows for more control of the removal heads movements which prevents contact with surrounding equipment and structures.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ouellete in view of Frigeri and Sonoura and further in view of Jenkner (US 5,205,705).
Ouellete does not disclose contact by a sensor with a stack. Jenkner discloses contact sensing by each of first sensor 31 and second sensor 31 by the upper surface of the topmost layer 15 of stack 13. This causes removal head 21 to index accordingly such that removal head is aligned with a to-be removed layer. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Ouellete to include contact by first and second sensors, as taught by Jenkner, which allows for a removal head to slide off one or more than one layer or more than one layer depending on height detected.
Claim(s) 5 & 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ouellete in view of Frigeri and further in view of Feldkamper (US 4,671,723).
Ouellete does not disclose means for advancing and distancing a support with respect to layers of containers. Feldkamper discloses a depalletizer with an unloading support 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 52 comprising:
means 40, 41, 42 for advancing and distancing a support with respect to layers of containers 35;
a support comprising:
a first portion 41 constrained to an advancing and distancing means 42;
a second portion 39 constrained to a first portion and tilting via gas-cylinder unit 40 with respect to a first portion 41 to approach an edge of an upper layer.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of invention of Ouellete means for advancing and distancing a support with respect to layers of containers and a unloading support comprising first and second portions, as taught by Feldkamper, which allows a back wall of a removal head, pusher fingers in this case, to apply equal pressure of the articles being slid off a pallet of layers.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ouellete in view of Frigeri and further in view of Jenkner.
Ouellete does not disclose contact by a sensor with a stack. Jenkner discloses contact sensing by each of first sensor 31 and second sensor 31 by the upper surface of the topmost layer 15 of stack 13. This causes removal head 21 to index accordingly such that removal head is aligned with a to-be removed layer. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Ouellete to include contact by first and second sensors, as taught by Jenkner, which allows for a removal head to slide off one or more than one layer or more than one layer depending on height detected.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY W ADAMS whose telephone number is (571)272-8101. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri, 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Saul Rodriguez can be reached at (571)272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY W ADAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3652
