Appeal No. 2002-2047 Page 5
Application No. 09/348,400
Looking first to claim 1, Robin is directed to a method and apparatus for
separating laundry in that it removes a flat sheet from a bin, grasps two adjacent
corners of the sheet, shakes it out, and then conveys it for further treatment, such as
drying and pressing. Robin discloses a frame (2), a wheeled laundry truck (1) within
which the sheets are located, a suction device (4) for removing sheets from the
wheeled laundry truck, and drive means (3) for moving the suction device towards and
away from the sheets in the wheeled laundry truck. Robin does not disclose or teach
“moving means associated with the wheeled laundry truck for causing the truck to move
relative to the frame beneath the grip device during the operation of the apparatus, the
moving means operable to release the wheeled laundry truck,” as is recited in claim 1.
Umeda is directed to an apparatus for loading box-like containers (C) containing
a substance such as rice from a roller conveyor (B) onto a wheeled truck (E). Arms
(24) are provided to hold the truck adjacent to the end of the conveyor, and to move it
laterally after each box is loaded to allow a pusher mechanism (20-22) to sequentially
load a plurality of boxes onto the truck next to one another in response to a control
device. The loading mechanism can be moved vertically so that several layers of boxes
can be loaded, and upon completion of the loading operation the truck is released from
the arms (translation, pages 4 and 5). There is no disclosure of a mechanism for
unloading boxes from the truck.
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