PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 16384269
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2019-04
Publication Date: 2019-08
Patent Classification: ["454", "232000"]

Abstract:
Systems and methods for airflow management around palletized cases of goods in a warehouse storage facility are provided, in which airflow around each individual layer of cases is facilitated while airflow “spillage” around the sides, top or bottom of pallet assemblies is minimized or eliminated. One exemplary device for such airflow management includes palletized product spacers disposed between respective layers of vertically stacked cases, in which the product spacers facilitate a substantially unidirectional longitudinal airflow. Another exemplary airflow management device is a series of automatically adjustable air dams disposed at the tops of respective pallet assemblies which prevent air spillage and establish intermediate air manifold spaces. Yet another device is a lateral pallet spacer prevents direct abutment of the side surfaces of neighboring pallet assemblies and thereby ensures that the air manifold spaces are in fluid communication with the spacers of multiple pallet assemblies.

Claim (Index 1):
A spacer for use between adjacent pairs of stacked cases, the spacer comprising:\n a plurality of substantially planar, elongate upper support surfaces extending in a first x-y plane of a Cartesian coordinate system; a plurality of substantially planar, elongate lower support surfaces extending in a second x-y plane of a Cartesian coordinate system, said second x-y plane spaced from said first x-y plane by a distance in the z-direction; said lower support surfaces respectively interposed between adjacent pairs of said upper support surfaces; a plurality of sidewalls each connecting one of said upper support surfaces to an adjacent one of said lower support surfaces, such that said upper and lower support surfaces cooperate with said sidewalls to form an undulating profile of lands and valleys,\n adjacent pairs of said sidewalls each defining an airflow channel having a cross-sectional area defined by a distance between said adjacent pairs of sidewalls along the y-direction and a distance between the upper and lower support surfaces in the z-direction, and \n each said airflow channel having a longitudinal extent along the x-direction; and \n a plurality of stiffeners interconnecting said adjacent pairs of said sidewalls with an adjacent one of said upper support surfaces, said stiffeners disposed in a y-z plane.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 11.0
- Percentile: 100.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.77907
- Patent Class: 454.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['14166324', '15845401', '15282496', '15444234', '14550092']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.8336116286677254
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.6184718762303391
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.8120976534239868
- Mean Citation Score: 366.44531
- Max Citation Score: 562.94415
- Similarity Product: 537.3405703933419

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 0
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 0
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test