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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3/17/2026 has been entered.
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 116-119 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pivac AU 2018/902566 wherein the US publication no.: US 2021/0291362 A1 is used in this rejection in view of Fischer et al. US publication no.: US 2018/0021954 A1.
Regarding claim 116, Pivac teaches, A robot system, comprising: a robot arm (see robot arm, figure 1) configured to support an end effector (end effector 113, figure 1a) that is able to work on a workpiece in a state in which the end effector is displaceable; and a driving part part (robot arm actuator and end effect actuator figure 2, paragraph 72) that is configured to drive the end effector with respect to the robot arm with a second stroke smaller than a first stroke of a robot configured to drive the end effector (as explained in paragraph 91 that the robot base actuator is a “coarse” while the robot arm actuator is “fine” positioning).
Pivac is silent on specifically teaching: wherein the pedestal driving part is disposed between the robot arm and the end effector.
Fischer et al. is in the same field of art and teach: wherein the pedestal driving part is disposed between the robot arm and the end effector (see figure 2b and paragraph 59, where it is illustrated that a pedestal base is presented and a driving part of it drives the end effector 224).
In view of Fischer et al.’ teachings, it would’ve been obvious to one with the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, with the apparatus as taught by Pivac to include; wherein the pedestal driving part is disposed between the robot arm and the end effector, for the purpose of providing a variant driving part.
Regarding claim 117, Fischer et al. teach, the robot system of claim 116, further comprising a support part situated between the pedestal driving part and the robot arm so that the pedestal driving part is operable to drive the end effector with respect to the support part (see figure 2b and paragraph 59, where it is illustrated that a pedestal base is presented and a driving part of it drives the end effector 224).
Regarding claim 118, Pivac teaches, A robot system, comprising: a robot arm having a robot arm section (see figure 1 for robot arm) configured to support and displace an end effector (end effector 113, figure 1a); a support part (robot base 111, figure 1a) secured to the robot arm section; and a driving part(robot arm actuator and end effect actuator figure 2, paragraph 72) that is configured to drive the end effector with respect to the robot arm,
Pivac is silent on teaching: wherein the driving part is disposed between the support part and the end effector.
Fischer et al. is in the same field of art and teach: wherein the driving part is disposed between the support part and the end effector (see figure 2b and paragraph 59, where it is illustrated that a pedestal base is presented and a driving part of it drives the end effector 224).
In view of Fischer et al.’ teachings, it would’ve been obvious to one with the ordinary skills in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, with the apparatus as taught by Pivac to include wherein the driving part is disposed between the support part and the end effector, for the purpose of providing a variant driving part.
Regarding claim 119, Pivac teaches, The robot system of claim 118, wherein the driving part is configured to drive the end effector with respect to the robot arm with a second stroke smaller than a first stroke of the robot arm(as explained in paragraph 91 that the robot base actuator is a “coarse” while the robot arm actuator is “fine” positioning).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 84-97 are allowed.
Conclusion
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/ZOHEB S IMTIAZ/ Primary Examiner , Art Unit 2846
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