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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/31/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by ABE (JP 2003-281287).
Regarding claim 1, ABE teaches a welding work data accumulation device comprising: a central processing unit (CPU) (15; para. 0047) configured to measure, in real time, a welding motion and a welding phenomenon when a welding operator grips a welding torch (10) and performs welding on a welded body (A) (para. 0046); extract, in real time, welding data in correlation with time or coordinates based on the welding motion and the welding phenomenon, the welding data being a welding motion feature amount and a welding phenomenon feature amount (para. 0047); create a database (para. 0010) including: the welding data; and correction motion data comprising recorded adjustments to a respective welding motion feature in response to deviations in a corresponding welding phenomenon feature amount, the correction motion data stored in association with a type and a magnitude of the corresponding welding phenomenon deviation (updated reference data; para. 0041); and issue, during the welding operation, correction information to the welding operator derived from the correction motion data in response to a determination that a second welding motion feature amount or a second welding phenomenon feature amount deviates from a predetermined range based on the welding data (para. 0040-0044; 0050).
Regarding claim 5, ABE teaches the welding work data accumulation device according to claim 1, wherein the CPU is further configured to receive information regarding a welding work environment (para. 0047-0048; 0050-0051), and analyze the second welding motion feature amount and the second welding phenomenon feature amount based on the information regarding the welding work environment, the welding motion and the welding phenomenon (para. 0047-0048; 0050-0051).
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 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ABE.
Regarding claim 2, ABE teaches the welding work data accumulation device according to claim 1, wherein CPU is further configured to measure, as the welding motion, a motion of the welding torch with a coordinate resolution (a motion camera inherently has a coordinate or spatial resolution; para. 0046-0047).
ABE fails to disclose wherein the coordinate resolution is less than 1 cm.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was effectively filed to provide the claimed coordinate resolution range, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 3, ABE teaches the welding work data accumulation device according to claim 1, further comprising a motion capture system (13) configured to measure a motion of the welding torch as the welding motion (para. 0046-0047).
ABE fails to disclose wherein the motion capture system comprise a plurality of cameras.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was effectively filed to provide a plurality of motion capturing cameras, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 4, ABE teaches the welding work data accumulation device according to claim 3, further comprising any one of a molten pool observation camera that captures an image of a molten pool, a line-of-sight camera that detects a line of sight of the welding operator, a vibration sensor that measures vibration caused by the welding, a microphone that collects sound caused by the welding, and a torch pressure sensor that measures a pressure applied to the welding operator from the welding torch (para. 0046-0047).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/29/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding claim 1, Applicant argues that “Abe is directed to "a skill evaluation method" Abe, [0001]. Abe states that this method "provides a reference data generating step for measuring the operation of a work step performed by an operator under a certain work environment and generating reference data, and a work" Abe, [0011]. However, Abe does not disclose, teach, or suggest, a CPU configured to "create a database including the welding data, and correction motion data comprising recorded adjustments to a respective welding motion feature in response to deviations in a corresponding welding phenomenon feature amount, the correction motion data stored in association with a type and a magnitude of the corresponding welding phenomenon deviation," and "issue, during the welding operation, correction information to the welding operator derived from the correction motion data," as recited in amended claim 1. As an example, the system of Abe includes a "change data generation step of giving the work environment in the work process without permission to a worker and measuring the motion of the worker at this time to generate change data," Abe, [0011]. Abe further discloses that the "change data is generated by associating the moving speed of the [torch 10] with the reference data previously stored in the storage medium 16." Abe, [0050]. Thus, Abe merely teaches measuring features of the torch 10 as separate parameters during respective welding operations and, then compares the parameters to reference data following the welding operations. Therefore, Abe does not disclose, teach, or suggest, a CPU configured to "create a database including the data, and correction motion data comprising recorded adjustments to a respective welding motion feature in response to deviations in a corresponding welding phenomenon feature amount, the correction motion data stored in association with a type and a magnitude of the corresponding welding phenomenon deviation," and "issue, during the welding operation, correction information to the welding operator derived from the correction motion data," as recited in amended claim 1.” on remarks page 7, lines 11-32 and page 8, lines 1-2. In response to Applicant’s arguments, Abe teaches creating a database (para. 0010) including: the welding data; and correction motion data comprising recorded adjustments to a respective welding motion feature in response to deviations in a corresponding welding phenomenon feature amount, the correction motion data stored in association with a type and a magnitude of the corresponding welding phenomenon deviation (updated reference data; para. 0041); and issuing, during the welding operation, correction information to the welding operator derived from the correction motion data in response to a determination that a second welding motion feature amount or a second welding phenomenon feature amount deviates from a predetermined range based on the welding data (para. 0040-0044; 0050).
For these reasons, the arguments are not persuasive.
Regarding claims 2-5, Applicant relies on the same arguments, therefore, the same response applies.
Conclusion
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/ALBA T ROSARIO-APONTE/Examiner, Art Unit 3761 02/12/2026
/STEVEN W CRABB/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761