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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. GB 2114779.8, filed on 10/15/2021.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Page 6, lines 8-23 and Page 7, lines 1-5, filed 3/23/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-13 under 112b and 102(a) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Furuta et al (JP 2014255239).
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, 8, 9, 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Furuta et al (JP 2014255239).
Regarding claim 1, Furuta et al teaches a particle gripper (13) (Abstract) comprising:
A flexible surface membrane (15) connected to a resiliently deformable neck portion (25) which has a cavity filled with a phase change material (17, 21) (Paragraph 0026, lines 1-4; Paragraph 0027, liens 1-2; Paragraph 0029, lines 1-2; Paragraph 0031, liens 1-3; Fig. 1, elements 15, 17, 21, 25),
And at least one air tube (25) (Paragraph 0031, lines 1-2; Fig. 1, element 25),
The flexible surface membrane (15) and the phase change material (17, 21) are configured to deform around an object to be gripped (12) (Paragraph 0033, lines 1-5; Fig. 3, elements 12, 15); and
Wherein the at least one air tube (25) is used for inflating and/or creating a vacuum within the cavity such that the cavity is inflated so that the phase change material (17, 21) is forced against the flexible surface membrane (15) to expand the flexible surface membrane (15) (Paragraph 0022, lines 20-26; Paragraph 0032, lines 2-4; Paragraph 0036, lines 1-3; Paragraph 0041, lies 4-8),
And a transition means which is applied to the phase change material (17, 21) in the cavity so that it changes phase of the material from a liquid to a solid so that object (12) is gripped by the flexible surface membrane (15) and the phase transition material (17, 21) (Paragraph 0038, lines 1-5), and
Wherein the resiliently deformable neck portion (25) extends in a plane along the length of the air tube (15) such that the flexible surface membrane (15) expands in a direction perpendicular to the length of the air tube (15) such that a portion of the flexible surface membrane (15) opposite the neck portion (25) can grasp the object (12) (Fig. 1, elements 12, 15, 25).
Regarding claim 8, Furuta et al teaches the flexible surface membrane (15) is made from rubber like material such as rubber, silicone or latex (Paragraph 0026, lines 3-4).
Regarding claim 9, Furuta et al teaches the phase change material (17, 21) is a granular material, which becomes solid under a vacuum transition (Paragraph 0038, lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 11, Furuta et al teaches a method of gripping an object (12) in a confined space using a particle gripper (13) (Paragraph 0032, lines 1-2), the method comprising:
Positioning the particle gripper (13) relative to the object (12) to be gripped (Paragraph 0032, liens 1-7), wherein:
The particle gripper (13) comprises a flexible surface membrane (15) connected to a resiliently deformable neck portion (25) which has a cavity filled with a phase change material (17, 21), and at least one air tube (25), the flexible surface membrane (15) and the phase change material (17, 21) are configured to deform around the object (12) to be gripped (Paragraph 0026, lines 3-4; Paragraph 0031, lines 1-3; Paragraph 0033, lines 1-5),
The at least one air tube (25) is used for inflating and/or creating a vacuum within the cavity such that the cavity can be inflated so that the phase change material (17, 21) is forced against the flexible surface membrane (15) to expand the flexible surface membrane (15), and a transition means which is applied to the phase change material (17, 21) in the cavity so that it changes phase of the material from a liquid to a solid so that object (12) is gripped by the flexible surface membrane (15) and the phase transition material (17, 21), (Paragraph 0022, liens 20-26; Paragraph 0032, lines 2-4; Paragraph 0036, lines 1-3; Paragraph 0041, lines 4-8), and
The resiliently deformable neck portion (25) extends in a plan along the length of the air tube such that the flexible surface membrane (15) expands in a direction perpendicular to the length of the air tube (25) such that a portion of the flexible surface membrane (15) opposite the neck portion (25) can grasp the object (12) (Fig. 1, elements 12, 15, 25),
Inflating the flexible surface membrane (15) using the air tube (25) (Paragraph 0022, lines 20-26; Paragraph 0032, lines 2-4; Paragraph 0036, lines 1-3; Paragraph 0041, lines 4-8),
Positioning the gripper (13) against the object (12) to be gripped such that the flexible surface membrane (15) and the phase change material (17, 21) surround a substantial portion of the object (12) to be gripped (Paragraph 0033, lines 7-9),
Using the transitioning means to cause a phase change in the phase change material (17, 21) (Paragraph 0037, lines 1-13; Paragraph 0038, lines 1-2),
And extracting the particle gripper (13) from the confined space (Paragraph 0041, lines 1-3).
Regarding claim 12, Furuta et al teaches the transitioning means is applying a vacuum to the phase transition material (17, 21) in order to induce the phase transition (Paragraph 0037, lines 1-13; Paragraph 0038, lines 1-2).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 2, 10 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Furuta et al in view of Spicer (US 20160052145).
Regarding claim 2, Furuta et al fails to teach a gripper connected to a robot arm. Spicer teaches a particle gripper (10) that is connected to a robot arm (Paragraph 0021, lines 8-12).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include the teachings of Spicer to facilitate the creation of a particle gripper that can transport objects to another location as taught by Spicer (Paragraph 0021, lines 8-12).
Regarding claim 10, Furuta et al fails to teach a ferromagnetic transition means. Spicer teaches a particle gripper (10) with a phase change material which is a ferromagnetic fluid that undergoes a phase transition under the application of a current transition means (Paragraph 0042, lines 1-4, 13-20; Paragraph 0044; Claim 17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include the teachings of Spicer to facilitate the creation of a ferromagnetic transition means that can reduce hysteresis and that is easy to manipulate as taught by Spicer (Paragraph 0042, lines 17-20).
Regarding claim 13, Furuta et al fails to teach an electric transition means. Spicer teaches a particle gripper (10) where the transitioning means is applying an electric current to the phase transition material in order to induce the phase transition (Paragraph 0024, lines 5-9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include the teachings of Spicer to facilitate the creation of an electric transition means that can create an attractive force between the gripper and the workpiece as taught by Spicer (Paragraph 0027, lines 18-22).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Furuta et al in view of Spicer and in further view of Rabani et al (US 20180264643).
Regarding claim 3, Furuta in view of Spicer fails to teach a continuum robotic arm. Rabani et al teaches a continuum robot (26) where the robotic arm is a continuum robotic arm or a snake arm robotic arm (Paragraph 0047, lines 1-3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include the teachings of Rabani et al to facilitate the creation of a continuum robotic arm that can be used to perform inspections as taught by Rabani et al (Paragraph 0047, lines 3-7).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Furuta et al in view of Rabani et al (US 20180264643).
Regarding claim 4, Furuta fails to teach a neck portion made of silicone. Rabani et al teaches a continuum robot (26) where the resiliently deformable neck portion (12) is made of silicone (Paragraph 0045, lines 1-5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include the teachings of Rabani et al to facilitate the creation of a silicone neck portion that will provide flexibility to the neck portion as taught by Rabani et al (Paragraph 0045, lines 1-7).
Claim(s) 5 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Furuta et al in view of Hurwit et al (US 20190308331).
Regarding claim 5, Furuta et al fails to teach a clamp. Hurwit et al teaches a particle gripper (100) with a clamp (106) attached to the resiliently deformable neck portion (202) (Paragraph 0018, Paragraph 0037, lines 1-4; Fig. 2, elements 106, 202; annotated figure). Additional details are provided in the figure below.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include the teaching of Hurwit et al to facilitate the creation of a clamp that can control the pressure within the device portion as taught by Hurwit et al (Paragraph 0050, lines 10-13).
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Regarding claim 6, Furuta et al fails to teach a clamp connected to a rod. Hurwit et al teaches a particle gripper (100) with a clamp (106) connected to a rod (202) along which the at least one air tube (202) runs (Paragraph 0050, lines 10-13; Fig. 2, elements 106 and 202; annotated figure). Additional details are provided in the figure below.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to include the teaching of Hurwit et al to facilitate the creation of a rod that can connect to the air tube and aid with the phase transition as taught by Hurwit et al (Paragraph 0050, lines 10-25).
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Conclusion
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/SYDNEY JEANINE SIMMONS/Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/GENE O CRAWFORD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3651