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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 23-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 23-27, the limitation “Wherein the hand comprises: a central palm; a plurality of fingers connected to said palm, each of said fingers comprises a fingertip movable along a length of said fingers; wherein the fingers are placed on a common imaginary plane and are angularly displaceable thereon.” is repeated from the parent claim 1. The claim fails to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter as the limitation is repeated from a parent claim. It is unclear if the applicant intends to introduce the subject matter as a new limitation.
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.
Claims 1-3, & 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Golan (PGPub US 2019/0077028 A1).
Regarding claim 1, the robotic grasping hand of Golan teaches a robotic grasping hand comprising: a central palm (6; Fig 2); a plurality of fingers (5) connected to said palm, each of said fingers comprises a fingertip (16) movable along a length of said fingers (Fig 2); wherein the fingers are placed on a common imaginary plane and are angularly displaceable thereon (Fig 1). The fingers are angularly displaceable as the robotic grasping hand assembly is capable of rotation on the imaginary plane.
Regarding claim 2, the combination teaches the limitations of claim 1 as described above, Golan teaches wherein the palm comprises:
- an upper housing plate comprising a first face gear rotatable therewithin (Annotated Fig 2);
- a lower housing plate comprising a second face gear rotatable therewithin (Annotated Fig 1);
wherein each fingertip comprises a follower surface member (3) comprising a follower element (2);
wherein each finger comprises a lead screw (7) along its length passing through said follower element (Fig 1); wherein each lead screw comprises a spur gear fixedly attached to its proximal side (Annotated Fig 1); wherein each of said spur gears is configured to mesh with said first and second face gears (Fig 1; Fig 2); and wherein said lead screw and said follower element form a lead screw and follower mechanism (Fig 1).
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Regarding claim 3, the combination teaches the limitations of claim 2 as described above, Golan each fingertip comprises a grasping member (10) extending vertically downwards (Fig 1).
Regarding claim 7, the combination teaches the limitations of claim 1 as described above, Golan teaches a thumb finger connected to the palm (Annotated Fig 1); said thumb finger comprises a fingertip (16) movable along its length; wherein the thumb finger is placed on the common imaginary plane (Fig 1); and wherein said thumb finger is not angularly displaceable in relation to said palm (Fig 1).
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Golan in view of Yakou (US Patent 5,127,692).
Regarding claim 4, Golan teaches the limitations of claim 2 as described above, Golan teaches each finger comprises a proximal vertical surface near its proximal end and a distal vertical surface near its distal end (Annotated Fig 1). Golan does not teach each finger comprises one or more rods. However, the article gripping apparatus of Yakou teaches each finger comprises one or more rods (44a, 44b, 46a, 46b, 48a, 48b) that pass through the follower surface member (62, 64, 66) and that are fixed between said proximal vertical surface (14) and said distal vertical surface (38; Fig 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to improve the robotic grasping hand of Golan with the support rods of Yakou to improve the sliding abilities of the follower member radially during operation (Col 4 ln 43-46).
Claims 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Golan in view of Wilder (US Patent 4,613,269).
Regarding claim 20, Golan teaches a grasping hand according to claim 1 as described above, and a robotic arm connected to said grasping hand ([0123]). The combination does not teach a camera and processing unit. However, the robotic apparatus of Wilder teaches a camera (1, Fig 1; Abstract); and a control unit (2) comprising a processor (28; Fig 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to improve the robotic grasping hand of Golan with a camera and processing unit to aid in object recognition, in-transit inspection, and increase the handling or assembly speed of the robot hand (Col 1 ln 12-15).
Regarding claim 21, the combination teaches providing the system of claim 20 as described above, Golan teaches a method for grasping and manipulating an object comprising: adjusting the hand for grasping ([0015]; Fig 8) comprising:
- angularly displacing one or more of the fingers; and/or
- linearly displacing one or more of the fingertips ([0015]; Fig 8); displacing the hand such that the object is placed within the volume surrounded by the fingertips ([0015]; Fig 8); retracting the fingertips proximally to grasp the object ([0015]; Fig 8); manipulating the object ([0014]); and releasing the object by displacing the fingertips distally (Fig 8).
Regarding claim 22, the combination teaches the limitations of claim 21 as described above, Wilder teaches adjusting the hand further comprises the following pre stages: imaging the object to be grasped (Abstract); obtaining a shape resembling the peripheral circumference of the object (Abstract); and calculating angular positions of the fingers and linear positions of the of the fingertips for grasping according to said obtained shape (Abstract).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6, 8-19, & 23-27 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 5 & 23, the limitation of a distal driving member with a spring configured to move proximally to a position where said spur gear does not mesh with the face gears is not found in the prior art.
Regarding claim 6, the limitation of a peripheral channel in the upper and lower housing plate and a top and bottom protrusion from the proximal vertical surface is not found in the prior art.
Both limitations are allowable subject matter as they relate to the angular displacement of the finger in relation to the palm.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
PGPub 2015/0123416 A1 discloses a robot hand for gripping with linear radial motion of the fingertips.
PGPub 2013/0183129 A1 discloses a robot hand with angularly displaceable fingers.
US Patent 5,161,847 discloses a robot hand with angularly displaceable lead screw fingers.
JP 4416697 B2 discloses a clamp with linear radial finger motion and rotates angularly as an assembly.
US Patent 1,342,891 discloses a clamping machine with rotatable arms across a plane and lead screws.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RALPH D WILKINSON whose telephone number is (571)272-6183. The examiner can normally be reached 8 - 4, M-Fr.
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/RALPH D WILKINSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/ANNA M MOMPER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3619
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