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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of the species of Figs. 7-15, readable on claims 1-11, in the reply filed on April 15, 2026, is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/14/24, 8/6/25, 3/9/26, and 4/18/23 were filed and the submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 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, 7, 8, 10, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the Japanese Publication (JP 2003-94368) (See IDS).
RE claim 1, the Japanese Publication (JP 2003-94368) discloses a gripping hand (See Figs. 1-6) comprising: a hand part (37, 37’) capable of taking out a workpiece (5); a workpiece holding part (35, 35’) capable of holding the taken out workpiece by pressing the workpiece against a predetermined position; and a base part (3, 11) (see Exhibit A) capable of supporting the hand part and the workpiece holding part.
Exhibit A
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941
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RE claims 10 and 11, the Japanese Publication (JP 2003-94368), as presented above, further and a conveying device (11) (see paragraph [0017] of translation) to which the hand is attached and a method of taking out the workpiece by the hand; conveying the taken out workpiece to the vicinity of a predetermined position by the conveying device; and holding the taken out workpiece by pressing the workpiece against the predetermined position (see paragraph [0030] and [0032] of translation).
RE claism 7 and 8, Figs. 1 and 2 of the Japanese Publication (JP 2003-94368) show that the workpiece holding part is capable of pressing and holding the workpiece (5) in one direction wherein the workpiece holding part has one or a plurality of movable members (15, 17) (see Fig. 2) configured to move forward and backward in a predetermined direction.
Claims 1, 2, 4, and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Matsuzaki et al. (US 2020/0254629) (See IDS).
RE claim 1, Matsuzaki et al. (US 2020/0254629) discloses a gripping hand (See Figs. 1-12B) comprising: a hand part (21, 22) capable of taking out a workpiece (C); a workpiece holding part (101) (see Figs. 3 & 4) capable of holding the taken out workpiece by pressing the workpiece against a predetermined position; and a base part (23) (see Fig. 2 ) capable of supporting the hand part and the workpiece holding part.
RE claim 2, Fig. 2 of Matsuzaki et al. (US 2020/0254629) teaches the base part (23) has a hand rotating part capable of rotating an entirety of the hand when being assembly or disassembled by a mechanic.
RE claims 10 and 11, Matsuzaki et al. (US 2020/0254629), as presented above, further and a conveying device (100, 102) (see paragraphs [0043-0049]) to which the hand is attached and a method of taking out the workpiece by the hand; conveying the taken out workpiece to the vicinity of a predetermined position by the conveying device; and holding the taken out workpiece by pressing the workpiece against the predetermined position (see paragraphs [0043-0049]).
RE claism 7 and 8, Figs. 3-6 of Matsuzaki et al. (US 2020/0254629) show that the workpiece holding part is capable of pressing and holding the workpiece (C) in one direction or more directions wherein the workpiece holding part has one or a plurality of movable members (21, 22, 30) (see Figs. 3 & 4) configured to move forward and backward in a predetermined direction.
RE claim 9, Figs. 3-6 of Matsuzaki et al. (US 2020/0254629) teach the workpiece holding part further has a supporting member (20) configured to support the movable member (210 or 30), and the supporting member has a contact surface (31 oe 32) capable of contacting the predetermined position against which the workpiece is pressed.
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 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.
Claims 2, 3, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Japanese Publication (JP 2003-94368) (See IDS) in view of the Japanese Publication (JP 2019-152447) (See IDS).
RE claims 2 and 3, the Japanese Publication (JP 2003-94368), as presented above, does not specifically show the base part has a hand rotating part configured to rotate an entirety of the hand the hand wherein the hand part is configured to rotate in units of 180 degrees corresponding to a motion of the hand rotating part. However, Figs. 1 and 2 of
the Japanese Publication (JP 2019-152447) teach the base part has a hand rotating part (see Fig. 1). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the lifting and supporting art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide a hand rotating part on the Japanese Publication (JP 2003-94368) as taught by the Japanese Publication (JP 2019-152447) to provide a flexibility to rotate so that a user can grasp the workpieces in angles.
RE claims 7 and 8, Figs. 1 and 2 of the Japanese Publication (JP 2019-152447) teach workpiece holding part has one or a plurality of movable members (105, 106, 102). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the lifting and supporting art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide one of a plurality of movable members on the Japanese Publication (JP 2003-94368) as taught by the Japanese Publication (JP 2019-152447) to provide a flexibility to rotate so that a user can grasp the workpieces in angles.
Claims 3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuzaki et al. (US 2020/0254629).
Matsuzaki et al. (US 2020/0254629), as presented above, does not specifically show the hand part (23) is configured to rotate in units of 180 degrees corresponding to a motion of the hand rotating part (23) or the workpiece holding part (30, 40) is configured to rotate in units of 90 degrees. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the lifting and supporting art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the hand rotating part (23) or the workpiece holding part (30, 40) on the Matsuzaki et al. (US 2020/0254629) for a mechanic or an assembly to be able to rotate to grasp a workpiece.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL T CHIN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6922. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00-4:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Hodge, can be reached on (571) 272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL T CHIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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