DETAILED ACTION
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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on December 5, 2022 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 1,8,12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Umeno (US 9,004,560).
As to claim 1, Umeno discloses a robot arm (45L), as illustrated in Figures 1-16, comprising a first hand (65) comprising a first body portion extending in a first direction and a plurality of first protruding portions (72) protruded from the first body portion to a second direction crossing the first direction and arranged in the first direction (see Figure 5); a second hand (74) comprising a second body portion extending in the first direction and a plurality of second protruding portions (72-2) protruded from the second body portion to the second direction and arranged in the first direction (see Figure 5); and a distance adjusting part (gripper 61 is an electric gripper that receives electric power to perform an opening-closing operation; the gripper 61 is capable of causing the pair of bits 64 to hold an object to be held at a predetermined force or pressing the object held by the pair of bits 64 – see col. 3, lines 61-65 and Figure 1), which adjusts a distance (Y1) (see Figure 5) between the first hand and the second hand, wherein the first protruding portions and the second protruding portions are disposed between the first body portion and the second body portion.
With claim 8, an auxiliary member (19) is disposed between the first hand and the second hand (see Figures 13-14).
With claim 12, the distance adjusting part comprises a transfer part (gripper 61 translates the proximal end of the main body 66 so that the main body 66 moves toward and away from the second bit 74 – col. 4, lines 23-25), which adjusts the distance between the first hand and the second hand; and a fixing part (hold sensor 62) (see col. 4, lines 63-67), which fixes a position of the first hand and a position of the second hand.
With claim 14, the transfer part comprises a first guide part and a second guide part spaced apart from the first guide part (see annotated Figure 2 below), and the first hand and the second hand are coupled to the first guide part and the second guide part.
PNG
media_image1.png
321
425
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-20 are allowed. The prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole either taken alone or in combination. In particular, the prior art of record does not teach the robot arm further being configured to vacuum suction a window.
Claims 2-7,9-11, 13, and 15-17 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ostwald, Downs, Harada, Hajrovic, and Li are cited as being relevant art, because each prior art discloses a robot arm comprising a first hand and a second hand.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN VU whose telephone number is (571)272-1961. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:00 am - 3:30 pm EST.
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, Victoria Augustine can be reached at (313) 446-4858. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
STEPHEN VU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3651
/STEPHEN A VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654