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 .
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, 2, 4-6, 9, 11-13, 16, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Duchemin et al., “Medically Safe and Sound” [Duchemin]1.
Regarding claims 1, 9 and 16, Duchemin discloses a system for providing robotic control comprising:
a hardware watchdog configured to provide control over a robot manipulator [dedicated watchdog boards implemented in hardware control power provided to the robot manipulator based on presence of a binary pulse signal generated by software and hardware thresholds are built into F/T sensors to limit force applied by a robot to a patient, pages 48, 49, 51 and 53]; and
a software watchdog configured to run on a processing device and programmed to provide thread-safe architecture control over real-time and non-real-time processes of the hardware watchdog and the robot manipulator [real-time and non-real-time software processes are executed on a controller to control and detect errors in operation of robot hardware components and the software processes are checked by a dedicated watchdog process, pages 50, 51 and 53].
Regarding claims 2, 4, 5, 11, 12 and 20, Duchemin further discloses a system of emergency switches that are placed at locations throughout the robot manipulator and are configured to facilitate immediate operator access for safety [emergency buttons are provided at accessible locations such as a control desk and a controller front panel of the robot, pages 49 and 53].
Regarding claims 6, 13 and 17, Duchemin further discloses a redundancy system configured to prevent safety failures [redundant sensors and watchdog board circuits, pages 49 and 53].
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 3, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duchemin et al., “Medically Safe and Sound” [Duchemin].
Regarding claims 3 and 10, Duchemin, as described above, discloses a system of emergency switches, but does not disclose that the emergency switched are momentary single pole switches. Examiner takes official notice that momentary single pole switches were conventionally used to implement emergency switches before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to use momentary single pole switches as the emergency switches in Duchemin.
Regarding claims 7, 8, 14, 15, 18 and 19, Duchemin further discloses electronics configured to facilitate latch, relay and visual status [Latching and Relay Circuit and HMI, Figure 3 on page 50]. Duchemin further discloses performing a fail-down check on a pulse train received from software [Input Signal Stuck at a Low Level, Figure 3 on page 50]. Examiner takes official notice that detecting pulse train errors was conventionally performed by both fail-up and fail-down checks before the effective filing date of the claimed invention in order to accurately detect pulse train errors to account for errors caused by the pulse signal being stuck at either a logic high level or errors caused by the pulse signal being stuck at a logic low level. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to perform both conventional fail-up and conventional fail-down checks on the pulse signal train received from software in Duchemin in order to more accurately detect pulse signal train errors.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
O’Neill et al., US Patent Application Publication no. 2015/0032293 discloses an e-stop controller for a robotic system that includes a hardware failsafe and a software failsafe.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL B YANCHUS III whose telephone number is (571)272-3678. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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/PAUL B YANCHUS III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2115 December 13, 2025
1 Duchemin was cited in the 4/12/23 IDS.