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 § 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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishitani et al. (US PAT. 6,206,352) in view of Fukao et al. (JP 2003289199 A).
Ishitani et al. teach a component mounter for mounting a component on a board, the component mounter comprising: a conveyance device (not shown) configured to convey the board (col. 4, lines 37-39); a clamp device including a fixed side clamp member (13), a movable side clamp member (14), and a moving device (15) configured to move up and down the movable side clamp member by driving of a motor as shown in Fig. 2 (col. 4, lines 37-47), the clamp device being configured to sandwich and clamp the board (2) from both sides by moving the movable side clamp member with the moving device and bringing the board conveyed by the conveyance device into contact with the fixed side clamp member as shown in Figs. 3-4 (col. 4, line 37 to col. 5, line 30); and a control device configured to set a target position of the movable side clamp member configured to move a contacting surface of the board to a contacted surface of the fixed side clamp member based on a detected value of the sensor, the control device being configured to drive and control the motor by position control such that a position of the movable side clamp member coincides with the target position as shown in Fig. 5 (col. 6, lines 1-42).
However, Ishitani et al. silent a sensor configured to measure a thickness of the board conveyed by the conveyance device. Fukao et al. teach a distance sensor (252), which acquires the distance of the upper and lower surface of a printed wiring board (80) with respect to a supporting structure (18) as shown in Fig. 4, in order to determine the board thickness (see abstract). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify a component mounter of Ishitani et al. by a sensor configured to measure a thickness of the board as taught by Fukao et al. in order to determine the board thickness.
Re. claim 2: Ishitani et al. also teach that a mounting head (3, Fig. 1) including a holding member (a suction nozzle) that is capable of holding the component, wherein the control device controls the mounting head by the position control in a state where the position of the movable side clamp member is caused to coincide with the target position such that the component held by the holding member is mounted on the board (see also col. 1, lines 18-51 and col. 6, lines 142).
Re. claim 3: Ishitani et al. teach all limitations as set forth above in claim 1 including the motor by torque control (such as controlling a force) instead of the position control such that the board comes into contact with the fixed side clamp member with a constant torque as shown in Figs. 3-5 (see also col. 4, line 37 to col. 5, line 30).
Re. claim 4: Ishitani et al., modified by Fukao et al., also teach a clamp control method for use in a clamp device that includes a fixed side clamp member, a movable side clamp member, and a moving device configured to move up and down the movable side clamp member by driving of a motor, the clamp device being configured to sandwich and clamp the board from both sides by moving the movable side clamp member with the moving device and bringing the board conveyed by a conveyance device into contact with the fixed side clamp member, comprising steps of: measuring a thickness of the board; and setting a target position of the movable side clamp member configured to move a contacting surface of the board to a contacted surface of the fixed side clamp member based on the measured thickness of the board, and driving and controlling the motor by position control such that a position of the movable side clamp member coincides with the target position (see also a rejection of claim 1 as set forth above).
Re. claim 5: Ishitani et al., modified by Fukao et al., also teach all limitations as set forth above in claim 4, including the motor by torque control (such as controlling a force) instead of the position control such that the board comes into contact with the fixed side clamp member with a constant torque as shown in Figs. 3-5 (see also col. 4, line 37 to col. 5, line 30).
The Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sakurayama et al. (US PAT. 10,966,361), Shimizu (US PAT. 10,462,948), and Nozawa (US PAT. 10,925,199) are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to a component mounter for mounting a component on a board.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL D KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4565. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6:00 AM-2:00 PM.
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/PAUL D KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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