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 .
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.
Response to Arguments and Amendments
Applicant's arguments and amendments, filed June 1st, 2026, regarding the 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) rejections of claims 1-6 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Examiner notes claim 4 has been cancelled. However, upon further search and consideration of amended claims, a new ground(s) of rejection has been made under 35 U.S.C. 103 for claims 1-3 and 5-6 below.
Examiner further notes the separation of the programmable logic controller from the robot and operation panel is not only taught by the combination as explained below, but also does not constitute novel subject matter since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. See In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Tarui (US Patent Pub. No. 2019/0030715 A1) in view of Krause et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 2002/0045970 A1), herein “Krause”.
Regarding Claims 1 and 6, Tarui discloses a robot control apparatus connected to an external programmable logic controller and robot control method to control a robot based on a command data from the external programmable logic controller (See 0009, “A robot controller […] which controls a robot […] includes: external equipment (for example, a “numerical controller 100” which will be described later) which is connected so as to be able to perform communication; a signal reception unit […] which receives a preset external signal from the external equipment; a program storage unit […] which stores a setup program […] that is previously made to correspond to the external signal; and a program start unit […] which starts the setup program that is previously made to correspond to the external signal when the program start unit receives the external signal from the external equipment through the signal reception unit, where, when the setup program is started, the current position of the robot is used as a teaching position to be stored in a position register previously set in the setup program.” See also 0034, “[…] sequence program incorporated in the numerical controller 100 so as to output a signal to an auxiliary device […] and thereby perform control. The PMC 16 also receives the signals of various types of switches and the like in an operator's panel provided in the main body of the machine tool, performs necessary signal processing and then feeds them to the CPU 11. The PMC 16 is also generally referred to as a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller)”), the robot control apparatus and method comprising:
at least one memory (See 0033, “In the nonvolatile memory 14, a machining program and the like, which are input through an interface 15, the display 70 or a communication unit 27, are stored”); and
at least one processor (See 0033, “In the numerical controller 100, a CPU 11 is a processor which comprehensively controls the numerical controller […]”) configured to:
decide a current position of the robot and transfer the current position of the robot to the external programmable logic controller to store the current position into a predetermined area in the external programmable logic controller (See 0009, “[…] robot controller […] includes: external equipment (for example, a “numerical controller 100” which will be described later) which is connected so as to be able to perform communication; a signal reception unit […] which receives a preset external signal from the external equipment; a program storage unit […] that is previously made to correspond to the external signal; and a program start unit […] which starts the setup program that is previously made to correspond to the external signal when the program start unit receives the external signal from the external equipment through the signal reception unit, where, when the setup program is started, the current position of the robot is used as a teaching position to be stored in a position register previously set in the setup program.” Examiner notes the current position being used and stored in a register previously set in the program is the same as storing the current position in a predetermined area in the numerical controller);
obtain, from the external programmable logic controller, the current position stored in the external programmable logic controller or information in relation to the current position (See 0009 as referenced above. See also 0066, “[…] configured such that the operation sequence and the necessary numerical parameters in individual operations and the like are previously produced and that the position registers corresponding to the teaching positions are referenced so as to acquire the position data of the teaching positions […] store the teaching position data (serving as the teaching position) in the position register corresponding to the teaching position […]” Examiner notes the operation program described is performed by the signal reception unit in communication with the numerical controller, thus being the same as an acquisition unit acquiring data from the programmable logic controller);
display the current position or the information that has been obtained, along with the decided current position, on a screen of a robot teaching operation panel (See Fig. 8A below. See also 0048, “[…] teaching position display control unit 110 outputs, to the display of the display 70 serving as a display unit (hereinafter referred to as the “display”), a teaching position display screen 701 for displaying one teaching position which needs to be taught to the robot.” Examiner notes Fig. 8A shows a teaching position display screen); and
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control the robot based on the command data including the current position obtained from the external programmable logic controller (See 0042, “[…] the robot controller 400 uses the operation program 460 and thereby can control the robot 300 such that the robot 300 is moved to an appropriate position […]”).
But does not explicitly disclose wherein the robot control apparatus does not include the external programmable logic controller and is provided separately from the external programmable logic controller, and the robot teaching operation panel is connected to the robot control apparatus or is included in the robot control apparatus and is not connected to the external programmable logic controller.
Krause, in a similar field of endeavor, teaches the robot control apparatus does not include the external programmable logic controller and is provided separately from the external programmable logic controller, and the robot teaching operation panel is connected to the robot control apparatus or is included in the robot control apparatus and is not connected to the external programmable logic controller (See Fig. 1 shown below and 0019-0021, “[…] one programmable controller 102 having a memory 104 for storing a plurality of types of data objects […] programmable controller 102 may include a user interface 108 for allowing a user to enter data or programs into the controller 102 or for accessing the data stored therein. The user interface 108 may include a display 110 for displaying the information to the user and a teach pendant 112 […] the controller 102 is coupled to a robot 114 for actively performing a variety of tasks. However, the present invention is not limited to robot controllers. The programmable controller 102 may be a passive controller, such as a monitoring device that monitors predetermined conditions.” Examiner notes reference 114 for the robot and 102 for the programmable logic controller are clearly separated, although communicatively coupled for system functionality).
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In view of Krause’s teachings, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include, with robot control system deciding and storing a current robot position for display and robot control as disclosed by Tarui, separation of the programmable logic controller from the robot and an operation panel, with a reasonable expectation of success, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950)
Regarding Claim 2, Tarui further discloses the robot control apparatus according to claim 1, and Tarui further discloses wherein, when the current position stored in the external programmable logic controller is being referred to by a function block in a programmable logic controller program, the at least one processor configured to control the robot control apparatus to obtain information about the function block, and display the information about the function block on the screen of the robot teaching operation panel (See Fig. 12 below and 0064-0066, “FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the operation program 460 corresponding to the operation sequence of the robot. In lines from the 11th line to the 14th line, the operation program 460 performs an operation in which (1) the robot 300 is moved to the machine tool work exchange position […] the position register [21] in which the position data of the machine tool work exchange position A is stored is used […] the position registers corresponding to the teaching positions are referenced so as to acquire the position data of the teaching positions […] so as to store the teaching position data (serving as the teaching position) in the position register corresponding to the teaching position […]” See also 0045, “[…] the operation program 460 is configured such that position registers corresponding to the individual teaching positions are referenced, and thus the position coordinate value of a destination is acquired.” See also Fig. 8A and 0048 as referenced above).
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Regarding Claim 3, Tarui further discloses the robot control apparatus according to claim 1, and Tarui further discloses wherein, if the current position is already stored in the predetermined area when the current position is transferred to the external programmable logic controller, a popup confirming whether or not to overwrite the current position is displayed on the screen of the robot teaching operation panel (See 0048, “[…] when the teaching position display control unit 110 transmits, through the signal transmission unit 140 to the robot controller 400, the external signal for starting the setup program 450 corresponding to the teaching position which needs to be taught this time, the teaching position display control unit 110 displays the teaching position which needs to be subsequently taught in the teaching position display region […] the teaching position display screen 701 returns to the preceding teaching display screen […] to redo the teaching of the teaching position which is displayed in the preceding teaching position display screen […]” Examiner notes the teaching positions are stored in the position register, and when a subsequent position is transferred through the numerical controller, the teaching position displayed is replaced, or overwritten).
Regarding Claim 5, Tarui further discloses the robot control apparatus according to claim 1, and Tarui further discloses a robot control system comprising the robot control apparatus according to claim 1 and an external programmable logic controller connected to the robot control apparatus (See 0009 and 0034 as referenced above).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bryant Tang whose telephone number is (571)270-0145. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 CST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Worden can be reached at (571)272-4876. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRYANT TANG/Examiner, Art Unit 3658
/JASON HOLLOWAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3658
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