DETAILED ACTIONAcknowledgment is made of applicant’s amendment filed 12/23/25.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
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 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 – 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kutsay (3,365,689) in view of Ramming (4,823,618). Regarding claim 1, Kutsay discloses an apparatus comprising an annular base unit 20, an axial height of said annular base unit being smaller than a diameter of said annular base unit, said annular base unit having a plurality of mounting portions 23, and a plurality of strain gages G1, G2, G5, G6, said plurality of strain gages being located in the plurality of mounting portions, wherein said annular base unit comprises a plurality of sections having a Young's modulus different from the Young's modulus of the material of the base unit (See Figs. 2, 3 and 13, See Col. 2,
lines 63 - 72, Col. 3, lines 1 - 26, Col. 4, lines 73 - 75 and Col. 5, lines 1 - 10).
Kutsay fails to disclose that the plurality of strain gages is attached to a circumference of the base unit. However, Ramming discloses an apparatus comprising strain gages (not shown) attached at a circumference of a base unit 64 (See Fig. 5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Kutsay according to the teachings of Ramming for the purpose of, advantageously providing an improved device since this type of device provides a simplified method of manufacturing a force-moment sensing unit which is substantially easier to manufacture on conventional machine tools (See Ramming, Col. 1, lines 21 – 27). Regarding claim 2, in Kutsay, at least some sections of said plurality of sections are formed by holes 27 - 30 provided in said annular base unit (See Fig. 13, See Col. 4,
lines 73 - 75 and Col. 5, lines 1 - 10).
Regarding claim 3, in Kutsay, at least some of said holes extend in an axial direction of said annular base unit (See Fig. 13).
Regarding claim 4, in Kutsay, at least some of said holes are through holes opening into both axial surfaces of the base unit (See Fig. 13).
Regarding claim 5, in Kutsay, said holes are evenly distributed along a circumferential direction of said annular base unit (See Fig. 13).
Regarding claim 6, in Kutsay, at least some of said holes have a circular cross-section (See Fig. 13).
Regarding claim 7, in Kutsay, said annular base unit has a circumferential groove formed in at least one of an outer circumferential wall and an inner circumferential wall thereof, and said plurality of mounting portions and said plurality of strain gages is located in said circumferential groove (See Figs. 1 - 3).
Regarding claim 8, in Kutsay, a center point of at least some of said holes is located on a line extending in the middle between an inner circumferential surface and an outer circumferential surface of the base unit (See Fig. 13).
Regarding claim 9, in Kutsay, said annular base unit is made of a corrosion-resisting material including metal (See Col. 2, lines 63 - 66).
Regarding claim 10, in Kutsay, said strain gages are mounted to be sensitive to strain exerted in an axial direction of said annular base unit (See Figs. 3 and 5 - 8).
Regarding claim 11, in Kutsay, said strain gages are connected in a Wheatstone bridge configuration (See Fig. 9, See Col. 5, lines 1 - 9).
Regarding claim 12, in Kutsay, additional strain gages are provided and are mounted to be insensitive to strain exerted in an axial direction of said annular base unit (See Fig. 9, See Col. 3, lines 2 - 23). Regarding claim 13, in Kutsay, at least some of said strain gages are thin film strain gages (See Figs. 5 - 8).
Regarding claim 14, in Kutsay, the load cell includes a transducer connected to said strain gages and a transmitter for transmitting data received from said transducer via a wireless network (See Col. 3, lines 63 - 75 and Col. 4, lines 1 24).
Regarding claim 15, in Kutsay, the strain gages are located on the load cell such that they are accessible and replaceable while load is still applied to the load cell from an attached structure (See Col. 3, lines 14 – 23). Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, on Pg. 6, lines 16 – 25, with respect to these claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection. After further consideration, it is the Examiner’s position that Ramming discloses strain gages (not shown) attached at a circumference of a base unit 64 (See Fig. 5). Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Watson et al. (4,094,192) disclose a method and apparatus for six degree of freedom force sensing.7. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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
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/OCTAVIA HOLLINGTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855 3/20/26