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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on July 6, 2026 has been entered.
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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumagai et al. (US 7,253,578) in view of Stefan (DE 202018101572).
Kumagai discloses and shows a wire body fixing structure, comprising:
an actuator (Figs. 2, 3) including a through-hole (30c, 60c) through which a wire body (80) passes; and
a fixing part (82, 84) configured to fix the wire body, wherein
the fixing part includes
a support member (82, 84) configured to support the wire body, and
an attachment tool (82L, 84L) configured to attach the wire body to the support member,
the attachment tool fixes the wire body between an axis of the actuator and an inner circumferential surface of the through-hole,
the actuator further includes a hollow member (70) configured to rotate about the axis (col. 4: 49-60), and
the support member is configured to support the wire body at a position radially separated from an inner circumferential surface of the hollow member so that the wire body does not contact the hollow member (see Figs. 2, 3).
Kumagai’s attachment tool is not arranged in an internal space of the through-hole. Stefan discloses and shows a wire body fixing structure having attachment tools (Fig. 2, item 6, Figs. 3-5, item 15) arranged in an internal space of a through-hole, the through-hole having a hollow member (18) therein, the attachment tools arranged as such prevents wire bodies from becoming entangled at the entrance of the through hole of an actuator.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Kumagai fixing structure to where the attachment tool is arranged in an internal space of the through-hole so as to prevent the wire body from becoming entangled at the entrance of the through hole of the actuator.
Cl. 2 – the hollow member (Stefan, 18) includes a protection tube (see Fig. A, item 100) arranged inside the through-hole and configured to protect the wire body from a power transmission element of the actuator, and
the fixing part (Stefan, 6) fixes the wire body in the internal space of the through-hole outside an exit of the protection tube.
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Cl. 3 – a distance from the axis of the actuator to the support member is shorter than or substantially equal to a distance from the axis to an inner circumferential surface of the protection tube (Stefan, see Fig. 2).
Cl. 4 –a distance from a free end of the support member (Stefan, Fig. 2, item 6) to an end surface of the protection tube (Fig. A, above, item 100) is shorter than a thickness of the wire body or a thickness of a bundle of the wire bodies.
Cl. 5 – the fixing part includes a support member configured to support the wire body, and a corner, on a side close to the wire body, of the free end of the support member is rounded (Stefan, see Figs. 3-5).
Cl. 6 –the actuator includes only an electric motor or includes an electric motor (Kumagai and Stefan) to which at least one selected from the group of a decelerator, a sensor, and another machine element is coupled, and the fixing part fixes the wire body in an internal space of the electric motor, the decelerator, or the sensor.
Cl. 7 – the wire body is supported at two locations (Kumagai, see Figs. 1-3) including a load side and a non-load side of the actuator, and the wire body is fixed by the fixing part on at least one side selected from the group consisting of the load side and the non-load side.
Cl. 8 – the fixing structure further comprises: fixing parts, including the fixing part, disposed on the load side and the non-load side of the actuator, wherein the fixing part on the load side and the fixing part on the non-load side fix the wire body at substantially same angular positions or at angular positions deviating from each other by approximately 180 degrees about the axis of the actuator at a reference position of the actuator (Kumagai, Fig. 2).
Cl. 9 – the wire body is laid loosely between two attachment tools (Kumagai, Fig. 2), and at least one selected from the group of a support surface of the support member supporting the wire body and a contact surface of the attachment tools with the wire body is smooth (as opposed to having a serrated surface, for example).
Cls. 10-12 – Nakayama discloses and shows a machine, robot and actuator comprising the wire body fixing structure described in claim 1.
Response to Arguments
Applicant' s arguments with respect to the rejected claims have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BOBBY RUSHING, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-0501. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8AM-5PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minnah Seoh can be reached at (571) 270-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BOBBY RUSHING, JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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