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 .
Response to Remarks/Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim rejection have been fully considered but are moot in view of new ground of rejection.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeshi et al. (JP 2021073111 A) relied on machine translation, and in view of Catoen et al. (US 20110106288 A1.).
As per claim 1, Takeshi et al. teach
An injection molding machine (Takeshi et al. para 15, injection molding machine 11) comprising:
a plurality of components that are attachable to and detachable from the injection molding machine (Takeshi et al., paras 16, 30, plurality of movable components such as, a movable platen 28, a movable mold 18b),
a controller that includes a storage medium configured to store history information for each of components (Takeshi et al., para 20, the control device 29 includes a storage unit, also see para 30, The history of the abnormality notification of the injection molding machine 11 is being stored in the storage device of the injection molding machine11 or in the storage unit of the central control device 14),
wherein, in a case where the controller detects a change in attachment/detachment of a first component (Takeshi et al. para 34, The replacement date, replacement time of the component, and the numerical value of the sensor at the time of replacement are stored in the storage unit. The replacement history of the component can be recognized at the display), outputs an indication of initialization of the history information of the first component, or initializes the history information of the first component (para 34, the integrated value N is reset to 0 when the component is replaced).
However, Takeshi et al. do not teach
each of the components including a storage medium that stores identification information for identifying each of the components; and
wherein, in a case where the controller detects a change in attachment/detachment of a first component based on first identification information for identifying the first component, which is stored in the storage medium of the first component, the controller adds information indicating that the first component has been replaced to the history information,
In the same field of endeavor, Catoen et al. teach
each of the components including a storage medium that stores identification information for identifying each of the components (Catoen et al., para 67, the components such as mold, injection molding, machine, dryer, chiller such identification information of components can be stored in a non-volatile memory of the of the injection molding assembly component. Non-volatile memory teaches the storage device for each component.).
wherein, in a case where the controller detects a change in attachment/detachment of a first component based on first identification information for identifying the first component, which is stored in the storage medium of the first component, the controller adds information indicating that the first component has been replaced to the history information (Catoen et al., para 3, often new components are introduced and moved to a different work cell. This teaches attachment and detachment of the component. Also see para 16, Fig. 10, a database table correlated component, also see para 67, the components such as mold, injection molding, machine, dryer, chiller such identification information of components can be stored in a non-volatile memory of the of the injection molding assembly component. Non-volatile memory teaches the storage device for each component. Also, para 34-35 teaches the first component and second component information or operative communication can be stored in the mass storage media. The component information can be encoded information or RFID. Therefore, the operative communication will include attachment or detachment information.).
It would have been obvious to a person ordinary skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include the teachings of Catoen et al.’s identification database storage system into the system taught by Takeshi et al. above. This would have been obvious because both Takeshi et al. and Catoen et al. teach of an injection molding machine where components within the injection molding machine can be replaced, and the information can be stored. By adding Catoen et al.’s identification database system, the molding system can attach and detach equipment and store the information in the database by the component ID. Therefore, the history information will be updated according to the change and indicates past and/or present conditions prevailing within the system, which would be valuable to know (Catoen et al., paras 3, 5, 34, and 67).
As per claim 2, The combination of Takeshi et al and Catoen et al. teach
The injection molding machine (Takeshi et al., para 15, injection molding machine 11, para 15) according to claim 1,
wherein the storage medium provided in the controller (Takeshi et al. para 20, the control device 29 includes a storage unit, also see para 30,storage device in the injection molding machine, storage unit in the central storage device) includes, as the history information of the component (Takeshi et al. ,para 34,The conversion time of the of the plurality of components are stored in the storage unit), replacement history information that holds a history of replacement of the first component (Takeshi et al. ,para 34,the integrated value N reset to 0 when the component is being replaced) and load history information that holds a load generated in the first component by an operation of the injection molding machine (Takeshi et al., para 34,at the time of the shipment of the injection molding machine 11, the maintenance value M changes by the replacement of the respective parts), and
in a case where the controller detects a change (Takeshi et al. ,para 34,the replacement of the component) in attachment/detachment of the first component (Takeshi et al. , para 34,Plurality of components attached to the injection molding machine and stored in the storage unit), or outputs an indication of initialization of the history information of the first component (Takeshi et al., para 34,The integrated value N such as conversion time or the number of times of conversion is counted for each plurality of components are stored in the storage unit), the controller adds information indicating that the first component has been replaced to the replacement history information, and performs initialization of the load history information of the first component (Takeshi et al., para 34,the maintenance value M becomes different by the replacement of the respective parts. Various date such as replacement date, replacement time of the components and the numerical values of the sensor at the time of the replacement automatically stored in the storage device or storage unit 14 and the replacement history of the components being recognized by the display).
As per claim 3, The combination of Takeshi et al and Catoen et al. teach
The injection molding machine (Takeshi et al., para 15, injection molding machine 11) according to claim 2,
wherein the controller updates the load history information with a value based on an operation time (Takeshi et al. ,para 32,Operating time is being used as integrated value N,1 hour = 1) or on an energization time in the injection molding machine as information indicating a load of the component ( Takeshi et al., para 32,The load of each components increases when the injection molding machine is being used under a high acceleration or use a recycled material, and the injection molding machine becomes overloaded).
As per claim 4, The combination of Takeshi et al and Catoen et al. teach
The injection molding machine (Takeshi et al., para 15, injection molding machine 11) according to claim 3,
wherein the controller (Takeshi et al., para 17,a control device, 29) sets a value obtained (Takeshi et al., para 35,The converted values V1 and the unsteady values V) by correcting the operation time or the energization time in the injection molding machine based on an operation status of the component as the information indicating the load of the component (Takeshi et al. , para 35,As the unsteady values V1 are detected, the conversion values V is being added to the maintenance M and after fifth detection, first message A is notified, para 35).
As per claim 5, The combination of Takeshi et al. and Catoen et al. teach
The injection molding machine according to claim 1,
wherein the history information stored in the storage medium provided in the controller includes second identification information for identifying each of the components (Catoen et al., para 16, Fig. 10, a database table correlated component, also see para 67, the components such as mold, injection molding, machine, dryer, chiller such identification information of components can be stored in a non-volatile memory of the of the injection molding assembly component. Non-volatile memory teaches the storage medium for each component. Also, para 34-35 teaches the first component and second component information or operative communication can be stored in the mass storage media. The component information can be encoded information or RFID. Therefore, the operative communication will include attachment or detachment information.), and
the controller is configured to detect the change in attachment /detachment of the first component based on whether or not the first identification information of the component first component stored in the storage medium of the first component matches the identification information of the first component stored in the storage medium provide in the controller (Catoen et al., Fig. 16, para 90 -91, if an injection molding component is removed or detached from the assembly, then there will be a mismatch between the current active registered configuration and the current configuration residing in the work cell 10.” For example, system 2000 can be operative so that if there is a difference between the active registered configuration and the configuration of the current work cell, there can be displayed a message, e.g., at area 5040 such as "CURRENT CONFIGURATION DOES NOT MATCH" or in area 5044 "MISMATCHED CONFIGURATION". “Conversely, system 2000 can be operative so that when an examination between an active registered configuration and a current configuration indicate that there is a match between components a positive reinforcing message can be displayed in area 5044, e.g. OK TO ACTIVATE INJECTION MOLDING.”).
Conclusion
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 the examiner should be directed to Rokeya Alam whose telephone number is (571)272-0083. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:30am - 4:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mr. Scott Baderman can be reached at telephone number (571-272-3644). The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/ROKEYA SHAWALI ALAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2118
/SCOTT T BADERMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2118
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